Nepal 4/10/2014

 

Unforgettable adventure on the Himalayas

 

I was heading to Nepal from Dubai for one night then to Bhutan, while just three weeks ago I didn’t even know there existed a country called Bhutan. Lets see how it goes.

 

At Katmandu, I got the visa on arrival. We got picked up by the organizer - Himalayan Holidays and got taken to hotel Yambu in Thamil, a three star hotel, and certainly not the best. We met the rest of the crew here, checked in, and then had a brief about the trip. After the brief, Mr. Bibhu the owner of Himalayan Holidays took us out for dinner to a restaurant called Doodle Rum.

The population of the capital city Katmandu is around 4 million but that’s what is in the records. They say there is 4 million more that are off record. The population of Nepal is around 30 million.

 

The main religion is Hindu, which is 80% then 8% comprises of Buddhists and the rest is a mixture mainly between Muslims and Christians. They even have a religion, which is a mix between Hindu and Buddhist.

Around 250 years ago, when the British where in India, Nepal never existed. It was 22 or 24 small kingdoms. But when the English became a threat, they united and Gorkha, one of the kingdoms, lead it as they where the strong warriors and fought against the British for years. The states, which lost against them, went to the British where its India now, and the rest remained in Nepal. In 1893 the fighting stopped and they signed a treaty together. The Gorkhas remain strong warriors till today.

 

The next day we boarded a flight from Nepal to Bhutan, which is called the land of the thunder dragon. It is called so because the dragon helped them win against the evil- Paro which is where we landing.  The capital of Bhutan is Thimphu.

When we landed in Paro, we had a car waiting for us with a guide from International Treks and Tours to take us to Thimphu Kisa hotel. It was not a 5 star property but comfortable.

It is not very cheap to come to Bhutan as we have to pay the Government US$250 per day.

Thimphu is around 2,250 m in altitude and all of Bhutan has a population of around 700,000 with 48,000 sqkm of land.

After we got to the hotel, we had lunch and went to see what’s around. We saw a couple of markets, one behind the hotel and the other around 10 minutes by car or a 20-minute walk.

 

Bhutan was a Monarchy until 2008. Then they introduced elections only for the prime minister. The King, the constitutional Monarch and royal family never changes.

Their main source of income is from selling hydroelectric power to India and other surrounding countries. The second most important source of income is tourism.

The main religion is Buddhism. I found out from our guide that Buddha was an actual man – a prince who founded the religion in the 7th century. He had everything in his palace, like any other prince. One day he went out to have fun out side the palace when he saw all the people in need. So he left all the luxury he was living in and went to meditate for a couple of years when he found him self and the religion. the Buda’s say that he was not really human but his mother was visited by a god in her dream and got pregnant the second day.

 

Today We went to the National Memorial Chorten, which was built in the honor of the third king by his mother.

We then went to see the huge Buddha where the view up there was exhilarating. They started building it in 2006. Afterwards, we went to see the Takin which is the country’s national animal. It is a rare animal found here and no where else.

Following that, we went to the Zilukha nunnery in Thangtong Dewachen Dupthop, the local library, the Institute of 13 traditional craft and art - a school that teaches painting, sculpture, embroidery, wood carving, etc.

We ended the day visiting the folk heritage museum - an old house that has been turned into a museum. It was nice to see how the people survived in all kinds of seasons. They even had a space in the ground floor to keep there cattle safe from getting attacked and from bad weather.

 

Early next morning we left Thimpu and headed further up to the mountain to Dochula nature trail in the botanical park, at 3,100 m in altitude. We then hiked downwards to 2,700 m altitude – a pleasantly beautiful, nice and easy hike.

After lunch, we went for the second hike to Chimi Lhakhang which means no dog monastry. The area we were in was called Lobesa in Punakha district. It was a nice hike which took us to the rice fields up to the monastery. Mainly women go up there if they can’t have children. They believe they will be blessed by the divine mad man and become fertile.

We ended the day going to the Punakha fortress, which was built in the 17th century for the first king. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan before Thimpu.

 

Bhutan was founded in 1655 by Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal which they call the unifier as he unified all those little villages or places to become a country. The country has never had war in all its history. They even measure the country in GNH (Gross National Happiness) every three years, by asking all the locals about 170 questions to appraise the happiness of the people.

We then carried on to our hotel - Hotel Pema Karpo for one night. We kept our belongings in the hotel and walked to the river for a swim. It was so freezing cold that we could not feel our feet and hands.

It felt beautiful to wake up with the view of Mo Cho and Fu Cho river which means male and female river. (They have a male river and a female river and when they meet at one point, they become one river, which is the male and female river.)

We left Punakha in the early morning and headed to Paro, which was around a 6 hour drive. We passed by Dochula rest point and then on to Thimphu for lunch.

 

In Thimpu most of the houses are in the valley. But in Paro, they are scattered in the mountain, like a picture postcard.

After reaching Paro, we went to the Ta Dzong, (which means the watchtower) which was used as a watchtower till 1961 and then was changed to a Museum.

Bhutan is a small peaceful country hidden in the valleys of the Himalayas, what I liked about it is the care of nature. In the museum I read that throughout the centuries, the Bhutanese have treasured their environment and have looked upon ivy as the source of life. “This tradition of reverence for nature has delivered us in to the 20th century” said King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth king.

 

All countries are busy with fast changes of life, buildings and the worst technologies that they forget what life is really all about and where humans really belong. The more life is getting advanced, it is supposed to make humans stronger. But it’s making them weaker by the day and making earth weaker as well.

After the museum, we visited a big 17th century fortress that belonged to the district ruler. As I mentioned before, Bhutan was not a country until the unifier had put all the 255 districts together. We then headed to Kichu Hotel, a nice hotel with rooms scattered around.

 

From the hotel we walked to a nearby village and returned. As we sat at the reception, we got invited by the Managing Director to join him. Bibhu had told us about him. He is called Yabla, which means - the father of a reincarnated holy man. As soon as this person passes away, they go look for the reincarnated baby so they find him at a couple of months old and will be recognized by the wife of the one who has passed away. It is amusing to see someone that lives far away and still shares the same views regarding the west.

The evening was great. The dinner with Yabla till late, made it memorable.

 

The next day the 9th, we left early to hike up to the tiger’s nest. When we arrived down and looked upwards, we wondered how we would get up there, as it was so high up.

We started the hike, and it was all-uphill. But when we stopped to take a breath and looked down in to the valley, the scenic beauty was truly breathtaking. It can be done in an hour but it took some about three hours and others all day. When we reached up to the tiger’s nest, we marveled at the fact that it has been built up there. We then went around the temple and went back down which took time, as we had lunch half way.

After we finished the trek, we walked around the market and then practiced some archery.

 

After the Bhutan adventure, we took a flight to Nepal for two nights, waited for everyone to arrive as my flight was early  We then went to Bhaktapur, walked around and then had lunch at the kings palace. Here they have a yearly occasion called the ovation of Dashai, where they undertake 108 sacrifices in the temple that consists of bulls, chicken, cows and ducks, and offer the blood to the Gods. After a decent walk around, we had lunch there as well.

 

Nepal consisted of around 45 countries when the king Prithivinarayan united them throughout the century.

After Bhaktapur we headed up to Dhulikhel which is located in Kathmandu. We stayed at the High View resort, which is around an hour from Thamil. There were a few steps to go up here. But magnificent view was well worth it.

We stayed there for a night and the next morning headed up to Namobuddha where the Thrangu Tashi Yang temple is located. After some walking around, we started a hike downwards, towards an eco friendly farm, which is an orphanage. The refreshing hike through the forest first then through the village where there are no proper roads, was a unique experience indeed. The people here were poor and kids don’t even have a pen to write with. During the hike, there where kids asking for a pen. But in such a very peaceful life, the pictures can speak more.

 

After the hike, we where invited to the orphanage where we interacted and played with the orphans. I don’t understand people or races that don’t appreciate life when there are children that don’t even have a family. Some kids think of how will they get through life without a family or income and some grown-ups think of how to be childish and busy with stupid issues. Most religions say we all come from Adam but they are still racist and won’t help people not of their kind.

We then headed to the city and stayed in Rama Inn, a decent hotel for 2 nights only. We checked in then went shopping and walked around Thamil.

 

At last it was time for us be heading back home. It was a great holiday and adventure, and people in Nepal and Bhutan were very nice and made us feel welcome. We left with many happy memories

 

People make the place and not the place that makes the people but here its both together, beutiful land and people which mad it perfect. 

 

went with friends, met new friends, explored and learnt more. 

 

Special thanks to special people and friends that always completes the trip. Matt Wilson, Barry Cummings, Thera Colquhoun, Samantha Dancy and Ritesh Ghandi.