Siew Yim

Nepal- Back Again!

We have always been a family with a quest for adventure. Last December, we were back in Nepal with our three kids where we had planned to do a trek, raft and safari during our eight day stay.

The three day trek was graded easy and named “the Royal Trek” after the route was taken by Britain’s Prince Charles in 1980. Indeed, what a royal treatment we received during the trek! We were really pampered by the fourteen member trek crew; porters to carry our duffle bags, sherpas to guide us along on the trails, set up our dinning, sleeping and toilet tents and the best mountain cook to prepare all three meals. We slept comfortably on mattresses, snuggled in warm sleeping bags.

We were woken up by the kitchen boy with his pleasant smile and a cup of hot tea each morning. The kids did not get away with the morning routine of brushing teeth as a basin of warm water awaited us outside the tent. Meals was no simple affair, our breakfast was wholesome with noodle soup, fried eggs, toasts, cereal, hot chocolate, coffee, tea and fruit. Although our cook walked with a limp due to a bad injury, he was never late with our three meals and the quality was never compromised. We even had a delicious apple pie and a cake with the icing wording “Happy Journey” for our dessert!

Machapuchre

In the day, we trampled along the foothills for about five to six hours with our Sirdar and Sherpas as guides. I preferred walking through the forest, away from the heat of the blazing sun while the kids enjoyed greeting the villagers as we passed by their homes. At times, with the clear view, we stood in awe admiring the majestic Annapurna ranges - the most prominent peak, Machapuchre (6,993m) and commonly known as the “Fishtail “for its shape.

One morning as we were trekking, a few boys and girls came rushing by and we guessed they were late for school. It was interesting that the mode of transportation was by foot and the only traffic jams they had to beat were trekkers like us on the way. When we passed by the school, we saw the late comers punished by the headmaster at the assembly.

At home, the older folks minded their farm and live stock and often greeting us with their friendly “Namaste” as we walked through the villages. We spent the days interacting with the locals, taking in the majestic mountain views. The nights were kept aside for family bonding as we chatted and played games in the dinning tent before retiring to our cozy sleeping tents. It was too soon but we had to bid our farewells to the trek crew after spending three enjoyable days in the mountain.

A drive and a short raft on the Trisuli river and we were on our way to Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal's first national park is situated 162km south of Katmandu in the lowlands of the inner Terai. It was indeed a great safari experience staying in the Tiger Tops tented camp -a large tent under a thatched canopy, with a private bathroom out at the back with woven reed walls. At night, the kids were happy to snuggle up in warm blankets, hot bottles and catching up with reading with their head lamps!

 

We went on two elephant rides during our stay and especially enjoyed the sunset safari, sitting tall on the elephant trampling through long grasses! It was thrilling “chasing” the one horned rhinos on the elephant backs. Leaving the tented camp, we made an interesting move (using jeep, canoes and buffalo cart) to the Tharu village and stayed a night. Here, we visited the organic farm that supplied the vegetables to the hotel’s kitchen and discovered the secret recipe of our meals!

This was a short trip but we were glad to be able do a little and contribute a little towards the welfare of the locals. We had such a lovely time that nine days flew by and we were soon home, wondering when we will be in Nepal again and being greeted by friendly greetings of “Namaste”…

Siew Yim

Tiger Leaping Gorge Trek

Many visitors simply “touch and go” by snapping pictures at the legendary rock but my family decided to take a more unusual path by trekking to admire the majestic beauty of the gorge!

We arrived at Kunming and checked into the Banyan Tree Resort. I started to wonder to if this touch of luxury would dampen the kids’ spirit for the upcoming adventure but it turned out that the trek was to be the highlight of our trip!

 

 

After a peaceful night’s rest and hearty breakfast at the resort, we started our two hour drive to Qiaotou (means Bridge End in Chinese) (1835m). Our trek started by us skirting around the mountains with steep cliffs drops and the hot blazing sun on us. Besides the fear of height for En, our daughter, the first part of the trek went relatively easy. Ming, our son, seemed to enjoy the sense of achievement by having a day pack on his back and rushing up the mountains. Two hours passed quickly and we were soon at our lunch point. Our lunch was whisked out so quickly that in no time, we were downing a few bowls of rice with five hot cooked dishes of meat and vegetable. It was useful to have full stomachs as the 28 bends awaited us.

It was challenging negotiating these bends but we made it to our highest point of our trek at 2660m. The view was indeed breathtaking with the gorge plunging deeply into the river and the magnificent mountain as backdrop. The toughest was over and we were tramping on flatter land surrounded by corn, wheat and other farmland. We arrived earlier than expected at our destination, Tea Horse Guesthouse for the night.

The name “Tea horse” reminded us of the history of an ancient road treaded by human feet and horse hoofs in the mountains of Southwest China. I am not sure how much of the history had sunk into the kids but they were definitely thrilled by the location of the guesthouse. Here, we were surrounded by mountains and the Jade Snow Mountain was visible with the good weather. To our surprise, the guesthouse was equipped with modern amenities. Dinner followed and was no simple affair as we had a small dining table filled with dishes of French fries, vegetables, stir fried chicken, beef, eggplant and a big tub of rice!

 

I was woken up by Julie’s (our kids’ new found dog friend) barking. Breakfast was another hearty meal, with choices of pancakes dipped in honey or noodle soup. Soon the kids had to bid farewell to Julie. The downhill trail was pretty rocky so we took it slow and steady. After a short rest at Halfway Teahouse, we continued our journey passing by Guanyin Streams and crossed a three storey high waterfall! I was glad that the weather had been dry or otherwise it would be a real challenge crossing this waterfall. There was also the occasional “traffic” jams along the way caused by goats. The forests that provided the much awaited shade was teeming with birdlife too.

Finally, with a tinge of sadness, we arrived at the end point of the memorable trek as we sighted our van and driver waving at us along the road next to Tina Guesthouse. The only consolation was the much awaited dip into Banyan Tree’s pool (for the kids) and the pampering massage (for me) at the famous Banyan Tree spa!