Kathmandu-Delhi-London 23 February 2009

We flew home ahead of everyone else.

Checked in for the flight - more bureacracy - first you must queue at the bank and pay departure tax (lower for us than the others because we were flying out via Delhi), then change your Rupees for Dollars (no sterling), then check in with your receipt for the departure tax.

We were in the departure lounge when they announced our flight was delayed by an hour and a half. Jenny had visions of missing the connecton at Delhi - in which case the next flight was the following day - when she was supposed to be in Bristol teaching.

However, Jet Air staff re-assured us that they would hold the connecting flight at Delhi.

On arrival at Delhi we spotted that our cases, along with half a dozen others, were offloaded immediately and whisked away across the tarmac to our onward flight. We in the meantime were met at the terminal by Jet Air staff who had our boarding cards for the Heathrow flight, which had indeed been held for us. They marched us through security (Mark carrying his boots to avoid further delaying and adding to Jenny's stress level by putting them bac on and doing the laces) and onto our flight.

The perfect connection - no hanging around at all.

Mount Everest/Kathmandu 22 February 2009

Early start (natch - do you detect a theme developing here?) for our Buddha Air flight to see Mount Everest up close - or at least as close as I ever want to get (Mark). The plane was even tinier than the day before but the flight was mercifully smooth as we were much higher than the day before.

On landing we were dropped off at the Boudha Stupa after which we haggled for taxis back to the hotel - 250 Nepali Rupees ( approx. £2.25) the eventual price for a cross town ride.

Using the Lonely Planet as a guide we explored the older part of Kathmandu eventually finding the Kumari Bahal - home of Nepal's living goddess - in Durbar Square.

Rounded the day off with another swim in the hotel pool and dinner at the same place we found on the first night.

Chitwan National Park 21 February 2009

Another early start - who said this was a holiday?

Eerie canoe ride across the river in the morning mist to enter the park for a jeep safari.

Saw deer.

And a rhinocerus.

As well as buffalo and crocodiles. We allegedly saw a sloth bear but only the guide could see it; "It's about 10 metres beyond that tree and a metre to the right." If only it would move we might have a chance.

Continued to the Gharial crocodile breeding centre. Here we saw our only tiger of the holiday. Sadly she was in a pen as her mother was a man-eater who was shot before she had learned to hunt so she couldn't fend for herself in the wild.

Afternoon flight back to Kathmandu in a 18 seater plan with Buddha Air http://www.buddhaair.com/index.php . The flight was only short but turbulent. We were glad to have our feet back on the ground. We stayed again at the Shanker Hotel and had dinner at the Rum Doodle Bar - as used by Everest Expeditions (though what sort of a recommendation is that - these guys voluntarily go and camp at extreme altitude in sub-zero temperatures) http://www.therumdoodle.com/.

Chitwan National Park 20 February 2009

After an early morning walk in the National Park - during which we again saw no tiger (probably good thing) - we joined in the elephant bathing.

We seemed to get wetter than the elephants!

In the afternoon we took a canoe down-river.

We saw Marsh Mugger crocodiles.

And the very rare fish-eating (we hope somebody told them) gharial crocodile.

We disembarked to find a rhino in amongst the livestock.

At the elephant breeding centre there was a mum with twins aged 3 months.

Chitwan National Park 19 February 2009

Drove to Chitwan National Park, descending nearly a kilometre from the Himalayan foothills to the Terrai Plan, barely 200m above sea level even though it is nearly 1000 mile from the sea, where we stayed at the Royal Park Hotel http://www.royalparkhotel.com.np/welcome.html.

Elephant safari in the aternoon. We spotted a one-horned rhino in the elephant grass.

Also saw deer and wild boar, but no tiger.

Bandipur 18 February 2009

5 hour walk along the ridge of mountains linking Bandipur with Rangkot.

Rangkot is a Magar village with some of the last surviving examples of the typical round house design.

Tried locally spirit distilled from Maize.

Bandipur 17 February 2009

Breakfast in the delightful garden of the Himalayan Encounters http://www.himalayanencounters.com/ office befre driving to Bandipur - a mountain village in the Newari style, where we stayed at The Old Inn. This offered delightful wod-beamed rooms, higgledy piggledy through the building, delightful food and, allegedly, the hottest showers in Bandipur though not, it turned out, at 6.30am.

Late afternoon walk around the village on dusty tracks that presumably degenerate into impassable mud in the monsoon. Kids playing badminton with a shuttlecock improvised out of cassette tape.

Pokhara 16 February 2009

Up before dawn (again) for the mercifully short drive to the hilltop village of Sarangkot to witness the dawn.

Glad of the thermals.

Machhapuchhare and Annapurna peaks tinted pink by the sunrise.

After breakfast wecanoed across Phewa Lake and climbed the steep wooded slopes on the far side to reach the World Peace Pagoda. We descened the far side to visit a Tibetan Refugee village and the Devi Falls (apparently much more spectacular in Summer when the snow melt feeds the rivers).

After these exertions, opted for a lazy afternoon by the pool (32 degrees in the sun - water 20 degrees). Guess who tried which.

After dinner cultural show - why are they always the same dances?

Pokhara 15 February 2009

Another early start for the long drive to Pokhara. Incredible steep-sided valley on a busy highway with trucks journeying from India to Kathmandu. Buses loaded with passengers on the roof - sharing space with furniture, presumably loaded on and off by the passsengers while their fellow travellers wait patiently (or not). In Kathmandu we pass families on scooters: father steering (and the only one with a crash helmet), mother riding pillion (often side-saddle) and baby clutched between.

Stayed in the Hotel Barahi http://www.barahi.com/ - pleasant gardens and a pool but, most importantly, hot running water. Dinner for 2 (!) at the Fish Tail Lodge, a ferry ride across the narrow part of the Lake.

Namobuddha/Panauti 14 February 2009

Drive from Bhaktapur, climbng through passes where the terraces of mustard, corn, wheat and rice cling to the impossibly steep vallley sides. Pass 3, 4 and 5 story villas, each unique with balconies and roof terraces worthy of Esher.

Trekked from Dhulikel to Namobuddha with views across to the Himalaya, apparently floating in the distance.


Rather than walk on to Panauti, we get the bus.

Visit the Krishna Nmaya temple and Indeshwar Mahadev Temple, the oldest in Nepal. On returning to Bhaktapur Mark haggled over pottery windchimes while jennifer Susan retreated to the Guest House.

Romantic candlelit dinner for 17 as no power again..

Kathmandu/Bhaktapur 13 February 2009

Early start. Negotiating narrow street around hand-painted and gaudily decorated Tata trucks and Hiace minibuses with seating for 7 that serve as ad hoc buses crammed with up to 20 passengers in neither style nor comfort. Passed many schools, most offering tuition in English, and tiny low-fronted shops. Every tree, building corner or other vantage point is festooned with power/telephone cables.

Drove rond the perimeter wall of the Swayambhunath Stupa inset with 1000s of prayer wheels. Decorated with prayer flags in red, wite, blue, green and yellow, the temple is home to monkeys who feed on scraps of food left by pilgrims and tourists alike.


Then on to the Pashupati Temple, one of Hindu's holiest shrines on the banks of a tributary of the Ganges. Around the temple are many Sadhus - ostensibly holymen seeking enlightenment but many are consumate beggars in search of easy money and hashish.

A short drive to Bhaktapur where we check in to the Bhadgoan Guest House http://www.bhaktapuronline.com/hotels.htm . An afternoon walk takes in the Nyatapola Temple (the highest building for miles around) and the temples and palace in Durbar Square including the famous Golden Gate. The buildings are all brick in the Newari style. Many of the roof struts are decorated with erotic carvings.

Dinner on the rooftop terrace fom where the stars appear unnaurally bright owing to the power cut reducing light pollution to a minimum.

Kathmandu 11/12 February 2009

Flew with Jet Airways http://www.jetairways.com/ from Heathrow. managed to blag an exit row for the overnight flight to Delhi - the extra leg-room more than made up for the child being sick before takeoff necessitating a cleaner to come on board an mop up. Easy conection at Delhi with staff hovering to make sure we didn't go astray.

Kathmandu airport, apparently shoe-horned between houses and mountains, provided light relief in the shape of a post-colonial civil service bureaucracy. Thi required us to queue first to pay for the entry visa. The you mut take the two recepts you've been given and queue at a second desk where one person checks the receipts, a second writes out your visa details and a third signs it, when he gets back from the loo.

The drive from the airport proved that the crucial skill for drivers is to be able to deliver a rapid staccato on the car horn to warn all and sundry to get out of the way. He who hoots loudest and longest has right of way. Miraculously this seems to work and we arrived in one piece at the baroque splendour of the Shanker Hotel http://www.shankerhotel.com.np/ Under the circumstances it only added to the sense of the alien that Nepal drives on the left like the UK.

After a shower we went for a wander round the Thamel district of the city. As well as the usual shops selling tourist tat (Tourist: "What is he making?" Guide: "He's making it old.") and trekking essentials, there are money-changers. These are semi-legal but well-controlled and all offering identical rates, taken that morning off the internet. There are also the ubiquitous internet cafes, as well as normal bars (with and without "shower dancing girls") and restaurants.

After the third offer of hashish we retreated to a rooftop terrace for a Gorkha beer and a vegetable curry as night fell.

Winter Park, Colorado 9 January 2009

Heavy overnight snow. Perfect powder conditions for making first tracks on the higher slopes.

Skied all around the resort, sticking mainly to blues as the weather alternated between brilliant blue skies and white-out blizzards as wave after wave of snow-laden clouds came over.

Total descent for the day: 6185m.

Winter Park, Colorado 8 January 2009

Bright, sunny morning with more overnight snow. Took the opportunity to try out the off-piste area over the back of the Parsenn Bowl that has previously been closed. Followed in the tracks of a single previous skier (and hoped I wouldn't find them disappearing over a cliff!)

Spent the afternoon on blues through the trees and in the Parsenn Bowl.

Even managed to ski from the highest point accessible in the resort back down to the village in a single run (approx. 1000m vertical drop) in 15 minutes. Total vertical descent for the day: 6610m.

Winter Park, Colorado 7 January 2009

Weather continues to get warmer - it's now warmer than Bristol was yesterday! There has also been an overnight fall of snow. Pistes have a 6 inch covering of powder. Moguls have about a foot. So another day mogul bashing on narrow runs between the trees. Can't help but notice the number of dead or dying trees. Apparently it is caused by the larvae of beetles which are spreading through the forest at a tremendous rate as the climate gets warmer. Another victim of global warming.

Winter Park, Colorado 6 January 2009

Weather overcast (unlike in pic taken earlier) but warmer. Only -10 centigrade.

Higher lifts closed so took advantage of overnight snow to bash more moguls on the slopes around Mary Jane. So much easier, and more fun, to take faster through the foot or so of fresh powder snow.

The wind got up again after lunch creating blizzard conditions at the top but lower down, sheltered by the trees, the additional snow made conditions near perfect.

Total descent for day: 4665m.

Winter Park, Colorado 5 January 2009

Caught shuttle bus to slopes. Distance about 150m as the crow flies but nobody walks in the USA, particularly across Interstate 40 which separates the hotel from the lifts.

Spent the morning mogul bashing. Very satisying but tiring on the legs.

Had lunch at the top of Mary Jane then spent the afternoon doing the blues of the Parsenn Bowl - the highest point open in the resort (3795 m). As the wind got up later in the afternoon, the temperature dropped to below -30 centigrade with wind chill.

Having completed vertical descent of 6570 m, Mark called it a day and retired to the hotel pool with fabulous views out over the slopes.

Winter Park, Colorado 3/4 January 2009

Another rogue entry as Mark jetted off to Winter Park, Colorado without Jennifer Susan. Clearly something will have to be done as there are definite signs of a trend starting...

Mark booked through Crystal http://www.skicrystal.com/to stay at the Winter Park Mountain Lodge. http://www.winterparkhotel.com/ He flew with BA to Denver, a flight of 9 1/2 hours and two lunches, five hours apart. http://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_gb?source=TOP_home

After manfully staying awake till 9:30pm local time (4:30am UK time), Mark turned in. He woke at 7:30am local time and organised a ski pass through Crystal ($370 compared with the internet price of $468 and the ticket office price $550).

The temperature was a bitterly cold -27 centigrade (though it did peak mid-afternoon at -16 centigrade) so the face mask and thermals were essential.



Mark stayed in the Vasquez Ridge area for the morning, sticking mainly to blues and blue-blacks (reds), though there were a couple of interesting black diamond mogul trails. Snow conditions were excellent with a 6 inch covering of powder over a firm snowbase. Mark was second down most of the runs so enjoyed near perfect conditions.

After lunch at the Sunspot mountain restaurant, Mark moved to the Lewis Carroll inspired area around the Olympia and Looking Glass lifts then moved to the lower slopes, closer to the village as the sun set and temperatures dropped again.

Total descent for the day: 5855m.

50 laps of the hotel pool and a jacuzzi eased aching limbs.

Flavanol packed dark chocolate snacks to sustain Mark through the day (2 squares a day recommended to reduce anti-oxidants, so Mark opted for 4 squares on the grounds that this would do twice as much good).