NEPAL [ A Family Trekking Travelogue ] - by limwhow & SereneXMM

[limwhow]

Dinner!

Ho ho ho... Bamboo Club, nostalgic yah.
We still remember this restaurant from our last visit. It's a welcoming sight.

.. and this time round we had Gorkha Beer instead of Everest Beer... LOL...

[aiyah.. a little OOF again. My eye sight is getting worse.. Old Flower (老&#33457 already..]

.. and my favourite cheese steak..

Change money!

When we go to Nepal, it's best to bring just US dollars, to be exchanged to Nepali Rupees locally.
Because it is very difficult to change Nepali rupee back home in Singapore.
At this point in time, the exchange rate is US$1 to 86 Nepali rupees.
Good enough a rate for me, as ZA happily showed...

 

[tecnica]

this is a great thread!

 

[limwhow]

Last minute shopping for trekking stuffs in Kathmandu

Kathmandu is a haven for trekkers looking to purchase cheap (and understandably not-original) trekking goods - fleece layers, outer jackets, trekking sticks, shoes, backpacks, small daypacks, duffel bags, sleeping bags.. EVERYTHING.
It's always exciting to be basked in the colours of the stores.
And we have always enjoyed Thamel as that part of Kathmandu for this very purpose.
Of course, bargaining is a must.
I must admit I am not the best of bargainers. But I managed with help from Mahesh.

... trekking pants for the girls, and TWO trekking sticks per person...

"How much is the trekking pants?" asked SereneXMM.
"About S$15. The trekking sticks about S$6 per stick. Of course, if we bargain hard enough we can bring down the price more. But ok lah, support the local inudstry, as what SgTrekker has always told us," I replied.


Aiyoh!
I really didn't expect to see this right here in Kathmandu, but Fann and AhLiXMM were both looking to get beanies in cute cute rabbit, cat, penguin fashion!
Do they really have such childish-looking head covers, I asked myself?
But Q 姐姐 was totally unfazed. She went around asking...

"Do you sell beanies with Rabbit ears sticking out like this?" Q asked the bewildered shop-keeper...

So how? You people gotten all that you wanted?
Are we done yet?

Erm.. maybe not yet?

"Papa, these handicrafts look interesting," said ZA.
Yes, son. They do. But... we aren't going to carry a whole lot of heavy metals up to the mountains, right?
We can do this later once we are back ok?

"Mahesh!" I called out.
"Yes?"
"Hey both the son and I want to get that very popular Nepali topi," I replied.
"Ok lah," said Mahesh in as Singlish a way he could manage. "No problem lah. Just down the road."

And we found a Nepali topi for each of the man in the group, for a topi is only worn by man.

 

[limwhow]

... Of Electricity and Hot water...

Well, of course we can always stay in 5 star hotels in Kathmandu.
But honestly that would take away a huge chunk of the fun, won't it?
Thus I personally prefer to stay in smaller 3-star hotels.
And experience full-body the frequent power break-downs and their repercussions.

And how does that translate into?
Well, haha... for the first night, out of three rooms, only one had hot water for shower.
So we all took turn showering lor..
Actually not a big issue.
But it was quite fun, really.
And the children laughed themselves crazy, because the shower became flooded from too many people showering.
I am sure it was memorable for them, as much as it was for me.

 

[limwhow]

Day 2 morning!

Sleep came easy for most of us.
And we woke to a cooooold morning.
Looking forward to a nice flight to Pokhara, was my Rudy Project and my newly-acquired Nepali topi..

The recorded temperature was 8 degrees at 8am this morning.
The coldness was experienced full blast once we stepped onto the front porch..

Breakfast was a campur of Dals, Bhats, puri, potato, eggs...
But still not warm enough to give heat to Fann's nose... Hahaha...

How does breakfast look like?
Take a look at his plate as that young man tucked into his food with gusto...

Ok, guys!
Pack up, backpacks into the airplane cargo bags all locked up.
Carry your own daypacks.
We are going to fly.

 

[limwhow]

Kathmandu Streets in the day time...

Kathmandu in the day feels different from the night.
And in my opinion, through the windscreen is one of the interesting point of view..

Yes, the streets of Kathmandu, where pedestrian pavements, bicycle lanes, motorway all merge into one.
And where piles after piles of sand, bricks and debris encroach upon the driveway.

Where a lamp-post would suddenly occur a distance away from the side of the road, threatening to punch a dent into the car should the driver fail to notice it.

 

[limwhow]

Despite repeated visits, I still find the streets of Kathmandu very interesting.
Colourful and unique. If I may use the word - flavourful.

Clickable images below...





​

A city so full of motorbicycles and bicycles, every where, outside almost every shop, you will see one.
A city so crowded that you will always be sure to find people standing waiting, sitting waiting..
Here, time seems to slow down quite a bit.
No one seems to be in too much of a hurry.

 

[limwhow]

Yes, indeed. No hurry.
Like the way the old lady & old man sit there gazing afar...


No hurry. Reading the newspaper under the word Castrol.
Aaaah... Castrol, a name that conjures up memories of time long long ago...


Yupe. Totally no hurry.
Like the way the man takes a break from his hammer.


All above images are clickable...

Well... the only people who seem to in any kind of hurry
are this group of Singaporeans making their way
to the Domestic airport to catch a flight
to Pokhara... LOL..

... just joking just joking.
We were all captivated by the street scenes.

​

 

[Zichar]

Brilliant series, great that you managed to cajole your kids to do this. Actually they seem to be of good sport to all this! :thumbsup:
The birth of the next generation of intrepid travelers

 

[TWmilkteaTW]

Nice..Always fall in love following your thread. Enjoy the story telling and lots of photo along the way. As usual. In short, I really enjoy this kind of full coverage threads :bsmilie:

And of course. I am going to Bookmark this. Keep them coming.

 

[Daoyin]

A travelogue of record shots..

For many of our friends here in ClubSNAP who know us well, SereneXMM and I are just record shooters.
To us, what is important is that the picture captures the feeling of the moment, and it captures the moment itself.
Even if there is some movement blur, or if the composition is less than acceptable, or if the picture is a little out of focus, as long as it is memorable to me, I think it is good enough for ourselves and the children to remember this trip by.

Thus we would like to first apologise if our pictures are not good enough.
I am but a story-teller. Nothing more.

Record photographer with a Leica rangefinder trying to give reasons for any movement blur shots. How can say like that?

 

[limwhow]

this is a great thread!

Thank you very much, tecnica, for coming on board!

Brilliant series, great that you managed to cajole your kids to do this. Actually they seem to be of good sport to all this! :thumbsup:
The birth of the next generation of intrepid travelers

Zichar, many thanks to your encouragement!
Well, let's say they just kinda got conned.. LOL...

Nice..Always fall in love following your thread. Enjoy the story telling and lots of photo along the way. As usual. In short, I really enjoy this kind of full coverage threads :bsmilie:

And of course. I am going to Bookmark this. Keep them coming.

TWmilkteaTW, really appreciate your praises!
I try my best. I try my best.
Hopefully my best is good enough.

Record photographer with a Leica rangefinder trying to give reasons for any movement blur shots. How can say like that?

Daoyin ah, Daoyin... I am sure you have heard: It's the photographer, not the camera.
Haha.. so any shortcomings are through faults of mine, not the camera lah..

 

[limwhow]

Pokhara beckons...

Yes, it's the time of the trip again.
The mad rush carrying the heavy backpacks on our own..
The mad mad rush cheonging into the Domestic airport in Kathmandu...
The super mad rush in getting the luggages checked-in quickly so that we may enter the boarding area in as short a time as possble..
... so that when the plane is ready to take off, we will be ready for the 10-metre-sprint..

While Mahesh was busying himself...

The interesting thing that I have noticed is..
Whenever Mahesh is in the Domestic Airport, he seems to be a much intense person..
... a frown on his forehead.. the harsh tone of voice with the counter staffs...
I won't be surprised if he doesn't do that, somehow we won't be able to get up fast...

And yes, the customs police asked me lots of questions, but in a very courteous and smiling fashion.

And phew! Yes! We are through and found ourselves seated in the waiting lobby where in our previous trek, we spent four days waiting for our delayed plane...
[If anyone was interested.. here is the thread... Our third attempt at flying out of Kathmandu to Lukla]

OK! Are we ready to fly??!!

YES! We are!
Looks like this time round we are much luckier!

 

[tecnica]

i also want to go Nepal for photography purposes but not sure how to go abt it. haha.

it's ok, someday i will get it done. for now, i will just sit back and admire your works.

 

[tecnica]

the captions are just hilarious. :bsmilie:

 

[limwhow]

So on this morning at 10am, we flew 170km from Kathmandu westwards to Pokhara on a propeller plane.
The flight took a mere 25 minutes.

"OK, you all try to find a seat on the RIGHT side of the plane," instructed the ever-presence Mahesh.
"Then you will be able to see the mountains."

Very good idea! Very good indeed!
Anyway, this time round the windows of the plane were a little too hazy for any of my 'mountain shots' to come out nicely.
But here is one of Pokhara as we approached the runway and were about to land in Pokhara Airport...

 

[limwhow]

Yah... yes yeti yeti yeti..
I just can't help loving Yeti Air.
When we fly Yeti Air, everything is as Yeti as can be...
Steady..

Yes. This time round the propeller plane was one with a larger capacity.
I don't remember exactly how many. But around 20 plus seater, compared with the Sita Air STOL to Lukla which was only about a 16 seater.

Yes, don't be YaYa, son.

 

[limwhow]

It's a short taxi ride from Pokhara Airport to our hotel just at the edge of the famous Fewa Lake.
We were all enjoying the scenery and the light cold air when suddenly we found ourselves turning, at right angle, off the main road, into a tunnel...

When we next found light in our eyes, Q exclaimed:
"OMG! This is so... I am so liking this place!"

And yes, I can understand why she loved it.
Because the whole hotel was designed with a traditional Nepali architecture and decor.
Upon stepping in, the scent of Lemon Grass floated in the air.. and we were all transformed into a time of ancient Nepal.

And the Penguin finally smiled...

 

[limwhow]

Pokhara.. finally, we are getting closer...

Well, it's noon time in the much more relaxed and scenic city of Pokhara.
And the recorded temperature at this hour is 18 degrees Centigrade.
Not bad yah. Not too cold.
How come? Because whilst Kathmandu sits at an altitude of 1300m, Pokhara is merely at 800m.
In fact, for those of us staying around the large Fewa lake, the altitude is only about 754m high.
Therefore it comes as no surprise that the weather in Pokhara is a little milder.

Walking around Pokhara, we find that it's a little bit more touristy.

"Yes, this Pokhara is more for tourists and for those from the other parts of Nepal coming here for a holiday," explained Mahesh.
"That's why the buildings and roads are nice. But the prices of things here are more expensive than those in Kathmandu for the same item."

Good cautioning, Mahesh, I thought to myself, making a mental note to go back to Kathmandu for the girls (and the boys) shopping.

 

[limwhow]

Well well, so nice to see another Family Trekking Travelogue:heart: from you once again...:thumbsup:...will definitely keep popping in...hehee:bsmilie:

Thanks for sharing, bro


Merry Christmas to you and your family...:cheers:

blueskye168, sorry missed out your comments.
Thank you very very much for your kind words.
I will keep popping the shots in as constantly as I can! LOL...