One thing has not changed since the first time I arrived in Nepal, in January 2008, and that is the dramatic and over-loud power horns attached to buses and trucks. 18 years ago, I was at first accommodated quite close to the highway, and the passing traffic certainly made itself known. And now I am…
Author: ianraitt
Nepal Notes: day hike to Namobuddha
I have done this walk many times, but this time I noted some of the gradients. After passing through Dhulikhel, there is the steady ascent on ‘the thousand steps’ to the Kali temple, then the path goes down quite a way to the main highway that goes to the Terai, then gradually rising and winding…
Nepal Notes: Animal Welfare
On animal welfare, Madhu told me that his cow was due to give birth a few days ago, but that the birth was a little late. He explained that the calf often has to be taught how to suckle, an anxiety shared by mother, calf, and human attendants right at the start. Today he stated…
Nepal Notes: a wondrous sound
A visit to the Sanskrit School Madhu suggested a stroll up towards the well known viewpoint above the house, where there is a tower that you can climb up, to see the hills. Today was a particularly misty day, with all the usual pollutants, but I think the mistiness was due to higher humidity, so…
Nepal Notes: Christmas
I am mildly curious if I will find some way to celebrate Christmas this year. Probably hotels will put on a Christmas meal for those interested. When working at the school, I recall a couple of Christmas Days when I would work as usual and not take the day off, but a doctor from the…
Nepal Notes: Cultural Changes and Traditional Leanings
On Sunday I went for a short walk with Ram. The mountains were clear, though the smog haze can be seen here. I asked him about the erosion of arranged marriage by caste in Kathmandu. Seven years ago I had a conversation with some young Nepalis when going up to Tilicho Lake in the Annapurna…
Mardi Himal Ridge and Annapurna Base Camp
In late September 2025, a lingering low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal and northern India caused a tremendous amount of rain to fall in Kathmandu and eastern Nepal. On Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th September from 240mm to 322mm of rain fell and parts of Kathmandu itself were flooded. It rained heavily for 40…
Call of the Great Master- another spiritual classic
This book was written by Daryai Lal Kapur, and it is an account of the teachings of Sant Mat, or Surat Shabd Yoga, as presented by Maharaj Sawan Singh (1858-1948), who was known as ‘the Great Master’ by his disciples, and who consolidated the teachings in a line of Masters founded by Shiv Dayal Singh…
Autobiography of a Yogi – another look at a classic text
I first read this book around 1977. Then again in 2018. And once again in 2025. On this last re-reading, I was surprised by how the book seemed so fresh, as if I were encountering it for the first time. This perception might merely be related to declining memory retention, but what does persist and…
Birds of a feather flock together
Looking up at the hilltop convent in Archidona There is a short but quite steep walk up to the convent above the town of Archidona. This vicinity also has a number of defensive walls from earlier times, and those above the convent have recently been restored, quite sensitively and thoroughly. It is worth the…
Snow Mania – Winter in Britain: 1962-63
A few memories linger from that winter. The first tiny, tiny flakes of snow that fell tentatively from a heavy sky, then thronged in a graceful dance, and finally cascaded down relentlessly. The unexpected wildness of deep drifts on the steep bank of the playing fields shared by the two schools, the Junior and Senior…
Langtang _ Day 1: Thursday 13th February, 2020 -Dunche to U Kyang
Madhu said there was no point in trying to get transport to Syabrubesi from Dunche, as it is infrequent and already full, but this was just as well as it provided the opportunity to make a new approach into the Langtang Valley, and we had the time. As we left the town, we could see…
Langtang in Winter _ Day 2: Friday 14th February 2020 – U Kyang to Lama Hotel
A bittersweet experience on a trek is the knowledge that height gained is often sacrificed in height lost. Thus today we could see the long descent to the floor of the Langtang valley where the path would join the main trail. Finally in the valley was a lodge where we could have a hot cup…
Langtang in Winter _ Day 3: Saturday 15th February – Lama Hotel to Langtang Village
We were invited to sit in the kitchen while waiting for breakfast. Cooking was done on a semi-open fire, and surprisingly there seemed to be little smoke from the wood used. It was a cheery sight, and though a bit wasteful of wood the blaze got the breakfast ready fast. The path crossed landslides triggered…
Langtang in Winter_ Day 4: Sunday 16th February 2020
A high wind in the night, then stillness. Sleep came with difficulty in the mountain air. Then a bright morning with no wind; warm in the sun. The valley opened out to a Scottish highland glen, with its boulders, its rushing river, its small hydroelectric scheme with insulated pipe. A majestic stupa crowned a rise….
Langtang in Winter _ Day 5-7: Monday 17th February to Wednesday 19th 2020 – Tsergo Ri and return
This was the climax of the trip. Would I get up without any altitude symptoms, weakness, headache? Pepe, a young Catalan from Barcelona, joined us at the start. We gave him some suncream. Then he streaked ahead. It was just a long, long ascent. The only tricky part was when you reached an intermediate saddle…
In search of the Ganesh Himal base camp
To approach the inner sanctum of the mountains, we first had to descend quite steeply through the forest and cross a couple of rivers. The total ascent for these two days could therefore have been about 2200m, though without any altitude effects, since we were not staying at the top elevation of 4000m, but returning…
Further into the unknown region: The Ganesh Himal base camp.
Nile to Domje: While many of the most famous treks in Nepal are circuits, for example Annapurna, Manaslu, Kanchenjunga, there is also interest in going down the way that you came up, for example in the Everest base camp trek and the Langtang trek, due to the surprising new viewpoints you may have missed on…
Tsum Valley: The Upper Sanctuaries
Chhokang Paro to Nile: So now that we were in the upper valley, did the atmosphere provide subtle emanations linked to the remote, untouched nature of the place, and to the constant vibrations transmitted from the places of inner devotion, the gompas with their adherents always in solitary, meditative retreat from the maya and illusion…
Tsum Valley Approaches: December 2023
Jagat to Lokpa: we were still in the common area for trekking around Manaslu. Frequent mule trains descended, unladen, usually placidly, but at times there was jostling and kicking. We could see that this traditional means of transport will be replaced by the gradual extension of the road towards the villages in the Manaslu valley….