TRIP TO ABISKO

I joined a PhD course in Abisko, organized by Stay or Go Network (http://www.ntnu.edu/stay-or-go) from 2^nd to 8^th September. The course was designed for PhD students on the theme: The capacity for plants to persist, adapt or migrate in the face of environmental change. We were 4 people from my home institution, NTNU. The course was important for me as I am also working with behaviour of plant species in response to climate change also, one of my supervisor during my masters in Bergen, Prof. John Birks was also giving lectures on paleoecology which I did not take when I was in UIB, Bergne. To attend this course we fly from Trondheim to Bodø and from Bodø to Harstad-Narvik on 1^st of September 2011.

We fly from Trondheim Værnes at 06:55AM and reached Bodø at 07:55 where we had nearly half an hour transit. From Bodø, we took jet stream plane to Harstad-Narvik which reminded me flying from Kathmandu to Pokhara. From Harstad-Narvik, we drive in a car to Abisko. This was my first time to high latitude. Abisko is situated at above 68⁰N. Abisko Mountain Station is situated in the most northern part of Sweden Lapland, 250 Km north of Arctic Circle. Our residence was booked in a cortege of Abisko Mountain Station. Abisko is a small town of Sweden with nearly 120 inhabitants. Sigrid, a colleague from NTNU was busy in driving people from airport to the station. During summer, the station look very beautiful with yellow birches. I met Prof. Birks and Prof Hilary Birks before dinner. He was very happy with one of my publication on orchid where he is also one of the authors. After dinner, we went to see silverfall near Abisko and view of Lapland Mountain.

Next day from 8:30AM the course started and lasted till 8^th September. Some days were full with loads of informations /lectures.

On 5^th September, we went to a trip to Nuolja Mountain with a chair lift. From the top station, we saw a nice view of Abisko and we were very lucky with the climate. That was very memorable trip during the course. The chair lift was with out closed cabin which we had back in Nepal for a trip to Manakamana where they have closed chambers. On the last day, we had students’ presentation. We were given task to make some concept that can be used for future research. Our group members presented on need of research on microbial organisms which play major role in nutrient cycling in Mountain ecosystems. After finishing presentation by 10:00, I bought some gifts for Sharmila and we drive back to to Harstad-Narvik to catch flight to Trondheim. On the way back, we went see Narvik city, a historic city of Norway. We finally arrived Trondheim at 21:50. On the way back, when I get off at Østre Breg, I noticed that some one took my luggage bag and left there. I suspected it should be the ones who got off near by Moholt. They were over drunk. The driver of the bus told me to take this bag but I told him it will be better if he takes this. I gave him my contact details if the person contact to the bus office. I ran to the bus stop where the people got off but could not find. I reached home at nearly 11:30PM without luggage. Next day I contacted the bus office and luckly the person who left their luggage in the bus had their contact number in the bag which enabled us to find my bag and I got it in a fine condition.

COMMUNITY ECOLOGY COURSE IN KONGSVOLL

Field trip for community ecology course, BI 2034 for this year was planned at Kongsvoll, south of Trondheim. It lies between Oslo and Trondheim and located in the Drivdalen valley in the municipality of Oppdal in Sør-Trøndelag county.

It was four days trip where students from Bachelor’s degree get information on how to conduct research and also collect some field level data themselves that can be used for writing a report. This is part of the course. Bente was already in Kongsvoll whereas Singrid and I drove in the morning from department at 8:00 AM on 23^rd of August 2011. It took us nearly 3 hours to reach there. On the way we stopped at shopping centre to buy food and others because we are supposed to buy at least breakfast and other foods ourselves. The university owns some cabins there and the University Museum has a nice botanical garden in Kongsvoll. When we reached there some students were already in the research station. Some of them took train while others reached with their own car.

We were sleeping in a guest house near by the highway whereas students were living in the cabins near by train station.

After lunch, they had lecture. Bente took some lectures on the course and at the evening I have to take lecture on methods on community ecology and some statistical methods but because Bente took longer time for her lecture, we decided to postpone my lecture for morning. The students selected the possible research themes that they will produce report on and we discussed how they are supposed to collect data from the field. This was there first time that they are collecting data for producing reports themselves and they are using some basic analysis tools for their data. On the same day, the person taking care of the botanical garden, took us to the garden and gave information on environmental condition of the area and flora they have in the garden. Asst. Prof. Jenny from Department of Biology and her colleagues who were there for research meeting also joined the trip to botanical garden. Later in the evening, Dagmar from NINA gave lecture on what she is doing in Døvre Mountain.

The next day we went out to collect information and sampling. I spent few hours out in the field and returned back to the research station because I have to read some literatures from the PhD course in Abisko which is scheduled from 2^nd to 8^th September 2011. The same day, Thor Harald joined for his lecture. After students arrived from field, they worked on their samples. They have to clip out this years production from the collected samples because the research projects are based on primary production.

The day Thor Harald and Bente had lectures on some topics and students worked in lab processing their samples. The next day till 11:00, the students worked in lab, processing their samples. After they finished processing, all the samples were kept in the van which we were driving.    

On the third day, Sigrid and I drove to Døvre Mountain to see Musk Ox. It is thought that Musk Ox was able to survive the last ice age by finding ice free areas away from prehistoric people. As I talked to Dagmar that I have not seen those animals before, se suggested me to go to Døvre Mountain to see those animals. The third day she ringed Sigrid and told that she noticed some Musk Ox near by the river on the way to Døvre Mountain from Kongsvoll. Sigrid and I drove to that area. We saw few Musk Ox on the way but I wanted to see them from closer. So, we drove to Døvre Mountain where we saw some individuals. On the way we meet one photographer from Netherlands who took some close-up pictures of Musk Ox. This is the first time I saw those rare animals. We returned back to Trondheim on 26th August at 12:15.

FIELD WORK IN TRONDHEIM

We sampled Impatiens noli-tangere and collected samples for seed bank (samples for Jan in Stockholm) in Trondheim on 18^th and 19^th August 2011. According to the plan, Serina was also here could join the trip and it will be easier for us as we are 4 people. All the populations of Impatiens noli-tangere were near by Hommelvik areas so, we drove to Hommelvik for for collecting Impatiens noli-tangere samples. It took us one day and few hours for next day. After we finished collecting samples of Impatiens noli-tangere, we drove to Lade to collect samples for seed bank experiment. For seedbank experiment, we already marked plots with Stachys sylvatica and Poa nemoralis from where we have to harvest inflorescence of these two species. There populations were from Lade to Byneset. We managed to finish all the populations by 19:00. The last population to be sampled was at Tomset. It was about 19:15 when we finished the final sampling. Serina and Jennifer helped a lot and worked hard to finish sampling by that day. After sampling I decided to have food out. We decided to have food in McDonald for celebrating last day of sampling Impatiens however sampling of Impatiens glandulifera in Trondheim has not done. But, Serina is leaving on 31^st August so, we decided to have food immediately after field work. We drove to McDonald at Sluppen. It was already 21:00 when we (Sharmila and I) arrived home from the University where we put all the samples in drier and cleaned soil probes.

FIELD WORK IN LUND AND LUND TO TRONDHEIM

On 7^th August, 2011, we started our trip for Lund at around 10:00. We bought some foods in Bremen for 1 day as it was Sunday. There we two ways to reach to Lund: one via Copenhagen and other via ferry. The first one was bit longer but we chose that because it was cheaper than the second option. It will cost only around 300 plus SEK for us but via ferry that might cost around 1000 SEK. When we choosed via Copenhagen where we have to cross Øresund Bridge, the longest bridge that connects Denmark and Sweden and have to pass highway under the sea. After crossing the bridge and tunnel highway, we reached Lund. I already booked Zoological Research Station of Lund University as suggested by Prof Jörg from Lund University. I had a map of the research station but without street name then it was difficult to figure out the location with the navigation system we are using in the van. I called to the contact person in the university but he was also not sure about the street name. When I called to the Prof. Jörg, we told us to wait at the same area and he will come there within 5-10 minutes. He told me that he is near by. After Jörg arrived, we greeted and drove to the research station. When we followed Jörg, we knew that we already crossed the research station; there was small road to the research station which we could not mark.

When we reached the research station, we meet Klaus, a post doc from Lund University. He has recently started his position and is living in the research station since some weeks. Klaus was very friendly, helpful and smiling guy. He guided us to the rooms and other practical information. We decided to meet the next day at 8:00 AM and Jörg left us.

We started our sampling from 8:00 AM in the morning on 8^th August. Luckily the days were ok with some days with little rain. Some of the sites were very marshy and I was wondering about Sharmila who had no rubber boots. I borrowed from Research Station for me. Later Jörg told that he could look boots from his son in his home and finally he found one pair for Sharmila. She used those boots during whole sampling period. Jörg helped us to reach each and every site in Lund. He was with us during whole sampling time. Next day, some researchers from Upsala University joined us in the research station. They were there for two days. Later two from Turkey came in the research station. They are there for research on crow. Of those two, one did masters from Lund University and other recently arrived Lund.

On the last day, we went to see Lund University and Jörg’s office. The university is situated at the heart of the city. In Jörg’s office I saw a picture of students who did masters under Erasmus Mondus program. Of those students, one was my high school friend, Mr. Basanta Gautam, who is now in Finland. When I talked to Jörg about this, he said that the students completed studies before he joind Lund University.

Later in the evening we decided to have barbeque with Klaus and two Turkish friends. That was memorable evening with them in Lund. Next day we have to take train to Oslo at 22:55.  According to the plan, we are supposed to leave our van in Europcar’s office in Lund. I and Jennifer went to leave car. It was little bit far from the central train station and it was raining so, we could not walk. Klaus told us that he could help us if we rang him. So, I called to Klaus and he came to pick up us to the train station. It was raining outside so, we could not go out however, me and Sharmila walked around city to things with one umbrella. We bought food for dinner in Subway.We waited in the train station until the train arrives.

The train route was from Lund C - Södertälje – Karlstad – Oslo. We have to change train twice: once at Södertälje and later in Karlstad. The train we were travelling was to Stockholm so, we have to get out in Södertälje at 5:33 AM and catch another train to Karlstad C at 6:33 AM and in Karlstad C, we had only 7 minutes for changing train. I was wondering whether we might miss the train but, luckily the train to Oslo was delayed because of some problem in the train. Later they found other train where we got free food and internet because the train was delayed by about 45 minutes. We arrived Oslo C at around 12:15.

In Oslo C, we booked luggage cabins for your luggage and went to the city for lunch. We had lunch in the restaurant. After food, Serina and Jennifer came to the station whereas; I and Sharmila went to see the Asian shops to buy ghee and many other things. We took train to Trondheim at 4:00 and arrived Trondheim at 23:00.

ONE NEIGHT IN BREMEN, GERMANY

As it is very long trip from Brussels to Lund, we decided to have one day stay in Bremen, Germany from where Serina and Jennifer started the trip. 

We started our trip to Germany at 9:00AM. After nearly 15 minutes of drive, I realized that I forgot to drop key card at the hotel. We have to drive back to the hotel to drop those cards. It was nearly 500 Km from Brussels, Belgium to Bremen, Germany. On the way, we stopped somewhere in Netherlands for lunch. We had a long traffic in the highway near by Lumberg. Later we came to know that there was flood in Bremen 3-4 days. Whole city was flooded and some hotels are not still operating because of the flood. When Jennifer called to the hotel, which we booked earlier, the hotel was closed because of flooding. We have to find new hotel for Sharmila and me because serina and Jennifer both had their room in Bremen. Finally we found one room in a hotel at Langemarckstraße which was also near by Serina’s room.

After we collected key, Jennifer left to meet her boy friend, Serina went to her room and Sharmila and me to the Hotel and Serina promised us to take to the city for city tour for which we decided to meet at 18:00 in front of the hotel.

After Serina came, we went to the Chinese restaurant for food. We found teasty Chinese noodles and spicy (hot) sauces and soup.

We took tram to the city centre and got off near by Langenstraße and walked through the beer bars. All the restaurants /bars were full with people who were busy in drinking beers, famous German beers. I cannot simply walk without testing German beer. We (Serina and I) decided to drink one glass special beer. After a glass of beer, we walked along the street to the centre. It was already 20:00 so, shops were already closed. We walked along Wachtstraße, Am Markt, Sandstraße, Schüttingstraße and walked back to the hotel. In the city, Serina described us about the story of a cat, a donkey, a dog and a rooster, a bronze statue of these animals on the back of each other is found in front of the museum in Bremen. We walked to the hotel later evening.

FIELD WORK IN BELGIUM

We reached the Sleep Well, hostel in Brussels at around 18:15. Although all the sampling sites were near by Ghent, I have to book hotel in Brussels because it is the only one available during our trip and it is very difficult to find cheap ones in Ghent. 

Peter, one of our collaborators, has already identified the populations of all the species and he left information on those populations in his office which we have to collect before we start our trip. The distance between Ghent and Brussles is 50 plus kilometres so, we have drive every day more than 100 km. On the first day, we went to Pieter’s office, Laboratory of Forestry, Ghent University at Gontrode. In the office, we met Wisley, roommate of Pieter whom Pieter had described every thing. We received a package with description of all the sites and the route we can use for sampling.

According to Pieter’s suggestion, we went to sample Impatiens parviflora population 4 which was in between Kere and Eeklo. The population was near by the garden. After we found the population, we had lunch as it was already 12:15. After lunch we finished sampling this population and looked for population 3 of I. parviflora. After sampling those populations, we tried to find other populations but we could not and the GPS coordination Pieter provided is also different than what I am using. It is because we were using different coordination system than Pieter used. So, we had problem in finding rest populations. We were roaming round to find population/s with the small sketch which Pieter provided and suddenly saw some locals. They were with map of the local area but they also could not figure out where the populations could be. When I described about what I am doing, they seem so interested in the plant. One lady was very happy say that she has Impatiens glandulifera in her garden. Later when I told her that the plant is highly invasive in Europe and is really a problematic, then she said, she will remove all the plants from her garden when she is back to her home.

After when we were back at hotel, we figured out the location of populations with the help of google map and for rest days it went smoothly for sampling.

We finished sampling by 5^th of July 2011. We sampled 4 populations of Impatiens parviflora and 6 populations of Impatines noli-tangere whereas Pieter will sample 6 populations of I. glandulifera.

On the 5^th July, we went out for dinner in a restaurant. We decided to meet at Grand Place, Grote Markt at 18:00 and find restaurant for food. Sharmila want to buy some clothes so we went our bit earlier to the city. On the way to Grote Markt, we bought couple of clothes for Sharmila and for me. When we reached Grote Markt, Serina was already there and later Jennifer also joined us. We went to see restaurants and when we followed a small road, we saw many restaurants and many waiters calling for tourists to come to their restaurants. You hear the same statements when you pass one hotel. Finally we decided to sit in one restaurant and had soups, shrimps, chicken and many more.

It was already 20:15 when we finished our dinner. After dinner, we decided to walk to the city to see night life of Brussels. On the way back, I saw one curio shop with the name Everest. I went inn to see the things and see the owner. The owner look mongol face and I thought he also could be the person from Tibet. I did not ask him. Later, I wanted to buy one gift item, I went to the cash counter and asked him, are you from Nepal? Then he said oh dai tapai pani Nepali nai ho? (Oh Brother, are you also from Nepal?) Then we shared our greetings, talked about our homes back in Nepal. He is Lalit Magar who is from Myagdi, which lies in western development region from where I am. He is from the village which I already know because our neighbour back in Pokhara are also from the same village. We were in Brussels since five days and we don’t meet any Nepalese but on very final day we met lalit ji. We tried a lot to see whether there are Nepalese restaurants or not since we were in Brussels because we wanted to taste Nepali food but we could not find. Lalit ji offered us coke and other drinks for free. He seemed so happy after seeing us. Later we knew that there are other Nepalese curio shops along the street and we met them after we followed the street. On the very last day in Brussels, we met many Nepalese.

We left for Bremen, Germany on 6^th July 2011 at 9:00 AM.

SAMPLING IN EUROPE: TRIP TO FRANCE

We left early in the morning at 4:30 AM to catch flight at 6:30 AM to Oslo. We have to fly from Oslo to Charleori (Brussels) at 10:30 AM. We had 3 hours transit at Rygge airport, Oslo. We reached Oslo on time. That was the first time I am using Ryanair, one of the cheapest airlines in Europe. They are very strict for weight of luggage. We saw many people paying a lot extra charges for extra luggage. If you have to pay, extra for one kg luggage, the charge seems more than the travel fare. Also, we noticed many people putting on many clothes and other things in their pockets to avoid extra charges.

According to the schedule, we planned to meet with two Germany internship students (Serina and Jennifer) at Charleori (Brussels) and drive to Amiens, France. They were driving a hired van from Europcar. They were planned to leave Germany at 8:00 AM. After we landed at Charleori, I called to Jennifer and she said they are on the way to airport and it might take one more hours to reach airport. After one hour, I called her and they finally arrived at the airport. We have not met before so, it took some time to find them. Finally we found them. We loaded all luggages in the Van. They seem very excited for the trip and field work.

We left Charleori at around 14:15. The distance between Charleori and Amines, France is 200 plus kilometre. We supposed it might take 3-4 hours to reach Amines. On the way we talked about the research plan, samplings, target plants and places we will be visiting. I had already booked hotel at Amines (Hotel Premiere Classe, Amines). This was for one day. For other days, I booked hotel in Compiégne region because because Olivier suggested me to book hotel in Compiégne region as our sampling sites are near by Compiégne region. I booked same hotel, Hotel Premiere Classe in Compiégne.

When we reached the hotel, the server of the hotel was not working. We were so, tired and have to wait outside for nearly one hour because the boy at the reception do not know about our reservation. We had to wait until the server works. Finally he called me for room keys.

According to our plan, we are supposed to meet at the centre of Amines with Olivier for dinner and he promised us to take for sightseeing.

I knew Olivier before during the FLEUR meeting in Trodheim in February 2011. The sampling I am doing is in collaboration with FLEUR people. FLEUR is a network where people form different regions form Europe (Amines, France; Ghent, Belgium; Bremen, Germany; Lund, Sweden; Stockholm, Sweden; and Trondheim, Norway)  is affiliated and are cooperating with field work for each other.

As per our plan, we met Olivier in front of the Cathédrale d'Amiens at 20:00. We went in one restaurant and ordered food for us. We had nice food (Tourist Menu) at the restaurant. At evening, we went to see the Cathédrale d’ Amiens which is called The Cathedral of Our Lady of Amiens. The Cathedral looks so beautiful (appears colourful) during night when they use light projection on it. After that we had walk around Rue de la Dodane. The city looks very colourful during night with gatherings and music.

Next day we decided to visit Compiégne for searching Impatiens noli-tangere. We left hotel at 7:00 AM. The day we first went to the see six populations of Impatiens noli-tangere around Lacroix-Saint-Ouen. Olivier had already found those populations and we were there for collecting samples. The first population was near by Sainte-Penne. So, we went to the nearby office of the forest department. We had lunch and started hunting Impatiens. One staff of the forest office was very helpful who spoke very little English.

The whole day we spent on looking populations and decided to start sampling the next day. After visiting those populations, Olivier returned back to Amiens and we went to the hotel at Compiégne.

The next day (30.07.2011) we sampled all the populations of Impatiens noli-tangere. On 31.07.2011, we decided to visit Paris as this is the first time in France and we don’t want to miss the opportunity to see Eiffel tower and Paris.

As we are finished with sampling, we decided to leave for Brussels after visiting Paris on 01.08.2011. However, the rooms were booked from 02.08.2011 onwards. I made a call to the hostel in Brussels and they said they can change the booking i.e. we will get rooms from 01.08.2011 onwards. At the same time, I have to talk to the hotel at Compiégne because I already paid for 01.08.2011. When I wanted to talk to the lady at the reception, she did not speak English. That was very strange for me that the person working at the reception of a hotel don’t speak English. Later Serina talked to the lady with her little French and she said it should be ok to cancel for one day but we have talk to the hotel owner who use to show up during morning.

We decided to drive our Van for some distance and take train to central Paris because it might be difficult to find parking space for Van and have to pay charge for parking. After parking our Van, we took train to Eiffel tower and walked along the river, Seine River. Around Eiffel tower, we noticed many hookers selling curio items along the street. We noticed some of them are Indias as they speak Hindi when we are near by supposing that we are from India. Most of them seem to be immigrants. This reminded me back to Kathmandu where we find many mobile shops and people use to run when police want not to put them along the streets. We call them Jhole poke (people with big packs on their back pack). We walked along the Seine river to see many historical things. Later we went to the Basilique du Sacré-Cœur. Serina had already been to Paris for some months so she could speak little French and knew couple of places to visit. So, we followed here. From Basilique du Sacré-Cœur, whole Paris city can be seen. After that, we went to Louvre Museum. It is one of the biggest museum but we did not went in because we were already late and we could not visit all Museum.

We were so, tired so we decided to return back to the hotel. We reached hotel at 19:00. Packed our things and made ready for leaving the next day.

Next day, I talked with the hotel owner and he was ready to return back my money which I already paid.

We left for Brussels at 9:15 AM.

TRIP TO POKHARA

Next day, on the 13^th July 2011, we left for Pokhara. We were very happy to be with family after nearly one year. We visited my relatives in Bhurjungkhola and others. During my stay in Pokhara, I borrowed scoty from my sister which made us easy for my trips. For one day, we went to Kande to taste sukuti (dry meat) of he-goat / changra (he-goat reared at high altitudes). Kande is famous for khasi ko sukuti. Next day one of Sharmila’s friend from Norway, Heidi was visiting Pokhara so, we decided to join them and show some places around Pokhara. She was travelling with one of her colleagues Tran Suppipat and with Bimal ji’s family. I had not met Bimal ji before but we talked couple of times on phone when i was in Bergen. During that time, Bimal ji was in Trondheim for his Masters in Natural Resource Management from NTNU. We meet at Lakeside where they were living. After half an hour, we left for Mahendra gufa (cave). On the way back we came to our home. On the way to Bagar, we had lunch in a restaurant in K.I. Singhpool. They were interested to taste MO:MO:. After lunch, I suggested Bimal ji to take Heidi and Tran to Kande / Lumle. We drive till Hemja for them. At the evening, we decided to meet at Mahendrapool for dinner. We went to Thankali Bhanchha Ghar (Restaurant famous for typical Nepali food). Heidi and her friend were leaving for Kathmandu the next day with Bimal ji who have to attend a meeting. We decided to meet at Kathmandu again before Heidi and her friend leave for Bangkok. We returned back to Kathmandu on 20^th July 2011. We bought couple of things to take to Norway specially the spices which were difficult to find in the markets in Norway. We left for Norway on 23^rd July 2011 and arrived Trondheim via Quatar on 24^th July 2011.

KATRA, INDIA TO MAHENDRANAGAR TO KATHMANDU, NEPAL

On 10^th July 2011, we started trip from Baishnodevi temple to back to Mahendranagar. We planned to reach Haridwar. Whole day, Banbarilal kept on driving.

On the way we stopped at Hariyana for food. Sharmila was interested to taste some typical Indian food. We went to one restaurant. Banbarilal went to ask about foods first. He them come with smiling that there are four Nepalese boys working. He told us that he said to the boys that he brought some friends from Nepal. We talked to the boys. They were from mid and far western Nepal. It is very common practice to go to India for work from Nepal.

We tasted tasty and spicy Indian foods. When I went to the cash counter to pay bills, the restaurant owner asked me are you from Nepal? I said, yes I am. I asked him, how you know? He said, one of the boys told him that there are Nepalese guests from Nepal. The boys were working hard from 6:00 AM to later10:00 PM but get nominal salary. Two of them left home during civil war in Nepal because the Maoists forced him to join their army but he fused and came to India where other two came because of poor financial condition. They could not continue their study and have to go to India in search of jobs to feed their parents. I had fellow feeling to those Nepalese boys. I gave 50 Indian rupees to each of them as a pocket money. First they refused but later they kept it. When we sat in the jeep they were looking towards us until we hide in the crowd.

We reached Saharanpur at about 11:15 PM and decided to have rest there. It was about one more hour drive to reach to Haridwar but we were so, tired as we had not slept last night too. We decided to stop at Saharanpur. Finally we found a hotel for one night.
Next day, 11^th July 2011, we left for Haridwar at 07:00 AM. We were little bit fresh after having good sleep. On the way we stopped at Baba Ramdev’s Asharam where we had breakfast. After that we reached Haridwar temple. We decided not to go to the main temple as it will be time consuming because we plan to reach Mahendanagar today. So, we had a distance bath in a holly river and filled one bottle with water from the river. This water is regarded as the holiest in Nepal. People have a belief that when they keep this water in their homes, they get rid from problems. Large number of Nepalese use to visit this area and this is one of the main destinations (Dham) for Hindu pilgrims which they have to visit before they die. We had bath in holly river and distance worship to the goddess. Sharmila had Mehandi in her hand. It was already 11:15 AM, and then we started our trip. Nearly at 18:30 we reached Nepal-India boarder. The boarder use to open from 18:00 to 19:00. So, it was crowded with people passing through this boarded towards both the countries.
People have to walk for nearly half an hour to cross the boarder until and unless you are travelling with private car. Those people who walk get much trouble by the army from India and by police in Nepal. Especially in Indian boarder side, the Indian army uses to ask money from them and poor workers have to pay as much as they demand. But we who are using a private vehicle from India were never asked for money. One Indian army came to search our jeep and asked where we have been. We told we are from Kashmir. He said oh Kashmir, have you been to Gulmarg? I said yes. He said he is from Gulmarg. I told oh Gulmarg is the most beautiful place. He felt very happy to hear that.

Finally we reached Mahendranagar at 20:05. On the way back I told uncle to book ticket for Dhangadi – Kathamndu for tomorrow and luckily he found cheap tickets for us.

I made payment to Banbarilal. He is thankful for wonderful driving and guiding us during the trip about what we have to do and what we don’t especially when we are going to have food. He is very good driver I saw until now.

We left for Kathmandu on 12^th July 2011. Although, I could not do what I targeted, I have a nice trip to Kashmir. It became more ritual tour rather than sampling.

KASHMIR TO KATRA, JAMMU: TRIP TO VAISHNODEVI TEMPLE

As we could not collect plant samples, I decided to return back to Mahendranagar as soon as possible. So, I had meeting with Prof. Reshi and Mr. Pervaiz about sampling. They convinced me that they will send samples as soon as possible.

We left Kashmir early in the morning at 4:30 AM on 9^th July 2011. On the way back, Banbarilal wanted to visit VaishnoDevi temple. Sharmila and I were also interested to visit that temple because it is one of the most popular Hindu temples that Hindu pilgrims visit. It is one of the most visited Hindu temples. I heard people form Nepal making trip to this temple.

I was very disappointed as we could not collect samples ourselves and was with little hope that Mr. Pervaiz will collect samples and sent them to Trondheim. I had little hope because I had trouble in sending soil probes and temperature buttons to India. Specially, the Indian custom at Delhi asked very unnecessary questions and made delay in sending those items. Although the samples were sent via DHL, the service in India was very poor.

I have to call many times the DHL office in Norway about it. Once it was the situation when I say I am calling from Trodheim, the DHL personal recognize me.

We reached Katra, from where we have to start trip to VaishnoDevi temple. As we knew that there is helicopter service to temple, I tried but we could not get tickets for that. The seats use to be booked before 2-3 months. It was 14:00 at day time, we started our trip. On the way it rained heavily so, we have to stop for nearly half an hour. Banbarilal had already been that temple twice before. He told us that it will take 5 hours plus to reach the temple. I was wondering for Sharmila that she might not be able to walk for such long but she refused to take horse. There were horse services up to half way and if we are lucky, we could get tempo up to temple.  But, we could not get tempos too. We have to walk uphill for 5-6 hours however the walking trail was very beautiful, wide and easy to walk. On the way there are many cafes, rest rooms, toilets etc.

We reached VaishnoDevi temple at 19:30 PM and took bath and stand in queue for worship. As it was time for Arati, we have to stand longer in a queue. After three and half hours queue, we got opportunity to worship BaishnoDevi. The temple is situated at the juncture of the big mountains. However, there were many rest rooms for devotees, get blanket for free but have to deposit 100 Indian rupees and get refunded when they return blankets.

We were so, tired but we decided to walk back to Katra after worship because the area was so crowded with devotees. We could hardly find place to sleep and even if we find, it might be problematic to sleep because of crowd.

It was memorable way back. We had pain, muscles were swelling but we kept on walking until we reached Katra. We arrived Katra at 03:25 AM. Sharmila and I had muscle pain in our legs however, Banbarilal seems ok. Luckly we found two boys who could massage our legs. They provide massage for 20 Indian rupees for each with massage oils. We fell very relief after massage.

We slept in Jeep for nearly three hours, had tea and continued our journey. On the way we planned to visit Ramdev Baba's Ashram at Haridwar and Haridwar temple.

FIELD WORK IN KASHMIR, INDIA - PART IV: KATRA, JAMMU TO SRINAGAR, KASHMIR

We started our journey early in the morning at 04:00 AM on 7^th July 2011 for Kashmir. When we reached the checking point, there were already more than dozen vehicles in queue. The checking point opened at 04:30 AM and we are allowed to pass that point. We saw many vehicles with pilgrims as well as vehicles with Army personal. The area was in a high alert in terms of security because of high movement of Hindu pilgrims whereas the Kashmir area is dominated by Muslims. After passing hilly crawling roads, we reached TITANIC VIEW TOWER from where we saw the beautiful Kashmir valley.

We reached Kashmir University at around 13:15 where Prof. Reshi was waiting for us. Prof. Reshi is the head of the Department of Botany of the Kashmir University and has worked with the plant Impatiens glandulifera, the plant I am looking for. We went to the university and met Prof. Reshi. After short conversation, we went to the University Guest House where room for us was booked. We decided to meet at around 16:00 in the department. After having lunch at the canteen in the University, we went to the Guest house.

I came to the Department to meet Prof. Reshi. He was bit busy with meetings. I met Ass. Prof. Manzoor Ahmad Shah who is also working with invasive species. He is very interested with my research. At the mean time I met one of his PhD students who is working with invasive aquatic plants.

After sometime, Prof. Reshi called us and we went to his office. We had discussion about my research plan and he told that he will provide one assistant to guide us in the field. I want to the start field from tomorrow early in the morning so, Prof. Reshi called his student and told to join me tomorrow early in the morning. Prof. Reshi seems very helpful. I have not met him before but he helped me in booking guest house and finding populations of Impatiens glandulifera and many more.

Next day (08.07.2011), Mr. Pervaiz Ahmad Dar, student of Prof. Reshi came around 08:00 AM. We had tea together and left for field. Prof. Reshi suggested us to visit Gulmarg site where he saw many populations along the road side. We decided to visit same region as Prof. suggested.

On the way to Gulmarg, we were stopped before we start uphill to Gulmarg. One boy ran to our vehicle as told us to book a guide. He told us that, we have to pay 50 Indian Rupees for each of us and parking charge of the vehicle. He was speaking local language to Pervaiz and later pervaiz explained us that they guy was telling him to keep quite and he will get 50% of the money we pay to the boy but Pervaiz refused. Gulmarg is one of the most beautiful regions of Kashmir, which lies nearly 60 Km far from the Kashmir University. Unfortunately we don’t see very mature Impatiens glandulifera plants. Mr. Pervaiz described us about the area and it seems crowded with the tourists. After not seeing mature target plant, we decided to return back after lunch to Srinagar where we saw populations along the road side. Pervaiz suggested us to taste Kashmiri Yakhni for lunch. Later we found the food was so tasty.

On the way back to Srinagar, we saw many populations of Impatiens glandulifera along the highway but unfortunately, we could not go out to sample those populations because the region was high alert in terms of security and we saw large number of security personals along the road sides. It was very tough to collect samples and at the same time, local people use to follow us as they noticed outsiders.

It was very tough to go out and sample populations. We tried but failed. So, I decided to leave without sampling. At the evening, I had meeting with Prof. Reshi and Pervaiz and they agreed to sample after the Amarnath Jatra finishes. It is problematic also due to high flow of Hindu pilgrims during this season. Pervaiz told us that last year at the same time, Kashmir had six months curfew. As they agreed to sample for me, I described my plans and sampling techniques. They decided they can do it. I decided to leave Kashmir early in the morning with the great help of receiving samples from Kashmir.

FIELD WORK IN KASHMIR, INDIA - PART III: MAHENDRANAGAR TO KATRA, JAMMU

We prepared our luggage and ready for our trip to Kashmir. Banbarilal came on time. We kept all our luggage and started the journey at 06:45AM. It is an exciting journey because, firstly, this the longest journey I am making with a Jeep, secondly, Kashmir is one of the most beautiful city of India, thirdly, this is an area where India and Pakistan had war for nearly 10 years so, it is very sensitive.

After crossing Nepal-India boarder at 07:40 AM, Banbarilal stopped near by his house which was on the way. He came with a bag and kept in a Jeep and we continued the journey. On the way, Banbarilal use to shake hands to many people and say hi to them. He seems well known in the area. 
After 3 hours drive, we stopped in a motel for tea and light food.

Banbarilal is planning to reach Kashmir by the evening, the next day. So, he keep on driving the vehicle with full speed while we too were enjoying Indian music.

On the way, I noticed many liquor shops along the highway and advertisement for selling liquor. I came to know that only registered liquor shops (Theki) can sell liquor in India whereas, in Nepal every shops can sell.

 

After passing Haridwar, a famous Hindu pilgrimage place, we stopped for dinner at 20:00. After dinner, Banbarilal continued driving. He said, he will keep on driving until he realizes that he need to have rest. After passing Ambala city, he said he want to have short sleep. It was 01:00 AM at night. He went out from the jeep and slept in a bed (Khatiya) near by the road of a restaurant whereas, Sharmila and I slept in the Jeep. After nearly three hours, he continued driving.

After passing Luthiyana, we almost missed the highway and followed the highway to Simla. Later Banbarilal realized that we are following the wrong way, we asked to one of the driver and the driver said, we are following the wrong way. We have to turn back and drive almost 30 Km back. Finally we found the right highway. 

After 2 hours drive, Banbarilal realized he needs to have a rest for few minutes. Then he slept in a Jeep whereas, sharmila and I had tea and talked to people in a tea shop. After 35 minutes, Banbarilal woke up, had tea and we continued the trip.

At 13:25, we reached Pathanthok, near by Jammu. We still have to drive more than 350 Km to reach to Kashmir. We had lunch at a restaurant. The season was period of Amarnath Jatra – a famous hindu jatra. So, highway was crowded and the restaurants. At the same time, the foods available are only targeted for pilgrims. So, everywhere the foods taste same.

After driving about 30 Km, police stopped us on the way, they asked for us that whether it’s possible or not to drive their boss in our Jeep to Jammu? I discussed with Banbarilal and he said, ok. The boss came and sat in the front seat. He said he is a RTO (Road Transport Officer). We introduced each other. As we said, we are from Nepal but studying in Norway, he seems unknown about Norway. He said, is Norway near by UK? It was surprising for me because an officer does not know about the country Norway. I replied to him yes it is north to UK.

Banbarilal was worrying about the road permit and renewable of that permit. As he said, he is RTO, Banbarilal, seems little bit relaxed because an officer is sitting in his Jeep, so no one can check the Jeep on the way. We have to drive the officer to his home. His home was 20 minutes in from the Highway but the officer was so clever that he said, if we drive through his home, it will be shorter and we don’t need to face traffic jam. He drove him to his home and continued our journey to Kashmir. and leave for Kashmir. The officer on the way told that if there is any problem, we can call him. He gave us his mobile number and took our too. I had a mobile sim from Banbarilal but unfortunately the mobile sim registered outside Jammu and Kashmir did not work in Jammu and Kashmir. We had a problem in communicating people in Nepal and even in India.

After we reached KATRA, a small village on the way to Kashmir after Jammu, we got stopped by Indian police. They stopped almost all the vehicles and said that there is a jam on the way because of pilgrims. I talked to the policeman and their boss that we are not pilgrims, we are going to Kashmir University and that if for research purpose but they did not care. I called to the Prof. Z. A. Reshi at Kashmir Univeristy and RTO whom we meet earlier and they tried their best but the duty officer did not care about our problem. They said, they will leave vehicles early in the morning tomorrow but not today. I tried to talk to boss many times but he refused my request.

After few minutes, two policemen came near to me and asked the driver to start the vehicle. They forcefully sat in the Jeep and asked to start A/C. We feel very scared and were wondering whether they might loot us. Later they suggested us an alternative way if we want to go Kashmir. Some people told that it is not good to follow that road because it is through the jungle, the road is gravelled only and there is high risk of getting looted. But, Banbarilal said, we should try that route. He is the only one to whom we can have faith. We tried that route too but we got stopped. I decided to talk to police In-charge of Jammu but he also refused to help as and said as the vehicles are stopped because of high traffic jam and this is the order from high commissioner, he can do nothing.

We have to stop at Katra for one night. We looked for a Hotel and stayed for one night. This is the area where the famous Hindu ritual area, VaishnoDevi lies. We decided we will visit this temple on the way back.

FIELD WORK IN KASHMIR, INDIA - PART II: KATHMANDU - MAHENDRANAGAR

On 4^th July, we fly to Mahendranagar. The flight was at 12:10. When I talked to people about flight, they use to say, ….. the flight will not be on time so, need to wait longer at the airport. We reached airport one hour before the departure time, completed boarding on time and waited for the flight. While roaming round in the waiting hall, I met one senior, Mr. ……Bhujel (I don’t remember the first name) who is an officer at department of education, Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal. I met Mr. Bhujel about after 8 years. I first met him in Kirtipur while I was studying master’s degree in 2003. One of my uncles who was also preparing Lok Sewa (public service commission) exam, introduced me with Mr. Bhujel. At that time, they were 4 people preparing for the exam. My uncle was living with me in my room. After all of them successfully passing exam, I had a grand party with them in their room. Mr. Bhujel told me that he is also flying to Dhangadi where his team are going to organize district level training for high school teachers.

After about one and half hours flight, we landed at Dhangadi airport, Dhangadi. This was my first time to western Nepal. The temperature outside was about 34⁰C and we were completely sweating. Within a short time we reached 34⁰C from 17⁰C (temperature in Trondheim when we were leaving for Nepal). 

We have to go to Mahendranagar where sharmila’s one of the uncle, Mr. Dharma Banjara working. We talked over phone and are going to live with him in his flat. He is working as a branch manager at Nabil Bank, Mahendranagar branch. Accorind to plan, a Jeep from uncle’s office is supposed to drive us from airport to Mahendranagar. We have to wait at the airport until the vehicle arrives and the driver said, it will take one more hour for him to reach airport. Mr. Bhujel and his team left after the vehicle from district education office came to pick up them while I have to wait for ours. At the mean time, I remembered one of my friends during my stay in Kirtipur, Mr. Raju Ojha. He is originally from Dhangadi. I had his mobile number and called him. Luckily he was near by airport and we met.

We talked about ourselves and other things. He told me that one of my colleagues during masters at TU, Mr. KR Bhattarai is now at District Plant Resource Office (Jilla Banaspati Karyalaya). He is an officer at department of plant resources.

After having tea and talking couple of things, the Jeep to Mahendranagar arrived. We left for Mahendranagar. It is about 45 minutes drive from Dhangadi airport to Mahendranagar. One of the bank staff was also in the Jeep. They came to Dhangadi to deposit money from branch office to central bank (Rastra Bank) office in Dhangadi. According to them, they use to come twice a week for such deposit.

We reached uncle’s office at about 15:30. Uncle and aunty were waiting us outside the bank. They were so excited to see us. 

After banking hours, we had short tour to city. At the same time I have to buy ticket to Jammu, India. I was looking for ticket in a train which I could not book from Trondheim. Uncle called many people whom he knew and are booking tickets in Indian rails but all went vain after I knew that all the seats are full even there is a long queue of Tatkal (emergency) ticket.

The locals instead suggested us to hire a Jeep. The driving distance from Mahendranagar to Kashmir is more than 1000 Km. So, I was wondering about hiring a Jeep and the time it might take. At the same time, I have to find a driver who is very honest and good in driving because I have to bring back samples after field work and the Indian authority might create problem to bring those samples. So, I have to find an Indian driver who is honest, good in driving such that Indian authority will not create problem on us.

The locals suggested us a driver Banbarilal, who is originally from Banbasa, a small village near by Nepal boarder, has a good contact with locals in Mahendranagar, drives a Jeep owned by Nepali and has an Indian number plate. He is very fluent in Nepal also. I talked with the driver and he agreed to drive us to Kashmir and at the same time the price was affordable.

So, we decided to leave for Kashmir tomorrow at 6:00 AM because the Nepal-India boarder opens twice a day: from 07:00 to 11:00 AM and from 18:00 to 19:00 PM. So, we have to cross boarder after 07:00AM.

FIELD WORK IN KASHMIR, INDIA - PART I: TRONDHEIM - KATHMANDU

We (Sharmila and I) left Trondhiem at 11:10 AM on 1^st July 2011. Sharmila was so excited to meet her family after one year in abroad. The route of our flight was: Trondheim – Stockholm – Doha – Kathmandu. I chose this route because this is one of the best route after Qatar airways started its flight from Stockholm. We had nearly 4 hours transit in Stockhom and one hour 45 minutes in Doha. Because of delay of flight from Stockholm to Doha, we had shorter transit in Doha. In spite of that, we managed to catch the flight for Nepal. We planned to buy things at Doha airport but could not. After nearly four and half hours flight, we safely landed Kathmandu at 08:30 AM. After we came out from the airport bus, we met Amuna, sister of Sharmila’s friend at the airport. She is working at Jet Airways. It took nearly one hour to complete all the custom procedures and we came out at 09:30 AM. Sharmila’s brother and few others were already at the airport waiting for us. We reached Sharmila’s home at nearly 11:00 AM. It was a long journey so, we were tired but I have to go to Dehaurali Travels, Sundhara to collect ticket for Dhangadi. This is because; I had an agreement with Balaram ji who is working at Dehaurali Travels that I will collect ticket by 14:00 on 2^nd July. I made this agreement from Trondheim over phone. If I did not pick up ticket by that time, the ticket will be cancelled. I reached on time and collected the ticket but unfortunately, I could not meet Balaram bhai who was in Chitwan since three days for a trip. According to the schedule, we have to leave for Dhangadi on 4^th of July 2011. 

The next day, I was out to Kathmandu for buying things for a trip to Kashmir.

WATCH MT. EVEREST LIVE ON THE WEB

Now it became possible to watch live images of Mt. Everest (8,848 m) live on the web. This became possible after installation of web-cam by the non-profit research association Ev-K2-CNR in collaboration with  the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), Nepal. They successfully installed web-cam on the top of Kala Patthar, at the height of 5600 m a.s.l..

The web-cam is installed only 11 kilometers from the mountain. The web-cam is active only during daylight, between 6 am to 6 pm nepali time (GMT + 5:45). 

The web-cam can be viewed following the link below:

http://www.evk2cnr.org/WebCams/PyramidOne/current.jpg  

The picture shows Mount Everest, 8,848 m, the highest mountain in the world. On the right you can see the South Col plateau, 8,000 m.

Orchid species richness along Himalayan elevation gradients

One of my paper on orchids from Nepal and Bhutan is published in an internal journal,Journal of Biogeography. The paper is available on line on 12 May 2011. Its great experience for me to publish article in such journal. Ohh... it took nearly 18 months to get published. Many many thanks to my two co-authors who from the very beginning encouraged me for this paper.

The study explores the relationship between orchid species richness along elevational gradients in the Central Himalaya (Nepal Himalaya) and Eastern Himalaya (this includes Bhutan and its adjoining areas).

This study is based on secondary sources. We used published data on the distribution of orchids to interpolate presence between maximum and minimum recorded elevations in 100-m elevational zones. These patterns were compared with previously published patterns for other plant groups, which were derived in the same way.

A hump-shaped relationship between orchid species richness and elevation was observed in Nepal and Bhutan, with maximum richness at 1600 m a.s.l. corresponding to c. 16 C mean annual temperature. The richness of orchid species that are endemic to central and eastern Himalaya showed a bimodal pattern. Richness of endemic epiphytes peaked at elevation zones similar to those for total richness, but the peak in numbers of endemic terrestrial species occurred at a higher elevation.

This study shows that climatic variables (temperature and precipitation) provide a good potential explanation for orchid species richness along the Himalayan elevational gradient, even when the effect of area is considered. The principal elevational peak in richness of central and eastern Himalayan endemics was consistent with the peak in total orchid richness, but maximum terrestrial endemic richness occurred at higher elevations.

To read full article click here.

REDD AND REDD+

What is REDD and REDD+ and what progress we achieved after Copenhagen? How the concept of REDD originated and how it works? To get answers of these questions, watch a video below by a Keynote speaker, Dr. Geneviene Patenaude, University of Edinburgh, UK during Commonwealth Forestry Conference.

INVASIVE SPECIES WIDESPREAD, BUT NOT MORE THAN AT HOME RANGE

It has been too long that i have not posted in my blog. This is partly due to lack of time and at the same time i have been lazy too. Today, i found one interesting news. The news is interesting in the sense that i am going to work with invasive species and more or less with the same theme.

It is a global assumption that when a plants invade in a new area, they become much more abundant in introduced habitat than in native habitat. But, study by Firn et al. (2011) shows that on average, invasive species are not any more abundant away from home than they are at home. The findings is published in March issue of Ecology letters. Link to the article