Come as a Tourist, leave as a friend...

Journey: Vang Vieng Laos - Vientiane by bus (4 hrs), Vientiane - Nong Kai Thailand by bus, tuk tuk and taxi (3 hrs), Nong Kai - Bangkok by train (12 hrs), Bangkok - Kathmandu Nepal by slow taxi and flight (5 hrs), Kathmandu - Chitwan by suicidal busride (8hrs), Chitwan - Kathmandu - Nagarcott by bus, motorbike (12 hrs), Nagarcott - Kathmandu - Dunche by motorbike, bus, on foot (14 hrs), Dunche - Syabrubesi on foot trekking (7 days), Syabrubesi - Kathmandu - Pokhara by bus (20 hrs) Total Travel Duration: (I need a calculator) 246 hrs. From October 1st - October 23rd.

Other than my 6 countries in 24 days stint around Europe in 2002, this one takes the cake for amount of land covered in 3 weeks. No wonder I'm exhausted! I've decided to take it easy in Pokhara, well at least for today, as tomorrow I leave for another trek for 7-10 days around the Anapurna Sanctuary. But first, lets go back a few weeks to catch you up.

Cam, my Aussie travel partner, flew out to see me in Laos, about half way through my stay. We spent about a week together in Vang Vieng before flying out to Kathmandu Nepal. We had an interesting ride to Bangkok airport however, before our departure. For whatever reason, we were never informed, the traffic in Bangkok was bumper to bumper and we could have walked faster to the airport. It turned out there were 5 people in our minivan on the same flight to Kathmandu, so we were all pushing to arrive in time for our fight. In the midst of the traffic, I had to pee more intensely than I could ever recall. The driver was not waiting for me, even if I decided to try peeing on the side of the road in the middle of Bangkok. So Cam cut the top off of a 1.5 L bottle and handed it to me. Luckily we were in the back of the mini bus but everyone knew what was happening. Cam and I killed ourselves laughing, while everyone else seemed mortified. I peed about a litre of liquid, and when we finally arrived at the airport, I said to one of the other passengers, "I can't believe I peed that much!" She replied, unimpressed, and without a smile, "I can't believe you peed." Leaving the serenity and simplicity of Laos and arriving in large and stinky Kathmandu was crazier than the reverse culture shock I experienced when coming back to Canada, well not really...

We did our best to get out of there asap and took a bus shortly after arriving to Chitwan National Park in search of Rhinos and Elephants. For a city which seems to have been taken over by the tourist industry, it was incredibly hard to get to. I supposed it was because we weren't part of the packaged tours. After an eight hour bus ride, we took another bus, then a mini bus, which over-heated and started smoking on the way. Cam dove out of the window, and the locals fell to the ground laughing at him and taking turns making jokes in his favour.

We went on a one-day safari in search of wildlife, which we found a lot of. Down the river on the canoe, we came dangerously close to two masmongruel Crocodiles, which are aparently the most dangerous in the world. They didn't seem to be phased by our passing. Sandpipers and Stocks flew over our heads as we made our way to the trail. The mission was of course to find Rhinos. I was more concerned with how to escape if a Rhino charges us than seeing them at all. We came across many termite hills, families of Monkeys, tons of leeches, wild boars and elephants (used heavily in the tourist circuit), but unfortunately, no Rhinos. We stayed that night in the Wildlife tower and two Rhinos came really close to the tower. Although we didn't manage to get any pictures of them, it was amazing to see them quietly drift into the meadow, two ghost-like figures, being gawked at by a group of tourists.

We came back from Kathmandu and the next day rode a motorbike to Nagarcott, a two-hour ride up the kathmandu valley, which was supposed to have amazing views of the himalaya mountain range at sunrise. We stayed at Eco-Home, a guest house run by a joyful man named Semanta. Everything he did in his life seemed to have meaning. The guesthouse was designed completely eco-friendly, everything down to the menus was recycled. He also ran a volunteer program for the people in the local community, helping with different projects to assist them with becomming healthier and happier. There was a lot to be learned from this man, and his giving nature made us feel like family, staying with him. I think his guesthouse was the first of which we saw the slogan "Come as a tourist, leave as a friend." Although the motto he expressed regulariy was something along the lines of "Smile, your life depends on it."

Touched by our experience with this man, we decided to visit a friend of his on the way back to Kathmandu. He owned a Fair Trade work shop where we received a tour of the ladies working and bought some of their crafts. Our time was limited though so we went back to Kathmandu quickly. The following day we hopped on a bus to Dunche to do the Lang Tang trek.

We didnt have a bus ticket so we had to pay a bit more to ride in a mini bus to the half way point of Tusuli. In this town we were offered a ride on the tourist bus which was packed on the inside and had exploded upwards with bodies hanging off the roof, no doubt clinging to the rail for dear life. He said 100 Rupees (about $1.25) and pointed at the roof. We declined. Finally we found a chartered bus and paid a lot more than we should have for a suicidal bus ride that got us 3/4 of the way to Dunche where there was a landslide blocking the road. We walked over it and found our way on another bus and an hour later, arrived in Dunche, lucky to be alive. On the way back we drove over the landslide in the local bus, being the guinea pigs for other busses to come... I closed my eyes and prayed.

The trek is hard to write about. It's difficult to put natural beauty into words. It was difficult to walk up hill for 6 hours a day but I was lucky to have Cam as he carried the heavy bag and listened patiently as I moaned and groaned the whole way... But it was a fantastic challenge, one I was greatful to experience. Best to look at the pictures as they will tell the story of our trek.

After the trek, Cam had to leave and move on to his main purpose for returning to South East Asia, a 4 month apprenticeship in the Phillippines. One can't express the bond you create with another that you travel with for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, through challenges and joy, and a variety of cultures. You would only know it if you've experienced it, but it's wonderful. I was so blessed to have him with me on this part of my journey and his departure in pursuit of his own dream, helped me to be pushed back on track to what I came here to do.

So here I am in Pokhara, leaving on yet another up hill journey through the mountains. It was challenging getting to this point and I am interested to see how the next week presents itself. After this trek I am embarking on an entirely different journey of going inwards to another 10 day vipassana retreat.

Check out my pics and please write back with any comments, questions and updates on your lives.

Namaste and lots of love,

Tiff xo

Check out my pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/KusumaTiffany/LaosToNepal#