Part of the idea of coming south over the winter was to avoid all that cold weather and snow. Maybe when I thought that, I had forgotten that the Himalayas in Nepal are actually pretty high (8 of the world's 10 higgest peaks are in Nepal) and the word himalaya means 'abode of snows'.
A bad start. Also the Annapurnas (the mountains I wanted to walk around) reach over 8,000m high ( there are only 14 peaks over 8,000m in the world), so maybe I had picked the wrong spot. Fortunately the trekking route doesn't go up to the top but gets up to 5,416m - and surely no chance of snow at that level during the early autumn peak trekking season!
Sally joined me for the first month cos she wanted to walk round snowy mountains as well (or something like that). The trek took us 18 days to complete. The first 8 days were almost constant uphill, but not too steep, passing through numerous Tibetan influenced villages (Tibetans came across from Tibet in 1959 after the Chinese strengthened their control there). These were often medieval villages crammed with traditional stone houses and topped off with numerous tall, colourful (prayer) flags fluttering in the breeze like an encampment of knights in armour preparing for a joust.
There are no roads, or motorised transport (everything is transported by mule or human) but plenty of rivers to cross, so the first few days are spent taking photos of mule trains and narrow, usually insanely wobbly, suspension bridges. Then I realised that I had taken pictures of nothing else but mule trains and narrow, usually insanely wobbly, suspension bridges and never took any pictures of either mule trains or narrow, usually insanely wobbly, suspension bridges ever again.
Once we reached 3,500m we stopped for a day to acclimatise and then restricted ourselves to 400m vertical increase each day to try and avoid getting AMS (acute mountain sickness). We reached the heights where no one lived but fortunately, enterprising locals had built tea-houses where we could stay the night. The prices of food increases with the altitude as everything has to be either grown locally or brought up the track by mule, and at the furthest point we were 9 days walk from the nearest road, and apparently it is difficult to grow beer and coke at altitude.
The weather had been great - clear blue sky mornings, sometimes becoming cloudy in the afternoon. It got a bit 'misty' at about 4,000m but no chance of snow.
A bit of a shock next morning then to awaken to a white out. It was still gently coming down, but we decided to trek on as long as we could follow the path, and if it did get dangerousl we could always turn back. Trekking higher up a snowy mountain with only trekking poles (I now understand why they look so much like ski poles) seemed a bit insane but there were other people with guides to follow (Sally and I decided we didnt need a guide or porter). Then we met a whole herd of yak coming the other way. A yak is a cross between a cow and a woolly mammoth, with a huge coat and big horns; very similar to a Yeti in fact. We were going up the mountain whilst the animal that has eveolved over millions of years to cope with such conditions was going the other way! Worst still, the yaks were coming down the only path straight at us. Now the path was only about 'this' wide, whilst a Yak is at least 'THIS' wide! And you dont want to stand in the way of a yak in full migratory mode. So us less intelligent beings scrambled up the hillside and let the more intelligent beasts pass.
We made it to 4,500m that day and waited for the snow to stop. Fortunately it had by 4am the next morning when many people left to ascend the (vertical) 900m to the top of the pass and then (vertical) 1,600m down the other side. We left at 5am - still dark - and followed a trail of lights up the mountain. It was very steep and the snow was up to 30cm deep. It had been -4C in the tea house bedroom and was -11C on the mountain, so it didnt take long for my fingers and toes to go numb. I was praying for the sun to warm me up a bit. By 7am we were in sun, stumbling slowly upwards. The air is very thin at this altitude and it was very hard work especially carrying up to 20kg of stuff on my back. The snow was perfect - I have skied in far worse snow than this - but here I was walking in it! Mountains everywhere, blue sky, white snow ... and an enless upward trudge - well for Sally it was endless, I spent most of the time waiting for her every few metres as she seemed to be suffering a bit with the thin air. It took us 6 hours to get to the top and what an effort it was. Ater an hours rest, at midday we zoomed down the other side (now skies would have been good) helped by the ever thickening air and the knowledge that if we didnt get down by 6pm it would be dark, and there was no way I could have stood the cold on that pass for a night. We made it by 4pm to a place with 'hot showers' - unfortunately solar panels covered in snow do not hot showers make. I did get my nose badly sunburnt though - very silly.
The pass was about halfway so we still had a large part of the 230km to trek, but at least now it was getting warmer as we went, prices getting cheaper, beer back towards a pound a pint, we were nearly back to civilisation. And then we walked into a Maoist trap; not a mouse trap, although that is similar, I mean a trap set by an admirer of chairman Mao. The Maoists have been engaged in a civil war for 8 years and control 80% of the country (mainly the uninhabited bits!). He was just sitting casually on a wall, though he did have a big scar on his face, and politely enquired if I would like to contribute to Maoist funds. I said not and then a walking conversation ensued with he saying I should and me not being absolutely keen. Then he produced a handgun, not a very sophisticated gun, but it was a gun. Suddenly the Maoist cause seemed to have an indefinable appeal, a very worthy cause in fact. Luckily he accepted about GBP8 for the two of us and gave me a receipt to show that this was not in fact robbery but a genuine donation, and in case I came across any other Maoists, so I could prove I had already paid. Very thoughtful!
Other (Natural) Highs
- Tiger hunting - a 2 days in the National Park looking for Tigers. Unfortunately we were on foot. Fortunately our 2 guides were heavily armed with small sticks! Fortunately we didn't see any tigers. We did see a sloth bear, which I was expecting to be a small cuddly bear, but it was enormous - bigger than me - big, black and and dangerous although it did have a cute nose.
- Elephant trekking - sitting on them, looking for rhinos. Very bumpy it was as well, but we did get to see some Greater one horned rhino. They look like they are covered in sheets of armour, but it is just thick skin folded over to make it look like they are covered in sheets of armour - Oh it works! Impressive though.
- Kathmandu, capital and largest city, is like the traffic of London in the narrow streets of York. Tiny streets crammed with cars, motorbikes, people, bikes plus occasional cows. How they all get passed each other is a mystery, but it doees seem to happen, although if they miss you by more than a cm then they consider that a wide margin.
- Old Stuff - Kathmandu and around has squares crammed with 14th to 18th century temples and palaces, all still in use. They are in great condition and laced with erotic carvings (positions from the Karma Sutra) sometimees involving elepants and tortoises; Oh, and of course they are of great religious significance. Some of the temples have fierce guardians to protect them - normally small tortoises or monkeys. Many of the backstreets are untouched by time (buildings dont geet knocked down here, they either fall down or just stay there); narrow streets with ancient wobbly 4 storey buildings holding each other up, and tiny courtyards; people crammed into such small spaces, living so close together - like walking through London before the great fire of 1666 perhaps. Such history they have here, but there is so much of it they dont give it a second thought (except to charge foreigners if they want to see it!)
- Oh, and most Nepali trucks are covered in huge Union Jacks. Haven't been able to find out why yet though.
Other Confusing bits
- Religion is a bit confused (well I find it confusing) - most people are Hindu, but many of the temples are Buddhist (Buddha was born in Nepal about 2,500 years ago). But Hindus claim that Buddha is the 9th incarnation of their god Vishnu, so enabling them to worship at any Buddhist temple, where they have also added shrines to numerous hindu gods. So you go into a nice clean Tibetan Buddhist temple (often huge stupas - like an upside down ice-cream cone) which then get invaded by hoards of Hindus queuing up to chuck rice and other offreings (mainly food) over their favorite god, and leaving little piles of embers all over the place for unsuspecting people to burn their feet on. Its all a bit confusing, but this is their religion and as messy as it is and as many flies as the piles of food attract, I have to respect that. I think I may get bored of Hindu temples pretty soon though...... Er Yep, bored now.
Other Crap bits
- The roads, if you can call them that are worse than dirt tracks. So the buses go really slowly, and really bumpily, especially if you happen to be crammed onto the back seat. Enough said (although I could moan on at length).
And now Sally has gone home and I am off to do a bit of rafting in the far west of Nepal for 10 days - back into Maoist country, (I'll keep an eye open for those mouse traps), then south to India.
Bye for now
Pete
Showing posts with label trekking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trekking. Show all posts
Thursday, 4 November 2004
Thursday, 4 April 2002
Where 16 Puerto Natales, Chile --OR-- Why I Camped for a Week in Freezing Rain just to See Ice
HI Guys,
Since Buenos Aires a month ago I seem to have travelled on a lot of buses and seen loads of stuff in Patagonia (which consists of the southern
parts of Chile and Argentina).
Starting with a 22 hour bus journey down to Puerto Madryn on the east coast
and then travelled for 34 hours to reach Ushuaia, the most southerly place
of any note on the planet and only 1000km from Antartica which proudly
proclaims that it is ´the end of the world´ and the town itself looks like
it.
From there the only way is north (Antartica will have to wait for another
time when I have loadsa money) to the wonders of the Patagonian Andes - to
El Calafate and El Chalten in Argentina and then across into Chile to Puerto
Natales.
The Ups
- Magallenic penguins at Puerto Tombo on the east coast. It was easy to get
within 1m of them as they just stand or lie around on the path. If you get
too close they start shaking their heads from side to side as a warning and
then they will attack with their powerful beaks.
- The armadillos - Cute but different to how I imagined. I thought they
would move like tortoises due to the weight of their armour, but in fact
they scurry like hedgehogs (and are about the same size) - but they are not flat like
most hedgehogs seen in UK.
- Moreno Glacier - This huge glacieris about 160m high at the face although
a max of 55m is above water, and the face is 6km wide. Not only can you get
within 250m of it to see the detail of the cracking ice under huge pressure,
but because the lake suddenly gets very deep and the glacier is moving at 2m
per day at the centre, it calves (huge chanks of ice up to 40m high break
off and crash into the water). The noise is deafening as it cracks and
tonnes of ice hit the water. A spectacular blue ice giant, a random ice
sculpture in motion - it easily lives up to all the hype.
- Trekking in the FitzRoy Range - spent 3 days doing day treks around a
group of incredible spikey snowcapped mountains with a few glaciers and
corresponding lakes thrown in. There was also a load of rain and some
extremely stong winds when it was only just possible to remain standing. It
throughly tested my wet weather and wind proof gear , not to mention my legs
and made for an interesting few days.
The Downs
- Trying to see Orcas (Killer Whales) snatching seal pups off the beach. We
spent a whole day at the only place in the world where they have learned to
do this successfully but despite appearing the previous 2 days they didn´t
show up.
- The Welsh towns in Argentina are a big tourist draw. Colonised by the
Welsh in 19th Century because they felt oppressed at the English not allowing
them to speak Welsh in Wales, they moved here and now all speak Spanish !
The Welsh teas are famous and expensive except no-one from the UK had ever
heard of them. The only things that these towns really have in common with
Wales are the surrounding hills which look like slag heaps and the very high
unemployment rate.
- After 34 hours travelling to Ushuaia we arrived 3 hours late due to
roughweather on the ferry crossing to find that our reserved hostel places had been
given to other people. Since it was already 1am by this stage we ended up
spending the night sleeping in a corridor.
- Trekking in Tierra del Fuego National Park I got snowed off a small mountain. Strange to think that England must have had snow in March and here I was at the other end of the earth getting exactly the same weather - and it´s only early autumn here.
- Took a very cheap flight from Ushuaia to El Calafate but because of rain
at the destination airport it was closed so we were diverted and then got a
bus the rest of the way. We were supposed to arrive at 6.30pm but didn´t
get there until 3am by which time the hostel was closed and so we had to
sleep in a bus station until 6.30am when the hostel opened. Then I was stuck there for 2 more days as the rain poured down and the roads to both my possible destinations had been washed away. It doesn´t help when the locals say "It´s very unusual
for this time of year".
The Trek (Ups and Downs) - Torres del Paine, Chile
If you want to eat 0.75kg of chocolate, 1kg of nuts and raisens, loads of
pasta and rice and still lose weight, with a free leg muscle tone up thrown
in then this is for you. 7 days hiking and 7 nights camping around ´The
Circuit´ which circles a group of improbably shaped spectacular mountains -
strangely eroded sedimentary layers pierced by hard volcanic plugs which now
stand high above their surrounds. The whole area is a birthing place for
glaciers which dangle down steep mountains and sweep through valleys.
The Torres (towers) themselves are spear shaped granite plugs thrusting vertically 1.8km (over 1 mile) upwards from our viewpoint at 1000m. Well worth the 30 minute dawn race in freezing weather, from the campsite up the scree to see them change from purple to pink then orange and yellow in the first rays of the sun before it gets fully light. Just below them there is a glacier which crumbles into a lake full of icebergs. An incredible sight.
There are downsides however. Apart from the climb up with full pack
(weighing over 20kg) there was camping in sub-zero temperatures - I left my
water bottle outside on the first 2 nights and the water was distinctly
lumpy the next morning. I hardly slept for the first 2 nights as my feet
were freezing despite me wearing all my clothes in my sleeping bag. It is
also difficult to keep your hands clean as washing them in freezing water is
simply not a good idea in the morning or evening as they simply never get
warm again. And as for wearing the same clothes for 8 days without a
shower.... well .... everyone does it so no-one notices !
All round the circuit (we walked 6 or 7 hours a day) the views were
amazing, snowcapped jagged peaks were the norm, spectacular summits were
always there (if only that cloud would move !) and there were glaciers around
almost every corner. If you were looking at an incredible view ahead of you
then there was probably one at least as good behind you as well.
The best view of all is when you trek up through areas of snow and rise to
a height of over 1200m to go over ´The Pass´. From here there is not only
an almost aerial view of the huge Glacier Grey 1000m below but a view up to
the source of many of the glaciers in the area - the huge Southern
Patagonian Ice Field. A huge sheet of ice stretching across mountain tops,
over 320km long, covering an area of over 13,000 square km and hundreds of
metres thick. Vast is too small a word - it is a sheet laying across
everything, smoothing out what would otherwise be a mountainous landscape,
stretching further than the eye can see, emitting glaciers at every possible
opportunity down every valley, flowing like rivers, colliding smoothly in an
ever increasing mass and constantly restucturing to fit the valley´s width.
A No. 1 sight - perhaps the No.1 sight in an incredible part of the world. It rained for days 7 and 8 but by then we had seen so much we weren´t so bothered - although camping in the cold rain is not particuarly recommended.
Tonight I am catching a boat up to Pueto Montt - a 3 day and night trip
through some incredible scenery - that is if the weather holds good.
Bye for now
Luv
Pete
Since Buenos Aires a month ago I seem to have travelled on a lot of buses and seen loads of stuff in Patagonia (which consists of the southern
parts of Chile and Argentina).
Starting with a 22 hour bus journey down to Puerto Madryn on the east coast
and then travelled for 34 hours to reach Ushuaia, the most southerly place
of any note on the planet and only 1000km from Antartica which proudly
proclaims that it is ´the end of the world´ and the town itself looks like
it.
From there the only way is north (Antartica will have to wait for another
time when I have loadsa money) to the wonders of the Patagonian Andes - to
El Calafate and El Chalten in Argentina and then across into Chile to Puerto
Natales.
The Ups
- Magallenic penguins at Puerto Tombo on the east coast. It was easy to get
within 1m of them as they just stand or lie around on the path. If you get
too close they start shaking their heads from side to side as a warning and
then they will attack with their powerful beaks.
- The armadillos - Cute but different to how I imagined. I thought they
would move like tortoises due to the weight of their armour, but in fact
they scurry like hedgehogs (and are about the same size) - but they are not flat like
most hedgehogs seen in UK.
- Moreno Glacier - This huge glacieris about 160m high at the face although
a max of 55m is above water, and the face is 6km wide. Not only can you get
within 250m of it to see the detail of the cracking ice under huge pressure,
but because the lake suddenly gets very deep and the glacier is moving at 2m
per day at the centre, it calves (huge chanks of ice up to 40m high break
off and crash into the water). The noise is deafening as it cracks and
tonnes of ice hit the water. A spectacular blue ice giant, a random ice
sculpture in motion - it easily lives up to all the hype.
- Trekking in the FitzRoy Range - spent 3 days doing day treks around a
group of incredible spikey snowcapped mountains with a few glaciers and
corresponding lakes thrown in. There was also a load of rain and some
extremely stong winds when it was only just possible to remain standing. It
throughly tested my wet weather and wind proof gear , not to mention my legs
and made for an interesting few days.
The Downs
- Trying to see Orcas (Killer Whales) snatching seal pups off the beach. We
spent a whole day at the only place in the world where they have learned to
do this successfully but despite appearing the previous 2 days they didn´t
show up.
- The Welsh towns in Argentina are a big tourist draw. Colonised by the
Welsh in 19th Century because they felt oppressed at the English not allowing
them to speak Welsh in Wales, they moved here and now all speak Spanish !
The Welsh teas are famous and expensive except no-one from the UK had ever
heard of them. The only things that these towns really have in common with
Wales are the surrounding hills which look like slag heaps and the very high
unemployment rate.
- After 34 hours travelling to Ushuaia we arrived 3 hours late due to
roughweather on the ferry crossing to find that our reserved hostel places had been
given to other people. Since it was already 1am by this stage we ended up
spending the night sleeping in a corridor.
- Trekking in Tierra del Fuego National Park I got snowed off a small mountain. Strange to think that England must have had snow in March and here I was at the other end of the earth getting exactly the same weather - and it´s only early autumn here.
- Took a very cheap flight from Ushuaia to El Calafate but because of rain
at the destination airport it was closed so we were diverted and then got a
bus the rest of the way. We were supposed to arrive at 6.30pm but didn´t
get there until 3am by which time the hostel was closed and so we had to
sleep in a bus station until 6.30am when the hostel opened. Then I was stuck there for 2 more days as the rain poured down and the roads to both my possible destinations had been washed away. It doesn´t help when the locals say "It´s very unusual
for this time of year".
The Trek (Ups and Downs) - Torres del Paine, Chile
If you want to eat 0.75kg of chocolate, 1kg of nuts and raisens, loads of
pasta and rice and still lose weight, with a free leg muscle tone up thrown
in then this is for you. 7 days hiking and 7 nights camping around ´The
Circuit´ which circles a group of improbably shaped spectacular mountains -
strangely eroded sedimentary layers pierced by hard volcanic plugs which now
stand high above their surrounds. The whole area is a birthing place for
glaciers which dangle down steep mountains and sweep through valleys.
The Torres (towers) themselves are spear shaped granite plugs thrusting vertically 1.8km (over 1 mile) upwards from our viewpoint at 1000m. Well worth the 30 minute dawn race in freezing weather, from the campsite up the scree to see them change from purple to pink then orange and yellow in the first rays of the sun before it gets fully light. Just below them there is a glacier which crumbles into a lake full of icebergs. An incredible sight.
There are downsides however. Apart from the climb up with full pack
(weighing over 20kg) there was camping in sub-zero temperatures - I left my
water bottle outside on the first 2 nights and the water was distinctly
lumpy the next morning. I hardly slept for the first 2 nights as my feet
were freezing despite me wearing all my clothes in my sleeping bag. It is
also difficult to keep your hands clean as washing them in freezing water is
simply not a good idea in the morning or evening as they simply never get
warm again. And as for wearing the same clothes for 8 days without a
shower.... well .... everyone does it so no-one notices !
All round the circuit (we walked 6 or 7 hours a day) the views were
amazing, snowcapped jagged peaks were the norm, spectacular summits were
always there (if only that cloud would move !) and there were glaciers around
almost every corner. If you were looking at an incredible view ahead of you
then there was probably one at least as good behind you as well.
The best view of all is when you trek up through areas of snow and rise to
a height of over 1200m to go over ´The Pass´. From here there is not only
an almost aerial view of the huge Glacier Grey 1000m below but a view up to
the source of many of the glaciers in the area - the huge Southern
Patagonian Ice Field. A huge sheet of ice stretching across mountain tops,
over 320km long, covering an area of over 13,000 square km and hundreds of
metres thick. Vast is too small a word - it is a sheet laying across
everything, smoothing out what would otherwise be a mountainous landscape,
stretching further than the eye can see, emitting glaciers at every possible
opportunity down every valley, flowing like rivers, colliding smoothly in an
ever increasing mass and constantly restucturing to fit the valley´s width.
A No. 1 sight - perhaps the No.1 sight in an incredible part of the world. It rained for days 7 and 8 but by then we had seen so much we weren´t so bothered - although camping in the cold rain is not particuarly recommended.
Tonight I am catching a boat up to Pueto Montt - a 3 day and night trip
through some incredible scenery - that is if the weather holds good.
Bye for now
Luv
Pete
Monday, 21 May 2001
Where 8 - Yangon, Myanmar --OR-- Dictating a World of Culture
HI Peeps,
What a month in Myanmar (formerly Burma) - I hardly know where to start or
what to write ........ OK I do know ... as little as possible.
After leaving Lao spent a few days in Chang Mai and then a couple of days in
Bangkok before flying to Myanmar where I spent 4 weeks travelling around.
A few things you should know about Myanmar
- It is a Military State.
- The military lost the elections in 1990 but quashed the result and have
absolute power (there appears to be no ACTIVE opposition and whilst almost
everyone is strongly against the military government they appear to be
content to just wait for something [anything] to happen and bring change
rather than trying to force anything themselves).
- There is no freedom of press or expression of adverse views allowed, and
state informants are everywhere (one comedian was sentenced to 7 years
prison with hard labour in 1996 for telling jokes about the government - and
he is still there). Locals are reluctant to talk to foreigners about
certain issues unless well away from prying ears.
- Corruption is absolutely endemic and is quite open (and therefore all the
top military people are incredibely rich).
- The rest of the population are poor although not desperately poor -
perhaps similar to Vietnam.
- In the rural areas the main forms of transport are pony and trap (for
people) and ox cart (for goods).
- Culture is very traditional - e.g. virtually all men wear longyis (a type
of sarong) - though this is also enforced by law.
- Buddhism is very important - some poor people give up to 70 percent of
their income to Buddhism (this is probably why they are poor whilst the
temples are covered in gold and jewels). In one village the villagers paid
for a monastry to be built rather than spending the money on a water pump to
save them having to collect water from the bottom of the valley !
- The people are very friendly towards foreigners.
- Draught beer is 15cents US (10p) a glass !
The best bits:
- Bagan (Formerly Pagan) - A plain containing over 2,000 temples built
between the 11th and 13th Centuries in brick. A mix of sizes, styles and
colours - majestic in the early morning light - interspersed with farmland
and cart-tracks. A marvellous sight - (although it has be to said that it
does not match up to Angkor, in Cambodia, in size, beauty or detail).
- Inle Lake - A beautiful lake 22km long upon/around which 100,000 people
live from the lake. Most people live on stilt houses and farm the floating
gardens which are staked to the lake floor. Most of the longboats are
paddled standing up using the leg to power the blade through the water.
- Trekking around Kalaw (near Mandalay) - the minority tribes are very
interesting and willing to let you make a fool of yourself joining in the
daily chores such as removing the rice husks with a huge wooden mortar and
pestil (enough said). Stayed at the house of the medicene man in one
village - he gave us some pills which he said contained local herbs,
although on closer questioning it turned out that local herbs included 30%
hash and 10% opium. The're for diahorrea he said ! After that we all had
upset stomachs !!
- There are hardly any foreigners/tourists anywhere !
- Down in the south eastern part where they rarely see foreigners (and the
only bit I did by myself) just walking along the street attracted a huge
amount of attention - everyone saying hello, wanting to shake my hand, buy
me a drink, get me to join in their games etc. After an hour or two it gets
so tiring that I just wanted everyone to go away and stop staring !
- The larest Buddah in the world - still under construction but it will be
160m long when finished in 4 years time (taken 8 years so far and has got
from head to about the knees). I wandered inside (through the missing legs
and up a few floors)to discover in the dim light some newly moulded concrete
statues depicting disturbingly grotesque and realistic scenes of people
being ripped apart by ogres and other animals - apparently a depiction of
hell (it fits into Buddhism between death and rebirth).
- The Golden Rock - An amazing bouldersomehow perched on the top of a cliff
- it should have rolled off ages ago. If Isaac Newton had seen it he would
have reworked his theory about gravity !
On the way up there were stalls selling two main things - religious
artefacts (this is one of the most religious shrines in the coutry) and huge
bamboo guns with rocket launcher attachments that would have had even Rambo
cringing with embarresment at the excess of it all !! And the reason for
this apparent violent tilt at a Buddhist (pacifist) shrine ? I asked one
man - 'It's for the kids' he said !??!
The worst bits:
- The Golden Rock - It's a 4 hour trek - 3.5 if you are fit. So I left at
11am (I had caught the bus at 5am and arrived at the bottom at 10am)and
started to climb but it was so humid I had to stop every 100 yards else I
would have drowned in my own sweat. It was 13km long, all uphill with 1000m
vertical ascent and after walking in cloud and enduring the rain, 5.5
hours later I made it to the top. And then they charged me US$6 to get to
see the boulder !!
The last truck down was at 6pm - BUT they cancelled it because I was the
only passenger. Waited an hour in the then cold rain and eventually was
allowed on the truck carrying all the stall holders down. When I finally
made it back to the guesthouse I told the manager about my day and all he
said was 'You were lucky' ..... er .... How's that then ?
- The heat. Most of the month it was scorching hot - up to 40 degrees C and
it was difficult to do anything between 11am and 3pm.
- At all temples (including ruins) nothing can be worn on the feet anywhere
in the grounds. So whether the path was too hot to walk on or covered in
spikey plants you either suffered or didn't go in (although after the first
time I burnt my feet I cheated a couple of times - much to the annoyance of
my travelling companions who just didn't go in !)
- Being woken up at midnight by the local police who wanted to know what I
was doing there, where I was going and who insisted at looking through all
the visas in my passport - he was particuarly interested in the one from
Egypt 2 years ago !
- Western Pop music is allowed BUT the lyrics have to be in Burmese. So
whilst the music is exactly the same and the words sound very similar, they
have all been sung in Burmese by local artists ! Apparently the words do
make sense but the meaning is not the same. Better than the local music
though..........
Just in cae you thought I was having a holiday here I should just add that
during the last 4 weeks
- I have spent 120 hours travelling (mainly on buses on terrible roads) and
- 30% of the days I have had to get up before 5am either to catch a
bus/train or being chucked off a bus arrived at it's destination - why they
arrive so early no-one could explain !
Now I'm back in Bangkok for the 3rd and hopefully last time (it really is
like coming home !) Anyway after 6 months of travelling at last I'm off for
some relaxation on some remote Thai island (unfortunately the monsoon is
just starting and so I might not get much sun time after
all................)
See ya soon
Luv Pete
What a month in Myanmar (formerly Burma) - I hardly know where to start or
what to write ........ OK I do know ... as little as possible.
After leaving Lao spent a few days in Chang Mai and then a couple of days in
Bangkok before flying to Myanmar where I spent 4 weeks travelling around.
A few things you should know about Myanmar
- It is a Military State.
- The military lost the elections in 1990 but quashed the result and have
absolute power (there appears to be no ACTIVE opposition and whilst almost
everyone is strongly against the military government they appear to be
content to just wait for something [anything] to happen and bring change
rather than trying to force anything themselves).
- There is no freedom of press or expression of adverse views allowed, and
state informants are everywhere (one comedian was sentenced to 7 years
prison with hard labour in 1996 for telling jokes about the government - and
he is still there). Locals are reluctant to talk to foreigners about
certain issues unless well away from prying ears.
- Corruption is absolutely endemic and is quite open (and therefore all the
top military people are incredibely rich).
- The rest of the population are poor although not desperately poor -
perhaps similar to Vietnam.
- In the rural areas the main forms of transport are pony and trap (for
people) and ox cart (for goods).
- Culture is very traditional - e.g. virtually all men wear longyis (a type
of sarong) - though this is also enforced by law.
- Buddhism is very important - some poor people give up to 70 percent of
their income to Buddhism (this is probably why they are poor whilst the
temples are covered in gold and jewels). In one village the villagers paid
for a monastry to be built rather than spending the money on a water pump to
save them having to collect water from the bottom of the valley !
- The people are very friendly towards foreigners.
- Draught beer is 15cents US (10p) a glass !
The best bits:
- Bagan (Formerly Pagan) - A plain containing over 2,000 temples built
between the 11th and 13th Centuries in brick. A mix of sizes, styles and
colours - majestic in the early morning light - interspersed with farmland
and cart-tracks. A marvellous sight - (although it has be to said that it
does not match up to Angkor, in Cambodia, in size, beauty or detail).
- Inle Lake - A beautiful lake 22km long upon/around which 100,000 people
live from the lake. Most people live on stilt houses and farm the floating
gardens which are staked to the lake floor. Most of the longboats are
paddled standing up using the leg to power the blade through the water.
- Trekking around Kalaw (near Mandalay) - the minority tribes are very
interesting and willing to let you make a fool of yourself joining in the
daily chores such as removing the rice husks with a huge wooden mortar and
pestil (enough said). Stayed at the house of the medicene man in one
village - he gave us some pills which he said contained local herbs,
although on closer questioning it turned out that local herbs included 30%
hash and 10% opium. The're for diahorrea he said ! After that we all had
upset stomachs !!
- There are hardly any foreigners/tourists anywhere !
- Down in the south eastern part where they rarely see foreigners (and the
only bit I did by myself) just walking along the street attracted a huge
amount of attention - everyone saying hello, wanting to shake my hand, buy
me a drink, get me to join in their games etc. After an hour or two it gets
so tiring that I just wanted everyone to go away and stop staring !
- The larest Buddah in the world - still under construction but it will be
160m long when finished in 4 years time (taken 8 years so far and has got
from head to about the knees). I wandered inside (through the missing legs
and up a few floors)to discover in the dim light some newly moulded concrete
statues depicting disturbingly grotesque and realistic scenes of people
being ripped apart by ogres and other animals - apparently a depiction of
hell (it fits into Buddhism between death and rebirth).
- The Golden Rock - An amazing bouldersomehow perched on the top of a cliff
- it should have rolled off ages ago. If Isaac Newton had seen it he would
have reworked his theory about gravity !
On the way up there were stalls selling two main things - religious
artefacts (this is one of the most religious shrines in the coutry) and huge
bamboo guns with rocket launcher attachments that would have had even Rambo
cringing with embarresment at the excess of it all !! And the reason for
this apparent violent tilt at a Buddhist (pacifist) shrine ? I asked one
man - 'It's for the kids' he said !??!
The worst bits:
- The Golden Rock - It's a 4 hour trek - 3.5 if you are fit. So I left at
11am (I had caught the bus at 5am and arrived at the bottom at 10am)and
started to climb but it was so humid I had to stop every 100 yards else I
would have drowned in my own sweat. It was 13km long, all uphill with 1000m
vertical ascent and after walking in cloud and enduring the rain, 5.5
hours later I made it to the top. And then they charged me US$6 to get to
see the boulder !!
The last truck down was at 6pm - BUT they cancelled it because I was the
only passenger. Waited an hour in the then cold rain and eventually was
allowed on the truck carrying all the stall holders down. When I finally
made it back to the guesthouse I told the manager about my day and all he
said was 'You were lucky' ..... er .... How's that then ?
- The heat. Most of the month it was scorching hot - up to 40 degrees C and
it was difficult to do anything between 11am and 3pm.
- At all temples (including ruins) nothing can be worn on the feet anywhere
in the grounds. So whether the path was too hot to walk on or covered in
spikey plants you either suffered or didn't go in (although after the first
time I burnt my feet I cheated a couple of times - much to the annoyance of
my travelling companions who just didn't go in !)
- Being woken up at midnight by the local police who wanted to know what I
was doing there, where I was going and who insisted at looking through all
the visas in my passport - he was particuarly interested in the one from
Egypt 2 years ago !
- Western Pop music is allowed BUT the lyrics have to be in Burmese. So
whilst the music is exactly the same and the words sound very similar, they
have all been sung in Burmese by local artists ! Apparently the words do
make sense but the meaning is not the same. Better than the local music
though..........
Just in cae you thought I was having a holiday here I should just add that
during the last 4 weeks
- I have spent 120 hours travelling (mainly on buses on terrible roads) and
- 30% of the days I have had to get up before 5am either to catch a
bus/train or being chucked off a bus arrived at it's destination - why they
arrive so early no-one could explain !
Now I'm back in Bangkok for the 3rd and hopefully last time (it really is
like coming home !) Anyway after 6 months of travelling at last I'm off for
some relaxation on some remote Thai island (unfortunately the monsoon is
just starting and so I might not get much sun time after
all................)
See ya soon
Luv Pete
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