Farewell Nepal

So we head back to Kathmandu and say goodbye to the snowy mountains, at least for a few months. The children are happy to be back with their friends – ever since we arrived at Karma’s house we’ve been encouraging Gabriel to go and play football with Norbu and his friends but it’s only now that he suddenly decides to do so and we hardly see him – he disappears first thing in the morning and only comes back when called for meals. Lack of a common language doesn’t matter much when playing football!

With the children playing with their friends, Fi and I decide to do some sightseeing by ourselves. Karma takes us to see a large Hindu temple with the biggest funeral ghats in Nepal. It is a very strange experience. The entrance fee is much higher than in most places we’ve visited, so there are relatively few tourists around and therefore very few stalls selling handicrafts. Just a few holy men with enormously long dreadlocks, unusual beards, and their face and body painted white and yellow, charging a fee to have their photograph taken. 

On the side of the bridge for the poor people, there are a number of funeral pyres at various stages, from fresh stacks of wood to dying embers. It’s hard to see who the mourning families are; there are a handful of people hanging around, wearing normal clothes, chatting, some laughing. Very little ceremony. The smoke from the fires drifts out over the small, filthy and yet apparently holy river. The other side of the bridge is for the royal family and other important families. There is a funeral taking place there too – the covered body is waiting to be put onto a neatly arranged pile of logs, while  some (presumably) close family members are splashing water from the river onto an effigy of a black-faced god, sitting in what looks like a child’s pushchair. Flowers are being scattered on the river.

We walk up the hill to what is one of the oldest temples in Kathmandu and where a particular type of yoga (I can’t remember the name) originated. Apparently it’s busy there in the morning, but when we arrive it’s eerily quiet apart for the calls of protest from a thousand crows at the murder of one of their brethren by a local cat. The temple is very run down – surprising for one with such claims to fame – the only sign of human life is some washing drying in the sun outside a couple of the very run down dwellings that surround the square. 

We’re here in Kathmandu for just a couple of days before it’s time for emotional farewells to Karma, Karmu and their children. We’ve had such a wonderful time here and are absolutely sure we’ll be back. Kathmandu has been surprisingly enjoyable, with its hustle and bustle, throngs of weaving motorbikes and dirty streets, interspersed with its myriad temples and squares with incredibly beautiful ancient buildings. The rubbish isn’t quite as bad as in India, or are we just getting used to it? To get to Karma’s house we always had to cross a small river (or may be a large stream) which was fall of rubbish and filth. I find it extraordinary that people who take such care in keeping their homes and the stretch of pavement immediately outside it so clean, are happy to go and dump their rubbish in a river just a few metres away. One day, the water in the river was bright blue due to effluent from a local business who had been dying fabric. Having said that, we were really glad to be staying slightly out of the centre of the city and not in the touristy jungle of tiny streets that is Thamel. 

But needless to say, our time in the mountains was what we came for and was the clear highlight. We were nervous about bringing our children trekking here but they have really taken to it – I’m so proud of them! There were no complaints from Jemima & Gabriel – OK, they really needed a Snickers boost on a couple of occasions but that was all – and even Millie walked for more than 50% of the way. If there are any other parents of young children out there wondering whether or not it’s feasible to go trekking in Nepal… YOU CAN DO IT!!! The Tamang Heritage trail was perfect for us – the tea houses and villages are not too far apart and the cultural experience in truly authentic villages was fabulous. And while we didn’t get to a great altitude, the views were still fantastic. It was also very quiet – we noticed a huge difference when we got to the bottom of the Langtang Trail where there were large groups of trekkers everywhere, and apparently even this pales in comparison to the Annapurna circuit.

We chose not to take iPads on our trek and that was a great decision – no arguments between the children about who’s going to have which device and the freedom to be truly creative and imaginative in their games. And of course it helps enormously when your children love the local food – even though we ate the same thing every day for a month!

Given that we spent the entire month with Karma, it’s difficult to disentangle our experience of Nepal from him and his family. He was a great host, a great guide and is now a great friend. His endless patience, great wisdom and calmness, and his willingness and ability to entertain and motivate our children were exceptional. He did not put a foot wrong in the whole month that we were with him. And of course that’s not to mention his intimate knowledge of Kathmandu and the mountains, plus all the community service projects he’s involved with, such as helping fund children from his village to go to school or continue their education. We couldn’t recommend him highly enough, particularly for a family trek like ours or if you’re interested in seeing real Nepali culture as well as dramatic snowcapped peaks. His details are as follows:

Karma Renjen Tepa

+977 984 1541017

info@insighttreknepal.com

http://www.insighttreknepal.com

Thank you Karma 😊