On the Trail to Rara Lake : Nicholas and Caroline Evans ( UK )Hikes to Rara
(14th-26th Oct 2007)
A good host always looks after the comfort and pleasure of his guests. We, at Explore Himalaya, try to be more than an agency that organizes treks, expeditions and tours. We try to be a good host to the guests who visit our country. We are concerned about their comfort and try our best to make their visit pleasurable and smooth. It is always a joy to hear about the details of a challenging climb or a brisk trek, from our foreign visitors. But not only the sweet stuff, we welcome suggestions and complaints as well, as we believe that there is always room for improvement. Our aim is to provide our guests with a service they desire and this is only possible with their valuable feedback.

Recently Nick Evans and Caroline Evans (on their first visit to Nepal) from England dropped in our office. They had just returned from their trek to Rara Lake. In an informal chat, the husband and wife duo gave us the details of their trek. According to Nick Evans, “Apart from a small organizational difficulty on the way, we had a fantastic trek. The problem was, it was difficult to get a flight from Nepalgunj to Jumla. We had to stay in Nepalgunj for two days. We later got to know the reason for the delay was because of the pressure for seats on the aeroplane on account of the festival. It would have been better if we were told about the delay and the reason for the delay. Inevitably there will be uncertainties and delays, but its best if people are informed so that they can get the bigger picture.”

The Evans’ trek to Rara Lake
“We had a wonderful guide, Sudan Tamang, and we enjoyed trekking with him very much. As we had lost two days waiting for the flight to Jumla, we had to make it up by walking farther each day. The first day was a bit difficult as it involved a long walk with a lot of climbing, but we managed it fine. From the second day onwards, the trek proved not too difficult. Each day we began with tea in the tent and then we had hot water to wash. We had our breakfast and then we walked for maybe two and a half or three hours, until 11o’clock where we stopped for lunch. We resumed our trek after lunch, and walked for another three hours or so to camp for the night.
On the second morning we woke up and we were delighted to find thick snow everywhere. It was lovely! The second day we trekked for about seven hours. It was mainly downhill or level, so it was easier. At that time we stopped at a place called Chauta(2770m).It has a good campsite. The next day there was a lot of uphill trek again and we went over to the pass at Ghurchi Lagna (3450m). And finally on the last day we got to Rara Lake at half past ten in the morning. We had a day of rest in the field beside the Lake. We washed, swam, relaxed, had a fire, did some cooking and had a great time. We took many photographs of the lakeside views.

Apart from a little bit of rain and snow on the first two days of the trek, the weather remained fine. Big blue sky, clear air and sunny during the day and as soon as the sun set it became very cold. Every morning there was frost on the ground. We camped at villages and sometimes in open fields. The scenery was beautiful and the people we met on the way were very friendly and warm. When we camped at a village, the family with whom our porters were staying, invited us to their home. We were offered some local wine chhang. We really enjoyed interacting with them. They were very warm and hospitable.

Another memorable incident was, we met a little boy with a very badly injured foot. Since there was no dispensary or pharmacy nearby, we did what we could to help. We dressed the boy’s wounds and left his father with some dressings and antiseptics. On our return trek, we were pleased to find that the boy’s wound had healed. The boy’s father thanked us and we felt good. We really enjoyed this trekand we shall try to make another trip to Nepal very soon!”

After giving us the details of the trek, Nick had a few questions for us. No, he did not want to talk about the popular spots in Kathmandu, as expected. He wanted information about eye hospitals in Kathmandu. As he is an eye surgeon himself, he wanted to see how eye hospitals in Nepal operated. So we rummaged around and (voila!) came up with the phone number of Tilganga Eye Hospital and the name of a Nepali surgeon who works there, Dr.Sanduk Ruit (recipient of the Magsaysay Award). Nick made a call to the hospital and arranged a meeting with the surgeon himself. Nick and Caroline if you are reading this, we hope you had a fruitful visit to the eye hospital!