Bhutan : A Trekker’s Paradise

The majesty of the snow-laden Himalayan mountains, rising abruptly from the plains of the Indian subcontinent is a sight beyond comparison.

Bhutan is situated in the Eastern Himalayas to the east of Nepal and the Indian state of Sikkim and to the south of the autonomous region of Tibet. When you fly into Bhutan on a clear day from Delhi and Kathmandu, you will see 8 of the 14 highest mountains of the world, including Mt Everest, as well as a range of impressive Bhutanese peaks to the east. Silence besets the passengers on the Druk Air flight as they experience the awe-inspiring approach to Paro airport.

On a Bhutan trek, views of mountain ranges soaring to above 7000m are enjoyed in all their splendor – the lofty Jumolhari (7314m), the pointed Jichu Drakey (6794m), Thsering-Gang (6789m), Masang-Gang (7149m), Gangkhar Puensum (7239m) and many others.

Most of the trekking routes in Bhutan are in the central and northern areas, known as the Higher Himalaya. Trekkers start from altitudes of around 2400m and cross passes as high as 6000m. The lower altitude winter trekking routes that range between 1300m and 1800m enable the less hardy trekker to enjoy the beauty of a semi-tropical and tropical climate.

All the treks are a paradise for lovers of flora, fauna and photography. Bhutan has close to 700 species of birds. Of these, 24 are registered as endangered species. There are 46 species of rhododendron with at least 4 found only in Bhutan. The Snow Leopard, Blue Sheep, Golden Langur and Takin are some of the rare animals that can be found in Bhutan.

The trekker will often feel transported a hundred years or more back into the past. The way of life in the countryside has changed little: subsistence farming is the norm in Bhutan and the culture is strongly influenced by Mahayana Buddhism and the rigours of living in the mountains. However, there are many anachronisms that pleasantly remind us of the present, one of them being the eloquent English skills of even the smallest primary school children who will greet you with “Hello sir, hello madam” as you approach their village.

We have a range of trekking routes suitable for the first timers, the adventurous and the hard core trekkers. Take your pick!

Best Season: Nov - Feb Low Altitude Treks (Grade 1 – 2)

11 Days Bhutan Samtegang Trek & Cultural Tour

14 Days Punakha Winter Trek

Best Season: Mar - Jun (for alpine flowers) & Sep - Nov Medium Altitude Trek (Grade 2 - 3)

15 Days Bumthang Cultural Trek10 Days Gasa Hot Spring Trek & Cultural Tour (Nov - Feb)

10 Days Bumdrak Trek with Cultural Tour

12 Days Chelila Nature Trek with Cultural Tour

Best Season: Mar - Jun and Sep - OctHigh Altitude Treks (Grade 4)

12 Days Druk Path Trek with Cultural Tour

12 Days Drakey Pangtso Trek with Cultural Tour
14 Days Dagala Thousand Lakes Trek

For more info, visit www.nepalexplore.com.

Romance in the rough

Straits Times 13 Oct 2009

Romance in the rough

By Tan Yi Hui

For some newlyweds, honeymoons are all about having an adrenalin rush in a rugged environment.

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Introduction

When climbing a mountain in Nepal last year, Ms Alice Giam was floored by altitude sickness. A ruggedly handsome Nepalese man who was on the same trekking team carried her on their two-hour journey back to the safety of the base camp.

She was so moved that she would have married him right there and then if he had asked. Only thing was, she was already married to him. Ms Giam and Mr Narayan Shrestha was on their honeymoon.

For most people, honeymoons mean romance and relaxation but there are adventurous couples who literally venture off the beaten path, looking for an adrenalin rush or a rugged experience to mark their marriage.

So why do some newlyweds rough it out? Mostly, it is because they share a love for the outdoors.

Mr Shrestha runs a trekking agency in his country and met Ms Giam when she signed up for one of his tours.

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Story

On a misty mountain path more than 4000m above sea level, Ms Giam is decked out in trekking gear as she stands firm in the chilly wind. It is her third day waiting for her husband to return from Island Peak, a 6190m summit in the Himalayas in Nepal.

Finally, familiar shapes appear through the mist. She strains to see if he is among the trekkers and spots him in his red jacket. She runs to embrace him, almost tripping over rocks in sheer relief and joy.This reunion scene straight out of a Hollywood movie was the highlight of the couple’s honeymoon last year.

They met two years ago on a trekking trip in Nepal. Ms Giam, a Singaporean, was a first-time mountain climber and her guide was her future husband.

Mr Shrestha, a Singaporean permanent resident, runs a trekking agency based in Nepal and Singapore.They got married last year and went on an 18-day trip to scale Island Peak. Such a trip costs about $3600 a person, including airfare from Singapore, but the couple paid only a fraction of the price because they went with their own agency.

Ms Giam quit her events planning job to join her husband’s company after the wedding.She says:” We went on a few trekking trips when we were dating, but I’m not as strong as he is and I do get altitude sickness. Two weeks before the honeymoon, I had nightmares about it. But he had been wanting to tackle the peak and since we were married, we thought, why not do it together? If I had backed out, it would have spoilt the mood.”

Sure enough, at 5000m above sea level, altitude sickness hit her. She could have descended to safety of the base camp with escorts, but Mr Shrestha insisted on carrying her down himself – a two-hour trek – before resuming his journey towards the summit.

Chuckling fondly at the memory, Ms Giam says:” Somehow, I felt like, oh, I chose the right husband.”She waited anxiously for three days for his return.

As his birthday fell on one of those days, she had prepared an apple pie for him. Laid out in candy on the pie were the words “Happy Birthday, Deepak”.

Accommodation throughout consisted of Spartan trekkers’ lodgings with “wooden walls so thin you could hear the person next door snoring””.

But Ms Giam says:” Romance doesn’t have to be about lying on the beach. It’s about the little things that you do for each other on a trip.”

She and Mr Shrestha are not done yet. They intend to hit a new high when they have children one day.

Says Ms Giam:” We’ll take our kids to Everest.”

Message from Kagbeni

Kagbeni

An sms appeared on Deepak's handphone 2 nights ago :

"Namaste Deepak and Alice from Kagbeni. We have had a fabulous trek. Hard sometimes but worth every minute. The crew is what makes all the hard parts easier. Thank you both for making such thorough arrangements. See you in Singapore. Don can bring anything you need to send to Nepal. Regards, Angie"

What wonderful news, Angie, to know that you are at the tailend of your Mustang trek(after almost a year of planning???). Today, Dhruba said you are on the way back to Kathmandu. We're sure Tin and Khrisna did a great job looking after you ladies. Can't wait to see you both and the gorgeous photos (and maybe some behind the scene stuff..keke).

Take a Moment

"Stars for a Cause" on Channel U showcased Taiwanese Linda doing volunteer teaching in Nepal. Deepak and I caught this episode together at home. Linda's experience tugged my heartstrings towards the end of the show, simply because I was watching this with a living example of village kid beside me.

Watching this episode reminds me yet again that no matter how many years we have brought individuals and schools to help the village schools and communities, there is so little we can do to help them each time. Over the years, although we have seen some results, it is still so minute when I step back to look at the whole picture.

And then I looked at Deepak.

At a tender age, he understood that his family could not afford for him to further his education even though he was able to enter Secondary stage. He heard his first English word from an English trekker in the village. He decided to move to Kathmandu city to seek a future and not burden his family financially. He seeked various jobs and finally landed as an office boy in a travel agent and worked his way up - no one can imagine the extreme hard work he put in, including sleepness nights around the clock. And then he went on to learn English, Mandarin, computer, business etc. Today, he is Managing Director of Divine International.

I am so proud of him.

I thought : What if he had never left the village and continued to herd cattles and work in the plantation?

I cried.

Tibet Adventure

Horsemen around Lake Namtso

Chih Lin, Siang Yu, Ethan and Leonard embarked on their graduation trip to Nepal and Tibet in May this year. They had intended to do a long trip to Tibet until they saw what we have on trekking in Nepal.

Deepak put together a 19-day Ghorepani Trek and Central Tibet Tour for the bubbly group. For their Central Tibet Tour, the excitement includes crossing Nyalamu pass (3800m) and Lalung La pass (5082m), Tashilunpo Monastery, Lake Namtso Drepung, Sera Monastery, Potala Palace, Jokhang Temple, Barkhor Bazaar, crossing the Karo La (5010m) and Kamba La (4794m) Pass, Lake Yamdrok Tso (Turquoise Lake), Khumbum Stupa and Phalkot Monastery.

Over a KFC dinner last week, we were happy to learn that they are out in the working world now and reminiscing the trip has brought back wonderful memories and lots of laughter!

Looking through their trip photos, we could literally felt their excitement along the trip. I was most impressed by the shots taken at Lake Namtso and the sun tanning yaks along the beautiful shores against the backdrop of snow peaks.

Their customized itinerary is as follow while all photos featured are copyrighted with compliments from the group.


Day 1: Arrive Kathmandu
Day 2: Kathmandu – Pokhara - Birethanti
Day 3: Birethanti- Ulleri
Day 4: Ulleri - Ghorepani
Day 5: Ghorepani – Poonhill - Tikhedhungga
Day 6: Tikhedhungga – Birethanti - Pokhara
Day 7: Pokhara - Kathmandu
Day 8: Kathmandu - Zhangmu
Day 9: Zhangmu - Nayalam
Day 10: Nayalam - Tingri - Latze
Day 11: Latze - Shigatse
Day 12: Shigaste - Gyantse (3950m)
Day 13: Gyantse - Lhasa (3650m)
Day 14: Lhasa - sightseeing
Day 15: Lhasa - sightseeing
Day 16: Lhasa-Lake Nam Tso-Lhasa
Day 17: Lhasa – full day free and easy
Day 18: Lhasa – Kathmandu - Nagarkot
Day 19: Nagarkot- Kathmandu- Singapore

Click here to view photos their Tibet journey.

Click here to view other info on Tibet

Trekking Jomsom (Noreen & Aden)

Trekking the classic Jomsom route

Noreen and Aden approached us earlier this year for their trek to Jomsom, Nepal. At their request, Deepak put together a 19-day program covering the classic Jomsom route, whitewater rafting in the famous Kali Gandaki River and Chitwan National Park for a safari experience.

The Kali Gandaki River is one of the major rivers of Nepal and a left bank tributary of the Ganges in India. The headwaters of the river are formed at an altitude of 3,900 m in the Mustang region of Nepal, which borders Tibet. The river is notable for the deep gorge through which it flows and for a large hydroelectric facility in Nepal.

Deepak happened to be in Nepal while they were there so they met up for meals. It was unfortunate that the rafting at Kali Gandaki (Grade 4-5) did not happen due to transport strike. However, we managed to turn the situation around and arranged for rafting at Trishuli River (Grade 2) – well, not a total loss after all.

Rinji was their chief guide for this trek and apparently a joy to have around. Though a senior guide, Rinji still comes across as rather shy and can be quite stiff around strangers. That said, he is one real popular guy among our trekking groups!

Their customized itinerary is as follow while all photos featured are with compliments from Noreen and Aiden.

Day 1: Arrive - Kathmandu
Day 2: Kathmandu – Pokhara - Birethanti
Day 3: Birethanti - Ulleri
Day 4: Ulleri - Ghorepani
Day 5: Ghorepani – Poonhill - Tatopani
Day 6: Tadapani - Ghasa
Day 7: Ghasa - Tukche
Day 8: Tukche - Marpha-Jomsom-Kagbeni
Day 9: Kagbeni - Muktinath
Day 10: Muktinath - Jomsom
Day 11: Jomsom - Pokhara
Day 12: Pokhara - Kali Gandaki Rafting
Day 13: Kali Gandaki Rafting
Day 14: Kali Gandaki Rafting - Pokhara
Day 15: Pokhara - Chitwan National Park
Day 16: Chitwan National Park
Day 17: Chitwan National Park - Kathmandu
Day 18: Kathmandu
Day 19: Kathmandu - Departure

Click here to view their trek photos.
Click here to view other Jomsom or lower Mustang itineraries.

Post Everest Catch Up

Front Row (L-R)
Priscilla, Yuki, Cherry, Kim Boon, Wenting, Xin Fang,

Back Row (L-R)
Mui King, Yvonne, Mrs Ang, Yihui, Peh Gee, Jane, Esther, Lihui, Alice, Joanne

Last Saturday (4 Jul), I had the pleasure to be invited to the "Post Everest Gathering" with the SWET and the Christ Church Sec Team at Mui Kiang's house. It was informal yet nice as we are able to catch up with one another more intimately on one of their most adventurous gig in Nepal.

The ladies of SWET looked good after weeks since their return and the Christ Church girls seemed to have recovered from their withdrawal syndrome (Well, I suffered that for a month when I returned from my first Nepal trip).

As much as I have read about climbing Everest, I could not resist chatting with Jane and Lihui about the reality of overcoming the Hillary Step. What was it really like trying to cross the final hurdle to reach the Summit? Were their oxygen tanks at the Balcony when they descend?

Hearing from the horse's mouth, it was indeed a challenge at the Hillary Step, mainly you need to use all your might to pull yourself up the rocks and the slipperyness did not help. By the time you were done, you would have been extremely exhausted. And thank God, the replacement oxygen tanks WERE at the Balcony waiting for them. We had all read horror stories about the tanks being stolen upon descend. If so, one can hardly last till Camp 4 from Summit.

*Shudder*

I finally got to chat with the CCSS girls on their sentiments of the journey to EBC. Though 2 of them did not make it there, I sensed they understood a lot more about their own fitness, teamwork, overcoming difficult times and what really matter in their own journey.

And of course, everyone was asking for their handsome Uncle Deepak who was still in Nepal. Well, it will not be the last time we are all going to see one another - for our friendship will still go a long way.