The Post Tortoise

While stitching a cut on the hand of a 75 year old farmer, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Donald Trump and his role as the Republican Nominee for President. The old farmer said, " Well, as I see it, Donald Trump is like a 'Post Tortoise'.'' Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a 'post tortoise' was. The old farmer said, "When you're driving down a country road and you come across a fence post with a tortoise balanced on top, that's a post tortoise." The old farmer saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn't belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he's up there, he's elevated beyond his ability to function, and you just wonder what kind of dumb ass put him up there to begin with."

Volcanoes and the World's Climate

For some reason, a number of climate change science deniers have latched on to the idea that human emissions of CO2 are insignificant and pale in comparison to what comes out of an erupting volcano.

It's a real pity for the state of a country's overall IQ that these people don't seem capable of even the teeniest bit of research.  If they were, they would very quickly find the following:

Under the heading "Volcanoes Can Affect the Earth's Climate", there are tidbits like this:

There is no question that very large volcanic eruptions can inject significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens vented approximately 10 million tons of CO2into the atmosphere in only 9 hours. However, it currently takes humanity only 2.5 hours to put out the same amount. 

Depending on how many volcanoes are active, in general, volcanoes can throw off somewhere in the vicinity of 200 megatons of CO2 per year.  That's 200 million tons.

Human activity releases somewhere in the neighbourhood of 30 Gigatons.  That's 30 Billion tons. About 150 times as much as volcanoes.

To summarize: 

Volcanoes - perhaps 200 Million tons/year

Humans - perhaps 30 Billion tons/year.

Volcanoes also give off other stuff other than CO2, such as water vapour, various oxides of sulfur and lots or particulates.

The sulfur compounds and the particulates are well known to cause cooling of the earth.

In an article titled "How Volcanoes Influence Climate", are listed the various types of volcanic emissions and how they affect the climate.  And of course there is the increasing world temperature which doesn't match up with volcanic activity patterns.

There are many other reliable sources of this information.  Why is it so hard for some people to find it?

Deconstructing Donald

The title of a recent article in The Economist.

"Both the president-elect and his critics have exaggerated the scale of his firm"

Some more memorable quotes from the article:

 Far from being a global branding goliath, it is a small, middle-aged and largely domestic property business. 

Start with size. Trump Inc is worth perhaps $4bn, with $490m of annual revenue. Were it listed it would be the 833rd-largest firm in America by market value and 1,925th by sales. Other occupiers of, and contenders for, high political office—including Nelson Rockefeller, Ross Perot, Mitt Romney and Michael Bloomberg—have owned and run more powerful firms.

The group’s branding operation is puny, generating only 11-13% of its asset value and sales. Its largest individual source of fees is Panama, where there is a Trump-branded hotel. The Mumbai project has paid annual fees of about $550,000 for the Trump brand. Hotels in Toronto and Manila also paid modest sums. It is also a domestic affair: 66% of the Trump Organisation’s value is in New York and 93% is in America. Mr Trump created its best assets over a decade ago. His directorships inside the group rose from 235 in 2007 to almost 500 last year, as entities such as China Trademark LLC and Trump Marks Egypt LLC were formed. But few of these vehicles generate income; if anything, they are evidence of disorganisation and disappointed ambition.

It seems likely that President Trump will inevitably blur the lines between business and politics in potentially disturbing ways—expect grubby deals and murky meetings. But it is less clear that his firm’s value will soar. With old assets in mature industries, a patchy record, disrupted management and controversies over conflicts of interest, Trump Inc’s value could stagnate or fall. And that, rather than the thrill of fresh billions, could be what really distracts America’s new leader.

And this from a mildly conservative magazine noted for analytical analysis.

Won't sit well with the true believers....

What Will Happen and How Will We Know?

I see a lot of slagging of various media outlets and also see many media outlets used to support one position or another, so it was with some interest that I saw this posted the other day:

What's needed is for someone (reputable) to assign positions for some Canadian media outlets.  I'd like to see where the CBC, the Tyee, the G&M, the National Post, CTV (any others?)... where they fit on the spectrum.  I have my opinions, but I can't claim to be objective on this....

But with that in mind, I offer this lengthy article from The Economist: 

Up in Smoke?  What will happen if America's president-elect follows through on pledges to tear up environmental laws.

It's a lengthy article and seems to fit the description above - "skews conservative but still reputable; Great in-depth source of news".

I'd recommend reading the whole article, but, just in case, here are a few snippets that caught my attention:  

Mr Trump’s view on climate change, it seems, is chiefly governed by what he thinks each audience wants to hear. That may be good news for the world. Public concern about global warming is rising in America; 64% of Americans say they are worried “a great deal” or “a fair amount” about it, and 71% say America should not withdraw from the Paris accord—including a majority of Republicans. As for scrapping the EPA, the share of Americans who like the breathable air and drinkable water the agency helps to safeguard is no doubt even higher. Mr Trump acknowledged this, too, in his recent interview: “Clean water, crystal-clean water, is vitally important.”

Mr Obama’s most important environmental regulation is the Clean Power Plan, which seeks to limit carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power stations. It is considered crucial to America’s chances of fulfilling its commitment under the Paris accord to cut its emissions, by 2025, to 26-28% below their 2005 level. Mr Trump has promised to scrap the plan.

"... even this would not persuade many electricity companies or states to reverse the shift they are already making towards renewables and away from coal. The growth of renewables has helped cut America’s emissions from power generation by around a quarter since 2005. The main reason for that progress, an abundance of cheap shale gas, gives the lie to another piece of Trumpian bluster: the tycoon’s promise to pep up the coal industry.

"... solar installations in the world’s sunniest spots now offer power at less than 3 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh)—cheaper than even the most economical gas plants. “With solar so cheap you might think it is a communist plot, but you’re still going to put up the panels,” says Mr Harvey. The volatile price of fossil fuels also makes them less attractive when planning new generating capacity."

"Strenuous efforts by China to cut emissions would also mean vast domestic demand for clean-energy technology, which would help the country’s firms to consolidate their lead in supplying a fast-growing, and lucrative, global market. While Mr Trump occupied himself with a few unprofitable coal-mines, China could be taking a commanding lead in batteries, solar panels and wind turbines."

Extreme weather events linked to climate change already result in huge distress and enormous bills: in the 12 months to April 2014 central and state governments spent $92bn after floods, droughts and other disasters.

So while there are certainly concerns when a loose cannon like Mr Trump is on the doorstep of the White House, positive things are likely to continue to happen.

Fact vs Myth - Truth in the Internet Age

I was listening to an NPR Planet Money podcast last night.  It was called "Finding the Fake News King".

I'm sure you've seen them.  Perhaps this has been your response:

I've had my share of discussions with conspiracy theorists and others who routinely post sensational "news" stories.  Some media outlets seem to specialize in this as well.  I'm thinking of "Faux News", among others.  So this particular podcast kept me awake as they explained one example of how such nonsense was propagated. 

One particular story was this one: 

"FBI Agent Suspected In Hillary Email Leaks Found Dead In Apparent Murder-Suicide."

The story, however, was a complete fake.  It started with the "news outlet" that purportedly ran the story.  A news outlet that didn't exist.

Given the ability to find out almost anything these days, why do so many people just leap at the headline and pass such stories on as fact?  Perhaps this is the reason:

For those interested in checking the validity various stories out, I'd recommend these two sites for assistance:

• Snopes
• Politifact

The other factor would obviously have to be an individual's BS Detector.  Generally, if a story is so sensational that it seems fanciful and too good to be true, then it probably is.  Look before you click "Share".

To Pipeline or Not to Pipeline. That is the Question

Prior to the global collapse in oil prices starting back in mid-2014 (so no, not Ms Notley's fault since she was elected in 2015), there was talk about building new pipelines.  Northern Gateway and an extension of TCP's eastern pipeline were part of the conversation at the time.

The industry is certainly volatile and there is no chance that will change.  The realities of this volatility are well explained in this article from the New York Times.

Since the oil price collapse, however, the clamour has intensified.  The mantra now is that Alberta needs access to "tidewater" so it can get better prices.  One would almost come to believe that Alberta's oil (conventional or otherwise) had always been confined to Alberta's borders and that we needed new pipelines to fix that situation.

The reality is that Alberta's crude has been exported for decades.  South to the USA, east to at least Montreal and west to BC's Lower Mainland.

Now, of course, two new pipelines have been approved as of late November: Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain expansion to the Lower Mainland and a shorter line through Saskatchewan, Enbridge's Line 3.  Northern Gateway has been nixed and there appears to be a ban coming on increased tanker traffic along BC's coast.

Some media outlets waxed enthusiastic about these developments, as in this one from the Financial Post.

One serious question, among many, that have been raised is whether the pipelines are really needed.

In the wake of the Kinder Morgan Trans-Mountain approval, Alberta Premier Rachel Notley visited BC in an attempt to sell its benefits to people in this province. An understandable effort given her understanding of the concept of social license.  As an aside, this article contends that there is no such thing as social license.  You decide.

But are the claims of benefits unrealistic?  This article says they are.  There are the costs from the increased GHG emissions and the risk of spills, either from the pipeline or, more likely, from oil tankers.  And the forecasts of jobs and value to the province's GDP appear to be exaggerated as well.

The Tyee (a westcoast publication) pointed out Four Harsh Truths for Canada's Lovestruck Pipeline Polliticians.  

As Economist Jeff Rubin pointed out, there is insufficient demand for Alberta's bitumen to justify a pipeline, taking the risk that the pipeline will become a "stranded asset".  He goes on to say:

"The reality is that Asian markets pay less, not more, for the bitumen that Canada wants to sell than U.S. refineries," he told Crowe.

This article contends that "Big Oil" has been manipulating its forecasts to maintain the myth that new pipelines are needed.  The article claims that their math has been false.

There is a plethora of analysis out there that brings into question the very need for pipelines, and I haven't included any articles that focus on the increased emissions that such pipelines will add, all the while these same governments are parading their new-found awareness of the climate change crisis.  

It's quite clear that the "debate" (or fight, if you like) has only just begun.

Food on the Trekking Trail in Nepal

Part of the "fun" while trekking in Nepal is sampling the different menu items available at all the lodges and tea huts along the trail.  It's part of the challenge.

In general, the menus are quite similar from one lodge to another.  One tends to find favourites and often one will stick to those most of the time.  For example, we have found the "French fried" potato to be always well done and reliable so we almost always have a plate of those with every supper.

Other reliable choices include some variety of macaroni, or spaghetti, or fried noodles or rice.  (We stay away from those containing yak or buff - more about those later)

We've had some fun, though, trying to interpret some translations.  Or perhaps they are local favourites.  Sometimes it's hard to tell.  For instance, there was "sukuti" on tonight's menu.  Last time we were here, we learned about "potato roasti".  Basically a potato pancake.  Then there was something we never did figure out, the " hot Paris".  Your guess might be better than mine but perhaps it depends where your mind tends to wander.

Other interesting options like "Spaghetti Carbon Era".

Or, you could find yourself wondering about something called " Tamota Cheese Spaghetti ".  It took a few minutes, but eventually it clicked. 

Yesterday, I tried "tsampa", as a substitute for oatmeal porridge, which,    the way, the lodge cooks do a very good job of preparing.

Tsampa is ground barley flour, cooked like oatmeal.  Usually with apple chunks and milk.  It's much smoother than oatmeal.  Nice tasting.  The other morning I watched as three women roasted barley in big skillets over open fires.  The barley almost popped like popcorn, after which the kernels would be taken to the mill to be ground.

You will find very little meat on these menus.  One occasional offering will be "buff", usually in the form of a curry or as part of a soup.  Buff is water buffalo.  Yak meat is another choice, but after one trial some time ago, I stay away from yak and buff.

Occasionally, you can get burgers.  Chicken burgers, for example.  When they're available, they're pretty good.  I had one, though, that was served between two pieces of thin white bread trimmed into octagonal shapes.  I'm still waiting for a chicken burger that is actually in a bun.

You can also get a cheese burger, but since I haven't tried one, I'm not sure that this literally means a slab of cheese between bread.  Sometimes, a literal interpretation in the best one.  Especially when one of the other choices is listed as a " Humburger".

We've seen " chowmein" on the menu various places.  Ever hopeful, we tried it, but it's just spaghetti and fried veggies.

Some of the lodges have personal pizzas.  These are generally pretty good.  You can have veg, tomato and cheese, tuna, mushroom and mixed.  "Mixed" shows up frequently, applied to macaroni, spaghetti and several other options.  It seems to mean a combo of some sort but my mixed pizza last night had small chunks of fried yak in it.  At least that's what I thought the pieces were.  Yak tends to add a fairly strong flavour, not a taste I've learned to appreciate.

Eventually, we realized that there was a hidden gem on the menu that we'd missed, and that was Spring Rolls....veg, mushroom, tuna, chicken and mixed.  These were actually very good.  Very good.  The only thing that would make them better would be plum sauce.  And soy sauce, which one restaurant did actually have.

Thukpa is a noodle soup.  Thick noodles.  Good.  Also the usual things like curries, rice....  What you'd expect in a south Asian restaurant.

And you can't claim to have visited Nepal without eating Momos.  These are basically dumplings with stuff inside.  Stuff like veggies, or potato, or buff, or yak.  They can be steamed or fried.

A good option in the bread category is what they usually call Tibetan Bread.  Round and flat, it's fried bread.  Kind of like a donut, only flatter.  Chapattis are also made fresh and are good with curry or with jam or honey.  Any other bread is just bread.

Culture Shock .. Moving from Nepal to Hong Kong.

After 35 days in Nepal and about 50 days on the road, on the trail or in the air, we finally left Kathmandu last night.

The China Southern flight from KTM to Guangzhou leaves at 11:15 pm, landing you in CAN at about 5:30 am.  We've done this route before, three years ago, and had to cool our heels in the airport for 9 hours before we could connect to Vancouver.

This time, because of the Tibetan component, we really needed to get back to Hong Kong.  It was involved.  Like many components of this trip, there were many moving parts.

First, we fly KTM to CAN (Guangzhou).  The plane leaves early and there must have been a tail wind, because we arrived at Baiyun International Airport at about 5 am.  Getting our bags and going through customs consumed another 45 minutes.

We then used the subway to get from the airport to the China hotel.  The airport is a ways out of town. So that took 30 minutes.

Walking around the back of the China hotel, there is a CTS bus kiosk.  For about $20, we get a 4 hour ride to Hong Kong, which includes almost an hour going through the border between China and Hong Kong.

We then take the Hong Kong metro for 3 stops to get to our hotel, not far from the harbour near the end of Nathan Road.  We are also just 3 more stops from Hong Kong station where we can take the Airport Express on Friday. 

Space is at a premium in Hong Kong, and our room is no exception.  Rooms are advertised by the number of square meters.  I think ours is about 9 m3.  With shower (not hot), toilet paper, air conditioning, fridge, TV....  Quite modern, actually. 

To top it off, I'm sick.  Somehow, in the last few days in KTM, I developed a cold.  I went looking for acetaminophen,  walking a surprising distance to find a drug store, given the number of shops and herbal remedy outlets I passed along the way.

There's not really much to say about Hong Kong.  It's a big city.  It's busy, crowded, clean and surprisingly quiet (especially compared to Kathmandu).  We took the ferry across to the main Hong Kong island and walked around.  It could have been any big city, anywhere in the world.

We found the botanical gardens and zoo so strolled around there for a while.  Very neat, very organized.  None of the chaos of Kathmandu.  The air is cleaner.  Just a big, crowded city.  And it certainly isn't a model for any post-consumer society.  All glitz and glitter, high-end watches, clothing, bags, all fashion, all the time.

Anyhow, in less than 24 hours I'm outta here. Off to the airport.  Only decision, bus or train.  Back to something a bit sedate.  And, thanks to the magic of time zones and the international Date Line, I will actually get into Vancouver earlier than when I left Hong Kong.

Apres Trek Continued - Pokhara and Further East

Still in trek recovery mode, but Pokhara is providing the restorative therapy.

Yesterday, a few quick visits to the bakeries helped.  Wandering around in sandals and shorts helped as well.  As did some good Indian food overlooking Fewa Lake and the hills beyond.  Venus in the western evening sky, Mars somewhat above.

This morning, I walked down to the main street near the Hotel Yeti, remembering seeing a young fellow with a tray of baked goods.  I had only to wait a few minutes and he appeared.  Fifty rupees for a warm chocolate croissant was a good start to the day.

We have some morning fog here on the shores of Fewa Lake.  A few hours earlier we also had the neighbourhood's canine chorus in full voice and shortly thereafter an idiot with one of the few noisy motorcycles I've heard in Nepal.  Yes, 5 am, racing his engine, clearing the pipes, blatting his anti social twitwittery all over the neighbourhood.

Monday we hiked to a set of falls just downstream from Fewa Lake's exit, as well as a nearby cave.

Tuesday, we took the bus to KTM.  About 8 hours for a 200 km trip, including two washroom breaks and 45 minutes for lunch.  Any trip like that will get one thinking about the condition of the roads, traffic issues and infrastructure deficiencies.

There are many, many buses, and there is no place for them to pull over when they stop.  This blocks one whole lane of a major highway, although distinguishing it as such is a bit of a stretch.

The last part of the trip, about 20 km, took almost 2 hours.  Once you crest the ring of steep hills that ring the KTM Valley you quickly drop down into the chaos of Kathmandu.  The first little while, the road seems to be under construction.  That's only an assumption based on the road condition.  I saw no other signs, like workers, construction equipment, etc.  Two lanes, bumper to bumper, bikes, people.  Then it got worse.

The road conditions improved, but now all lanes were packed with buses, trucks, bikes, people crossing.  It was slow going.  And then, for some unknown reason, the bus drops everyone off by the side of the street a couple of blocks from the bus station.

Anyhow, we're back in our home away from home here in KTM.  We're sorting and getting ready for a 3 day bike trip in the KTM Valley.

Reflections on Trekking in Nepal's Mustang Region

Over two different trips, I've hiked for a total of about 6 weeks in Nepal.

In 2013, a group of 10 of us hiked for 3 weeks around the Manaslu range and most of the Annapurna range.

Three years later, two of us hiked into the Annapurna sanctuary as far as Annapurna Base Camp.  We then followed that trip with another into the Mustang region of the country.  The latter involved about 160 km of hiking through some very challenging terrain, most of it above 3000 m.

For years, the Nepali government kept the Mustang region closed to foreigners.  This may have had something to do with the political situation in Tibet.  In any case, starting in the mid-1990s, foreign trekkers were allowed in, with restrictions.

First, the number of trekkers each year is limited.  Nothing like the crowds you can see on some other routes.

Second, trekking permit fees are substantially higher than on other routes.  In 2016, for example, a permit cost US$ 50 per person per day.

Third, all trekkers must be guided.  This isn't really a big expense, after all, this in Nepal.  Our guide costs about $25/day and a porter costs about $10/day.  

The scenery is fantastic.  Very stark, very dry, quite windy most afternoons.  Places with lodges are generally small and pretty rough.  It's cold when the sun isn't above the mountains.  Views are compelling in all directions.  The food is basic and there isn't any warm place to go other than in your sleeping bag.

I'd recommend the region for the scenery.  Also for the physical challenge.  There is a great deal of up and down, often on rough tracks.  Not sure if I'd recommend the area for any other reasons.  We've decided that most of the "villages" look better from a distance than they do up close.  Once you've done your hiking for the day and had your meals, there is little reason to wander around and the cold will often force you into your bed.

Nepal - Apres Trek

So, after spending almost 3 days in Jomsom, we left, happily, at 7 am on Sunday, for a 20 minute flight to Pokhara.

Jomsom is really in quite a nice setting.  Straddling the Kali Gandaki, almost below Nilgiri and within sight of Dhaulagiri, it seems like it should be a great place.  But like many of the villages we visited, it looks better from a distance, and there are a couple of nearby villages that are much nicer and much less noisy, such as Thinigaon and Marpha.

For part of one day, we hiked to the nearby village of Marpha.  Lots of farming in Marpha and a scenic little village as well.

The big problem with Jomsom becomes abundantly clear sometime after 11 am.  Light valley breezes become a howling gale, complete with clouds of blowing dust.  The only sane thing to do is hide inside.

That strategy, however, presents it's own problems, chief being how cold it is inside most buildings.  The solution is to crawl inside your sleeping bag.  And that is how we spent 3 afternoons.  It's enough to drive you to drink, but my drink of choice is beer and feeling frozen is not conducive to beer drinking, at least for me.

Our last day in Jomsom was half nice.  We walked across the river and hiked to Thinigaon, then on to Dhumpa Lake and a monastery overlooking the town of Jomsom, Marpha and area.  The morning flights between Jomsom and Pokhara went right by us.  The picture attached shows Thinigaon, by the way, not Jomsom, which is mostly out of sight to the left.

However, enough time is enough time, and a 20 minute flight later, by 7:30 am the next morning, we were in Pokhara, where it was warm, flowers were blooming, plants were green, no wind was blowing and we were 2000 m lower.

We discovered almost immediately one of the less pleasant facts of Nepali politics.  One of the disgruntled political parties (Maoist, perhaps?), had called a general strike.  No taxis, no buses and many shops closed.  Nobody seemed to know why, though.  Just a number of cars sporting banners and flags and carrying  self-important functionaries up and down the main street.  These were the same nitwits who foiled our attempt to go trekking in the Annapurnas three years ago with a multi-day strike.

Anyway, our guide got a fellow with a car to drive us to our hotel.  Once breakfasted and established in our room, with the laundry done, it was time to get down to business: shopping, finding bakery goods, enjoying the warm temperatures by wearing shorts (first time in 2 weeks) and sandals.

Happy "hour" at a nearby restaurant starts at 4 pm, after which there is a good Indian restaurant not too far away.  And then sleep, when I won't need to sleep in my socks and fleece sweater for the first time in 2 weeks.

Tomorrow we may hike to a set of falls on the river that drains Fewa Lake.  Some shopping in the afternoon and then we leave for KTM Tuesday morning.  A 200 km bus ride that will take 8 hours.

The Last Forbidden Kingdom - Trekking in Nepal's Mustang Region - 3

After 4 hours of walking, most of it at elevations approaching or over 4000 m, we drop down to Lo Manthang.

This is, apparently, a UNESCO World Heritage site.  It's definitely old and it has heritage, but in my mind, the best part is the scenery along the trail.

It may be a consequence of being late in the season, but we have found the villages along the way, including Lo Manthang, to have little to recommend them, other than a few pictures.  I'm not finding cattle and their byproducts in all their streets all that endearing.  In some ways, these villages have all the attractiveness of a small prairie town on a hot, dry, summer afternoon. To top it off, it's really too cool to make wandering around all that enticing. The activity that we experienced in KTM and Pokhara is missing here completely.

We have been rethinking our schedule.  There is some hiking we can do a bit further north which we will probably do tomorrow.  We might spend another full day here, just wandering around.  After that, however, we plan to head down valley pretty quickly.

Sunday, Nov 6th

After a very fragmented night of only some sleep, Sunday morning finally arrives.  This lodge was certainly party central last night.  A large group of young Nepalis arrived late in the afternoon, and brought their boom box and associated loud noise with them.  Our room also appears to be right underneath the room with the TV.  Football, anyone?  As well, the social conventions we have at home about smoking inside don't seem to exist here.

They did shut things down early enough.  The music stopped at 9 pm and lights were out at 10 pm or so, but when you go to sleep at 7 pm and are awakened two hours later, it does affect your sleep patterns.

I've also started to notice something odd about my breathing during the hours I've been lying here.  My breathing will be quite shallow, then I get this odd sensation, almost like a mild panic, which causes me to take a couple of deep breaths, after which everything returns to normal.  I think this is a blood chemistry issue caused by the altitude.  I don't notice it when I'm up and walking around because I'm breathing more deeply, but I think it's also affecting my sleep.

Needless to say, I'm not feeling all that perky this morning.

We hike in the morning an hour or so north for the views.  It's windy and cold now so I'm in my sleeping bag again.  Tomorrow we will start heading back to Jomsom.

Monday, Nov 7th

Had a pretty good night.  It was quiet, thankfully, and other than a few hours of podcast listening, the night passed uneventfully.

By 7:30 am, we start hiking south.  We're actually on the trail home.  From now for the next 2 weeks, every km will be either south or east.  In a way, it's the turnaround point in the trip, even though the half way point was reached some time ago.

We hike, mostly on a dirt road, for 5 hours, with a short break for tea in Chrang.  We press on and arrive in Ghami at 1 pm.  After lunch and some laundry, we discover actual HOT showers.

Tuesday, Nov 8th

A long, hard day.  Much up and down, perhaps 25 to 30 km, but the effort got us to Chhuksang, which is back on the Kali Gandaki, within 4 hours of Jomsom.  The hard bit is done now.  Tomorrow we have a leisurely hike to Kagbeni where we can shower and get caught up on news and email.  The next day, we hike a couple of hours to Jomsom.  We'll do some day hikes around Jomsom and fly back to Pokhara on Sunday. 

Biking in the Kathmandu Valley

Much earlier, we had been offered the opportunity to go biking in the KTM valley before we headed home.  This seemed like a good chance to see more of Nepal.

Day 1

Accordingly, we met our guide at 8 am, walked up the street to the bike rental store, selected our steeds, strapped on our helmets and were ready to go.

Our guide was a young looking fellow who claimed to be 30 years old.  Having agreed that we were ready, there was only one choice when he took off, heading out of Thamel.  Bat out of Hell would be only a slight exaggeration, but in the beginning, we knew where he was going, having walked some of those streets on our own.  The best option seemed to involve sticking right to his tail.

Early in the morning, traffic outside Thamel was admittedly better than at 3:30 pm the previous day, but there was still a steady stream of cars, motorcycles and crossing pedestrians.  And we were driving on the left.  Intersections appeared almost immediately.  Traffic lights don't work in KTM, leaving everyone to figure it out for themselves. The strategy was to pick a hole and go for it.

Following the guide, who to his credit, did glance around occasionally to see if we were still with him, we were quickly on streets unknown to us with road signs that were meaningless, just a very small part of a great flow of motorbikes, buses belching black diesel exhaust, cars, pedestrians crossing, buses stopping, pulling out, everyone changing lanes in random fashion, all honking and beeping around us.

Sometimes the flow slowed, so we moved between lanes, around cars, passing buses, avoiding the occasional motorbike that, for some reason, appeared on our side of the road, coming toward us.  Avoiding the occasional hole where the manhole cover had disappeared.  With one hand, I managed to pull my buff up over my nose in the hope it would filter out some of the dust and fumes.

On some of the road, to my surprise, there was what appeared to be a bike lane.  Aside from stopped buses and the occasional motorbike,  it was mostly ours.

Eventually, we arrived at Bhaktapur, where we left the main highway and began following country lanes.  We climbed to Changu Narayan where we stopped for a hot lemon drink and to visit a temple.  Turns out it is a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Climbing continued, interspersed with some down, until we reached Nagarkot, perched on the outer rim of the KTM Valley, facing the mighty Himalayan range.  The smog of the valley was left behind, a smudge that pretty much obliterated any views to the south.

Our hotel was a newly renovated facility, with a concierge at the entrance, an excellent Indian buffet for lunch and hot showers.  We met all three, in that order.  Our room looked out to those mountains and to the villages and crop terraces laid out below us.

By 4:30 pm, after having had a short nap, we could see the afternoon shadows extending over the valley below and the sun's light glowing on the peaks to the north.  Awhile later sitting on our balcony watching the lights in the valley below and the moon rising over the Himalayas, bats swoop by chasing their dinner

Our guide tells us that tomorrow will be mostly downhill.  This is Nepal.  I am skeptical.

Day 2

Watching sunrise over the Himalayan Range was nice this morning.

Sunrise over the Himalaya

Our days route took us on some rough roads and "trails" as we dropped in elevation down to the level of the main east west highway.  We rode along that for maybe 20 minutes, along with all the trucks and buses until we reached Dhulikhel.  That was our destination for the day.  About 3.5 hours of riding.

I was very surprised to discover that the bike seats had not become more comfortable overnight.  I had left specific instructions.....

Views were good, the trail was rough and my butt is definitely ready for a rest.  It needs some extra padding too, but that's not gonna happen....

The hotel we're in has a great panoramic view of the peaks, arguably as good as Nagarkot.  It also has an excellent rooftop patio from which to survey the view. 

Day 3

Sunrise wasn't as spectacular as yesterday, but I wasn't complaining.

We rode the usual Nepali flat.  Some up.  Some down.  First stop was Namo Bhudda where there was one of the best kept monasteries I've seen on this trip.  After a brief look, we headed down and more down on a dirt track towards Panauti.  Lots of terraces, crops being harvested.

Monsatery at Namo Bhudda

The road from Panauti out to that main highway at Banepa started out so well.  Smooth pavement, of all things.  The guide had been talking to locals and they were telling him the road ahead was under construction.  We found it.  Technically, I don't think it was actually under construction.  There was no evidence of any construction at all.  Just a road torn up, muddy, dusty and rocky.

Back on the main road, we joined the melee of trucks, buses, cars, motorbikes, pedestrians and dogs, weaving to avoid stopped buses, crossing pedestrians and potholes.

We stopped for about an hour at Bhaktapur, just east of KTM.  It too has an old temple square which is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.  Some structures had sustained damage during the 2015 earthquake.

Bhaktapur

We rode on and the highway melee became worse, culminating in total gridlock once in Kathmandu itself.  Throughout, it was pretty much a matter of riding wherever you wanted.  One side, the other side, the middle.  It seemed not to matter.  Up on the sidewalk, squeezing between lanes of traffic.  It was an experience and completely nuts.

I do have pictures but sadly no video.  It was almost indescribable.

We turned in our bikes, said goodbye to our guide and walked back to our hotel, just a little bit shell shocked by the 130 km experience.  Also with a sense of relief.  All the "trips" are over.  We have exactly 4 days left here and all we need to do is walk.  Find some good food.  Shop.  Rest my sore butt.  Whoever designed those bike seats should be flogged at dawn.  Just sayin'.