Well, what a day!
I am still getting the local tipping amounts sorted, still not sure how much I should be tipping. I'm either vastly over tipping or significantly undertipping, both are equally insulting. I'll get it worked out soon.
At 8:30am I met my guide for the day, Dilip Kumar Shrestharanjit, or Dilip as he likes to be called.
As we drive out of Thamel and head to the gondola, Dilip tells me about the rebuilding and cleanup of Kathmandu. The locals are sick of the dust, the smell, and the rubbish, and want the cleanup. The river, he points out as we drive over is (in his words) disgusting!
I ask "if the place is cleaned up, won't that make it expensive for the locals?", he acknowledges the point but points out it will bring more tourists, which means more money. He himself works in the tourism industry, and has no other qualifications, so that's the only way he gets money. Dilip explains the economics of it are complicated, but rebuilding and cleaning the city is the best way forward.
He is a well travelled man, not only all over Nepal and India, but worked as a waiter at the Burj Khalifa when it opened, but left after they failed to give him the pay rises he was promised, because of his good English he was told he would receive pay rises.
Traffic in Kathmandu is similar to other large cities in developing nations. It is best described as Mostly Flowing Chaos. The road rules are simple:
- Force your way through.
- Don't hit someone (car or pedestrian).
- Don't get hit.
It works surprisingly well, there are few fender-benders, as evidenced by the cars you see. Even old ones are pretty much fine. The chaos works, either that or the panelbeaters are very very good.
Walking through the streets requires a different skill set than you are probably used to. Off the main roads there are no footpaths to speak of, so you walk on the road. It is not nearly as simple as walk on the side, on the left or the right. The streets are full of rickshaws, stopped cars, deliveries, motorbikes and most significantly; pedestrians.
This means cars are required to force their way through (see above), and so occupy any particular part of the road that they can. As a pedestrian it's your job to be aware of the cars and other obsticals, to force your way through, but also avoid being hit yourself. You are essentially a vehicle, following the road rules listed earlier - you just have a lot more to lose if you get hit.
I suppose it could take a bit of getting used to, but I'm stroppy enough that I just demand my right of way and so far I've avoided being a ding on a car bumper.
About 45 minutes after we set off, we arrived at the gondola ground station for Chandragiri Hill. The ride up was both beautiful and expected. It may seem jaded, I am sure a travel journalist could make riding up the forest covered hills through the clouds sound lovely and breathtaking, but I guess I'm spoiled by New Zealand.
On the ride up I asked Dilip some more questions. I carefully asked him whether there was much corruption in Nepal, and he felt comfortable enough to confirm there is. He says it's not nearly as bad as it used to be, the public have become wise, and with the power of striking, demanding what they want.
I asked him about the EBC trek and what is it that some tourists do that makes you go "wow they are stupid"? He says that some tourists want to come to Everest, to visit Base Camp, but don't understand that it's walking all day, every day. That you don't just drive up, and it's not just short walks every day.
This doesn't exactly bode well for me. Whilst I full well know it's a tough journey, not something done lightly, but am I fit enough? I hope that when I set out, I see lots of out-of-shape tourists coming back, this would hopefully mean my "fitness" isn't so near the bottom to be the sort of person Dilip is talking about.
Side note: as I'm writing this entry back at KGH, it's raining at the moment, it's that lovely cool rain you get when it's been a hot day.
Dilip tells me of his family, he has 8 children, the oldest just 15! Though he hints that they may not all be to the same wife.
The top of Chandragiri Hill is as i would expect. A tourist stop. It's views, when we aren't inside a cloud, I imagine are spectacular, but the top is definitely for tourists. Restaurants that serve hamburgers and milkshakes (no, I didn't have either). Dilip did introduce me to pakki chai, or "milk tea". It is a delicious drink, very sweet. Milk teas are made differently all over the world, so you will have to come to Nepal to try what I had.
My main purpose of this trip today isn't visiting the top, it's what is next - the walk down. Rather than use the gondola, we are going to walk down the hill. A side note for some who aren't aware; whilst walking down hill is obviously easier than up, it is not as easy as walking on the flat, your thighs get a good workout.
My primary purpose of the day is to find out what works and what doesn't for the trek. To establish if I need to change anything, remember anything, or more importantly, buy anything before I begin the big one.
It would have been lovely if most of the trip was through rain forests, but it was mostly dirt roads. I'm not too sad, as I said, this is a walking exercise for me.
The roads are still muddy from the rains, and I confess I did slip over - but only once.
We had lunch at a local place that Dilip says is used by the locals going up and down the hill. They stop here and grab a bite. I tried and enjoyed a type of Nepalese curry, I don't remember the name unfortunately.
Here I tried not eating as much as I could, seeing how having a light lunch would impact me (hint, it did, but not that bad). After heading off again, by about the 1h30m mark I was starting to feel it in my thighs. Fortunately we had just arrived at our rendezvous point with the car. I said to Dilip that if we had another 2 hours of walking, I'd be rather happy to have a quick rest now, but both fortunately and sadly we had reached the car. Fortunately because it meant I wasn't tired, but sadly because I didn't get to the point of tired. It would have been nice to find my limit. Never fear, I am absolutely confident that I will find many many limits on the trek to EBC.
On the walk down we talked about many things, and Dilip gave me some good advice on the trek. Sadly my very thick down jacket/pillow won't be needed, it's not cold enough at the moment (it's served me well throughout the coldest parts of Europe, and when stuffed inside itself, makes a fantastic pillow).
So using his advice, tonight I have trimmed down my pack, removing stuff that I brought, but wasn't sure if I'd need.
Dilip told me of the tourist qualifications they are required to have, and the courses they have to go on. Price wise they are expensive, but not out-of-reach, and you earn it back very quickly once you become a guide.
I was impressed to hear of all the things the courses cover. A lot of detail on working with clients, understanding different cultures and how they tend to react. Conversations to avoid (politics, do not talk politics), and even how to move the conversations away from those contentious topics.
They cover not only AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), and go into extensive detail on recognising it and how to deal with it, but also lightly cover other illnesses that tourists may experience, such as diabetes and ashma.
We finally reached the bottom around 1hr 30mins from when we set off, and after another tea, we headed back for an hour long drive through traffic to get back into town.
- Distance walked; 22,000 steps, approx 16km.
- Maximum altitude: approx 2600m
- Altitude change walked: 1000m
- Battery level at end of day: 65%
