Nepal – Short Trek – RaniKot

Raj had thought we might do a four or five day trek while I was here. I was a bit unsure of my fitness having not really done much exercise for four months and only intermittently doing the knee strengthening my physio had given me to do.

Best laid plans and all that……..there was a bus strike! Raj does not own a car and hiring privately one for that distance was prohibitive. We also didn’t know how long the strike would last, we would have had difficulty getting back. There are no trains here and few people own a car, not that I would drive here… it’s chaos!

So Raj suggested we walk locally for the first day. I asked if there would be leeches, ready to put on my leech socks but, he said no not yet, it was still too dry.  We took a taxi a little way past where we had walked two years ago and then set off to Ranikot. It’s up! It’s always ‘up’ here, except when it’s down and that can be just as bad! I hate steps, I can’t really tell you why, because it’s usually level and good footing but I think it’s the monotony of the movement. Anyway someone had made steps and up we went. On the way Raj explained about the name RaniKot, Rani meaning Queen and Kot meaning palace or fort, so at one time there has been a fortification at the top of the hill. Maybe I should say mountain because these hills are higher than Ben Nevis! Maybe the builders of these forts cut down the trees because you couldn’t see anyone coming through the jungle if you tried, it’s quite dense.

On the way we picked the last of the Himalayan Raspberries growing beside the path. Raj and Kriti gave me a handful to eat! The little yellow raspberries are sweet and sharp, very tasty! Raj went to great lengths to get them, even going down the precipitous slopes to reach them. Also I  tried for the first time, Berberis! I didn’t know you could even eat them! They have a strange flavour, quite nice really. Apparently in some Nepali villages there is a Barberry (the common name) festival where everyone goes to the jungle to collect the berries, the festival has a dating connotation too! I can imagine why because the plant is ferociously spiny!

I think we climbed about 400 meters up to just under 2000 meters. My legs felt OK I was just a bit puffed out.

Once we reached to top we started to head down a different route.

From up high you can see the sprawling mess of Kathmandu valley on side. On a clear day we would be able to see the Himalayas but this day it was hazy.

I put this picture in to give you a sense of reality! It makes me so angry but, there is generally apathy towards litter here and it starts with the politicians, the people are overwhelmed with it so they don’t care. Obviously some do care a great deal but are small voices in the scheme of things. Basically anywhere that humans congregate there is rubbish!

In complete contrast the flowers were lovely, as were the insects and butterflies. Kriti and Raj identified some of the plants to me like Himalayan pepper, it wasn’t ripe but it had great flavour.

We came down via a route I’ve been before and stopped at a little restaurant for lunch. At this point we realised Raj had red spots on his trousers and on the sleeves of his jacket which had been tied around his waist. At first I thought it was berry juice but nothing we had picked was red. Then I thought it looked like blood, we didn’t find the culprit but, he had the telltale sign of a leach bite on his stomach. Oh No!

Luckily it was a fairly dry path the rest of the way!

We came back down and made our way home. We had walked approximately 8 miles. I was tired but I didn’t feel too bad. Just as well because the next day was hard!!