For a very long time I have wanted to go trekking in Nepal. This past week we passed a milestone as Toby, Noa and I finally went! It involved 2 extremely patient, kind, knowledgeable (and did I mention patient?) friends, Mads and Clare, and Poorba, our porter. Poorba carried the kids' and my gear, Mads carried his and Clare's, Clare and I each carried a toddler. We left last Saturday (March 7), drove to Sundarijal, which is just on the northeast edge of Kathmandu and then started walking. Up, up, up from the 1500m of KTM, through forest and sand to Chisapani at 2300m where we stayed that night. We woke up to a breakfast of porridge and Nepali tea, great nourishment for a day of trekking.
That morning started Clare's and my custom of having wet (but clean) diapers draped over the backpack carriers, ensuring they would be dry by the time we needed them again. As most of you know, I tryyyy my best to be careful with the environment, but I do put the kids in disposables for night time as it prevents them waking up. Well, my biggest concern leading up to this trek was how I would deal with the diaper issue. As it turned out, it wasn't a big deal to wash the cloth ones each night- or during a rest stop if it wasn't going to pollute the water supply to a village- and dry them on the packs during the day. And yes, Poorba was carrying 12 dirty disposable diapers on the last day, the cumulation of 6 nights x 2 children.
From Chisapani we walked down to Talamarang, which is at 940m. That was a long day walking down for the first half and then along a landslide\ riverbed for the second half. But the weather was beautiful, if a little too sunny. We took advantage of the warmth and the water and stripped the kids off for a rinse. Toby loved it, kept wanting to get back in and sit down. Noa as usual was more cautious but enjoyed dipping her toes in the cold water. The water became the best attraction\ distraction for Toby. We could always get him chatting and happier (if he was tired of being in the pack) by talking about the water and looking for 'boats' to float in it. He then talked about saying bye bye boat and by Friday he could say that we 'need' good water for boats, not just a shallow stream filled with litter. Even boats made of corn husks and bamboo have their standards, you know.
On Monday we left the mill town of Talamarang and walked up the road, then took a crowded bus to Kiul. From there we walked on the road again crossing in to Sherpa country. We had a good lunch of dahl bhat by the river, watching goats and putting 'boats' in the water. We planned to stay in Thimbu but it didn't look very child-friendly, so we made the hard choice to go uphill for the afternoon from the 1580m of Thimbu to Kakani at 2070m. But it turned out to be well worth the climb, especially when Mads produced mango juice boxes from his pack with an hour left to go. We stayed in a little lodge on the top of the hill, next to a stupa and surrounded by grass and a cliff view.
Tuesday was the Hindu festival of Holi, where people throw coloured water or coloured powder on eachother. The goal had been to reach Buddhist country by then so we wouldn't have to deal with it so we were successful! The villages here were mostly Sherpa, so welcomed visitors with rough brick, lichen covered stupas at the entrance to the village. Some had brilliant white stupas, with additional features painted in bright colours. In Nepal there is a lot of mixing of Hindu and Buddhist symbols in each religion, and here it was still evident. People still understand Nepali but also speak their own dialect.
From Kakani we walked up to TarkeGyang at 2590m. The net result was plus 500m but the route was what is called 'Nepali flat', i.e. up and down and up and down. We arrived in time for lunch and a relaxing afternoon playing on the grass and floating boats in the stream. The following day we had a rest day and took the kids to the village gompa where there was a puja happening. Each gompa has one day in the year where they have more celebrations than others, longer pujas, lama dancing (monks dance wearing big head dresses). We happened to arrive in time for Tarke Gyang's. Coinciding with this year's celebration, the senior lama was due to return to the gompa after 3 years, 3 months and 3 days in seclusion in a cave up the mountain. He hadn't returned before we left, but as we left the village on Thursday morning we met several people traveling to the village to celebrate his return.
Thursday night we spent at 2620m in Sermathang, surrounded by fields and small houses. Toby and Noa entertained everyone by dancing to the lodge owner's singing that night. What a hoot they are. And boy, we all slept well that night, snuggled up under a sleeping bag, for a final night of complete silence before returning to Kathmandu.
In between us and Kathmandu, however, was a descent to 1280m to Kiul, alongside the Melamchi Khola (river), which we had followed or seen from high above, for most of our trip. We walked down through pine forests, past rhododendrons in bloom, terrace upon terrace of wheat or barley. Lower down, some wheat was already being harvested, while higher up it was still green.Waiting for us on the dirt road at the bottom was a vehicle to take us back to Kathmandu.
It only took 4-5 hours but it had seemed like we were in a different world. A world of small villages, farms, and mills. Animals like cows, goats, chickens, buffalo, and even common langur monkeys in Tarke Gyang. Hardly any people unless we were in a village. Very polite children. Stupas. Water. Trees. Rocks. Hills. The Himal in the distance. And silence.
In addition to living a dream of trekking in the hills of Nepal (hopefully not for the last time, but how soon will the twins be toilet trained??), I also really enjoyed the time I spent with Toby and Noa. This seems to be a time of rapid development in speech and thinking and spending days with each of them, rather than just evenings after work and busy weekends, was incredibly valuable to me. I had the time and energy to go with Noa when she took my hand and pulled me for a walk along the edge of fields in Sermathang. I could listen and talk to Toby in the backpack as he practiced new words over and over again: he said 'Noa' for the first time, as well as need, good, (pine)cone, dood (milk), panni (water), dahl, give, and penis(!) They are really cool kids, and I was lucky they put up with my need to be away from home in Kathmandu for a bit. They are very happy to be back among their toys, in their own beds, having baths again.
Until next time.
CTN
Ilse with Dominic, who is one month younger than the twins, Marie from work with her daughters Angelina (2 1/2 yrs) and Fleur (5), and Dina with her daughter Namrata who is 4. Shirin and Clare, Priscille and Christophe also came to celebrate. We marked up one wall with all the kids' heights, blew bubbles, and did a lot of colouring. The kids gobbled up prawn crackers, popcorn and juice before we brought out the chocolate cake and sang Happy Birthday. Toby and Noa capped off the afternoon by cavorting around in their birthday suits. And the day ended with a massive thunderstorm!
