Yoga, trekking and carbs

HIYA – Himalayan International Yoga Retreat

This small retreat facility was truly an oasis on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Once through its gates we were met with greenery, flowers, many butterflies and a chorus of insects sounding much like crickets and cicadas. The man who runs the place, Dr. “indian name I do not remember” was away in India, but we were very well taken care of by the rest of the staff. Our daily schedule included 7am nasal wash and fresh mint tea followed by 90 minutes of yoga and then breakfast. We had therapies in the morning and in our two days had one of the BEST massages and a steam bath (not really my thing – I only lasted about 7 of the prescribed 20 minutes). After lunch we did pranayama and yoga nidra, and before dinner 1 hour meditation which took different forms on the 2 nights we were there. Yoga was classical Indian style and our teacher was fairly new to teaching. It was quite different from what we are used to in Ontario: no attention to alignment, little accommodation for beginners, and no breath co-ordination with movement (plus our teacher’s English was poor and he used only Sanskrit names for asanas – definitely a challenge!).  However, to practice again in a structured way was a real pleasure, and both Bar and I could draw on our previous teachings. One of the best things about this place was the vegetarian food prepared by our cook Narayen – only 19 years old and quite a character. Narayen also took Bar and I out at 5:45 1 morning for a brisk walk to Swayambhunath – the “monkey temple”. Along with Verena from Germany, we had “cooking class”, instruction on how to shape small wheels of dough around special filling (cheese, vegetables and spices) into small momos, the little steamed dumplings Nepal is famous for. Narayen and Soba (the housekeeper), the housekeeper, could make them so fast compared to our clumsy hands. However, my finished products did get special mention. In so many ways being at HIYA was like being in a little cocoon – walled off from all the dirt, confusion and bustle of Kathmandu. I loved sitting in the morning after breakfast listening to the bustle of life that was clearly going on outside our walls. It was a unique experience to listen, without seeing. For 3 days we really rested and enjoyed sleeping in our safari tent named “tranquility”. Barry made special connections with the manager, Lala, and our yoga teacher (whose name I forget) who was very appreciative of Barry’s English coaching.

How to properly shape the new hat - with Lala

View over Kathmandu from retreat centre

Hiking the trails behing the yoga academy with 2

fellow students...beautiful, this part anyway.



Momos in the steamer

Soba shaping the dough for us

Our comfy tent accommodation

Centre path of the yoga centre

Steam bath therapy for Barry - with our yoga teacher.

Trekking in so many ways, was a logical extension of our yoga experience. But first, a few details. KEEP – the Kathmandu Environmental Education Program keeps a list of reputable trekking companies that are also registered with the Trekking Agencies Association of Nepal. KEEP does environmental education for porters (don’t litter on the trails), hosts a clothing bank for porters, and counsels trekkers on how to be responsible when trekking and how to best support local peoples. Through their services we found a good company called Himalayan Glacier. I had my first real Nepali bartering experience with Naba from Himalayan Glacier. WE discussed options and timelines and went away with a price. I was not that comfortable with the price quoted and after a bit more reading in the Lonely Planet was clear that I wanted a better price. The next morning we went back and Naba and I started the process of negotiating a price. In the end both Naba and I were happy – we both gave a little and Bar and I walked away satisfied with what we had just purchased. This is what our guide book says bartering should lead to – both parties being happy. Actually I was quite elated, given that I was nervous as heck when we started the process.

Nine day trip to the Langtang Valley with guide and porter – all transport, accommodation, lodging in teahouses, sleeping bag rentals, permits and taxis paid for and arranged. This is what we bought. We came back from our yoga retreat one afternoon, and left the next morning on a 6:15am taxi to the local bus with our guide Giri. It was great for us to just walk right into this ‘walk”.

The entire experience was a great adventure. I barely know where to begin. Our guide Giri has worked for 26 years as a trekking guide, and now that he is done with our trek he takes a group to Everest Base Camp in a couple of days. Our porter Ram carried all our stuff except the day packs on our backs. They often worked together and both were, relatively speaking, a little older. We learned quickly that there job was to serve us; ensure our safety and comfort. They were always extremely attentive to our well-being and both Barry and I realized independently that our role was to receive their attentions and to allow ourselves to be served.  In spite of this, however, we also had a special connection with Giri because we had just come from the yoga retreat. He had a pranayama practice that he did almost daily for over an hour: kapalabati breath, alternate-nostril breathing, and bastrika breath (forgive my spelling). He queried Bar and I about our own practices and because of this felt a special kinship with us I am quite convinced. He often referred to our “private” tour   and towards the end said that we were more like friends than simple guide-trekker associates. He and Barry often discussed Nepal and as we walked he talked about the prayer wheels, the mane walls, and one day told us stories of Shiva and Ganesh. He taught me “om mani padme hum” – the mantra printed on the prayer wheels and explained the significance of the religious rituals we were fortunate to witness as we walked and slept among the peoples of this valley.

Giri taught us to trek like “tortoises”. I had learned this myself hiking in the Colorado Rockies – but he still slowed us down so much. Slowness, he taught us, was essential because it gives your body time to acclimate to the elevation gain and decreasing oxygen, and allows you to enjoy yourself and the surroundings. We hiked 3.5 hours in the mornings and then about 1.5 hours in the afternoon (except for 1 day – 2.5 hours of hiking total so we could enjoy Thulo Syabru). We seldom talked as we trekked, which opened the experience to becoming quite meditative. As my yoga teachers have taught us – we had to let our breath be the anchor. One has to establish a comfortable, regular breathing pattern or one simply tired way too quickly and the activity couldn’t be sustained. Soon breath becomes synchronized with movement – for me 1 inhale for every 2 steps, and then 1 exhale for the next two. I would chant as I walked and I imagine Barry would hear music as he walked. The trail often had lots of stone steps, or was quite narrow too, so a lot of focus was required and by day 2 I had to also take my awareness to my feet and make sure each foot was planted squarely on the ground – we were doing full-on walking meditation.

Lodging was humble at best, in “tea houses”. Giri always made an effort to secure us the best room available, but also wanted to support some of the poorer families. Tea houses all follow the same basic pattern, and all have the same menu developed through a tourism organization, which reduces competition I assume. Rooms consist of mattresses on wooden platforms, a pillow, no heat and if lucky a light. Trekkers have sleeping bags. Some were spacious and some quite tight. A toilet might be an attached flusher – or could be a squatter out in a separate shack. Water, from mountain streams (think cold) tends to come from an outdoor hose positioned over a concrete “basin”. Daily ablutions are public; locals brush teeth, scrub faces, and shave out in the open at the hose. In all cases there is a dining area with plank tables and bench seating around 3 walls and a wood stove in the middle that gets lit about 5 pm when it starts to get cold outside. It is a great place to hang, eat dinner, and meet fellow trekkers. Barry loved the communal nature of the space after so many campfires on our own in North America. There is a kitchen building where guides and porters tend to hang and eat, with these amazingly efficient hand-made clay stoves. Meals were carb laden; porridge, bread or pancake for breakfast (best breakfast – warm Tibetan bread with honey and yak cheese bought direct from the factory in Kyanjin Gompa); lunch was often cheese omelets and fried potatoes, noodles or rice; for dinner we tended to choose the Nepali standard – dahl bhat (rice, veg curry, dahl, pickle – with as many refills as one wants) or a version of rice, pasta or potato that one did not eat at lunch. Fortunately there is local food: potatoes, cabbage, carrots, onions and garlic, and depending on the elevation spinach. Chickens provide lots of eggs.  We’ve become addicted to weak nepali tea with sugar at lunch, mid-afternooon, and at dinner. We ate a lot of food always served by our guide and porter. They did not eat until we were done.

Culturally we were in the land of the Tamang peoples who came from Tibet. Giri distinguished between Upper and Lower tamang, with the former coming from Tibet more recently (about 600 years ago) and therefore retaining  more of their Tibetan roots. We marveled at the dry-stone building, the inscriptions/carvings on the mane walls that led to the stupas (chortens in Tibetan), the yaks, carved wood and simple farming techniques. Other than what they can grow themselves, everything must be carried up from the end of the bus line – a 2 day trek for sure. It is thought provoking to say the least to have a man carry a pack for us, and then watch a young Tamang walk by with a 45 kg propane tank on his back plus maybe a bag of rice. Or to watch porters carry camping supplies for a group of trekkers heading into the mountains beyond the last tea houses. These porters are carrying chairs, dining tents, all cooking supplies, water and fuel, and tents. They are so laden and move so swiftly. We saw a few women porters, or simply local women hauling huge bags of staples up the paths. Bar caught 2 kids practicing – carrying loads of yak dung to dry for fuel.

Our last night we stayed in the small town of Thulo Syabru, perched high on the ridge of a mountain. Wonderful connections with Dhechen, daughter of our hotel host, a young nurse still to complete some training who currently works teaching kindergarden at the local school. She also was a singer songwriter, and sang us some of her music while Barry accompanied her on a guitar she fetched. Bar got to play the traditional 4string, 3 note dhamngen with a local musician. Our special room – perched over the kitchen, accessible by crossing a small plank/walk had possibly the best mountains views of all (plus space and electricity).

 

Looking north to Tibet from our humble room at

the Namaste Guest House

Barry playing the Dhamngen with the son of the

instrument maker...we bought their CD!!!

The terraced slopes of the hills outside Thulo Syabru

The view from our patio in Namaste Guest House

in Thulo Syabru.

Barry accompanying Dhechen, a singer, songwriter,

teacher, nurse and the daughter of our host.

Dechen reading her lyrics from her laptop as she sings to us in Nepali.

 

Peaceful, stunningly beautiful, new and at times challenging. We’d often look at each other and marvel at the fact that we were ½ way around the world from our home, in the Himalayan Mountains for goodness sakes! We came to appreciate such simple pleasures and ate way more carbs than I ever thought possible. We feel blessed beyond belief to be having this experience.