Turtle Island

We arrived in Koh Tao yesterday afternoon after a long, frustrating and exhausting day just trying to figure out how to get here from Prachuapkhirikan. Thais who don't speak English ignored or fanned us away as usual, the few who did gave us useless information. Yeah, I'm talking about you, Tourist Information Agency  lady. You made us wake up at 5am for nothing, and if we took the train we might have ended up stranded in Chumporn (hihihi) until midnight. And you, Tourist Authority of Thailand, you may have been helpful and took pictures of Henri like a celebrity (whyyy???) but you gave us the wrong info about the boats and ended up having to pay waaaaay more than you made us believe. END OF RANT.

Well, we made it anyway, and we had a nice swim yesterday at Sairee, not to mention a great pizza (go to Safari, you won't be sorry)! And we were bowled over by the curvy beaches of Koh Tao's southern tip, and the peaceful hidden coves we found after trekking this morning. In the afternoon, I spread out my towel on a rock inhabited by green crabs and tried to finish my H.P. Lovecraft book, and I let Henri loose in the water with a snorkel. These are just some of the videos he came back with. In the first one, he came close to an elusive blacktip reef shark! Special thanks to Stephanie and Ludo for the sports camera, it's an awesome gift!

We just got back from a big shindig tonight. In fact, we could still hear the band playing right now, at 3am! An english guy there said we came at the perfect time because "Koh Tao Fest" only happens once yearly. But I think the people here would create any excuse to get a party going. When we drove around after, the streets were quiet; just one bar was open and there was a Thai guy rubbing the boob of a willing blonde on a scooter - I'm glad I didn't see it because Henri wanted to vomit.

BUT

We'll show you more of our adventures in Thailand as soon as we finish blogging about the remaining stories from Nepal :)

High Pursuits

April 5 to April 11. 

I didn't really sleep much on our first night in Kyanjin Gompa, which is 3,900 meters above ground. In fact, I couldn't sleep at high altitude, and it was our third night in the mountains. All night, I could hear bells outside the window and at dawn I realized the owners had tied their pony at the fence just in front of our room. I woke Henri up just before the sun came out and we ran outside to greet the morning.

The snow was 10 centimeters thick and our roof looked like it was slushied :)

The Langtang Winding Road

So, maybe I spoke too soon when I said I wouldn't trek again in a few years, because it's hardly been a month and we were back in the mountains again. The bus trip scared us half to death; the road was so narrow that the bus would sometimes drive on the side of the mountain with only two wheels on the ground; and one drop was so deep, it felt like a thrill ride. I felt sorry for the goat on top of the bus, he tried to escape but they found him and put him inside with us.

The hills are alive! 

We chose to do the Langtang trek because it's not as popular as Annapurna or Everest, but the view is spectacular. Scores of refugees from Tibet in the 50's had relocated here by crossing the 5,000-ft mountains, and in many ways we felt like we were in Tibet instead of Nepal. That the trek turned out to be easier than Annapurna was a welcome bonus :)

Because I lost my walking stick on the way to Lumbini, Henri fashioned us both some walking sticks using his new khukuri knife for the first time. It weighs almost a kilo, but he insisted on carrying it with him.

Armed with the experience of Poon Hill in Annapurna, we did this second trek on our own. Without a guide to tell us where to go and when to eat, we felt a little vulnerable and we had to walk faster than the others to make sure we don't run out of places to sleep in. It rained for an hour and most people stopped under rocks or teahouses, but we didn't stop. No rest for the wicked!

Our first night was spent in Lama Hotel, a village with 6 tea houses, all fighting to fill their rooms for the night.  The room we got was free but we had to order dinner and breakfast; and it turned out to be a nice place to stay because we made friends with the guests, guides and porters there. In fact Sanu, one of the guides, started taking care of us too. And Elisa, a sweet Dutch girl who arrived with Sanu, was fun to trek with.

The second day was a bit harder than the first because there were more landslides to scramble orver.

We had a long way to go this day, but it was a lovely walk. We passed through forests, waterfalls, desert landscapes and villages. We found time to talk to the locals, some of whom were descendants of the first tribes who migrated after China invaded Tibet.

They have tried to keep the way of life they had on the other side of the Himalayas.

We arrived in Langtang village just in time. Seconds after we dropped our bags, a big cloud blanketed the sky and it rained. It didn't stop the women farmers though, they finished plowing the field with their ox and planted next autumn's potato crop. Then we all went to the common area to mingle with our fellow trekkers around a fire, while outside the rain was replaced by snow.

Gael and Elisa visiting our room. Sanu had asked a porter to reserve a room for us
so we were sure to stay with them on the second night even if we arrived late...
which we almost did :)

It snowed all night but that meant clear skies the next morning.

I woke up just in time for sunrise. Seeing the yellow rays of sunlight descend on the blue giants covered in snow was nothing short of magical. Sanu saw me taking a video and showed me the high pass in the Himalayas where the Tibetans tried to cross to Nepal.

A Tibetan kitchen.

April Fool's Birthday

Since we were hoping to go to Tibet with the first tour group on April 14th, we arrived just in time to have our visas in Nepal renewed until the 15th of April. We walked a loooong way because the bus system is confusing, but in the end it was a good thing we walked, otherwise we would not have come across a professor who told us the immigration office had moved. Henri was suspicious in the beginning, but the old man was right after all, so the Panda had to eat his words...

A few days later, we finished our visit of Durbar Sq, and a crazy tout was trying to start a fight with Henri... in fairness to Henri though, he was more patient than usual and did not try to engage the man even though he was screaming things like: "I'm Nepali I can do what I want in my country." Which is stupid, really. They must think all tourists would slink away when confronted. A plainclothes policeman interrupted them just when Henri was starting to lose it, and told the tout to go away.

Then we were left alone to promenade in peace.

Shiva and Parvati watch the slow march of life from their balcony.

One of the carvings found in the most beautiful courtyard in Kathmandu - the Living Goddess's front yard.

We also went to some tour agencies to see what the Tibet border status was. One of them suggested we go to the Chinese Embassy to confirm certain conflicting information, so we did - without knowing what the office schedules are. DUH! So we walked far just to find out that the Chinese Embassy was closed and a military platoon was guarding the gates. Wonder why? *Wink, wink* BUT we didn't walk for nothing...

Lumbini: Birthplace of the Buddha Bambini

Après 6h de bus et un trajet de 45min sur le toit d'un bus, nous voilà arrivés à Lumbini, lieu de naissance du Bouddha. Nous avons déjà vu Bodhgaya, lieu de son illumination sous l'arbre, et Sarnath, lieu de son 1er sermon, en Inde. Il y a 4 endroits de pélérinage pour les bouddhistes, le dernier étant le lieu de son décès en Inde aussi.

Le site consiste en un énorme parc entouré de barrières dans lequel se trouvent les temples construits par différents pays (le français sera terminé en fin d'année) et le lieu même où Bouddha est né. Quand nous arrivons, le guichet prés de l'entrée est fermé et nous devons marcher jusque l'autre côté pour avoir nos tickets afin de rentrer dans cet endroit. En chemin, nous nous arrêtons dans plusieurs temples.

La flamme éternelle, au nord de l'endroit de naissance, et un grand canal séparant les 2 écoles du bouddhisme: celle de l'ouest (tunique bordeaux et safran)=centrée sur l'individu et celle de l'est (tunique safran)=où l'individu disparaît dans la collectivité des âmes.

Grosse et très ancienne cloche avec inscriptions en sanskrit.

Frence?? Ok, pourquoi pas, c'est pas si loin après tout..

.

Le temple thai, le plus impressionnant, comme d'hab

Le temple qu'on a surnommé "disneyland" car avec plein de statues dans le jardin et plein de couleurs, c'est un peu trop pour nous.

Fleur de lotus

Après 2h de découvertes du nord du site, nous sommes de retour avec nos tickets. Ici un pilier donné par Ashoka, empereur indien qui a construit beaucoup du site de Bodhgaya.

Deux moines se sont installés sous le bodhi tree pour une petite méditation au milieu des touristes.

Et voilà la seule photo possible "du" site. Ce bâtiment blanc est en briques et recouvre les ruines du temple où Bouddha est né. Très bizarre cet endroit, une fois à l'interieur, on fait le tour de ces ruines et à un endroit spécifique protégé par un vitrage blindé, voici LE fameux endroit précis où Bouddha est né. Les fidèles se pressent pour voir cet endroit et nous avons trouvé cela assez bizarre et touristique. Ah, ok, c'est là exactement qu'il est né...! Bien!

J'ai été assez déçu de cet endroit, qui ressemble à un parc touristique bouddhiste, sans vie religieuse et pèlerins comme Sarnath et Bodhgaya l'avait. Les temples autour ont bien cet atmosphère, mais le lieu même n'a rien de bien spécial. Le site a été redécouvert dans les années 90 et le développement est lent, faute d'argent je pense, ils sont censés faire un autre bâtiment que celui en brique autour des ruines. Marj n'en attendait pas grand chose, elle n'est donc pas déçue, mais je le suis, je m'attendais à plus de spiritualité.

Retour à notre chambre, avec derrière notre guest house des champs de moutarde et une nature très luxuriante dans cette partie du Népal appelé le Terai (idem pour le parc du Chitwan) grâce à des températures très au dessus du reste du pays car on est au même niveau que l'Inde qui est à 10km de là  et aussi seul région du Népal à ne pas avoir de montagnes!!! Donc très agricole... et oui, c'est quand même plus facile quand c'est plat! :)

Transcendental Tansen Trek

Tansen is little more than a hundred kilometers from Pokhara, but it's 6 hours away by bus. We made a stop here on the way south because we read it was a nice place to get away from the tourist trail, plus it's a convenient place to rest on the way down to Lumbini.

 

But we did not expect it to be so darn photogenic! It's a beautiful medieval town, hardly known and thus, authentically Nepali.

 

The hilly village is really cute, but in many parts, it's hard to walk or take a bike because the streets are so darn steep!