By: thegreathimalayatrail.org
Source: http://www.thegreathimalayatrail.org
Category: Trekking In Nepal
Posted By: www.gilttravels.com
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| Trekking In Nepal |
After almost three weeks of preparation with the different routes, itinerary, flights, rentals, budgeting and convincing parents that although the route to
Rara lake is less traveled, it is safe, I, along with three other friends, headed towards
Rara Lake this October.
After a bus ride from
Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, we flew to Kolti, Bajura.
Most people who go to Rara usually walk from Jumla and then either fly out from Humla or Talcha airport or return through a different route back to Jumla. It was a pity to know that the picturesque postcard-perfect route from Kolti to
Rara lake which is also comparatively easier to walk, remains
largely unexplored.
Walking from Kolti to Rara lake also allowed us to trace back the stream that went out of
Rara Lake to become Khatyar Khola and eventually meet the great Karnali.
With almost every house on the way serving as a hotel, finding a place to stay with good dal-bhat-tarkari at very reasonable prices wasn’t very hard to find. The places are very basic and one needs to be very flexible and easily adaptable. An overnight stay with dinner on an average would cost Rs. 130.
At a place called Pina Chowki, on the way to Jumla, I was even told that we could pay how much ever we wanted in order to stay in their house/hotel.
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| Trekking In Nepal |
However, it was interesting to see how the only hotel in the
National Park area, where we’d hoped to at least take baths and catch up on sleep, was most disappointing and an unwelcome departure from everything we had experienced throughout the trip. Cold air seeped into the walls of the room made up of poorly fit planks of wood. I woke up with a headache and swollen eyes and fingers. The lunch we ordered took more than 3 hours and turned into dinner. We asked for local fish (not from Rara lake, of course) and they proudly said that they have “tin fish all the way from Kathmandu”. We asked for tea and they said they only had “tea bag” instant tea. Lunch/Dinner time came and we were served extremely bland food and daal that had spices from wai wai/instant noodles, on a fancy tiny plate. The floor of the “dining table” was, also inclined downwards and the moment we kept our plates on the table, everything would spill down. We were being charged almost double and at this point, all of us wished to go back to the villages, sit on the floor, enjoy the warmth emanating from the kitchen stove’s fire and the conversation with our hosts, and eat good dal-bhat-tarkari from plates that suited our appetites.
While modernity is alluring and prized, and the production of local foods and traditional practices are gradually fading away in this region, a parallel opposite trend is ongoing in the west with the slow food movement and preference of the local over mass production. I felt baffled.
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| Trekking In Nepal |
Roads are being built along the way, every passing house has a hotel signboard and NGOs are coming up with different ways to market tourism in the region. There are many changes taking place, for better or worse, and the region will inevitably be very different, in the next ten years. But for the time being, this region still remains on the fringes of modernity and is unspoiled by mass tourism; and the people and places of my
travel will always influence my imagination of Nepalis and
Nepal.
Traveling to
Rara lake through our route was more affordable compared to most touristy areas in Nepal. Porters, guides, tents, special trekking shoes are also not necessary and you don’t have to be a seasoned trekker or an athletic person either. According to the locals, the best time to visit is during April-May and then October.
Source:http://www.thegreathimalayatrail.org/5450/rara-lake-travelogue/
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