Robin's Gosainkund adventure

Robin has more challenges than expected on a standard trek

Robin and Judy are good friends and were trekking with Mountain Club
Robin is setting up a travel company but until it is running their diaries are here.

G'day all,

Time for another update on Robin and Judy world! We find ourselves back in Nepal again after only a few months of Australian life, only this time we were guiding a small group of friends, the main ringleader being Geoff. When we returned to Oz at New Year he proposed a group of some of his old scouts (Sergei, Nick, Stewart, another Stewart, Luke, Peter and Oliver), his son Troy and one of the scout's fathers, Ron. So on Good Friday the 12 of us flew to Kathmandu with a plan to go trekking in the Ganesh Himal region that I've been researching for a couple of years.

While we were in Sydney I explained to everyone that although I consider trekking in Nepal a 'safe' thing to do, it is never 'event-free'. Sure enough we arrived in the middle of country-wide strikes and demonstrations, mainly against the King and anything that he represented. These demonstrations were becoming very large (in excess of 50,000 people at a time) and the level of violence was slowly escalating. This meant that there was no chance of securing a bus to drive us to our proposed trekking area, about 120km away. As curfews were introduced I quickly realized that we would have to scrap our previous plans and walk out of the Kathmandu valley.

While I was busy planning and re-planning with our Nepali guide, Pema and fantastic cook, Chanda, the group managed to squeeze in some sightseeing (Kathmandu Durbar Square, Swayambu – the Monkey Temple, Pashupatinath – the Burning Ghats) and essential shopping for Khukri knives (the fierce jungle knives carried by the Gurkhas), pashmina shawls, silly hats, etc.

Within a couple of days our itinerary had been completely re-written and preparations changed so that we could walk from a small village to the north of the Kathmandu Valley, Sundarijal. From here I wanted to see just how strong the group was so I planned a climb of the largest hill on the edge of the Valley, Shivapuri. This would entail a 1400m ascent and hopefully some great views. As we would need to cross a 4,600m pass later in the trek I needed to see if everyone (including myself) was up for the physical challenge. From Shivapuri we would then head into Helambu and up to some sacred lakes at Gosainkunda (some of you may remember that Judy and I went to Gosainkunda in 1996 and Judy had since vowed never to return – never say never, I say!!!). I hoped that we would then have a couple of days to head into the Ganesh Himal region that we had originally wanted to visit, but that would have to wait until we managed to get over the pass as I knew there would be snow of unknown depth.

Even getting to Sundarijal proved to be more complicated than previously thought. Our bus had to pick us up at 4am from the hotel so that it could return to the city before sun-up, and therefore beat the daytime curfew that had been imposed to prevent any more demonstrations (as it happened the curfew failed miserably and 5 people were shot on the day we started trekking). While we headed up to the hills Kathmandu descended into ever greater chaos, which finally resulted in the King handing power back to parliament – a significant and long awaited win for 'People Power'. Over the coming 10 days we were to hear many rumours of what was happening in Kathmandu, they were all largely incorrect (we discovered later) but they added to the range of dinner conversations!

Day 1

We arrived at Sundarijal at 5am and sat outside a small local tea house until we woke the sounji (business owner). The boys quickly realized that you can sit on someone's doorstep at 5am in Nepal and not have the police turn up to tell you to shut up or leave, in fact we were a prime money-making opportunity! We then had some breakfast as the sun came up at 6, and were on the trail by 7:30. By 8am it started raining lightly, which with monotonous regularity got heavier as each hour passed. At 10:30am we were resting in another local tea house as the heavens opened with monsoon-like vigor.

An early and slow lunch provided no respite to the rain so we put on all the wet weather gear we had (I had wisely predicted little or no rain while in Sydney so not everyone was fully protected – sorry!!) and set off again. By 2pm loud claps of thunder and air-sizzling lightning surrounded us, and we were all drenched. At 4pm I think everyone was beginning to wonder why anyone would ever want to go trekking! We all finally arrived at the campsite, very relieved and exhausted, by 6pm. Two of the porters had dumped their loads on the climb and ran back to Sundarijal, everyone's gear was wet, the tents soaked, bodies ached, but we'd made it thru the toughest first day on the trail I've ever had. I was proud of everyone, especially Judy who'd had a tough time. There had been a brief view of mountains as we arrived and the weather cleared for 30 minutes but tiredness overwhelmed the group and the only conversation was about the magnificent orchids we'd seen. Chanda, never one to be intimidated by the weather, produced the first of many stunning dinners – his food lifted our spirits and sent us to bed with contented stomachs at least.

Day 2

The next morning found a couple of the group with upset stomachs, or mild exhaustion. So as it was raining again I said we'd wait till 11am to see if it would stop, if not then we'd have a rest and dry-it day. The rain didn't stop until 2pm so we dried boots, clothes and sleeping bags, wandered around, played cards and tried to forget still aching muscles. As the evening was clear the kitchen crew built a small fire and we had a party with the lights of the Kathmandu Valley beneath us on one side and the moonlit mountains on the other. We all prayed for some good weather!

Day 3

This was a breeze of a walk, down thru the forest on the other side of Shivapuri, which we could now spend some time appreciating in the morning sunshine. The track undulates across the top of the Shivapuri range and you sometimes glimpse views of the entire Kathmandu Valley thru the trees. Once we met the main trail it was an easy downhill to Chisopani for lunch. As we had lunch the clouds gathered again and I decided that I'd had enough of walking while wet and we made camp. A nearby pool hall provided some afternoon entertainment and we sheltered in the dining room of a tea house as the rain fell again.

Day 4

A descent down a path rutted by rain forced our first gear casualty – just as I was greeting a couple of girls with a friendly namaste Geoff looked up at a critical step, slipped and bent one of his trekking poles. At the bottom of the hill was a small village where I found a fire and Tenzi (one of our sherpas) heated the pole before using a convenient rock to bash it back into shape. The trail then climbed in the warm morning sun up to a ridge that offered great views of the Helambu region before descending again. As I reached the top of the ridge I could see that Troy was in some serious pain with his knees but Sergei was doing a good job of keeping him company. The up and down nature of trekking has never been kind to Judy's knees, and what with Troy's discomfort I called a halt at a local school in Gul Bhanjyang.

The teachers and head master made us feel very welcome and I hope that some of the boys will try and set up a support program thru their schools in Australia. I had my first 'trail doctor' session here as one of the porters had a bad abscess on his backside. Copious amounts of pus and lots of pain for the poor lad, but we soon had him fixed up and the group grossed-out.

Day 5

Was a long climb first thru mixed temperate forest of pine and fir trees, and then rhododendron forest – Ron, a landscape gardener, was in his element.

I stopped the group for a short cultural interlude at Kutumsang – Sherpa (or Tibetan) tea with Tsampa (ground barley flour). This tea is made from boiled butter, water, salt and strong Indian tea, then churned. It takes years of practice to use a churner but Luke and Oliver had a crack and promptly covered themselves with tea. Even though Troy's knees felt better going up rather than down I insisted that he rest and ride a horse for a while. Fortunately a Sherpa family in Kutumsang had a saddled horse to hire and despite the inflated price (thanks to the local Maoists who insist on overcharging tourists for everything) Troy was able to rest his legs somewhat.

As we continued to climb in the afternoon clouds scudded passed us and the rain didn't let up until we got into camp. However, the rhododendrons were covered in spectacular white, yellow, pink and red flowers all along the trail.

Just before the campsite at Mangengoth you cross a small pass and we came across the first snow of the trek. As this little village is at 3200m I was really surprised to see snow here so late in the season, it did not bode well for the pass. During the day we had met a group of a few trekkers who we'd seen on the first morning in Sundarijal – they told us that they'd run out of time to cross the pass and were returning to Kathmandu. However, they'd been told that the snow was thigh deep on the pass and that the trail was near impassable. I talked this over with Pema and we decided that if we continued to take our time over the next couple of days then the snow might melt a bit and it would give everyone time to acclimatize.

Day 6 - Pema's birthday!

As Troy seemed to handle the up much better than Judy I decided to put her on the horse for a few hours. Sending them both off early to get a head start proved to be overly cautious as we didn't see either of them until lunchtime!

It's a great walk from Mangengoth first thing in the morning. A little snow on the trail added to the sense of wilderness as the path slowly climbed along a ridge. We had to stop to force the porters to wear their sunglasses as the glare was pretty bad at times. We arrived for lunch at Tharepati just as the rain began again and a kindly local invited the whole party into his house to shelter. We soon took over his single room home with our tables, chairs and gear.

It was great for everyone to experience the hospitality of mountain people who are nearly always prepared to help out in whatever way they can. It also gave everyone the chance to see just how simple the lives of many Nepali's actually are. A simple fire in the far corner of the room was the kitchen, heater, and focus of all activity in the home. The family came in while we ate and it was a pleasure to see spontaneous generosity from both our group and crew towards them.

In the afternoon the trail gradually climbed beneath a high ridge. As we were now on a west-facing slope the snow increased in depth and some parts of the track were quite treacherous. Ghopte, our campsite, is a small place run by a family who haven't got the friendliest of reputations. However, they were openhearted towards us and they soon had a fire going in a cast iron stove around which we perched on benches. By now it wasn't only Troy who was feeling the effects of a week on the trail and it seemed that only a few people didn't have some sort of complaint.

In the afternoon Ron and the sherpas had fun trying to spot mountain goats on the hillside above. As it was Pema's birthday, everyone turned up for another slap-up dinner and cake which soon became a wild party inside the tiny tea house. All 22 porters, 9 kitchen crew, 4 sherpas, Chanda and Pema along with 7 of the group danced, stomped and sang for a couple of hours. We managed to produce a garbled Waltzing Matilda, before Stewart the younger led us thru Yellow Submarine which had as many choruses as we could reasonably fit in!

Day 7

At Gopte I had to send the horse back as the trail was now far too difficult with the amount of snow cover. As this would leave both Judy and Troy on foot, and some of the group were variously suffering from stomach upsets or headaches Pema and I agreed to a half day to Phedi.

This trail would normally only take a few hours at a comfortable walking pace. However, some sections were very slippery indeed and Judy spent a fair amount of time improving her bum-trekking technique. Fortunately she suffered no pain while slipping over and only managed to give Geoff a stomach cramp from laughing so hard. The person who was suffering was Troy. His knee problems were now augmented by nausea, headache and stomach upset. This meant the sherpas went into full support mode and helped him however and whenever they could, even to the point of carrying him over longer sections. We all felt for Troy and his very obvious discomfort, and at the same time we felt deep admiration for the efforts the sherpas were making to keep the group together and to help him as much as possible. I suppose that one upside for Troy was that he was able to spend time learning all the most colourful words and phrases in the Nepali language – something which while he was lucid he made the most of!

Six hours alter we arrived at Phedi, which isn't a beautiful place, but at least the knee deep snow covered any rubbish! As we dug out snow to pitch the tents it started to snow and it was a pretty disconsolate group that sat down for dinner. But Chanda can work miracles with his food and by the time it came to turn in the collective mood had improved.

Day 8

The clear air and bright sunshine the next morning made the pass look a lot closer than it actually was. As Pema and I were still a bit concerned about the health of some of the group we decided that another half day was in order. This meant that I received quite a few 'Are we ever going to get there?' questions from the group but everyone soon discovered that the snow conditions were still bad, and the trail looked deceptively easy from a distance. We called a halt at lunchtime, at about 350m beneath the pass and those with any energy helped to dig out another campsite.

The amount of work we had to do at each campsite proved that we were the first group for some time to try and get across to Gosainkunda. A simple tea house provided shelter for the porters and just enough room for us to set up tables and chairs for dinner. There wasn't much energy for a party that night, although the porters sang gentle melodies as we all turned in.

Day 9

We were now behind schedule and I knew we'd have to have a long day so the sooner the better! We woke early and Judy and Troy were off by 6:30, the rest of us followed half an hour later for the slow climb up to the pass at 4,610m. We were lucky, the weather held and stayed fairly clear right until we all got to the top where for the first time in a few days I saw smiles on every face! Once over the pass it was a fairly easy trail down to Gosainkunda, however there were a couple of tricky sections. The first, a steep slope was easily negotiated by tobogganing on our backsides and Judy screamed her lungs out! Even Geoff was reduced to tears of laughter and a wet backside.

The next section was a tricky rock scramble that had most people slipping and here Judy ended up in tears of pain. How Gosainkunda has been unkind to her over the years!

We patched ourselves up in a new tea house by the sacred lake (I can still hear Judy mumbling, "Bloody lake!") as the weather closed in and the snow started along with a strong wind. Peter was suffering from a headache and some stomachs were being a little 'unpredictable' so I felt unsure about how far we'd manage to get. The trail out of Goasinkunda is a bit exposed at times and I had great fun rolling snow balls down the steep slope much to Sergei's horror. By 2pm we were at Laurabina Pass and the snow was disappearing fast. From Laurabina it would be 3 hours to Sing Gompa which was within easy striking distance of Dhunche and the bus which would be waiting for us. As the guys were booked on flights out of Nepal in 2 days time I decided to push on. Everyone's pace began to slow by late afternoon and it wasn't until 6pm that the group started to straggle into camp. But being the last night it wasn't a case of just collapsing, we had a big Chanda meal to get thru, tips to give out to the crew and a party to celebrate the virtual end of the trip. I was impressed with the efforts everyone made and I am sure the crew will remember the trek for many years to come, it was tough and we all managed to get thru it together.

Day 10

The last section of trail to Dunche is a stinging downhill and neither Troy nor Judy's knees were impressed. But the sun was out, the birds were singing, and we all knew that there was a bus waiting to take us back to Kathmandu. We got to the bottom of the hill before the village at 12 noon and I took a wrong turn which had everyone climbing up to the army camp above the town. When Troy found out that he'd have to go down 100 steep stone steeps he was baying for my blood! Ooops!

The bus was waiting along with another one of Chanda's not so light lunches and we finally felt the wheels go 'round at 2:30. Luke, who up until now hadn't suffered from any complaint along the trek, now found the drivers enthusiastic speed around the countless corners too much to handle and was a bit ill. We arrived back in Kathmandu at 9pm, quickly showered, changed and headed out for a late supper. Some of us then celebrated with a couple of beers at Sam's bar – undoubtedly the best bar in the world!

The final morning of shopping was filled with bargaining and manic packing. I took Oliver and Peter for a cut-throat shave and head massage – something I reckon is the best feeling in the world for $2! By 11am the group were ready to go to the airport and we bussed everyone wearing kata (Buddhist blessing scarves) and a topi (Nepali hats) to the airport. A short queue thru the airport doors and then Geoff, Judy and myself were left alone for the second trek of our trip. But first we were going to have a rest day!