Lumbini is the birthplace of the founder of one of the world's major religions and has been designated a world heritage site. Surprisingly, there were comparatively few tourists milling around, just a handful of western backpackers and some Buddhist pilgrims. The various Buddhist nations have each built a pagoda around a specially designated park, but the ancient remains themselves are low key, and perhaps the tranquil setting is the site's greatest draw. It's biggest downfall is the location in a mosquito infested marsh land. Mosquito's are EVERYWHERE!! Even though we employed enough DEET related mozzie replant products to take out half of the home counties I was bitten remorselessly.
From Lumbini we made our way west along a minor road, that turned into a track, that turned into a river. We crossed by leaking ferry. The routine appeared to be: dock, bail out, load, cross river, dock, bail out... etc.
Once back on the highway we had a 3 day ride to our next destination of Bardia national park. The roads proved to be amazingly quiet as we sailed along the flat stretches from village to village. We later found the reason for the quiet roads was heartbreaking. The roads were quiet because no buses were running, due to a dispute over an incident that had occurred the previous week. A little girl had crept under a bus while it was at a rest stop to play, the passengers had bordered the bus and the driver had driven off, in doing so he ran over the poor little girl, crushing her to death. A lynch mob formed and dragged the man from the driver's cab, tied him in a sack and threw him into the river. A few days later, his wife, overwhelmed with grief and having no way to support herself or family, committed suicide. The driver's dispute arose from the fact that although the bus company insurance company paid out 5000 pounds to the dead child's family, no compensation was payable to the widow of the bus driver. Terrible, terrible tragedy.
Accommodation was basic on the first night of the ride in the town of Lamahi, 70 miles out of Lumbini. Annoyingly, the teenage son of the owners had a copy of a Justin Beber (that how you spell it??) song, which he insisted on playing over and over while we had dinner. Not that worthy of note, you might say. Anyhow, later, in our 1st floor room, we were lying in bed, scantily clad owing to the heat, when from just outside the window emanated said same JB song. Dirty little peeping tom had climbed onto the a joining roof and was looking in from outside. To make it worse he came back in the middle of the night with a torch.
Faired better the following night, where we found Hotel Plaza in a town called Kohalpur. Which aside from being in the middle of a project to extend upwards by two storeys, was a very pleasant place to spend the night at just under 8 quid.
We turned off the main road for the last 12km to the lodge in Bardia National Park, forded a quite broad river and then bumped down a rutted track to the park HQ. We stayed at the Forest Hideaway lodge, in a mud hut with thatched rood. The lodge was arranged around a highly manacured central courtyard which contained a lovely english country garden. Very tranquil. On our day off we went for a elephant safari. Unfortunately, the grasses were very long at the end of the monsoon, so we didn't see any of the big game that we'd hoped (although not expected) to catch.
Moving on from Bardia to the border we had another 70 mile-ish ride to the crossroads of Atariya. Guest-house was dirty, but looked the best of an unappealing lot. The staff made up for it with their enthusiasm. As did the ever present mosquitos.
Final day to the border was a short 25 mile hop to the border town, Mahendranagar. We plucked the name of the best hotel in town from the Duff Guide and went to check in. Unfortunately, there seems to be a policy at Hotel Opera of telling westerners that they only have the rooms with air conditioning available, (some people at Bardia said this line had been trotted out to them). They are all but twice the price of the standard rooms. So, I went and waited outside and took a look at the book. 2 minutes later, they'd found actually, they did have a non AC room available. Amazing!! Anyhow, aside from that poor introduction, everything is clean, tidy, the restaurant tasty and very modestly priced. Ok, Den has found that custom made clothes can be made up quickly and cheaply so we're off dress shopping. Oh, happy days!!
Wednesday 29 September 2010
Pokhara south to Lumbini
Pokhara, like Kathmandu, has a tourist ghetto. It's called Lakeside, it's full of restaurants, trekking shops and guest-houses. Unlike Thamel, in Kathmandu, I found this far less congested and in your face. It's location on lake Phewa Tal makes it a lovely place to relax.
Moving on, we're into our final couple of days of climbing in the mountains before we reach the flat plains of Nepal's Western Terai and Northern India. Since we left Vientiane, it seems like we've alternated between climbing and descending steep ribbons of tarmac, and sometimes just dirt. The number of flat days has been few and far between.
Our first port of call was the town of Waling, on the 'main' highway 10 south of Pokhara. The road climbed out of Pokhara for 10 miles, and looking back down the valley gave us astounding views over to the peaks of the Annapurna range.
By the time we were 15 miles into the ride we realised we'd been completely wrong about our comment in the last blog posting questioning the reputation of friendliness of the Nepalese compared to other nations. Once we left the tourist highway, we were on the receiving end of more “Namaste's" (hello & goodbye in one) than you could shake a stick at. One small lad quite forgot himself and jumped on the trailer for a ride up the hill. He got the Denyze nanny stare. That soon lightened our load.
Found a guest house on the south side of Waling, which had a simply massive room, and a curious definition of en-suite. The bathroom also served as an outside toilet for the family who owned the place. So to use, you would have to unbolt the toilet door inside the bedroom, lock it again from the other side, then cross the room to lock the outside door that the family might use. That curiosity aside though, it was a very pleasant place to spend a night with more lovely views down the valley in the late afternoon sunshine.
Went for a fantastic meal of Daal bhaat at a local restaurant in the evening back in town. Food was awesome and the owner's young son spent the whole meal staring at Denyze while pretending to watch wrestling on the TV.
Yesterday, we had our last major climb until we get to the Andes. A thousand vertical metres over 20 kms at the end of a short day to the town of Tansen. Otherwise known as Palpa, this former mountain kingdom was the last area of Nepal to fall under the control of Kathmandu's monarchy. It is currently having it's Durbar (palace) rebuilt following a Maoist attack during the civil war, but we had a lovely walk around the town, and a another first class meal in a restaurant on the town square.
Today we reaped the rewards of all of our climbing yesterday with a 20+ mile decent into Butwal. Not so fortunate was the weather, it rained with an intensity that suggested the current 8 day festival to celebrate the end of the monsoon season maybe a little premature. Currently stopped for brekkie at a road side resort on the way to Lumbini. We're on our way to see the birthplace of Buddha, and then out west for a couple of days on safari at a wildlife reserve. Let's hope my cycling cape has had it's last outing for a while.
Moving on, we're into our final couple of days of climbing in the mountains before we reach the flat plains of Nepal's Western Terai and Northern India. Since we left Vientiane, it seems like we've alternated between climbing and descending steep ribbons of tarmac, and sometimes just dirt. The number of flat days has been few and far between.
Our first port of call was the town of Waling, on the 'main' highway 10 south of Pokhara. The road climbed out of Pokhara for 10 miles, and looking back down the valley gave us astounding views over to the peaks of the Annapurna range.
By the time we were 15 miles into the ride we realised we'd been completely wrong about our comment in the last blog posting questioning the reputation of friendliness of the Nepalese compared to other nations. Once we left the tourist highway, we were on the receiving end of more “Namaste's" (hello & goodbye in one) than you could shake a stick at. One small lad quite forgot himself and jumped on the trailer for a ride up the hill. He got the Denyze nanny stare. That soon lightened our load.
Found a guest house on the south side of Waling, which had a simply massive room, and a curious definition of en-suite. The bathroom also served as an outside toilet for the family who owned the place. So to use, you would have to unbolt the toilet door inside the bedroom, lock it again from the other side, then cross the room to lock the outside door that the family might use. That curiosity aside though, it was a very pleasant place to spend a night with more lovely views down the valley in the late afternoon sunshine.
Went for a fantastic meal of Daal bhaat at a local restaurant in the evening back in town. Food was awesome and the owner's young son spent the whole meal staring at Denyze while pretending to watch wrestling on the TV.
Yesterday, we had our last major climb until we get to the Andes. A thousand vertical metres over 20 kms at the end of a short day to the town of Tansen. Otherwise known as Palpa, this former mountain kingdom was the last area of Nepal to fall under the control of Kathmandu's monarchy. It is currently having it's Durbar (palace) rebuilt following a Maoist attack during the civil war, but we had a lovely walk around the town, and a another first class meal in a restaurant on the town square.
Today we reaped the rewards of all of our climbing yesterday with a 20+ mile decent into Butwal. Not so fortunate was the weather, it rained with an intensity that suggested the current 8 day festival to celebrate the end of the monsoon season maybe a little premature. Currently stopped for brekkie at a road side resort on the way to Lumbini. We're on our way to see the birthplace of Buddha, and then out west for a couple of days on safari at a wildlife reserve. Let's hope my cycling cape has had it's last outing for a while.
Sunday 19 September 2010
Onwards from Pokhara
Tomorrow we are heading out to western Nepal, via the East West highway on the way to the far west border with India. Only two more days of ups and downs and we'll be out of the foothills of the Himalayas, and back on the flat, so hurrah for that. We will also be back in the tropical heat of the late Indian subcontinent summer. Hopefully it'll be a good opportunity to rebuild our fitness that's declined so dramatically after our lay up.
Saturday 18 September 2010
West to Pokhara
There comes a point in every journey where momentum is easily lost, and for us it definitely seemed as though Kathmandu was the place we felt it most strongly. Perhaps it was the thought of being past the halfway point, or maybe it was the cumulative effects of pretty much 3 weeks of inactivity, but we cycled out of town with heavy legs.
We opted for an early start to avoid the rush hour, which we managed most successfully, and aside from a small detour for wont of accurate directions, we made it onto the Pokhara bound highway from down-town Thamel without a detailed map.
Our aim for the day was 68 miles, to one of the resorts that surround the hill upon which lies the pilgrimage site of Manakamana, which is reached these days either by a 5 hour trek through the jungle, or a 10 minute ride in Asia's longest cable car.
The road undulated gently for most of the day. The worst of climbs being of the long drag variety rather than the outright knacker-you-out sharp clips. Still by the end of the day, we'd managed to descend by nearly a thousand feet from Kathmandu and we pitched up just in time to secure lodgings at a comfy resort hotel.
We're both starting to doubt where Nepal's reputation as being friendly comes from. It can't hold a candle to Cambodia or Laos in that regard, but perhaps it's just as we are on the most frequented tourist trail in the country. For the moment I certainly feel like I've been classed in the mobile cash machine pigeon hole by the local populous. But still, that's how it goes in some places.
The next day dawned dripping, deluge like wet and we set off into the monsoon with another 65 miles or so left to run until Pokhara. Feeling a bit stiff in the legs, it was Another day of ups and downs, but this time mostly of gradual ups, with a couple of sharp down hills to keep Den on her toes. Since Kunming, she's been the very happy controller of the rear disc brake, which means she can limit our speed on the down to 20-25 mph. Which is probably very responsible, but very frustrating for me, as these hills will be my last chance for a while to break the 50mph mark on the tandem.
It took us most of the day to compete the distance, and we took the first room we came to, that was in the Rough Guide, at the Sacred Valley Inn. Nice enough hotel for the $10 per night charge, but the room we are in at the back on the ground floor is a little damp. Maybe should have paid the extra for the room upstairs. Anyhow, the plan from here is to have a couple of days off the bike, (so soon?!? yes, we're wimps) before we start the long drag out west to the Indian border. There's a nice lake to walk around, sail on and lots of other wallet lightening activities, so we'll see what we can get involved in.
We opted for an early start to avoid the rush hour, which we managed most successfully, and aside from a small detour for wont of accurate directions, we made it onto the Pokhara bound highway from down-town Thamel without a detailed map.
Our aim for the day was 68 miles, to one of the resorts that surround the hill upon which lies the pilgrimage site of Manakamana, which is reached these days either by a 5 hour trek through the jungle, or a 10 minute ride in Asia's longest cable car.
The road undulated gently for most of the day. The worst of climbs being of the long drag variety rather than the outright knacker-you-out sharp clips. Still by the end of the day, we'd managed to descend by nearly a thousand feet from Kathmandu and we pitched up just in time to secure lodgings at a comfy resort hotel.
We're both starting to doubt where Nepal's reputation as being friendly comes from. It can't hold a candle to Cambodia or Laos in that regard, but perhaps it's just as we are on the most frequented tourist trail in the country. For the moment I certainly feel like I've been classed in the mobile cash machine pigeon hole by the local populous. But still, that's how it goes in some places.
The next day dawned dripping, deluge like wet and we set off into the monsoon with another 65 miles or so left to run until Pokhara. Feeling a bit stiff in the legs, it was Another day of ups and downs, but this time mostly of gradual ups, with a couple of sharp down hills to keep Den on her toes. Since Kunming, she's been the very happy controller of the rear disc brake, which means she can limit our speed on the down to 20-25 mph. Which is probably very responsible, but very frustrating for me, as these hills will be my last chance for a while to break the 50mph mark on the tandem.
It took us most of the day to compete the distance, and we took the first room we came to, that was in the Rough Guide, at the Sacred Valley Inn. Nice enough hotel for the $10 per night charge, but the room we are in at the back on the ground floor is a little damp. Maybe should have paid the extra for the room upstairs. Anyhow, the plan from here is to have a couple of days off the bike, (so soon?!? yes, we're wimps) before we start the long drag out west to the Indian border. There's a nice lake to walk around, sail on and lots of other wallet lightening activities, so we'll see what we can get involved in.
The Indian Visa shambles... sorry, I mean application
Never have we seen red tape so thick or so totally pointless. We went back today for our Indian visa.
The process, in theory is this:
1. Take ticket
2. Wait for number to be called
3. Apply for clearance
4. Pay Rps 300
5. Return in 5 days with completed visa application form
6. Take ticket
7. Wait for number to be called
8. Submit Visa application
9. Pay Rps 3050 (for 3 month visa)
10. Return at 4.30pm to collect visa
See, simple and straight forward 10 step process. So, we've got to point 4 earlier in the week and this morning, we're aiming to come staright back into point 5. After collecting our ticket from the little ticket machine (that everyone misses as they are not looking out for it, you don't know it's there and it's not advertised as to what to do, so there is one very busy guard directing everyone back to it). We sat and waited and waited and waited and saw quite a few people jumping the queue.
Rich, to my horror even went up and complained at one point. But finally they started sending people away from the queue without the right ticket, much to Rich's delight, now it was motoring. Finally we were called and it was a simple process to get confirmation that we had waited 5 working days for no apparent reason....... they had not sought any clearance for our visa nor did we need any, so it was completely pointless.
But after an hour or so we had submitted the application and had been relieved of 3000 Rupees for our trouble. We tottered off to run some errands prior to our departure.
Rich volunteered to waste his spare time by going to collect the passports at 4.30. In the afternoon there is no ticketing system in operation. So once they open the doors to the visa processing centre (late!!! 4.58, I might add), it's a simple matter of fighting your way to the front of the scrum and getting your receipt down on the counter first.
He was 6th in the “queue” so was going pretty well until they asked where I was. Ahhh!! “Ill in bed”, Rich replied. “Do you have a signed letter?” the man asked. Errr, no. Luckily, by applying the principle of if in doubt just hang around, they eventually turned my passport over to him. He must have an honest face... or something.
So, off tomorrow again. Feeling like we're going to be out of sorts on the bike after so many lay ups, in Kunming waiting for the Tibet permits, in Lhasa, acclimatising and in here, with Rich recovering from not acclimatising. Route is flat and we're leaving early to avoid the traffic and heat, so hopefully should be all good. Only concern we do have is that the trailer is looking likely to be in need of some repair in the near future. Crossing the landslides really gave it a battering and we have more weight on it since we bought cold weather gear in Lhasa. So fingers crossed, and at least we know we aren't going to get cold if the weather turns.
The process, in theory is this:
1. Take ticket
2. Wait for number to be called
3. Apply for clearance
4. Pay Rps 300
5. Return in 5 days with completed visa application form
6. Take ticket
7. Wait for number to be called
8. Submit Visa application
9. Pay Rps 3050 (for 3 month visa)
10. Return at 4.30pm to collect visa
See, simple and straight forward 10 step process. So, we've got to point 4 earlier in the week and this morning, we're aiming to come staright back into point 5. After collecting our ticket from the little ticket machine (that everyone misses as they are not looking out for it, you don't know it's there and it's not advertised as to what to do, so there is one very busy guard directing everyone back to it). We sat and waited and waited and waited and saw quite a few people jumping the queue.
Rich, to my horror even went up and complained at one point. But finally they started sending people away from the queue without the right ticket, much to Rich's delight, now it was motoring. Finally we were called and it was a simple process to get confirmation that we had waited 5 working days for no apparent reason....... they had not sought any clearance for our visa nor did we need any, so it was completely pointless.
But after an hour or so we had submitted the application and had been relieved of 3000 Rupees for our trouble. We tottered off to run some errands prior to our departure.
Rich volunteered to waste his spare time by going to collect the passports at 4.30. In the afternoon there is no ticketing system in operation. So once they open the doors to the visa processing centre (late!!! 4.58, I might add), it's a simple matter of fighting your way to the front of the scrum and getting your receipt down on the counter first.
He was 6th in the “queue” so was going pretty well until they asked where I was. Ahhh!! “Ill in bed”, Rich replied. “Do you have a signed letter?” the man asked. Errr, no. Luckily, by applying the principle of if in doubt just hang around, they eventually turned my passport over to him. He must have an honest face... or something.
So, off tomorrow again. Feeling like we're going to be out of sorts on the bike after so many lay ups, in Kunming waiting for the Tibet permits, in Lhasa, acclimatising and in here, with Rich recovering from not acclimatising. Route is flat and we're leaving early to avoid the traffic and heat, so hopefully should be all good. Only concern we do have is that the trailer is looking likely to be in need of some repair in the near future. Crossing the landslides really gave it a battering and we have more weight on it since we bought cold weather gear in Lhasa. So fingers crossed, and at least we know we aren't going to get cold if the weather turns.
Sunday 12 September 2010
Kathmandu
Today, we should be camped out at Everest base camp. But given the choice of still suffering the effects of AMS and bruised ribs in a tent or being here in a comfy bed, I know which one I'd prefer. Am mighty annoyed with how things have turned out though. The Tibet to Kathmandu ride was the one section of the trip we both REALLY wanted to do. A real highlight. Luckily Den is wonderfully understanding, and has said she'll wait until I'm fully recovered before she thumps me for messing up and getting sick. She's so understanding.
Doctor says no high altitudes for a couple of months though, so I must obey. Luckily Kathmandu has lots of good restaurants to take my mind off the frustration. They can serve you up a bewildering array of good food and possibly 3rd world Asia's most expensive beer. They must have some kind of heavy tax on booze or something. All the local kids are sniffing super-glue.
Yesterday, did a spot of sightseeing around the town, and Den persuaded me that a Yoga class may be a nice relaxing way to spend the afternoon. It wasn't. Some middle aged guy with pathetic died red hair pulled back in a ponytail, got increasing frustrated that I couldn't do a full lotus after 30 minutes of him giving us attitude. Clearly only my bruised ribs prevented this, but maybe it was bad Karma... or maybe it was krap teacher.
Last night I saw my first drunk person since arriving, western or otherwise. We were sat in a middle eastern restaurant having just been served our main course, when the very relaxed kid in the corner who we thought had just nodded off to sleep, woke up and decided he must answer a call of nature. Unfortunately, he had incorrectly identified the WC as being narrowly to the left of our table.
He staggered over, hands fumbling for his flies, ready to put a dampener on the evening so to speak. Luckily being British, I can spot a pissed up student from a mile off, so I jumped up, grabbed hold of his arm and pushed him towards the nearest waiter, as if to say, “look at this pissed bloke, can you get rid of him please?”. After a somewhat needlessly long discussion by the staff and after due reflection and consideration, they thought it best to eject him from the premises. Then bizarrely, they failed to stop him coming back inside a bit later on and lying prostrate in the middle of the restaurant for 5 to 10 minutes while his 'boyfriend' begged him just to go home. For god sakes, just throw the idiot out!!! Just like being at home.
India visa's take 6 working days to process in Kathmandu, well actually that's not strictly true. They take one day, but the visa processing centre needs to check that they are allowed to issue you with a visa which takes 5 working days to do. So, we are going to be here until the 15th at least, minor accidents not withstanding. The plan is to then head west across Nepal, before crossing into India, and heading to Amritsar then on to Delhi and Agra to see the Taj Mahal before heading back for our week in the sun.... err, I mean rain lashed UK.
Doctor says no high altitudes for a couple of months though, so I must obey. Luckily Kathmandu has lots of good restaurants to take my mind off the frustration. They can serve you up a bewildering array of good food and possibly 3rd world Asia's most expensive beer. They must have some kind of heavy tax on booze or something. All the local kids are sniffing super-glue.
Yesterday, did a spot of sightseeing around the town, and Den persuaded me that a Yoga class may be a nice relaxing way to spend the afternoon. It wasn't. Some middle aged guy with pathetic died red hair pulled back in a ponytail, got increasing frustrated that I couldn't do a full lotus after 30 minutes of him giving us attitude. Clearly only my bruised ribs prevented this, but maybe it was bad Karma... or maybe it was krap teacher.
Last night I saw my first drunk person since arriving, western or otherwise. We were sat in a middle eastern restaurant having just been served our main course, when the very relaxed kid in the corner who we thought had just nodded off to sleep, woke up and decided he must answer a call of nature. Unfortunately, he had incorrectly identified the WC as being narrowly to the left of our table.
He staggered over, hands fumbling for his flies, ready to put a dampener on the evening so to speak. Luckily being British, I can spot a pissed up student from a mile off, so I jumped up, grabbed hold of his arm and pushed him towards the nearest waiter, as if to say, “look at this pissed bloke, can you get rid of him please?”. After a somewhat needlessly long discussion by the staff and after due reflection and consideration, they thought it best to eject him from the premises. Then bizarrely, they failed to stop him coming back inside a bit later on and lying prostrate in the middle of the restaurant for 5 to 10 minutes while his 'boyfriend' begged him just to go home. For god sakes, just throw the idiot out!!! Just like being at home.
India visa's take 6 working days to process in Kathmandu, well actually that's not strictly true. They take one day, but the visa processing centre needs to check that they are allowed to issue you with a visa which takes 5 working days to do. So, we are going to be here until the 15th at least, minor accidents not withstanding. The plan is to then head west across Nepal, before crossing into India, and heading to Amritsar then on to Delhi and Agra to see the Taj Mahal before heading back for our week in the sun.... err, I mean rain lashed UK.
Saturday 11 September 2010
Misadventures on the Tibetan Plateau
I feel a little frustrated to say the least. We had 3 days of acclimatising in Lhasa, but it seems that it wasn't enough for me (Richard). On the morning that we were due to start riding, I started to feel nauseous. Then on the first night into the ride at the foot of the Kampa-La pass, I woke up early, short of breath. By the time we'd climbed the pass to an altitude of 4000m, my breathing was becoming more difficult. Den and I decided to head back down to where I last felt comfortable and await the guide and truck to advise on the best course of action as I was clearly feeling the effects of the altitude.
The guide recommended that we should use the truck to go over the pass and make camp in the next valley. I assumed he knew what he was talking about. In fact the next valley over the pass was at over 4300m. As we looked for a camp site, I started to feel seriously unwell. Den asked the guide what should be done, he recommended that we head to Shigatze, at 3800m. Where I should be okay. Unfortunately, this involved two very high mountain passes.
We bundled into a passing truck and head up the first pass, Den, me and my accompanying oxygen cylinder. We climb to 4700m and the truck stopped with a puncture. We are both in a state of panic as I've started to get pins and needles all over my body, and am feeling very disorientated at this point. There's no other cars passing on the road at this time of night to take us to a safer altitude, so we are reliant on the truck team to change the wheel quickly.
It's not for another 4 hours that we descend again below 4000m, and on reaching Shigatze at gone 1am we are very grateful for a comfy hotel bed. Unfortunately the relief was only temporary.
In the morning I was very short of breath and we head off to the local hospital. A quick hook up to an oxygen tank and I'm starting to feel better again. They also ran some ECG's to make sure that there was nothing wrong with my heart, but the machines were so old that the output really didn't look much good... so more stress there then. Anyhow, their advice was that I should return to Lhasa and fly to Kathmandu as quickly as possible.
The next morning, having stocked up on oxygen cylinders, this time with a very fetching tube that you can insert into your nose, we boarded the bus back to Lhasa. We assumed this would head down the central (i.e. low level) friendship highway, but instead it went back the way we came, over 3 high altitude passes.
My flight to Kathmandu was uneventful, except the Chinese border guards wanted to know why I wasn't on my designated tour. But Comrade, I have been very ill, now just let me on the damn plane!!!
On landing I was taken straight to an ex-pat clinic, given a proper EKG and some blood tests. Told there was nothing wrong with my heart and that the diagnosis was Acute Mountain Sickness. Basically, we made the wrong decision in going over the pass and that I should have initially returned to Lhasa to acclimatise further. Spending days subjecting myself to too high altitudes without proper acclimatisation meant that it was no longer a case of just descending to a lower altitude to alleviate the symptoms. Now I would have a few days to a week of a tight chest and shortness of breath to remember the experience by. Lovely.
Den, meanwhile, remained in Tibet to return to Shigatze to collect our bike and equipment from the group and then to head to the Nepalese border where I would meet her.
So two days after landing I got into a land-cruiser and set off for the border, 4 hours away. As we were leaving the city limits, the driver got a call to warn of landslides on the road after heavy rains.
We got to within 12kms of the border before we were stopped by an impassable landslide, so I stayed the night at a resort a few Kms further back towards Kathmandu. It rained heavily all night.
In the morning we drove back to the landslide and I set out on foot across the offending landslide and 3 or 4 subsequent slides, before hitching a lift for the last 5 miles to the border in a dukes of hazard orange 20 year old battered Toyota Corolla.
Once Den was safely into Nepal, we cycled back downhill on the tandem, pushing over and through the landslides back to where the driver had parked up, and stowed the bike and packs in the car.
A bit further down the hillside, the road had mostly collapsed, having fallen away into the river to the right. We guided the Jeep through this obstacle only to be stopped around the next corner by a massive landslide. We spoke to some people coming the other way. There were 6 or 7 more that had happened during the night, and had still to be cleared.
After talking about it, and with rain still falling, we didn't fancy getting trapped on the road, away from medical attention for a few days (still worried that there could be something more serious wrong with me), by landslides. We loaded up the tandem and set off across the mud and inched our way back towards Kathmandu, but it was slow going. Sometimes weaving around boulders, fording knee high water rushing across the remains of the road and one point ankle deep in thick gloopy mud. Crossing some of the slides we would have to time our break to avoid the still falling rocks.
On one, particularly recent slide, a hornets nest had been disturbed. There were hundreds of them buzzing around, and some of the little blighter's decided it was clearly my fault and decided to attack. Valiantly, I made a run for it, leaving Den to deal with hauling 100kg fully loaded tandem over a mudslide between rocks that were still falling to the ground from the hillside above.
We got to 45kms from the border by tea time. Checked into a small roadside guest house, in need of a nice shower and a nice bed. Unfortunately, while in the shower I lost my footing, slipped and landed on my side against the sharp edge of a tiled step. I thought my ribs had broken. This, I thought as I lay on the floor, was not a good week.
The guide recommended that we should use the truck to go over the pass and make camp in the next valley. I assumed he knew what he was talking about. In fact the next valley over the pass was at over 4300m. As we looked for a camp site, I started to feel seriously unwell. Den asked the guide what should be done, he recommended that we head to Shigatze, at 3800m. Where I should be okay. Unfortunately, this involved two very high mountain passes.
We bundled into a passing truck and head up the first pass, Den, me and my accompanying oxygen cylinder. We climb to 4700m and the truck stopped with a puncture. We are both in a state of panic as I've started to get pins and needles all over my body, and am feeling very disorientated at this point. There's no other cars passing on the road at this time of night to take us to a safer altitude, so we are reliant on the truck team to change the wheel quickly.
It's not for another 4 hours that we descend again below 4000m, and on reaching Shigatze at gone 1am we are very grateful for a comfy hotel bed. Unfortunately the relief was only temporary.
In the morning I was very short of breath and we head off to the local hospital. A quick hook up to an oxygen tank and I'm starting to feel better again. They also ran some ECG's to make sure that there was nothing wrong with my heart, but the machines were so old that the output really didn't look much good... so more stress there then. Anyhow, their advice was that I should return to Lhasa and fly to Kathmandu as quickly as possible.
The next morning, having stocked up on oxygen cylinders, this time with a very fetching tube that you can insert into your nose, we boarded the bus back to Lhasa. We assumed this would head down the central (i.e. low level) friendship highway, but instead it went back the way we came, over 3 high altitude passes.
My flight to Kathmandu was uneventful, except the Chinese border guards wanted to know why I wasn't on my designated tour. But Comrade, I have been very ill, now just let me on the damn plane!!!
On landing I was taken straight to an ex-pat clinic, given a proper EKG and some blood tests. Told there was nothing wrong with my heart and that the diagnosis was Acute Mountain Sickness. Basically, we made the wrong decision in going over the pass and that I should have initially returned to Lhasa to acclimatise further. Spending days subjecting myself to too high altitudes without proper acclimatisation meant that it was no longer a case of just descending to a lower altitude to alleviate the symptoms. Now I would have a few days to a week of a tight chest and shortness of breath to remember the experience by. Lovely.
Den, meanwhile, remained in Tibet to return to Shigatze to collect our bike and equipment from the group and then to head to the Nepalese border where I would meet her.
So two days after landing I got into a land-cruiser and set off for the border, 4 hours away. As we were leaving the city limits, the driver got a call to warn of landslides on the road after heavy rains.
We got to within 12kms of the border before we were stopped by an impassable landslide, so I stayed the night at a resort a few Kms further back towards Kathmandu. It rained heavily all night.
In the morning we drove back to the landslide and I set out on foot across the offending landslide and 3 or 4 subsequent slides, before hitching a lift for the last 5 miles to the border in a dukes of hazard orange 20 year old battered Toyota Corolla.
Once Den was safely into Nepal, we cycled back downhill on the tandem, pushing over and through the landslides back to where the driver had parked up, and stowed the bike and packs in the car.
A bit further down the hillside, the road had mostly collapsed, having fallen away into the river to the right. We guided the Jeep through this obstacle only to be stopped around the next corner by a massive landslide. We spoke to some people coming the other way. There were 6 or 7 more that had happened during the night, and had still to be cleared.
After talking about it, and with rain still falling, we didn't fancy getting trapped on the road, away from medical attention for a few days (still worried that there could be something more serious wrong with me), by landslides. We loaded up the tandem and set off across the mud and inched our way back towards Kathmandu, but it was slow going. Sometimes weaving around boulders, fording knee high water rushing across the remains of the road and one point ankle deep in thick gloopy mud. Crossing some of the slides we would have to time our break to avoid the still falling rocks.
On one, particularly recent slide, a hornets nest had been disturbed. There were hundreds of them buzzing around, and some of the little blighter's decided it was clearly my fault and decided to attack. Valiantly, I made a run for it, leaving Den to deal with hauling 100kg fully loaded tandem over a mudslide between rocks that were still falling to the ground from the hillside above.
We got to 45kms from the border by tea time. Checked into a small roadside guest house, in need of a nice shower and a nice bed. Unfortunately, while in the shower I lost my footing, slipped and landed on my side against the sharp edge of a tiled step. I thought my ribs had broken. This, I thought as I lay on the floor, was not a good week.
Wednesday 1 September 2010
Yippee we are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We made it.....we are in Lhasa, Tibet. We were so worried about our bike going cargo and us not getting on the plane due to some problem with the Travel permit that it was a stressful day, but it went without a hitch and no big stress, well apart from when Rich thought we were at the wrong gate and made us run through the airport all to find out we had been at the right gate all along, a kick of adrenalin was not what i needed at that point in time, but it was all fine. The bike was there waiting for us at the cargo terminal there were a few chunks out of the boxes but all was well inside.
Our travel companions arrived on the train from Beijing and we all went to dinner, there are two students from London, and a chap from Canada who is on a world tour, but slightly worryingly not by bike! In fact none of them have been on any extended cycle tours and all have new bikes and basic knowledge in bike stuff! However there is a big truck following us so if things go wrong them and the bikes can catch a ride, we however are going slowly and doing it all. I recon we shall have a good time and they will preserver. find their rhythm and acheive!
So our next post shall be from Kathmandu, Nepal, in 21 days time, but give us a few days to get on a computer before anyone starts to panic! We shall have completed 1000km over 16 days up and down large hills (still hills, not mountains) so may just colapse in Kathmandu for a few days before we post. However, we will check our phones so people can still txt us, apparently Everest Vase camp has very little of anything but good phone signal!!
6 months in training and finally here.....can't wait.
Our travel companions arrived on the train from Beijing and we all went to dinner, there are two students from London, and a chap from Canada who is on a world tour, but slightly worryingly not by bike! In fact none of them have been on any extended cycle tours and all have new bikes and basic knowledge in bike stuff! However there is a big truck following us so if things go wrong them and the bikes can catch a ride, we however are going slowly and doing it all. I recon we shall have a good time and they will preserver. find their rhythm and acheive!
So our next post shall be from Kathmandu, Nepal, in 21 days time, but give us a few days to get on a computer before anyone starts to panic! We shall have completed 1000km over 16 days up and down large hills (still hills, not mountains) so may just colapse in Kathmandu for a few days before we post. However, we will check our phones so people can still txt us, apparently Everest Vase camp has very little of anything but good phone signal!!
6 months in training and finally here.....can't wait.
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