Part 1 - Here we go!

There we are! After a good flight, we're back in Kathmandu. It's the third time now and a lot has changed. It's busy and smelly on the road. The traffic is much more busier than 3 years ago. However, we enjoy a warm welcome at Amar's hotel. As if we have never left.

After having bought some souvenirs, the next day we leave for Pokhara. All porters, kitchen crew and guides are stuffed into our bus. Never a dull moment on this trip, especially because we enjoy al kinds of Bollywood productions on the mini-tv screen in the bus. I find it hillarious, all those dancing people with toothpaste-white smiles. Cannot stop smiling.

Pokhara is nice and relaxing. We have a cosy hotel and look forward to our return in about 4 weeks. We now know where the good food is! The next day, a little mini-van is waiting for us. He will take us to Beni and maybe to Babichaur, the first camp site. We are told there is a road now all the way up to Babichaur. It's quite hot and the mini van appears a bad choice. Due to rainfall, the road is slippery and there are a lot of potholes. As a result, the van is stuck. That means: go for a walk. Our first walk is a tough one: we have to get used to the warm climate during the hottest hours of the day. Luckily, our guide arranges a jeep that brings us to the first campsite.

In 2000, our Dhaulagiri trekking started here as well. The campsite is very the same. After a hot night, the next morning we start walking the 'highway'. Nine years ago, there was no road at all. Today, several cars and busses are passing by. GRMBL. At the end, we leave the beaten track and must climb to our next destination: Dharepani (1550m). This village has an amazing camp site; when the sky is clear, you can see the white covered summits of the Dhaulagiri range. Rick brought a small rugby ball and soon we are playing with all kitchenboys. Some of them trow the ball like a madman; my hands are all red and burning! The first contact with our staff is always nice. Now, they are still strangers for us, but at the end of our trip, we will be best friends. That's for sure!

The next morning it's is again bloody hot. It's early (September) and you can feel that. But: no compaints, because there was a chance we would meet the monsoon. After Muna, we enter an unknown area. During the regular Dhaulagiri trekking, you turn right. Now we go to the left, to Lulang (2155m). Our campsite is in the village center and a lot of children are surrounding us, yelling: "gimme pen, gimme sweet".

The next day, a tough climb is awaiting for us. My mum arleady warned us (she and my dad walked the Dolpo trekking more than 10 years ago). In her memory, it was a never-ending, awful climb.

She was right.

It is a climb of more then 1200 meters and it's very, very hot. We have to get used to it and it's not easy. Rick's leg is painful and that certainly influences our mood. The ongoing pressure on his right leg is a bit too much. On his own pace, he scrambles to the top. Higher on the hill, the path looks dampy and a bit spooky. I'm walking all alone and that is a somewhat scary experience. There are leeches everywhere: when you want to pee, they immediately crawl towards your unprotected areas. At the last stop, Rick joins me and together we walk the last bit. The Jalja La pass is beautiful (3380m). It's cloudy, but this flat,  swamp-like area is a great camping place.

Part 2 - And up and down and up and down

Today is a long day. Our destination for today is Dorpathan (2900m). We are crossing several small villages with many, many, many little children. It strikes me: you see a lot of little children, but less adolecents. Maybe they have left the villages? Anyhow, they know what to do during long nights and cold winters....Kids love our digital camera's. Sometimes we are covered with children when we show them the pictures on the screen. Nice to give them something back this way.

Dhorpatan is a vast swampy grassland, a former airstrip. Actually, it is a Tibetan refugee camp. In the afternoon, some Tibetan women come to us, wanting to sell some Tibetan handicraft and souvenirs. I buy a beautiful string of prayer beads. I will always remember that I have bought it from the friendly Tibetans. They say we are the first tourists in one year. Though the Dolpo trekking is routed here as well, it doesn't seem very attractive for foreigners, that's for sure. In the evening, it starts to rain....and it doesn't stop. Early in the morning, I already expect that we have to pack all our bags in the rain. Luckily, at 6 a.m. it's dry. Paul, our Dutch guide, is not so lucky. That night, he putted his shoes in the outer tent, not realizing that the zipper was not fully closed. The result: a completely water filled trekking boot!

The day starts pretty fne. The sun is shining and we have a good mood. We expect several stiff climbs. After a breathtaking first climb, we are standing on the first pass, Phaguni Duri (4000m). We really feel the altitude already. At lunch, the firt raindrops are falling. O o this doesn't look good. We are only halfway...

Then, hell breaks loose. Raining raining raining ...never ending raining. The temperature suddenly drops. Covered in rainsuits and all sweaty inside, we scramble to the top of the next pass. It rains so heavily, that even our water resistent clothes are no longer water resistent. We both have a terrible mood, but we stay pretty calm. (Rick and I hate rain and as soon as it continues to rain, we start swearing. Not a good habit, we work on it).

The decend is pretty cool-despite the rain. It is so muddy that it is funny. Our shoes completely disappear in the mud and we glide off the mountain. And...on arrival: the rain stops suddenly. We just have enough time to set up the tent. Thankur (3250) is nothing. Or actually: it is one house. Or hotel. Or hut. Or ruin. Or stable for goats, cows and chicken. Anyway: they say it is a bed and breakfast (really???). Mmm. We don't care, because it's warm in there. We sit down around the fireplace to let our clothes dry a bit. No dry thread left and it's very nive to become warm again. We have to get used to the thick black smoke in the little room. This cannot be good for your health. At the other end, the overcrowded carbondioxide producing highways in our country may be more harmful....

That night, it's raining and raining. All our baggage is moist. I'm glad the next morning the rain has stopped. It is a foggy day and we start our walk in a dampy forest. Beard moss all over the place and a lot of mud. We walk up and down the slopes in this tropical rainforest. Because it is so foggy, you can't see anything. We are walking on a ridge, but on both sides you see nothing than clouds.

At the end of the trip, we can see our next port of call: Pelma (2525m). After a steep descend, we see the schoolyard but.....it is no suitable campsite. In earlier years, the school playground was an excellent campsite. But now they are building a new school, so the whole playground has become a construction site. But: no worry. As soon as we arrive, some shovels are arranged and my own Bob the Builder (Rick) starts to flatten the ground. The result: a perfect place to camp! Now the tents can dry. As soon as we wants to install ourselves, we are surrounded by an enourmous crowd of little children. They are gazing at us for hours -  I think this event is a welcome distraction!

So far, our trekking is pretty tough. I have a lot of respect for my parents, who did this trekking as well. The difficulty is, that you have many steep climbs and decends. So after several days walking, we have ended up only at 2500m. We are sweaty and smelly - we did not had the chance to wash our clothes. We have to walk several days before we have a day off.

From Pelma, we have an excellent view of our next day trail. We have to go all the way up - an incredible climb. But....the next morning the weather is fantastic. It's very hot actually. But no worry: we have fans and groupies along the road. In the first village high on the hill, the whole community is standing on their rooftops, smiling, waving and cheering. We can't stop taking pictures.

Our campsite is Dhule (3333m): a very small villge, consisting of a few houses. We camp on some terraces on the mountain hill. A very nice place. It is a very authentic place and the people tell us that in July last year, they have seen the last toursits. When they see us, they are stunned. Little children are very shy and hide themselves. But, after a few hours, they are so curious, that they leave their hidingplaces! (See the amazing Teletubby outfit of this little fellow. He immediately stole my heart). Rick is injured. While putting up the tent, he pushed too hard on one of the pins. So he pressed it straight into his hand. Auwch. No big deal. Our experience: a trip without an injury is no trip at all. (We are crazy, I know).

I'm looking forward to the next days. we will leave the forest behind (yeeha!). You have two kinds of people: 'bush people' and 'no bush people'. We are no bush people: we like open plains, deserts, stoney cliffs and bare mountains. In about 3 days, we have our first day off. We are longing for it, after a 16 days walk. Our most solid CPI (critical performance indicator) for measuring trekking difficulty is the servings of peanuts already eaten. This day, the first serving is digested.

Part 3 - Towards Dolpo!

When we wake up at 5.30 am, it is raining. We hate to get up in bad weather. But...at 6 am, it is dry. (At that time, I think there must be some guardian angel watching over us). It is very cloudy and misty, but this is definitively better then rain. The first climb is towards the Nautale La at 3900m. It is a beautiful climb because of all mountain wildflowers and woods, but we don't see a thing. So at the top, our climb is not so rewarding. After the pass, we descend towards our lunch spot.

Just before lunch, we meet a few hunters. They are carrying the carcasses of some blue sheep on their backs which are dried and chopped into pieces. Their skins are neatly rolled up like the IKEA skins we find in our stores. The smell is awful. Funny thing is they are carrying very old rifles with them, the ones you have to fill with gunpowder in the front. So every single shot must be right. At lunch, Rick is very enthousiastic and decides to wash himself in the river. Brr. Freezing cold.

Despite our mini-breakfast, Rick and I walked very good. I had only eaten 1,5 pourri and a bowl of porridge. Pourri is a kind of Nepali bread which is boiled in oil. We hate them because they are very fat. Only with some honey we can eat them. Pourris are bad :-( The landscape is fantastic. You can clearly see the transfer from the woodland to the treeless hills. Temperature is going down: this afternoon ca. 13 degrees Celsius. Our campsite is fantastic (Seng Khola, 3900m). I decide to wash myself in the river, but auwch what a cold!

The next day, we wake up with a clear blue sky. What a day! After a steep 600m climb we prepare ourselves for the next clim to the Baradaha La pass (4450m).

Beautiful autum colors and a blue sky full of big vultures. Wow. We are quite high already and you can feel that. However, Rick and I are feeling well so we decide not to take Diamox already. Tomorrow we will go down again, so our acclimatization program is just fine. When descending the pass, we can see our campsite (Purbang, 4050m).

We see two tiny white dots, which are tents of local hunters. What an amazing landscape.

After a long, long descend towards the river, we have to crawl the last part up toward those tents. As soon as we set up our tent, the clouds are coming up and we don't see a thing. Grrr. We have the feeling we are in the middle of an overwhelming landscape, but all we see is mist.

The clouds are bringing al lot of cold air, so all we can do is stay in our tents and do nothing. I am longing for the dry, neverending Dolpo landscapes. Maybe we are facing the last effects of the monsoon because it is the end of September.

Yihaa! When we wake up, we see a clear blue sky. It is just below zero, so it's a cold breakfast in the open air. Just to warm up, we have to climb 500m to the first pass. It is a beautiful climb, but very windy. The weather is better then yesterday, and so is our mood. The next climb heads towards the 4500 m Jang La. Our climb is not very rewarding: after reaching the pass, we have to go do 1500 m to Sahartara. This is the landscape we were waiting for. Little trees and a lot of low shrubbery in all kinds of brown and green shades.

It is really really hot. At the end of the day, we reach Sahartara, a little village just above Tarakot. It is a tiny Buddist settlement with a gompa, many chortens and a few houses. We are very happy to be here. Tomorrow we will have a day off.

We camp on a fantastic spot between the bushes. However, there is no running water nearby. The only water available is from a hose that leads water from up the hill to the village. We decide to wash ourselves on a spot where the hose is broken. When we get started, we are spotted by a group of cows. It is clear they are smelling the water and want to have a drink. Suddenly we are surrounded by a crowd of curious cows.They steal water from our bowls before we can use them by ourselves and don't want to go away.

Then, the shepard pops up. I hope he will chase his cows away. Bad guess. He thinks it's funny, sits down and starts gazing at us. I am feeling very, very uncomfortable, because the Nepali are not used to bare skinned women in their underwear. So I jump behind the bushes, waiting for them to leave. After a while, the sheperd is bored and walks away with his cows. All what is left is a mud pool. Grmbl. Rick thinks it's funny. In my next life, I want to return as a man.

The next morning, the weather is fantastic. Early in the morning we start throwing balls with the staff. But not for long: the bushes have sharp thornes and soon our little rugby ball is pierced. Game over :-( At breakfast, we see our kitchen staff walking with a goat. That means: meat for dinner. Rick wants to see how the goat is decapitated and takes some pictures.

I don't feel sorry for the goat (he has had a terrific life) but don't have to see this whole process. In a blink of an eye, the goat looses his head and is chopped up in tiny pieces. The best parts are for us at dinner.

Part 4 - Towards unexplored territories

Wow we are so happy with the day off at Sahartara. After a 16-days walk, this day is very welcome. After the rugby-party in the morning, Rick and I decide to descend to Tarakot.

This lower village is very authentic and has many, many chortens. I can't get enough of them and take thousands of pictures. Going down is a bit easier then going up. We walk on our sandals and it is bloody hot. But heh, you have to do something on your day off isn't it?

We look forward to the coming days. The next morning, we will have a half day walk on known territory: after that, we will enter an unknown area. After the junction with the Tarap Valley (leading to Do Tarap, a high light of the Dolpo trekking), we will continue to Terra Incognita. Exiting! So, we descend to Tarakot and walk the next hours along the river to the Tarap Valley.

We cross field of buckweed and fields of....cannabis. Incredible mani walls and several chortens along the way. Rick and I are walking all alone, just following a high path above the river. We have lunch at the Tarap junction. And then...the adventure begins. It is very exiting when you go to explore unknown areas. We soon find out that our map is a 'creative' one. But there is a good trail, so we are just following it. It must lead to somewhere....We meet some young adults and ask them about the Mu La. They say it is accessible, so that is good news. (But...Nepali don't say 'no', so you can not be too sure).

The path is exhilirating. It is very, very steep and going up and down. I allways wonder who has ever cut out all this in the rocky mountain walls.

That must have been so much work. It's very very hot: I even have blisters on my ears. The hard way has begun! We walk through pine forests and see rocky mountains ahead of us. Late afternoon, we cross a side arm of the river. There is a brand new bridge (???) and a fantastic camp place. Based on our map, we thought this would be a good spot - and it is. The side arm is called Mushi Khola. That evening, it is full moon. The stars are twinkling and the moonlight is so bright, you don't need a headlight. This is amazing. You can nearly touch the Milky Way....

The next day, the weather is fantastic. We are longing for the bare mountains which are so  Dolpo-like. And yes, after going up and down (Nepali flat) through sandy terrain, we see a huge river bed. Lunch time! Rick and I have brought some old trekking meals (from our trip to Turkey) and decide to eat them. It is a very welcome pasta meal! After lunch we follow a spectacular trail along the river. We see yaks and after a while, we enter an astonishing, small village called Kakotgoan.

People are very surprised to see us, because this is such a remote area. And...I can hardly believe it..in the local 'bar 'they offer us coca cola and beer. Ok it is Tibetan, but WOW this is amazing. It is called the hard way, but this is an  incredible surprise. An offer we can't refuse. We find out that it is only a two days walk to Tibet from here. (For Nepali :-)) The 'bar' is someone's house which we enter by a small ladder. In the dark living room annex kitchen we all sit on the floor. On the wall are shelves with all kinds of pots and pans. This visit is unforgettable! The local Lama invites us to his monastry, which has been renovated recently.

To our surprise, just outside the village we see a brand new building. This is surreal, compared to the old houses right next to it! We donate some money and continue our journey of today. The last hours are spectacular. Ladakh-like sceneries, old chortens and mani walls make our day. On a plateau besides the river, we decide to make camp. It is incredibly windy, so we call this camp Windy Camp (3300 m). What a place.....

It's Tamme's birthday today, so we have cake for breakfast! Yeah! Again an incredible footpath along the river. Going up and down and up and down. After a few hours, Paul suggests to climb a bit higher (app. 600 m more) to visit a village called Gahrengaon. We are a bit early and the weather is good, so we all climb up to the village. We cannot imagine that there would be a village in this bizarre, harsh landscape.

After a stiff, windy climb, the village pops up. It is completely incorporated in the landscape. We are so happy to see this. And...so are the villagers. They are very surprised to see us and soon we are invited for noodesoup. That is so weird: Chandra (our sirdar) is cooking noodle soup for us in the house of a stranger! We enjoy it very much and after a 1,5 hour break, we follow the path all the way down to another amazing village called Terangoan.

After a while, Paul has good news: there is a camping place for us. In fact, it is a kind of terraced camping: we are allowed to camp on an old rice paddie. The whole village is surrounding us while we are unpacking our stuff. They have never seen tents, sleeping bags, cameras etc etc.

We are looking at them and they are looking back. A lot of them have sore eyes because of the altitude, dry air and dust and are asking for medicines.