June 2022 – Benediction

A bittersweet experience.

I had been planning to go to Nepal for a long time. My wish was to witness Mt. Everest and Mt. Machchhapuchhare (Mt. Fishtail ). After a long study and getting information from several sources, I made an itinerary. I wanted to start in the month of March. However, this year, due to Corona, the board exams started in late April and I had to delay my trip.

I planned it to start on 7th of May. It was a 16 days trip. I booked tickets from Howrah to Raxaul in Mithila express. I decided to return by flight from Kathmandu because I thought it would be a hassle to come back again by bus from Kathmandu to Raxaul. I also had a secret hope that the flight would go over the Himalayas, which it did not. May is the end season for Nepal tourism. After that monsoon starts. But unfortunately I found out at the last moment that there were predictions for rain and thunderstorms all over my trip. I felt a little disheartened.

I included Muktinath in my itinerary, and according to the suggestion of my friend I also kept Manang in the plan. I had a plan to go to Nagarkot and Chandragiri from Kathmandu as Mt. Everest could be seen from those places. I hoped I could see a glimpse of Mt. Machapuchhare from Sarangkot. But man proposes God disposes.

The journey started on the schedule date. From Birganj bus stand few buses ply at regular intervals in the morning for Pokhara. Our bus was at 10:30AM. I eventually met a gold merchant in the bus who was full of negativity. He informed us that there was a traffic jam and we might have to spend the whole night on the road. Thankfully it was not such a serious situation and we reached Pokhara only 5 hours late, at 10 o’clock at night. I had previously booked the hotel.

Taking a taxi from Prithwi Chawk I reached the New Elite Guest House at Hallan Chawk,. It was beside Phewa Lake. The owner Purna was a very congenial person. Due to the upcoming election there were few restrictions in Pokhara. Restaurants, shops and pubs were to be closed by 10 o’clock at night. So Purna asked me to go to any restaurant to have dinner, as their establishment was already closed.

Next morning taking a taxi we went to Sarangkot view point, to witness the sunrise. The peaks could not be seen properly as it was partly cloudy. I took snaps of Pokhara. As I had a plan to go to Muktinath and Manang for which we had to get a permit from the Nepal Tourist Board. The first half of the day was spent in doing that. I wanted to go Manokamna temple, but it ended up into a fiasco. My companion was not interested in visiting Devis Falls, and other local sight seeing because she had already visited them. So we did not go anywhere except the lake at Pokhara. I consoled myself traveling Sarangkot by cable car arranged by our hotel owner. There we also made our permit for Muktinath and Manang.

Normally I travel alone. This time on request of an acquaintance, I took her with me. I had met her previously at Pathornachuni on my Rupkund (Uttarakhand, Garhwal) trek. She also did a short Uttarakhand trip with another of my acquaintances in the month of February. She told me that she traveled and trekked quite a few places in the Himalayas, and she was an ex-employee of Indian Railway, and she had got the job through sports quota. I thought she could be a good companion. I felt completely duped when I started traveling with her. She was neither a passionate traveler nor was she physically and mentally fit for taking the strain of traveling through a self organized tour. Realizing my mistake, I decided to keep patience and enjoy as much as possible in that situation.

After spending two days at Pokhara we caught a bus at 7 in the morning for Jomsom. On the bus I was delighted to meet a French lady who had been staying in Nepal for 14 years and adopted Buddhism. She spoke Nepali fluently and knew every nook and corner of Nepal’s trekking destinations. I felt envious of her. We reached Jomsom in the afternoon. We met a German trekker who also wished to reach to Muktinath that day. So he took initiative to arrange a jeep, which we shared. We reached Muktinath when the sun was setting behind Mt. Dhaulagiri and Mt. Tukuche.

Gangapurna Peak, glacier and lake. Manang.

Muktinath was quite cold. The name of the hotel at Muktinath where we lodged was Norling. Food was tasty and good. It was near the bus stand. We slept early. Next day after 7 o’clock in the morning we started for Muktinath. My travel companion bathed in the twin kunds and 64 dharas and offered puja. It was actually her prime objective to come to Nepal with me. I offered puja and witnessed the holy deity. I felt blessed to visit there.

Next day was election day. No vehicles would be available. So after coming down from the temple I went to the bus stand to know the bus time to reach Jomsom. I wanted to spend one day at Jomsom and visit Dumba Lake there. But when I went there I came to know that no bus was plying on that day for Jomsom. I had to hire a taxi in a hurry, otherwise we could get stuck at Muktinath for the next day also. Going to Pokhara from Muktinath would take two/three hours longer than Jomsom. And also I was interested in spending one day at Jomsom.

We stayed in a hotel near Jomsom bus stand called the Muktinath Hotel. Jomsom is a scenic place with the view of Mt Nilgiri and Mt Dhaulagiri, Kaligandaki river and apple orchards. Next day being the election day most shops remained closed. Nepal armed forces were patrolling on the roads. We visited the serene Dumba lake after lunch. It was hardly 3/4 kilometer from the center of the small town. The lake is considered sacred by the Buddhists. I lost my camera lens cap while coming back from Dumba lake.

Next day we caught a bus in the morning and reached Pokhara in the afternoon. It started raining after we arrived. Our hotel owner Purna had booked our bus ticket for Besishahar. Spending one night in Pokhara we started for Besishahar at 7 o’clock in the morning and reached at 11 am. There we had our lunch and started for Manang.

Bagmati river, Pashupati nath Temple, Kathmandu.

Many treks start from Manang. It is a district of Nepal. There are small villages like Dharapani, Chame, Pisang, Braga, Tanki Manang, Khangsar, etc. Every village has its own beauty with snow peaks, Marsyangdi river, and innumerable water falls. Thorang La pass trek, Tilicho lake trek, Khangsar kang peak expedition etc. start from here. Mt. Gangapuna, Mt. Annapurna, Mt. Tilicho, Mt. Khangsar Kang, Mt. Manaslu peaks can be seen from here.

We reached Manang at 10 o’clock at night. Here I want to mention that going to Manang needs a lot of physical and mental strength, and traveling to Manang is quite expensive. It is not a cup of tea for an amateur traveler who travels for comfort and leisure. My Manang traveling experience is another story. *****

Spending two nights at Manang we came down to Besishahar. Here I realized that most Indian ATM cards do not work in Nepal and Bhutan. It was a disaster for me. Next day with the help of our driver and hotel owner we got two seats in the micro-bus for Kathmandu. After reaching Kathmandu we boarded in a hotel at Gangabu, where the bus dropped us. Gangabu is a convenient place and there are many budget hotels for locals, though not for tourists. Tourist area is Thamel.

Knowing my problem of lack of funds, the hotel owner helped me. My son sent him money through IME and he delivered me the cash. I shall remain ever grateful to him. I abandoned my plan for Chandragiri and Nagarkot due to my travel companion’s disinterest. We visited Pashupatinath temple, Swayambhunath temple, Patan (Darbar square), Bhaironath and Bhaktapur Darbar square in three days. We caught our flight for Kolkata from Kathmandu. My hopes to witness Mt. Everest and Mt. Machapuchhare remained unfulfilled this time. Maybe I shall visit Nepal again. But that will surely be a solo trip.

*****

Manang, an experience.

_{A pristine district of Nepal}

Manang is a district of Nepal from where many trek routes start. When I was planning for a Nepal trip one of my trekker friends suggested to visit there. I asked him if one can go there by vehicle because I can not trek now a days due to my health issues. I searched Google and YouTube and got a little information about Manang. But in those videos and articles none discussed the cost and the problems. It may be the cause that very few people go there and mostly they go in groups. They are mostly trekkers, so are strong in every way. It is a popular destination for foreigners who do not bother about expenses because 1 US $ is equal to 123 NC or 1 Euro is equal to 132 NC whereas 5 Indian rupees is equal to 8 Nepali rupees. It is a restricted and natural calamity prone area, so a permit (TIMS Nepal) is required to go there. The permit costs 1000+600 Nepali currency.

We took a bus from Pokhara to Besishahar at 7 o’clock in the morning. My companion was eternally irritating by nature. She has different health problems. It was a 4 hours bus journey and the bus did not stop for a break. She suddenly started shouting that she needed to go to the toilet. After shouting a few times, the bus stopped at a suitable place and she released herself. I felt a little embarrassed because it was against my culture and one should have control over oneself for hunger, thirst and other issues while undertaking a journey specially of this kind. There were few young foreigners from Europe who came in different groups from different parts of Europe. There was a solo female traveler too from Germany. All young.

When the bus dropped us at Besishahar, it was around 11-30 AM. We got down from the bus and had our lunch. After lunch I started searching for a vehicle to reach Manang. They asked for 5000 NC. means 3125 IC. I was a little shocked, I had no idea that the cost of going to Manang would be so high. I could not check through Google then because my Nepali SIM did not have mobile data. BTW, in Nepal most of the hotels provide free WiFi connection.

My friend got agitated suspecting that they were looting us. She asked me to bargain and I inquired of to the locals what the true price was, they informed me that it was 2500 NC for locals. I argued with a pick-up van driver and he agreed to take us at 2500 NC ( He was going to Chame, I did not know that the whole area is called Manang which is a district of Nepal and our destination point was Tanki Manang.).

When we started, the river Marsyangdi was accompanying us. It was a cloudy day and drizzling from time to time. On the way a couple from Tamilnadu joined us. The road was extremely rugged, the vehicle was swinging like a seesaw, but the view was extraordinary. We had a tea break at a beautiful view point where there was a large falls. After that there were three check posts where our permits were checked. The vehicle was carrying loads which it dropped at several assigned places.

At Chame it cleared all its cargo and the passengers, except us. He announced that he would not go farther. I was surprised because I was quite sure that it was not the place that my trekker friend had described to me. I firmly told the driver that it was not Manang where we wanted to go for. To solve the dispute the driver took us to the tourist police who intervened and made us understand that we had to pay at least another 1500 NC for going to that particular place from there and he arranged another vehicle which luckily arrived from Besishahar at that time with two vacant seats, and we started again.

It was dark by that time. Outside nothing could be seen. My friend who was by nature always skeptical, started shouting at me that she had made a great mistake coming with me, exhausting herself physically, mentally and financially. She doubted that these people could kill us and throw our bodies into Marsyangdi. None would be able to trace us. I was already upset and tolerating her tantrums on different issues since the beginning of the journey, lost patience and threatened her that when she had come with me she had to endure things till we catch our flight.

When the car reached Tanki Manang it was 10PM. The village was sleeping. The moon was peeping through the clouds. Luckily our driver previously had informed a hotel nearby jeep stand to arrange dinner for all 6 passengers that he was carrying including himself. My friend was so ill mentally and physically that she was unable to stand properly; the driver and another person carried her and her luggage. She was hungry, scared and tired( later I realized it was all fake). She slept on the sofa of the dining hall. She could not eat properly and was out of breath. I kept myself calm and served her like a typical manager of a travel agency. She met me on a place during Rupkund trek, she informed us that she had done a few treks, it was unexpected to me that she proved herself so vulnerable in every way all through the tour. I lost my water bottle in the jeep during this chaos.

Next day was a sunny day. My friend was happy to see the natural beauty of the place and showed a volte face as if nothing serious had happened previous night. She informed that she had felt little nervous only. Together we went to Gangapurna lake, watched Gangapuna peak and glacier and strolled in the village. Food was very costly. Even two fried eggs cost 320 NC. The name of the hotel was Hotel Yeti where we stayed. It was convenient for us due to its proximity to the jeep stand. We inquired about the jeep time and the rent after lunch. It was 4000 NC for going down to Besishahar. During dinner my friend asked for a green chilly. The manager of the hotel laughed and said he had not seen green chilly for a month. Instead he offered her chilly pickles.

Tanki Manang is a beautiful village with many snow peaks of Himalayas like Mt Annapurnas, Mt Gangapurna, Mt Tilicho, Mt Khangsar Kang etc. It is situated above 11,500ft/3500 meters from sea level. River Mansyangdi is flowing through the valley. Though arid by nature there are many apple orchards. The apples that grow here are of a different type. Many trek starts from here.

In the afternoon we went nowhere because my friend was neither hardy nor a travel freak, she loved binge watching on her phone most of the time or sleeping. I was also lacking enthusiasm after a few altercation from the beginning of the tour and was waiting for the end. Next morning we woke up early and I reached the jeep stand before 6-30 AM as per instruction of the driver. My friend reached there at 5-45 in the morning. When my friend went to the toilet she found my water bottle in the office cum tea shop at the jeep stand. I was happy to get it back. Ultimately the jeep started at 8AM. Then it stopped at Braga and Pisang to pick up local passengers. Both were small beautiful villages.

At Chame we had breakfast break. Jery (Jalebi) Puri of Chame is famous in Manang. When we went upward we could see nothing as it was cloudy. This time I looked around at Chame, a beautiful village. Manaslu peak was visible from there. From Dharapani the whole Manaslu range was visible, but I had to capture it only on my mobile as I lost my camera lens cap at Jomsom, I had to keep the camera under packing for its safety. We reached Besishahar in the afternoon, nearly at 4 o’clock and boarded in a hotel with the help of our jeep driver. Next day we reached Kathmandu.

Month: June 2022

My first Nepal trip.

A bittersweet experience.

Manang, an experience.

_{A pristine district of Nepal}