Himalaya Helicopter Adventure
Good morning from Pokhara, Nepal. A very early good morning, because it's 5:30 a.m. and the reason I'm up nice and early is I'm gonna go on a wee adventure, up to here, the Annapurna Mountain Range. We're going to go to the base camp and we're going to do it the easy way. With a helicopter.
It's like a 1 hour flight or so. And the reason I'm doing this... I didn't plan to do anything like this, but the opportunity came up. I got an invite. From this man, right here.
Alexander. - Hi, guys. He is a photography artist, and he's going up there to take some shots. He's booked the whole chopper and invite me to come along. So, how could I say no to that? How could I say no to that? And this is the helicopter operator here, Prabhu Helicopter Ltd. So, Alexander is very well prepared.
Me, on the other hand, woefully unprepared. Other than this jacket, the only thing I brought on this trip was t-shirts. So, I've got another couple of t-shirts in my bag, in case I need them. But It is going to be a wee bit cold, but it's a very short trip.
We're gonna be there for half an hour landing. We're gonna be circling around for an hour or so before we land. If it's cold, it's cold. I'll just have to put up with it for a couple of hours. No worries.
So I checked out some of your work on your website last night. Yeah? - Yeah, I had a little look. So, you do... You take a photograph and then you transform it with your...with painting over it, right? Yes, that's it. - Yeah. And are you doing it digitally or with like oil or? - No, it's oil. Yeah.
Yeah. - It's oil paintings. So sometimes I... I just make a photo and and make a projection on a big canvas.
Ah, okay. - Then, then I over paint it. Yeah. - Then I make a photo of that, and then I put the photo and the oil painting together and that's it. Yeah. I've never seen anything like that. Is this your unique style or? - I think so.
Okay, you invented the style. Okay. - Could be anybody but I don't know. Ah, okay. Yeah. It's stunning work. Okay. Alexander's just gave me this. It feels like nothing.
He says it's nothing, but it's a lot. He says, if I wear it under this, then it's gonna make a big difference with the temperature. This, I don't know what material this is. You know the material, what this is? This feels like plastic.
This feels like... - I don't know, yeah. It's very thin. - I have no idea what it's... - Oh, it's like a windbreaker, right? It's gonna break the wind. - It's a very light, but it's, yeah. Okay. I trust you.
You're experienced in this. This is not his first helicopter photography flight, so he knows what he's doing. I'm gonna put this on. Okay so, we just passed security in the airport. This is my boarding pass. These people don't even know who I am.
I didn't give my passport details or anything. It's booked under Alexander's name and I'm just a +1. Oh, wow. How safe would you feel riding in one of those? Hello, sir! Hello. How are you?
You from YouTube? Yes, I'm from YouTube. You're from Nepal? Yeah, I know your face. - Okay. Good, bro. Good. - Nice to meet you, sir. Nice to meet you, bro.
Okay, this is the main office. Their hangar, for the helicopters. And this, I believe, is what we're going to be flying in. I don't know if this is the exact vehicle or not. Oh. We're not coming in here, apparently.
Where are we going? Ah, okay. The waiting room, is it? Okay, good. Fantastic. Hello, sir. Are you Dale Philip? - Hi, hello.
Yes. Pleased to meet you. Nice to meet you. I watch all of your videos. Thank you. Now you're in my video. So you're a pilot? No, no, I'm engineer. Engineer? Ah, okay.
So how are, what's the condition of the helicopter? It is good. - It's good? Okay. That's what I like to hear. - Yeah, it's good. Not so good today. No, very bad.
Yeah, it's making a bit of a rumble. I heard something. Ah. Making a bit of a rumbling noise. Bit it'll be alright, it'll be alright.
Let's give it a go. Let's check your weight, sir. Oh, you have to check our weights? Okay. Let's see.
Let's see how I'm doing with the old weight. 86.5. Oh, I've lost a couple of, lost a couple of kilos. I wonder why that was. In my bed sick for a week in Kathmandu. Oh, he is the same weight as me with all his camera gear and everything.
So this is one of these Ultralights or Microlights, whatever they're called, landing. These things do not look safe to me at all. Tiny little things. Oh, yeah. Tea, please. Tea? - Yeah tea, please.
Sugar? - Yeah, sugar, please. Thank you. Yeah, it's covered now. The mountain's completely covered. Yeah, so, guys, we had a perfect opportunity about an hour and a half ago. That's how long we've been waiting.
But they told us there was some kinda emergency or something. So we couldn't go yet. And now... Yeah, that's the Annapurna range there. Just covered in this black cloud.
It looks like it's getting worse. So, very unfortunate. That one for me? Okay, good. So, we've been here almost 2 hours now. And we're still waiting around.
Apparently, whatever emergency it was that stopped us from going at the time that we were supposed to, has now finished. But I don't know what we're waiting around for now. Do you think they're waiting, do you think they're also waiting for the clouds to break up as well before they take us or? I don't know. I think they're just, I don't know. They're just... I only know that we are more important than an emergency.
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. What emergency could it possibly be? Yeah. Dunno what they're doing. They're playing Candy Crush on their phones or something.
Once they complete level 100, then we're going. I think that's it. Just wait for them to complete their, their levels.
Yeah, so this helicopter, it's from another company, and that's the people who were there when we arrived, and they were waiting at the same time as us. So, they've already been up there, had their half an hour up there, and flew back. While we're still waiting to take off. And the clouds just seem to get worse and worse.
This is not looking good. So, these two guys have just approached me and offered me a free flight. Yeah. - So, you guys watch my videos, right?
Yes. - So, they've very kindly offered me a free flight in the Ultralight, right there. So, - Yeah. after we do this helicopter trip, I will join these guys.
This is the pilot here. - Yeah. What's your name, sir? I'm captain. You're captain? - Yes. I'm flying since 2014.
Okay. 2014, you've been a pilot? Yeah, for these. Okay. So, I'm in safe hands?
Yeah, yeah. It's very safe. - Okay, good. Okay, good. - We kindly request that you may go and fly with us. Okay, yeah.
Yeah, after we go to Mardi. Yeah. I think we will be gone maybe two hours or something. I don't know. Oh, yeah. He will tell you. I think, yeah, it's more than one hour.
It's the pilot of the big plane. He wants to give you a free flight. Oh, really? Okay. What's that? Another free flight? Okay.
It's the Buddha Air flight. The Buddha Air pilot there. He's just recognised me from... Hi. Hi, how's it going? Yeah, okay. Sure, sure, sure thing. I'll take the flight.
Okay. Where are we going? Tibet? Fantastic. Yeah.
Yeah. The Buddha Air, that's how I'm getting back to Kathmandu. In a few days. Today's beautiful.
Huh? - Today is beautiful. Yes? - For the view, yeah. Also at the...? - In the Mardi. I fly over Mardi also. Also now? - Yeah. Yeah, but you flew over like an hour ago or something.
Before the clouds came over. - You fly with these also? To Mardi? - How far do you fly with these? We can fly. You also fly to the mountains here? - Yeah. Really? But you can't land, right? You can only circle them, yeah. - yeah sure. Yeah, how would you land?. We need runway.
You have to wait 15 minutes. 15 minutes, we will go, yeah?. We have a tracker inside the helicopter.
We can track it, where it is, right now. Ah, okay. Okay. - But it's coming. Ah, okay. So, we're waiting for the helicopter to come? - Yeah, it's very good. He says what's good? It's only here, cloudy, but what we want to see is good. - Yeah, other side it's good. - Really? Ah, because you've just been up there, right? In your Ultralight.
Before, 30 minutes ago. 30 minutes ago? Ah, okay. - Is there any place where I can smoke a cigarette? Yeah.
So, yeah. We're waiting for our helicopter to come and land. I think they don't have extra pilots for these ones.
So you have two more helicopters, but no pilots for these ones, right? - Uh, right now, no pilots here. We have in Kathmandu. - Okay. So we're waiting for the helicopter to come and land. Maybe 15 minutes. Okay, so our chopper has arrived. It's about 8 a.m. and we're finally going to be on our way.
So you're going to take the seat beside the pilot? No, you take it. Oh, really? Oh, good. They put up the door and I'm open, in the back. - Ah, so you're going to be in the back. You can go both sides to take photos, yeah? Okay, so I... - It's open, you know?
Ah, it's all open? Ah, okay. I can jump when it crash. I jump, you die. - Oh, yeah, easy for you. Where's your parachute? Where's the parachute? Parachute? - And I get all your followers. Okay. Yeah, we've been discussing,
when I go in that Ultralight, who's going to get my stuff that's in the hotel and stuff. He wants me to sign it off. - Me and also... And he wants the followers. He wants all you guys as well. So I'm gonna be sitting in the front next to the pilot. Okay. Thank you, brother. Thank you.
Okay. Let's climb on in. Oh, wow. Incredible.
Number one, safety. Okay, safety number one. Got the seat belt on. And this? Okay. That's so you can talk with him. Okay. - You can talk with him and all.
Okay. Got some headphones and a microphone, so we can all talk to each other. I can talk to the pilot and my friend. Okay, here we go. Wow.
Awesome. Whoa. Guys, check this out. Look, right here. It's like a glass bubble that we're in right now. So we're getting the full panoramic view.
360, up and down. It's incredible. What incredible way to see this beautiful city of Pokhara. Wow. And we're travelling at some speed, guys. It's only been a minute since take off and we're already passing over the outskirts of Pokhara.
And now we're at these little villages that are in the hilltops around here. These nice, serene, tranquil little villages, that would be absolutely incredible to live in. Can you imagine, guys? Can you imagine, this is your house up here? And this is the view you wake up to each morning? And my photographer friend hanging out of the window. There's no door or glass there. He is literally hanging out, to get some of those incredible shots of this beautiful country. And we are now in a proper remote area.
But check it out, guys. There's still lots of little buildings that I believe are guest houses. Aye, you can see there, a beaten path. That must be one of the popular trekking trails.
Look at that. It goes all along the ridge of that mountain. Amazing. Can you imagine, guys? Can you imagine trekking that? Having the view of each side of this lush green mountain. And the view, ahead of us, of the Annapurna mountain range. Incredible.
So, apparently we're not actually going to the Annapurna base camp like I thought. We're actually going to a place called Mardi. Another high point. And the reason that we're going there is that's where we're gonna to get the best view of Machapuchare. The very spiritual mountain. The one that nobody's allowed to step foot on.
That's what Alexander really wants to take photographs of, for his art. So, that's where we're going, after we have a wee circle around these parts for a while, waiting for the fog to disappear. The place we're trying to go to is actually covered in thick, thick fog right now. You can see, ahead of us, the thick cloud of fog. That is where we're trying to go to.
So, until that clears, we're just gonna circle around and enjoy the scenic view of this Annapurna Mountain range, which is absolutely stunning. I've never seen anything like this in my life, up close. Oh, wow.
There is civilisation here, guys. Look. I think it's a guesthouse on this snow capped mountain. Almost at the peak.
Incredible. I don't even see a hiking trail. How do people even get to that? Look how remote we are, guys. Look how remote. There's nothing.
There's nothing around, except for that guesthouse, signifying civilisation. Wow. Incredible. Incredible, this place. Wow.
That is not something I expected to see up here. A massive waterfall descending into a black hole. Incredible. Incredible nature. Wow.
And this is Annapurna I, the 10th highest mountain in the world, at 8,092 meters above sea level. And also one of the most difficult mountains in the world to climb. This has, sadly, a very high fatality rate. So, our pilot has been in communication with the folks at Mardi high point and apparently the fog has cleared up there. So, we are on our way there right now.
Okay. Okay, this way. Okay. You're always supposed to exit from the front.
Depart and enter from the front of the helicopter, because the back side's dangerous. You see that rotor right there? That is dangerous. So it looks like... What's happening? Our helicopter are taking some other guys.
Huh? - It's leaving without us. It's talking some other people back. We walk back. Oh, we walk back. Only four or five days. I think. So...
Stay here one hour. I don't know what's happening with our helicopter. It seems to be leaving without us and taking other people away. I've no idea what's going on. Oh, some horses.
That's how we're getting back down. Horse ride. Oh. Beautiful. So what's the deal with the helicopter? They're taking other people on a ride or? Another helicopter's coming to pick us up? I have no idea. We have to walk back. I hope that's cool.
Only four or five days, right? Oh, my word. So you're trying to get the view of Machapuchare? Machapuchare. - Machapuchare. So where is that? On this side? - That's always in the fog. That's it? - Machapuchare is always in the fog, the mountain.
Yeah. So, yeah, that's it ahead of us. Covered in fog. Wow, there's a whole little community up here.
People farming sheep. And these are, like, guesthouse/restaurants. You can stay overnight. Looks like these are rooms right here. McDonald's is over there and Burger King over there. - Oh, yeah. Oh, I would love that.
Wouldn't you just love if you seen those golden arches? A wee McDonald's. Aye. So, these are rooms where people are staying overnight. People who hiked up. People who did a proper trek, who didn't cheat and take the easy route with the helicopter.
Aye. Yeah. Here we are. Here is Machapuchare. Yeah. And... - The Holy Mountain. And that's all Annapurna here.
Yeah. So this holy mountain, nobody's allowed to step foot on it. There's no trekking permits, nothing. Nobody's allowed. It's sacred in - Yeah, yeah, yeah. Buddhism, I think.
I think you can go up here. - And... Oh, you can get close to it. You can go on this. This little mountain here. "The little mountain." It's... Everything's huge.
But you can get up this bit and get a view. So you plan on doing that, going all the way up there? You can hike from here, right? Yeah. - To there. And getting a good view, but just now, it's just covered in fog.
and it doesn't look like it's moving. There's no wind or anything. Seems static.
It's so serene. So quiet. No noise apart from the sound of the sheep. Amazing.
So how were your shots from the helicopter? Yeah, it's amazing. Yeah? - I mean it's, there's no point to make the best photo now, because there are already photos, millions. So there's no point of me to - Yeah, already made. to make another one which is good. Yeah. - But to make a photo and
after that, the process afterwards. That's amazing. Just to paint over the photo. Yeah. - With oil, which needs months to dry and and you just have time to think about it and make things afterwards, with time and... Make artwork from the photos.
So, that's cool. - So are you already thinking about the art that you're going to be making from those - Yeah, sure. yes. photos you just took? - The colours and everything.
Yeah. - Ah, okay. Good. The good thing is, here, photographing is always... It depends on so many things. Like weather, you see it's... - Yeah. Yeah, stuff you can't control - So, at all, yeah. - you can't control, but
but you can control everything afterwards and that's cool. Yeah. Good. Yeah, there's all these guest houses but I don't see any guests.
I think it's just us. - Yeah. It's extremely quiet. I thought it's, - Yeah. it's a lot, but I don't know. I think tourism is still low. They were... This country was quite slow to open back up, after Covid.
But this whole community will depend on tourism, right? This is... - Sure. Yeah, yeah. - What else is going on here? Apart from farming some sheep. Maybe those trekkers who are very long trekking, they look after a while, like the sheep. Maybe that's all the trekkers. Yeah.
That's what a week's worth of trekking will do. What is she doing? Huh? He's... - Oh, he. You know, I mean, you don't want to talk about it. Yeah.
His wife is down in the village, so. Okay. Yeah. That's what he's doing. - Ah, it's second best, second best option. Second best in Himalaya.
Third best is the donkey. - Yeah. Oh, God. Ah, he's giving them their vaccines.
Yeah. Vaccine, yeah? - Yeah. Yeah, vaccine. And more guest houses here. There must be at least a dozen guest houses here, up at the high camp.
Check it out. Loads of guest houses but no guests. I think there's no guests at all. I haven't seen anybody. So, you wonder what they're doing to make money up here. Apart from the sheep farming, there doesn't seem to be any, anything else going on, apart from these guest houses. So,
this whole community must depend on trekkers. And I don't see any. Hotel Namaste. Namaste. Namaste. Hotel Namaste. - Namaste. That's the name of your hotel.
Can I use a bathroom by any chance? Yeah, sure. There is the bathroom. Oh, thank you so much. Cheers. Okay.
Guys, I'm not gonna vlog me going to the bathroom, but I'll see you in a minute. What condition is it in? Ah, not too bad. Ah, nice and refreshed. The Hotel Namaste.
I think it's a wee restaurant that they have in there. Maybe I could get a wee cup of tea or something like that. Ah, doesn't seem to be anybody here. Oh, hello. Hello. - Can I get some tea? Yeah? - Some chai.
Tea. Tea? Okay. - Yes. Okay. Thank you. Black tea, please. Black tea? Yes. Thank you, brother. - Okay. Okay. Gonna get a wee tea, with wee view of Annapurna.
Okay, brilliant. Hot cup of tea. Yeah, black tea. - Thank you, brother. Black tea. Very nice. Has sugar or no? Sugar, no.
No sugar? No? Sugar is there? - Sugar, yeah. Okay. Thank you, brother. Thank you so much. - Welcome. Thank you. What is your name, sir? My name is Rakesh. Rakesh? - Yeah.
Okay. You live here in the high camp? Yeah. - Okay. This is a very nice place. Right? Very quiet. Yeah. - Very nice. Thank you, brother, for the tea.
Okay. Hi, brother. Namaste. - Namaste. Lovely.
You never get a bad tea in these parts, in Nepal. Nepal is very close to Darjeeling, in India. It's famous for tea. So this whole region, the tea is good. The tea is good.
Hello? - Hello. The tea was very nice. Very nice tea. - Yeah. Yeah. How much rupees? 150.
150 rupees? Okay. Yeah. - I'll give you... Let's see. You have change?
Okay. - Thank you, brother. Have a nice day. Thank you. - Thank you. Brother, can I have a look in the rooms? I just want to look. Can I look in one room to see what it's like? Ah, maybe you should ask him. Ah. Oh, you...
Are you a guest here? - Yeah. I'm guest here. - Ah, okay. I didn't know, I didn't know. Okay, so he's also a guest. Oh, you're going to charge your phone. Yeah.
Yeah, they have, like, a service for charging mobiles, 200 rupees. Okay. Excuse me. - Yes. Ah, he says okay. It's okay, you can see the room. Ah, okay.
I'm not interested in taking it. I just want to have a look, to see... They are locked? Or it's not locked? Yeah, this one's got the padlock off it. Are you staying here? Ah, yes, in the third room.
The third one? Ah, okay. This is the room. - Let's have a look. Ah, okay. So this is what the rooms are like. There's four beds in here. Nothing else. Just, basically, the beds. Right? - Yes.
And this is... Wooden ceiling. - Yeah, wooden ceiling. It feels very cold in there, but it's summer time, so... Yeah, you slept overnight here? - Yes. And it was comfortable? - In that one.
Cold at night time or? - Yes, it was comfortable. Comfortable, yeah? - They provide us with this blankets. Yeah. Ah, okay.
They make us warm and it's - Yeah. cozy, super cozy inside. And where are you taking shower? We're not taking. - You're not taking, yeah?
We'll be going down to low camp. You're going down to the low camp? - Yes. Yeah. - And then what? They have facilities there? - Yes.
Ah, okay. So how many days have you been trekking to get here? Three days. Only three days? - Yes. From Pokhara or? - Ah, from Pokhara it's two days, only. Only two days trekking? - Yes, yes, yes. What, like, five, six hours per day? Yes, five... - No! Ten hours per day.
Nine hours. - Ten hours per day? Nine hours? Nine to ten hours per day. - Ah, okay. So people have told me it's like a four or five day thing.
So that's the slow people, the people who are doing two, three hours a day, trekking. - We don't have time, so we squeezed the timelines. Ah, okay. So you did it in two days? - Yes. Incredible. - He's the planner.
He's the planner of our trekking. - Oh, he planned it all out? Yes. - Ah, okay. Yeah. So you're going to stay.
You stayed here overnight and today you're trekking back? Yeah, we'll reach Pokhara today. You'll reach Pokhara today? How, in one day? Yeah. - Oh, because it's all downhill. It's down, it's downhill. - Ah, so, we won't get tired. - About 8 hours, 8 hours going downhill? Yeah, so we'll have breakfast here at high camp. - Yeah.
We'll have lunch at the low camp. Yeah. - We'll have dinner at Pokhara. Wow. You've got it all planned out. The planner.
The planning man. What's your name, sir? My name is Ritesh Shrestha. Okay, my name is Dale. Okay. - Pleased to meet you. Okay, so this is the man you want to go trekking with. He will plan it all out.
Your friend is very lucky to have you. Thank you so much. - The planner. Okay. - Okay. So, you... what's your plan? Oh, I just came here by helicopter.
Okay. - So, we just stopped and then we're having a look around. My friend is a photographer, so he's taking some shots. Okay. - And meanwhile, I'm just having a wander, having a cup of tea and Okay, nice. - and stuff. By the way, where are you from? Scotland.
Scotland, oh. - Yeah. And you? - It's a very cold place, right? This is more cold. Yeah, but today it's okay. - Okay.
This summertime, it's like, this is a good time of year for visiting. And you, and you are from? I'm from Kathmandu, Nepal only. Ah, okay. So you just took a short trip over from Kathmandu to come here? - Kathmandu, yeah. We came to Pokhara, and then we started our trek from Pokhara itself.
Ah, it's good. Actually we don't have holidays. We got job to do. So that's why you're doing it in a short time? - Yeah. Two days up and one day down. We get maximum three or four days leave. - Yeah.
So, in that time we have to manage. You have to squeeze it in? - Yeah, squeeze the timeline. Ah, okay.
Yeah. By the way, you know, CPA, certified public accountant? CPA. - Yeah, that's what you are? We both are CPA. - You're...? Ah, okay.
You both are CPAs in Kathmandu? - Yeah. Ah, okay. We work with E.Y. India. - Yeah. E.Y., Ernst & Young.
If you know. Ernst & Young? Yeah, that's the huge - Yeah. Big Four. finance company, yeah? - Yeah, we work with that company. Okay. Oh, they have office in Kathmandu?
No. We are based on Delhi. Yeah. - But we work, in work from home mode. Oh, that's good. - We work remotely. Remotely from Kathmandu. - Yeah.
But you can't really work remotely from here, because the, not good enough internet, right? Yeah. - If we received internet connection and proper electricity here. Yeah. Then you could. - We would be happy. Yeah. You could just stay here for like one month, right? - We could work from here. Yeah. - Not one month. One year. Yeah. Maybe eventually they will have.
Yeah. - But they said they have Wi-Fi, right? But it's very slow, right? They don't have Wi-Fi here. Really? I'm pretty sure they had something written about Wi-Fi in there. Yeah, it says Wi-Fi charge, something. They say that they've got Wi-Fi. But these guys say they don't.
Yeah. Wi-Fi charge 250 rupees for internet. Yeah. You have Internet here, yes?
Internet? - Wi-Fi? Internet, here. Here? Ah, okay. 250 rupees. 250 rupees. - Yeah.
He says they have Wi-Fi here. - You have Wi-Fi? Yeah. - They don't have. He winked, he winked.
So it means they don't really have it? Or it's, it's a slow connection or something like that? Yeah. He just winked his eyes. Yeah, I've seen him. He winked at you. What was that all about? They don't have Wi-Fi. They don't have Wi-Fi? Ah, okay. So what happens when you pay, when you pay the 250, what do you get? Just have there in noticeboard, but they don't have that service here. Ah, okay. Maybe they will get it.
Yeah. And then you can come and work remotely from, - Yes. from here.
So you will go back to Pokhara by helicopter or by walking, walking? Eh, I think by helicopter, but the helicopter that took us here, took other people back. So I don't know what's happening now, if we're getting another helicopter or not. Maybe I'll have to walk with you, back. The eight hour downhill. - We'll be happy. We'll be happy. - Yeah.
Walk with you as well. - Yeah. Would you like to have a tea with us? Ah, I just finished my tea, there. Okay. - Yeah. I need to see my friend, to see what time I'm going back, because I have no idea. I don't want him to leave without me.
Okay. We're gonna have a little wander. Oh, this one also advertising Wi-Fi. Hotel Snowland and Spa.
So it's a spa. Can you get, like, a massage and stuff like that here? Maybe you can. Run! Somebody shouting at me? I think maybe that is Alex? It's... I think that's Alex in the red. Run! You what? Run! Back? You want me to come back? - Run! I think he wants me to come back.
Oh, he's saying run. He's saying run. Okay. I think he's telling me to run. I don't know if he's joking with me.
He's a bit of a prankster, a bit of a jokester. So, I could easily run all the way back and then he's just, like, "Only joking!" I don't know. Or he could be serious and I could have to... I have to run back. See you guys. - See you. See you.
Okay. Take no video. Run! He's saying "Take no video, run."
I think he's joking. But then he himself seems to be in a hurry. Okay, guys, I don't wanna be stranded up here. Let's make our way back. I didn't really know how much time I had to be exploring.
At this altitude... Usually I'm not out of breath so quickly, but it's the altitude. No, he is running. He is... Guys. Oh, It's the altitude. I just lost...
I can't even, I can't even speak. Oh, my God. This side. - This side. Okay. I'm out of breath. Yeah. Because very high.
Ah, okay. - Okay. Nice sheep. Okay. This way, yeah? Okay. Want's me to walk, up here.
Okay. I'm dying. Yer man is dying here. Oh, yeah.
Our helicopter is there. Which way do I go? There's no point you hearing the helicopter. No, I couldn't hear it. I told him, you pay all what's more.
Good. - You don't... Okay. I can't run. I couldn't run, I couldn't run. When I say run and stop video, you run and stop video. At first I thought... - Otherwise I'm not happy.
At first I thought you were joking, right? No it's not a joke. - I didn't know... When you hear the helicopter. I didn't hear the helicopter, that's the thing.
And then, I started running, I was out of breath, like, in one minute. Okay. Okay. That was nice, wasn't it? Thanks very much for the - Thank you. for the ride, Alexander. - All the best. See you.
Bye bye. - Okay, so he's flying to Kathmandu now. And I also want a photo with you. You want a photo with me? Okay, good. How was your experience up there? It was good, but I nearly got left behind.
Yeah? - They nearly left me behind because I was in the tea house, just chatting with people and stuff. And then they had to go. And Alexander was at the helicopter and he was saying, "Run, run, run." - Run, run. Yeah. So, he was a bit angry at first, but we made friends again. He's happy.
Yeah. I just didn't realise how short of time. We were only going to be up there for like, 30 minutes max. So now more people are going? Yeah. - More are going, yeah? Right. I'll go speak to these people,
Yeah. - over here. Okay. Thanks, bro. Thanks. - Okay, thank you. It was awesome, cheers. Okay.
I'm gonna see... Looks like they have customers now. Let's see if there's a space for me on one of these things. Hello, sir. Hi, Ultralight. Welcome, welcome. How was your experience? - How is it going?
Yeah, it was good. They nearly left me behind, though. That was it. I went wandering in the guesthouses and stuff.
And then they almost left without me. I had to run, I had to run. Okay, so we are going to make 15 minute flight after these.
Ah, okay. So these are making 15 minute flights? - Yeah. And then I also will do 15 minute flight? - Yeah, yeah. And where will we go? Are we going to go over Phewa lake or? Phewa lake, Stupa, Sarangkot. Ah, okay. Oh, we will see the Buddhist stupa? Yeah, yeah. We will. - Which is...
Where is it from this direction? Ah, yeah... Yeah, this side. Yeah. Where... The Shiva statue as well? Yeah. - We can see?. Ah, okay, good. Excellent. And you're going to be my pilot or...?
No, he will fly for you. Okay. Your good name, sir? Miraj, sir. Welcome, sir.
Okay, thank you. How many years has he been a pilot? It's been around three years. Three years? Oh, I want the guy who's been eight years.
Yeah. - He is also pilot. Who is the most experienced? He is the most experienced. - Oh, he is the most experienced. Yeah. I when this guy to take me. Okay.
I'm sure you will be good. So, jacket. Getting a North Face jacket. This is to keep me warm, right? Because it's not like the helicopter.
They don't have any kinda walls. It's just all open. So you get all the, all the wind and everything. The wind chill. Okay.
Looking good? Yes, very nice. - Thank you. This is my colour, blue. It's a nice colour. What do you think, guys? This is yer man's colour, right here.
Good. Okay, so we're just waiting for the previous flights to land and then I'll be going. I think that is them landing, right there. What's the helmet for? In case we crash, this will save me, right? - Yes, sir. For safety. - Safety.
Is this okay, sir? Does it feel lose? Yeah, a little bit loose. Just one moment, sir. Okay, so I'm getting a hat as well. To stop it being loose. Okay, so it will fit better.
Okay. It's like when you have shoes that are too big, you can wear like two or three pairs of socks and then it fits. It's okay? Yeah, it's good. It's nice and snug. Okay.
Okay. - Okay? That's it on. - Thank you. Okay, good. Excuse me, sir. Enjoy your flight. - Okay.
So... So I'm going in the back? - Yes, first stand here. First stand on here? Okay. - Yeah.
First stand. And sit from the back. First sit. - Oh, yeah. First sit. Yes. - Okay.
Now what? - Put one leg here. Where do my legs go? One leg here. One leg here. - Have space to put. Yes. - And one leg here. Yes, sir.
Okay. There we go. Nice and snug. Sir, your hand. - There will be enough room for the, for the pilot, here? Sir your hand. Okay.
Have a safe flight. Enjoy your flight. - Thank you, brother. Thank you. That's the rotor, there. Okay. See you, guys, see you. Here we go. Here is Phewa lake. I was staying around this area at the lakeside before and had the beautiful view of the lake from my hotel terrace.
But check this view out. You can see the whole of the lake from up here. And it is absolutely incredible.
This white thing here is the World Peace Pagoda. It's a Buddhist stupa that I'm planning on hiking to at some point in the next few days. And here, ahead of us is the Shiva statue. Aye. Not far from the Buddhist stupa, there is the Hindu God, Lord Shiva, standing proudly there. I will make sure to pay him a visit when I do my hike around this area.
And right in front of us is Sarangkot. The beautiful village where I took the cable car up and paraglided down in a previous vlog. And below us is the farmland where I landed. That, there, is the viewpoint. Sarangkot Viewpoint Tower, that I went up and got the panoramic view of Pokhara and this beautiful mountain range. But
I'm getting an even better view from up here, aren't I? It's even more beautiful. Check this out, guys. Check out the scenery. Wow. Heading back to the airport now. That's it ahead of us.
The landing strip, there. Good. Awesome.
Okay, sir. - That was fun. How was the flight, sir? - Beautiful. We got really close to the Shiva statue and the Buddha stupa. It was very nice.
Thank you. That was awesome. You get to see the whole of Pokhara in just 15 minutes. You can explore the whole city in 15 minutes.
Incredible. Wow. That guy, was your friend or what? Yeah, he's my friend but today he's taking Buddha Air to Kathmandu. Like, now. I'm staying in...
This is your certificate. Oh, I get a certificate as well, that says I did it. That I survived. Okay. Thanks, guys. That's brilliant.
Okay, you can come with us. I can walk with them? Okay, thank you, brother. - Yeah, yeah. See you. - See you, see you. Okay. So, they didn't want me to walk back on my own because might be a problem with security, airport security, or something. So, I'll walk back with this family.
Like their adopted son. Hey, guys. Hi. Where are you from? All from India. All from India? Oh, good. Yeah. - You are from?
I'm from Scotland. Oh! - Yeah. I'm hiking there. Ben Nevis. - You've been to Ben Nevis? Yeah. - Oh, wow.
Amazing. Wow, it's a beautiful place, isn't it? Ben Nevis. - Yeah. Wow. You went to the top? Yes. - Oh, wow. That's impressive. That's a difficult one.
How long did it take you to go to the top? My daughter has been to Scotland for the winery. All the wineries. Oh, she went to all the wineries? And the whisky places as well? The whisky. All whisky place. - Distillery, yeah. Yeah, to learn how to mix up and how to... - Oh, how to make the whisky? Yeah. Yeah, we have many famous whisky distilleries there.
Especially, she went for that course. Oh, she did a course? Ah, right. - The peak of the Ben Nevis. The peak of the Ben Nevis. That is you, there? Wow. You arrived at night time? Ah, okay... - Yes, night. 11:30. 11. At 11. - Oh, wow.
Ben Nevis., Snowdon, Scafell Pike. - Snowdon you did as well? And, yeah, Scafell Pike. - Mount Snowdon? We did 36 hours. Wow.
I'm planning to go there. Next year. - You're planning to go there? Ah, okay. It's a good time. Now we don't have any restrictions about Covid or anything. Therefore we want to visit. - Oh, my cousin's son stays there.
He's married over there. Ah, so you can stay with him? Yeah. - Ah, okay. Good. No need to spend on hotels and everything. We don't mind spending on hotels.
Yeah. But still better if you have family there you can stay with. Yes. - It's more comfortable. But that will be for 8 days. The rest of the time we want to go around. Ah, okay. Yeah, yourself. From place to place.
Place to place. - Staying in bed and breakfast. Nice, like... There's so many, like, converted castles.
They have, like, an old castle, but they make it into a bed and breakfast. Yeah, yeah. - Like that, yeah? There's so many places like that. There, yeah. - We are planning for that, only.
Yeah? Ah, yeah. But go in the summertime, only. Yeah, don't go there in the winter time. You want the nice weather so you can... - Next year we are planning.
Next summer. - Next summer? Yeah, perfect. Scotland like Indian Kashmir. Kashmir, India. Indian Kashmir.
Kashmir. Do you know Kashmir? - Kashmir? Ah, yeah. Yeah. Just like, - It's like Kashmir, yeah. just like Scotland. - Yeah the same landscape. Yeah. Yeah. And also there's a place in India that people call 'the Scotland of the East.'
It's called Shillong. Shillong. - You know about that? Shillong. Yeah. People call that 'the Scotland of the East.' That's what they call it.
I don't know if it's the same or not. The Shillong. Yeah. Okay, see you guys. See you. Nice to meet you. Okay, this is where I went through to collect my baggage, there, when I arrived in Pokhara the last time. Right. I'm gonna walk outside.
There's a airport taxi bit there. But I always find it best at airports to walk outside, and get a taxi. You get a better rate. Hi, brother. How are you? You're taxi men? - Yeah. Oh, for inside or from outside? Outside. - Outside? Ah, okay.
So you give a better rate? Better price? I'm going to the Pavilion The Farm. Sorry? The Pavilion The Farm. Farm? - You know this one, no? Do you have a...? - Yeah, I will show you where it is. It's near Phusre Khola. You know this? Yeah, far. Yeah, far. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah. Phusre Khola. Phusre Khola? - Yeah. Phusre Khola. That one belong to what is name this? The Pavilion Himalayas. - Yeah, yeah. There's two hotels, one the lakeside and one The Farm.
My one is The Farm. - I know, I know. You know? Ah. - You want to go Farm? Yeah. I wanna go Farm. - Yeah, okay, come. Oh, kitna rupees? - Yeah. 2,000.
No, not 2... I've been before, I pay 1,000. From... - From where? From lakeside I paid 1,000 last time. - No, no. This time, fuel is very expensive here. - Yeah. 180. - No, I've been yesterday.
Yesterday I did for 1,000. Yesterday. It didn't change in one day. No, I need to go for 1,000, brother. But it's okay. If you don't want to go it's okay. I will walk to town and find another one.
But it's okay. Okay, guys. - What is your last price? Have a nice... No, last price is 1,000, really. Really. Because I did before for 1,000. So I know that I can go for 1,000. - You is Kamil?
What's that? - Are you Kamil? No, I'm not Kamil. No, sorry. Okay, guys. See you. - Okay, sir. You pay me 1,500 only. Okay?
Only 1,500? - Yeah. Okay. - Off-road there. Gasoline is up now, yeah? - Off-road.
188 gas per a litre. - Okay. Since I like you, I will pay 1,500. Okay? Okay. - Okay, let's go. See you guys. See you. Bye. Okay.
Here, sir. - This your one? Oh, this one here. Oh, Manchester United fan. - Yeah. Got a Manchester United fan, right here, in Nepal. Manchester United is a popular team in Nepal? Many Nepalis support, yeah? Yeah. - Ah, okay. Good. Let's do it friendly style, jump in the front.
Who's your favourite player for Manchester United? Your favourite player? Before is Rooney, yeah. Oh, Rooney, before, was your favourite player. Ah. What about now? Ronaldo? Yeah, this time is Ronaldo. - Ronaldo is your favourite now. Ah, okay. Good. Rooney, Ronaldo, Messi.
Wow. Look at this. - Many many. What a beautiful, beautiful country this is.
Your country is very beautiful. Amazing. - Yeah. Beautiful. - Yeah, look at this landscape, right here. Incredible. Wow. Ah, yeah. I passed this yesterday.
A little restaurant lodge. I might, I might in an hour or two, head back out and go to that for lunch. Looks nice. Hello. Yeah. Friendly, friendly woman in there. I might go there for lunch.
Yeah. - For my lunch, I might go there, to that restaurant. Yeah. - Yeah.
Okay. Phusre Khola. Yeah. Phusre Khola. Phusre Khola, it's the name for the village or the river? - Ah, river, river. Oh, river? Phusre Khola is the river.
Yeah. - Yeah. Little river, there. Thank you, brother. See you. - Welcome. Hi, brother.
Okay, I'm home. Back at The Farm. I tell you what, guys, that looks good to me, right there. The swimming pool, again with nobody in it. Oh, yeah. The weather is glorious here.
Absolutely glorious. Perfect for a wee dip. And then, I might head out to that restaurant. The one where, you know, the nice wee lady has the guesthouse and there doesn't seem to be any guests. So, I'll go and give her some business.
Aye. Aye. Big Hugh Hefner. Big Hugh Hefner, going for a swim.
Aye. And again, I get it to myself. It looks like somebody has been here. But nobody is here. Fantastic. Oh, yeah, guys.
Oh, yeah. Nice and refreshing. Oh, yes. And you deserve, you deserve a good dip in the pool, after putting in all that effort to get up a mountain and back down before midday.
That was some effort, I tell you. So, time to relax a bit, get freshened up, and then we'll go out for lunch to that wee restaurant. The wee wifey. To see what she's got. Yes. Hello. Namaste.
Namaste. - Namaste. I came to eat lunch. Food.
Hi, sir. Yeah, I came to eat. Yeah, sure. - Yeah, you have food?
Nepali food? Yeah. - Okay, good. What type of food you need? Okay. Thank you. - Nepali dal bhat? Ah, you have dal bhat.
Do you have a menu or? Chicken? Yeah, dal bhat and chicken as well, together would be good. Yeah. - Okay. That would be good.
Everyone here eating dal bhat? Yeah? - Yeah. Okay. Popular food. Yes. - Ah, okay, good. Okay, so dal bhat and chicken gravy. Good. How many people? Only me. I'm alone. Yeah. Okay. - And you?
You're are living here or traveller? - No. I will go. I'll go. Ah, you're just passing through? Yeah, eat fast food. - Ah.
I'm fast food. You're fast food? - Finished. Ah, okay. Where are you living? You staying, where? - Stay in Pokhara, Pokhara. Pokhara? Ah, okay. Near the lakeside? - Ratna Chowk.
Ratna Chowk. Ah, okay. And you're just passing through? Ah, okay. - He also travelling, you know. Travelling around, ah. - Yeah. But he is Nepali or? Nepali. - Nepali? Ah, okay.
Good. You travel in your own country, it's good. It's a good thing. Yeah. Some people in their country, they never travel their own country, you know? But here I see many Nepalis, today, up in the trekking, I seen some people from Kathmandu. They come to Pokhara. - We want to travel European country
where you know somewhere, but Yeah. you know, the government didn't give visa, you know? Oh, really? Oh, yeah. It's hard. - That's why, that's why we cannot travel. Ah okay. Yeah. For Europe. Yeah, yeah. - Yeah.
I don't know why. Yeah. They make it difficult, don't they? - Yeah. Yeah. - Yeah. So... - And this, you have set this up as your home and guesthouse as well? This is not a guesthouse, but like homestay, you know? Homestay? Ah, okay. - Yeah. So there are...
We have 5 - 6 rooms, also. Ah, okay. Can I have a look? - The guest rooms. Yeah, sure, sure. Sure, sure. - Can I have a look at the rooms to see what they are like? Okay. So,
it's like, family home and then guest rooms, as well. Yeah. And a nice bar as well. - Yeah. Where are you from, sir? - I'm from Scotland. Scotland? Very nice. - Yeah. Nice country. - Yeah. I'm staying just now at the Farm.
At the Pavilion. Yeah. So, I'm just passing.
I wanted to check this place out. How old is this place? I think, I make this, you know, whole things. I started from two years, you know? Ah, you built it? Yeah. - You did all the building? Ah, okay. Only two years ago? Yeah. - Ah, okay. So it's still quite new. Okay.
Yeah. - Okay. Ah, okay. So a nice sofa, bed.
Oh, and they all have bathrooms? - Yes. Every one has a bathroom? Ah, okay. So, a little shower - Yeah. and toilet, there. And a nice comfortable bed and sofa. - And
Ah, it's nice. - this window, this window looking, you know, the riverside. - Oh, to the... It's very beautiful.
Straight to the river. Oh. - See? Does this ever fill up with water to the top? When we get, you know, the monsoon, - Yeah. it will be deep. - It will fill up.
Okay. It's nice, right? - Yeah. Very good. - He built this, all himself. He built all this.
Very nice. Nepal is already very good. Yeah. - Yeah. And how much do you charge for your rooms per night? Only 1,500 Nepali. Only 1,500 Nepali?! - Only 1,500.
Oh, that is - Yeah. Very, very low. a bargain. That's so, it's good. - Yeah, yeah. Yeah, man. - That's a really good price. You could come here and pay...
That's like, 13 USD, or something. You could come and stay a long time and relax here. Easily. Yeah, very nice. It's almost, you know, $10-$12 like that.
Yeah, it's good. You see the, you know the cottage over there? Yeah. - Somewhere, somewhere there, like that. Yeah. - That one is the, you know, Pavilion resort. Pavilion? Yeah, that's where I'm staying. I'm staying there. - Yeah. Pavilion. Ah, you stay there? - Yeah, I'm staying there.
Very nice. Very nice. - Yeah. I came to eat lunch at your place. Okay, okay. - Rather than there. Thank you, thank you, thank you. - Good decision, right?
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. - Yeah. Because every time I'm coming past this, I see this. And I think it looks interesting because I could see the back of this. So I wanted to check your place out. Okay. - Because it looks really nice.
Yeah. And there's... They also have a little farm. They're farming chickens, here. And a swing. Very nice.
Oh, you brought me some fruit. Ah, very nice. Thank you. Welcome. Water, mineral water or soft drink? Ah, you have, like, Fanta or something like that? - Yes.
Okay. One Fanta will be good. Thank you. Okay. They've brought me a little papaya and vegetable salad. Papaya and cucumber salad. Oh, this my dal bhat? Yes. - Right here. Fantastic. Thank you, so much.
And a little chicken gravy on the side. So this is... Nepali khana.
This is the popular food in Nepal, right? The dal bhat. It's like the staple food. It's like when Nepali people are hungry, this is what they will go for, to make them feel satisfied. Dal bhat. - Yeah. Okay. And I'm also adding some chicken.
The chicken comes from here, from your garden? This chicken? Yeah, sure. - It's sister. Yeah. - Sister for one of these birds, down here. I'm gonna eat one of their, one of these chicken's sisters. Fantastic. Get all that dal on there.
Let it soak into the rice. And also the chicken. There we go. All on there.
Okay. I'll just mix all this in. And I see the chicken, it's on the bone, so, best way to eat it is with your hands. Much easier than with a fork and we've got a little hand wash basin, right there. So, I'll go and wash my hands.
Okay then, gonna get stuck into this dal bhat. So I'm gonna pick up a handful of the rice that's soaked with this dal. Good. Yeah. Just your typical dal, really. Just your typical dal.
Nice and light. And nice and healthy. Oh, you give me tissues? Because I'm getting in with my hands. Okay. Thank you. - Welcome. He brought me tissues.
Okay. So like you see, the chicken is on the bone. So much easier to just grab the piece with the bone, and then just rip it off with your teeth, like this. Like that, you see? Oh. Very mild gravy. So there's no, there's no chili spice to this at all.
But they've given me the chili spice on the side, if I want it. I think I'm just gonna eat it like this. This feels nice and, nice and light, nice and mild.
Nice, succulent chunks of garden raised chicken. Fully organic and delicious. That gravy is so tasty.
As you can see there, it's very tomatoey. A tomatoey gravy. So you get a bit of sweetness with it.
I do love a tomato based gravy. And I notice they've given me chopsticks. As well as the fork and spoon. I don't know what I'm supposed to use these for. Like,
what could I possibly... Or maybe for the salad, for the cucumber and papaya salad. I could possibly eat that with the chopsticks, I guess. I don't know if that's a...
Do Nepalis normally eat things with chopsticks? I don't think so. But I don't know. You guys tell me. This bit of the bone especially, it's like a joint. You need to, like,
get in there all around with your teeth to scrape off every bit of meat. Impossible if you using a fork or a spoon. Very nice. Chicken gravy, very tasty. Oh, really? - Yeah. The chicken gravy is so nice.
Oh, you using finger? Yeah? - Yeah, no problem for me. I did before. - Yeah, good. Very nice. - Am I doing well? Yes.
Exactly. Nepali style? - Yes. Yeah. - Ah, good.
You love it? - Yeah, I love it. Yeah, the gravy, I like, it's a tomatoey gravy. Aha. - Yeah. I like, I like gravy's with tomato. It's always tasty and sweet. Okay. Thank you very much.
You need anything more? No, this is good. I will feel good after this, yeah. After this dal bhat and chicken. Sir, you need more anything? Oh, no. I'm feeling satisfied, feeling good. Ah, thank you. Thank you, thank you. - Yeah. Feeling good now.
Hi, brother. Many local people coming to stop and drink and relax at your place. - Yeah. Ah, It's good. - Yeah. Kitna rupees, how much? It's only 400, sir. Only 400? Okay.
I'll give you... Ah, Fanta also, 450. - 500. Ah, okay. 450. Okay. Just keep the change brother, no problem. - Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. See you next time, guys. - Alright. Alright, sir. Thank you.
Oh, that was lovely. And lovely to see what they're doing with this place. Their home, that the man has built these rooms right here. What is it? Five or six guest rooms. And just turned this home, and turned his garden into a restaurant / hotel. That's how enterprising these Nepalis are.
The man designed, built it all himself and now runs it. It's good to see. You should always support businesses like that. So you should. Which is fine for me to say as I stroll back to my $200 a night room in the luxury Pavilions Hotel.
But to be fair, the guy who owns the Pavilions, Douglas Maclagan, I think his name is. He, for decades, has been doing a lot of charity work in Nepal. So, a lot of the money he's making from this hotel is getting put right back into the community. Children's charities and all that. So,
also worth supporting. Anyway, guys. That's me for this adventure and I will see you on the next one.
2022-08-12 23:27
