Women entrepreneurs in Nepal - Seven Women

Anne and I spent our last afternoon here in Nepal visiting the Seven Women office/workshop in Kathmandu. Our new Spanish friend Javier recommended that we try to connect with Anita Kerr - the (who Javier had met delivering aid to remote villages after the earthquake) and we were glad we did.
Seven Women Nepal believes in a model of sustainable development. The first centre was established in 2006 with seed funding to provide handicraft training to seven disadvantaged women who were found operating out of a shed by Stephanie Woolard -the visionary Aussie who created Seven Woman. By good fortune, Stephanie was in Kathmandu and we got to meet her and Anita and had a tour of their facility and met the women who work there. 100% of the money raised by buying their products goes directly towards funding skills training and employment for some of the most impoverished women in Nepal. Check out their website www.sevenwomen.org

Pokhara - where are all the tourists?

Pokhara is Nepal's second largest city (265,000 pop) and is the tourist centre for Nepal. Its proximity to the Annapurna range, and a number or rivers has made it both an adventure travel destination for trekking, paragliding, kayaking, whitewater rafting and mountain biking. It is also a lovely respite from the intensity of Kathmandu. Only 200 kilometres from KTM, you can fly here on a number of airlines and the ride is on,y 35 minutes. Or you can take a bus in varying degrees of luxury (a 7 hour trip). We flew here on Oct 11th and are returning by Greenline bus tomorrow (28th) (apparently a very nice ride - we will believe it when we see it). 31 years ago, we took the cheapest fare and sat on top of the local bus with the luggage

! Since we arrived here in pokhara at the Hotel Meera on Sunday we have been enjoying the simple pleasures of a bathroom that has a western style toilet that actually flushes, a shower IN a bath tub with a shower curtain, so that we can actually shower without raining on all the fixtures in the bathroom, and a sink IN the bathroom so that we can wash our hands and brush our teeth in one spot (most of the time we were on the trail, we squatted in the toilet; discarded our tissue in a bin close by; tried to find a tap somewhere to wash our hands and sometimes there was a sliver of soap to wash with. Often we just used hand sanitizer and skipped brushing our teeth entirely!
Pokhara should be buzzing right now - it is the peak season - but the Indian fuel embargo and the post earthquake cancellations are really taking their toll. One restauranteur told us that business was a tenth of what it should be. One very small cafe had so little cooking gas left that she figured she would have to close today. We have been frequenting a restaurant called Moondance - very hip and great vibe. Apparently you needed to book a year ahead before the crises- but the place is now virtually empty.
Nonetheless Anne and I are injecting what we can into the local economy and visiting the cultural institutions. We hired a skiff to take us across Phewa Lake and then hiked up to the World Peace Pagoda (also known as Shanti Stupa) and had a spectacular view of the Annapurna range.

Enjoying the view at the World Peace Pagoda

We also visited the International Mountain Museum (www.internationalmountainmuseum.org) with our friend Javier from Spain and a mountaineer himself. It was a really interesting collection and history of climbing. And we took in the Gurkha Museum (www.gurkhamuseum.org.np) - which was very sobering.  Out of 100 VC's awarded in the Second World War, 10 were awarded to Gurkha's. Fierce and loyal, they have earned a reputation for their determination. Grandpa Harold Snelgrove (Major) fought with the 10th Battalion in WW 1 alongside the Gurkha's. And the Fighting 10th were known as the "White Ghurka's" in homage to their Nepali comrades.
Our last cultural institution was the Annapurna Natural History Museum tucked away on a university campus. Amazing butterfly collection which was cool 'cause we saw so many cool butterflies including our favourite - the Peacock!
We walked along the lakefront to the very end and there are laid back lakefront bars, tourist restaurants, a Fishery Research Centre, lots of Nepali fishing, cows swimming and grazing and lots of families strolling along the lake path. Tonight is our last night here in Pokhara - we are heading out to do some shopping and enjoy the lovely sunset before we head back to the insanity of Kathmandu.

Dhampus and our last night on the trek

We are in Dhampus - the end of the trek! Tomorrow we are walking out to Phedi where we are supposed to catch a local bus to Pokhara and the Hotel Meera. We are really looking forward to our 3 nights there and a break from walking 13 km a day. Our bodies are tired, we have almost run out of toilet paper and our clothes really stink.
We are relaxing in the garden of the Hotel Anu, the rain has started as per usual and we are socked in by clouds. But the sky should clear by evening and the morning views are always spectacular. Today we saw Dhaliguari for the first time. Wow it is really pouring now. So glad we are here and not out on the trails. We walked through many hours of rain soaked trails and it was very treacherous! Here are a few pictures of the people and ponies on the trail - including our Gurung guide Bakaji (33) and our porter Lal (also 33 and a friend of  Bakaji's from the Everest region).  Anne posted some really great photos of other folks we met on the trail - check them out on her Instagram account: bernerface
We had Momo's (dumplings) and veggie curry today for lunch and our looking forward to tomato onion pizza tonight. We were surviving on a steady diet of egg vegetable noodle soup when we were higher up and needed something warm and with some protein as nothing with any legs was permitted in the Sanctuary. We have also become quite fond of Masala tea which is a Chai type of tea with milk.

giving a wide berthfor the donkey trains!

He beat us up the steps at Chomrong!

A retired Gurka

Our guide - Bakaji

Our porter - Lal

Sam's guide - Kul

Annapurna Base Camp Oct 20 and 21

We had the most extraordinary time on the way up to and down from Annapurna Base Camp or ABC as everyone calls it. We had a long day trekking here from Deurali @ 3230 metres. It took us two hours to reach Machupucahre Base Camp (or MBC). We got there around 10 am and it was heaven - blue sky all around and spectacular views of the peaks. 31 years ago we stayed here in a dormitory and froze. Now MBC had three very nice looking lodges. It wa s a cold start from Deurali in the morning- we started with our hats and fleece jackets - other people were wearing down jackets and pants. We had a cup of tea at MBC and pressed onto ABC. It was another tough climb from 3120 metres to 4130 metres. We arrived around 1 pm and the clouds started to set in so that by the time we got there we really couldn't see any peaks. There are around 4 lodges here - all relatively new (5 years) needless to say there was nothing here 31 years ago. We had lunch with a Spaniard, 2 Norwegian medical students here in Nepal working on their theses; a British lawyer; two World
Vision staffers based in Jordan and Kathmandu and two American teachers here from their international school in Bangkok. After lunch Anne and I went in search of our erratic rock where we had taken a picture 31 years ago.  That turned out to be a futile effort as the sanctuary was littered with erratics! There were also many memorials to climbers who had perished climbing Annapurna and lots of stupas (they looked very similar to inukshuks). We walked along the edge of the receding glacier - it was very dramatic. Inspired by the many stupas, I decided that this was the spot to scatter my folks ashes. We built a small stupa on a high flat rock that had a lovely view of Machupuchare and Annapurna, scattered their ashes and wrapped the stupa in a prayer flag from Bhutan.  We were lucky to have clear skies for sunset on Machupuchare - apparently this is a rarity. Dinner was lovely and had such a great vibe with all our new friends. We all went to bed by 8 pm and no one had a good sleep due to the altitude. We were up by 5 am and outside by 5:30 to catch the sunrise. It also happened to be Anne's birthday and what a fantastic way to celebrate. It was so worth the 9 days it took us to get here. the sunrise was breathtaking-first the very tips of the mountain peaks started to glow and slowly the light descended so that by 7 am the mountains were fully illuminated. It was so hard to leave but by 9:30 am we began our descent. It started to rain around 1 pm and we were still a good two hours from our destination. Much to our disappointment there were no rooms in Dovan and we had to press on. Our porter Lal ran ahead and secured the last room in Bamboo. We were so grateful! Turned out it was the room normally used by the guides and porters and was right next to the kitchen. We didn't care - we were just happy to be out of the rain and in a bed. It is peak festival season here in Nepal and school break in Europe so it is a very busy time. We had quite a shock when we came back to our room after dinner and discovered that something had eaten 2 Advils, 1 Naproxen, Anne's ear plug and nibbled on her Chapstick. Needless to say we zipped everything up and hoped the visitor wouldn't return! And we finally got the Canadian election news -  Liberal majority! We were stunned. An extraordinary finish to our extraordinary couple of days in the sanctuary.

Our Stupa to Bob and Mary

Sunrise on Annapurna

A day on the trail

We woke up to the sounds of beautiful chanting this morning from the Buddhist monastery beside us in Ghandruk. I thought it was Anne's iPhone alarm because we wanted to make sure we were up for the sunrise behind the mountains. The skies were beautifully clear and brilliantly blue and we saw the sun rise behind Machupuchare and Annapurna South. Every morning we have had the same routine - up when the sunrises, we pack our duffle bags so that the porters can lash them together. Breakfast usually consists of an egg omelet and chapati or toast and tea. We pay up for our food and generally leave our tea house by 8 am. By 9 am the clouds start to drift in and the top of Machupuchare is hidden. We are typically on the trails for 6 or 7 hours, with many rest stops along the way. Trekking here is really climbing up and down the river valleys. Today we spent 1.5 hours climbing up from Ghandruk (2012 metres) only to spend the next hour climbing down to the river bed of the Kimrong Khola where we stopped for lunch. Then we spent 3 hours climbing up to Chomrong at 2042 metres. The steps on the trail are all made of stone (mostly slate) and are everywhere - it is unbelievable that this people-highway cross-crosses this entire country. But we go one step at a time. My focus faltered today and I stumbled and almost fell off the trail. Fortunately Rohindra (Sams's porter) caught me before I was a goner. We also have to be very careful when the mule trains come -they don't stop for anything- they terrify me! Fortunately they have loud bells that herald their arrival. Of course we have to be careful we don't step and slip in the freshly deposited horse poop. It is very slippery and a bit smelly. When I can't believe that I can climb another step, we have arrived at our destination which is usually between 2 and 3. Tonight we are spoiled again at a lodge that has hot showers and wifi! Great food and spectacular views. We taught Bakaji how to play 9 5 2 today (a card game) until dinner (momo's which are dumplings) which we usually eat around 7 pm. Once dinner is done Sam shares his delicious Cognac - which is a lovely nightcap. We are then usually in bed by 8:30!
Well it's almost bedtime and time to get ready for another big day tomorrow! We are heading to Bamboo at 2335 metres and then we enter the Annapurna Sanctuary!

Ghandruk - 4th night on the trek

We are still alive! Today was our fourth day of trekking-boy is it gruelling! Today was six hours of walking - first down, down, down from Chandrikot and into the river bed of the Modi Khola river. Then up, up, up for 4 hours to where we are staying tonight - the charming village called Ghandruck. We arrived sweaty and smelly and had our first shower in 4 days. The views in the morning are spectacular (I can't attach any pictures to the blog tonight as the wifi here is very slow- Anne is going to try to post some pics on Instagram) but the clouds drift in and cover the peaks by 9 am. Today was the first day we have not been caught in rain - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday it started raining at 2 ish and didn't let up until late evening. Of course with rain come leeches. Lots and lots of leeches. Baby leeches, giant leeches. Our first day was described as "off the beaten path" through "minor forest trails" really means narrow rocky ups and downs in dense forest infested with leeches. We had to stop every five minutes to flick them off our boots. They even managed to crawl up our walking poles. It was so gross! We should have been prepared from our first encounter on Tuesday night in Bhumdi. Anne and I were resting in our room and I head a thud and saw the big slimy thing on the floor just below Anne's foot. We couldn't figure out how this thing ended up in our room until we saw the trail of blood that started in between Anne's toes! It had had quite a feast before it had its fill and dropped off Anne's toe into the floor. Last night after a disappointing day walking on roads and an actual highway - we ended up in Chandrikot at likely the worst place I have ever slept in. Ironically called Hotel Nirvana it was a real dump. Paper thin walls and rooms so tiny that Anne and I couldn't stand up together in! When we left this morning still grumbling at the itinerary and the choice of accommodation (prepared by our tour company here), we walked by this beautiful lodge with solar panels and well kept grounds. We couldn't believe that this piece of heaven was 15 minutes from our night of hell. But today made up for the first three days. We are now on the real trekking route and are on the beaten path-yeah! Our guide Bakaji and our porter Lal are very kind and are taking very good care of us. We are still joined by Sam and his guide Kul and porter Rabindra but his knees are taking a beating. He may take a slower approach to the Annapurna Base Camp and try to get a jeep down to Pokhara wherever he can get one.

Swayambhu - the Monkey Temple and Farewell to KTM

Today we met up our friends (Anne, Mike, Eva and Arnold) from Ottawa and our trekking companion Sam from Toronto. We returned to the Monkey Temple or Swayambhu and tried to re-create our photo from 31 years ago sitting on the Budda but we were gently reminded that sitting on he Budda was not allowed. So we settled for a pic with us at the base. The temple survived the earthquake but there was evidence of some significant damage to one of the iconic stupas. Check out his link to a blog on the earthquake damage swayambhu before and after earthquake | ramblin' boy. Also check out Anne's Instragram account called bernerface for some great pics.

After wandering around Thamel and through the Dream Garden with our friends, Anne and I spent 3 hours packing for our trek as we leave tomorrow. While we followed the advice of our tour organizer and purchased North Face duffel bags that were 41 and 51 litres respectively, we did not anticipate that we had to fit in the rented sleeping bag INSIDE our duffel! eek!
Our handler here suggested that we buy a larger North Face bag (a knock off) for $5 but Anne was convinced that we could fit everything in and we did! I fit all my clothes into a 5 litre dry bag and the rest of my duffle has first aide stuff , sandals, and energy bars. We will be quite stinky when we get off the trail in two weeks!
We are flying to Pokhara tomorrow, where we are meeting our guide and porter and then taking a local bus for 4 hours to a village called Bhumdi where we are spending the night. Wednesday is the real start of our trek. The fuel embargo is having a significant effect on everything here - no gas for private vegphicles, no gas for restaurants (the menus are very limited) and no petrol for private cars. The map below roughly shows our route from Bhamdi all the way to Machupachre Base Camp and finally to Annapurna Base Camp also called Sanctuary. Turns out Anne won't be revisiting Poon Hill nor will I see it for the first time since I had giarda and was super sick on Poon Hill day. Oh there is always next time!
Am signing off for awhile - not sure when we will hit wifi next ...