Singapore

We must not be in kathmandu anymore!

Nov 22 - last entry

Thanks to all who have been keeping up with our trip to Nepal. This will be the last entry from Nepal. We leave by taxi for the airport in one hour. Our flight to Singapore leaves at 1 pm and lasts 5 hours. Barbara and I spend the weekend in Singapore, from which I will try to send an update or two before we leave for home early next week. It has been fun to hang out with our friends here in Kathmandu before we leave, and it will be good to spend a few days on our own as well before returning home. We will all get together after Dawa gets home in 10 days or so to share stories and pictures. I have attached a photo of Dawa's family and BK's family, and Pasang's daughter from breakfast this morning. I will describe the connections later when I post other photos from my digital camera. Until then, namaste!

More photos

Here are a few more photos from the trip - all taken from my blackberry so that I could upload them easily to the blog. Mount Everest and Lhotse at sunset on Nov 8, Yaks in Namche, a typical sign for a teahouse, this one in Phakding, a Mani stone near the entrance to the national park, Sharon and Maya the day before we flew to Lukla, the airport 'mess' on November 4, when our first flight to Lukla was postponed for two days.

Nov 21 dinner

Dinner at fire and ice. This is Maya, Sharon, Dawa, Kanchhi Maya (Dawa's sister), Namgyal, Conchi's fiancee, and Jonathan's hat. Tomorrow four of us fly to Singapore and two go on home to US. Looking forward to sharing stories!

Nov 21 - one more full day in Nepal

Today is our last full day in Nepal. Tomorrow Carly, Jonathan, Barbara and I leave for home, while Dawa, Sharon, and Maya spend a few extra days in Kathmandu before Dawa flies to his village and Sharon and Maya return to Colorado. Barbara and I will spend a day or two in Singapore before flying back to the US.

Last night we all shared a fantastic meal at The Third Eye, an Indian Restaurant in Thamel, and then a nice long night in warm beds at the hotel. It is nearly 8 am here on Friday morning. Electricity at the hotel just went down. Before it did, I was able to find out that the stock market was down to 7500, that there is flooding in Australia, that it is snowing in Europe, that Obama is naming his cabinet, and that the Big Three automakers in the US want a big loan, or they will lay off 3 million people.

Meanwhile, life goes on in Nepal, where many people live on $1 per day, the air is horribly polluted, drinking water can only be found in a sealed bottle, and a new government is trying to establish itself after a long rule by the monarchy.

We will take a taxi to Mike's, a tradition for a good old American breakfast apparently, and then go shopping, another good old American tradition. Meanwhile, I can hear Twin Otters taking off from the Kathmandu airport bound for the mountains and loaded with trekkers, their gear, and lots of supplies for the Nepalese who live up high and operate the teahouses, send their kids to schools that teach in english, and work hard every day to maintain their small homes and small plots of real estate in some of the most beautiful country in the world.

More than once we asked ourselves, fellow trekkers from around the world, and the local people what it means to be happy. It seems that the Sherpa people are very happy, and yet they work extremely hard and have little leisure time by our standards. It is certainly no secret that our consuming ways don't make us happier, and make some even less happy because they think they need even more. One thing for certain is that the western world could learn much about sustainability from the Sherpas in the Khumbu.

And yet, as more westerners visit Nepal and bring money and desires to glimpse the highest peaks in the world, and take home t-shirts and patches attesting to their conquests, some of the local people start to dream of having a better life, with a big house and fast car and access to better health care and a college education.

There is a lesson in here somewhere for all of us. Finding it is just a little difficult. In any case, I certainly hope that everyone who is trying to be 'more happy' gets a chance to visit this wonderful place and these incredible people.

Here is a view back toward the mountains from the balcony restaurant of our hotel. I will try to send a few more blog entries in the coming days as we return to our part of this large and changing world.

Photos

Barbara saw this NASA sticker, no doubt left by Scott Parazyinski in May or June when he was attempting to summit Everest (you can see his blog at NASA's web site), at our teahouse in Khumjung. The photo of Ama Dablam is from a hill just to the south of that teahouse, with Khumjung in the foreground.

Nov 20 at Fire and Ice

Five of us sneak out of the hotel for a 5:30 pm ice cream! Maya, Barbara, Carly, and Sharon (and me taking the photo).