Nepal 2012

[biggbird]

Hey all, promised some photos of my recent trip to Nepal over Summer, so here they are.

I spent a month in Eastern Nepal for a uni placement, and then was lucky enough to meet up with my partner for some walking around the Everest region. We made it up to Gokyo, but unfortunately had to cut short our planned route, which included Everest Base Camp, due to unfamiliarity with ice + me falling over on my head + altitude. Still a great time, we were lucky enough to have beautiful weather for the most part (except when we wanted to fly out...).

Enough talking, more photos! Will update this every now and again as I slowly get through all the thousands of photos.

A few from in and around Kathmandu first:

The view from our hotel balcony


A young girl sells Chilies in the street


Enjoying the morning paper


It was certainly a colourful place...


The street food was great (and CHEAP!)

[biggbird]

A few of the elective itself:

Chiya (not Chai) was a constant companion.


The food was fantastic, and again, very cheap. This is Aloo Paratha, a flatbread with Potato and spices included in the dough. Served with Achar, spicy mushed pickles, it was my regular breakfast for the duration of our stay at the camp, and it cost me about 40c a pop!


A typical day at the office for the camp doctor.


The kids of the camp getting into the World HIV/AIDS Day rally.


80 huts destroyed in a fire caused by an exploding gas tank. This sort of thing happens 2 or 3 times a year.


We also had the chance to spend some time in the local hospital which cared for the refugees, as well as the local population. Lots of babies!

[biggbird]

And now we get on to some of the walking... Which was fantastic! Highly recommended as a travel destination for anyone considering overseas walking (or trekking, as they call it). We were lucky in our timing, right at the start of the Nepali Winter. Clear skies, not too cold overnight, and we didn't have to fight hordes of other trekkers for the pleasure. We did unfortunately have to spend 6 days waiting for our plane out... But you can't win them all!

The view from the Lukla hospital, which I had cause to visit after falling over on my face on our first day. Not a bad view to placate someone as they have their wound cleaned and stitched (with local anaesthetic if you're lucky...)


Crossing the Dudh Kosi river to arrive in Phakding, often the first stop on the itinerary. We made it on our second day, and decided to press on given the mishaps of the previous day.


A suspension bridge crosses a tributary of the Dudh Kosi, prior to the commencement of the sustained climb to Namche Bazaar.


The final ascent into Namche. Sore legs all around the next day.


While not what it was originally designed for, the Shyangboche Airport is still used for transport in some capacity.


From left to right, Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam preside over the trail as it ascends from Namche.

[Lizzy]

Fantastic experience & lovely photos- looking forward to more
Cheer
Liz

[Giddy_up]

WOW biggbird, keep the pics coming. What a place to take a stroll, and I still find it amazing that the top of Everest is the same altitude as a jet airliner cruises. Worth contemplating when you next look up and see contrails from one.

cheers
G_U

[naturelover]

WOW, those were great, especially Katmandu. Looking forward to more

[Nick S]

Loving the photos bigbird.
I regret not having the time to explore and photograph Kathmandu as it appears you have done. Did they work you hard in the hospital?
Top pics from the EBC trek as well. More brown and dry than October..

[biggbird]

Thank you all for the lovely comments! If you're interested in seeing more of the photos, you can find them here on my blog.

Very pleased last night... I had the photos from the way up on the walk, and from halfway down onwards, but had lost all those in the middle... Finally managed to find the intervening photos last night, apparently I had somehow formatted the card they were on, and so am very thankful for the invention of data recovery software! Would have been very sad to lose all of them, especially as that was where we got most of our views of the higher peaks too!

Thankfully they were pretty good in the hospital Nick, so plenty of time for photos Interesting to hear that it was significantly different from your experiences, will have to go back and look through your photos again. I remember very much enjoying them the first time, but it will probably be even better when I actually know some of the spots!

[biggbird]

A few more as we ascend towards Gokyo.

Looking back to the trail as it climbs from Sanasa


A porter carries his load up the trail towards Dole. You saw some interesting cargoes on the trail.


The sun sets on a hill above Dole, as we head out for an afternoon stroll with a Spanish couple we met along the way.

[doogs]

Thanks for sharing Bigbird, looks like an amazing place to visit and experience. I have dreamed of climbing Ama Dablam many times, maybe one day I'll get there. I reckon it's the best looking mountain in the Himalayas

[biggbird]

Hey Doogs, thanks for dropping in to have a look! Ama Dablam was definitely a beautiful mountain. In some ways, I think being a little shorter seems to help it to look more attractive, as all of the 8000+ mountains we saw tended to be big and bulky, contrasting with Ama Dablam's more shapely form. They were all pretty spectacular though!

[biggbird]

A few more, as I haven't anything better to do with my Easter break (yet!):

As one ascends over around 4000m, the amount of vegetation drops off quite sharply, leaving a stark, dry landscape behind.


A well earned rest in Dole. For less than $2 per night, that's some view out the window.


Headed up the valley towards Gokyo, Cho Oyu, 6th highest mountain in the world, dominates the skyline.


Gazing back down the valley towards Thamserku. An almost constant companion on our walk, we saw many different sides of Thamserku.

[frenchy_84]

Thanks for the photos biggbird. What was your average daily spend on the trek? and did you need US dollars at all? I leave for Nepal on sunday and just trying to work out how much cash to carry while on the trek. Being an UL hiker I don't want to get weighed down by unnecessary dollar bills

[biggbird]

Hey frenchy, exciting to hear you're heading off soon! Where are you planning to walk while you're there? We budgeted for around 2000 rupees per person per day, and that was more than comfortable. If you're frugal, you could quite easily get away with 1000-1200, but I would definitely suggest taking more just in case. Didn't need to carry US dollars, as long as you have already changed your money to sufficient Nepali currency beforehand. Hope this doesn't get in the way of your weight restrictions Let me know if there's anything else I can help you with! And let me leave you with a photo, of the 1st Gokyo Lake this time:

[stepbystep]

Lovely stuff bigbird thanks for the share

[biggbird]

Cheers SBS (also, every time I read your name, I have New Kids On The Block in my head... Still trying to decide whether this is a good thing or not )

A couple more for this morning:

At 36km long, the Ngozumpa Glacier is the Himalaya's longest. This was our first view of it.


I'm unsure as to the names of these two pointy peaks, but they make for some very dramatic, "teeth of the world" type photos.


This is a morning view of 3rd lake, before our ascent to Gokyo Ri. Being that it was the start of winter, the lakes were almost completely frozen, somewhat dampening the brilliant blue-green colour that helps to make them so appealing. However, the ice brought its own interesting experiences too. When drifting off to sleep at night, it was quite an eerie experience to listen to the heaving and groaning of the ice outside one's window, and imagine what might be going on underneath the surface...

[stepbystep]

Cheers SBS (also, every time I read your name, I have New Kids On The Block in my head...

Uuurrrgh now if ever there was motivation to change my user name that's it!

[frenchy_84]

Thanks for more photos big bird, they are all great photos, but the 2nd one in that last set is amazing. Im planning on doing the 3 passes trek, so will get up to Gokyo to see the lakes. Im starting to get really excited about the trip, just nervous that flights will get delayed, particularly the one in to Lukla, as we couldn't get the 6am flight out of Kathmandu but the 10am instead so hopefully the weather is good enough to land

[biggbird]

^Looking forward to hearing back from you about your trip when you return/get around to it frenchy!

A couple from Kathmandu, as I slowly work my way through them all.