Chame – Wanderer

Morning falls and here we are packing, preparing ourselves to take a long walk for the day. It was cloudy so we couldn’t really see the sun. Have i told you that the temperature was so cold? definitely no shower for me just a bit wash up is enough. 😛 we stayed in a tea house, a good one i must say since we could still have hot water ( though i can’t make it work ) and decent bungalow like room to sleep. Mone could accommodate 3 persons in a room. Oh, i also must tell you, within my journey, i realised that it took quite long to prepare your food beside dal bhat so ordered your breakfast after you finish your dinner if you plan to go off in the morning.

Once, we are ready we walked down the path. The road are still a solid path at the beginning. The same trail that a car could pass on. It was quite nice walk in a flat path with slight incline here and there. You could just enjoy the scenery from here.

River that you could pass along the way – by Mondy

Getting higher different angle – by Mondy

Continuing the journey you start to enter the forest with all the trees and apparently sheeps with their shepherd dogs. It’s very cute to me. 🙂 just after we passed on an apple farm. It was good to stop by and enjoy a bit of a fresh apple.

You will be rewarded with different view when you do your walk, sometimes it’s trees, sometimes it’s rocky, and sometimes it is a bit scary cause there are some angles whereby you can’t see what’s ahead of you until you get into that point so you need to be very cautious here. During the trip you may see some spinning prayer wheels. Nepal people use this to pray spinning it while you go. You spin the smaller piece once and bigger piece more ( my bad i didn’t really remember how many times should i spin ).

waterfalls and river from the edge of a cliff – by Mondy

Starting from this rocks, i was struck by a horrible headache. My allergy attacked me hard. it was suddenly felt so cold. I had to adjust my pace accordingly so that i didn’t faint. i started to wear my extra layers cause this is not even half way of that day. Here comes to the rescue my gloves, my second layered jacket, and face mask. It may look strange for some cause the weather was considered to be a very good weather. LOL. anyway, i will have to make it to the end of the day!

Crossing this bridge going to the walking trail inside the valley

Me and my Dizzy Stop under the sun – by Keisha

Off this walking trail, you will meet a road for cars. We followed that to grab our Lunch! Finally a stop by for me so that i could stabilise myself a bit. When you enter a place which looks like a housing complex ( perhaps ) there is a map which will give you some ideas where you are though they are not at scale. Similar like what i mentioned at the beginning, serving food really took sometime. Understandable, everything is cold so it will take sometime to heat it up moreover in such height.

Once we finished the lunch, here comes the second part of the trip another trail to walk on. I’ve gotta admit though this kind of walk is refreshing and my mind is just so clear. You don’t really think of anything leaving behind things for a while putting a stop to your usual. I must say my pack having a good time. Physically tired but happy.

a vast open space ( i miss it so much now ) – By Mondy

This flat contour doesn’t last long though afterwards we will need to hike a bit into a higher altitude so if you choose this trail enjoy it while you can. Right when we think this won’t stop we entered another housing complex and our guide told us that this where we stopped for the day! Huraaaayy…! I would like to highlight it’s important to choose your guide correctly since along the way the situation change quite a lot. I think our guide measured it just about right for the first day.

We tried to settle in but really we were taken by the view. It was mesmerizing. All you need to do is just to come out of your room and there Annapurna mountain ahead of you swaying you with its beauty.

The view just outside your window! – By Mondy

Looking back for the trip it was a good day. Everything just about right though it looks clear and bright, it was actually already near to the sunset time. I can’t really imagine if we continue or if we come a bit latter considering the path. All of us are considered as newbie who apparently crazy enough to choose Nepal as a first timer ( for me at least ). Darkness comes to us rather quickly and again the signals were gone sometimes after 6 PM. So off we go to rest so that we are ready for tomorrow.

Good night from us. Wish you were there to enjoy the scenery. 😉

See You! we’ve tried to take better picture but we settle with this. apparently too tired. 😛

ps. Allow me to pause over here and pray for everyone’s safety and well being in Nepal. Remembering the journey i can’t really imagine how COVID-19 pandemic affect this country tourism. This too shall pass and once again human will be ready to explore the nature.off the beaten path.

Cheers!

Triana Mustika Rukmi

The story between Kathmandu and Besisahar

We have finally arrived in Kathmandu – the capital city of Nepal. Getting out of the airport, we were welcomed by our friend who will join us within this trip! The pack is now complete. Our eyes wandered wildly in the effort to soak the new environment and adapt and off we go the city center – Thamel.

Thamel is quite busy many people come here especially for tourist based on my observation. There are many shops, restaurants, and money exchange around this area. It seems to me that this is where you could purchase anything that you need for your trip, if you go to Nepal for outdoor activities. More about this on later post. While for us, this is to finish all administrations with our travel agent and to have lunch before we take off. Btw, the size of the food was massive with a lot of Rice. You will surely feel full.

The lunch time was a very good time for pacing. Personally, i felt so much has happened within that last couple of days. Nepal was the 4th Country just within days count with flights have been flown. It was good to be on the ground before we continue our journey to Besisahar. A road trip for another 7 – 8 hours.

What’s all this cable.. i thought Indonesia has been complicated enough.

The trip started off quite well, we used a van type since there were luggage and 8 persons to be carried over. while waiting, i’ve noticed that in Kathmandu people ride motor bike quite a lot. It’s similar like Jakarta but in a different type. The environment was dusty so it would be good to wear mask.

During the road trip, i couldn’t help but to compare the vegetation and the surrounding like in Java island. I read online before my trip that the road between Kathmandu and Besisahar is good with a high way. Along the way i had to ponder – was our understanding of a high way was different or did i use different road? all in all it’s an asphalt road with usual structure to go up and down on mountain area. Overall the trip was great with a bit impedance where our car vehicle stuck in a water stream.

When we reached Besisahar, it was already late at night. We tried to adapt ourselves with the new place. Cleaned ourselves and ate dinner ( My First dal baht! ) before we finally went to sleep. Writing this i can’t helped but reminisce that the pact was awakened at 3 or 4 AM in the morning because one of our fellow had a call with the family back in Jakarta. She was looking for her cat named “Belang” ( means “Stripes” in English ). It was loud. I love my friend to the bone but at that time i wanted to shoved my pillow at her. >_< Yet, all that was cleared out with the morning rise and the environment surround us. Wow… 🙂

The story between Besisahar and Chame

After finishing our breakfast, off we go to Chame. The next city. Another 6 – 8 hours drive. This time we had to change into Jeep. The road to go there is not suitable for camp. The road was more challenging. This is what a real off road looks like. It’s a trip with an inch away from the cliffs, narrow road only for one lane, and midst. Along the way, it got me thinking that Nepal people are high skill worker in the area. The driver could still drive with one hand. Oh my…

During the road trip you could see people who have already started their hike. Drive carefully around them and be nice. It’s common to say namaste when you meet other people here. What i really like about this roadtrip was it awarded us with a very nice view of the ridge and a very nice lunch place across waterfall. Our heart content! btw, don’t hope you will get good signal within the road. It was only available in certain places so it’s good to have your buddies around.

Continuing the journey, the weather getting a bit unfriendly with midst and rain. Yet, that wasn’t all. Our road was blocked. We had to cross a river and the bridge was still under development. There we were had to pack all the belongings crossing the unfinished bridge under drizzling weather. The new jeep were smaller so it was more packed for all of us. Thankfully we had pass half of the journey. Oh, notes for you! for every outdoor activities there are documents that you will need to administer so that you could get the permit. Ours was the permit for Annapurna. The documents will be checked couple of times depending on your journey track. Well, ours were prepared by the travel agent so i can’t really share the process.

When we finally reached Chame, it was already nearing sunset. The surrounding was foreign yet familiar at the same time. Many buildings were built by using woods and it looks like a good holiday home. Just with a thick mist and in high altitude. Chame is 2,650m above sea level. Ha! get ready dear low altitude creatures. Jakarta is less than 10 m above sea level. So.. yes, we came long way here.

We roamed around a little bit in Chame before the sun set. There are shops which sells trekking / hiking gears so you could still get something here. There are pharmacies as well if you need something. Taking a bit of walk in our surrounding then we came back to the lodging to get some warm environment and to eat dinner.

We ordered a noodle which taste like instant noodle with some local spices and tried the local bread. I don’t remember the name but the bread taste nice. Fresh and a bit sweet as well. Both were quite fulfilling. Playing some cards afterwards with the pack. Teaching our guide how to play ‘Boong’ which means ‘Lie’. He started with telling the truth all the time until he finally lied and we kept on trusting him. Good move! night comes and we had to end it, need to prepare ourselves for the hike.

The temperature was very cold for low altitude tropical creatures like us. So we need to sleep with jackets and stuffs. This is where all the notes that i read about “..you will regret that extra layer / stuffs that you don’t bring…” comes into my head. If only i had them with me. *Cry later that night, this time i could understand even better the need of a headlamp. The electricity somehow unstable so it will be good to have it just in case. Not only that, it’s useful when you have to go to the washroom / Bathroom. Enabling you to have the hands free experience. Until then, sleep tight. See you on our hike story!

Wish you were there spending hours on the road with us. 🙂

Cheers!

Triana Mustika Rukmi

Tag: Chame

The Hike From Chame to Pisang

Kathmandu to Besisahar to Chame