Like a fine red wine Nepal just gets better and better the longer we spend savouring this impressive country! It is certainly proving to be an incredible and varied little Himalayan kingdom and the prefect playground for a couple of outdoor lovers and adventure sport aficionados.
After a gruelling two-day bus ride west, we reached the end of the road at Sauli Bazaar on the banks of Nepal’s biggest river – The Karnali. We were part of a ten-man crew (including two ladies!) for a week-long river trip with Equator Expeditions (http://www.equatorexpeditionsnepal.com/). It turned out to be a fun group and we had endless laughs on the raft as we skirted some big rapids and camped on sandy beaches next to the river. Sleeping around a campfire under the star-studded heavens was a definite highlight for both of us.
The expedition ended at Chisopani on the boundary of Royal Bardia National Park and after a week on the river the comfort that awaited us at Tiger Tops’ Karnali Lodge was just what the doctor had ordered. We soaked up the luxury, devoured great food and thrived off the quality wildlife experiences. I was desperate to catch a glimpse of my first Indian one-horned rhino, so to end up having numerous close up sightings of five different rhinos feeding and swimming was very very special indeed. Crouching in a bush watching a seven month old calf suckling from its mother while I was on a walking safari was the ultimate high of our wildlife-viewing extravaganza. We topped the safari off with two tiger sighting – a young female with a hog deer kill and a handsome male escaping the pre-monsoon heat by sleeping in a pool of water. What a great place Bardia turned out to be!
After a couple of days recuperating in Kathmandu we boarded a plane for Lukla and the start of our two-week Everest trek. We chose a circuitous route to base camp via the sacred emerald green lakes of the Gokyo valley and over the Cho La pass to Gorakshep and Everest Base Camp. The weather gods smiled on us and we were treated to some idyllic weather for the epic Himalayan views from the summits of Gokyo Ri (5357m) and Kala Pattar (5545m). Sitting on the top of these rocky vantage points gave us ringside seats to a jaw-dropping wraparound vista that defied belief … a host of snow-covered 8,000m+ peaks (Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, etc) rubbed shoulders and seemed almost close enough to touch. These scenes of raw beauty exuded an overwhelming sense of mother nature’s awesome power.
After living in India for three years and enjoying nine weeks adventuring through Nepal, the Tenzing Hillary Everest Marathon (http://www.everestmarathon.com/) proved the genuine grand finale to our time in Asia. It was with a combination of great excitement and a little trepidation that I approached the start of the race. The 29th dawned grey and cold. Mist swirled through Everest base camp (5360m) and thick grey clouds hung ominously overhead. When I cracked the ice off my tent zips, I was greeted by a white world of snow and ice. When the start gun fired at 7am the temperature was well below freezing and the unrelenting snow refused to let up until we were 16km into the race! The start took place inside the infamous Khumbu Icefall and after jumping a small crevasse we ran over the frozen rocks and ice of the glacial moraine for 8km while my lungs continuously screamed for more oxygen. My plan was simple – and borne of necessity – run everything that is flat or downhill but walk/climb the hills. As we slowly descended towards the half-way mark at Dingboche the conditions improved and I found it a little easier to breathe. Reaching the half-way stage in 3h10, I truly believed a six-hour finish was on the cards, but two viciously steep hills between the 32 and 37 kilometre marks killed that idea and in the end I was more than happy to finish in 6h34, which put me in a respectable 6th position out of 68 international participants.
With the tiny Himalayan nation of Nepal wowing us in so many ways, the final chapter in our Asian sojourn has proved to be an absolute cracker!
The adventures for June appear to be somewhat tamer … our next stop is London to visit my sisters and then it’s onto Iceland and USA. The journey continues and we’re loving the ride…