Left Sydney airport 8.50am had a 6 hour stop over in Malaysia we booked hotel

To rest and freshen up. When you arrive in Malaysia international flights arrive one 

Side and transfer flights leave from the other side to get there they have a train connecting

The two airports  . We had plenty of seat space on both flights could have been due

To the Malaysian air crash that went down over Vietnam.

Arrived Katmandu at 11:30pm (Australia is 5 hours ahead).

Got our visa at airport and had a vehicle waiting to take us to Mums Hotel in Thamel.

The airport was like stepping back in time. It was like a dirty old bus station no tunnel walk way they sent a bus to the plane crammed it full of passenger’s and took us to the air terminal. 

Walked up 4 flights of stairs to our room and slept soundly. 

12/314 – Wednesday 

After a really nice shower and breakfast Lyn and I went for a walk around Thamel.

The roads are alley ways, dirt paves littered with rubbish and vehicles (small Suzi cars, motor bikes, scooters, buses, rick shaw and people) all traversing through what could be considered a one way street. Rules of the road first in right of way and don’t forget to toot.

Katmandu is crammed full of people and building’s either going up or coming down.

A lot of the rural people move to Katmandu to work but there is still about 60% unemployment especially for the young ones.

Shops line every inch of the roads – selling clothes, jewellery, hats, silk, cashmere, and brass goods. There’s money exchanges, travel tour operators, small grocery stores and food outlets. Food outlets like cafés, restaurants, vendors with their portable food trolleys and we even saw and outdoor butcher’s.

Katmandu is crowded and has a population of around 8million, Nepal has a population of 30 million

There is no infer structure  to deal with the building of roads or transport let alone building inspectors OHS regulations or building 

13/3/14 – Thursday

Home stay – TB’s family and school visit Saraswati and Shree

After doing the food shopping for our home sept ay we set off by land cruiser to Budditum, we took the main Privthi highway which joins Nepal and India. We travelled on this road for 3 hours  then turned right to go towards Dhading where we stopped for lunch at Dhading -(main district town)  dhaal bhaat lentils vegetables and spinach cauliflower, rice yoghurt and a meat all very healthe organic food.

The locals mainly have biscuit tea/coffee early when they get up, and have their main meals around 10am and 7pm .

After lunch we set off for our 6 hour journey,  to get here to our final destination after Darding  the road was was not paved – dirt track like a Bush track at times like a dry river bank.  Parts where deeply rutted and sandy (Nepali powder) which managed to get  into everything like the red dirt of the  Nullabour.  There where 3 hills to traverse by our 4 wheel vehicle – and I was amazed what a 4 wheel drive can do ! We only got stuck once and I only left the vehicle once when we we rocked heavily from side to side (cliff one side rock wall the other) and where coming back for another roll when I decided no I’m out of here.

Arrived around 5pm Budditum – district of Dhading TB’s family home.

14/3/2014 – Friday

Today we took a beautiful 3 hour walk to a local school and stopped for dhaal bhaat at our hosts  sister and brother in-laws farm. On the way back from Saraswati school we had a siesta after lunch and rested on front verandah so we where not walking in heat of the day.

The children where very excited to see Lyn, as on her twice yearly visits to the village she not only takes several bags of much needed clothing, but games,  toys for the infant class and shuttle cock, cricket bats for the whole school. Lyn was also there to deliver money raised by the students  from East  Lindfield Public School which has sponsored the building of 4 class rooms donated school uniforms, books, pencil’s and teaching material.

We returned to our home stay by the same route. Got back and had cold shower before the sun went down – temperature drops quite dramatically last night had bike thermal under clothes on fleecy jumper from Kathmandu store and lined wind jacket. 

15/03/14 – Saturday

Today we went to the Shree Besri school which is also sponsored by LEPS  public school, and 2 years ago  Lyn’s great nice and the rest of her year 12 class mates raised money to help  both schools. 

Shree Besari  is a school that has kinder through to year 12 they even have a preschool for the brother and sisters of the children that attend school. This helps parent otherwise there would be no one to look after the little ones when the parents are in the fields.  They have been renovating the school through sponsorships and the government has also lent money. But to get the money – 

From the government they only have 6 months to build a three story building and they do not get the money until the end. This means all the labour and material is donated and when or if the government pays them this is when they will be reimbursed.  The school has a committee which is made up of people from the local district, teachers and school principle and sports master. 

Nepalis  are very formal and the committee and teachers where there on the Saturday to receive the donation that Lyn had bought from the school.

Afterwards we went to Jai’s house and he made us chow-mien. (Jai is the sports master – Nepal’s national game is Volleyball). The villages and relatives of our host who live nearby  love to have there photo’s taken gather and watch the newcomer’s.

16/03/14  – Sunday Hike to Arughat

Walked from home stay to Arughat   staying the night before catching a local bus to Dhading and then onto Bandipur. Our walk from Budditum was all down hill and took 6 hours.  

On the way the villages where celebrating a Hindu practice called the colour festival.

All the children and teenagers would run at you with coloured dye, as I had spiked walking sticks managed to swing these around and missed the festivities.

I bought material on the way to Arughat and had two Nepali dresses made in Arughat from a local tailor.  Altogether it cost 4100 rupee. $42

The hotel we stayed at looked like a mix match between a animal or Swiss alp

Chateau.  It had all different themes -artistic no a bit crass well maybe but defiantly interesting.   

17/03/14 — Monday

Left Arughat at 7.30 by local bus back to Dhading . The bus was full of passengers’ westerners who had finished trekking their porters, monks going to a Katmandu monastery they where from the Chu Valley . Local people going other places like Kathmandu for the day.  School children . Arrived Dhading 10:30 and transferred to another  mode of transport the 4 door Hyundai hatch (Centro) for our trip to Bandipur, stopping  at a tea house called Hill Top Restuarant – at Malekhu situated on the Trisili River origin in Tibet ending point is in the Ganges.   The area is popular for rafting and fish farming.  Arrived Bandipur 1.30pm and stayed at ‘The Old Inn Bandipur’.

Bandipur is a heritage village and very clean compared with the rest of Nepal.

Food was very good the building itself was maintained in traditional ** dating back  to 13th century*

The stairs where steep and very narrow and the door way very small. We ate lunch and dinner in the back terraced court yard and had breakfast on the rooftop.   Not a lot of tourist there but it is a very popular tourist hotspot.

18/3/2014 — Tuesday 

Today we are off to Pohkora – we have the same driver who has 3 children one is in England studying engineering. He is a driver like porters and guides they often spend extended time away from their family chasing work.  Nepalese work very hard whether it’s in the field or doing other pursuits.  Porters can carry 30+ on treks for tourist – really does put us to shame. I’m gasping going up a hill and then you see a 60+ Nepali lightly stepping their way home from a village visit – amazing.

A lot of Nepalese families send their children abroad to study hoping for either a opportunity for them to stay and work in the country where they are studying or hoping they will get a good job when they return home so they can support their family. 

Spent the day looking around the shops and bought both mum and I some beautiful jewellery 

Bought some T-shirts  and some Tibetan pray flags.  

We had storm during the night you would have thought a mini cyclone was going through.

All the tin, bamboo and lightly held together structures where  in concert with one another.

The wind roared through from the mountains but made for a clear view of the Annapurna range the next morning.

19/3/14 – Wednesday 

Beautiful day after the storm yesterday afternoon and the wind storm early this morning. Everything is clear and the dust has settled no haze so there are clear views of the mountains. Little bit chilly.

Today we are taking a canoe across lake Phewa and walking up the hill through bushy terrain to the Peace Temple . 

After we will walk down the other side of the hill and visit the Tibetan Refugee camp where they make money from the carpet factory and selling other Market wares like jewellery, bags etc. 

They fled Tibet in the 1950’s after China invaded and fled over the mountains to Nepal. They where not allowed to assimilate with the Nepalese because it would cause job losses etc so they build the refuge camp and they support themselves through the carpet factory. They keep to themselves and have they own school etc within the camp.   

There is more than one Tibetan refugee camps and you will also see Tibetan sellers in remote area selling wares to the tourists to make money.

20/3/14 – Thursday 

Car took us from hotel to starting point of the Annapurna base camp trek this takes 

14 days round trip we will be doing a 3 day circuit of course 2.5 hrs uphill till we stop for lunch at Dhampus and then continue to Australian camp . Lunch was very pleasant vegetable & egg momo guitar music mountains and fresh air. 

After about 1 1/2 hours we head off to the Australian camp using an old trekking route that was centuries of years old – spectacular views, before arriving at the Australian camp at 

They call it the Australian camp because it is where the Australian soldiers used to train in WW11 – it has small lodges and Restaurant’s  own by the Nepalese.

We are staying the night  here.