EVEREST TREK : Kathmandu to Shavalaya

Kathmandu to Shavalaya

Saturday 9 March

 

Bus station at Kathmandu

Today's bus ride to the start of the trek was an adventure in itself. The first part from Kathmandu to Jiri was normal for Nepal and we had experienced it before. The roads after an initial stretch of dual carriageway deteriorated into a narrow winding route up and down over mountains. The driver had two helpers who would lean out the side of the bus and indicated that he still had sufficient clearance, when overtaking and meeting a truck coming in the opposite direction on a particularly narrow piece of road, by thumping with their fists on the side of the bus. I don't know what signal was given if they were going to collide. The scenery along this stretch was rural with terraces running from the valley up the steep sides of the hills. They were still hills by Nepal standard we have still to glimpse the really big ones. Every time the bus stopped in villages or at bus stops the market traders invaded with anything from water to watches to cauliflowers. Their were also accompanied by beggars some of them young woman with babies in their arms, the bus driver tended to chase them. Most of the seats were taken when we set out and it was like that for a few hours but gradually passengers got on and the aisle was full of people and their baggage. I think there a few on the roof as well.

The road to Shavalaya

 The fun began after Jiri on the mountain track to Shivalaya. We could have walked quicker than the bus took. It was only 8km by the walking track but the bus went round all the villages picking up people and dropping others off. The trip took 3 hours. An Italian couple, that we got talking to, had done it before and then the bus went the more direct route in 40 minutes. After 8 hours to Jiri the extra 3 hours would have bad enough but it was made worse by the road conditions. This would have been a reasonable walking track but with its ruts and rocky climbs, not to mention the roller coaster downhills, it was very uncomfortable being bounced about and the white knuckle rides along a cliff edges. When we return we intend to walk to Jiri rather than go through that experience again.

The day started very well after a bit of a sleepless night. The bed was comfortable but Moira couldn't get to sleep earlier because of the noise outside while I was wakened in the middle of the night by people slamming doors and a generator running for half an hour. It the morning the water in the shower was at least piping hot. We left our spare bags with the hotel and our guide, Brin, arrived at 7 am on schedule with a taxi. We were early for the bus and had 45 minutes wait before it left. There were plenty of loo stops, some just at the side of the road, ladies one side of the bus and men the other. At mid-day the bus stopped at an eating place for lunch. We didn't fancy anything that they had cooked and settled for a cup of tea and a hard boiled egg. A Canadian couple had sampled the curried potato and let us try a piece. It was very nice so we had a plate as well.

Our bedroom

The tea house that the guide took us to in Shivalaya was fairly basic but the bed seemed soft as did the pillow. We both had egg fried rice for dinner and a large pot of tea which turned out to be an enormous thermos flask. The service was surprisingly quick. We read for a while before getting to sleep and we both have a peaceful night for a change.