The last few days in Kathmandu were spent catching up with our friend Woody Plus we had to take in the iconic sights: the Swayambunath Stupa and of course the old Freak Street area. Freak street was part of the old hippie trail of the 60s and 70s, mostly shut down in the late 70s and 80s by US intervention (as usual)…. we picked up lots of light clothes for India and warmer climates…. The stupa is probably the best known landmark in Kathmandu, as despite being templed-out, the girls survived. The views of the city …
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Chitiwan National Park
After the mountainous Pokhara it was on to hot Chitiwan National Park to see elephants and hopefully Asian PygmyRhinos! We got to the park and it was hot. Damn hot. After lunch we had several hours to kill before a bush walk so I joined the little two in some pool time. There I met a guy from Montreal and a woman from Portland, Or – she is a specialist elephant vet! They have an NGO called Stand Up 4 Elephants https://www.su4e.org For the next few hours I found out about the plight of Nepali …
Bucket list and no2 spot in the world
On August 17, we got to tick an item off the bucket list. Paragliding and paragliding in the no 2 spot in the world. What a blast!
The girls and I were picked up from the hotel and brought to Sarangkot. A short 25 min drive up the hills of Pokhara.
Post a massive storm the night before, the weather cleared . It’s the tail end of monsoon so the sun is back shining again. It’s hot and it’s humid.
I went parasailing many moons ago but consider this adventure with my chicks as an all round first time.
Kaia… My mind says yes but my guts tell me no, walk away!
Skye… I want to do it but don’t ask me again.
Willow .. I’m definitely doing it. Out of 10, I’m an 11.
Me… As long as I don’t wipe out on take off and rip a hole up the backside of my trousers … Bring it on!
Papa… I’ll sit this one out.
We get to the hill and get assigned to our pilots. This is tandem paragliding. We get our briefing and Q&A. The chutes gets prepped and we suit up. When I tell you to walk, walk against the resistance of the chute… When I tell you to run, run! Pretty simple commands and now the adrenaline really kicks in…
I’m so proud of the girls. They are still game and are excited. Kaia goes first. A mere 4 steps and she is off in the sky! What an awesome take off and not a peep. Skye and Willow are next. Skye is the meat of the Willow/pilot sandwich. These 2 are very excited. Take off is very smooth. I get to see Willow’s and then Skye’s little legs still pumping in the air when they suddenly realize they have left the ground. And then a resounding “wooohooo”. I’m last to go. I wait for the wind sock to be in the right direction to start the walk and then the run… I question briefly my great parenting skills… Before you know it, I’m up gaining altitude rejoining the others.
The setup. You are sitting in what ressembles a chair leaning back against the pilot who is directly behind you. It’s really comfortable and very peaceful. Just the wind, the kites, the sights and a few other paragliders in the sky.
The sights remained awesome even with the Himalayas hiding behind clouds.
So so cool !
We have converts. The girls want to go again.
Group shot pré flight.
Tibet- Nepal Border
Crossing the Tibet- Nepal border on foot seemed like a fun idea. The Nepal earthquake in 2015 closed the usual border so we crossed at Gyirong or Kerung. which has only been open to foreigners for a year. This spring has seen heavy monsoons so the roads on the Nepal side tund out to be horrific – who knew? The Chinese side the road was reallly quite good – the Chinese invasion gave Tibetans good roads and little else. We got to the border early and lined up outside with a several groups of mostly European tourists. Our kids …
Wildlife and Nature in Tibet
Unlike kids in Tibet, our kids ids have grown up in HK where wildlife is not always easy to find. Here in Tibet we got to see farm animals of all kinds, Tibetan mastiffs, wild horses, foxes, some deer and tourists. The natural beauty was clear for all to see from mountains to lakes and amazing skies, the Tibetan plateau is a beautiful place.
Lhasa, Tibet
Everyone should get to the country of Tibet and its capital Lhasa before it is destroyed even more by the Chinese government. Much like Mongolia, the scenery is amazing bit it is the Tibetan people that drew me in…..they were so happy we had a few words in Tibetan and as usual enchanted by the kids. My beard and general weirdness has also been a draw and I am now immortalised in many Tibetans photo collections. Tibet Tibet, the Dalai Lamas and Panchen Lamas have had a long history. The current exiled Dalai Lama is the 14th. …
Leshan Giant Buddha
Since I was a little boy I have wanted to see the Leshan Giant Buddha. My brother gave me a lovely book about some of the worlds most sacred places and this place had always been something I had hoped to see. So after the morning with the pandas our bus then took us to the town of Leshan, population 6.5 million! It was carved into the cliff between the years 713 and 803. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leshan_Giant_Buddha The Giant Buddha – almost. By the time we got there and had a big Sichuan lunch (yum), …
Chengdu – Giant Pandas and Giant Buddhas
Chengdu in Sichuan is famous for giant pandas, Giant buddhas and hot food. Everyone was more than happy to say goodbye to Beijing but as we were flying Air China, there was no guarantee that we would ever leave on time, or even leave the same day, During the night Skye vomited and then again in the morning upon wake up…which triggered Willow to follow suit. Good start…. We knew we had to walk about a kilometre to the subway then a good 40-60minutes by subway to the airport. Both were troopers and we made it but poor Skye hurled …
Mutianyu – The Great Wall
Always a tough decision is where on the Great Wall to visit. The closer to town, the more of a zoo. The farther away then the more expensive and the longer transit time. At the end of the day we chose Mutianyu because it had a slide for the descent! It was a medium distance from town and we left early so got there at a reasonable time to avoid massive crowds and heat. Last time I was at the Wall was winter 2003 and we met some farmers who took us …
Beijing – Forbidden City and Tianamen Square
None of us were super excited that China (and Beijing in particular) was on our itinerary. However, at the end of this tour if we do not return to Asia, we thought it important that kids who were born in HK (part of China now) should see some iconic sights – Forbidden City, Tianamen Square and the Great Wall. It was a rainy morning as we set out for the Palace Museum (aka Forbidden City) and Tianamen Square, in the hopes the rain would reduce the crowds. To people born after 1989 in China the term Tianamen Square …