I organised a 5 day trek in the foothills just outside Kathmandhu Valley for Clare and I. This meant first returning to the Dragon House where the family had looked after me when I had that horrible cold at the beginning of December. I absolutely love this family and it felt like coming home. I had asked Clare to bring some books from England for the two children Romi and Juliette. I’d also managed to pick up a pot of Chitwan Butter Tree Honey for Rajkumar and Kriti as I know they love honey.
Clare was amazed at the decor in this modern house. The family are Buddhist and have their own temple in the top of the house. Clare asked if she could join prayer the following morning before we set off on our trek.
I had some time to catch up with the children and Kriti before we had the task of sorting out our bags. Rajkumar would be our guide for the trek, he has a company that usually caters for French tourists. Clare had told me she speaks French so our dinner with the family was a multilingual affair. Kriti is learning French and was a little shy with it. My Nepali grammar seems to be going backwards but, we all managed.
After my last short trek where my pack was too heavy, I had arranged to have a porter this time to carry some of our stuff. This turned out to be Rajkumar’s younger brother Sabin. I wanted him to carry my spare clothes and sleeping bag, Clare wanted him to carry the same and an entire pharmacy. Just so you know there is a weight limit of 15 kg for a man to carry. It’s still quite a lot but both men said they often carry up to 60kg on a mountain trek! The pack was definitely below 15kg. Clare and I also had day packs.
Rajkumar tailored this trek for us, I had been quite prescriptive, no more than 4 hours walking and no 4 hour upward climbs. We wanted to enjoy our walk and not be ‘beasted!’
Clare was up for Prayer early and even shared prayers of her own. Then after breakfast we were off.
We all squashed into a tiny taxi, Clare, Sabin and me in the back like sardines, well perhaps two sardines and a large whale (Clare’s description, I would have gone for shark). Heading to the start of our trek at Changunarayan, with the oldest Hindhu Temple found in Nepal and ANOTHER WORLD HERITAGE SITE!
Unfortunately this place was very severely damaged by the earthquake in 2015 so the main Temple is under restoration. I think the bamboo scaffolding is amazing in itself. Rajkumar told us about the various effigies and incarnations of the god Vishnu (to whom the temple is dedicated) all dotted about the place and one stone that was a partially carved cow that apparently started to bleed so the carving stopped and the stone was just left in situ with no blood in sight.
Anyway after our visit we started our walk along the ridge of a hill towards Nagarkot. This would be the second time I walked to this village but, by a different route. It’s very populated area with small farms dotted about along our route. As we climbed higher we got glimpses of the Mountains in the distance though the haze. Often there were black shouldered kites wheeling and other unidentifiable birds of prey high on the thermals.
We stopped regularly for a drink and a rest or to simply enjoy the veiw.
We stopped for lunch at this little shack and this is where our adventure nearly ended. Clare needed the loo and typically in the country they are little stone affairs that I can barely stand up in so Clare had no chance. She identified a spot nearby and began to descend some very deep concrete steps. She put her hand on a log to steady herself and it gave way. All I saw from where I was sat was her feet upended then she disappeared with a shout! I yelled too, and ran after her. I found her several steps down having landed in a heap, covered in dust and moaning. Sabin and Rajkumar were not far behind me. I managed to stop the men from trying to get Clare to her feet straight away After a few checks and a rest Clare was able to stand. A few cuts and bruises but, thankfully nothing more! Rajkumar cleaned her face and Clare, being a wound nurse sorted out the scrapes herself. The owner of the cafe was very upset about what had happened too. I think the best thing Clare did was to get up to continue walking the rest of the way, even Rajkumar said he would probably not carried on after that fall and said to Clare that she was strong.
We slowly made our way up a gentle gradient and finally made our destination Countryside Villa Hotel. With fantastic views, the Himalayas mostly obscured by mist.
Tried, dirty and in Clare’s case more than bruised, we watched the sun go down, had our dinner and. Later we invited Rajkumar and Sabin in for a tot of Rum before we said our good night’s.
The Travelling Bee 