After leaving Dhampus in the Annapurna region by 4x4 at 6.30am, I made myself at home in the back as I knew it was going to be a long drive to Barpak where I will be staying for the next 2 nights! Barpak is in the Gorka region of Nepal and was the epicenter of the earthquake.
We drove on main roads for a long time, passing several closed pertol stations with armed riot police and hundreds of cars queuing down the road. A new constitution was passed last week which it appears has been well supported by the Nepali people, however not so well with the Indian Government, as it introduces policies which give Nepali's priority over Indian nationals. This has caused a block at the border of India, which is where fuel for the whole country would usually come from, this has been happening for over a week with no sign of resolution, in which time fuel is running desperately short and the country is at risk of coming to a stand still.
The fuel issue hasn't affected my trip up until now, however the 4x4 we have only has one tank of petrol and it has to last us the drive today and then back to Kathmandu, the driver assures me that it will but every time I see the needle go down on the gauge I think that he doesn't REALLY know that, he is just reassuring me! One thing is for sure though, when we hit the dusty tracks in 30 degree heat, we will not be able to have the aircon on as it uses up fuel!
We collected Pavan from CARE Nepal on the way, he is a shelter adviser and is a fascinating car companion with lots of tales of his life working on many disaster recoveries; Cyclone Phailin and the Indian tsunami to name but a few. He prepares me for the condition of the road ahead as well as the conditions people are living in in Barpak.
We eventually turn off the main road and Tap our driver puts us into 4 wheel drive, the road is relentless, there is no proper surface and the rocks below make for a bumpy ride!! The mountain roads are windy and precarious, sheer drops one side and evidence of landslides the other, I was glad I was in the back and decided the front seat wasn't for the faint hearted, although with 3 of us in the back, we were getting pretty friendly as we bounced around endlessly!!
At about 10.30am (we had left the main road at about 9.30am) Pavan told us we wouldn't reach lunch until 12.30pm at the earliest...REALLY?!! I was already starving and as the next 2hrs went by I reminded myself cannabalism wasn't an option. We finally made it to the town nearest to Barpak, and the 15mins it took to get our lunch was LONG! I busied myself by taping our Go Pro (donated to CARE by the amazing Gary Nicol!) to the dashboard of the car, firstly so I could wow everyone with how cool it was that I could control the Go Pro remotely using my iphone in the back seat, but also because I had to capture this epic journey! (see below)
Lunch was great, in Nepal they eat 'Dal Baht' twice a day everyday, and if I lived here I would do the same! It's literal translation is lentil stew and rice, which is part of the meal along with a veg curry, pickle and spinach. The best things about Dal Baht are
1) It's super tasty and always different as everyone always cooks it their own way
2) you get as much as you can eat! When you are about half way through you get offered more of everything and it really is ok to say yes (I wont be taking to the scales for a while when I get home!) 3) you eat it with your hands! You can opt for a spoon if you like, but eating sloppy curry and rice with your hand is so liberating (small things!), and the locals love it when you get involved!
After we digested we got back in the car for the final 1.5hrs of the drive, the road was quite a lot worse for a lot of this part, but I focused on the amazing views across the valleys and mountains, oh and playing with the Go Pro!
Pavan told me that the road has only just reopened, because it has been monsoon season and the land here is prone to landslide, it has been blocked for months with rocks and earth, literally this week they have had a digger along to clear the way. Previous visits Pavan has made, he has always had to walk for 1-2 days to reach Barpak as the vehicle could only make it so much of the way. At times the road felt like a film set, like Indiana Jones or something (If i ever watched films I could probably provide a better reference!), with HUGE boulders, bigger than me, which had once been attached to the side of the mountain. We also passed some small communities and started to see the damage from earthquake, with piles of rubble, cracked buildings and temporary homes people have made to live in.
We finally arrived to Barpak and we stopped just outside the main town at the CARE camp which was set up immediately after the earthquake so that our staff could live there during the response. It is now just empty tents, but there is also an office tent, lots of solar panels and a large battery which mean it's the only place in the whole area that has 24hrs of power (the rest of the town has power from 6.30-9.30). The view from the camp was spectacular, and really put my own view of Battersea Power Station (even with the winter sunsets) to shame!
Barpak has a population of 4985 who live across 9 wards, each ward is positioned within about a 3km radius, all of which are on the side of the mountains. Each separate ward is a community who have lived together their whole lives. Some of the wards are more remote and people from other wards wouldn't have reason to visit, however lots of people do cross paths when going about their
daily lives. The bulk of the people live in the heart of the town which is where we were staying,.
As we walked through the town surrounded by destruction, I still couldn't believe that 'Hotel Washington' existed until I saw if with my own eyes! But sure enough, tucked away down a dirt path was one of just 27 houses in the area that was undamaged by the earthquake (1354 out of 1387 houses were destroyed completely or damaged beyond repair), and here we found some very basic, but clean and comfortable rooms.
It was overwhelming how 6 months on the evidence of the earthquake was still screaming from every square foot, however it was obvious with the poor access by road, that
it was going to take a long time to recover fully!
We drove on main roads for a long time, passing several closed pertol stations with armed riot police and hundreds of cars queuing down the road. A new constitution was passed last week which it appears has been well supported by the Nepali people, however not so well with the Indian Government, as it introduces policies which give Nepali's priority over Indian nationals. This has caused a block at the border of India, which is where fuel for the whole country would usually come from, this has been happening for over a week with no sign of resolution, in which time fuel is running desperately short and the country is at risk of coming to a stand still.
The fuel issue hasn't affected my trip up until now, however the 4x4 we have only has one tank of petrol and it has to last us the drive today and then back to Kathmandu, the driver assures me that it will but every time I see the needle go down on the gauge I think that he doesn't REALLY know that, he is just reassuring me! One thing is for sure though, when we hit the dusty tracks in 30 degree heat, we will not be able to have the aircon on as it uses up fuel!
We collected Pavan from CARE Nepal on the way, he is a shelter adviser and is a fascinating car companion with lots of tales of his life working on many disaster recoveries; Cyclone Phailin and the Indian tsunami to name but a few. He prepares me for the condition of the road ahead as well as the conditions people are living in in Barpak.
We eventually turn off the main road and Tap our driver puts us into 4 wheel drive, the road is relentless, there is no proper surface and the rocks below make for a bumpy ride!! The mountain roads are windy and precarious, sheer drops one side and evidence of landslides the other, I was glad I was in the back and decided the front seat wasn't for the faint hearted, although with 3 of us in the back, we were getting pretty friendly as we bounced around endlessly!!
At about 10.30am (we had left the main road at about 9.30am) Pavan told us we wouldn't reach lunch until 12.30pm at the earliest...REALLY?!! I was already starving and as the next 2hrs went by I reminded myself cannabalism wasn't an option. We finally made it to the town nearest to Barpak, and the 15mins it took to get our lunch was LONG! I busied myself by taping our Go Pro (donated to CARE by the amazing Gary Nicol!) to the dashboard of the car, firstly so I could wow everyone with how cool it was that I could control the Go Pro remotely using my iphone in the back seat, but also because I had to capture this epic journey! (see below)
Lunch was great, in Nepal they eat 'Dal Baht' twice a day everyday, and if I lived here I would do the same! It's literal translation is lentil stew and rice, which is part of the meal along with a veg curry, pickle and spinach. The best things about Dal Baht are
1) It's super tasty and always different as everyone always cooks it their own way
2) you get as much as you can eat! When you are about half way through you get offered more of everything and it really is ok to say yes (I wont be taking to the scales for a while when I get home!) 3) you eat it with your hands! You can opt for a spoon if you like, but eating sloppy curry and rice with your hand is so liberating (small things!), and the locals love it when you get involved!
After we digested we got back in the car for the final 1.5hrs of the drive, the road was quite a lot worse for a lot of this part, but I focused on the amazing views across the valleys and mountains, oh and playing with the Go Pro!
Pavan told me that the road has only just reopened, because it has been monsoon season and the land here is prone to landslide, it has been blocked for months with rocks and earth, literally this week they have had a digger along to clear the way. Previous visits Pavan has made, he has always had to walk for 1-2 days to reach Barpak as the vehicle could only make it so much of the way. At times the road felt like a film set, like Indiana Jones or something (If i ever watched films I could probably provide a better reference!), with HUGE boulders, bigger than me, which had once been attached to the side of the mountain. We also passed some small communities and started to see the damage from earthquake, with piles of rubble, cracked buildings and temporary homes people have made to live in.
We finally arrived to Barpak and we stopped just outside the main town at the CARE camp which was set up immediately after the earthquake so that our staff could live there during the response. It is now just empty tents, but there is also an office tent, lots of solar panels and a large battery which mean it's the only place in the whole area that has 24hrs of power (the rest of the town has power from 6.30-9.30). The view from the camp was spectacular, and really put my own view of Battersea Power Station (even with the winter sunsets) to shame!
Barpak has a population of 4985 who live across 9 wards, each ward is positioned within about a 3km radius, all of which are on the side of the mountains. Each separate ward is a community who have lived together their whole lives. Some of the wards are more remote and people from other wards wouldn't have reason to visit, however lots of people do cross paths when going about their
daily lives. The bulk of the people live in the heart of the town which is where we were staying,.
As we walked through the town surrounded by destruction, I still couldn't believe that 'Hotel Washington' existed until I saw if with my own eyes! But sure enough, tucked away down a dirt path was one of just 27 houses in the area that was undamaged by the earthquake (1354 out of 1387 houses were destroyed completely or damaged beyond repair), and here we found some very basic, but clean and comfortable rooms.
It was overwhelming how 6 months on the evidence of the earthquake was still screaming from every square foot, however it was obvious with the poor access by road, that
it was going to take a long time to recover fully!
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