Short day trip to Patan

Sooo... two more days till we leave on our trek. Kiersten and I have been spending most of our time just chilling: going to coffee shops, reading, and gathering last minute gear and supplies that we need for our trek. In case I don't end up posting on the blog before I leave (although I might) you can view our trek itinerary here. I will also be using our SPOT device extensively so if you are curious where we are day to day, click the link on the side bar. The trek ends around November 25th, so check back here a few days after that and if I survived, chances are there will be some pics posted.

The day before yesterday Kiersten and went to one of the last major areas we wanted to make sure we that we saw before we left Kathmandu: Patan. Patan (another UNESCO world heritage site) is basically a southern suburb of Kathmandu located across the Bagmati river with a Durbar square of it's own. After gaining some serious confidence riding bikes in Kathmandu on previous trips and with the folks from Himalaya singletrack, Kiersten and I decided that we ride there instead of take a taxi. The ride proved slightly more intense than we first expected for a couple reasons. First of all I forgot to bring both the cycling map, and the lonely planet guide, so rather than knowing exactly where we were going, I instead had a vague idea. Secondly, all our previous rides in Kathmandu either took place during the Dasain festival when 60% of the permanent residents were in the countryside visiting there families (hence low traffic), or during 6am when our usual mountain bike rides would begin. So it is an understatement to say that the traffic was like nothing I have ever experienced riding anywhere in Canada. Rules (if there are any) don't really seem like they are taken all that seriously... in a way it kind of reminded me of technical downhill mountain biking: pick a line and then commit, otherwise you're fucked. Anyways, after getting lost and asking for directions we managed to find our way to Patan with much less trouble than I first anticipated.

Because we had slept in and had leisurely breakfast, we didn't get to Patan until later than we anticipated, so we made our way to the Durbar square and made the best of the time we had. I personally found Durbar square in Patan more impressive than the one near Thamel. There was a much greater variety temples to behold, and many more to see. Even out of the main square it would seem that you would stumble upon ancient temple, stupa, or carving every couple blocks without even trying. Again, I could try and describe the place but I think instead I will let the pictures do the talking.

The main Durbar square area in Patan

The masks and artwork also seemed to be of a higher quality than the stuff that is for sale in Thamel. It's hard to tell but the mask seen below was about four or five times the size of a regular head, and the style is typical to much of what is available in area.

Buddha where you at?

Elephants are cool

We ended up having lunch in old building with similar architecture to many of the surrounding temples. The food was overpriced (for Nepal) but that view was worth it.

View from our restaurant window

I ate a chicken sizzler, it was nice

The beams holding up the rooftops of many the temples where intricately carved like the one below.

Octo-buddha

My favorite statue of the day... I like the violent ones

I almost didn't add this picture because it does not do the traffic the least bit of justice

The ride home during rush hour proved even more "exciting" than the ride there. Upon safe arrival, Kiersten and went straight to the bar to celebrate the fact that we were still living and to calm our nerves.

Another ride in the Kathmandu valley

So we`re back in Kathmandu, staying at the Florid hotel for 12$ a night. Not a bad price for a room with a bathroom attached, but the scampering nightime cockroaches leave a bit to be desired.

Yesterday I went on another ride with Jenny and crew from Himalayan Singletrack (Kiersten was feeling a little ill from something she ate so she didn`t come). This ride wasn`t quite as long as last Saturday`s but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. Our destination this time was the southern hills of the Kathmandu valley. After riding through Kathmandu and Patan (a suburb of Kathmandu), we turned off the road onto a sweet singletrack trail that wound around a small valley of rice fields, before crossing a river via a large suspension bridge. From there we rode some doubletrack through small villages and farming communities, before climbing a dirt road up to the top of one of the nearby hills. From the top of the hill we decended down some of the slippiest singletrack I have ever road in my life back down to Kathmandu. It was basically like trying to ride on ice; touch either brake and your wheel locks up and you lose the little control you previously had. The wet slickrock that we have at home has more traction than this trail. It all had to do with a small moss like substance growing on top of what seemed like rockhard clay. I think everyone but Rajan bailed at least once and a lot of walking was involved. Anyways it was another great day of riding in nepal. I was wearing my SPOT locator beacon thing for the ride so if you want to get an idea of where we were riding click on the SPOT link located on the sidebar.

Some sweet singletrack winding around the rice paddies

Can you spot the rider

Crossing the suspension bridge. I watched a motorcycle cross this thing when we were already across.

Fixing a broken chain

Dhulikhel to Namobuddha hike

From Bhaktapur, Kiersten and I hopped on a bus and rode it east to the small town of Dhulikhel. It was our first experience with Nepal's public transit system, which needless to say is slightly different from Victoria's. First of all bus stops don't really exist expect for in major towns. Instead, a young boy that works for the transit company hangs out the bus door and yells the name of the name of the place the bus is headed at people on the side of the road. To stop the bus one only needs to raise a hand or shout back and the boy the will bang his fist on the side of the bus until the bus driver stops: very efficient. The other big difference is that there is no limit to the number of passengers the bus will cram on board. Once the bus literally can't fit another body, people climb on the roof, which surprisingly enough is often the safest spot, or at the very least no more dangerous than the cabin. I was watching local nepali news in english last night and there was a story about 43 people who were killed when a bus travelling from the a village in the hills down to Kathmandu plummeted off a cliff; the only people to survive where those on the roof because they were able to jump off.

On the bus I started talking to a young Nepali women who was also on her way to Dhulikhel to meet up with her sister who lived there. She was super nice, and when we got off the bus she ended up calling her brother in law to come help us find the our guesthouse. It ended up being kind of hard to find and couple of kilometers down the road... totally out of their way. We ended up finally finding it after I hopped on the back of the brother in law's motorcycle and drove around a bit. I still can't believe how helpful and generous the majority of Nepali's are.

The guesthouse ended up being on a small organic farm on the edge of the hillside with amazing views of the Himalaya. The rooms were simple but nice, and the view from rooftop made it the place more than worthwhile. You'd be paying millions of dollars for a view like that in Canada.

View from the rooftop of the Shiva Guesthouse in Dhulikhel (not to confused with the Shiva guesthouse we stayed at in Bhaktapur)

Another shot from the guesthouse

The farm attached to the guesthouse was really nice, Kiersten's mom Julie would have loved it. You can grow pretty much anything here. There were mandarin orange trees but unfortunately the oranges won't be ready for couple more months. I almost ate one anyway but decided against it. Each meal we ate used fresh vegetables straight from the garden.

Little goat faces munching away

Part of the small farm with the guesthouse in the background

Mandarin oranges!

Flowers in bloom

We didn't really do anything in Dhulikhel on the day we arrived. We basically just sat on the rooftop, enjoyed the view and read. On day two we decided to embark on a hike to a small Buddhist village/temple called Namobuddha. It was supposed to be a 6 hour round trip hike but it is really more like 4 or 5 five.

View from the rooftop in the morning

The hike climbed steeply out of Dhulikhel to the summit of a smallish hill, on top of which was a giant statue of Buddha. From there the trail wound up and down and around various hills, past farms, and through villages. All the while maintaining an awesome view of the Himalaya.

There were lots of these guys about. I was afraid.

Dhulikhel!

Along way, much like our previous trips into the countryside, children ran out to see us and get their picture taken.

One of the many good views during the hike.

About halfway through the hike we came to the top of yet another hill to find one of the many homemade swings that litter the countryside. We couldn't realistically continue with the hike without stopping for a swing. Just as we were finished swinging we met a local farmer who invited us over to see his farm and have some tea. He was super nice and introduced us to his whole family including his grandfather who was 86 (and still working on the farm). It was interesting to see his house, because it was the first time either of us had been in a local  Nepali's place of residence. It was a two storey mud hut that was fairly simple yet comfortable. One thing that struck me was the various hints of the twentieth century among what seemed to be house from 1800s, such as a TV, cell phones charging, etc.

Our farmer friend's little baby giving us a look

Drying peppers at the farm

After we had tea and left the farm it was another hour or so hike to Namobuddha. Namobuddha was just a small little town that centered around a old Buddhist stupa. There we ate some lunch, chatted with a local who had a giant afro, and hiked by to Dhulikhel. It was good stretching our legs a bit to get ready for the trek next week which will undoubtedly be much harder.

Finally made it to Namobuddha

Namobuddha down below and a buddhist monestary up above.

So now we're back in Kathmandu. Today I think we might finally head to Patan, and tomorrow we're going mountain biking again. Enjoying life.