On Safari in the Terai

Have spent the last 3 days on safari, staying at Tiger Lodge, Sauraha, a small town on the edge of the Royal Chitwan National Park. Its much more humid here but the climate is still very pleasant and it cools down somewhat in the evenings, feels very relaxed here.

The lodge has a great location right on the river, the park begins on the other side, across the water. Within the first hour, I spot numerous elephants, a gharial crocodile and plenty of bird life. The next day, I head into the park proper for a walking safari with a few other tourists and some local guides. We head downstream by canoe, spotting some more crocs, a few deer on the river banks and many different bird species, kingfishers, egrets, sandpipers, martins, storks and herons. The morning is spent walking around the forested areas and we catch sight of two different species of deer, a wild boar and some langurs watching us from high in the trees. We also see and hear woodpeckers, tropical bird species such as orioles and parakeets but the rhino eludes us. There are some risks to walking through the jungle - although we could possibly see rhinos, wild elephants, sloth bear and maybe even a tiger or leopard, the reality is, all pose a very serious danger. As the day gets hotter the wildlife becomes more scarce and we spend most of the afternoon walking deeper in the jungle via some three metre tall elephant grass. Its overgrown and very hard work, cutting my neck and arms, because of the tall grass at this time of year its difficult to spot much wildlife. I feel exhausted by the time we return to the lodge, its been a long very hot and humid day.

On the final day, I take a 3 hour elephant safari into the community forest. Its a much more enjoyable way to see the wildlife and we see some more deer who are much less afraid of us atop the elephant. As we near the end of the tour, we finally track down a pair of rhino in the undergrowth. Although the male is not pleased to see us and grunts at our elephant, warning him not to get too close. Its a great moment to be so close to such a wild beast. Feeling satisfied with my rhino sighting, I head back to Kathmandu, its been a fantastic three weeks.

Back in the capital people are enjoying the last few days of Dashain festival, the most important Hindu festival of the year. The holiday has brought some respite to the civil war. The Maoists unilateral ceasefire is still in place, although the army have already shown they refuse to play the same game and have continued to hunt down the terrorists. Meanwhile the Maoists continue to abduct civilians in areas under their control. As I leave the country, the king passes some legislation to tighten his control of the media, effectively banning the press from directly criticising him, without incurring sever penalties. With the assistance of the army, the King retains control of the country and has promised elections for 2007 and a return to democracy, a proposal roundly snubbed by the politicians who remain opposed to the king. In the face of increasing isolation and opposition, it remains to be seen if King Gyanendra can retain his position as the autocratic ruler of this beautiful country.

Namaste, the Annapurna Sanctuary trek

Have been in Nepal for just over 2 weeks, having just returned from 11 days in the Annapurna range and its been great, has really refreshed my mind. However, its difficult to believe what is going on in the more troubled areas of the country. A recent EU visit declared Nepal on the verge of political collapse. Around 12,000 people have died in the 10 year civil war between the King's army and the Maoist insurgents. The King sacked the entire government back in February, accusing them of corruption and failing to serve the people. The return to autocratic rule has been heavily critised and the Kings position is becoming increasingly isolated both inside Nepal and on the world stage. However he has maintained his control of the army and there is a heavy military presence in Kathmandu and other major towns. The main trekking areas are safe but the more remote areas to the west are the domain of the Maoists. A recent ceasefire declared by the terrorists was broken by the army who have taken a tough approach to try and tame the Maoist threat.

Nepal is a predominantly Hindu culture, with a healthy proportion of Buddhists, many of them Tibetan refugees, who have tended to settle in the mountain areas. Kathmandu is your typical noisy, polluted Asian city, but has quite a few gems to discover. The Thamel area of Kathmandu is the tourist ghetto, its a disorienting maze of narrow streets offering the usual traveller friendly features and plenty of cheap hotels and restaurants. Branching off down a quieter street, I crossed the river and climbed the steps to the top of the monkey temple at Swayambhunath to visit the spiritual home of Buddhism in Nepal and get a birds eye view over the city. South of Thamel is the old heart of the town, Durbar square, which used to house the Kings' palace. Most buildings date from the 16-17th century, its a colourful mix of ancient hindu temples and is best observed from one of the upper layers of the numerous pagoda like temples.

Nearby, Bhaktapur is a superbly preserved ancient city, which is almost traffic free and has a timeless charm. Here the stone streets, wooden temples and the pace of life haven't changed much for hundreds of years. Other religous sites of note nearby are Pashupatinath - one of the most important Hindu pilgrammage sites on the subcontinent and the giant stupa of Bodhnath - the largest Tibetan Buddhist site in Nepal. The red robed monks, tourists and pilgrims circle the stupa, always in a clockwise direction, gaining merit with each circuit. Tibetan (Vajrayana) Buddhism culture is well preserved here in Nepal, free from the restrictions imposed by the communists in China.

After 2 days in Kathmandu it was time to explore the real Nepal and the 11 day trek to Annapurna base camp. Its one of the classic "teahousetreks" where there are small villages every hour or so along the trail providing plenty of accomodation and thus no need to take any heaving camping gear. The bus journey west to Pokhara was a beautiful 6 hourstaking us to the foot of the Himalaya, via rice terraced valleys with distant snow capped peaks in the distance. Upon arrival, we weregreeted by a group from the government tourist department on world tourism day who awarded our bus third place and I won myself an unexpected free nights accomodation by being the first to get off. After a good nights sleep, we got the bus out of town and into the foothills proper and began the trek itself. Starting at 1200m, day 1 was an easy 3-4 hour hike up the valley to 1500m, the 8000m peaks hidden from view. The real climb began the day after with a tough ascent to the village of Ghorepani, 2800m above sea level. An early dawn start the following day took us to over 3000m and the summit of Poon hill where an awesome Himalayan panorama revealed itself. From here you can see the Annapurna range and the giant structure of Dhaulagiri (at 8170m the worlds 6th highest peak) and words can't quite describe it really - its amazing. On the way down we meet some Maoist soldiers who extract their additional tourist tax of 10 pounds. Its a straightforward transaction - I'm told they only get their guns out ifyou refuse to pay.

The next 2-3 days were a constant up and down, dropping back to below 2000m and then climbing back up again along steep stone paths, always following the rivers course, through rice terraced valleys and beautiful monsoonal rainforest with Annapurna South the dominant mountain never too far from view. Day 6 took us up to Machapuchre base camp (MBC) at 3700m, where you are rewarded with awesome views of the sacred "fish tail" mountain, 6990m high but never conquered. A stiff early morning 90 min climb on day 7 finally took us to the Annapurna sanctuary itself, where the 8075m Annapurna 1, the worlds 10th highest mountain is finally revealed, alongside its sister peaks, forming a giant circlular ridge which surround you on 3 sides. At 4130m this is base camp for attempts on what looks like a formidable ascent of the south face of Annapurna 1, finally scaled in 1970, 20 years after the easier north face. A dirty looking glacier blocks the way upwards rising to meet a vertical face of almost 4000m of rock, snow and ice. I'm just glad to have made it this far and have no intention of coming back with some ice axes. The clouds roll in after a few hours and soon its time to head back down to MBC for the night. It drops down to around freezing at this altitude at night, quite a change from the subtropical climate of Pokhara.

We took a more direct route back to Pokhara but the trail is rarely flat and after a few hours of going downhill, the short sharp uphill sections turned out to be a real killer. Back in town, cows and water buffalo stroll the streets and the relaxed pace of life along the lakeside is just perfect after all that walking. Across the other side of the lake, its a 1 hour walk up to the world peace pagoda from which the Annapurna range can be seen from a more distant perspective.Tomorrow am heading south to the tropical plains of the Terai on safari. Should see plenty of elephants, the odd rhino, some good birdlife and maybe even a tiger if I'm really lucky. Tonight some kiwi guys we met on the trail are playing a gig at the popular busy bee bar. Having seen them do a few warm up numbers last night, this should hopefully turn out to be a good night out.

The trail starts and ends in Pokhara, Nepal

I've just returned from an 11 day trek to Annapurna base camp but have been travelling for some time now. Well only 2 weeks in this case, but it feels like much longer. Let me explain whats happening here at the moment, then if I get time, I'll try and relate to how I got here...