尼泊尔健行 2022 （8）2022 Nepal Trekking (8)

进入Thamel区的街道漫步游逛，一路上你看见的，听到的和嗅到的，就是一个加满都特征的缩影。

这里的街道一般上都很狭窄，小巷很多，整个道路的衔接方式也凌乱不堪，就像一座完全没有策划的人造迷宫。因此，如果你是第一次一个人到处走走看看，你要特别留意走过的一些地标，不然的话很容易的就会迷失而回不了旅馆。（现在还好，如果你有流动网络，至少可以利用谷歌地图带你回旅馆）

走在街道上，除了千篇一律的商店旅馆之外，几乎每一条街都会有一座小寺庙。尼泊尔的寺庙是以多层造型来建造的，它有单数的屋顶，小型寺庙通常都是三层。它的入口蛮小的，大只佬如洋人要进去还得费一般功夫。里边祭拜的都是印度教的神像，在尼泊尔以Krishna或Shiva为主。尼泊尔人可说是一个相当虔诚的民族，每天早上每一座寺庙都会人来清理，然后开启祭拜仪式，过路人也会停下来烧香燃烛膜拜，一大清早你就会看见寺庙周围都会袅袅升起白烟。

除了小寺庙，有时也有佛塔。Thamel这地区的佛塔非常漂亮，坐落在一个很不显眼的内围广场，我说内围是因为这座广场坐落在口字形建筑物的中央，所以进口很小，一不留意就会错过了。今早我再次来到这座广场，发现地上已经铺上整齐的红砖块，白色佛塔伫立在中央，四周都是一些古旧的建筑物围绕着，巨大的四方形天空在塔顶上，一眼看去真的非常美丽。

在这里一大清早5点多左右就有人售卖早餐了，它是尼泊尔人常吃的一种米粉煎饼，就像我们这里的油条或Ham Chim Peng，就是把调混好的米粉浆放入滚沸的油锅里深炸，而且类型多样化，有圆形，条状，或像甜圈圈的，有些就像下图显示的那样，非常大块，造型也比较复杂。我今早走过不少售卖这种早餐食品的摊子与小店，虽然很想买一块来吃，但看见那些几乎是黑乎乎的煎油和四周的卫生状况，最后还是打消念头，所以至今也不知味道如何。

说起卫生条件，这一次当我在走着的时候，突然被一阵阵如空袭警报的喇叭声吓了一跳。刚开始时还以为是火警，后来发现到原来是一辆小型卡车释放出来的。然后我就看到居民们纷纷带着大包小包的垃圾走上前去，把它丢进卡车里，原来他是沿路巡回的垃圾车，看来这对街道整洁很有好处。

Strolling on the streets around the Thamel area enables you to get a glimpse of what its city structure and architectural features look like. Most of the streets are narrow, the lanes are just pencil-thin, they join up together haphazardly to form an undesigned maze, it’s important for you to remember certain landmarks that you pass by if you walk alone, otherwise, you will get lost rather easily and unable to return to your hotel. 

One of the ubiquitous scenes you will see is the temples, they are located almost on every street. Most of them are quite small, solitary temples with multilayered roofs. Every morning, someone would initiate the praying ceremony, and a lot of the pedestrians too will stop by to pay their homage to the gods, mainly the popular Hindu gods of shiva or Krishna. Most of the Nepalese people are staunch Hindus, sacred temples and reverent praying are essential parts of their daily life. 

In the early morning, some stalls or small shops already start selling the popular breakfast that they like to eat, it’s a type of deep-fried flour batter, something like our you cha kueh or ham chim peng. It can be in simple shapes or something rather intricate as shown in the photo below. I kept passing by this kind of shop, its aroma incited my appetite to give it a try, but then looking at the almost-squid ink like boiling oil and the sanitation condition around, I just refrained from getting one, so if you ask me how it tastes, I truly have no idea. 

Talking about sanitation management, this time when I walked around, I got shocked by a high pitch siren that broke the silence of the early morning. When I was trying to figure out what it was, I saw residents nearby hurried out with rubbish bags in their hands. Only later I saw that people dumped their rubbish into a small truck, it is actually a mobile dump truck that goes around terrorising the residents with ear-piercing sirens to maintain the cleanliness of the city.

尼泊尔健行 2022（7) 2022 Nepal Hiking (7)

加满都的巴士服务

加满都没有一座像样的巴士站，不知道为什么，这里的巴士站都没有站的，只有巴士。譬如前两次前往Pokhara的巴士站就是露天的路旁，早上所有的巴士就停泊在哪儿，你买了车票就自己找巴士。

今早前赴Syabrubesi 的巴士站也是一样，就是在大路旁的一块红泥空地上，除了巴士，还停泊着其他交通工具，如大小型的卡车，汽车及单车。唯一有站的就是售票处，买了票就得自己去找相关的巴士，巴士前没有目的地的牌示，只能认清号码。

车票没有表明车位号码，所以可以随意坐，当然每个人都想抢前位，原因很简单，巴士开行之后你就会明白。巴士通常都不会准时开行，但也不会至于太延误，只是即使是长途巴士都会绕道去其他的车站载客，由于没有规定的候车区，乘客就在路旁等，巴士到了检票员都要大声喊叫巴士前往的目的地，预先买票的就会上来。所以兜来兜去，有时巴士开了将近一个小时，它竟然还没离开加满都！

巴士离开了加满都，你以为这种长途快速巴士是不会停下来随意载客的了，那你就大错特错。今天我们乘搭的巴士只要有人想前往一路上的乡村小镇，他们都会停下来，尤其是进入高山的马路，出其不意地会冒出人来，只要挥一挥手，它又再停下来。在尼泊尔，巴士是可以在路上的任何地点停下来载客或卸客的，所以常常导致交通阻碍。

巴士虽然表明有冷气设备，但通常都不会开，就算开了也不会冷，最主要的是在尼泊尔常常都要攀山越岭，所以上山的时候，巴士就如拉牛上树，非常吃力，对冷气机是一种严重耗费，很快的就坏了，十辆冷气巴士之中，通常只有一两辆的冷气还可以、其他的都只能开小风扇，坐在里边就像烤焗在火炉箱里一样。

至于为何人人要抢前座，那是因为尼泊尔境内的马路损坏程度很糟糕，而且从来很少会去修复，就这样的到处都是深浅不一的坑洞，巴士走得又慢又颠簸，坐在后面的话可能会遭受脑震荡呢！

There is still no decent bus station in Kathmandu, it’s incomprehensible for such a huge city, and the absence of a bus station complex is bewildering. Previously, when we took a bus to Pokhara, the second biggest city in Nepal, we got on the bus beside the road. A similar situation occurred this morning when we took the bus to Syabrubesi, it was on an empty compound beside the main road too. All the buses to various destinations were parked there, and passengers scrambled around to identify the bus plate numbers as shown on the tickets, and some buses didn’t even have any signboards displaying the name of the final destinations.

Most of the time, the buses are slightly late to set off, and they will detour to other bus stations, open air, of course, to pick up passengers, not only the ones with pre-purchased tickets but also on the spot. So after going around for about 45 minutes, you still find yourself right in Kathmandu. Then your bus eventually leaves the city and you are relieved that it will head straight to your final destination, then you are dead wrong. For this kind of express air-conditioned bus, some even display non-stop on its external body, never believe it, as it can always stop anywhere to pick up passengers from the roadside, the aircon hardly works because the bus usually has to toil itself uphills, so it’s the first part of the bus that goes kaput. 

That’s why for a journey of about 120km, you have to spend around 7-8 hours on the road, the deploring condition of the road is the main contributing factor, and the nuisance of stopping incessantly to get passengers is a culprit too. 

And lastly, most of the passengers would fight their lives out to grab the front seats, the reason is simple, the road with countless potholes ensures a really bumpy ride so severe that it will probably cause brain concussion if you dare to sit on the last row!

2022 尼泊尔健行（6）Nepal Trekking 2022 (6)

关于Thamel

每一座城市都有一个游客专属的活动地区，譬如槟岛是Chulia Street一带，那加满都就有Thamel，一个多数游客与爬山客喜欢短住的地方。

Thamel的建筑物新旧参差，但八十%以上都已经被改装成商店或旅馆，所以在这里可说是应有尽有，想购买什么都非常方便，走出旅店就可轻易找到你想找的东西。除了物品和书籍，这里最多就是餐厅和咖啡馆，当然都是以西餐和尼泊尔菜肴为主，但想吃中日餐也不难，多走几条街就会找到。

在这里典型的街道都是极为狭窄，繁忙时段会常常引起严重的交通阻塞，汽车电单车都卡在一起，动弹不得。还有就是这里的电缆线都是挂在上空的，有些电线杆系上密密麻麻的电缆，真的是让人叹为观止，如果真的其中一条发生事故，我在想修理人员需要多久来厘清呢！

我抵达这一天是星期六，也是尼泊尔的休息日，（这里星期日是上班天），所以这个Thamel区显得比较冷清。当然疫情也发挥一些负面效应，我中午的时候到处游逛一下，发现游客真的不多，尤其是亚洲脸孔，比起前三次来到这里，可说是严重锐减。现在的游客多数来自欧美，可说是被他们占据了，我走在街上都变成稀有异族。

想想其实这样也好，游客泛滥的话其实也很叫人烦躁，而且这里的本地人和海外游客多数都不戴口罩，所以在疫情还未彻底消失之前，感染风险也不会那么高，所以这个时候未免不是最好的健行时刻。

About Thamel

There is always a specific area in every city where tourists are inclined to converge, and so is Kathmandu. If Chulia Street is the one in Penang, then Thamel in Kathmandu is the place where most of the tourists congregate and throng to. 

Doubtlessly, Thamel is a highly commercialised area of the city, but the convenience of accommodation, shopping and dining magnetise it to attract most of the tourists and trekkers. The typical streets in Thamel are narrow and prone to traffic congestion, and the external electric cables that facilitate the electricity supply are something awestruck and mind-boggling. 

During this trip, I discovered that the quantum of tourists is much lesser compared to my last three visits, especially since Asian tourist is truly sparse, most faces I see are westerners, look like they are going to be the dominant lot for quite awhile. 

On second thought, lesser crowds could be a boon to me who really abhor extreme noise and crowded spaces, so this must be the perfect time for this trip.

深夜，在机场

 夜开始睏了

黑森森的窗镜不断

吞噬各种虚幻的倒影

宿夜的飞机浅浅地

喘息着在窗外

疲累地闪着微弱的光

一切的飞行就是

一生的消耗

在深夜享受着

歇息的窃悦

而自己也泥陷于时间的

流沙里缓慢下沉

没有惊慌

只有窃悦在深夜

在机场试图进行一场

美丽的阴谋诡计

一种远方的私奔

一切都从这里开始

这一刻的深夜

在机场

总会有一架飞机

依然醒着预备承载

每一张椅座上的梦想

冀望和未知的亢奋

而自己也许预支了

生命中应有的快乐

只是夜那么深

就算是透支了

还有什么关系呢

深夜，在机场

我沉默着

不语看着窗外的

黑暗我想是时候了

在光明未彻底潜逃之前

我只好捕抓它的尾巴

照亮逐渐暗淡的岁月

2022尼泊尔健行 （5）Nepal Trekking 2022 (5)

重游加德满都

四个小时又四十五分钟的高空飞行之后，小小的机舱椭圆形窗外，我再次看见那片如波涛起伏的深山野岭，翠绿的丛林地毡上布满着灰褐色的马路与羊肠小径，仿佛被任性的小孩握着彩笔蹲着随意涂鸦一样，从高空俯视，这些线条显得凌乱又活波。

就在高耸的云层之间，我再次吃力地瞥见纯净的雪山峰腼腆地露出头顶，当我想看得更仔细的时候，它们又沉入云层里。尽管第一次在机舱内遥望雪山峰的震撼已不复存，但我依然以一股浓稠喜悦来重温那种刻骨铭心的感动。尼泊尔应该是全世界最多雪山峰居住的国家，这也是世界各地的游客及爬山客涌入的原因，自己也是被这些魁伟又诡秘的雪山呼唤而来的，恰似一种充满魔幻神力的咒语，一直在召唤着…..。

飞机缓缓下降，翠绿的丛林地毡被肆虐地撕剥掉，摆置上去的是密密麻麻的珍袖房屋盒，那些房子就如色彩斑斓的玩具盒一样，肩对肩地互相紧靠着，排叠出一幅幅稠密得让人看了也会窒息的构图。这就是加满都的容貌，拥挤，凌乱，疯狂，但却恣意地散焕着迷人的魅力。

真的真的很雀跃，三年之后，我又回到加满都，那种感觉就是多年以后无意间在汹涌的人潮中遇见分手了但依然眷恋的旧情人一样，心情的澎湃无法言喻，久久无法抚平。

Revisiting Kathmandu 

After a seemingly endless three years, I could glimpse the undulating mountainous terrain around Kathmandu again. From the small oval-shaped window of the plane, I caught the glance of small patches of the snow-capped peaks surfacing timidly above the clouds, then as fleeting as they appeared, the clouds rose and engulfed them entirely. 

As the plane gingerly descended, the scene outside the window was packed with matchbox-liked buildings that spread in the expanse of Kathmandu valley, the myriad of colours and plethora of shapes of the houses entwined to weave a painting which its close proximity formation exuded a sense of suffocating urgency, distressing but visually exhilarating! 

All these scenes evoke an intimate sense of deja vu deep inside my heart, they are and have been why I keep returning to this country of god, I never get tired or bored of it, and I shall keep returning to her warm embrace again and again.

尼泊尔健行2022（4）2002 Nepal Hiking (4)

终于起飞

RA 416 的字样出现在大荧幕上，心也就定了一半。

只是一半哦，经过昨晚的惊吓，坦白说，这种航空公司以后可免就免。话说为何会飞尼泊尔皇家航空呢，价格是主要因素啦。经过两年多的疫情肆虐，半条命的航空公司停飞的停飞，还飞的就飞得少，所以好几家航空公司就砍掉加满都的行程。

三月初，在决定进行这个健行计划的时候，询查一下才知道只有马航已经开始飞去加满都，但是四千多块的天价让自己怯步。（之前买过的机票都介于1500左右）当时和健行公司的负责人示意可能得把它延迟至年尾，机票价格较合理的时候才成行。负责人就说尼泊尔航空也飞往吉隆坡了，票价四百美金，折算起来还合理，所以就这样敲定。

这就是自己和这个航空结下“恶缘”的来龙去脉。

今晚十一点多来到KLIA，第一件事就是看大荧幕，呵，至少那个望穿秋水的字样RA 416浮现在板上了，但是另一半的心要定下来还是等到登机，坐下来，飞机顺利离地起飞之后才算数吧！

注：为了提神，等待时刻就只好点了这一大杯拉铁来助阵了。

It takers off finally

Yes! RA 416 finally appeared on the huge departures screen, it was a relief indeed but I could only let out half a sigh of relief at this stage, to me, the confirmation of being able to fly to Kathmandu can only be asserted after I board the plane, and the plane does take off smoothly!

The main reason I m flying Nepal Air this trip is mainly due to price factor. After two long years of pandemic assault, many airlines stopped flying to Kathmandu, when I decided to go ahead with this trip in early March, only MAS maintained the flight to Kathmandu, but its astronomical price of a return ticket at 4000rm + (normal price is only around 1500) truly set me back and caused me to think twice whether it’s worth to realise the journey now.

Serendipitously (or no?), my agent in Kathmandu was able to purchase the return tickets from Nepal Air at usd 400, so that was it, the trip was eventually concluded. So here I am, after spending one extra night due to a cancellation mishap, now waiting to board the plane , so let the journey begins!

2022 尼泊尔健行（3）Nepal Trekking 2022 (3)

枯等

人生倘若没有突变，也许就不会那么精彩。

旅程也是一样，出其不意的突变很大的可能将成为整个行程你最无法忘记的部分。

尽管在大家无数次的祝福之下，突变还是发生了。

这个时候本来我人就应该身在加满都，但没有，我还在这里，原来还没开始第二步就踏空了！

昨晚安全抵达KLIA2，乘搭免费的衔接巴士到KLIA去，询问了资讯柜台，惊觉今早尼泊尔航空的航班已经取消了！

当时真的愣了一下，取消？怎么会没通知呢？

后来才知道加满都的负责人帮我订购机票的时候没填上我的联络方式，所以马来西亚的尼泊尔航空办事处无法预早通知。（据说还有两个也蒙在鼓里）

就这样的自己只好下榻Tune Hotel一晚，办妥入房手续后已经接近半夜十二点。

今早起来吃了简单的酒店早餐，就忙着打电话到马来西亚尼泊尔航空的办事处去，确定了新的飞行行程表，一切才重新安顿下来。

这一生也乘搭了无数次的飞机，从来没碰上航班取消的灾难，延迟有好几次，但取消而半天吊还是第一次。

还好，原定的行程没受到多大的影响，现在确认明早登机，我就只好把这个始料不及冒出来的二十多个小时消耗在Tune Hotel了。

自己也万万想不到这将是我旅行第一天的样子。

Insipid Wait

I have been travelling by flight numerous times, but never once encountered flight cancellation. 

Eventually, it caught up with me as last night when I enquired at the check-in counter for Nepal Airline, I was shockingly informed that the flight I booked had been cancelled! 

Apparently, when my agent in Kathmandu booked the air tickets for me, he omitted the contact number of the passenger, thus leading to the failure of Nepal Airline Malaysia to notify me. 

Fortunately, as catastrophic as it seemed, I managed to get it rescheduled for the next flight early tomorrow morning. So I ended up staying overnight at this rather new and plushy Tune Hotel next to KLIA2, and how the first day of my trip turns out is completely beyond my wild imagination!

2022尼泊尔健行（2）Nepal Trekking 2022 (2)

又来到久违的机场

三年之后，首次来到槟城国际机场。

最后一次的海外之旅是与家人在春节期间去曼谷游玩，归来之后疫情便蔓延开来，然后爆发。

这一爆就让人慢慢忘记了什么是度假。

如果连本地旅游都叫人犹豫不决，出国旅游的概念被侵蚀得荡然无存。

三年之后，自己凭着一些直觉踏出第一步，把搁置了两年的健行计划重新推出台面。

三年之后首次来到那么熟悉却有点陌生的机场，车子停在入门前的时候就觉得有点冷清。

走入大厅，显然的以往人潮汹涌的喧哗消失了，摆在眼前的是人群零落的空荡荡感觉，连登机柜台也只有亚航的还稍微有些搭客，其他的都关闭着，不知是没班机还是没搭客。

所以很快的我就办妥托运行李的手续，还有多余的时间和妻子到机场不远的餐馆吃一顿简单的晚餐。

返回机场便前往候机室，海关检查行李处也没有什么人，不需要排队等候。

进到候机室大厅，一眼望去都是已经停止营业的店铺，剩下几间还在营业的也门可罗雀，内外无人，可以想象大家都在挣扎求存。

坐在登机门口处的椅子上，除了缺少攒动的人头之外，还有就是人人脸上都有一件口罩，这可能是这三年来所发生的最大转变吧！

After three long years, once again I stepped into Penang International Airport again. The immediate feeling was kind of weird to see how deserted the airport was, I instantly missed the stirring commotion due to the moving crowds, the noise that infused liveliness in the air, but now the tangible joy of departing for holidays seemed to have dissipated in the air. Instead, you sensed the subdued silence with pockets of people scattering here and there. 

After three long years, ostensibly, a lot of things had changed, crowds disappeared, shops closed, and apparently, it is still a long way to go for the airport to regain its glory.

尼泊爾健行2022 （1）2022 Nepal Trekking (1)

每一個旅程都從行李箱開始。

旅行箱的大小與內容反映每一個旅程的性質，如旅程的目的地，多長與形式。

這一次志在健行，衣著方面以禦寒裝配為主，冬衣，外套，Long John等。基於前三次的經驗，日常衣褲其實不必太多，在冷天氣之下徒步遠行，其實不容易流汗，所以上衣也不必每天更換。反而是風衣和雨衣可要預備，高山叢林里天氣說變就變，由於地勢可能崎嶇險峻，如果下了雨，一邊提傘一邊攀爬可是極為冒險。

這一次只攜帶兩件行李，一個是自己要背的背包，另外一個是樵夫幫忙扛的行李箱，還有一袋裝著相機的三腳架和徒步竹節蟲。前三次自己都不用竹節蟲，但這次考慮到要抵達的新高度，還可能會登頂5000米的山，及年齡的考量，這是第一次把它帶去旅行。

年齡考量的還不只是這兩支手杖，這次還準備了不少緊急用品，藥物，貼膏，紗布，等等，這些都是歲月已經趕上的跡象，這就是為何- 健行要趁早- 老了就心有餘而力不足了。

三件行李，一本國際護照，一些現鈔，和一具軀體，所有的預備工作寫下句點， 一切就緒，自己也走到一個未知的起點。

Every journey starts with luggage, its size and content determine the characters of the trip, how long, where, why and its features.

As for mine, it’s a trekking trip in a cold country, what the main luggage bag keeps the most is the items to defend against the freezing weather, and expectedly, emergency items come next with all sorts of drugs, plasters, medicinal cream and supplements.

It was totally different from how I packed for my last trekking trips, but after 3 years at 57 yo, the ominous sign of age catching up is clear and real, that’s why I believe the time is running out for any tough trekking trips in Nepal, I would grab whatever opportunity that comes along in coming years before both of my legs tell me to stop.