Last Blast: Nepal -- Three-Passes Trek

One last Asian blast before we set sail from Indonesia: Nepal. It’s been on our “to-do list” since I trekked Nepal’s Annapurna circuit back in the early 90s. Amy got tired of hearing me rave about it, so we decided to take advantage of the cheap flight and just do it. Jakarta to Katmandu, 200 bucks! – never going to beat that again.


OK, so what’s all the fuss about? Nepal is one of those special places in the world where roads, and all the associated evil spin-offs, do not make up the fabric of everyday life. It’s a hard concept for the rest of us living in the “real” world where “no roads” just doesn’t exist. It’s not a park, it’s not wilderness….there are villages, and towns, and houses, and restaurants, and hotels. There are simply no roads, no cars, no motorbikes, no combustion engines tying society together.


So how do they get around? They walk. What about all the “stuff” that goes along with houses, and towns, and restaurants, and hotels? They carry it in on their backs.


So that’s the picture: villages and towns, complete with houses, restaurants, and hotels, strung together by walking paths that have been burned into the ground by generations of people living out their daily lives.


Now, add to that, arguably the most spectacular mountain setting on the planet, and you have a trekking paradise. Where else can you hike unsupported for weeks across glaciers and over mountain passes, then end your day in a trekking lodge and a steamy bowl of yak noodle soup, overlooking a Buddhist monastery and perhaps a glimpse of Everest in the distance? (answer: nowhere else)


Nepal’s trekking network is huge and offers a ton of options from short and easy routes, to long and hard. Having already been to the Annapurna area (the early 90s thing), we decided to focus on the Everest region, AKA the Khumbu region, and specifically on a route called the “Three-Passes Trek”.


The 3-passes route is a newish 20-day +/- trekking route that includes the best of the Everest Basecamp (EBC) Trek – the standard trek to Everest Basecamp that 95% of people trekking in the Everest area are on – but tacks on a mind-blowing series of three high-elevation passes, and also hits on the infamous Goyko Lakes area – the world’s highest-elevation freshwater lake system. It’s pretty much the best of the best that the Khumbu region has to show off.


What’s the catch? The catch is that the 3-passes trek is not a cake walk. The most common word to describe it seems to be “challenging”. Not one, or even two, but three 5000-m+ passes back to back. The beauty of that combo though, is that it weeds out the crowds, and very few people do it compared to the EBC trek (we met 3 other couples doing the route, the whole time). Want the trails of the Himilaya to yourself? The Three-Passes Trek is for you.


We saw even less people because our trip dates (which were dictated to us by Amy’s teaching schedule) coincided precisely with the end of the season (late May/early June) – beyond the “shoulder season”, this was shut-down season. In fact, we had lodges to ourselves more times than not – pretty funny actually. More than once we were a bit worried if there would even be a lodge/guesthouse open where we were heading for the day.


So ya, crowds were no concern to us. We almost had the entire Himilaya to ourselves – remarkable given the Everest area’s reputation as people soup, which it is during peak season (April/May, and October). 


To top that off, we won the weather lottery, and pretty much had clear weather every day (morning at least), and downright amazing blue-sky weather a lot of the time. Again remarkable because June is supposed to be “monsoon season” (and hence the end of season shut-downs), meaning wet rainy weather. Er, that memo didn’t get through obviously, because our weather was fantastic!


The cool thing about the 3-passes route, is that it takes in 80% of the EBC trek, meaning you get up close and personal with Everest Basecamp, and obviously, Everest itself. The big twist though, is that rather than simply turning around and going back the way you came (EBC trek is an “up and back” route), the 3-passes goes sideways, literally, and takes you up and over three high passes that gives the route its name: (1) Kongma La – 5535 m, (2) Cho La – 5368 m, and (3) Renjo La – 5360 m. BTW, “la” means “pass” in Tibetan.


Does it get any better? Yes! Doing the passes forms a loop back to the start and finish of the Khumbu universe: the infamous Namche Bazaar, capital of the Khumbu region. 


If you are up for it, it’s a fantastic route. It is indeed a mission though, and took us 21 full days, including rest/acclimatization days. We both agreed, the 3-passes route is as advertised: long, hard, challenging, but endlessly mind-blowing and rewarding.


The two biggest worries, and the two biggest reasons people don't complete the route are: (1) altitude-sickness related issues, and (2) weather. You need both of these things to go well. Unlike Amy – who seems to have Sherpa genes – I struggle with altitude issues. I spent the first week popping Tylenols like breath mints to deal with throbbing headaches (headaches are the number-1 symptom of altitude-related issues). But after a week or so, and a little help from the drug Diamox, my head was fine and it was all systems go.


All in all, two-thumbs up on 3-Passes. Oh, but it’s cold. Real cold! Amy spent most of the time freezing her butt off. If you go, bring all the down garments you own. An interesting factoid about Nepalese buildings is that there is no heat, other than a yak-dung stove in the middle of the main room – if you are 10 cms away from it, you’re too far J. Bedrooms are usually colder inside than outside. And….outside, it’s freezing! J Amy was wrapped in down most of the time.


Highlights included mainly just being there and experiencing the grandeur of it all. But you know, despite the hype, Everest Basecamp is an amazing spot. On the edge of the Khumbu Glacier, looking up the Khumbu Icefall, huge glaciated peaks in your face…..it’s an awe-inspiring spot. Then there’s Goyko Lakes, and the view of Everest from Renjo Pass, and the yaks, and Tibetan monasteries, and the teahouses, and the donkey trains, and the prayer flags, and endless Dahl Bhat, and….basically just being there. J  


Namaste

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Last of the Long Weekends (boo!)

The countdown is officially on. Amy’s teaching contract is over at the end of May, and while they would love to have her stay on forever (they love Ms. Amy!), Amy is firmly in “been there, done that” mode (i.e., she is not signing on for another year). Alas, we are moving on from Indonesia Phase-1 – at least taking a break from it – if for no other reason than as of Amy’s last day, we will have 5 days to leave the country, at which time we are no longer legal residents. It’s that “residency” thing….you can’t just live in Indonesia if you don’t have a job.


So what’s the plan? In a nutshell, we leave Indo on 22 May. First stop: Trekking in Nepal. Every since I went trekking in Nepal back in the early 90s (I think by saying that, I am officially giving myself “old guy” status), I vowed to go back. Amy’s getting tired of me saying so, so, we’re going back! Besides, it’s doubtful we will ever be in a position to get a $200 flight to Katmandu! Our adventures in Nepal will surely be the subject of a future blog post. Stand by for that one.


So a month of trekking in Nepal, then back to Bogor for a few weeks to pack up, and then back to the motherland (Canada) by mid-July. In the meantime, a couple of final long weekends have popped up in Amy’s teaching schedule. The loyal followers among you will know that a long weekend means dealing with the first-world problem of “where to go, what to do”? Such misery. J Although, we also feel the pressure to milk our precious few remaining long weekends.


Final long weekend number 1 was spent returning to Bali. As mentioned in previous posts, Bali has grown on us. It could be the familiarity, the friends we now have there, the good food and wine, the sun and surf, the lack of mosques waking you up at 4 am, the fun things to do…..what am I saying, it’s all of those things! J

So ya, back to Bali for a few days, if for nothing else than to say good-bye. Although, we did have a mission in mind: mountain biking. We could have picked another volcano to climb (which is also fun!), but we thought we would mix it up this time and try out the Bali riding scene. 


Despite our hatred of guided tours – especially those in Indonesia – we really had no choice but to sign up with a guide outfitter given that we didn’t want to box up our bikes and fly them across Indo (and back) for 1 day of riding. That, and, a small but significant detail: we have no idea where to go. It’s that Indo thing again: nothing is described, there are no guide books, trail maps, or signage – a fantastic business model for the guides, but “challenging” to say the least for us DIYers. 


There are plenty of mountain biking operators in Bali offering more/less the same product, including: pick-up anywhere in southern Bali (where most travelers are staying), all bikes and gear, food and water for the day, a guide, and then drop-off back at your accommodation. All in all, a pretty complete package – you just gotta show up. Easy! – which in Indo, is critical to maintaining your sanity.


We went with “Infinity Mountain Biking” (google it, if interested), mostly because they offer a 65-km ride from the top of a volcano crater (Mt. Batur), down to the iconic Bali town of Ubud (of “Eat, Pray, Love” fame). They rate the ride as “hard/advanced” and it’s their “longest day ride”. Sign us up! We were hoping the “hard” rating would keep people away – it worked! – just us and one other Swiss dude.


It was a fun day. The bikes and gear were brand-new full-suspension high-quality bikes (Polygon Siskiu T8 29ers – for you gear heads), and as advertised, they delivered the pick-up (on time!) and drop-off at our accom, snacks and food, and the guide was actually a decent and fit rider who didn’t get us lost (not always the case here in Indo). The route was fantastic and indeed took us from the top of a volcano crater, down through a recent lava flow, back up to the rim, then down through the rice paddies, temples, and villages of rural Bali – a really cool cross-section of all that is Bali. Nice. Full points to Infinity!


Final long weekend number 2 was another volcano mission: Gunung (Mt.) Lawu. On the advice of our gunung-guru buddy Dan Quinn (the guy behind gunungbagging.com), we set our sights on Lawu because it involves relatively easy logistics – again key to sanity here in Indo (we have learned the hard way!). A quick 50-mins flight to the city of Solo in Central Java, and we were sitting poolside at the Solo Best Western in downtown Solo – not our usual scenario, but Amy wanted to try out a big-city “high-rise hotel”, and, we couldn’t resist the 40-USD/night price for a 4-star hotel. 


Day 2 was an arranged 4-am pick-up at the door of the hotel, complete with breakfast in a box. An hour or so later we were strapping on our boots and heading up the side of a volcano. How’s that for easy? Not to mention that Indo is likely the only place in the world where you can get a car (air-con Toyota Avanza) with driver, for the day (12 hours), for 50 USD all-in. 


At 3,265 m, Lawu is one of the bigger peaks in Java. But, because the trailhead starts at 1900 m, it’s totally doable as a day hike. The weather was fantastic and we had the up track and great views to ourselves. Despite the tropical latitudes, at 3000 m the terrain is alpine and very reminiscent of the mountains of western Canada. Nice!


The jubilation of having a mountain to ourselves came crashing down upon our victorious arrival at the summit – where we were greeted by the hordes of gunung-bagging teenagers that seem to have taken over the Indonesian gunung-bagging scene. Not that we dislike teenagers per se, but the chain smoking, the giggling and shrieking, the distorted Indo-pop blasting from their phones, and the constant barrage of selfie requests with us (it’s a thing – we’re like rock stars to them for some reason), just isn’t what we’re looking for at the top of a mountain. Amy seems to be particularly popular with the selfie crowd – blonde hair? Pale skin? OK, what am I? Chopped liver over here? J


Ah well, all part of the fun here in Indo! And fun it is, or shall we say, was…is this our last gunung-bagging mission? Boo! 


But you know, I don’t think so. I think we’ll be back for more one day….   

Tioman Island, Malaysia – world’s most beautiful island….in 1970

The usual situation was upon us: Amy gets a week off from her teaching job (March Break), and we’re left wondering where to go, what to do – a serious first-world problem! Amy was keen on a beach mission (surprise surprise), but we also wanted to go beyond Bali and/or Indonesia…you know, the “something different” thing.

We had heard from a friend in Singapore (hi Andrea!) that Tioman Island, off the east coast of Malaysia was worthy. In fact, get this, in 1970, Time Magazine voted it as one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Ya, but they were also into plaid and polyester back then too (something about a leisure suit) J

Anyhooo, looking at a map, the basic mission for us would involve a flight from Jakarta to Singapore, then a 4ish-hr bus ride across the border into Malaysia to a port on the east coast, where we would catch a 2ish-hr ferry to Tioman. Hmmm, didn’t seem too bad (more on that later!).

Who could resist the most beautiful island in the world? Giddy up! Let’s do this!

And so it was. Flights booked, check, buses booked, check, ferries booked check, accom booked, check. Check check check, all systems go. We even booked a 24-hr stopover in Singapore on the way through to visit our friend Andrea, and split a bottle of Prosecco on the rooftop of the Marina Bay Sands – Singapore’s iconic boat-on-top-of-high-rises hotel in downtown Singapore. Not cheap (did I mention that Singapore is the world’s most expensive city?), but hey, sometimes you just gotta pull out the plastic. It was one of those times. Very cool!

All was going swimmingly, until my body was rudely attacked by an infection of some kind that manifested itself in the form of an out-of-control hang nail on my left ring finger that exploded into a raging infection that threaten to eat my hand. Being in Singapore – home to some of the best medical care on the planet – it seemed foolhardy to venture onwards to a remote island off the coast of a developing country with a raging infection underway.

Sometimes you just have to make hard decisions. We chose the Singapore health care system over our meticulously planned 6-am bus departure and all points east, and voila, we were now into Plan B. Plan B was: go to the hospital, get treated, get on antibiotics or whatever else they throw at me, come back to Andrea’s pad, then figure out how we are now going to get to Tioman by alternative means – not an easy task!

Anyway, we'll skip over the gory details, but 24 hours +/- later, after a visit to the Singapore National University Hospital (full points to the Singapore health care system!), we found ourselves firmly on Tioman Island soil, enjoying the fruits of our Plan B – which turned out to be a midnight bus (more fun!) through Malaysia, to the port town of Mersing, then onto a crack-of-dawn ferry, and over to Tioman in all of our sleep-deprived glory. Definitely the part of travelling we can do without.

Our first port of call, a place called “Paya” on the west side of the island, turned out to be an over-crowded resort situation catering to loud fluorescent Asian tourists. Although, given my medical situation dominated by a bandaged finger and doctor’s instructions to “keep it dry” (er, doc: did I tell you I’m on my way to a tropical island for a week of holiday?), the air-con room was actually a good clean place to heal my wounds. It’s that infection thing. Clean is good. So it actually wasn’t that bad to be in a resort situation for a couple nights.

The true prize – and the reason we might even say Tioman is the world’s most beautiful island – was when we switched gears and made our butts to the east side of the island, and a place called Juara. Ah Juara…..wow.  Looking for that perfect beach to chill, feet in the sand, perhaps a glass of wine at sunset, and let’s not forget crawling out of bed and into the ocean for a morning dip? If you answered yes, then Juara is for you.

Juara delivers in that “chill beach/feet-in-the-sand” category. It’s that perfect combo of just enough infrastructure (you know, cold beer, beach chairs, and an outdoor shower – what else do you need?), but no glitzy shiny resort-style mega-developments. From what we gathered, the lack of development has something to do with a combo of no direct ferry connections (i.e., the ferry doesn’t land in Juara, you have to drive over from the west side of the island), marine park status around the entire island, and something about a rule that makes it illegal to build anything over three stories high.

Whatever the reason, no complaints – it’s what makes Juara special among all the places we have ever been. It’s just hard to find beaches on this planet that aren’t over-done and ruined by overdevelopment. Somehow, Juara remains relatively unspoiled. (but don’t tell anyone! J)

So ya, 5 or so nights of red wine sunsets, coffee sunrises, morning swims, snorkeling, paddle-boarding, jungle walks to tropical waterfalls, cold beer in the afternoon, walks on the beach, dinners in the moonlight – oh, did I mention the full moon! Wow, absolutely stunning full moons night after night shimmering off the ocean. We both agreed it was probably the most stunning full-moon show we have ever seen.

As an added bonus, if you can believe it, the entire island has “duty free” status for some weird reason (never did figure out why) – meaning at strategic locations, there are duty-free booze stores offering up cheap beer, spirits, and wine! Coming from wineless Indo, we were like kids in a candy store – the kind that shop for good bottles of red wine J  Those full moons just got better and better.

Well, as the story goes, all good things must come to an end. We reluctantly packed up, arranged our ride over the island to the ferry terminal, ferry to the mainland, into a car to take us to the Malaysia-Singapore border, into another car and a 2-hr wait at the border (borders eh….nothing but trouble). We were sweating bullets as we pulled into Singapore’s International Terminal with about 30 mins left on the clock before take-off.

Anywhere else we would have been too late. But this is Singapore. No lines, no waits. Within 10 minutes of entering the glass doors of Terminal 3, we were on the other side of security, boarding pass in hand, and heading to the gate. We made it to the gate, flashed our boarding pass, and walked onto the plane. 

Sometimes, you just have to believe in miracles.

Could not have said it better!