From Chaos to Calm....Welcome to Nepal

In our rickshaw racing the cart & ponies the 6 kilometers to the border......We all won!

 After an all night ride from Rishikesh India to the border town of Banbassa India (11 hours) We waited until 6 am for an high speed dash to the Indian border crossing with about 10 other bus loads. Only about 6 gringos. Then a 1 km walk to the Nepal border for more paper work and then a 9 km rickshaw into Mahendranagar Nepal.......Immediate calm and off on another bus for 4 hours to Bairdia....Breaktime!

The rice paddies are harvested and the fields are tidy and clean....Where were we this morning?

Forest Hideaway, our retreat while we visited Bairdia National Park to see the Rhinos, Elephants and Bengal Tigers...Oh My.

Local talent working the fields and forest....

Our early morning elephant ride, across the rivers and into the jungle to wake up the everything we could.

Love the hair style on the water buffalo....maybe it would work for me?

Becky kept watching for the tiger..but it was not to be....I'm sure they were watching us..

We went on a river raft safari, walking safari and a jeep safari, saw all but the Bengal Tiger and of course needed a big camera zoom for any close up photos, but the Rhino mom & baby were a big highlight..... 

Rishekesh to Kathmandu

Stretch gets stretched! In Rishekesh we took yoga classes first thing in the morning. This instructor really knew his anatomy. Classes would last until he though we understand how to correctly do the moves, usually lasting 2 1/2 hrs. In this particular move, after getting into the ropes attached to the walla strap went across Stretch's back and under his arms with the ends coming out in front. I got to pull firmly to get his back level and open. Fun!

In Bardia Nat. Park, Nepal. We were out on a walking safari, hanging out in the shade along a waterway for about 2 hrs. before we were rewarded with an amazingly large bull elephant crossing the river. See Stretch's post for a good photo of the elephant...

The up close and personal wildlife were leeches - yuck! I learned if it feels like a pebble in my shoe, it's probably not.

A typical Thuru village home near the park. Simple structures made with materials easily formed.

I don't know who's more surprised, Stretch or the goat. This poor goat was tied on the roof of the van we took from  Bardia Park to Kathmandu - about 500k, and 14 hrs. He did his best to stay on, but sharp corners and bumpy roads would cause him to loose his footing, until at one point he was hanging over the side by the rope around his neck. So, the goat got stuffed in the van next to Stretch. After enduring that ride, the goat as well as hundreds of thousands of other animals were slaughtered the next day. The Nepali Hindu continue this tradition on the holiday of Dhsain, which is much like our Christmas.

Dubar Sq. in Kathmandu. The site of ancient temples and celebration on this holiday. Many temples were only open for viewing on Dhsain. Long lines of people dresses in their holiday finery, playing symbols and drums crowed the square. This was also a public animal slaughter site.

The following day, we visited Boudnath, which was another ancient temple site. Here though the Buddhists were giving speeches against the sacrifices. I felt better after hearing them talk, and seeing bowls of water and food set out for the stray dogs in this area.

Sights and Sounds of India

Western/Eastern fashion have no limits. check out the Buddha ears

Rishikesh bridge with mortorbike, monkey and cow hazards.

Sunset dip and cool of the Ganges

Trying to set fire to the Ganges....one boat of flowers at a time.

Success!

Give a man a car...now he has a horn to honk......without that horn there would be no driving technique.....

No alarm clocks needed, just listen for the clearing of the throats @ 6 am......hopefully their lungs won't plop on the ground.....

Sleeping dogs all day long....cause barking and posturing all night long. It's important to keep the monkeys at bay......

Even the woods as we walk away from people and traffic......are they crickets? Quite the orchestra.....

All this (plus some ear plugs) has given me the best sleep in years.........

Roads and transportation

This particular style of auto tuk-tuk we saw only around Jammu. They all looked like something out of "Mad Max"!

A pedestrian width bridge over the Ganges in Rishikesh . It was used by motorcycles - beeping of course- cows who languidly made their way across, thieving monkeys, and metal wheel carts loaded down with goods. Sunset watching was the best time.

Look closely on the right, that's the dusty mountain road we're traveling on. By road really is the only way to get to some of these places. For years these routes were just Yak trails - andyou can see why. The mountain sides are really raw, with rock slides a common occurrence. The road crews sometime have equipment, but many people are breaking rock by hand. Many of these workers seem to come from the south of India and are poorly equipped  for the cold weather. They live in tent camps along the road - very basic conditions. We had about 3 high narrow passes to cross on this leg from Leh to Shrinagar, and our driver want to get through them before 6pm, since he knew we were going to be running into a military truck caravan coming the opposite way.

I'll be adding to this page - I've got more great traffic shots and stories, but the upload speed in this cyber cafe just got really slow....

One of the few road signs to let you know of an upcoming hairpin turn. Actually there are some very humorous signs all along the road with saying such as, "If you're married, divorce speed", "I'm curvacious, go slow", etc. I've been trying to catch photos, but I think I'll have to write more of these down

Traffic jam, India style! We were sitting here for a couple hours, as some narrow section of the road was slowing traffic to one way. We were passed by several herds of goats and sheep, as well as nomadic families with their ponies. The commercial trucks are all decorated like this blue/green one, as each driver feels inspired.

Photo update to Markhu ValleyTrek

Our Ladakhi guide Tsentan shows us Blue Sheep Horns

Hiking up to our first village

Off to the next pass and village.

Our first home stay in Yourste

Kitchen in the Homestay, what a show place......

morning hike down to the Zanskar river

Everywhere a stupa.....

Exciting wooden bridges....

Stupa above Markhu

These updates will continue while the internet is faster than painful. The hiking has been incredible and we are moving on but the blog will stay here till we are up to date.......Cheers all.........

Tea time in Sara........also our Home stay for the night....

Becky & Tsentan helping to make Momos for dinner....what a treat.....

It may look bleak, but the color of the rock and fall colors were subtle and  makes you want to look around the corner....

Each bend in the river was towering rock walls, stupas and piles of mani  rocks made into walls.

The headwaters of the Markhu river.....

Our high camp (Rimaling) @ 16,500' . A little chilly last night in an army surplus tent.....Awesome food  and a  full moon.

Plenty of prayer flags at our high pass of 17,250'......Ready for the 5 thousand foot descent?

Yaks taking a break while we trudge down the mountain..

 This was through a Wildlife sanctuary, wee didn't see the snow leopards, but plenty of Blue Sheep. The Homestay programs open homes to hikers and spending the night with a meal and the family. It puts money directly into their hands and makes for great cross cultural exchanges.... 

Blue Skies & Altitude

Becky, our guide Tsetan and Mo @ 15,000'

We trekked int the Markha Valley and entered by our first pass over 16,400', stayed in local homes and ate endless Chapatis.......Each day was blue sky and 80 deg.  Our exit pass was 17,250' and then a descent into the Leh valley at 12,000' ..... Good times .........Cheers......

Markha Valley Trek

 Inside our homestay in Skyu village. This is a family's display of their generations of metal ware, which is used for various celebrations.

Threshing barley: a typical harvest time scene among the villages we passed through. The man driving the horses or yak would be singing to keep them going in circles, while the other person would toss in more barley. After thoroughly threshing, the barley is washed, dried, roasted, and then ground to flour.

A beautiful valley view through mostly arid country with endless multicolored barren mountains.