Smiles and Namaste

I just had to send this picture along. The children are just adorable. Granted, they are not sparkling clean, but they happily play on the trails, arm in arm, smiling at the trekkers and yelling out “Namaste” or “hello”. They are also the easiest to photograph as they seem to want your attention. The elders are also striking with their wrinkled leathery skin. There were so many times I wish I had that big long lense so that we could have taken pictures of everyday life from a distance. I knew that the majority of the village people would have obliged me if I had asked to take their photo, but I just could not muster up the courage to be yet another tourist asking for their photo (I know this is something I need to get over if I hope to get good shots.)

Politics and Thin Air

As we moved further up into the Himalayas the oxygen got thinner and you could start to feel the altitude. This is especially true at night as it became more difficult to fall asleep. Until Chame, the district office for the area, it was really not very cold at night. Chame wasn’t particularly high in altitude, but due to its location it was quite cold and we were glad that our guesthouse started the fire in the dinning area. This is also where we started running into other trekkers and as well as some local professors who were traveling through Chame back to their school. After dinner we all gathered around the little wood stove in the middle of the dinning area trying to stay warm The conversation was thought provoking, but got a little intense when it turned to Nepalize politics and the controversial road to be built up to Chame - on one hand, it is touted as a benefit as it will make it easier for the locals to get supplies up to their villages, that is for villages up to Chame. The villages after Chame (further up into the mountains) feel they have been left out. On the other hand, many believe the road will eliminate or severely reduce the amount of trekkers - which is the bread and butter of just about everyone in the area. If tourism is reduced, then there is no need for all those supplies and no need for the road. Once there is a road I personally can’t see why many people would want to hike along side cars to reach the destination - they will just drive, or choose another location As it turns out one of the engineers for the proposed road is the wife of one of the teachers staying at the guesthouse. Needless to say, that lead to some very interesting campfire conversation. This was not the only occasion that we were engrossed in political conversation. Our guide was much more than a trekking guide, he was actually a cultural tour guide and extremely well informed about not only the geography of Nepal, but its history and its current political and economic struggles. We felt fortunate to have been set up with him and were happy to hear his opinion on Nepal’s current state-both politically and culturally.

The Allure of the Suspension Bridge

We are instantly, and consistently, in awe of the suspension bridges built between the vast canyons of the Himalaya. With the roaring rivers flowing swiftly below, one wonders - “how did they set this bridge up?” “How did they get the steel cables up the mountains in the first place? It is not like there is a road up to that point, it is only a trail - windy, steep and rocky…if there is a trail at all! And then, how did they get the cables across the river? Not even the Hollywood producer could accomplish that with a wild jump across, 2 ice axes in hand as they did in Vertical Limit when the bridge leading to K2 was down Our guide explains that all the materials, steel grates and hundreds of feet of steel cable, are carried up the trails by porters without the help of machinery… I just cannot image it. But each time we cross one of these bridges I am in awe - the sheer size of the bridge, the beauty surrounding it and the unbelievable feat it must have been to get it there.

Trekking in Nepal - Annapurna Round

Itinerary: 12 days trekking, Dec 6 to Dec 18 Then fly from Jomson to Pokara to relax for 2 days.

We started out fairly strong, but it didn't take long for us to have to face up to the reality of the fact that we did not really train for this trek. John went on, hmm … lets see, probably 1 or 2 hikes before we left town, all below 3000 feet, and although I had been hiking regularly I was still only logging about 10 miles a week and all at sea level. Day one of the trek started with a 5 hour drive to the trailhead. About half way there the horn stopped working on our beat up little compact car. Doesn’t sound like too big of an issue, unless you are driving the mountain roads in Nepal. The horn is how you signal the truck in front of you that you want to pass, then they signal you, then you beep again, in case someone is coming the other way. Our driver became much more cautious without a horn. We stopped a few times to try to get it working again, but any adjustment only provided intermittent functionality. So the last half of the drive was slow going. The trek started on a dirt road. At first I was disappointed to hear that we would be walking quite a bit on dirt roads rather than trails, but as the days passed I learned to enjoy the road as it meant a little more stable ground. 

Days 2 & 3 were definitely the longest, 17 kilometers and about 7 hours of walking each day, gaining quite a bit of elevation. We actually started the hike at 800meters which is lower than even Kathmandu. For the first three days we did not see any others trekkers- a bit reminiscent of our first hike down the Narrows in Zion National Park. This solitude, which can usually enhance your ability to enjoy the stunning scenery and allow you to “connect” with nature, makes me a bit nervous when we have such lack of knowledge of what lies ahead. I wonder if the lack of other trekkers should be a sign - did everyone know something we didn't?  We had been told it was the end of the season, but this seemed odd - no one else? Was the pass closed in by snow already? We asked our guide, Saroj, but he said we would just need to see when we got there but he believed the weather looked good for us and we should keep praying to the gods each night to keep the sun shinning. 

And pray we did. And the sun continued to shine. Every day we woke to clear skies, fantastic views and hardly any wind to speak of. We passed through many local villages where each family member played a role - cooking, cleaning, farming etc. They lead simple lives but seem to work very hard to put food on the table and shelter their families. The children are typically covered in equal amounts of dirt and smiles, playing with the simplest things - like using small quarter size ring gaskets to throw against a wall - similar to marbles. The trail got interesting very quickly. There had been many landslides due to rain several months earlier and what may have been faulty road construction to start with. In many spots there was no trail to speak off. We would walk across a loose dirt and scree field hoping not to slip down the hillside as we were certain that we would not be able to climb back up. At several spots crews of local Nepali were scattered up and down the hillside doing trail maintenance and trying to secure the hillside by first pulling out all the loose rocks, which they just let roll down the hill, and then constructing terraced rock walls. The terrain seemed certain to guarantee continued employment for the trail builders, unfortunately I got the impression it may not have been a very well paying job, if they were paid at all.

Kathmandu - 9 Years Revisted

November 1999 was the last time we were in Thamel, Kathmandu - Nepal.  We were there to trek in the Everest Region of the Himalayas  Interestingly, we loved Thamel, even with its overwhelming traffic, smog, pollution, congestion, and wall-to-wall tourist shops. It really doesn't seem to have changed too much, and again, it seems oddly reassuring. Horns beeping constantly, speeding motorcycles weaving in the traffic of taxis and rickshaws. People - everywhere, roaming the street, trying to sell you a souvenir or get you to go with their company on a trek, hectic is an understatement for Thamel. We are staying at the Kathmandu Guest House, which is a pleasant surprise. If I recall correctly, it is a historic temple that has been a hotel for quite some time. For $25. a night we have a small but adequate room and the outdoor cafe/restaurant is delicious. Finally a bargain! We were also able to reconnect with the same trekking company that we used 9 years ago for our Everest Basecamp Trek - Eco Trek. The same owner too! We have set up a 2 week trek to the Annapurna Circuit leaving tomorrow morning. The trek will go over a pass at 5400 meters and is expected to be -15 Celsius - in other words COLD! We hope the exhaustion of walking all day in the freezing cold and at altitude will be strangely relaxing. We'll let you know!

Four Countries and Three Days Later

So this is what the Amazing Race must be like, without the camera crews of course. We left Los Angeles at 11 a.m. on Monday, Dec 1 - 12 1/2 hours, 4 movies, and 3 meals later we crossed the international date line and arrived inTokyo, Japan on Dec 2. Two hours later we departed for Singapore. Seven 1/2 hours later, 2 movies and 2 meals we arrived at 1 a.m only to find out that the transit hotel was completely full. We scrambled about the airport asking just about anyone for advice on where to stay, inexpensively but not in the Red Light district as we anticipated the "noise" might have kept us from sleeping. 

We spent the day in Singapore, visiting Little India and the City Centre. It felt a lot like home. English was spoken everywhere and while sitting in a mall having a latte I could have easily been at The Grove rather than in Singapore. That evening we headed out for Bangladesh. This flight was only 4 1/2 hours, but like Singapore we arrived at 12:00 a.m - but unlike Singapore where no visa was required, Bangladesh required a visa -- and we did not have one.  So, after a very long wait, we were finally "processed" and on our way being the last ones to leave customs that evening. 

Given the lack of accommodations in Singapore, we had luckily been able to book a room via my blackberry at a Best Western. Of course their shuttle was no where to be found so we took a local taxi to the hotel. Dhaka was a sensory overload, even at 2 a.m. The hotel was located on a street which also housed the local markets, people were everywhere setting up for the next morning. It was frantic, and it didn't calm down in the morning either. It was quite a sight. We spent less than 10 hours in Bangladesh, by 9 am we were on our way back to the airport to try to secure tickets to Kathmandu. The hotel estimated 1 1/2 hours to get to the airport, a mere 14 kilometers away! Well, I know LA traffic is bad, but it could not hold a candle to this traffic. Bumper to bumper, some of which are scraping along the bus next to it, rickshaws, people on bikes, pedicabs, taxicabs, you name it. All trying to share the same piece of concrete. We made it in an hour, and we considered ourselves lucky. Even luckier when we were able to get tickets to Kathmandu departing in an hour. Finally we might reach our intended destination.

Bangkok Airport Shutdown - Traveler's Re-routed

The Weekend before the Adventure Begins: Saturday night we had a send off party with some friends at Dockweiler Beach, complete with the prerequisite bonfire (and a few fireworks courtesy of some unnamed friends). Sunday was to be a day of last minute packing and planning...but it turned out to be a day of hectic rearranging. The Bangkok International Airport has been shut down for several days due to protestors seeking a new election and asking the Prime Minister to step down. Apparently this dispute has been escalating for several months now. Our timing is perfect, that is if we want to make sure that we have obstacles to jump over. We had hoped that the dispute would resolve, but it does not look likely to occur before we depart. Our flight is/was for Monday, December 1 - LAX-Toyko-Bangkok-Kathmandu. United has confirmed that the Bangkok flights have been cancelled and they can re-route us but cannot get us into Kathmandu until January! 

We have already had too many delays, so after over an hour of searching, a brilliant and patient reservations agent (I know they are few and far between but we actually found one purely by accident) re-routed us via Singapore and then Bangladesh. That is as close as she could get us to Kathmandu, from there we would be on our own. So that now left us to continue our packing, well, I continued through the night...all night and morning as it turns out. All my best intentions of being prepared were unfulfilled as I sat on the floor of the guest apartment our friend had so gratuitously let us crash in for the last couple of weeks trying to decide what else could get eliminated. I really wanted my pack to be under 35 lbs. Considering the pack itself weighs close to 6 lbs that really doesn't leave much room. At 7 a.m John's brother arrived to help pack away a few last items in our garage, and accompany us to the airport. We were frantic! But, we eventually made it to the airport in one piece and with a sigh of relief we started our journey...