Joan
 Ubide
 Photography
 &
 a
 few
 sounds

Nepal is a unique country. You can walk along the foothill of the Himalayas and, a few hours later, enter a wild environment riding an elephant, as if you were in Africa.

People there are very close, although they live in extreme poverty. Kids and old people are incredible, they put their hands together and offer you a “Namaste”, the traditional greeting of the country.

When I arrived in Nepal, I realized I would love the country. From the total chaos at the border with Tibet, and following the indications of the man who sold the tickets, I took a bus to Kathmandu. A few minutes after departure, the bus stopped, as it had reached the final stop, and the ticket man disappeared as if by magic. Obviously I had to go and find another bus, and pay again. It took 9 never-ending hours to make the 150 km to the capital city. An exhausting but interesting welcome. If you travel in group, maybe it’s better to hire a Jeep, faster, safer and easier. Buses in Nepal are in a very bad condition. Formula 1-style worn out tires, and disturbing views of the cliffs from the bus windows (some of them even have bars).

After the serenity of Tibet, I could enjoy some chaos and activity in Kathmandu. Kathmandu is a fascinating city with an impressive traffic chaos: klaxons coming from everywhere, all kind of vehicles, people trying to sell things, cows, and also kids asking money for cookies.

Kathmandu is quite a tourist city. Everything takes place around the Thamel, a place where I recommend to stay only a few hours a day. As soon as you can, head to Patan, on the other riverside. There, around Durban Square, you’ll see the same as in Thamel, but much purer, with less tourists and without people trying to sell you things. A visit to the Pashupatinath Gates is a must: it will take you back to your childhood with memories of “The Jungle Book”.

Let me give you a tip: if you have to travel from Nepal to India and have no visa, you need to get it at the Kathmandu embassy. It’s a bit of a chaos, so it’s advisable to get it at an agency. I can recommend Great Adventure, contact: Prakash, they’re in the Thamel (web and data: www.trek2himalaya.com) and were very professional with me. It takes 5-6 days to get the visa.

After spending a few days in Kathmandu and getting my next visa, together with the group of people (family) with whom I visited Tibet, I headed to Pokhara, a tourist city popular amongst mountain lovers. The best thing about Pokhara is the lake, where you can go on a boat trip. From there you can also start several trekking routes around the Annapurnas (at the Himalayas); the most popular routes are the Annapurna circuit and the ABC.

I can recommend you a couple of places to stay in Pokhara, both on the Lake Side: the Peace Eye, in front of the Karki house, and the Holly Lodge, in a parallel street. In both of them you can find a double room for 300 rupees (3 Euro). Eating on the bystreets is half the price than eating in front of the lake.

Treks

The most popular trekking in Nepal is the one to the Everest Base Camp, in the northwest; this trek doesn’t start from Pokhara, you can only reach the Annapurnas from there.

From this area, the most popular treks are the ABC (Annapurna Base Camp) and the Annapurna Circuit, around the main mountains, which can be done in 15-25 days. It’s all going uphill and downhill non-stop. If you want to make it in less time, you have to be very fit. It requires walking from 6-10 hours a day, and there are lots of never-ending stone steps through impressive landscapes.

The ABC (Annapurna Base Camp) (permit: 2.000 rupees, around 20 Euro)

I had already seen the Everest from the Tibetan side, so I chose the ABC. The trip starts arriving by taxi to Phedi (400 rupees, around 4 Euro). After a few very steep slopes and the “toll” you have to pay to the Maoists (100 rupees/day), you start to ask yourself if it was a good idea to start this trek. You’ll find many places where you can sleep, eat, have a rest, or consider whether to go back… Don’t do it! A few hours later you’ll find suspension bridges, the wild jungle and snow-covered mountains. If you’re lucky, you’ll see monkeys, and if you’re “not very lucky”… maybe you’ll see a leopard. But don’t worry, it’s very unlikely, and mountain leopards are all vegetarian…

The main towns you’ll find are Pothana, Landruk, Chhomrong, Bamboo, Dovan, Himalaya and Deurali. After them, you’ll enjoy one of the most spectacular views: mount Machhapuchhre (6.998 m), without a doubt, the most beautiful mountain I’ve ever seen. From there, after several hours of walking, you reach the Annapurna south base camp (7.219 m). The base camp is at 4.130 m, and a real wonder. It’s in the centre of a great white valley, surrounded by magnificent mountains which turn a reddish shade when sunset comes. You’re exhausted, it’s extremely cold, so at 8 p.m. you’re already in your sleeping bag, covered with several heavy blankets. At 6 a.m., a Masala tea and the opportunity to enjoy the dawn in such a way which is difficult to describe, so you better watch the picture.

The way back goes along the same towns, but when you get to Chhomrong you head to Naypul, always on the side of the Mondi Khola river. The road from Chhomrong is easy, nearly no slopes, so the “torture” is reaching its end.

It takes about 7 days to complete this trek: 5 days to go up and 2 days to get down, with an average of 5-9 hours/day. I personally think it’s a bit hard, it’s better to do it in 6 days to go up and 3 days to get down, so that you can enjoy the landscapes and the people.

Another very recommendable option is to do this trek much slower. Walking only a couple of hours a day and visiting all the small villages, reading a book, basking in the sun…

Besides the beautiful landscapes, the people and their lifestyle are also a highlight. In all the lodges you can find an assorted menu, from the typical Dalbat to a tasteful spaghetti with tuna and a Coke. You must ask yourself how can a Coke reach the base camp. Well, the answer is easy: on the back of a porter. These people dedicate their entire life going up and down the mountains with a basket on the back. It’s an amazing thing to see. I was struggling to go up a steep hill, and there was an old lady behind me telling me to move off… I was suffocated and she was carrying wood, barefooted. They go downhill in a vertiginous way, it’s impossible to follow them. And everything for only a few cents.

When I got back to Pokhara I had a couple of days off, a good shave, a massage and another bus. There my “family” started to get dispersed, most of them headed to India (Goa) to spend the Christmas holidays there.

Sherpas and guides:

Although it’s relatively easy to do it on your own, for a few bucks you can have a guide. If you need one, it’s very easy to find them. At the Holly Lodge, ask for Dil or contact by mail with Tems Sherpa (Sherpa is his name): om_mane88@hotmail.com.

The best time of the year to visit this area is March, April, August, September and October. February, November and December are cooler, January is rather cold, and in May, June and July rain is very likely. In any case, you need equipment for low temperatures. In Pokhara you can buy it or rent it.

Before traveling to Nepal, it’s advisable to check the situation between the Army of the country and the Maoist troops. Right now the situation is rather calm.

From Pokhara I headed to Sauraha, at the gates of the National Park of Chitwan, the main park of the country, a wonder in a totally different environment. Elephants on the streets, beautiful peoples with clothes that make you think of Africa, mud villages and excellent landscapes by the river. Another less popular but very interesting park is Bardia, on the west.

In Chitwan I went on a walking tour in the jungle. I was totally scared, as the day before they gave me a what-to-do list just in case we encountered wild animals… For example, if you encounter a rhino, you climb a tree; if it’s an elephant, hide in a bush; if it’s a tiger, get close to the guide and clasp your hands loudly… To crown it all, they told me that in the last years 4 guides had died while protecting their customers. After letting me know all these details, they told me to go and sleep tight. And at 6 p.m. the alarm clock went off.

We started by going canoeing at dawn, amidst the fog, and after watching a crocodile have his morning bath, we entered the jungle pushing branches aside and quaking with fear. Suddenly, the guide stopped, and asked us to be quiet and come closer, while he pointed his finger at the bushes… It was a butterfly (the guy was laughing his head off). A few minutes later, another stop: now it was a kind of hen; the guide was splitting his sides with laughter again and going “Chicken jungle!! Very dangerous!!”… Just in case I had to climb, every few meters I made clear which one was my tree to everybody else… We could not see any other animals. We only found fresh rhino droppings and the marks made by a tiger, which allowed us to end our walking tour scared stiff. It must be true what they say: animals fear us more than we fear them. Anyway, encountering one of these animals is a lottery- the group after us came face to face with a bear, the most dangerous of all, according to the guide.

In Chitwan there are more activities to do, riding an elephant in the park is interesting, I could even see the rhino (maybe it’s all set for the tourists, but I was very happy to admire that beast from the safety of the elephant).

In Chitwan renting a bike is a must. You can go along small paths, and find small villages and beautiful, simple-hearted people. It was during one of my walks that I found a children’s home, a small house where 16 children live with their tutors. An old lady invited me to come in, and I ended having Dalbat for dinner with them.

Since I started this “adventure”, six months ago, I knew I was making it because I wanted to travel and have a rest from all those years of working non-stop, taking pictures and telling my friends and family how I was in my blog. I also wanted to show my “work”, give my opinion on what I saw, and sharing my experiences with other people, so that they could be useful or entertaining.

Moreover, my dream was to collaborate with a humanitarian cause. I wanted to cooperate with some NGOs, offering them my services as a photographer to publicize their work, but it wasn’t easy. So finally, I have decided to do it on a small scale and by myself. Obviously, helping the people from the Chitwan children’s home.

From here, I ask you to help these people. It’s very easy, with only 16 Euro you will pay the food of one child during a whole month. Only 16 Euro, the price of a simple meal out in a Western country.

How to do it?

You can give the money straight to the children’s home. Just print the following text, and go or send it to your bank with your instructions and the sum you want to give. The bank details of the children’s home are as follows:

NEPAL CHILDREN WELFARE HOME
HIMALAYAN BANK LIMITED
TANDI, BRANCH
S/A - 508270 “J”
SWIFT CODE: HIMANPKA
AMOUNT:
CHITWAN, NEPAL
REFERENCE: WWW.JOANUBIDE.COM

You can also do it through Paypal, with credit card, from my web, in the section “Children Welfare Nepal”.

If you want to meet the kids, Reya, a girl with no father and a sick mother, or Usha, a little girl who lost her father in 1997 and was abandoned by her mum, I have created an album dedicated to them. You can visit it in my Album section. If you ever travel to Nepal, I recommend you to visit them in person.

If you want to keep informed about them, I recommend you to subscribe in my web. You won’t receive any spam, only a mail every time I have news. You can also use the RSS system.

I think that the album about Nepal, together with the album about the children’s home, has been my best work as a “photographer”. Nearly 250 pictures, a complete album, from Kathmandu to the Himalayas, and to the National Park of Chitwan. An album which requires a few minutes to enjoy it, I hope you can find a good moment to do it and that it helps you to understand all these words.

If you’re interested, send the information to your friends and contacts. I will try to find a newspaper to publish the pictures. If you know any magazine or other media which could be interested in it, please ask them. I give this work about Nepal for free, they only have to contact me at joan@joanubide.com.

Companies can also collaborate as sponsors, I will include a mention to their participation and a link to their websites.

Getting back to the blog… another bus.

The anecdotal bit… Before entering India, on my way to Sunauli (the border) I went to Lumbini, the place where Buddha was born. My friend Carlos, a cool guy from Madrid that I had met in Annapurna, told me about a ten-day meditation course… So, I though: “Why not? I can have a smashing time by spending Christmas in there. They’ll teach me to meditate and disconnect, thing that will suit me very well because my head doesn’t stop, it goes on and on thinking…”. So, I registered and I told my family that I wouldn’t check the e-mail for ten days because I was going on safari. If I had told them that I was going to a temple to meditate, they would have thought I was going nuts…

By noon, when I reached the place in question, they gave me a sheet with the instructions, among them: you can’t talk for ten days, you must wake up at 4 a.m. everyday to begin meditating and you can’t kill any living being (my kind of a room was full of mosquitos, among another considerable clan of wall lizards). So, I spent the evening, then they offered me a sweet white soup for supper and bed time, because at 4 a.m. the bells would go: “ding dong” and I straight to meditate… Next day, I woke up and, wrapped up with the blanket, I followed the rest of “meditators” to the hall, I sat down and I started meditating… the way to get out of there… In the end, I lasted a day, I took the first bus I found and I went to India by myself… I admire the people that master that and that are prepared to do it. I wasn’t able, that’s not my thing, besides, I’m really sleepy at 4 a.m.

And that’s about it, I’ve already arrived in Varanasi (India), the place where I’m going to begin this new year and where I’m gonna stay for a couple or three months in order to travel across this country from end to end. Afterwards, I will try to return to Sauhara and Chitwan to check how are the small ones at the orphanage doing, so my next article, which will talk about India, will take a little bit long. As soon as I can, I will give you some details about the amount of meals obtained up to the moment.

I end up by sending regards to everyone in the orphanage: Sita, Puja, Preetam, Bikash, Mamata, Reya, Deepa, Alisha, Sirjana, Sapan, Deepak, Sunita, Usha, Suresh, Goma, Shoya, Vishu and Vishu Moya. Also to Carlos from Madrid, Adam, to Corlius; to Marcus and Nadine; to all the “family” from Lhasa, especially to Tanja, Dil and Tems, Nathael and Emilie and to the new friends of this stage.

I also would like to thank apogeephoto and vilanovadigital for their collaboration in publishing my blog on their sites.

Namaste
Happy 2008

Donation list at 28/1/2008:

JU (EB) : 100, GM: 20, BG: 40, ES: 30, SL: 150, JO: 16, MAG: 75, PM: 100
total: 531 Eur = 33 months of food for one kid, looks nothing but nothing is 0

Payment doc: