Dear folks, 

I've just returned from the trekking trip and the tour-de-hospital trip yesterday, after a 10-hour bus trip. It's nice to be back home in Pucho Niwas Guesthouse. 

We had a really fantastic mountain-trekking trip, with awesome mountains, snow peaks, rugged trails, and beautiful villages along the way. Pretty tiring though, coz we had to walk for almost 7 to 8 hours a day with overweight haversacks on our backs. After a few days of walking, foot blisters started to become a problem. However, the wonderful sceneries made it all worthwhile. When we got tired, we hired a cow, and then a porter to carry the haversacks. 

How far did we managed to trek? Well, we landed in the Jomsom airport, right at the foot of a snow-capped mountain (I think it was the Dhaulagiri). The we walked northwards along/in the great Kali Gandaki river, doing the Annapurna Circuit clockwise. Made a stop in Kagbeni, a beautiful village with stone houses, cobbled streets, and lush green wheatfields, plus snowy mountains as the backdrop. It was really overjoying to see green after hours of walking on barren stony hills. Even more amazing, fossils of sea creatures could be found at this altitude... does this imply that the whole earth WAS indeed covered by sea (during Noah's time) sometime back in history? Our last stop was in Muktinath (about 3800m), a pilgrimage village for Hindu believers (yes, with sheer grit they actually take all the trouble to walk up here to pray). Tried to make it to the Thorung La Pass (5416m) but had to turn back at 5100m because we did not have enough warm clothings and not enough time. It was fine though, coz at least we got to walk in ankle-deep ice.

From there we made a return trip, trekking pass Jomsom and proceeding southwards. We passed a beautiful village called Marpha, where apple trees are grown to make wine. Fantastic views again. Then there was Kalopani, with alpine trees, stone houses and snowy white mountain-face. After that, Tatopani was a big letdown. Watched sunrise at Poon Hill, Ghorepani (3193m) with loads of other travellers. From there we could see the entire Dhaulagiri-Annapurna-Himalayan mountain range, presenting as a long stretch of ice-peaks along the distant skyline.

We then turned eastward to connect up with the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trek, passing Tadapani, Chomrong, etc. Was a pity that when we reached ABC, where we were supposed to be surrounded by ice-peaks all around, the fog reduced our visibility to barely a hundred meters. It was even snowing! To compensate, we made a snowman. From there we made a dash downhill, and was back in Pokhara the next day evening.

From Pokhara, Edwin left for Kathmandu to fly home. I continued on alone to visit some peripheral hospitals in the mountains.

My first stop was the Amp Pipal Hospital in the Gorkha district. It took me 6 hours of walking uphill (got lost a few times) under the blazing sun to arrived at this rural missionary hospital. Almost suffered from heatstroke and had to beg for water from a kind peasant girl. A very small and basic hospital with about 40 beds, Amp Pipal provides health services for the hill people who live "within a day's walk" from the hospital. "Ambulance" means to be carried by porters in a basket or stretcher. Amp Pipal was the first UMN (United Missions to Nepal) hospital, set up after Nepal opened it's doors to foreigners in the 1950s. Heather, the missionary-kids teacher from UK brought me up the Liglig Mountain for a breathtaking view of the Gorkha hills.

(Note: Amp Pipal was handed over to the local community in Sept 2001 due to increasing Maoist threats and difficulty in recruiting missionary doctors to serve there.)

My next stop was the Green Pastures Hospital in Pokhara. Green Pastures is a leprosy hospital cum neurology rehab center run by the INF (International Nepal Fellowship). Leprosy is a feared disease in Nepal, and lepers would be shun away by their community and forced to live as outcasts. In Green Pastures, they are taken in and given treatment (which is continued for six months to a year), while being taught handicraft skills to earn some income. There's a workshop that produces tailor-made shoes, casts and braces for the patients. Things happen at a slow pace here, coz it's basically a rehab hospital.

From Pokhara I took a 6-hour bumpy ride to Tansen, where the UMN hospital is. The bus rammed into another bus on the way and was delayed for a hour. Tansen is a nice little town located along a hill-face. The Tansen Hospital, or "Mission" as it is known to the locals, is a very homely missionary hospital. Each day, the hospital chaplain shares gospel to patients and relatives in the wards. The local church conducts evangelical talks in the hospital every week. A signboard outside the hospital reads "We serve Jesus heals". Due to lack of facilities, patients who require MRI imagings are actually sent on a 6-hour bus ride across the Indian border to have the scans taken, then coming back to Tansen for furthur treatment. The community at Tansen Hospital was very warm and kind. Met with Tim and Nick, medical elective students from Oxford, and Ellen from Switzerland. We did a day trip together to Ranighat, a deserted mansion-palace in the hills half a day's walk away. 

Then, made a visit to Sanauli the border town, to step foot in India. Finally, spent an evening in Lumbini, the birth place of Buddha.

Got lots of things to tell, but will only tell you guys back home. Am in quite a rush now. Gotta take photoes at places that I haven't visited in Kathmandu. Paired up with Choong Yi, a Malaysian med student studying in UK, who also did his electives in Nepal. We bumped into each other in Pasupatinath, the Hindu cremation river. We then visited Boudanath and shopped in Thamel together.

Will be flying out of Nepal on Saturday 1.40 pm (Nepali time). 

Will spend a few days in Bangkok and Ayuthia, while I am on transit. Then will fly out of Thailand on 23th May Wed 7.10 pm (Thai time). May come back a bit earlier if it gets too boring, if money runs out, or miss home, or miss friends.

Mum and Dad : Will call home when I reach KLIA. May come back on Komuter if I change my mind and come back earlier in daylight. 

Edwin : thanks for the info. Sorry for causing the excess baggage. Will refund you when I get back. Shan Fap wants you to get your key soon, and contact him soon, coz he's going home to Sarawak. 

Mira : sorry, tak sempat belikan kain. Tak sempat juga cari girlfriend kat Nepal sebab language tak ngam. Ramai lagi kat Malaysia kan. 

Norma : am fine and healthy and still alive (wow !). hantar regards kat Linda ye. 

What's my conclusion ? Malaysia is still the best ! 

Cheers, 

Michael 
Count your blessings !