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Everyone was very pleased to hear when I arrived home from my trip to Nepal. The first question was “Are you in one piece?” “Yes, all intact!” was my reply. “And yes, the knees survived!”
starting with the annapurna south circuit - moderate to difficult
day 1 - kathmandu to (45min flight) pokhara, then bussed to birethanti where we walked for a few hours and spent the night in tirkedungha village.
day 2 - THE STAIRS! All 3667 of them. Along the way a local black dog adopted me and walked with the group for most of the day. After 8 hours of walking the spectacular peaks of annupuna south and hiunculi mountain came into view. Truly stunning. The Ulleri Village was a welcomed sight for eating and resting.
day 3 - first 4 hours were good with views of annapurna south, and a continuation of rocks, stones and steps. Then the rain and hail set in. The track turned muddy and slippery. Feeling wet and cold It was hard to keep going after lunch but determination won through. 11 hours walking today. Along the way saw monkeys and a hydroelectric dam. Finally arriving at ghandruk village.
day 4 - 7 hours more walk. Nearly finished. Hot but mostly easy today. The Black dog showed up again and followed me all the way to end of trek.
day 5 - Last day. Finished back at birethanti. Caught a bus back to pokhara. Staying at a beautiful resort and had my first hot shower in days.
day 6 - 4.5 hr drive to chitwan national park to see an elephant breeding program. Stayed at Sapana Village lodge. It was magnificent to see the elephants.
visiting the great work by Plan
day 7 - A short drive to Makwanpur District to visit Plan's Country Office. We were greeted by local Co-op ladies (wearing pink in the photo). It was obvious this community was making a difference thanks partly to this Co-Op encouraging other women to join.
Later we broke into 3 groups -
- Group 1 Visited an agriculture centre. The local milk producers weren't getting paid properly so Plan helped by buying a machine that tested the quality of the milk. This way the milk producers could negotioate with the buyers appropriate prices.
- Group 2 got to visit a pig farm. The woman who owned this farmed was sold by her parents to an indian circus. The circus told the girl they would send money back to her family if she would go with them. The family received no money and asked Plan for help to find their daughter. After months of searching they found her, told her that her family had received no money from the circus and got her to come home again. Plan then talked to her about setting up a pig farm so she could generate an income for herself and her family. With training on how to raise pigs and piglets this woman now runs a very profitable farm.
- Group 3 were shown through the school. The Head Master was very keen to have the toilet block finished and showed us to the beginnings of a building to accommodate 200 beds for girls. Plan has assisted the project by purchasing the materials needed by the school.
When we were in the village a Lady came with a food barrow. Her husband was unable to work due to a brain injury and she also had 3 boys to raise. Plan helped her to set up a the food cart by providing the cart (8.5 rupee) for her livelihood. This woman and her family now have a better standard of living, her children go to school and she makes enough money to bank back into the co-op to assist others.
After lunch we took a 4WD along river bed to remote village school. Although school had finished for the day all the teachers and students greeted us dressed in their sunday best. After the students sang and danced we gave them goodie bags containing pencils, notepads, hair ties, erasers, sharpeners and so on. We drove back to Sapana Village for a well earned rest.
day 8 - 4.50am start - 6hrs to Kathmandu from Sapana. We celebrated our last night in Nepal 6 course dinner at Krishnapan Restaurant in Kathmandu. It was delicious!
thailand stop over
days 9-11 - kathmandu to bangkok. A 3 hour train journey to katachaparburi (bridge over the river kwai) and stayed for 2 nights. Here we visted the war cemetry, caught a taxi to the tiger temple and later saw hell fire pass.
day 12 - home.
I've uploaded my travel photos to our Facebook page, so don't forget to visit!
