Nepal 1995-96
Whenever we could, the family reconnected; we did trips to Jhapa and there were frequent visits to head office by mum. Nepal's airline safety record has not been good, due to poor maintenance practices, having some of the world's most dangerous runway approaches and frequent lack of visibility around the monsoon time. Domestic services at the time mainly used Twin Otters, ATR-42s or Avro 748s for busy routes with 20 to 42 pax, and Pilatus PC-6 to drop into high altitude runways with short approaches, and with less than 10 pax. To visit Jhapa from Kathmandu was either a one-hour flight or a 15-hour drive so we chose the former. The local airport at Chandragadi was convenient but not particularly well serviced, whereas Biratnagar, about 60km west had daily flights from several airlines. Our visits were always a welcome break, and we would take side trips in the staff 4WD on weekends.
On one visit, we went north of Jhapa, to Ilam, a mountain town famous for its tea plantations. It was said Ilam tea was better than Darjeeling tea as the bushes were younger by several decades. This trip was fraught as the road seemed to rise straight up off the plain to the Siwalik hills, the southern expression of the Mahabharat range. We could have kept going for this road pushes further to the Himalaya but, after Ilam at 2500m, we entered mist. Another time, we received an invite to the Dharan Army Base, which was a British Army recruitment centre for Gurkha soldiers. A few Brits still worked there and they had imaginatively built a swimming pool, funded as an irrigation and fire-fighting project; sadly, the base was in the process of being handed to the Nepali Army and no longer accessible in 1996. We had several trips there and made the drive into the hills to Dhankuta, an important bazaar and administrative centre for the surrounding hills. Immediately south and close to the Indian border, Biratnagar was the regional town quickly becoming the most important centre on the Terai. From its airport, on one exceptional blue-sky day, I caught sight of Mt Everest, a white triangle above the green fore-range. It was at Forbesganj, just a few kilometres across the border in Bihar state and 46m above sea level, that the British Trig survey took one of the base points to determine the height of Peak XV, as Everest was then labeled.
At Christmas time, I returned to Australia for family matters during the short school break, then went to Jhapa to bring the kids back for the restart of school. At Easter 1995, the two kids and I did the Kali Gandeki River rafting trip. This was a big adventure, a drive to Pokhara then on to Maldhunga, soon after where the river emerges from the deepest gorge in the world, between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna. Our group of 5 rafts, each with 4 passengers and 2 crew, set off the next morning on a three-day trip over 60 km of river with multiple class 3 and 4 rapids. We camped on beaches both nights and passed through stunning scenery, past isolated villages and through jungle. The last few miles were decidedly more tranquil as the river neared the Terai; the water temperature lost its chill as well. At Mirmi, journey's end and up to the road for the trip back to Pokhara. The local staff all said the Sun Khosi River was up a notch from this but I never got to try it.
I took a three-day trek in the Mahabharat Range, well off the tourist routes. After a half-day drive east from Kathmandu, a group of ten trekkers with our local guide and porters walked through villages, up and down but mainly up, through rhododendron forests and away from settlements. We slept out both nights, then early on the third day made a final push to a hill-top. We emerged with the most glorious view of the main Himalaya range, the full panorama of Everest, Makala, Mera, Cho Oyo and dozens of other peaks. Our hilltop was maybe forty km away from the mountains, the curve of the earth could be discerned looking from W to E. The other remarkable thing was the enormous collection of trishuli, the sacred tridents of Hindu mystics and pilgrims who have made the trek from the Gangetic plain. There were no prayer flags or stupas, these were usually found where Buddhists had a spiritual connection. As the day warmed up, the clear morning air quickly gave way to cloud that hid the distant ranges. We left the summit, and descended on formed path of irregularly placed stone steps, down, down, jarringly down some 1500m in elevation. So this was the shortcut; I think our route and a slow ascent made the 'reveal' more interesting. Our transport to Kathmandu was waiting when we arrived at the road.
Another home visit came along, to miss the wet season. We flew via Hong Kong and, with seats on the left side, we were rewarded with views all along the Himalaya. The landing between the apartment buildings at the old Kai Tak airport was hairy, and we transited to Australia. During a visit to Canberra, I firmed up contract work with AusAID on my return to Nepal. After visiting family, the kids and I tarried a while, eventually flying out of Cairns. Back in Kathmandu, I did a baseline survey, visiting most recipients of Australian aid money. This took me to medical, technical and educational projects across the Kathmandu valley and around Pokhara, plus to Tansen, with my driver sliding rather than driving halfway to the Terai as the wet season was just ending. A request to visit two projects in Bhutan was met with refusal, despite our ambassador being involved.
Back in Kathmandu, I went on a walk during Dasain; at various temples associated with this Nepali Hindu festival, the puja ritual was performed, usually involving the blood of slaughtered goats. At one place near Dhulikel, the place was awash in overflowing blood, a complete gore-fest. Some of the town squares are said to be worse, and the number of animals killed estimated at 50,000 in Kathmandu valley alone. Every temple we passed had been smeared with animal blood.
The politics of Nepal were quite fractured; strikes occurred at regular intervals, at which time it was best to not be out and about. The police response if the mob looked like getting out of control usually was a lathi charge, indiscriminate and violent. As well, the Terai had grievances with Kathmandu and would block supplies being trucked in. And if India wanted to exert pressure, they could close the border. Once, driving to Biratnagar, we encountered a road blockage where the mob was rioting. We spun a U-turn and headed back to Badhrapur. Others vehicles had been torched and trucked stripped of contents. An additional challenge was when tacks or nails were strewn on the road; usually there would be a puncture repair wallah just a few metres on. Good business, but hardly an economic efficiency.
Before the cold winter set in, the school organised treks for the students. My daughter set off on her 4 day low-altitude ramble through the lower hills and the senior school went to Langtang. I volunteered to accompany them in a group of 20 teenagers and 6 adults, plus porters and cooks. We drove over the back road to Bidur then followed the upper Trishuli to Dhunche. The trail went up a valley, away from habitation and into forest. We overnighted at a rudimentary lodge and continued up, frequently crossing a fast-flowing stream. Eventually, we broke out into open ground which flattened out; all around were moraines, scree slopes tumbled from a steep cliffs, glacier covered peaks could be seen further behind. We continued on above the village and stopped near the gompa in a wide clear area; here at 3800m, we set up camp. The next day was a rest day, and I decided to climb a ridge on one side of the valley. It was boulder-strewn but not too arduous. I climbed on until I arrived at the snow-line, and was rewarded with Langtang at 7200m ahead of me and a series of lesser peaks, mere 6000+ metre ones, across the valley and stretching to Tibet. I had no climbing gear so I turned back; I must have climbed too fast as a headache swept over me. I hurried down and grounded myself in the darkness of my tent. The pain did abate and I slept it off. We returned down the valley the same way, another 2 day walk, and returned to Kathmandu to collect my daughter from a friend's place. She enjoyed her trek with one complaint; the porters bought a goat on day one, it followed them and they played with it every day, then on the final meal, the cooks served their new pet for dinner. She went vegetarian for about five years.
We went to Jhapa over the Christmas break. We crossed the Indian border and went to Siliguri, then took a car up the 'back road' to Darjeeling, staying at the Windemere Hotel. There were elderly English women as permanent guests; these were among many that 'stayed over' after Indian Independence in 1947. I'd mentioned how great Sikkim was, and we went to Gangtok, spent a day there then headed down to Bagdogra airport, just down the road from Naxalburi where the Naxalite insurgency started in 1967. We had bought tickets to Guwahati, the capital of Assam on the Brahmaputra River and about an hour away by air. Guwahati was a bustling centre with little of interest; we noted the presence of large numbers of impoverished Bangladeshi immigrants. The nature parks upcountry had been closed due to insurgency, and the tribes of Nagaland were on the warpath again. Meghalaya was open, after years of turbulent politics, and we took a Morris Major taxi, winding our way through rolling hills, on a two hour ride to Shillong. The dominant Khasi ethnic group is matrilineal and Christian, churches dominate the skyline and English is the official language though Khasi is the language of the bazaar. Hindi is not well received. At 1500m, Shillong has a more temperate climate than the hot plains; it was a popular hill station for tea planters from Assam and was the administrative centre or NE India during the Raj. We stayed at the Pinewood Hotel, a magnificent 19th Century retreat, 12 foot ceilings, thatch roof, maids quarters and nearby golf course. We travelled to Cherrapunji, and nearby Sohra, near the Bangladesh border and reputedly the wettest place in the world as it receives more than 11m, or 450", of rain a year. We were there in the dry season but a short trip to the edge of the plateau revealed an ideal setup; the SE monsoon would sweep across the Sylhet valley some 1000m below and then be lifted up the scarp, funnelling into a semi-circular ring of cliffs and then bucket down on the higher ground. The green plains of Bangladesh stretched out below. We traveled back to Shillong and down to Guwahati then went to the railway station, managing to score a 4-berth sleeper on the North East Express which departed that evening and went all the way to New Delhi. I think having 2 young children in attendance helped get those tickets. Our journey was to New Jalpaiguri, at Siliguri, and took eight hours. Our only miscalculation was how cold it was, in Second Class, traveling at night. From the station, it was 20km by taxi to Kakarbhitta on the Nepal Border and a dozen more km to Bhadrapur.
I had one more trek in March 1996; a five-day slog paralleling the main range, arranged by the Kathmandu guide and off the popular tourist trails. Even though it was peak season, we didn't see any other trek groups. We headed east on the Jiri road but not as far as the town of Jiri, which has served as the starting point for most Everest expeditions heading for Lukla; most mountaineers now choose to fly to Lukla and thus avoid a week's trekking. Our group of 8 plus porters turned north at Kahbre towards Gaurishanker, climbing to about 3500m then turning West. We dropped down and crossed the upper reaches of the Tama Koshi River on a suspension bridge then climbed on local paths, through terraces at lower levels and into subsistence potato growing areas when Tamang tribespeople lived precarious lives. At times, rounding a corner, we saw the white snow-capped mountains of the main range; the vistas looking down the valleys were as impressive, as we were usually between 3200m and 4000m, ranging higher when crossing ridges to the next valley. We would find a flat space, usually around a temple or school, to prepare an evening meal, pitch tents and sleep. On the last day, we could see a road far below and we dropped down, from above the treeline, through Buddhist then Hindu villages and crossed the Koshi River; we emerged about 10km south of Kodari and the Chinese border. A truck came along and took us to Dolalghat, we crossed the Sunkhosi and took a bus the 70km to Dhulikhel and in to Kathmandu.
The contract was coming to an end; we moved out of our Kathmandu house, sold off the furniture and house-sat the last six weeks in a place closer to school. I eventually found a buyer for the car, receiving the same as we paid for it on arrival. The monsoon arrived, another northern-hemisphere school year ended, work at Jhapa was done and the family flew out to Australia.
Flights, cross border travel
1. SYD - BKK 08 Jan 94; BKK - Kathmandu 12 Jan 94
2. Bhadrapur - Darjeeling 15 Mar 94; Darjeeling - Sikkim 19 Mar 94; Sikkim - Bhadrapur 23 Mar 94
3. KTM - Frankfurt 29 Jun 94; around Europe; Frankfurt - BKK 04 Aug 94; BKK - KTM 06 Aug 94
4. KTM - BKK - SYD 10 Dec 94; Melb - KTM 06 Jan 95
5. KTM - HK - Melb 25 Jun 95; Cairns - KTM 05 Aug 95
6. KTM - Bhadrapur; to Darjeeling 19 Dec 95; to Sikkim 21 Dec; fly Siliguri - Guwahati 24 Dec; Shillong, Guwahati, train to Siliguri; cross to Bhadrapur 31 Dec 95
7. KTM - SYD 19 Jun 1996