Nagarkot - Himalaya Dawn - Back to Delhi and home

Greeting the dawn from our terrace

"I got a pipe and a few blankets and sat for two hours at the window, and saw the sun drive away the veiling gray and touch up the snow-peaks one after another with pale pink splashes and delicate washes of gold, and finally flood the whole mighty convulsion of snow-mountains with a deluge of rich splendors. Kinchinjunga's peak was but fitfully visible, but in the between times it was vividly clear against the sky -- away up there in the blue dome more than 28,000 feet above sea level -- the loftiest land I had ever seen, by 12,000 feet or more. It was 45 miles away. Mount Everest is a thousand feet higher, but it was not a part of that sea of mountains piled up there before me, so I did not see it; but I did not care, because I think that mountains that are as high as that are disagreeable." - Mark Twain - Following the Equator

Itinerary:

"Feb 26- Nagarkot. Situated at an elevation of 2175 meters, it provides a grandstand panoramic view of the Himalayas. You can see five of the worlds 10 tallest mountains — Everest 8848 m, Lhotse 8516 m, Makalu 8463 m and Manaslu 8163 m and many other lesser summits.
Nagarkot — Delhi - International Flight. Check out of the hotel and board the late morning flight to Delhi. Arrive at Delhi and you are greeted at the airport by our travel facilitator and driver. You can use the remaining few hours you have to do some last minute sightseeing or shopping. We can make suggestions based on your interests. Your vehicle and driver stay with you until your (usually late evening) assisted check in at the airport. Our services end at Delhi airport."

We had an early wake-up call to greet the dawn. Admittedly, the dawn view of the Himalayas was spectacular.

Was it worth adding eight hours of driving on one of the worlds most dangerous roads? I remain unconvinced. There were a few other problems with Hotel Club Himalaya. The food was good and the staff tried hard, but neither the internet nor the tv worked - probably having to do with the frequent power outages in Kathmandu. Shortly after the sunrise vista, we are packed and begin the long journey home.


After another drive through the terraced fields and brick kiln smokestacks of Kathmandu valley, Surendra and Hari see us off at the airport. I can't say enough about these guys, or any of the guides and drivers on this tour. They were all top notch.

Surendra and Hari

We had a long a layover in Delhi - enough time to come full circle on this trip. We started with a shopping trip to the Kahn Market over three weeks before. Sigrid wanted to go back to the Delhi Cloth House to pick up another pashmina or two. Mission accomplished, and we still had time to relax for a few hours in a day room before the final flights home.

Kahn Market Redux

Since we could not get on the internet in the last 72 hours before leaving, there was no hope of an upgrade, and nothing to do but grin and bear it for the next 24 hours of travel time. The less said about it the better, but the trip home was not fun, and included a mad dash between terminals in Newark to barely make our connecting flight home to San Francisco. It was great trip while in India and Nepal, but getting there and back was brutal. We were glad to get home.

[Editor's note: As usual in my blog journals of our travel adventures, the journal is incomplete. There are several dates missing with pictures to be posted and stories yet to be told throughout, but the gaps are particularly egregious in the tour through Rajahstan. If interested - keep checking back. It will get done eventually. Really.]

Most Dangerous Drive Redux - Back to Kathmandu and Nagarkot

Itinerary:

"Feb 25 - Chitwan - Nagarkot. 5:30 a.m.: Wake-up call followed by tea/coffee.
6:00 a.m.: Bird Watching / Elephant Safari / Jungle Walk.
8:00 a.m.: Breakfast.
9:30 a.m.: Departure. Drive to Nagarkot. Arrive at Nagarkot and check in your hotel."
Late afternoon - You can choose to wander around the village or indulge in a short trek in the surrounding wilderness."

This day had the greatest variance from the expectations set in the itinerary and your loyal blogger's single biggest gripe about the trip. As I've said before, in general we were very happy with the itinerary, planning and service provided by Easy Tours of India during the trip. But this day was a big time miss.

Our last Elephant Safari was a great start on the day, but the itinerary simply does not appreciate the nature of the drive to get back to Kathmandu, and Nagarkot is on the other side of Kathmandu.


So instead of a miserable six hour drive back on one of the most dangerous roads in the world, it actually becomes miserable eight hour drive...


...with the last two hours fighting traffic in rush hour through the smog choked streets of Kathmandu - before beginning the climb to Nagarkot.

By the time we got to Kathmandu we needed a break, and Surendra wanted to pick up at least one of the sites we missed during our previous strike-hobbled tour of the city. So we spent a few minutes stretching our legs and enjoying the views at the Swayambhunath Temple...


...also known as the "Monkey Temple" - for obvious reasons:

By the time we finally get to Nagarkot it is dark, and the itinerary suggestion to "wander around the village" or "indulge in a short wilderness trek" is fantasy. It just can't happen on the back end of this drive, even if our kidneys had held out and we had not stopped at the monkey temple.

The first Kathmandu - Chitwan drive could be justified based on an opportunity to see Nepal from the road, and to avoid the unreliability of Nepal air travel. But making a long drive back even longer, arriving after dark, and knowing that we would be getting up to greet the dawn and then head immediately back down to the airport - all to get one early morning view of the Himalayas - struck me as batshit insane. Hey - it is a nice view - just not worth that drive.

Conquering Everest

Everest

Itinerary:

"Feb 22 - Kathmandu. You have the option of experiencing the Everest flight this morning. Take a tour of Kathmandu city. Visit 'Kumari` the Living Goddess, Kasthamandap, the Big Bell, Kal Bharab etc. Visit the Swayambhunath temple, Katmandu’s oldest and best known religious monument. With a history that goes back a least 1500 years for the location, this ancient Stupa is world renown and is visible from miles (from all over the Kathmandu Valley).
Afternoon - Take a tour of `Patan City`, one of the three queen cities of the valley. Patan is the city of fine arts, and we visit Durbar Square, Krishna Mandir, and Mahavihar, the Golden Temple of Lord Buddha, built in the 12th century. Also visit the Tibetan centre."

Today's itinerary took a major one-two punch from the weather and local politics. The general strike called by the Monarchist Party shuttered many businesses and kept traffic off the street. Major intersections were filled with enthusiastic party members intending to enforce the strike, and a large show of force by the police was in evidence, intending to keep a lid on the proceedings.

This was all a bit disconcerting,. As our guide Surrendra put it "The car is not stone proof." Anticipating the strike, Surrendra had taken us for a tour of the Swayambhunath Stupa the night before. This morning we opted for the Everest flyby, which still meant a dawn drive from the hotel to the airport, while the striker supporters were sleeping off the previous night festivities. Surrendra and Hari came up with a solution to the strike problem:

Yes - that's it. The note taped on the windshield saying "Tourist Only". Frankly, I was a little dubious, but apparently the one thing all Nepalese political factions agree on, is that tourists are necessary for the economy.

We get to the airport without incident, and in record time through the empty streets. Fog meant a delay of several hours at the terminal, but the flight was worth the wait. Once we cleared the Kathmandu smog layer and low-lying clouds, the Himalayas emerged in all their splendor.




Back on the ground we put Hari's strike repellent sign to the test as we drive back to the hotel for lunch.

It seemed to work. Lots of people on the street looking in the window to confirm there were indeed tourist on board.

After lunch we blew off the rest of the itinerary, took a back door route out of town and climbed the nearby hills to the Kopan Monastery. This monastery caters to Western spiritual seekers, and quite a few were in evidence meditating near the shrines, reading in the library, and interacting with the monks. We learned from Surrendra that Bill Clinton is the favorite American presidient for all Nepalese, and found evidence of this nestled among the thousands of books on Buddhist thought in the Monastery library:


We enjoyed the views and gardens while observing the peaceful life of monks and students at this beautiful Buddhist site. The serenity and quiet was a welcome respite from the Kathmandu chaos and noise.



As a side benefit, I got one of those nagging questions answered.