Author: Karen Griffiths

Day 2  14 May. Bahundanda to Charmje

Day 2  14 May. Bahundanda to Charmje

Karen Griffiths

This was an 8.5 hour day, 12km in  about 30° heat,  uphill most of the way on the old Annapurna Track.  We probably did 79% on the old trail today.

I was saddened to see the changes, no trains of donkeys, and very few locals out doing their thing. Buses, jeeps and motorbikes shared the road with us. But the views were good, and I loved being back out on trail.

As we walked along the right-hand side of the river, we could see the road weaving its way along the other bank. We were very pleased to be on our side away from the dust and constant uphill gradient.

After lunch I was on the lookout for toilets as my body was getting used to the local cuisine. We refill our water bottles at the Tea Houses and pop in a water purifying tablet.  We are trying to remember to sanitize our hands before eating but are not always so good at this.

Tea Houses are all along the trail and the road ready to sell a coca cola, sprite or a cup of tea and meals. Some provide accommodation too.

On the road we came across some hardy chaps from Belgium riding Royal Enfield motor bikes. They had been on a couple of trips around Nrw Zeakand by bicycle and campervan and were very proud to hear that they ratedNew Zealand very highly. The young french man at our tea house was also telling everyone that New Zealand was amazing.  We were very proud Kiwis.

There has been a lot of work completed around the wee villages by Chinese. There are power stations and miles of power lines going up extremely steep hills. This is giving power to the villages that had none when I was here last.   I wonder if China is getting the roads snd infrastructure in place so that it will be easy to get their tanks and soldiers here for an invasion.

We stopped at the FishTail guest house for a much needed rest and  lunch. Everything is cooked from scratch, so we have about an hour to air out our feet and rest our bodies in the shade.

I struggled for the second part of the day in the heat and was very pleased to arrive in Charmje at 4pm.

Over dinner I shared my photos from the area 17 years ago and with the owners of the guest house. They were very excited to recognize their daughter as a toddler.  She came out to have a look. Back then the children were all very excited to see themselves on our cameras but now they have grown up and have their own. The kids all gave their faces in cellphones and having tantrums if they are taken off them. Such a shame.

It was a 4 wheel drive, now it is a 2 wheel drive.
A Dam Long Bus Ride – 13 April 2023

A Dam Long Bus Ride – 13 April 2023

Karen Griffiths

We started our day at 6.15am with a taxi ride with our guide, Basu, to the city bus station. There we met Ram who is to be our porter for the trek.

Kay and I are quite capable of carrying our own gear, but we wanted to make sure we contributed to the economy.  So we will pack a duffle bag each with the stuff we don’t need through the day and he will carry it for us. We are allowed a maximum of 10kg each but it will be more like 5kg each. He will be a happy porter!!

The bus ride took about 10 hours. The first 5 or 6 were fun but after that it became quite a mission of indurance

The sun is trying to peak through the smog

The bus was a Delux model boasting wifi, a toilet, TV, charging points, and being on time. It certainly wasn’t a deluxe experience and had only one TV screen playing hours of Bollywood music videos. No wifi or toilet or charging points.

Bus looks good from the outside.
Not so fancy on the inside

3 young guys hung out the door all day, calling out to potential customers, even though the bus was full from the start.

Driving through some very poor areas

It took about 2 hours to get through the city and then we we were off over some high mountain passes, up and down, around tight corners, beeping all the way.

Our driver was a bit like a young Kiwi male. He had to overtake anything that he came up behind, even if there was only 10 meters clear road ahead. Beep, beep, crunch the gears, and shut our eyes, and he would go like a bat out of hell.

Lots of construction

Kay and I were calling out to any God who was listening to savevus  but the locals just sat there hardly changing their expressions at all.

The first flat tyre was replaced. We kept driving on the second one

The first few hours was the highway to India where mist of  the goods to cater for 8 million Nepalese come from. The brightly colored and decorated trucks and buses were continually trying to out do each other and the thousands of motor bikes, cars and vans.

Lunch stop for dal bhat. Yummy.
Rough , dusty roads

The Chinese are upgrading the roads, putting in tunnels that will take hours off the journey. However, the constant road works really slowed us down. It was quite scary at times looking over the steep banks and seeing workers building retaining walls below us. So there was nothing holding the road up now.

Food was offered through the window when we slowed down

I offered Kay the window seat after an hour and she was adamant that she did not want to see what was going on beside our bus. So if the bus tipped over, it would be me scraping my face on the road.

Next bus instead of walking. Lady car sick plastic bag gave away my goid zip lock bag for her to be dick in and she didn’t even offer it back to me.

The last hour before Besisahar was when we had both had enough. There was lots of little villages and everytime we had to slow down and pick and drop off passengers. The bus got very full and hot. It was a9bout 30° outside and hotter inside. Never the less the windows did open but then there was dust to deal with. We had had enough by the time we arrived in Besisahar.

Besisahar was the end of the road 17 years ago. I remember the streets were full of donkey trains, their bells ringing and really making me smile. This was where I began walking in 2006. Not this time. Buses, trucks, jeeps, and motorbikes filled the narrow streets, spewing out smoke to add to the dust.

By the time our bus arrived, we had settled down and we re ready for the last hours drive. This time, we were sqaushed in the very back seat. Not far down the road, a local lady sirting next to Kay started to heave and call out “plastic bag, plastic bag.”

Being an experienced traveler, I had a decent sized zip lock bag in my bag exactly for this kind of situation. So I whipped it out and saved the day.

Our accommodation for he night was very bright and comfortable. We even had a hot shower.

Breakfast next morning
Surprised to see roses
A Day Around Town

A Day Around Town

Karen Griffiths

Our $13 room was really nice. The staff at The Flying Yak were very friendly, if not disappointed that we had already booked our guides as they provide treking services too.

Excellent value room $13 each

We did a bit of shopping, New boots for me as mine really looked dodgy, having been stored in a warm dry garage for about 10 years. I have taken to wearing trail runners but decided I might need boots for the snowy high passes. NZD$82.

The streets were stressing me out, and I was really ready to be in the mountains. It is amazing that anyone has electricity here when you see the tangle of wires. There was a real commotion when one big tangle soarked and banged and caught fire. People in the apartments above were tipping buckets of water on it, which didn’t help. The police arrived as I was imagining Thamal burning. When we returned an hour later, a man was up there sorting out the tangle with the power still on.

We fluffed around for a couple of hours, sorting our gear between the big duffle bags that the porter carries and our packs. We both have more gear than we took on  Te Araroa but we need to make the porter feel needed.

We met with Puru and our Guide, Basu and paid our $USD1,300 and sorted out our final arrangements.

We had another quiet break in the Kathmandu Guest House gardens before having dinner in restaurant over looking a crowded Thamal Street. We chatted with an English man who had lived in Thailand for 15 years but was in the process of moving to Pokhara. Pokhara is the tourist town where we will finish our Annapurna Circuit. He said he didn’t like Thai people, so we wondered why it took him 15 years to leave.

We shared a bottle of very sweet Nepalese wine to accompany our dinner.

Dinner

I have arrived.

I have arrived.

Karen Griffiths

The misadventure began with my second flight being delayed by an hour. That meant a 1.30am departure from Auckland.  I had paid extra to choose seats across the isle from Kay but somehow stuffed that up and ended up a few rows behind but still with an isle seat.  Isle seats are imperative for me as I need to get up and move, and I have frequent flyer status for the toilets on airplanes.

As we were on Air Malaysia we were surrounded by Malaysians, women in saris, men in turbans, and some gorgeous kids and babies.  Babies cry the same no matter what their first language is, and all toddlers understand a game of peek- a-boo.

Luckily the plane was not full, so Kay and I both had empty seats to spread across. The man in my row stayed upright in his own seat, so I had 3 to spread across but  Kay’s row companion tried to hog all the spair seats.

I had shouted myself a travel bean bag  neck pillow, but the tag was annoying me, so I tried to rip it off.

Oops a bit of a mess

The next thing there was small beans flying all over the place.  Being a well prepared traveler, I had a needle and thread in my pack, so I was able to sew the hole up before the mess got too bad.

We just had enough time to  board our 4.5-hour flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. The plane was full with lots of families which meant a fair bit of shuffling of seats so parents could sit with their kids.  Back in the day, we spread our kids out so they wouldn’t pinch and poke each other and annoy us. The kids had enough manners and shyness to sit quietly doing their coloring when sat next to strangers.

Cutie kept me entertained

Arriving at the new airport, we were struck with the heat and smog. Kathmandu is in a very dusty valley and has about 1.5 million people and twice as many  motor bikes, run-down cars and buses to add to the pollution. It is ranked the most polluted city in the world, hence the “Kathmandu Cough”

The airport was replaced after the 2015 earthquake (7.8 that killed 9,000 people and wounded over 22,000.) So it was definitely better than when I was here in 2006.

Welcome to Nepal

So we got visas, cash and a Nepal sim card for my phone fairly easily. We went out to find the pre-ordered taxi waiting for us.

That was a fun taxi ride in an beat up car. We tried to put on the seat belts but were told “no broken” so what can we do? First of all it appeared he was  refusing to pay the parking fee so they wouldn’t lift the barrier arm to let us out. The supervisor was brought over but that just escalated the argument.  We offered to pay but the driver wasn’t giving in. I am not sure who the winner was but eventually, we were on our way.

This driver was not one to drive patiently and wait his turn in the chaotic traffic, so he was underpassing and zooming across uncontrolled intersections, risking our un- seat belted lives at every turn.

We got pulled over by a policeman at one stage and quite rightfully so. But after some discussion, the driver was back in the car saying he paid him off. So beep, beeeeep we were off again.

But that is the fun of being in a third-world country.

Our hotel is called the Flying Yak and it costs us $13 NZD a night each. We had coffee served on arrival and chatted with a couple of young French guys before heading up to see our room.

We were pleasantly surprised at the soft beds and lovely ensuite bathroom  and tea and coffee facilities.  All nice and clean and tidy for $13 each. Oh yes and air conditioning and a TV. (Not worked them out yet)

As it was only 2.30pm we went off exploring the Thamal area all the time watching for pot holes, deep gutters, hanging power lines, a thousand motor bikes and cars beeping at us and people trying to sell us “very cheap necklace for you. Just look please”. I still have one I bought in 2006 that I have never worn. I am not a jewelry woman!!  All this  makes it very hard to look around and take in the sites.

I bought some gloves and a few other bits and pieces I needed before we had had enough of the hussle and bustle. So we found The Kathmandu Guest House as I remembered it had a lovely garden that was a quiet haven away from the busy streets. Rooms there are about $70 a night so out of our price range.

At The Kathmandu Guest House

However they do let us sit, eat, and drink there. We had an Everest beer and a chat with a girl who had just finished the Annapurna Circuit before heading home. It had been a very long day, so we opted for some street food before going back for a shower and bed.

Very nice Egg roll $4

So here I am writing this at 4am because my time clock is all out of sync. I can hear the city waking up.

Ready for Nepal

Ready for Nepal

Karen Griffiths

As I said, I am returning to Nepal after 17 years. I have a bit of a plan, which I will share with you now.

Leaving 10 April, I will make 3 flights, over 25 a hour period , with Kay. Kay is my Kiwi friend who accompanied me last year on some of my Te Araroa NOBO and on Stewart Island. The 11.5 hour flight through the night to Kuala Lumpa will require some alcohol and/or drugs to get through, I think.

We have less than two hours there to transfer to the flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. ( Not Kathmandu, the shop, but the capital city of Nepal). A 5 hour flight will have us arriving at noon Nepalese time, but it will be like 7pm to us. I am sure we will be knackered. It is funny how tiring sitting around can be.

Once in Nepal we will have a day to get sorted with the guide I used on my previous trip. I am looking forward to reconnecting with Puru from Above The Himalayas.

Then Kay and I will walk the Annapurna Circuit over 13 days with a guide and a porter. I did this trek back in 2006 when I was 17 years younger, so it will be interesting to see how I go this time. Altitude can cause issues and we will get up to 5,416 metres. For comparison : Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain is only 3,724 metres, Ben Nevis is 1,345 metres, Mount Kosciuszko, Australia 2,224 metres)

After completing that I will have a few days with Kay to explore and recuperate before Kay leaves to do a long walk in England. There are many UNESCO Heritage sites to visit.

Then I will join a group of 6 other Kiwis to do a 21 day bespoke 21 Day trek including The Three Passes and Everest Base Camp Trek.”

Most people who trek the 139km Everest Base Camp fly into Lukla, take about 6 days to get to Base Camp then return the same route over about 4 days before flying out again.

However, Grant has come up with a trek that will have us start with a 9 hour bus to trip from Kathmandu to Jiri. We will then take 17 days to get to Everest Base Camp via 3 Passes that are even higher than the Base Camp. This will nearly double the distance but give us more time to acclimatize and to experience more of the highest parts of Nepal.

I agreed to this before I really did any research but that seems to be how I roll.

This group consists of

  • Roy, Grant and Roger are 3 real Kiwi blokes from farming, tramping, and hunting backgrounds all about 65 years old.
  • Next is a Brendon, retired GP doctor who will be on his 3rd trip to Nepal
  • Kathy, retired nurse (66) who did her first trip to Nepal in the early 1970s when the hippies were wandering Nepal in search of good native Marijuana. Since then, she has returned to do a cycle trip across to Tibet.
  • The 6th member is Joe, and being in his 30s is the baby of the group. He is another real outdoors bloke.

I checked out one of Joe’s YouTube posts and saw that he carried a box of beers, a 5kg bag of potatoes and a very heavy cast iron pot, along with his tent and other gear, with him on a hunting trip. Following a successful hunt, he would also be able to carry out a deer as well.

So my theory is that if we get into any trouble I will have all bases covered.

  • the men will know what to do
  • The doctor can treat any illnesses and injuries
  • The nurse will take good care of me
  • The young guy can carry me out if needed. But he will probably want to gut me and cut off my head first.

I have taken out insurance with World Nomads, which is one of the few companies that will provide cover when trekking up to 6,000 metres. I will climb to over 5,400 metres on about 6 occasions. Hopefully, I will not need to use the policy, but the $950 is a no-brainer with my track record.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
From my previous Annapurna Circuit 2006
Info about Nepal

Info about Nepal

Karen Griffiths

A little bit of information about Nepal for those of you who are not very geographic. Nepal is:

  • One of the poorest countries on earth
    • Population of about 30 million.
    • Landlocked, so I won’t be sunning myself at the beach.
    • Surrounded by India and Tibet/ China.
    • 75% of the country is mountains.
    • Animals include tigers and leopards, gaurs (wild ox), occasional elephants and buffalo, and many deer, donkeys and yaks. Also Yeti, the abominable  snowman. I will be particularly looking out for a Yeti as I am sure I could get good money for a photo of one.
    • One of the few countries in the world that has never been under foreign occupation.
    • 7 UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Sites within a radius of 15 km (I will try and visit them all this time)
    • Land of earthquakes as the Indo-Australian plate lies beneath Nepal (last big quake was 2015)
    • Currency Nepalese Rupee. We get 83 for a NZ$. NR 1,000 is about $12 NZD
    • Area 140,800 Sq. km (NZ 268,000 Sq. km)
    • Birth place of Lord Buddha
    • Has the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest (8848m) known in Nepali as Sagarmatha and Tibetan as Chomolungma—straddles the border between Nepal and Tibet at the crest of the Himalayan mountain chain.
    • Has 8 of the world’s 10 tallest mountains
    • Main religions are Hinduism and Buddhism.
  • Most common food is Dal Bhat which is lentils and rice eaten with the right hand. (Left hand is for toilet use). I will take a spoon, and Peerag as I am sure I will get that wrong.
  • Cows are sacred, meaning 12 years in jail for killing one. I don’t expect to be eating many steaks while I am there.
  • 80 diverse ethnic groups and 123 different languages and dialects.
  • Not a single drop of blood has ever been shed in Nepal in the name of religious and ethnic riots. There are not many countries that could boast that!!
  • The flag is the only one in the world that is not a rectangle

Bibbulmun Track  overview

Karen Griffiths

I have just found that i hadn’t posted this summary of the Bibbulmun Track. So here goes.

Overall I give this track a very high rating as a long walking track.  It was not an adventure or a Kiwi tramp,  as such, but a damn long walk, through a beautiful piece of Australia. 

I think I would have got more out of it if I had been more interested in the flora and fauna. All the other walkers I came in contact with were Australians who were particularly interested in the flowers, trees and birds. They were looking for the different species during the day and spent the evenings discussing their finds and looking up apps or books to identify them. I am quite ignorant on these areas so had little to add. A blue flower, a yellow flower, a small flower is about the limit of my knowledge.

?orchard

It was a long walk for sure but compared to others I have walked it was technically and logistically easy.  The track was designed to be  able to be walked by anybody who has the inclination, the time and the stamina to walk 1,000km.  The days average about 5 hours walking between campsites so this makes it a good way to experience long distance walking.

Each campsites has a 3 sided sleeping shelter that sleeps at least 12.   This includes a good sized  undercover area for cooking and hanging out. There is always water tanks, toilets and cleared tent sites.  I did not need to use my tent at all as I always  managed a bed space in the hut.

There is usually other tables outside and most campsites have a firepit. Cell phone and internet coverage was widespread along the track and at most huts.

There is vehicle access to all the huts for maintenance  and many places to access the track by car along the way. This makes it an ideal track for section walkers. I must have walked across at least 300 red dirt roads, fire break tracks or 4 wheel drive tracks however there were not many vehicles to be seen as many were closed due to die back which is a disease killing trees.

The track is well marked with Warguls (markers on trees or posts) and can be downloaded onto a number of different apps. These only use GPS so do not need internet or cell phone coverage. It is easy at any time to see exactly where you are and where you are heading. I only took wrong turns a couple of times because I was not really being observant rather than it being badly marked.

The track is very well maintained by volunteers. Apparently there is a waiting list! There were some trees across the track but usually clear paths had been cut around the tree. Some parts needed the bushes on either side trimmed but usually not for any distance and they were not prickly gorse bushes to contend with.

The terrain was mostly flat with a few wee hills each day that help to increase fitness. There were no difficult mountains or scrambling and all the creeks and rivers were bridged. I walked through some knee deep puddles on the Pinjerup Plains but there is no mud to get stuck in.

Only 2 ticks

Australia is known for it’s dangerous and poisonous wildlife such as spiders, ticks and snakes but the cooler weather meant I only saw 5 snakes and they were all slithering away from me. One huntsman spider showed herself in hut but they are not harmful and eat the mosquitoes and flies. I had to deal with only two ticks. Maybe I was particularly lucky.

Cute little thing

Also because of the nice cool weather organised by Garry, I had very little trouble with flies and mossies. I wore my head net at 2 camps and used my Deet about 4 times.

Bug netting needed twice

The four inlet crossings are manageable although the one at Denmark now requires car or boat ride around. One has canoes to use. I did get a ride around the Torbay inlet and had the guidance of a surfie on another one.

Estuary crossing

Only in the first 10 days out from Perth is there a need to have assistance with resupply for food and fuel. After that the track passed directly through small towns where anything needed on trail can be purchased. Most places stocked New Zealand Back Country meals. This helps the local economies who are all struggling.

Accommodation is available in these places so a rest day can be taken with a bed, a shower, the chance to wash clothes eat “normal food” and have a beer or two. I spent about $60 a night on accommodation including a basic hotel room, a caravan, backpackers room or cabin at caravan park. My cheapest was at Peaceful Bay where I paid $20 for a tent site and actually slept in the camp kitchen on a table.

I used the same gear that I had for Te Araroa and found it quite adequate. My pack was smaller and lighter than most other walkers and this probably contributed to my overall performance.

So if you are contemplating doing a bit of a walk then this is a good one to do.

I believe most people who are regular trampers / hikers / bush walkers could leave this trail for their last one. Achievable into your 70’s or 80’s even. Also very good for those who haven’t done any long walks before as it is a perfect starter.

Go for it!

A Return To Nepal

Karen Griffiths

After 17 years I will return to Nepal. I know there will be many changes in that time including widespread electricity, cell phone and internet access, roads whete there was only walking tracks and the after effects of a major earthquake.

However the charm of the Nepalese people and the beauty of the country cannot be changed.

I am looking for some company when I do the Annapurna Circuit beginning approximately 13 April 2023. It takes about 14 days. I may have one friend lined up already but a bigger group would be best to share my guide. (I have used before and us excellent)

I will be in Nepal until mid June and may do another trek as well.

So if you are keen, or know anyone else who may be keen, on an damn long walk with me please get in contact ASAP. Thanks

Day 56 Final day.

Day 56 Final day.

Karen Griffiths

After 56 days on trail I walked the last 12km into Albany with my son Cameron. We chatted almost the way about lots of things so I didn’t really get too much into thinking about finishing.

Sandpatch hut – the last night.
Heading towards Albany
A bit of light rain at the end

I was ready to finish, ring the bell and make my final entry in the Track Book.

So I am back I to civilisation and spending a couple of days in Albany before heading back to Perth. Albany has history as a whaling station, the first settlement in Western Australia, the place the Anzac fleets departed for WW1 and has beaches that attract holiday makers getting away from the summers up north. So we enjoyed a good look around.

Replica of the first ship
Kangaroo steak
Day 55. Nearly finished.

Day 55. Nearly finished.

Karen Griffiths

I met up with Ted about 3km along the track the next morning. I enjoyed my ride with him learning about the history of the area, the local Bush Fire Brigade he was involved with and having a coffee at a local Cafe on the way to drop me off. He had been a school teacher and was a real gentleman and only too pleased to help me out.

Windfarm

I then had 18km walk to my last hut, Sandpatch, where I would meet Cameron. It was a 1 snake, 20 wind turbines , 4 kangaroos and 2 people day.   Not much to report on the day except that I was glad to arrive about 1.30pm.

Surfing coast
Getting closer to civilization

Sandpatch hut was a new one, again to replace the previous one that was burnt. This was the first hut with a block floor and tin lined walls, although still the same main design as the ones down this way.

Cameron had arrived before me and had the lunch ready to eat by the time I had changed out of my walking clothes and set up my bed. He had brought chocolate which I made short work of, not having had any on the whole trail.

The couple I had passed earlier in the day arrived a while later. From Darwin, they are walking this section after having ridden parts of the Munda Biddi cycle trail. They were struggling with the cold weather.

Sandpatch hut
And rest those feet