Monthly Archive for October, 2011

The Annapurna Circuit Days 1-3

Published on October 16, 2011 in Nepal. 2 Comments

Day 1

Our first day on the Circuit was spent jeeping to Besisahar and then hiking to Ngadi.  The jeep ride was uneventful, beyond turning my ass to hamburger thanks to Nepal’s notoriously bad roads.  In Besisahar we ran into what would become a common sight on our hike: hordes of Israelis.  Apparently their university summer break coincides perfectly with shoulder season on Annapurna, so they descend on the trek in droves for the cheap prices that September offers.  From here you can opt to take a bus to Bhulbhule or go for the 1.5 hour hike.  We chose the hike to stretch our legs a bit after our jeep ride.  About 15 minutes into our walk the rain came, lightly at first but quickly developing into a downpour.  The buses going by were full of Israelis radiating pity.

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We hit Bhulbhule right on schedule, but decided that getting a head start on the horde behind us would be better than stopping there for the night.  The next town, Ngadi, was just an hour-long hike away.   At Ngadi we got our first guesthouse experience, and were exposed to what would become our menu for the next 12 days: dal bhat, Tibetan bread, chapattis, and veg curry.  At this point Snickers bars also remained relatively inexpensive.

When we settled in for the evening I was surprised by the day’s hiking, mostly because of the scenery.  I was expecting sheer cliffs and massive rock faces, but the first day was very green, almost lush.  The landscape was covered in ferns and lots of deciduous plants.  There were no evergreens to speak of.  It felt a lot like Munnar’s tea plantations.

Day 2

Day 2 started out much like day 1: with rain.  The morning brought a downpour with it.  Jess and I decided to brave the rain, and started out early with the Israelis radiating pity once again.  We got our first real ascent of the trek on day 2, with a 420m climb from Ngadi to Bahundanda.  Most of it was done on stone stairs akin to the Inca Trail.  Not a bad start to the morning.

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Following a quick break in Bahundanda we pressed on towards Jagat, our destination for the day.  The trail map was a bit deceptive, not really doing justice to the slog on rocky cutbacks that took us to Jagat, but we got there around lunchtime.  This method would become our daily routine, and we found it suited us well.  We’d usually try to depart by 6-6:30am, and finish around 12 or 1pm.  We wouldn’t stop for lunch before stopping for the day.  We figured that sitting for 45 minutes to an hour would make our legs tighten up and sap our will to press on.  This is  how we hiked for the rest of the Circuit, and I highly recommend it if you don’t mind hiking slightly hungry.

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After two guesthouses I started to get a picture of costs on the trail, at least during shoulder season (September).  Most rooms were free (if you ate at the guesthouse) or 100-200 rupees.  Most places were only 100 rupees for two people.  They make their money on the food, which was simple and filling but quite pricey.  A dal bhat would run 200-300 rupees; curries similar, and extra rice would be 100.  Dal bhat was usually the best value, since you would get free refills of dal and rice as long as you could take ‘em.

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Day 3

Our first day with no rain!  The weather cooperated and we had a beautiful blue sky as company.  We were planning on at least Tal for the day, but ended up pushing past it.  Our final destination was Karte, which made for about 6 hours of hiking and a gradual ascent of 570m.

The views today were considerably nicer than what we had before.  We ended up in slot canyons lined with waterfalls and steeper cliffs, and the trail wound its way along these.  The trail was still much greener than I was expecting, but we started to get some peeks at the rockier stuff that awaited us.  Following a nice series of cutbacks right before Tal we were greeted with wide-open vistas and excellent photos.  Looking back you could see the entire valley we had been in all morning, and looking ahead you could see Tal, which was set in a flat valley with a river and peaks surrounding.

These were the first photos I’d taken where I really felt like I was in the Himalayas.  Luckily for me, the vistas only got better from here on out.

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Kathmandu

Published on October 15, 2011 in Nepal. 1 Comment

Kathmandu is an interesting place.  It was my point of entry into Nepal, and my first experience here was the bizarre visa method they employ in the airport.  You can do visa on arrival, but you can’t pay in Nepalese rupees, which I had with me.  They only take USD or euros, and you have to exchange your rupees at a counter right beside immigration.  I guess they only want more stable currencies?

The city itself is bustling, but it doesn’t have the feel of India.  There are almost no buildings taller than 4-5 stories, and in the backpacker ghetto of Thamel they all loom over the narrow streets and alleys.  You can find Buddhist prayer flags strung up everywhere, and most accommodation is dirt-cheap.  The city’s main tourist attractions are Durbar Square and the Monkey Temple, though I found wandering the markets and bazaars with a camera just as enticing.  There are plenty of hidden courtyards and alcoves that contain small temples and shrines just waiting to be discovered.

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The food there is filling and tasty, with my personal favorites being the momos (steamed or fried dumplings) and thukpa (thick vegetable stew).  You can find just about any international cuisine you want in Thamel, but be wary of any place offering “Mexican” specialties.   You can also find any western grocery staple you want at one of two big grocery stores, and they’re perfect for loading up on snacks before heading off to trek somewhere.

Jess and I met up here before heading to Pokhara and the Annapurna Circuit, and we spent a few days acclimating to Nepal / being bums.  Kathmandu was a good place to chill, but after one or two days I felt like the big attractions had been exhausted.  It felt like one of those waypoint capitals that people spend a night in before heading off to greener pastures.

If you really are set on spending time here, the best stuff I found to do were the Monkey Temple at sunset for photos, Durbar Square for the architecture, and anywhere around Thamel for shopping or food.

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Hyderabad & The APTDC

Published on October 14, 2011 in India. 2 Comments

Varkala was the perfect break from my madcap adventure, but afterwards I made my way up to Hyderabad to visit my buddy Andrew.  He’s working at the consulate there as a Foreign Service Officer, a job that I’m pursuing myself.  We hadn’t seen each other since Christmas, and I was really looking forward to hearing about his FSO experiences as well as what life in India was like.

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Hyderabad itself is pretty modern, at least compared to the places I’d been visiting before.  Andrew had booked us on an Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) guided tour, on the recommendations of some of his Indian coworkers.  His buddy Steve from Microsoft was tagging along as well.

Our first stop was flying to Vizag, which is a coastal “paradise” that came highly recommended.  We hired a driver to take us around for the day, and discovered that Vizag is actually a barren wasteland of fun.  The beach, described as having “peace, quiet and solitude” was actually run by a roving band of beggar children who had set up Mad Max-esque road blocks to demand rupees from anyone that passed.  The actual beach was covered in sculptures that were inside the tidal line, so they were in various states of disrepair.  The most popular one was nothing but a mermaid’s torso, lacking arms or a head.  Perfect for posing tourists.

Our hotel was also quite drab.  I should mention that at a cost of roughly $150 for each of us to go on this two day tour that my expectations were a bit high.  I’m a budget traveler by nature, so I’m usually fine with the cheapest accommodation I can find.  However, if I’m paying a higher price, I expect better levels of service.  I don’t think it’s unreasonable to be disappointed when you ask for bath towels and are handed bedsheets instead.  The Indian tourists we were with seemed to have no problems with the tour whatsoever.  I don’t think there was an expectation of service associated with the high cost, which was interesting.

Here’s a quick rundown of the rest of the tour:

  • A day at Araku Valley with no activities planned, essentially meaning we had the 1-day tour but with one day tacked on.  We ended up watching 80s action flicks in our hotel room all day.
  • A museum tour that took all of 10 minutes, with a strange mix of tribal and modern clothing on the mannequins.  No photography was allowed, as I imagine anyone that saw what was in store for their tourist dollars would run the other way.
  • A traditional dance held in the parking lot of our hotel.
  • A communist party demonstration, complete with burning of an effigy, that held up traffic on our bus for 45 minutes.
  • A cave tour that actually rocked.

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As silly as all of this was, it was actually a hilarious tour.  Andrew and Steve were just as incredulous as I was, so we spent the weekend laughing at the absurdity of it all.  It was one of those trips that was horrible during, but makes for a great story afterward.  I still wouldn’t wish an APTDC tour on my worst enemy though.