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The Jerabrays' Excellent Adventure
In the middle of our time in India we headed up to Nepal. The pace of India was so hectic that we ended up there early boy was it a welcome change! Clean air! Clean streets! Healthy dogs!. But, not all was rosy in Shangri-La. Along with amazing scenery, fresh air and friendly people we had to contend with little electricity and political unrest. Our time in Nepal was really just one big adventure activity after another, so here goes...
Adventure Activity #1: Trekking in the Annapurnas
Our plan in Nepal was to do half the Annapurna circuit, a 9 day trek which involves staying in local teahouses and trekking through local villages amongst the scenery of the Himalayas. This was AMAZING and, despite stuffing our face with curry for the 2 months prior, not too physically demanding. We trekked through trails and passes porters carrying chickens, donkeys carrying beer (these "teahouses" were more like hotels), and stunning scenery. Unfortunately the nights were are bit tougher, I struggled with the altitude and didn't sleep very well so we cut the trek a bit short. Still, we got to see the best part of the trek and made it up to humourously named Poon Hill for amazing sunrise views over the Himalayas.
Adventure Activity #2: Whitewater Kayaking
When one high-altitude activity doesn't work out, it only makes sense to replace it with something more dangerous at a lower altitude, right? So we enrolled in a 4 day whitewater kayak clinic that would take us south by river, camping along the way. It was AWESOME and one of the best things we've done. And itis so much easier than ocean kayaking because you can just float with the current! Well, until the rapids arrive and then it was a little scary. Only a few capsizes, though and we even mastered the Eskimo roll. I think I may have found a version of surfing that doesn't involve the ocean…
Adventure Activity #3: Holi
While Holi is actually the Hindu festival of colour I think it deserves mention in the adventure category, because I'm happy to even be alive after that day, even if I do have green hair. The day began with running the gauntlet of the main street in Kathmandu to pick up our clean laundry. This was ironic because we were having to duck under cover to avoid getting buckets of water poured on us. We then stayed in our hotel for a while, under siege while the rest of the city threw coloured powder and water at each other. When we finally ventured out to "play" Holi we dressed in our crappiest clothes (plenty to choose from when you've had the same clothes for 3 months) and went out with 2 Dutch girls we met. I think this may have been where we went wrong - I now know that 3 blonde girls in this part of the world is the equivalent of one gigantic target. Thankfully they walked in front and seemed to draw most of the hits.
The best comparison I can make of the Holi experience is paintball with neither the protection nor the technology. Or maybe a war zone. I haven't actually experienced either of those myself, but I have experience Holi in Kathmandu and this is what it was like:
Walking down lanes looking warily above at the rooftops for snipers armed with water "bags" (not even water balloons, these suckers don't bounce). Encountering large gangs of young men covered with paint and eager to maul the blondes and smear paint in our faces/hair/up our noses while possibly(hopefully!) getting a grope in, while missiles of water slam into your back/head/ass/ouch! And Connon walks cheerily behind continually greeting our attackers with a friendly "Happy Holi!". I think we made 2 Holi faux pas though… Firstly, I whacked a few of my attackers, hard. Once because he groped me, the second time because there were 10 of them and 1 of me. Was this too harsh? I don't know, it was instinct. Perhaps it was not in the spirit of things but then I don't really think ganging up on women and groping was part of the original Hindu festival either. Hmm..maybe THAT'S why there were not other women in sight… Our second faux pas was when Connon decided to seek revenge on the water bag snipers and throw a bag back at them. Waiting for several blocks for the right moment (and balcony) her found the perfect group of men hurling buckets at us…and then he fired. And then the men looked up as the missile sailed way over their head and towards the next apartment, quite possibly into the living room where it smacked some poor old lady in the head. Oops.
By the end of our experience we were covered in various colours (mostly green on the face and hair) and people were greeting us with "hello monkeys!". A small child cried as we walked past her and even a dog we passed looked concerned by our appearance. I thought it was grand- my Dr. Seuss colouring was perfect for photos until I tried using half of Nepal's water and soap supply and I was still green. Sigh. Yes, it is still kind of green after 2 weeks. If only it was 1993 again. Anyone know a good hairdresser in Istanbul?
Adventure Activity #4: Wildlife
We headed down to Chitwan National Park to do a safari package. This included seeing baby elephants at the breeding centre (so cute! We still have elephant snot on our camera), washing elephants (or her dunking us in the river) and doing an elephant-back safari and spotting rhinos. The one part of the package though, that I thought would be the most harmless was the "jungle walk". I thought we were going birdwatching. No, we were in the jungle sneaking up on 2m crocodiles! On foot! With sticks as our only weapons! I almost peed my pants and was quite happy that we had missed seeing rhinos by "only" 5 minutes.
Adventure Activity #5: Blockade running
Now, I always admired Rhett Butler, not just for his charm and good looks but for his amazing blockade running skills. Never did I think I would be doing it myself, though. You see while we were there the south of Nepal ended up blockaded because of strikes by an ethnic minority group. Unfortunately this is where our wildlife safari was. We got there okay, but getting out turned out to be a problem. In the end our hotel hired a random dude to drive us (with a light on, so they could "see we're tourists"- what if they couldn't??? What if they couldn't???!!!!) through the blockade to a town described by the Lonely Planet as a "haven for prostitution", where we were to spend the night. I almost peed my pants for the 2nd time that day. But, all worked out okay and we made it through safe with the bonus of yet another adrenaline rush.
Adventure Activity #6: No electricity
Okay, so not NO electricity, but only electricity for 8 hours a day, in random 4 hour chunks. You don't realize ho w much you appreciate 24 hour electricity until you don't have it. And candlelight dinners/showers/reading are only romantic for so long. Of course with the strikes fuel wasn't getting through from India so then they couldn't supply the generators so then we also didn't have hot water. Nepal is a beautiful country with amazing scenery and people, but it still has some issues.
Adventure Activity #7: Kathmandu Airport
Our plane back to Delhi was delayed by 8 hours, due to poor visibility. This would have been okay if I hadn't come down with the flu and had a massive fever. Not to mention the haphazard security/boarding system. I think we ended up on a different flight entirely and our boarding passes didn't even have our names on them. Oh well!
Overall Nepal was amazing, with friendly people and lots of opportunities for adventure, paid for or stumbled upon. I haven't even mentioned the beautiful Buddhist and Hindu temples, Tibetan monasteries and local mountain villages we saw. But, by the end of our time we were happy to get to back to India for...stability and infrastructure??? Not usually what you equate with India but change is all about perspective:)
Adventure Activity #1: Trekking in the Annapurnas
Our plan in Nepal was to do half the Annapurna circuit, a 9 day trek which involves staying in local teahouses and trekking through local villages amongst the scenery of the Himalayas. This was AMAZING and, despite stuffing our face with curry for the 2 months prior, not too physically demanding. We trekked through trails and passes porters carrying chickens, donkeys carrying beer (these "teahouses" were more like hotels), and stunning scenery. Unfortunately the nights were are bit tougher, I struggled with the altitude and didn't sleep very well so we cut the trek a bit short. Still, we got to see the best part of the trek and made it up to humourously named Poon Hill for amazing sunrise views over the Himalayas.
Adventure Activity #2: Whitewater Kayaking
When one high-altitude activity doesn't work out, it only makes sense to replace it with something more dangerous at a lower altitude, right? So we enrolled in a 4 day whitewater kayak clinic that would take us south by river, camping along the way. It was AWESOME and one of the best things we've done. And itis so much easier than ocean kayaking because you can just float with the current! Well, until the rapids arrive and then it was a little scary. Only a few capsizes, though and we even mastered the Eskimo roll. I think I may have found a version of surfing that doesn't involve the ocean…
Adventure Activity #3: Holi
While Holi is actually the Hindu festival of colour I think it deserves mention in the adventure category, because I'm happy to even be alive after that day, even if I do have green hair. The day began with running the gauntlet of the main street in Kathmandu to pick up our clean laundry. This was ironic because we were having to duck under cover to avoid getting buckets of water poured on us. We then stayed in our hotel for a while, under siege while the rest of the city threw coloured powder and water at each other. When we finally ventured out to "play" Holi we dressed in our crappiest clothes (plenty to choose from when you've had the same clothes for 3 months) and went out with 2 Dutch girls we met. I think this may have been where we went wrong - I now know that 3 blonde girls in this part of the world is the equivalent of one gigantic target. Thankfully they walked in front and seemed to draw most of the hits.
The best comparison I can make of the Holi experience is paintball with neither the protection nor the technology. Or maybe a war zone. I haven't actually experienced either of those myself, but I have experience Holi in Kathmandu and this is what it was like:
Walking down lanes looking warily above at the rooftops for snipers armed with water "bags" (not even water balloons, these suckers don't bounce). Encountering large gangs of young men covered with paint and eager to maul the blondes and smear paint in our faces/hair/up our noses while possibly(hopefully!) getting a grope in, while missiles of water slam into your back/head/ass/ouch! And Connon walks cheerily behind continually greeting our attackers with a friendly "Happy Holi!". I think we made 2 Holi faux pas though… Firstly, I whacked a few of my attackers, hard. Once because he groped me, the second time because there were 10 of them and 1 of me. Was this too harsh? I don't know, it was instinct. Perhaps it was not in the spirit of things but then I don't really think ganging up on women and groping was part of the original Hindu festival either. Hmm..maybe THAT'S why there were not other women in sight… Our second faux pas was when Connon decided to seek revenge on the water bag snipers and throw a bag back at them. Waiting for several blocks for the right moment (and balcony) her found the perfect group of men hurling buckets at us…and then he fired. And then the men looked up as the missile sailed way over their head and towards the next apartment, quite possibly into the living room where it smacked some poor old lady in the head. Oops.
By the end of our experience we were covered in various colours (mostly green on the face and hair) and people were greeting us with "hello monkeys!". A small child cried as we walked past her and even a dog we passed looked concerned by our appearance. I thought it was grand- my Dr. Seuss colouring was perfect for photos until I tried using half of Nepal's water and soap supply and I was still green. Sigh. Yes, it is still kind of green after 2 weeks. If only it was 1993 again. Anyone know a good hairdresser in Istanbul?
Adventure Activity #4: Wildlife
We headed down to Chitwan National Park to do a safari package. This included seeing baby elephants at the breeding centre (so cute! We still have elephant snot on our camera), washing elephants (or her dunking us in the river) and doing an elephant-back safari and spotting rhinos. The one part of the package though, that I thought would be the most harmless was the "jungle walk". I thought we were going birdwatching. No, we were in the jungle sneaking up on 2m crocodiles! On foot! With sticks as our only weapons! I almost peed my pants and was quite happy that we had missed seeing rhinos by "only" 5 minutes.
Adventure Activity #5: Blockade running
Now, I always admired Rhett Butler, not just for his charm and good looks but for his amazing blockade running skills. Never did I think I would be doing it myself, though. You see while we were there the south of Nepal ended up blockaded because of strikes by an ethnic minority group. Unfortunately this is where our wildlife safari was. We got there okay, but getting out turned out to be a problem. In the end our hotel hired a random dude to drive us (with a light on, so they could "see we're tourists"- what if they couldn't??? What if they couldn't???!!!!) through the blockade to a town described by the Lonely Planet as a "haven for prostitution", where we were to spend the night. I almost peed my pants for the 2nd time that day. But, all worked out okay and we made it through safe with the bonus of yet another adrenaline rush.
Adventure Activity #6: No electricity
Okay, so not NO electricity, but only electricity for 8 hours a day, in random 4 hour chunks. You don't realize ho w much you appreciate 24 hour electricity until you don't have it. And candlelight dinners/showers/reading are only romantic for so long. Of course with the strikes fuel wasn't getting through from India so then they couldn't supply the generators so then we also didn't have hot water. Nepal is a beautiful country with amazing scenery and people, but it still has some issues.
Adventure Activity #7: Kathmandu Airport
Our plane back to Delhi was delayed by 8 hours, due to poor visibility. This would have been okay if I hadn't come down with the flu and had a massive fever. Not to mention the haphazard security/boarding system. I think we ended up on a different flight entirely and our boarding passes didn't even have our names on them. Oh well!
Overall Nepal was amazing, with friendly people and lots of opportunities for adventure, paid for or stumbled upon. I haven't even mentioned the beautiful Buddhist and Hindu temples, Tibetan monasteries and local mountain villages we saw. But, by the end of our time we were happy to get to back to India for...stability and infrastructure??? Not usually what you equate with India but change is all about perspective:)
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