stufabi goes to thailand

stufabi is leaving Nepal tomorrow and flies to Thailand. As the Thai-flag is pretty boring (don't you think?), we decided not to change our header and keep the pretty Nepali-flag...

In and around Kathmandu

Streetlife and Newari houses, Bandipur

On our way from Pokhara to Kathmandu we visited the small medieval town of Bandipur. A jewel off the beaten track where the omnipresent "one pen, one chocolate, one rupee"question hasn't reached yet. Bandipur's people are remarkably friendly and well educated which certainly is the result of an old-established school introduced by japanese nuns many years ago. An other evidence of the good education are the well kept Newari (the largest ethnic group in Nepal) buildings, temples and alleys. The main road very much reminded us of the old town in Murten, Switzerland.

During our stay we got to learn how to play the chess in Nepali-style. Hitting the enemies figures is much more important and more exciting than applying a strategy...

It's also an area short hikes such as climbing some of the several surrounding hills in order to catch a glimpse of the terraced landscape. An other walk lead us to a silkfarm which was a very rewarding experience because we got to know the process of gaining silk-thread.

The Stupas and Monastries of Bodhnath

If we had to decide of one symbol which pictures Nepal, it would be either an image of some mountains or the most visited Stupa of the country located in Bodhnath.

We lived there for a few days and entered several monastries, where the doors are open for visitors most of the time. Buddhism is indeed a very complex and true-to-life religion. Due to the big interest of western people, many monastries offer introductory courses. Unfortunatly we couldn't find any matching with our travel schedule. Nontheless, we found many opportunities to learn something about Buddhism while talking to different experienced Buddhists from Nepal or abroad.

Dhulikel

On the eastern edge of the Kathmandu-Valley, we stayed at the Nawaranga Guesthouse in Dhulikel. As most of the Nepali names have a beautiful meaning, so does Nawaranga: nine colours or colour of the rainbow.

The owner Purna (fullmoon) and his family are victims of the political unrest during the last 10 years. Their son got kidnapped by 4 years ago and is still missing. The daughter committed suicide. So Purna and his wife are now taking care of their 10 grandchildren.

Stories like that are also part of the fate of this country.

If anyone of you ever decides to visit Dhulikel ;-) we strongly recommend the dayhike to Namoboudha and Panauti. Even though it's only a 2 hour busride from Kathmandu there were hardly any tourists. The walk passes along small villages, cultivated fields (seem like all the villagers were busy harvesting potatoes), and finally the picturesque tre-storey-temples of Panauti.

A successful day in Patan

Since the day we arrived in Nepal we have been looking for a Singing Bowl. After having spent a lot of time doing research on the history, the usage and the actual value ;-), we realized that all bowls are manufactured in Patan. That's why we decided to finalise our research work on spot...

And we luckily did find a small shop whit a man who was very knowledgeable and reliable!

Yes, and now we are proud owners of a 2.5kg beautifully sounding Singing-Bowl!

What to DO in KathmanDU?

Eating, doing Yoga, chilling-out.

These three activities have been dominating our lives during the last week, completed by listening to livemusic, drinkin Gin-and-Tonics and shopping. So you can see, there is lots to DO in KathmanDU... ;-)

Often we were being joined by Michelle, a lovely Canadian, we met in Bandipur. Together we discovered our favourite restaurants in town with focus on (organic) salad variations. Of course we also were looking for places selling tasty local food and snacked around in various streetstalls.

Every other day early in the morning we tried to look good in different Yoga-postures...

Our american friend Chirag and the nepalese Yoga teacher Soumika recently set up a Yoga center. We really enjoyed these hours of moving our bodies smoothly.

Even though the exercises looked fairly easy we got up the following mornings with our muscles aching, longing for a day off...

...which we for example spent in the garden of dreams, a little oasis in the centre of Kathmandu but miles away from traffic an other disturbing noises.

Wildlife & Buddhism & Rural Nepal

Kingfisher, Chitwan National Park

The only acceptable foto of the wildlife we saw on our jeep safari in Chitwan National Park is this beautiful Kingfisher. This bird is so famous that they even named a beer after it...Our Safari was a success as we could see the very rare, giant black sloth bear eating on termites only 20 meters away! Other animals we saw: crocodile, dotted deer, colourful peacocks and several other bird species. However we could not see the endangered one-horned-rhino which is one of the main attractions in this National Park.

Elephant riding, Sauraha (Chitwan National Park)

In Sauraha, the gateway town to the park and our lodging place, we enjoyed ourselves so much riding on the biggest animal on the earth!

Every day the elephants ot the town are going down to the river for their daily bath and whoever wants can join them to have fun in the cooling water. Oh yes, it was so refreshing to fall into lukewarm water, as the air was around 40 degrees.What we also got to feel is that elephant skin is much rougher than human skin...




Stufabi in front of the World Peace Pagoda, Lumbini

Next destination was Lumbini, Lord Buddha Siddharta Gautama's birthplace (563bc). It is a pilgrimage place for Buddhists and Hindus as Buddha also is a reincarnation of the important Hindu god Vishnu.
The widespread development zone around birth site where Buddhist communities from all over the world build their monasteries and temples really is worth a visit. The white World Peace Pagoda for example was built by Japanese monks, the colourful ornamented door which Fabi tries to open :-) belongs to the Tibetan gompa and the huge praying roll Stufi is moving is located next to the German temple.
The effort of maintenance of the buildings and gardens varies a lot...some are in a very poor condition which is quite sad, but others are very well kept and it is a big pleasure to walk through the neatly arranged surroundings.

Man selling spices in a street in Pokhara

Stufi asking for directions, Pokhara

Here and then we rent some old style Indian bicycles with one gear...we love to explore the surroundings cycling! As the maps often are basic or rather not useful we count on the help of locals. Asking for directions using hands and feet can happen anywhere, even in the middle of a junction ;-)

Market, Tansen-Palpa
Escaping the heat, a winding road took us up to the medieval hill town of Tansen. Most parts of the old town are traffic-free because of the narrow and steep alleys. This fact requires the people to carry all the goods themselves.
Tansens main business is the weaving of a unique material which is seen all over Nepal. We visited one of the factories and were surprised how complicated the weaving-looms are built and how quick the workers handle these machines. At the market area you could buy all kinds of bags, clothes, hats, shoes etc. made out of this fabric.

Plumeria, Fabis favourite and all beloved flower...

We are very happy to still have three weeks left to continue our travels in this marvelous country.
The encounters with these beautiful and friendly people are always an enrichment, we truly love what we get to see and experience here.

Annapurna-Trekking

As we wrote in the last entry we went on a 10-Day-Trek in the Annapurna-Region...IT WAS AMAZING !!!

ANNAPURNA 1 - 8091m - View from Lete

On the starting day we first drove by car for about 1 hour to Nayapul, which is the town where you have to enregister with ACAP, the Annapurna Conservation Area Project, before starting the trekking. As we decided to walk with a guide, we didn't have to worry about the paper work;-) Talking about the guide: he's name is Kopil and he lead us thru the mountains, giving us some precious information about the peaks, local people, religion and made us laugh with his funny behaviour. In this area it really is not necessary to be guided, as the trails are very well maintained and obviously marked and the guesthouses, called teahouses, are widely spread out along the tracks. Even though April is a good time for hiking in this part of the Himalayas, we never had any troubles to find a bed to sleep and food to fill our empty stomachs. Our idea in hiring a guide was mainly the benefit of getting interesting background information, which at the end was rather disappointing and not worth the money, because our man was not one of the experienced ones and his english skills ware pretty basic. But at least we supported a local family (Kopil is a part-time university student and a proud father of a daughter)!

On day three at 4.30 in the morning we started walking up to Poonhill, one of the most famous lookout-points in the Annapurna range, to see the sunrise. We were blessed by superb weather conditions...so we not only could admire the view, but also see the six stripes of the Himalayas before the sun rised over the peaks. What a unique moment!!!

It didn't matter that hundreds of other trekkers from all over the world shared that time up there with stufabi. Happiness was written in everyone's face that morning...

The day before climbing Poonhill, we were walking seven hours with 1200m difference in altitude, constantly ascending. After descending from Poonhill, eating cornbread and drinking milktea for breakfast, we continued walking downhill to the village of Tatopani, 1200m lower and seven hours further. This was quite a bit of work for our legs and shoulders, and at the same time our thoughest two days. This torture absolutely was rewarded by the mentionned Poonhill-views, as well as passing thru blooming rhododendron-forests and coming along waterfall landscapes forming pools with cristalclear, icecold mountainwater.

It was also very interesting to see how the hilltribes live and how they are able to grow different grains (corn, wheat), vegetables (cauliflower, potatoes, pumpkin, tomatoes, onions, spinach) and fruits (apples, apricots, almonds) in barren earth.

Most of those tribal people have tibetean roots. It can easily be seen in their different clothing, the colourful jewellery the women wear, the art, and the religion which is Tibetean Buddhism. Praying flags are waving everywhere, Praying rolls are installed in every tiny little village and Bhudda's Eyes are watching you from all over...

stufabi in front of DHAULAGIRI - 8167m - View from PoonHill

First news from Nepal

Stufabi is sitting in front of the computer and really wants to feed you with some infos...where to begin, it's always the same question.
As mentionned earlier, we arrived in Kathmandu on the big day of the elections which marked the end of the monarchy and where there was to find out whether the Communists(Maoists) or the
Congress Party will win. Against the expectations, the situation was quiet and peaceful, there were crowds of people on the streets with their tiny portable radios switched on and waiting for first results , the shops and restaurants were closed and traffic was limited to shuttles buses for people arriving at the airport.
We only spent three days in the capital city, using the time for trekking preparations, arranging our flight to Bangkok in June, enjoying the widespreaded choice of restaurants and last but not least roaming the thousands of shops selling all the heartbeating souvenirs...uiuiui...

After Kathmandu we headed eastwards straight to Pokhara, the gateway to all the hiking in the Annapurna region. No, we haven't seen Mt.Everest yet as this peak is located in the west...but getting a first glance on the Himalayas is honestly breathtaking and goosebumps giving. Pokhara is only at 800m altitude and sourrounded by several 8000m peaks such as the Dhaulagiri(8167m) or the little lower but Matterhorn-shaped Machhapuchhare (6997m). We certainly will be able to tell you much more about these mountains and the emotions as tomorrow we'll start trekking in this area. The name of the trek is Jomsom and will take us at least 10 days or even longer in case we won't get enough...

Last news from India

Currently we are in Cochin, just came back from Munnar at 1600m a couple of hours ago. Our plan was to update our blog which means changing the layout properly, posting a big final-entry and uploading a few pics of our adventures in India.

However due to heavy rainfalls and loosing the WWW-connetion all the time this was just partly possible.

Tonight we catch the overnight train to Chennai on the eastcoast in order to board an airplane to Delhi and onward to Kathmandu (Nepal) on the 10th of April.
We will have spent three months in India. The summary in general is LOVE and HATE...

It is definitely impossible to describe the hating part but everyone who traveled India knows what we mean!

We will try to explain it back in Switzerland or wherever we meet you...

We are very much looking forward to Nepal, the trekkings, the warmhearted people and the peacefulness. Well, talking about peacefulness: during the first few days this could be affected by the election (hold on our day of arrival) and the consquences of the results. We will see what happens. We'll let you know for sure !!!

Impressions

Sunset by the sea, Gokarna

Fruitbasket, Gokarna Om-beach

Extinguisher, Gokarna trainstation

Indians entering a train, Mangalore

Stufi, Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary

South Indian Thaly, Mananthavady

Fabi with Coconut, Cochin

Rice I, Mananthavady

Rice II, Mananthavady

Rice III, Mananthavady

Bicycle, Cochin

Hampi and the rocks

A very different unique scenery is what we got to see in Hampi, 300km inland of Goa.
The whole area is located in a valley, washed out by a gigantic river thousand of years ago. The village is spread out along the quiet river surrounded by Vijayanagar ruins of the 14th century. One temple is 52meters high and some parts of these ruins are part of the World Heritage.
What really gives Hampi its magical touch is the combination of the ruins and the boulders. Those rock formations look like piled marbles and are very inviting to be climbed (playground for Stufi!) or to have a rest in their shade.
But you always have to be aware of the cheeky monkeys. They are very quick in stealing food (not only bananas) and waterbottles.
The climate is getting hotter day-by-day, even the nights can be very sweaty and from 12 till 3pm moving too much is very exhausting. That is one reason why five days later we decided to head back to the sea, to Gokarna.
For getting there we booked an overnight sleeper bus.

Goa and the portuguese influence

We arrived in Arambol on February 27 and left on March 7....nine days of "vacation" on our journey...
Arambol is the northern most beach in the state of Goa. You can imagine it like this: no big tourist resorts, mostly just simple bamboo-huts on the beach or small, familiar guesthouses in town. Not too many charter tourists, but food and snacks from all over the world.
First night we shared our room with cockroaches and spiders. So first thing on the second day was moving to another place, where we found our little paradise. Chandra, who is taking care of the beautiful garden and the guests, prepares the best masala chai (tea) we have ever had.
The days passed with going for long walkes along the beach, swimming in the sweetwaterlake just off the shore, shopping, eating self chosen tigerprawns and lots of other delicious seafood, listening to livemusic and of course sunbathing. Even though our skin is used to the sun by now we got pretty red one day due to a non-working shitty indian sunscreen. So we got back to the reliable NIVEA.
Also, we have a new favourite drink...is is called Feni, which is brewed from local cashews or coconuts and is strong and tasty and comes lika a hammer. Unfortunately we can not bring it back to Switzerland (sorry Janiel) as it is only sold in Goa.


Most visitors of Goa just go to the beaches, which is a big mistake. As this state is a former portuguese enclave, the influence of this period still can be seen. Especially in the capital city of Panjim.
Just a few meters off the busterminal you can feel a very differend vibe and admire the numerous churches and the architecture of buildings. And it is very clean. And a many of the remaining portuguese women wear pants and have their hair cur short...but on the other hand it is very strange to see indian nuns put in dark robes instead of the colourful saris.
It is wonderful to see how people of three major religions can live together door-by-door! It is possible to see hindu temples, christian churches and muslim mosques whitin a couple of hundred meters. FANTASTIC!