Christmas again

 Christmas is sometimes for family and maybe friends, but this year it was for exercise because I went away to the Malvern Hills to stay in a hotel for four nights and walk three days. I can't remember enjoying my Christmas food as much as this year because I'd walked so much that I had room for lots of courses including puddings. Staying in a hotel meant I didn't have to plan the meals, shop and prepare and serve them and then do the washing up. A super staff of younger people did it all.

I went with Ramble Worldwide again (like I went to Nepal with, & to NI, and husband & I used to go to Europe with them). About 18 regular ramblers were in this group, two couples and a load of single people, men and women, all of us of a certain age and older. Only two of us are still working and that only two days a week. We both work because we enjoy the work and feel it's worth doing. The group included managers, a policeman, HR specialist, teacher, radiographer, a conductor (music). The leader had been a musician and music teacher (at Kings, Canterbury) for years, playing the flute and piano.

The first walking day was from Upper Wyche (near Great Malvern) to the town of Ledbury, a walk of nine miles. My app said 17 kilometers. Eeh! it was muddy. We tramped some of it off in Ledbury where we arrived with time to explore the shops that hadn't yet closed for Christmas but back at the hotel, we took off our boots in the foyer rather than tramp mud on the lovely carpets.

Christmas day was a short walk (five miles) from the hotel and up on to the Malvern ridge. Half way up the leader stopped and took out of her laden rucksack 18 mince pies and a bottle of sloe gin to share among us. Nice.

On Boxing day, the coach took us to Ledbury and we walked again through mud to Birtsmorton. It's about 8.5 miles and well over 20,000 steps. We should have seen distant views but it was atmospherically misty day. We reached the obelix on Somers hill but couldn't see it until we were almost there. Arriving at Birtsmorton well before four (we had to be sure to finish the walk by four, before it gets dark) we had time for a drink at the Farmers Arms before the mini bus took us back to the hotel.

You can see photos on Rockin' Roy's FB page.

Himalayan Vistas

Still travelling. Am following husband's example by booking walking holidays with the same company. Our last together was in 2019 to the south coast of Italy and then we'd booked NI to walk the glens. now I’m going further than Europe. I had a gap in work in November so I booked 13 nights in Nepal. The trip involved four sites: 

first fly into Kathmandu and then drive to Bhaktapur, the former capital city for a couple of days sight seeing. We visited Bhaktapur durbur square - you have to pay to get into the old town if you're a foreigner.

Next, we headed to the lowlands and Chitwan National Park to see rhino and crocodiles and a lot of birds. We travelled by boat, on foot through the jungle and in a jeep. After three days there, we went to Pokhara where we stayed in the best hotel - grand breakfasts. We went on a boat trip across Fewa lake, we visited a Tibetan camp and made momos. we walked round the lake in the evening. We shopped. I had a reflexology massage.

Pokhara, like Katmandu is a bit polluted and it was a relief to have a couple of days in the hill village of Bandipur, where the first evening, we walked out with the rest of the population round the football field to see the views of the Annapurna range.

Finally, in our mini bus, we drove the 90 km back to Katmandu. It took about seven hours because the roads are so bad after the monsoon landslides in September. But no road was closed. At Katmandu, we visited Durbur square, and also went to see the Boudhanath stupa, which has big blue eyes on all four directions. On the last night, we had dinner in Thamel, with Nepali spirit served and traditional Nepali dancing.

We flew with Qatar airlines. The journeys there and back were between 11 and 13 hours long, depending how long the transit time in Doha was. Jet lag wasn't allowed when we got there because there was so much to do, but when I got home again, I couldn't and wouldn't do anything in the evening for five or six days, allowing a day to catch up each hour's difference, and Nepal is five hours 45 minutes ahead of us.

Bhaktapur

Typtical Nepali thali

On our first walk - the Annapurna Mountain range just began to appear.

Peacock on the wall of a stupa in Bhaktapur

Chitwan National Park

   Travelling in our mini bus from Bhaktapur to Chitwan,
we saw this procession.
Something to do with a new moon

Eight of us on the trip

First sighting of a rhino near the river in Chitwan national park

We went crocodile seeking from a canoe in the river

Crocodile at Chitwan national park

They conserve crocodiles and
here are two year olds being nurtured until they're big enough to release.

Another day we walked up the hill to this waterfall.
We had to cross the stream six times. 

Half way up we met the local mayor and mayoress who were checking local facilities.

At Pokara, we got in one of these boats to visit an island in the lake first, and then to the other side to see a stupa and have coffee before being bussed back.The lake is man made.

 

nuff said

Pokhara

A dawn view of the range

He's determined to get thse two long poles down the hill.

The group, with Manoj, our Nepali guide

Learning to make momos

at a Tibetan refugee camp.

Making momos with Kathy in someone's kitchen 

If you are on Facebook,
 you can see where we made momos at
 https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?
id=100091933461781.

You'd find these bowls of flowers at entrances.

This cobbler on the streets of Pokhara mended my sandal.

Bhandipur

 

Animals, including hens, roamed freely.

Children playing marbles in the street at Bhandipur hill station

Annie loved taking photos of the children and they were pleased to pose.

the old women didn't like being photo'd

Such a beautiful plume

The wood smoke is so polluting that in India the biggest cause of death amongst women is lung cancer.

You could smell wood smoke from the open wood fires used for cooking.  

Nepali beehive. One of us is a bee keeper.

Annie being greeted at the village

The group at the village before they gave us the local alcohol.

Seond from the right is Jane, the RambleWorldWide leader.

Nepali beehives in the village

The traffic was 80% motor bikes. 

this stupa at Katmandu is a world heritage site

This is on the front of my 

Lonely Planet Nepali Phrasebook & Dictionary

You have to go round clockwise.

Blue and changes colour when you add lemon

With lemon juice it turns pink

Katmandu. 30 years ago my sister was here.

Last evening - at special meal out

the ceiling rose of my Katmandu hotel bedroom

Dancer entertainment on the last night

These school children at Bandipur seemed only a year older than my grandson.

view as we left Katmandu

Priests near the river