Drokpa Journal

Dates Traveled: Two trips between October-December 2001
Various trips between March-October 2005
Various trips between March-October 2006
Another trip between October-December 2006
(I’d also traveled here in October of both 1997/1998, but those trips are without details)

December, after seeing camel fair in India
Border Crossing

Unlike most simple border crossings, it was a 6 km rickshaw ride to the border and the Indian immigration, a 1 1/2 km walk to Nepal immigration, and another 6 km rickshaw ride to the Nepalese town of Mahendra Nagar. I was being hounded by some rickshaw drivers that wanted my business. While I was ducking under the border gate in Nepal the rickshaw driver behind me rode over my foot. He continued hounding me as if nothing had happened until I pointed to the muddy tire track across my toes, and stated that I may be strange that way, but nobody that runs me over is going to get my business…sorry.

Royal Bardia Park

It was a 5 1/2 hour journey from Mahendra Nagar to Anbassa, through many police checkposts - which I later learned were there before and not part of the current crises. Now, as you may have heard, and as I had before re-entering Nepal, the Maoists have been causing some problems here as of late. They’ve been vocal for the past 5 years or so, but in late November they became more active. Hundreds of Maoists and police/army were killed over a period of a few days, and the battles continue. However, they’ve never targeted tourists, so I decided it was safe to return - something I still believe. I’ve heard a few stories where tourists were nearby when something was bombed, but the best story I heard was from an English couple. They were part of a large group going rafting, and were descending to the river the first day when they encountered a Maoist. He demanded US$50/person, or said that he couldn’t guarantee their safety on the river. Nobody in the group had that type of cash, so he finally settled on about US$13.50/person. The best part? He issued the group a receipt! That cracks me up. Only visible sign of a conflict from a tourist’s perspective is an increase in armed soldiers patrolling the streets, a curfew in some areas, a day-long strike, and no night buses running.

After having to push-start the bus along the route, I arrived in Anbassa, which is simply a point along the road with a few shacks. I’d arranged to be met there by somebody from a lodge, so I hopped in their jeep to be driven another 20 kms along a dirt road. I was heading towards Royal Bardia National Park. The small cabins of the lodge were all built in the local style - mud walls/floor and thatched grass roofs. There was no electricity, and it was a great place to spend a few days. I was there to hopefully see a tiger, though April/May is the best time. I was also hoping to see rhinos, though they aren’t as common in this park as they are in Royal Chitwan National Park. Many have heard of Royal Chitwan, as it’s by far the most popular park in the southern part of Nepal - the area known as the terai. However, that was my reason for going to Bardia - fewer people.

I spent the first day on an all-day walk…about 10 hours total. It was a guide and myself and we wandered along the trails and through the vegetation to spot animals. It’s exhilarating to see fresh tiger prints in the mud, and to then proceed into grass taller than my head - grass that you can’t see through. Occasionally we’d have something explode out of the bush directly in front of us, but it was always a deer or monkey, which we saw in great numbers that first day. Also saw otters and mongoose, and rhino and tiger prints, but neither of the big beasts.

The following day dawned like a Southeast Asia morning - misty, with a bright orange sun. I relaxed, and then took a short bike ride, before taking a one hour elephant ride that evening. I didn’t see anything exciting from the elephant - simply deer and monkeys. The following night others from my lodge would see a python - 8 feet in length and about 6 inches in diameter. Something else to watch out for as you’re walking the weeds. While riding the elephant we entered a large meadow, which the elephant mistook as an all-you-can-eat buffet…progress was slowed. The only exciting part of that day was the great rat chase. I was the only westerner in the dining room as I was updating my journal, when a rat scurried across the floor. This set in motion the most chaotic mousetrap I’ve ever seen - 4 Nepali guys chasing after the rat, trying to smack it with the flip-flop they’d removed from their foot. They ran the entire length of the building several times, and finally managed to whack the rat enough to daze it, such that one of them could grab it by the tail and take it out back (which happened to be where the kitchen was located…hmmm.). Guess it saves on the price of cheese for a proper trap.

One morning I took a 4 hour jeep safari with 5 other clients and 3 guides. While standing on one viewing platform one of the clients saw a tiger. Another client confirmed the sighting, and another thought he saw something, but couldn’t necessarily tell it was a tiger. The rest of us saw nothing. Shortly thereafter we all split to go walking again. Most of the others saw rhinos that day, but I saw the usual deer and monkeys. It was pretty uneventful until just before dark. My guide and I heard a bunch of langur monkeys ‘barking’, which is usually a sign that a tiger is too close for their comfort. We immediately ran towards the monkeys, and soon found ourselves within the ring of trees which the monkeys were occupying. They continued to bark, while looking at a spot about 15-20 meters from where we stood. Unfortunately, the vegetation was too thick for us to see anything. So, what do you do when you’re sure a tiger is close, but you can’t see it? You take off your pack, get on hands and knees, and crawl towards the tiger…here kitty, kitty, kitty. Now, that may not seem smart to you, and maybe that’s why I’ve deemed myself currently unsuitable for employment, because it made perfect sense to me. After all, my 100 pound Nepali guide was armed with a stick…what could go wrong? We crawled for a bit - encountering some obviously fresh prints. At one point I heard the distinctive throaty growl/purr off to my left, but we were never able to catch a glimpse. Finally decided it was becoming unsafe, as it was getting dark, but it was pretty damn exciting nevertheless.

The following day I was back on the all-day walking safari. We were on a trail when we heard something, so again we elected to go bush. We had hacked our way through a bit of vegetation when I looked up and simply said, “Rhino.” There was one upset, large slab of gray about 10 meters dead ahead and looking towards us. We were still in thick jungle, and rhinos have poor eyesight, but she knew we were there. She thrashed about a bit, and then ran off but circled back into the thick jungle to our left. We gave chase, again crawling and trying to stalk it. We could hear it behind a bush about 10 m away, but couldn’t see it, so positioned ourselves a bit better, at which point we saw only a very large leg. The rhino was very ill at ease, and started thrashing about more. We thought we were being charged, so retreated behind a tree. When the rhino charged out we could see why she was so uneasy - she had a baby with her. They thrashed about a bit more, and then retreated. In all, a pretty exciting 45 minutes.

In the afternoon we were progressing down a dry riverbed when we heard rustling and munching in the tall grass to our left, and knew it was another rhino. We climbed the opposite bank and glimpsed the rhino as it fed along. As it was impossible to get a clear picture through the grass on my bank, I opted to go back down to the dry riverbed and positioned myself opposite a natural path down to the water hole that I thought the rhino would use. This spot would have had me about 8 meters and face-to-face with the rhino, with nothing between us but sand. My guide chose to climb a tree to view the proceedings. I never saw the rhino, but could see tall grasses and trees on the opposite bank that suddenly disappeared, so I could chart it’s progress along the bank. Unfortunately, it never did come down to the riverbed. When another guide and clients arrived and began making noise, my guide and I headed up the riverbed in the same direction as the rhino. We stopped near it as we’d heard a noise, when suddenly we noticed a mother and baby rhino sauntering down the riverbed towards us, at about 100 meters. In all, a good day - no tigers, but plenty of rhinos to satisfy me, with the first encounter being the most exciting.

Pokhara

From Royal Bardia it was a 20 hour travel day, including waiting, to Pokhara - 3 hours in back of jeep, 7 hours on one bus, 3 hours on the next bus, a short journey on the next one, and 3 hours on the last, finally depositing us in Pokhara after midnight. Needless to say, I didn’t do much the next day. I was back in Pokhara to prepare for another trek - the Annapurna Base Camp (or sanctuary) trek. A few days later I caught the bus out of Pokhara to begin the trek.

Annapurna Basecamp Trek

I’ve already discussed many of the general trekking sights/experiences, so I won’t bore you with those again. As for particulars to this trek, there were some amazing views from the village of Ghorepani (2750 m; 9022′), with even better views from a hill above the village - Poon Hill. I went up the hill by headlamp the following morning, and the sunrise over the range was spectacular, with some of the 8,000 m peaks catching the first orange/pink rays of the sun. One of the best views in the region. I next proceeded towards Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), arriving a few days later. The day I arrived at ABC (4130 m;13,550′) it was snowing and there were low clouds, so you couldn’t see anything. However, the following morning dawned crisp and clear, and I found I was amongst some of the most incredible mountains, with views of some of the others - including the sacred Nepali mountain, Machhupuchhre. Beautiful. There was also a memorial chorten to Anatoli Boukreev, the Russian of ‘Into Thin Air’ fame. He died on Christmas day in ‘97, as he was caught in an avalanche in the region.

The total length of the trek was 7 days, though they recommend 10+. Again I was feeling strong. I believe my previous schedule of 5 weeks on/5 weeks off contributed to my problems in ‘97/’98, as I was always worn out by the time October rolled around. Prices are definitely more expensive than the circuit - possibly because people as opposed to donkeys carry most items. There also seems to be more steep sections to negotiate on the trail - often done in stone stairs. These can be a killer - especially going downhill. Tough on the knees.

Pokhara

Pokhara was pretty quiet over Christmas. Actually, Nepal was pretty quiet in general considering the murder early in the year of the royal family, September 11th, and the Maoist uprising. As for Christmas, you had to give them an ‘A’ for effort. It’s a Hindu/Buddhist country, so they don’t celebrate Christmas, but each restaurant in town hung decorations, lights, and served a good set meal. Christmas morning I awoke early to catch a 6 AM cab with a local guy I’d met, his wife, and two kids. They had never ventured outside town to the viewpoint, so I told them I’d pay for the cab and they could come with me. It was a great sight, with the sun coming up over the Himalayas. They later repaid me with lunch in their 15 foot square one-room house. They had set the time, but I soon discovered it wasn’t their normal time to eat and so they simply watched me. Strange, but who am I to argue, and it was great food.

Being in Nepal for Christmas was a great way to end the year, but it was time to head back into India, for continuing adventures on the sub-continent.

Nepal Photos

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