Nepal – 2001 -The end of the road

In the morning we gathered in the lobby and were led out to our van. We rode in the van for an hour or so and then the road just ended.

All of our gear was unloaded and we were off. Depending on how much gear was brought, a sherpa was assigned to each person or couple. Our sherpa was called Rebun. That’s what his name sounded like, anyway. They were all very pleasant men. I think there were just two couples, my wife and I, and the man from the Secret Service and his wife, and then a few single people. We started walking from there.

The walking was over mountainous terrain, but the trails were well marked. That is one of the guide’s jobs during the season. They also bring medical supplies and care to the villages that we stopped in.

We walked each day until near dark and found ourselves in a pleasant village and camped there. We had rooms, I believe, every night. We slept with very HOT hot water bottles. The sights around us were incredible. We could see towering mountains all around us far out into the distance, covered in snow. The weather was perfect and we could see for miles.

Our guide lived three or four days walk away from Kathmandu. He came in to work on foot on a regular basis. There are no roads out here.

When we went to Kathmandu, there were travel warnings from the U. S. Government suggesting that it was not a safe time to go. We took a chance and went anyway. I do not suggest that anyone else do that, but it worked out fine for us that time.

The Moaist Chinese were raiding villages and towns along the border areas at the time. They would take pictures of the villagers and then threaten them with the pictures which seemed to show their support of the guerrillas. If they didn’t supply them with needed supplies when they ran low, they threatened to show them to the authorities.

There was a road built by the Chinese that was wide enough to bring in tanks from China. Thankfully they haven’t been used yet in Nepal, but of course, they did go into Tibet. We met many Tibetan refugees who had fled to Nepal for safety.

One day we had lunch on a grassy spot in a village. We were surrounded by towering mountains as far as we could see. Fish Tale mountain was directly across the deep valley from us. You could see the clouds forming around the peeks and then blowing away to nothing as the wind picked up speed and tore them  apart.

We sat at a long table covered in a white table cloth and had a fine meal with friendly travelers and one of the most beautiful views in the world. We are very glad that we had come to Nepal.