Traveling with children: Kathmandu to Syprubesi

Namaste! We are back from our trek. Washing our clothes, our bodies, enjoying a change from fried rice and Dahl baht and making the most of internet connectivity to up load our many photos from walk. We made notes of our walk as we went and what follows is a copy for the blog.

Kathmandu to Sypru Besi
It hard for me to be excited about this trip. In my heart I am not ready to leave Gaunshaha. We are taking this trip in the time that it takes for the millet to become ready for harvest so that we can be back to lay foundations for the new school. When the bus was leaving from Gaunshaha packed with people going home from Diwali, I was dreaming of joining the volunteers and carting rocks in the Nepali baskets up the hill from the quarry site to the new school. When we were waiting in the long que at the Indian embassy I was playing on the football field with poujon and the Gaunshaha children. When I was chatting with Tara in our hotel at Pema I was missing, for her, the interesting conversations with the volunteers at Heaven Hill. We spent 4 days in Kathmandu, and gradually the peaceful spirit of the Boudhanath where we were staying, the meditative hums of" Om Manu Padme Hom" and the playfulness of the monkeys at the Monkey temple revived me. We stayed an extra day to prepare for the trek to Langtang and to allow Boyd one more day to recover from the allergy/ virus/ that turned up out of the blue on his body one day and gradually progressed along his arms and legs until now when he is unable to hold any thing.... Poor Boyd...

Now I don't like bus journeys , I'll admit that. And its hard to understand how a 137km journey can take 10 hours until you take the bus from Kathmandu to Syprubesi. I discovered that I have a a latent case of vertigo as I glanced dismally at the 800m drop inches from the bus wheels. And then went back to staring firmly up the bank searching for a horizon to quell my churning stomach. Boyd on theother hand gazed admiring ly at the view and as the bus turned around the precipitous corners our heads wouls swing in oposites directions his for the view, mine for the bank ! Both kids slept instantly. Waking for the last part of the journey as the bus lurched over the landslides. They sang " the wheels on the bus go bump, bump,bump" as I cradled their heads to prevent them from bashing into the bus windows.. Its not that the roads are unsealed, just that they haven't found the seal under the rubble. :-) We took the local bus and the driver was so careful, repeatedly reversing to find safe places to pass trucks and jeeps. I am very grateful.

Day 1
Hotel Landslide (written with Tara)

Sad things:
we lost Tara's Hat
Tara has the skiddy doos
Daddy got an owy ( he ripped his newly formed skin on a bit of wire poking out of the swing bridge -ouch!)

Happy things:
We walked 3kms and gained 400m with the kids walking
Lukey had firm poos yeah !!
We cracked open the tasty tablets for skiddy-doos ( electrolytes) and every one is enjoying them.
yummy pancakes, dahlbaht and porridge
Our down jackets bought from Kathmandu are the business.
Amazing river Kola Langtang
Tara no longer has a sore tummy. Yeah!!

Boyd:

Forgot how dramatic and massive the landscape is in Nepal/ the Himalayas. The road cuts across a massive steep hill and it feels as if it drops forever into the deepest ocean. I expected it to be steep near the end yet it was steep the whole way. First day walking was good , warm and sunny. Felt strong. The path had many drop offs directly into a grade 4/5 river so felt on edge the whole way with the children. Carried them over the scary bits. Now we are here and have seen it I think we have taken on something more than we expected. But we have a plan and will go slowly.