Tuesday June 5 Delhi to Doha

By 1.20 am we were on our way to the airport. Check-in was straight forward. We've had lots of practice, this was the eleventh of thirteen flights for this trip. We landed in Doha and checked into the plush accommodations. After breakfast at the hotel we ventured out into the city centre.

Qatar is perhaps the wealthiest country in the world on a GDP per capita ranking. That certainly showed with the impressive array of innovative architectural designs of the skyscrapers. We were dropped off at the huge city centre mall. The mall features many western outlets and an ice skating rink. About a quarter of the men wore the long white robes called thowbs with white guettras held in place with a burnoose. About a quarter of the women wore black abayas.

 In the evening we walked out into the old Souk (Souq Waqif). There were collections of various stores. One area specialized in kitchen ware, another perfumes, and another pets. After a delicious meal, we returned to the hotel to ready ourselves for the final flights home.

Monday, June 4, Delhi and Agra

Taj Mahal

Sarah, Nicki and Natalie

Les

Levitatin' Les

Today started with another 4:15am wake up call. This time we were on our way to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. Our route took us from the impressive administrative centre of India in New Delhi along a major highway (NH2) through some poorer areas and litter strewn verges. Four hours later, we met up with our guide, Shubham Pandey (shubhboy.13@gmail.com) He gave us a thorough tour of the Taj Mahal and was particularly adept at taking trick photos.

After the tour we were led through some persistent young sellers of souvenirs to a restaurant and then to a workshop where they made inlaid plates and other earthenware using the precious stones. This was an extension of the architectural details of the Taj Mahal. The last place was a jeweller who showed us star of India and other types of sapphires and rubies.

Our return drive featured a dust storm, a fallen tree that taken down a power line, the India Gate, Parliament Buildings and a minor collision (no injuries).  Our last meal together in India was followed by an early night.  Another early morning alarm, this time 12:15am to get our 4:50 flight to Doha.

Saturday, June 2-Chitwan to Kathmandu Sunday, June 3-Kathmandu (Everest flight), Delhi

Confluence of the Narayani and Seti Rivers

Panorama Himalayas

Everest and Lhotse (right) taken from the cockpit of our Agni Airlines flight

The first part of our seven hour road journey took us along the spectacular river gorge that we had passed along on our way to Chitwan from Pokhara a couple of days previously. At Mugling our path took us towards Kathmandu along the Prithvi highway. Sadly, a fatal accident delayed us for nearly an hour. We finally arrived in Kathmandu at 2pm. We all met up again in the Thamel area to compare notes and share a rather expensive Thai meal.

An early morning Agni Airlines flight on Sunday took us alongside the Himalayas. We had magnificent views of Everest and many of the other higher peaks. The mountains in the early morning light above the clouds were a spectacular sight. We had a good view of the south face of Everest and Lhotse. There was even a distant view to the east of Kachenjanga. The pilot invited us each to the cockpit for better views. This is a Youtube video of another flight.

Friday, June 1, Sauraha, Chitwan National Park

One-horned Rhino

Les and elephant. Les is on the right.

Sarah and Michelle (from South Africa) having fun

Birds taken from the dugout canoe

Crocodile

Spotted Deer

Young elephant at the breeding centre

An early morning elephant ride took us through grassland and wetland habitat in hopes of seeing a one-horned rhino. It is an endangered species and there are only 503 of them in Chitwan,  so luck would have to be on our side. It was.  We came upon a family of three wallowing in a mud hole. Because we were on elephants, we were able to approach to within five metres of them.

Upon returning to our base, we came across elephants being washed in the river. Sarah volunteered to help. This consisted of getting on the elephants back while the mahout (driver) instructed the elephant to spray water back over its head on to the passengers. It’s hard to tell who had more fun, the elephant or the riders.  A couple of days earlier Nicki and Natalie had enjoyed the same experience. In fact almost all the sites that Sarah and Les visited, Nicki and Natalie had also seen.

Afternoon activities started with a dugout canoe ride. Our guide was an excellent ornithologist and naturalist. He pointed out several species included the roller bird, egret, grey headed fish hawk and several kingfishers. The highlight was three sightings of crocodiles that were basking or laying in wait for prey along the river banks. After getting out of the canoe, we walked into the Sel forest where we came upon other beautiful bird species including the Hoopoe.  We also came across a large herd of spotted deer that was quite spectacular. The last stop was the elephant breeding centre. There were quite a few young, including a pair of twins.

Thursday, May 31, Pokhara to Sauraha, Chitwan National Park

Annapurna Range

Last night’s rain did clear the air. From our hotel rooms, we could see the rising sunlight reflect off the snowy slopes of the Annapurna Range about 35 km away. These are beautiful and magnificent mountains.

Today’s drive was going to take us from Pokhara to Chitwan National Park. The drive was amazingly beautiful. For the most part, we followed a series of river gorges until we reached the lowlands near Chitwan. In the river valleys there were green rice paddies with women in red sarongs weeding and thinning the crops. In the slopes and gravel areas, corn is grown. There are some hydro-electric stations on some of the rivers.

The temperature was 36 degrees with high humidity when we arrived at the Royal Park Hotel. The evening’s program was a two hour elephant ride. Each elephant had a driver and four passengers. Four of us were squeezed into this crate like box atop the elephant with the driver perched behind the poor elephants head. We rode off into the jungle in hope of seeing a Bengal Tiger. While we didn’t see them, we did see some beautiful birds including a peacocks. There were several monkey sightings as well as numerous deer.  The sedate pace and  the tranquil setting made up for any disappointment at not seeing tigers.

Wednesday, May 30, Pokhara

Early morning boat ride in Pokhara

International Peace Pagoda, Pokhara

Terraced fields from the International Peace Pagoda

Devis Falls

Lake Phewa at dawn by rowboat was the first stop on today’s agenda. We were supposed to see the mountains as the sun rose. Unfortunately there was a heavy haze which restricted both views. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful and tranquil morning. A flock of egrets wheeled around a roosting spot on the far shore. Fish plopped onto the surface in search of flies. Increasingly paler ridges of foothills disappeared into the western sky. The sun finally made a tentative appearance behind heavy cloud. The expedition finished with a brief expedition to a Hindu temple on an island across from the boat moorings.

After breakfast, we drove up an incredibly windy, steep, precipitous and stony road to the International Peace Pagoda. As Sarah remarked, such is the path to peace.  The final few hundred feet were climbed up a series of steps. This is one of many such pagodas around the world. The stupa features four statues of the Sakyamuni Buddha: Birth, Enlightenment, Teaching at Sarnath, and Paranivana. 

We stopped briefly at a Tibetan Refugee Camp that was quite similar to the one we visited in Darjeeling. It featured beautiful hand-woven carpets. The last stop was the Devi’s Falls. Pokhara sits on soft cretaceous rock and is prone to sink-holes. A tributary of the Seti River has carved a dramatic gorge and waterfall through the rock in the southern part of town. The falls were named after a woman who died after falling into the torrent. 

In the evening, there was a dramatic thunderstorm which hopefully would clear the air so we could see the Himalaya high peaks tomorrow, our last day in Pokhara.

Tuesday, May 29 Kathmandu and Pokhara

Leaving Kathmandu for Pokhara

Powder Puff or Calliandra haematocephala in the Hotel Barahai gardens

We caught a short 35 minute flight to Pokhara via Yeti Airlines. There were glimpses of the Annapurna Range just before we landed but that’s all we saw of the high peaks today. After checking in at the beautiful Hotel Barahi we were taken to the International Mountain Museum where there were interesting displays of mountain life, expeditions, and natural history. There was also a Buddhist prayer room.

In the afternoon we walked through the tourist part of Pokhara called Lakeside. Pokhara is beautifully set in the Himalayan foothills alongside Lake Phewa It is the second largest city in Nepal and is booming, largely because of tourism.


When Nicki and Natalie visited Pokhara they also were  led on a grimy but interesting exploration of the bat caves.