our rides

22 11 2009

Our jungle adventure is now over–yesterday we took the long bus ride to Pokhara. We much prefer Pokhara over Kathmandu so far…it’s still busy but more spread out and quieter, and walking through the streets is less scary (there are actual sidewalks in places!!!). Our hotel is off the main drag too…we both got around 12 hours of sleep last night (much needed)!

Almost every night here, I dream of home (or even better–returning home and all that excitment and reunitement). It’s actually the ideal situation: I spend my days here in Nepal, but every night I am at home with you guys.

Now to report on Sauraha, Chitwan. The climate there is much different than what we’ve become accustomed too…cool moist jungle air, though very hazy–the local Tharu people are ALWAYS burning stuff. Random piles of fire and garbage and smoke everywhere.

We took many “rides” in and around Chitwan, and explaining in the order of rides we took is probably a pretty effective way of describing it.

The first was our long ride in a small taxi from Kathmandu to Chitwan. Pretty typical: LOTS TO LOOK AT. Packs of scrappy dogs, piles of thin filmy burning garbage of every material, children walking in their brightly colored school uniforms. And, of all things, semis. The cargo trucks here seem much more loved: they’re all beautifully painted on all sides, with decorative borders around the windshields, and sparkle with tinsel and streamers and tassels. And most charming of all, each one has something written on its bumper, funny things like: Rasta Killer, Rock On!!, Road of the King, King of the Road, Megadeth, First Time on the Road, Bad Boy, Sexy Road, Oh My God Open Heart, Big Boss, Don’t Kiss Me, etc. etc.

We waited for a jeep upon arriving at the gate, and in typical Nepali fashion, it never arrived. We were introduced to our replacement ride: a carriage pulled by a tiny, bony horse. So off we bumped down the rocky dirt road, tensing every muscle in our bodies in attempt to bind ourselves to the carriage (and not get dramatically thrown out of it) as the driver urged the horse on with his commands…”Hut! Huy!” A few days later we rode by ox-cart, which was unexpectedly less bumpy.

We were given a day-by-day plan of our stay in Chitwan, with planned activities. This type of planned, touristy schedule is usually something I despise and avoid, but there weren’t a terrible amount of tourists there and we were on our own for most of it, so it was more than tolerable.

Our second day in Chitwan, more “rides”. A lurching ride in a 65-year-old WW2 Russian jeep to the river. The river there, by the way, reminded us so much of the Sacramento River! Similar vegetation and shores. From there we got in our dugout canoe (it’s unbelievable that they carve those boats from one solid log) and road low, drifting and shifting down the river and looking at wildlife. Birds of course were my focus: wild peacocks, spectacularly turquoise iridescent kingfishers (White-throated), a hornbill, bulbuls, herons. We also saw many crocodiles…breathtaking, glossy, healthy, ENORMOUS crocodiles, far superior to any I’ve seen in captivity. Just gorgeous.

This whole time, elephants (captive ones) are just wandering around shuttling people everywhere. Elephants are so magnificent, although I had a hard time with them being captive. They’re chained to posts by a spiky chain around one foot, not given access to water sometimes, and by visiting the museum near the Breeding Center, I learned about the horrifying training techniques. Lots of chains and exposure to flame to desensitize them.

We also witnessed the elephant baths, where tourists sometimes climb in with them for a plunging bath in the river atop an elephant. I was a little tempted, but the day after (when I had the opportunity) I decided against it…I couldn’t bear to be another person forcing that animal to do something.

Later on day two was our ride through the jungle on our elephant (controlled by his trainer, an older grey-haired man with glasses, Pops thought he looked like a professor. He was delighted when we spoke Nepali to him, bragging to all the other trainers.). We embarked onto the elephant’s back, each straddling the corner post of a square wooden platform topped with a mattressy blanket for dubious comfort. Elephants are strange to ride. I expected it to be smoother. We rocked back and forth, clambering through the fields and forest. (The next day we both had bruises on inner arms and legs from clinging on.) Our elephant was a little upset at times too, emitting a low, vibrating growl. It also grabbed and pulled at vegetation along the way with its trunk, demonstrating its impressive strength.

We rode through fields of high grass…really high. Higher than the elephant, higher than us atop the elephant. Stiff serrated grasses topped with feathery purple plumes. Sometimes he’d steer us straight through the thick of it, forcing us to duck and hide our faces and get covered with fluffy plant bits. We saw some other groups, all heading in the same vague direction, towards and through a moister, cooler, jungle that came to a clearing. In this clearing was a rhinocerous.

CHAOS! All the tourist-laden elephants now, chasing around this rhino, circling it. Thankfully, the rhino didn’t seem distressed. Just mildly annoyed at getting cut off and blocked by these elephants when he’s just snackin’.

Despite all the madness, I really did enjoy seeing that guy in his natural habitat (y’all know, I’m a huge natural habitat fan). Rhinos are so strange and fascinating! The thick leathery skin, broad body, the horn…and there he is, in this jungley wild meadow. I felt like I was in a different geological era, seeing him and the wild crocs on the same day. Such huge animals in relatively wild places…it felt very prehistoric.

We also went to an exhibition of traditional Tharu dance which was very neat. The men are the only dancers (even when a woman is called for in the story the dance tells, they use a man dressed as one). The most interesting to me was the stick dancing. It’s violent, rhythmic and mechanical, the men moving in a circle with a stick in each hand, banging it against the ones the others hold at a precise moment. It is something that must be rehearsed like crazy…if the timing is a little off, the stick could come down and crack the skull of a friend.

So in all, Chitwan was great and we enjoyed it thorougly. For the quietness, strange Californiaesque familiarity, and real village life. Mud houses, giant round haystacks with roof-like tops, lovely, lovely children. A nice break from being in these cities (although as I said before, this one is pleasant). We can see Machhupuchare from our hotel room window! We’re going to start discussing our trekking options tomorow.





Our Plan

17 11 2009

So for those of you who like to be kept updated on Our ever-evolving Plan:

We were somehow, miraculously, surprisingly, able to change our flight to Bangkok from December 7th to December 4th. So now here’s our tentative plan:

November 19 (tomorrow, Thursday): we head to Chitwan, a national park with lots of tropical wildlife…flocks of parrots, leathery rhinos, monkeys, tigers. So I hear. We stay there and unfortunately it’s one of those tourgroup type situations that I don’t love, but as long as we see the wildlife I’m sure I’ll be more than content. We take elephant rides through the jungle here. Spend 3 nights.

November 22 we take the bus to Pokhara, the 2nd largest city in Nepal, with lots of hiking and trekking opportunities in and around. We have 8ish days here, we’ll probably hang out for a few days, maybe rent backpacks and do a 3 or 4 day trek.

December 1 we fly back to Kathmandu. And shop and organize ourselves.

December 4 we fly to Thailand.

December 12 we come home.





green oranges

16 11 2009

Two days ago we arrived in noisy, crazy Kathmandu, after an equally noisy, crazy flight from Lukla. The airstrip is very short and steep, so we took off rushing downhill, then soaring off the cliff over the valley. I sang at full volume almost the entire way (to calm myself, I think) though I’m sure no one heard me–I could not hear myself. At times the turbulence was so stomach flipping….I envisioned the plane as a Christmas present under the tree, being shaken up by an eager child. We circled hazy Kathmandu several times before landing, as I got my last glimpses of the enormous mountains we’ve been with for the past four weeks.

Trekking in “The Everest Region” of the Himalayas, it’s easy to guess which mountain gets the most attention. Though its size is obviously impressive, it’s near such other GIANT MOUNTAINS it is impossible to tell which one is really the tallest. It has a classic triangular mountain shape, almost…boring! I find Ama Dablam much more impressive and inspiring. We got quite close to this one, and it’s got such an interesting, unconventional shape. Thin and jutting and rounded, it’s been compared to a thumb. Look it up?

Stats: According to our altimeter, we ascended 46,240 feet and descended 42,280 feet in total.
We both look and feel like we’ve lost weight…but with nearly 4 weeks left (and a 4-day finale in delicious Bangkok) we estimate we’ll gain approximately 125% back…!

I like to think I’m a good traveler, but I’ve discovered my obvious shortcomings in this area: a very sensitive stomach coupled with a poor immune system. I’ve had food poisoning who knows how many times…my gastrointestinal system seems to be very talented at recognizing even the tracest amounts of bacteria, and immediately forcing me to get rid of it. And just as I was recovering from Cold #1, I come down with Cold #2. At least we’re done with trekking for the moment.

I’ve come to realize the simple things I miss are things I completely took for granted before. You always are told that not everyone is fortunate to have these things, but I didn’t really understand until I saw it and lived it. I miss family and friends most of all, of course (a cliche), but also I miss food that won’t make me sick, water that is safe to drink and/or turns on and off reliably, regular type towels, washers and (especially) dryers, not freezing weather (one reason we’re glad to be back in Kathmandu), cooking my own food, school, etc. It’s wonderful to realize how easy my life is. I’m more thankful than ever before.

Our trip is more than half over now, and we feel certain that (for us at least) the second half will pass much more quickly: our days won’t be so routine, we’ll have more variety, and we have several long travel days ahead of us. We’re trying to formulate Our Plan. On Thursday we’re scheduled to ride to Chitwan, spend two or three nights in the jungle, then catch a bus to Pokhara for lakes, more mountain views and some hiking or trekking. This will bring us to roughly December 1st. We feel like we have one week too many in Nepal…we have this extra week in there, too short to do another little trip, but too long to hang out in toxic Kathmandu. We’re trying to divide it up among the places, Chitwan, Pokhara, and Kathmandu, and today we’ll go to Thai Air to see what our chances are of getting an earlier flight (and therefore more time in Thailand).

Another thing: I feel like the youngest tourist here. We were so surprised–all of the trekkers seem to be about Poppi’s age or OLDER. They’re the ones with time and money, I suppose, and it’s one of those things that people want to do before they die. I guess I’m getting it out of the way early.





back online

10 11 2009

I’ve been avoiding internet…we’ve had the opportunity in some crazy places up here but the combination of potentially VERY SLOW connection/expensive/better things to do/too cold has adequately justified my distaste for it right now.

Our trek did not go exactly as planned (of course) but we accomplished what turned out to be our One Ulitmate Goal (spoiler alert): we made it to the top of Gokyo Ri.

After leaving Namche Bazaar, Pops got mild altitude illness, so we took another day in Phortse Thanga for him to acclimatize. Then we were on our way UP…but you have to take really short days (1-3 hours) or else the altitude gain is too dangerous and you’ll get sick (this goes for anyone). Three days later we made it to Gokyo, a cluster of trekking lodges at 15,750 feet (although every map and guidebook and sign tells you a different altitude). Gokyo is situated next to an impossibly gorgeous, turquoise lake, “Lake 3″, there are 6. But let me tell you: at 15,750 feet above sea level, it is REALLY COLD. No snow, it’s a dry cold, but everything is hopelessly frozen all day. The sloped floor of the bathroom is coated with a treacherous layer of solid ice, and the bucket of water next to it (for flushing, etc) was frozen too. So things can get pretty gross in that respect. We spent as much time as possible in the sometimes-warm (heated by woodstove [although woodburning is illegal so the fuel is really dried yak dung]) dining room, chatting.

The next morning we awoke at 5 am to climb Gokyo Ri, a 17,575 foot peak above Gokyo. Our waterbottles froze on the way up, despite all the sloshing around and their close proximity to our heavily bundled bodies. It was not our favorite climb ever–freezing cold, steep, early, windy, I was nauseous for a bit and Pops was feeling the altitude but MAN. Was it ever worth it.

From the top, it is a complete 360 degree view of some of the highest mountains in the world (including Everest) as well as views of the shockingly blue Gokyo lakes and the river-like Gokyo glacier. It’s impossible for me to describe right now, and I doubt my camera even came close to doing it justice…just let it be known that it was absolutely jaw-droppingly spectacular.

I was campaigning to stay a third night in Gokyo so we could hike to the fifth lake which apparently has equally amazing views…but alas, I awoke the next morning with a terrible cold (not surprising) so we decided to begin our descent. Days before we had decided to forego the Cho La Pass/Kala Patthar/Everest Base Camp plan–we had a few too many sick days overall, and didn’t want to feel rusehd.

Since we now had a lot of time and lots of strenuous hiking at high altitude in wind and below-freezing temperatures isn’t the best cure for a cold, we’ve been going slowly, taking our time, checking out some less-travelled (and therefore actually functional, not existing solely for trekkers) villages. A few days ago we headed up again on the other side to Dingboche (which had been recommended to us) and down to Tengboche, which has a bakery and beautiful, well-known monastery. Just meandering our way back…we arrived in Namche Bazaar today, and we’ve elected to stay two nights since we have time and Pops is a fan. From here we’ll begin our two-day walk to Lukla (which I realized–I don’t think I’ve mentioned that that’s where the main airstrip is. Most trekkers fly into Lukla and begin their trek from there, unlike us. Our trek from Jiri to Namche Bazaar bypassed Lukla entirely, though its [roughly] 8-day length is inconvenient for most time-pressed tourists) and we will get there by the 14th, and fly back to Kathmandu on the 15th. We are so close now to the end of our nearly four week trek. Whoa. It’ll be strange to stop walking.

When we return to Kathmandu, we’ll have 3 weeks left in Nepal…we’re set on checking out Chitwan, a jungley area in the hot, low altitude Terai region. Elephant rides to see all kinds of wildlife…rhinos, tigers, birds, monkeys, etc. Up my alley. We may do some day hiking in Pokhara or the Kathmandu Valley as well. We were even considering trying to move up our flight to Bangkok a few days so we’ll have more time in Thailand. Who knows…

I’ll do my best to keep you all posted…! I am definitely missing home, you people most of all, though this trip is beyond compare. I’m learning so much, thinking a lot. Changing, preparing to change. I can wait another 4 weeks for my sourdough toast (my odd, bland, most-missed food…especially odd since toast is available here. but IT’S NOT THE SAME! I whine)…I can wait, if it means I can finish what I’ve only just begun here. Being here really is something.

Love to you all.

P.S. Many apologies, but no pictures, until we return home. A friend of ours told us a horror story about how last year he returned from a 34-day trek and plugged his camera in in Kathmandu only to have a virus jump onto his memory card and delete everything. He was able to recover it through a very complicated process, but it’s just…not what we want.





9 days later

29 10 2009

So here we are…9 (I think?) days of trekking later and we have finally arrived in the large(st) Sherpa village and trekker’s hub: Namche Bazaar, about 12,000 feet above sea level. Back when I was sick, I kept thinking…everything will be better once we get to Namche. Luckily, my health resolved itself long before Namche. Now we’re CLEAN, and we’re washing all our clothes and even ate a pastry.

There’s much to say about the past 9 days, but at the same time, it all blends together…we have a hard time remembering places we stayed and our daily treks, even a day or two later.
Most days are pretty similar, and occur as such:
6:00 am: we awaken.
6:30 am: Breakfast. I usually have porridge or a pancake and a hard boiled egg. Then we pack our stuff up. By
7:30 am: we are on the trail. Around
11:00 am: we stop for 1.5 hours for lunch. By
12:30 pm: we’re on the trail again. By
3:30-4:00 pm: we generally reach our final destination. We settle in, rest, read, write, chat, wash (if possible), and order dinner.
6:00 pm: we eat dinner. My classic meal is garlic soup with chapati (bland tortilla-like bread) and a hard boiled egg. Then comes the struggle of staying awake until at least 7, which we have decided is a much less embarassing bedtime than 6:10. By
8:00 pm: we’re asleep, on most nights.

We trek each day with our Sherpa Guide, Chitra, and our porter, Bul Bahadur. Chitra is 35 and has a wife and two kids (boy and girl, 9 and 7) in Kathmandu. He had very little faith in me and my hiking ability at the beginning (even before I got sick)…dunno if he’s changed his mind or not. Bul Bahadur is our tiny 28-year-old long eyelashed porter. There’s something very charmingly childlike about him. He’s of the Chhetri (2nd highest) caste, and has a 22-year-old wife and two boys, ages 4 and 6, in Okhaldunga (yes his wife had a baby at 16. And that’s normal here). He speaks very little English, but he’s ridiculously helpful. Wherever we go he puts himself to work in the fields, in the kitchen, collecting firewood, doing laundry, etc. He carries all our heavy stuff, tied together, by a strip of tarp strung across his forehead, yet still beats us to our destination almost every day.

Porters in general are amazing. Tiny little guys…probably 5′3″, 110 pounds on average, carrying about double their body weight of kerosene and other items (either that or gear of trekkers like us) for 6 or more days straight, in a bulky basket that they carry like Bul Bahadur, by way of a strap across their foreheads. A lot of them are really young too, the ones we asked were 18 but we’ve seen a lot that look younger. And seemingly impossibly, they probably arrived in Namche (or Lukla) 3-4 days before we did.

Each night we stay in a Lodge aka Hotel aka Guest House. They’re run by families, and all I’ve seen operate as both a lodge and a restaurant. Rooms are simple, two small beds with a thin mattress and hard pillow, and a bare lightbulb (usually in an inconvenient place) that only sometimes turns on. If you’re lucky, the bathroom (a squat toilet) is down the hall, but more often it’s downstairs and outside. In retrospect, I am very lucky that I had food poisoning in Jiri as opposed to somewhere else, as our room there had not only an attached bathroom but a flushing toilet (we hadn’t seen one since, until today).

On the trail from Jiri, it was often the same small group sleeping in the same town each night, so we made a few friends. Our first were Canadian, Jay and his uncle Phil (similar younger/older dynamic) although we haven’t seen them since Sete, 6 days ago. Our closest friend is Stephanie, 30-something French girl who is a sailing instructor by summer and in charge of a ski school by winter. She’s here on her own, for almost as long as we are, with her guide and porter. Our Sherpas must be friends because we’ve spent the past 8 nights in the same lodge as her. There were also two very nice young couples, one British and one Swiss, at our pace, a speedy and odd older French couple (they’ve passed us by now, at times we saw them running up the mountain), and an extremely large and boisterous group of Germans (they cure hangovers by drinking a concoction of milk, honey, and salt). Now that we’re on the main trail, there are lots of Japanese as well. Mostly European tourists, especially French, German, and British, and hardly any Americans (met our first today, actually).

It’s been said that those looking for a wilderness experience should avoid trekking in Nepal. TRUE. Every few minutes on the Jiri trail we passed someone’s house/lodge/farm (or some combination of the three), and along the trail we ran into fellow trekkers, their guides, porters, and regular Nepalis doing their daily chores. Wherever cultivation is possible, it seems to be cultivated. Their view of farmland is much more lenient than ours (they farm on hills so steep, they must carve it into stair-like platforms). And this is just in the hills, which, by the way, tower over any mountain I’ve seen in the Sierras. They’re lush and green and ascend high into the clouds. They’re not just high, they’re WIDE, so broad…I can hardly believe that anything could be so massive and then, protruding out like a shark’s fin, I’ll see the jagged white outline of a Himalayan mountain. Above the clouds. The hills look so soft comparted to those sharp, angular mountains.

The trails up these monsters are not bad, although they are littered with trash everywhere. We’ve also become familiar with the concept of “Nepali flat”…Chitra will tell us the trail is flat when really it’s up and down, up and down (as opposed to hours of steep UP or worse, steep DOWN, that we’ve become accustomed to).
For quite a few days I was still nauseous and vomiting, but we somehow still made it to our next stop faster than most. I’ve felt fine for the past 4 or 5 days, so it looks like that ordeal has finally passed.

I’ve begun to judge our elevation by our proximity to the planes flying overhead (to and from Lukla/Kathmandu). Sometimes when we’re crossing a high pass, they seem so close. For the record, we’ve cumulatively (according to Poppi’s altimeter watch, which, by the way, is about 300 feet low each day) climbed at least 28,160 feet and descended at least 23,140 feet.

Now that we’re past Lukla, the trekking has changed completely. Before, it was just a few of us hiking (separately) through remote Nepali villages; now we’re in with crowds of people on a dirt highway. We’re both so happy that we chose to come from Jiri–it was such a different experience.
It’s been a wild few days. I’ve been headbutted by a water buffalo, I’ve seen a spider the size of my palm, I’ve had to wait for countless trains of donkeys and (now) cow/yak crossbreeds to go past (carrying heavy loads), been outdone by a 7 year old up a steep hill, and learned that you can make a ping pong table out of almost anything flat.

Our next move is a well-deserved rest/more importantly, acclimitization day here in Namche, before we head up, up, up, eventually to Gokyo at 15, 715 feet, and the peak Gokyo Ri at 17, 575. Excellent views of Everest and the surrounding peaks, we’ve heard. From there (weather and time permitting) we head across the Cho La pass to Kala Patthar (another great viewpoint) and perhaps Everest Base Camp at 17,598 feet (although we’ve heard it’s rather unremarkable). We’re not sure how long this will take or where we’ll have internet access, but we’re due to hike down and fly out of Lukla on November 15. I’m sure we’ll have some sort of contact before then…!

Love to you all…





it was bound to happen…

20 10 2009

Two days ago was our ride to Jiri, which we took in a huge van with our driver, our Sherpa guide, Chitra, our porter, Bul Bahadur, and, for a few hours, three Nepali women. The road winds back and forth and was, at certain, rare-ish unpaved times, outrageously bumpy. Carsickness threatened for the first hour or two but passed, and I found myself again entranced by the small villages we passed, in the huge valleys with farmlands like stairsteps. It was still the holiday, so everyone was dressed up and sitting by the road, and many dogs and cows had marigolds around their necks and were dotted with red paint.

There were so many animals roaming in and around the road: goats, chickens, dogs, pigs, and water buffalo (which look just like cows except for their glossy black nearly hairless skin, which must be kept wet, “like a hippopotamus”, says Poppi. Also, they aren’t sacred  and are, therefore, edible).

I must say that the driving which I considered so dangerous at first now rarely concerns me, and even makes sense. Horns are used for two reasons only: 1) to alert everyone that you are coming (and suggest that they move out of the way) or 2) to let someone know you intend on passing them. On narrow (just about wide enough for one car) roads, this is a very efficient system.

On the way up, I used the two worst bathrooms of my life. Any concrete detail describing them would be TMI, so I’ll leave it at: I now more than ever understand the Nepali’s foot aversion (after all, some don’t have shoes…).

Upon our arrival in Jiri we were greeted by adorable children who wanted nothing more from us than our names and where we’re from. After this exchange, they then scampered off with a charming “BYE!!”.

Now all of this so far is good, but that night (our first in Jiri) I became the most sick I’ve ever been, which is why we’ve been stuck in Jiri the past two days. I’ll try not to get too detailed, but the first night was hell. My body completely emptied itself, and I could not keep anything down. It was likely food poisoning from my chicken curry dinner, although other suspects include tainted bottled mineral water and those unsanitary bathrooms I avoided describing earlier. Whatever it is, I’m off chicken now, that’s for sure.

I slept most of the day yesterday, sometimes looking out my window at the family working on their little farm. Sleep has never been easier for me…I went to bed at 4pm last night!

Fortunately, I’m feeling much better today. I’m on antibiotics now, and I’ve been pounding the water and electrolytes. I can now eat and move around–a huge improvement.

The daughter of the hotel owners (who we originally deemed as surly) came to check on me today–turns out she’s very friendly and a nurse in Kathmandu (likely visiting home for the holiday)!  She gave us advice and support, very sweet.

I’m feeling so much better, and I’m very enthusiastic about trekking tomorrow (it’ll be a short, easy day too). Never thought we’d get internet here (although getting this posted is a total gamble, it disconnects at random intervals, and is the loathed dial up)–it was supposed to be a 9 day (or so) trek before Lukla or Namche Bazaar, the only places we know to have internet.

No need to worry–I’m so much better. Just wanted to explain our two day delay.

Miss you all!





Nepal is 12 hours 45 minutes ahead (I think?)

17 10 2009

Just a quick note–we leave in about an hour for Jiri, which will be a brutal 7-8 hour car ride on crazy Nepali roads. We tend to go to sleep around 7 or 8pm (nerds) so this morning we woke up at 5:30 and started getting ready cause we couldn’t sleep. Therefore, I had some time to kill. Here in Thamel in Kathmandu internet’s only about 80 rupees an hour, roughly $1USD, so I thought I’d take advantage of it. I was hoping to get pictures up but this computer sucks. It doesn’t even have Firefox. FAIL.

Also I’m really getting obsessed with learning Nepali. My best sentence so far means, “I don’t speak Nepali, but in 8 weeks I will speak it, perhaps!”.





tired of Thamel

17 10 2009

Tomorrow morning we leave on our trek from Jiri to Namche Bazaar (the main Sherpa town), and from there to Gokyo and Everest Base Camp. I’m really excited about the Jiri to Namche part because we are likely to be the only tourists around–most fly into Lukla and trek to Namche Bazaar and Base Camp from there. By starting in Jiri, we will also have more time to acclimate to the altitude.

We’re dying to leave Thamel, it is not really our style…ridden with hoardes of tourists…and yes, we are tourists too, we just don’t prefer to be around masses of them. It’s also incredibly loud, especially since our room last night was feet away from a ragin’ techno disco.

We were up early this morning and were some of the few tourists out and about. The Nepalis were up and seemed to be washing the city…scrubbing the storefronts and sweeping the streets. Dogs were everywhere helping with cleanup, and a cow also was picking through the trash.

One thing I’ve noticed that is very different from the U.S. is that man friends walk around holding hands/arm in arm/arms around each other or sit together in ways that are percieved by us Westerners as “cuddling”. It’s really very sweet and natural, though it would have such a different meaning in the U.S.

Today we walked up many steep stairs to get to Swayambhunath, a Buddhist temple over 2000 years old. On the way up, it seemed there were families everywhere, of people, dogs, and rhesus macacques. Even more so at the top. All the animals are completely ignored, and vice versa…there are puppies and baby monkeys everywhere but no one cares at all. It’s pretty excting for me to see my first wild primates, and rhesus macacques are so adorable and agile! At the top, trees were swaddled in prayer flags, and I really liked that there were many seemingly local people just there to check it out as well. Today’s a holiday actually, “Tihar”, festival of lights; there are strings of marigolds everywhere (I am actually not sure if they are holiday-related, it could be the norm), sand paintings on the ground, expanses of candles, etc.

I can’t figure out how to get my photos online, though I haven’t tried very hard. I’ll give it another shot next time we use the internet…which may not be until we get to Namche Bazaar in about 9 days or so.

Thanks for all the comments, miss you all!





finally in Nepal.

16 10 2009

So we have officially, safely arrived in Kathmandu after a couple intense travel days…

Our flight to Seoul was an experience for me for two main reasons: 1) it was my first international flight, and 2) it was my first 12+ hour flight. Or 7+ hour flight for that matter.

Korea Airlines is so different from what I’m used to. The army of identically styled flight attendants were such troopers..practically robotic service. They all wore the same shirts, shoes, same immaculate hair bun with gravity-defying hair ribbon, same starchy neck scarf protruding from their collars at a 45 degree angle. They periodically brought us various amenities including a pouch with toothbrush and a single serving tube of toothpaste, socks, eyemask, drinks, hot meat buns, 2 meals, wine, bananas, hot towels, etc.

The time change threw me off a bit–we had a solid 20+ hours of daylight that day. When we landed in Seoul (5 movies and 1 Friends episode later…) my watch (still set  to CA time) read 1:45 am, but it was 5:45 pm, and still light out, there.

We didn’t see much of Korea as we were there for only 15 hours and the Hyatt we stayed in (free of charge, meals included) was less than 5 minutes away from the airport (which, by the way, isn’t really in Seoul but on an island nearby). The only thing I really noted about Korea were the cool airport architecture, hazy air, and the fact that I got my first-ever passport stamp.

This morning we had a 7ish hour flight from Seoul to Kathmandu. I saw the Himalayas from the plane, which was odd…usually when you see mountains from airplanes, you feel like they’re so far below you, but with these, I felt like I was seeing them eye-to-eye. They’re so high, they rise above the clouds.

Getting off the plane, we went on one of those stair things straight to the ground–not the tubular hallway straight into the airport that I’m used to. We were last in line for visas, so when we got outside the bus to the Kathmandu Guest House was gone. We hired a “taxi” (a normal person driving his car) to take us there.

That drive was something else. It’s hard to even describe…first of all, the driving is absolutely insane. I felt like we were in a videogame, that’s how much disregard there is for any sort of traffic rule. I guess they drive on the left, but you really can’t tell because they drive wherever it’s open. And I use the term “open” loosely because I don’t even know how we fit through some of those spaces. The cars are pure chaos in themselves, but weaving in between are motorcycles and pedestrians, who seem oblivious yet not at all nervous that they are inches away from a speeding vehicle. People honk their horn every few seconds, yet never show any other form of frustration or anger. It’s just a big mess…there’s no right of way whatsoever, people just swerve around any and all obstacles. Somehow, it seems to work. By the way, no seatbelts. And my door was suspiciously rattling the whole time.

But there was so much to look at, I was unconcerned with the driving.  I couldn’t believe I was seeing all this in real life, it looks so much like pictures I’ve seen of places all over the world. I was too mesmerized to pull out my camera. I saw so many things that I kind of expected to see: mangy puppies everywhere, an old woman carrying hundreds of eggs on her back, a monkey knucklewalkin’ it, women in their beautiful dress holding babies, old crumbly buildings, sacred cows just hanging around, and unfortunately an adorable girl came begging at the window of our car.

Suddenly, the number of non-Nepalis changed from none at all to about one in four, and we knew were close to the Guest House. I felt an abrupt change from people simply trying to survive to people trying to make money.

We got to the Guest House and were told that, although we had a reservation, they overbooked and we were escorted to a place called Hotel Buddha and given a room. It’s fine, noisy as expected. The shower has no division from the rest of the bathroom.

That about sums it up. We’ve walked around this (very touristy) section of Kathmandu, and already we want to get out of here and get going with our trek. We bought a map today, and I got a Birds of Nepal field guide to take. I’ve been into the birds…I had skimmed the bird section of one of our guidebooks when we were in the air, and as soon as we exited the plane I saw a black fork-tailed raptor called a Pariah Kite.

So there you go. Perhaps too long and detailed, but I’ll get in the swing of things. Right now I just have to report what I’ve seen, cause it’s all happened so fast I haven’t been able to process much of it.

We leave on our trek hopefully the day after tomorrow (Sunday 18 October). No idea what internet options I’ll have there.

Until next time!





Why Nepal?

10 10 2009

People ask me, why (of all the places in the world), why are you going to Nepal? I think they see the reasons people may have for going there, but they want to hear my reasons.

Well. I’ve known about Nepal since I’ve  known anything at all, because Nepal is a place very special to my father. He lived there for three years total: two with the Peace Corps and one a few years later when he returned. He has not been back since then, which was over 40 years ago, although he’s always wanted to return. I’ve always wanted to go to Nepal as well, having heard so much about it over the years. We had tentatively planned to do a Nepal trip fall quarter of my 4th year (aka next year) but when my study abroad plans fell through this fall, I (desperate to get out of the country somehow) urged him to do the trip a year early. Apparently it was my (rudely?) reminding him that he’s uh…not getting any younger…you might as well do the trip when you’re in great shape and able to enjoy it…that convinced him.

So now we’re going. We leave in four days and it’s my first time out of the country since I became self-aware. I’ve always wanted to be a traveler, and I’m excited to get started, and most of all, excited to start with Nepal.

Nepal isn’t a place many people go, so I feel so lucky that in just a few days I will be there. Most people just think of Everest when they hear Nepal, or that one scene in that one movie where the star goes there and becomes badass, maaaaybe they could think of the capital (Kathmandu) if they really thought about it. I’m going to be there for 8 weeks, I’ll (hopefully) come back with a feel for the place and many real things to say about it.

Another cool thing is, the first time Pops went to Nepal, he was twenty-two and just out of college, where I’ll be in a few years. We’ll visit villages he lived in over 40 years ago. Spending weeks trekking in the Himalayas with him, I’m going to get a lot of questions answered about his life (which has always been rather mysterious to me).