We left on Wednesday straight after work to catch our flight to Delhi. We arrived in Dehli just before 10pm and headed off to a bar Ed found in his Lonely Planet guidebook. We caught a pre-paid taxi to the bar and the taxi was a LPG powered vehicle with a huge canister in the back, so the worst possible thing would be to reverse into oncoming traffic - obviously nobody told this to our driver because he did it about 3 times! We were also lucky to find the bar because the driver had to ask directions about 20 times to anyone who was standing nearby. We eventally foundi t though. The bar was pretty cool and we go something to eat and had some cocktails – the Lonely Planet recommended an Angry Fijian, so we had to try it. When we got the bill, we could understand why the Fijian was angry!!
Our flight to Kathmandu left Delhi at 6:30 on Thursday morning, so we decided to sleep in the airport. Ed managed to sleep fine, but I managed about 20 minutes at the most. I put a load of Family Guy episodes onto my iPod, so at least I had something to entertain me.
Our flight left (more or less) on time and we arrived in Kathmandu without any real problems. We had to get a visitors visa on arrival and the process was relatively simple.
When we left the airport, there was a guy from the Last Resort with my name on a plaque, so we jumped on his vehicle and we were driven for 3 hours in some of the best scenery I’ve seen. Three hours and many pictures later, we arrived at the Last Resort.
The Last Resort is really cool. The first thing you are confronted with is the metal bridge spanning a gorge. The Last Resort is on the other side, so you have to cross the bridge to get to it. We were shown to our tent and took a moment to settle in.
Our luxury tent was excellent!
The Last Resort is a pretty amazing place!
This is the bar/restaurant, it was really nice to be somewhere in the middle of nowhere, especially after being in Bangalore for so long.
About 30 minutes later, we were back on the bus to get driven to the Tibet border to mountain bike back. They gave us a packed lunch, which we ate in the car - we were starving!
Usually, cyclists are taken to the ‘friendship bridge’ which acts as a border between Nepal and Tibet. The bridge has a line in the middle of it separating the two countries, but due to the recent troubles, we were not allowed to go near the bridge. Apparently, some visitors were taken to the bridge where they took some photos and the Chinese police crossed the border and smashed their cameras. The large building on the right of the photo is Tibet, as is the town in the hills ahead, the bridge is just about visible in the photo.
The cycle back was pretty amazing, all the young children were shouting ‘Namaste’ to us and waving. We stopped at a waterfall and took a few pictures from the viewing platform.
The cycle back was over far too quickly and quite uneventful apart from a dog that chased Ed for a few seconds. Saying that, it was possibly the best cycle I’ve ever done – it was amazing!When we arrived back, I went to bed at about 6pm and slept until the following morning – I guess no sleep the night before caught up with me! Ed did try to wake me up but without any success…
Breakfast the next day was amazing! There was a cook who made us omelettes to order (oh, for those of you unaware, I’m back to eating meat again) and there were other delights, such as some Nepalese version of hash browns which was lovely! During breakfast we met a few of the other people there. It turned out that we were going canyoning with two of them, Melanie and Chris.
After breakfast, we were taken over to the canyoning section where we got kitted out with a wetsuit, a t-shirt and a harness. Once we were all ready to go, we were taken for a 10-15 minute walk where we started our canyoning.
Canyoning was ace – we were traversing down the side of the gorge and abseiling down waterfalls and cliff faces. We were also sliding down through the water and generally having great fun.
It only lasted a couple of hours and then we had to walk back up the gorge to get back up to the Last Resort.After canyoning, we had some lunch (buffalo burgers, fresh veggies coated in butter, chips and a pasta salad – it was really nice). We then chilled out by the plunge pool and chatted with Mel and Chris for a while. During this time, I discovered a leech on my leg and went to find some salt to get rid of it. Not sure where the leech came from, quite possibly during canyoning.
After a while, Ed and I decided to go for a short hike. The Last Resort guys got someone from the nearby village to guide us (the did give us the option of going on our own, but we thought that might not be a good idea!). The guide couldn’t speak English, but he was quite happy to take us up and point out a few of the local sights.
One of the most unexpected surprises was seeing a playground near the top of the hill – it turned out that it was a school! It’s not quite like the schools we have in the UK, but its good too see the local children get an education, regardless of how remotely they live.
This was our guide for the hike.
When we got back, we managed to get ourselves on the second day of canyoning – we also sorted out the bungee jump for the following morning before heading off for a day canyoning. The second day of canyoning lasts about 6-7 hours, so we had to jump in the morning we were it would be closed by the time we got back. The canyon swing was also arranged for the following morning.Before dinner, the four of us went for a sauna. I'd never been in one before and wasn't too sure what to expect. It was basically really hot! To make matters worse, one of the guys came in and started throwing water over the coals and it got really REALLY hot. We all started shouting at him to stop, but he continued doing it and just when it because almost unbearable, he stopped. The other guys have done saunas before, and they said it was the hottest they have ever experienced. We managed to last about 20 minutes and left to jump into the plunge pool, which seemed really cold. It was quite nice, but the sauna was hereafter referred to as the Torture Chamber.
After the sauna, we had our meal (chicken, veggies and some kind of fizzy yoghurt for desert) and sat around in the bar with a few other people and drank Everest beer! It was a great night and we went to bed early(ish) ready for our bungee in the morning.
In the morning, the first thing I thought when I woke up was “I’m going to jump of a 160m high bridge… for fun… and I’m paying for it!” Need less to say, I was a bit preoccupied at the thought, having never done a bungee jump before.
When we got over to the bungee bridge, word had gotten round that we were jumping so we had a small audience. The jumpers (Chris, Ed and I) gave our cameras to the non-jumpers so they could take pics of us. We had all agreed to group our pictures so it didn’t really matter which camera was used.
Before jumping, we were weighed so the correct bungee cord could be used, then we headed over to the bridge. The Last Resort usually film the jumps and sell you the DVD, but because it was so early in the morning, there was nobody available to film it. Thankfully, Ed brought his video camera, so I do have my jump on film.
On the bridge, we were fitted with a harness and Chris was the first to go. I was then strapped into a small seat and connected to the bungee cord. The foot harness was connected first and a safety cord was attached to the waist harness (just in case my feet slipped through).
I was then instructed to go under the barrier and walk onto the jump platform. It was a long way down! I was given the instructions that the bungee master would say “3, 2, 1, jump” and then I was supposed to jump with my eyes open and jump face first with my arms outstretched. Very quietly and calmly, the bungee master said “3, 2, 1” and I jumped off the bridge. 
I think my jump wasn’t very good because it felt as though my feet were lower than the rest of my body, but the bungee cord kicked in and before I could think much more about my jump, I was at the full extent of the cord and shot back up in the air. This happened a few more times and it was great! Eventually, I was lowered to grab hold of the long piece of bamboo they use to pull you in to safety. It was pretty cool and I’m glad my first jump was at the second highest in the world (the highest is in South Africa and is from a crane, so this is probably the best one in the world because it is so picturesque).It was cool to see Ed doing his jump because I saw Chris jumping when I was on the bridge and I saw Ed jumping when I was at the bottom of the gorge (Ed is in the red t-shirt).
When Ed finished, we walked back up the gorge, following (more or less) the same path from yesterdays canyoning.
We got back to the Last Resort and had some breakfast then met up with the canyoning instructors from the previous day. There were two more people joining us for canyoning and Kate also joined us for the hike, which lasted about 2 hours. We also got our first glimpse of the snow covered Himalayas.
It was quite a tough hike, we went up the side of the valley and then dropped down to get to the canyoning path – this one would last about 6-7 hours and was a lot tougher than the previous day. We were abseiling down very long drops, including a 20m, a 35, and a huge 60m with a massive waterfall. The scenery was quite something and it was really high. Most places we were at involved quite a bit of danger because if we slipped (when not attached to the harness) we could easily have dropped down to the bottom. Thankfully, we were all ok, but the height definitely got to me a little bit – I’d never been up so high for such a long time. The other high places I’ve been were usually hills with large areas of flat, but this was something else!Anyway, it was pretty spectacular and I just wish I had a camera with me. Thankfully, Chris and Melanie had their waterproof cameras with them, so I was able to get some pictures.
After canyoning was over, we went over a type of bridge which has a cage that you pull yourself over the river with. The guides pulled us over, but it was still really cool.
We had arranged a bus to pick us up, but because we were soaking wet and really dirty, the driver wouldn’t let us on, so we ended up travelling on the roof! I was so chuffed because on the plane on the way over, I was reading all about roof riding in Nepal and really wanted to try it out – it seems a really popular way to travel. The ride was only about 10-20 minutes but it was great. I was right at the front so had the amazing view of the massive drop to the right of the road. Its quite incredible that there are so few accidents in the area because one lapse of concentration could mean a quick trip to the bottom of the gorge!At the top of the 60m abseil, I must have caught a tree root or branch because flicked up from underneath me and went right over my eye, which really hurt. My vision went blurry and stayed like that for a few days – it only went back to normal about a week later!
When we got back, we got changed out of our canyoning kit and I went into the toilet to wash my trainers. On the way out of the toilet, I slipped and fell, slightly twisting my ankle in the process! I manage to bungee and do some heavy canyoning without any injury (except my eye), but I cant get out of a toilet without injuring myself!!!
The Sundance Music Festival was that night, so the place was starting to get pretty busy with all the people turning up for the party. I had a quick shower, a cold shower, due to a serious lack of hot water, and headed back to the tent to relax and reflect on the day. A few minutes later, one of the Last Resort staff came to out tent asked Ed if we wanted to do our Canyon Swing today, so we both agreed to it and grabbed Chris to head back over to the bridge to throw ourselves off it again. Our weight was still written on our hands so we didn’t need to get weighed again.
When we were at the bridge, again, we were fitted with a body harness and both Chris and I decided to jump with our cameras filming it (seeing as we were now expert jumpers). The last resort video cameraman was there this time, so our jumps were filmed (I bought mine to take back home with me).
Ed jumped first in record time – because the rope was already at the top of the bridge, they just connected him and he jumped so quickly we didn’t even realise he was gone! I was going second again, so I got my camera ready while they were getting the rope back up and prepared myself to jump. Again, I was told to get onto the edge of the platform and just jump feet first: “3, 2, 1, jump” and I jumped off – the drop was a LOT longer than the bungee and just when I started to get worried, I went swinging through the canyon – it was amazing. I preferred the canyon swing to the bungee jump.
After swinging back and forth for a while, a blue rope appeared and I grabbed onto it and pulled myself to land. We then waited for Chris to do his jump (which I filmed from the bottom) and the continued to walk back up the gorge (again). I had a sore ankle from falling out of the toilet and was feeling pretty knackered, so I took it slowly. I also counted the steps up the gorge – 830!! By the time I reached the top, I was pretty tired from such an active day!
The music festival was that night, so we went over the bridge to where some small shops were and bought some beer and brandy to drink. On the way over the bridge, some guys were fitting a gate onto the bridge!
When we got back, we found a space on the grass to watch the music. There was not a lot of space, so when I was sitting down on the grass, my legs kept cramping, so I got up to go for a walk and ended up back at the tent. I decided to lie down for a little while (mistake) and then woke up the following morning! Chris and Mel must have slept in our tent because Chris was snoring at the foot of my bed – I can’t believe I missed the music festival!I got up and headed on over to breakfast, my vision was still blurry so I only put one contact lens in. Breakfast was pretty good, and afterwards, we went back to the tent to pack all our stuff up, then headed over to settle the bill (quite possibly the cheapest trip I’ll ever have – one nights stay plus 3 meals was 24 Euros). We headed over with all our kit and waited for instructions. Whilst we were waiting, a lady came over with out tickets for the mountain flight the following morning – we would be collected from our Kathmandu hotel at 5:30am and the mountain flight would be at 6:30, which was really good news as we were told (by several people) it may not happen if the weather was bad. After a wait, we loaded all our kit onto the bus and headed off for a day of white water rafting. I was really looking forward to it! After rafting, we were being taken to a hotel in Kathmandu for the night because our mountain flight was early in the morning and if we stayed at the Last Resort, we wouldn’t be able to do it.
After taking our luggage and going over the bungee bridge for the last time, we packed our kit into the bus and went to the starting spot for the rafting.
This was actually day 2 of rafting and everyone else had completed day 1 except Ed and I – Ed had rafted before, but I hadn’t. So, after a quick safety brief and instructions on what to do, we were put into rafts. I was with Chris, Anja and Christian (and a couple of other people I’d never met before). Within about 5 minutes of being on the raft, in the calmest possible water, Chris managed to fall into the Bhote Kosi river and lost his camera! He had it attached to the front of his life-jacket and when he was pulled back into the boat the camera cord must have snapped. All his pictures were gone – including all the ones he took when we were all canyoning. He was really disappointed because all he did was mumble “That would have made a great shot” when we looked back and saw other rafts going over the rapids. He was more disappointed losing the pictures than losing the camera – the camera could be replaced, but the pictures were gone forever!
When the rafting really started, it was pretty amazing. The best part was when our raft got wedged between two huge rocks and we all had to get out, free the raft the jump a couple of metres back into the raft – great fun! I really enjoyed it! The rafting lasted about 2 and a half hours. When we started, it was brilliant sunshine and really hot, the weather soon turned and we saw lightning, heard the thunder and then it rained heavily for about an hour. After a while, we stopped next to land and we were told that if anyone wanted to leave now, they could go and get onto the bus which was parked nearby. Out of three rafts, only one person got off – apparently he had been drinking all night at the party and hardly had any sleep (in retrospect, I’m really glad I got a good nights sleep because I was able to really enjoy the rafting). After another hour or so, the rafting ended, much to our disappointment. I’d definitely do white water rafting again – it was great fun and possibly my favourite event after the canyon swing!
We went back to the bus, grabbed some clean clothes, got changed and had some dinner. After dinner, everyone on the bus was heading back to Kathmandu and we were given the option of riding on the roof. I was tempted, but I knew it would last 3 hours and didn’t really fancy such a long roof ride – besides, I was still feeling a little nervous about the heights and I knew if I was on the roof, I’d be able to see down the side of the gorge (the road has an almost vertical drop right next to it for about 2 and a half hours) so I decided to stay in the bus this time and get a few pictures instead.
When we arrived in Kathmandu, we were taken to the Last Resort office where I decided to book my Canyon Swing DVD to collect the following day – initially, we thought we wouldn’t have time to collect it, but seeing as the mountain flight was so early, we did have time to return and pick it up. I also bought some t-shirts: the bungee, the canyon swing and a Last Resort one (I also picked up a Sundance music festival one at the Last Resort). We got to our hotel, which was quite nice although it had a limited view.
Outside the hotel, they had these carved tables and chairs which look as though they were growing out of the ground.
After having a shower (the first hot one I’d had since I left India), we headed off out to meet up with some of the other guys we met, who were also staying in Kathmandu. More were invited, but we ended up with 7 of us where we chatted away until about midnight.
When I got back to the hotel, I realised that my camera had died. I tried to charge it up, but no power was getting to the battery (the battery was probably dead) so I was quite worried, especially after what happened with Chris and his camera! Instead, I charged up my mobile phone ready to take it with me and also asked Ed if I could share his pictures from the mountain flight, which he was perfectly willing to do.
The following morning, we got up early and, as promised, a car was waiting to take us to the airport. At the airport, I picked up two disposable cameras for the flight. I ended up chatting with a Canadian guy (Mike) in the departure lounge who managed to get a few hours away from his wife and kids for the first time in 5 years – they had been around the Philippines and then spent 10 days in Nepal.
The mountain flight was with Buddha Air and the aeroplane was small with just one seat either side of the aisle – this way everyone got a window seat. The ride was quite bumpy, but when we got into the air, it was well worth it. The air stewardess was pointing out all the mountains, which were on the opposite side of the plane to me, but she explained the plane would turn and I’d be able to see them on the way back. Instead of seeing the mountains, I was allowed to go into the cockpit and look at the view from the front – it was pretty amazing.
Everst did look quite impressive - it was cool to see the highest mountain in the world!
I thought we would have been a lot closer than we got, but it was still pretty amazing to see it all. The landing was quite bumpy and I was happy when we finally landed – the flight was well worth it to see the mountains.
The car then took us back to the hotel where we had breakfast and headed out for a wander around Kathmandu (the Thamel area, which is quite touristy). I had great difficulty getting some money out, all the cash machines were either just for locals or broken!
Ed and I split up and agreed to meet back at the hotel – we had pre-arranged a car to take us to the airport in time for our flight to Delhi. Kathmandu was pretty amazing; the entire area was like a giant market.
Eventually, we made it the airport and our flight to Delhi was without event. We had the bumpiest ride I've ever had on the bus that took us between the International and Domestic terminals at Dehli airport.
At the airport, I saw this sign - you need to be VERY very important to park there!
However, at Delhi, a storm started and our flight, which should have been at 8:10pm, finally left at 1am! On the flight on the way back, the stewardess kept waking me up asking if I wanted food, or something to drink etc, Ed was also sleeping and told her to stop bothering us – we had to get up for work the next day! We eventually got back to the apartments in Bangalore at about 4:30am.Overall, definitely the best trip I’ve ever had and, incidentally, my camera is still broken but (as you can see) the memory card was fine so I still have all my pictures. My eyesight is back to normal and all I have left is a huge bruise on my left leg (no idea where it came from) and a small mark on my leg from the leech.
A trip of a lifetime!
(Thanks to Melanie and Ed for sharing their photos)
(More pictures to follow - hopefully!)
