Trekking in Nepal 1/2

As Elizabeth was coming to Delhi in march and was ok to look after Ruben, we decided to take off for the Holi/ Easter holiday and go trekking in the moutains. Thanks, thanks, thanks Elizabeth.
Our destination of choice was Sikkim, but with 6 days maximum away and a long journey, we did not find a promising trek there.. Nepal instead offered some good possibilities, especially if we could make a 5-6 days trek fit into a 4-day one. So off we went! We had zeroed in on Langtang national park, not too far from Kathmandu, well equipped for trekking, enabling us to go quite high but not too high, and we hired a local agency to drive us there/ back and to provide a guide/ porter. Not really adventurous, but a great way to enjoy the time we had!
Flying to Kathmandu, with nice mountains views.

On the road to Syabru Besi, our starting point in Langtang valley. It was a nice, scenic 6 hour drive from Kathmandu.

Syabru Besi is a small town almost exclusively dedicated to trekkers. As we would see in Langtang valley, nearly all houses have been turned into hotels/ restaurants.

Day 1: Syabru Besi (1430 m) to Ghore Tabeli (2900 m) + a good 200 - 300 m of ups and down along the river. 8 hours.
We had to wait for a while for our guide/ porter Tsering to complete the paperwork at the head of the trail - yes, he was called Tsering Sherpa. Actually, we had crossed a great number of checkpoints on the road the day before, and would pass more in the valley itself. We were really baffled at their numbers.

Yes, this is what you think this is.

River crossing, with Tsering on the phone.

Overall, the infrastructure in Langtang valley was really very good, the paths were in good condition, the area was clean, we even had cell phone coverage the first day, solar panels provided some electricity and sometimes hot showers.. I do not know about the rest of Nepal, but coming from India this felt like a very well maintained area. At the same time, the amenities are not too modern - one has to walk to get anywhere (or to fly with an helicopter, but this is rare), most of the goods are - sadly - still transported on sherpas backs..
Towards our first stop on the way. One great thing in the valley is the number of 'lodges' spread along the path - every 20 min to one hour, there is a lodge where one can get some tea, buy food, sleep, or just replenish the water bottle. This was really convenient. And clearly, we realized that this was not a wilderness walk, but the scenery was beautiful, the people friendly, and we rarely felt overloaded with the other trekkers..

The Nepalese children were extremily cute! This one was also being naughty, throwing rocks at a chicken.

Along the river.

We were at the beginning of the rhododendrons bloom.

Lunch break at Ganesh View Lodge.

Normally, the first day of the trek ends just after this lodge, at Lama Hotel. Since we were doing a condensed version of the trek, we pushed on to Ghoretabeli, a further 2.5 hours away. We were quite tired and done at the end of that day. We walked through a beautiful forest on the way, but there were still many tiring ups and down..

We met these children several times during the day. They were going home, high up in the valley, from school. And they actually covered an impressive distance in one day! Walking from Syabru Besi to Lama Hotel, and then riding a horse to Langtang itself. We lost track of them then as the horse was going faster than us.

The clouds had pregressively gathered during the day and we ended up running to reach the lodge under a torrential rain. The pattern actually turned out to be the same every day: clear skies in the morning, progressively getting cloudy, with some rain (or snow high up!) about 4 pm.

Day 2 : Ghore Tabeli (2900 m) to Kianjin Gompa (3850 m). 4-5 hours.

We left with almost clear skies and some nice views over high summits.

One of the great charm of the hike were the budhist signs everywhere: flags, stone works, and prayer wheels. Some of the wheels are placed over streams, so that the water turns them automatically (the one below in Langtang village).

Langtang village is the major village in the area - very spread out, full of hotels, cafes, even internet cafes (!). A bit too busy really, and I am glad that we did not stop there for the night.

Along the path, we encountered many, many stone walls ('Mani walls') and structures with engraved prayers. These have, of course, to be passed on the left side. How impressively men have shaped their environment, even in these barren areas.

At the end of the valley, beautiful giants were beckoning us. Langshisa Ri (6400 m) at the far back.

Tsering insisted on us having a lunch break at 11 am, before the final climb to Kyanjim Gompa. Actually, as we made the mistake of ordering boiled potatoes with hard boiled eggs, the meal took more than one hour to prepare anyway - most cooking is done over wood stoves.

Off we went again, the air feeling increasingly rarefied.

As we got closer to Kyanjin Gompa, the scenery became amazingly beautiful.

We stayed in the "Monastery Hostel" for the night. It is a little away from the village, in front of a glacier.

Inside the Monastery.

We went for a short walk in the village but the snow came down and we retreated to the dining room.

And the sun came back at the end of the afternoon.

Avril a Delhi

A notre retour du Nepal, nous avons profité de la présence d'Elizabeth pour lui confier Ruben une demi-journee de plus et partir à la decouverte de Delhi a velo. Les tours a velo sont organises par une compagnie hollandaise (not so surprising), et ils demarrent a 6h30 le matin pour eviter la chaleur et la circulation.
Nous sommes partis de Turkman Gate, au sud de Old Delhi, avons traverse la vieille ville jusqu'aux Civil Lines et a la Yamuna, puis retour. Environ 12km, beaucoup de scenes depaysantes, et une approche tres interessante et differente de la ville.
J'ai ete frappee aussi par l'activite de la vieille ville des l'aube. Bien que les commerces n'ouvrent qu'a 10h30, beaucoup des travailleurs sont a pied d'oeuvre des le matin. Avec pour commencer la rue des bouchers derriere Turkman gate, hum.
Pres de la Yamuna.

Nous avons decouvert avec Elizabeth la 'secret pashmina shop' de Nizamuddin East. La porte sans signe distinctif particulier mene à un sous-sol plein de magnifiques tissus. J'en suis ressortie avec un tres beau chale; vivement l'automne prochain a Paris.

Beau bassin de la tombe de Khan I Khana a Nizamuddin, un grand poete de la cour de l'empereur Akbar.

Non contents d'avoir laisse Ruben pour voyager au Nepal et faire un tour a velo, nous sommes repartis le week end suivant, le confiant à sa nounou Susan, pour un 'getaway' dans la campagne pres de Delhi. La maison d'hotes Tikilibottom a ete construite par des anglais dans les annes 1990 et c'est un superbe endroit, tres reposant. Il est possible de s'y rendre aussi à la journee pour dejeuner et profiter de la piscine - quel dommage que nous ne l'ayons pas decouvert plus tot! Et dommage egalement que les hotes prennent leurs vacances chaque annee du 20 avril a fin juillet; nous ne pourrons pas y retourner avant notre depart.

Eric d'une part et moi d'autre part avons egalement pas mal voyage pendant le mois d'Avril. Eric a passe une semaine a Paris a explorer des possibilites pour le retour et je suis allee trois fois pour de courtes missions a Lucknow. Interessant mais fatigant.
En parlant de travail, seminaire de lancement d'un site internet sur 'participatory irrigation management', qui a donne lieu a un ceremonial a l'indienne, avec bouquet de fleur et benediction. With my boss Anju.

Ruben, lui, a enchaine les ennuis d'estomac, après une gastro en mars, il a eu une nouvelle gastro severe debut avril, puis quelques semaines avec peu d'appetit, et re-gastro fin avril.. Nous esperons que les ennuis sont termines...

Au parc avec Aadit.

Baby group chez Rakhi et Marco, avec spectacle de marionnettes par Marco.

L'activite favorite du mois pour Ruben est l'arrosage, des que nous l'autorisons à utiliser le jet d'eau. Ici avec 'mali bahia' le jardinier et Nanhi.

Lizzie, Sam et les enfants Katherine, Theo et Isla, sont passes une matinee a la maison. Ruben n'etait pas tres content de voir sa piscine envahie, mais quelle matinee agreable. Et nous avons commence malheureusement la saison des adieux. Sam et sa famille sont deja partis, en Angleterre, avant de s'installer pour de bon (enfin, quelques annees) a Toronto. We'll miss you guys!

Rakhi et Marco nous ont invite a une pool party dans la superbe propriete de la tante et du pere de Rakhi. Quel lieu magnifique!

Ce dimanche fut bien occupe, puisque nous sommes passes ensuite a l'anniversaire de Ren, petit japonais de 3 ans, et enfin de Aadit, qui fetait ses deux ans. Ici avec Shalini et Hitesh.

Enfin, j'ai quasiment arrete mes activites de liaison avec les ONG ici, mais ai tout de meme participe a une bake sale que nous avons organisee au sein de Delhi Network. 19000 rupees collectes en une journee pour les associations, ce n'est pas mal! Lizzie tient le stand sur la photo.