The Bailey Expedition - Quinn's Nepal

Quinn's Nepal

23/5 Today we went to Swambunath, the monkey temple. It was so high up, it gave a view of all Kathmandu. There was also a huge stupa in the center of the temple. There were the Buddha's eyes on each side of the stupa. There were also many monkeys around. They would often steal things from people. It was very interesting how the monkeys would do what ever they wanted. Also on the temple we saw some monks chanting. There were also many prayer flags flying and prayer wheels. Shops surrounded the temple. On our way down we saw a swarm of monkeys moving swiftly around the temple. There were also many Buddha statues surrounding the temple.

24/5 Today we went to a Buddhist monastary. We were given a tour of the monastary. And in the temple we were not given tea, but Coca-Cola. At the end of our visit we watched chanting and ceremonial music. We then went to Boudha another large temple, but Boudha was mainly a large stupa. It also had Buddha's eyes on it. There were also many prayer wheels including a few huge ones. Prayer flags streamed down from the top of the stupa. It was also surrounded by stores. We stayed there quite late and then took a taxi back. Tomorrow we leave for the Annapurnas.

27/5 Today we were scheduled to go to the Annapurnas. But we decided to stay another day because there was a parade happening in Kathmandu, and ending at our hotel! It was for Sir. Edmund Hillary and anyone else who has ever summited Everest. I thought it was pretty cool. I took a lot of pictures, but I had to fight the press for positioning. Hillary was swarmed by the media, and photographers, including me. But security kept us at a distance. Finally the parade ended at our hotel where he was interviewed. Jamling Tenzing Norgay and Tashi Tenzing Norgay were there.

I got my photo taken with Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa who summited with Hillary. After most people left there were refreshments by the pool. Soon it was all over, we plan to go to the Annapurnas tomorrow.

Today we took a long bus ride to Pokhara. It was an okay ride, for half the trip there was no air conditioning, we stopped for quite a while to try to fix it. So when we arrived we were quite late. The next day we went to the permits office to try to get permits for trekking in the Annapurnas. We have also hired a guide. We're doing a short five day four night trek. It's nice to be in Pokhara, it's a smaller city. Kathmandu was rather large and congested.

30/5. Today we left Nyapul for Gandruk, then we go to Tadapani, next is Ghorepani, afterwards Tatopani and then we end in Galeswor. We have decided to hire a guide for our trek, his name's Dinness, we've already become good friends with him. He's very nice.

Today was a grueling hike laden with cramps. It was a nice way to start our trek, we were so high up. We have just had some of the lemon tea that guesthouses serve, it's very good. And when we were nearing Gandruk, the clouds broke and we saw Machhapuchhare, Fishtail Mountain. Soon we arrived in Gandruk. Dinness showed us where he usually stayed, we decided to stay there.

The next morning we saw some of the mountains, but it was partially clouded which was somewhat disappointing, but we knew we would get our best view on top of poon hill. Dinness got us some walking sticks to help with the rest of the hiking. We started our hike in view of the mountains. Today we are doing a short hike to Tadapani. After passing through a monkey forest we arrived in Tadapani. We went to the local pub which was a woman's home, she made wine, and dried buffalo. She was very nice she let us stay there for a while. We also met a nice Canadian couple. And a Korean group doing nearly the same trek as us.

This morning we had an excellent view of the mountains, it was stunning. We could see so many of the mountains. Today we have a very difficult hike ahead of us, we have to make it to Ghorepani. Then in the morning we hike up to Poon Hill. After a while hiking we ran into someone from portland. We hiked over a pass and through a rhododendron forest, it was foggy and looked really cool. After a while more hiking we came to Ghorepani, it's a big town but we found a hotel and it was nearest to Poon Hill. It was called the Snowland Hotel, it was probably one of the best experiences I had in Nepal, I learned how to play carom board, an Indian game. I also hung out with the Korean group and everyone staying at the hotel was down there. It was a lot of fun.

In the morning my dad and I hiked up to poon hill at 4:15 am, my mom, my brother and Dinness stayed in Ghorepani. Poon hill was amazing We could see almost all of the Annapurnas, and Dulgiri, the fifth highest mountain in the world. Almost everyone at our hotel was up there. We stayed up there about an hour then came down and left.

Counting Poon Hill we had to do a ten hour hike today. We had to make it to Tatopani. After Quite a bit of hiking we arrived in Tatopani, we walked around town. The next morning we were going to Galeswor, after reading the map we figured that the hike from Nyapul, where we started to Galeswor, where we end was about fifty miles!! We saw some people breaking rocks, and some porters with huge loads. I can't imagine doing that every day. On our way we also met some Nepali soldiers, they were making a road to Upper Mustang. After arriving in Galeswor we took a taxi to Benny then to Pokhara. I thought overall it was a very nice hike. But it was a long ride to Pokhara.

For the next few days we did very little, until our bus ride back to Kathmandu a few days later. It again wasn't a bad ride We really only have one day back in Kathmandu before we leave. We hung around and looked at the city one last time. While walking around we saw around a hundred Nepali soldiers. Because of the Maoist rebels there is a large military presence.

The next day we went to the Airport, tanks guarded it. We got on our flight. Since we were so high up we might have seen everest, we saw quite a few peak like objects. It was Quite a nice way to end our time here in Nepal. Despite its pollution, smog problem and political unrest, Nepal is a very beautiful country with a lot of charm, and an endless supply of things to do. Nepali people are very nice and sincere. I wish we had a little bit longer in Nepal. So I really hope I can come back.