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).

On Teahouses

People who trek in Nepal become very familiar with teahouses. They are in every trekking town and they can be found along the road. They vary in size and quality. Some have only a few rooms and look like a dormitory attached to someone's house, while some have dozens of rooms, even some with their own toilet and shower. The rooms are very cheap, about $4 per night if using shared facilities and between $10 and $20 if private facilities. Clearly they aren't big money makers based on the rooms alone. However it is expected that occupants will eat their meals at their meals at the teahouse, and usually this will net some income for the owners. Food prices in Nepal have gone way up this year, so teahouses are having trouble remaining profitable according to some owners we talked to.

Meals are generally ok. Food isn't restaurant quality except in special cases, but it is very edible and sometimes surprisingly tasty. Tea is the normal drink, either milk tea (a sort of chai) or ginger tea, although there are about a dozen offerings for warm drinks. A single cup is about $1.

Food is generally rice, noodles, or spaghetti for trekkers and nepalese dishes for the guides and porters. But there are other options like pizzas, soups, potatoes in various forms. Breakfast can be eggs transported up from Kathmandu and Tibetan bread or pancakes, or some porridge of some type. Most places have some sort of hash brown which is a bit different from what we call hash browns, but still reasonably tasty.

Prices are about $2-3 per dish and several dishes are usually enough to feel 'fed' but not too full. So one can expect to spend about $10 per meal. So one can expect to spend about $35 per day per person for a pair of trekkers double occupancy. One way to save is to camp out at a tea house, but it really only saves about $5 per day. So, Barbara and I will spend a base of about $500 each for the two weeks we are trekking, added to about $5 each per day (or $70 total each) for porters to carry one of our bags.

There are additional charges for water (about $3 per liter), beer (about the same as water but not a good idea at high altitudes) and soda (also $3). You can guess that the main driver of prices is the labor of porters to carry the stuff up from Lukla.

Nov 20 - part 2

Well, it took some fancy work by Dawa, and we are at our hotel in Thamel. We will spend two nights at the Tibet Guest House, a 5 star hotel compared to what we have grown accustomed to on the trek. Not to put down teahouses, which were fine for what we were doing up high. But having a hot shower on command, at least during the day, a western toilet, and CNN, feels like luxury.

Our bus ride to the hotel was a small adventure. We passed one demonstration and saw some broken glass in the streets and some damaged windows in shops. Probably a good idea to remain in the safety of the hotel at least for today.

I am still searching for a legitimate internet connection, so not sure when this entry will appear on the blog. I have attached a photo from the rooftop restaurant of the hotel.

Nov 20 - Kathmandu

Last night while enjoying dinner and some going away merriment, we got word of a strike in Kathmandu. Apparently the planes were still flying, but the city was otherwise going to shut down on Thursday. This morning we had a nice leisurely breakfast at the Yeti lodge, run by the younger sister of an acquaintance in Nepal, then made our way to the airport at Lukla. After a 90 minute wait, we boarded our Yeti Airlines twin otter and by 11:30 am we were airborne. An uneventful flight, we arrived in Kathmandu just after noon and soon learned about the strike. Apparently two students were killed by Moaists and there were large demonstrations in the city, including damage to tourist buses. Our bus driver is not at his bus as I write this blog. We will wait here awhile and if he does not show up figure out some way to get to our hotel, assuming it is even open for business. Hopefully my next entry will be from our hotel.

Nov 19 - Lukla

Today we walked from Phakding to Lukla, a far easier trek than it was two weeks ago when we weren't used to high altitudes. Weather permitting we will fly out early tomorrow. It was tough to leave the beauty of the high country, but it will be good to come home and share what we have seen and experienced with friends and family. We are staying at the Yeti Inn, a place run by the sister of a friend of Dawa's who is in the US.

Nov 18 - to Phakding

We have just arrived in Phakding at 2:30 pm after a leisurely walk from Namche. The weather was nice again and there were far fewer trekkers on the road today compared to our trek up almost two weeks ago. We spend the night here and then leave for Lukla in the late am. In the meantime, I've attached two photos from the past two days. The cloud picture was from yesterday, whereas the beer carrying yak was from this morning.

Nov 18 - up for breakfast

I will write this blog in hopes of finding a rogue connection as I did on our way up to Namche.
Last night was pretty typical. After we were in town using the internet to check email and grab something quick to eat, we walked back up the steep hill to our teahouse the Panorama. A nice place with electricity, a shower and toilet for $20 it was the same place we stayed at on the way up and where Sharon and Maya stayed while we were up in Gokyo. We had a relaxing dinner of noodles and potatoes, some tea, and even a piece of carrot cake! Then to bed around 9 pm. It is pretty easy up at these altitudes to sleep long hours and last night was no exception. I woke up at 7 am and took a long hot shower, my first in 9 days. My main reason for this entry is a test to figure out if I can send email blind, as seemed to be the case several weeks ago and to send a photo or two from the past week's trek. Here is Barbara over Namche, a photo from our first pass through.

Nov 17 - to Namche

We awoke today to a funeral pyre. The body of a 37 year old woman who had died drinking(?) was carried to a nearby hill and burned. We watched from down in the valley and then ordered breakfast at our teahouse. We were in no hurry since our trip to Namche would be an hour or so.

After breakfast we walked to the next village where a medical clinic had been set up by Sir Edmund Hillary in the 1960s. While there, we met a Sherpa named Nima who is a good friend of Eckart Lemberg of Boulder who encouraged Barbara to run the Everest marathon and met Sharon while having shoulder surgery. Nima was accompanied by Chuck, a very nice guy from the Boston area where Darin went to grad school. Chuck had spent his youth in Colorado! Then we were treated to a tour of the clinic by a Sherpa doctor who happened to be a classmate of Dawa! Small world.

Then a short trek over to Namche from where I am composing this blog entry.

Nov 16 - to Khumjung

Today we had a very nice breakfast at the trekkers lodge in Tengboche before setting off down the steep hill back towards our original starting point of Namche Bazaar. We have trekked about 50 miles or more and seen wonderful country and friendly people. Today's trip was no exception. Although cloudy most of the day, the clouds were high and made for some nice photos. We took our time crossing the river and valley and had a nice lunch at a bakery in Khumjung. We settled into our rooms at the Hidden Village lodge at 3 pm and wandered around the town for an hour. We got to see a Yeti scalp at a local monastery. After dinner in the teahouse we spent several hours talking with the owner Tenzing Tashi (see photo) a former guide of mountain treks including Everest since the 60s. He had stories of how life has changed for the Sherpa people in the Sagarmatha National Park and how progress has been a mixed blessing for the people, with electricity, schools, and hospitals but with new aspirations for young people who go to foreign places for education and do not return. In the middle of our dinner some police stopped in to inform Tenzing that there had been an import of illegal whiskey that had claimed 9 lives in Nepal and to stop serving whiskey. After some intriguing stories of the Yeti, we turned in for the night.

Nov 15 - Tengboche

Today we walked over from Phortse to Tengboche where the Mani Rimdu festival was in full swing. We arrived around noon after a 90 minute walk that started with a 900 ft descent and ended with an ascent of roughly the same. We watched a 45 minute performance by a monk dressed as an old man. He pulled a tourist from the crowd and started using him in various ways such as a yak, a bell-ringer, a crowd-scarer and a cook. The local children were very entertained. We then ate at a bakery and chatted with some folks from Boulder who were working at a medical clinic further up the valley near Everest. Back to the monastery for several dances and then dinner at our teahouse before returning one more time to the monastery to see some Sherpa dances and then to bed in our teahouse. Here is a photo from the "old man" comedic portion of the dances at the monastery. Yes, the two participants are other trekkers!

Nov 14 - to Phortse

Today we left Gokyo at around 8 am and walked 9 miles mostly downhill to Phortse. The views along the east side of the glacial valley were spectacular! The hike was mostly a walk although four of us were still hacking and coughing along the trail. Hopefully a few days at lower elevations will help us fight off the infections. Here are two photos from the day, one at the start and the other the end of the road. The people in the first photo are Ian, a fellow trekker who spent a couple days with us (originally from Orange County, now living in San Francisco), Pasang (Dawa's uncle), Dawa, Jonathan, and Barbara. Carly's back is turned to the camera, as she prepares her backpack.

Nov 13 - Fifth Lake

Today was our off-itinerary day and was it amazing! Several people had told us that we should take the trail to Cho Oyu base camp and stop along the glacial morraine at the fifth lake. Attached is the view with me and Barbara in the foreground (no, we aren't as large as Everest). Not bad eh? Many of us agreed that the view was perhaps the best we've seen anywhere on Earth. We spent about 90 minutes taking in the view, whereas our 8 mile trek took nearly 7 hours. It was a long day, but well worth the effort. Tomorrow we descend to Phortse which is the closest village to Tengboche where Saturday we hope to see the Bhuddist festival, Mani Rimdu, with Sharon, Maya, Conchi Maya, YongDi, and BK.

Nov 12 - Gokyo Ri

Today was the day! After breakfast we slogged our way 1800 feet or so to nearly 18000 ft to the top of Gokyo Ri, where we had the most spectacular views of Everest, Cho Oyu, Makalu, Lhotse, and Nuptse. I was taking so many pictures with the digital camera that I forgot to take one for the blog with the blackberry so I added this photo after we got home. It was our first panoramic view of the Mount Everest massif, with Lhotse and Nuptse clearly in perspective. Mount Everest is unbelievably large - making every other mountain nearby look small in comparison. Today's hike was 6 hours round trip that was a bit tough for those of us who were hacking and coughing, but everyone did well and enjoyed the day.

Nov 11 - Gokyo

Today we started out early for a 4 hour trek up the glacial morraine to our destination of Gokyo where our first main goal, Gokyo Ri, awaits. Only an hour from Machherma we encountered a porter who was sitting on the trail looking fairly ill. After speaking with him for a few minutes Dawa and our two resident medical personnel (see photo) determined that he was suffering from the flu or a cold and gave him some ibuprophin and Carly and Jonathan walked him back to a rescue clinic at Machherma. The rest of the day was without event, and we arrived at our teahouse in Gokyo in the early afternoon to continue our acclimatization. A pleasant surprise was Pasang, who met us down the trail from Gokyo with a thermos of milk tea and some biscuits. Thanks Pasang!

Tonight we slept at 15700 feet with mixed success. Complicating matters, the air in the teahouse was filled with yak dung smoke, an acrid smelling and vile aerosol. I have attached a photo looking toward Gokyo from the Third Lake. The peak in the distance is Cho Oyu (a quite impressive sight and over 8000 meters tall!).

(composed Nov 12, morning)

Nov 10 - onward

Just another day of uphill treking, this one to Machherma which is only a few miles up the valley. But we needed to acclimate so we hiked for a few hours in the morning and spent the afternoon in the comfort of a teahouse. Nothing special for the day, but more nice views. Our colds seem to be getting worse, which might be expected at these altitudes. Tomorrow is our last of three days trekking to get to Gokyo.

Nov 9 - to Gokyo

Today we set off at 8:30 am for our main trek. For the first hour we followed a heavily travelled route that goes to Tengboche. All along the trail as we dodged yaks and tourists we had spectacular views of Everest and Ama Dablam (see photo). Then we veered left up a river valley toward Dole, our stop for the night. This was the most strenuous leg of the trip so far, starting at 11500 ft and ending at 13500 ft, but with a drop of 2000 ft in the middle. So our entire gain was about 4000 ft. We stopped for a pleasant lunch at the River Resort, a small teahouse midway along the route and arrived at the Yeti Inn in Dole around 3 pm. Barbara and I are both at the peak of our head colds, so we turned in early. Tomorrow we have a shorter trip with less altitude gain as we make our way to Goyko and acclimate along the way.

Nov 8 part 2

As you can guess, I was finally able to get internet access this afternoon in Namche. So I thought I would send entries for the past 4 days all at once since I haven't had internet since Monday. Interestingly, when I looked at the blog I noticed that my Nov 4 entry had gotten through several times on previous days, suggesting that they are getting through via the cell phone links which have been present but intermittent. So I will try to send this message using the same cell phone coverage but I won't know whether it got through or not for about a week when we return to Namche on our way back home from the high country.

Our plan is to start out towards Gokyo tomorrow at 7 am. We should reach Gokyo in three days, at which point we plan to cross Cho La pass and go up a hill called Kala Pattar that offers the best views of Everest from the Nepal side. Then back to Namche and Lukla via Tengboche, where we will meet up with Sharon, Maya, and the rest of the group. Then back to Kathmandu on Nov 20. There probably won't be any way to send blog entries until we are back in Namche, but I will keep trying just in case. Until then, here is a view from our hotel room from just a few minutes ago.

Nov 8 Namche Bazaar

After a hot shower and dinner at the Panorama Hotel, where rooms are normally $4 but with a private bathroom and shower they are $20, we turned in at 8:30 pm or so. It was a long night for me because I have come down with a cold and an intestinal disorder - par for the course on a trip like this. Half of us have contracted something and we wisely programmed several days in Namche to recoup. After breakfast a small group of us climbed the hill behind the hotel for a view of the mountains. The other attachment shows the panoramic view and begins to explain why so many nice hotels have popped up in this area.

Day 7 - Namche Bazaar

Today we made our way along the Dudh Koshi from Phakding. We started out at 8:30 am, stopping for lunch in view of Kyashar, a 6770 m peak. Back on the trail at 12:30, we hit the steep final approach to NB at 2:30, climbed the last 2000 feet in an hour, and settled in at the Panorama Hotel to wait for the rest of our trekking party. Along the final climb we had a fantastic view of Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse. We have walked about 9 miles in two days. We have climbed to about 12500 ft.

Weather has been perfect for our two days in the high country. Highs in the low 70s (oF)and last night's low was 35 oF or so. Should be colder tonight as we are 4000 ft higher than yesterday.

We will stay here 2 nights, leaving for Gokyo on Sunday. Our group will split up for a week, with Maya and Sharon trekking up to the Tengboche Monastery with Dawa's sisters Conchi Maya and Yongdi and her friend BK, while the rest of us head higher, up to 18000 ft. We plan to meet up with Sharon and the group for the Mani Rimdu festival in about 10 days.

Day 6 - to Lukla

Today was our day. We were awakened at 6 am by a knock on the hotel room door. Dawa told us that Yeti Air would try to fly us out of Kathmandu after the first set of regular flights returned from Lukla. After a short wait, we were up in the air at about 10 am and we were in Lukla before 11 am. The landing was unforgettable! A 3000 foot descent in 5 minutes onto a short sloping runway that can be described best as a plunge! Many of the Twin Otter passengers hid their heads in their hands and made a variety of sounds. The landing is hard, as you can expect, but all in all more like an amusement park ride for those of us who love flying. We had to wait several hours for one more of our group to arrive on a later flight, and by 2 pm we were crossing Lukla by foot to start our trek. The views of mountains were already spectacular, and we were only in the foothills!

We took a break in a teahouse in Thado Koshi, the halfway point for our day, and around 4 pm we arrived at our destination Phadking. After a leisurely dinner we turned in for the night in a nice little room in a small teahouse.

OBAMA!

One benefit of the delay was that we got to watch CNN's TV coverage of the election, from the closing of the polls on the east coast to the declaration of a winner when California polls closed and their 55 electoral votes pushed Obama over the 270 needed for victory. This declaration occurred at around 9:30 am our time and we had a convenient break for breakfast in between returns from the east and midwest.

After much celebration we found out that no planes were able to fly to Lukla and we were stuck in Kathmandu for another day. No worries, as there are plenty of things to do in a place that is new to many of us. Can you say "shopping"? I forgot to take a photo of the Radisson - too bad, as it is a very nice hotel and not too expensive ($125 per night). Still can't drink the water, but the breakfast buffet was to die for. Very useful, as we are going to struggle to maintain body weight in the Khumbu. Here is a shot of the front page of a Kathmandu paper.

Day 5 and still waiting

Weather at Lukla is still not clear, so today we took a 2 hour taxi ride out to a local hilltop resort named Nagarkot and had a late lunch and walked around in the cool air. It was nice to be able to breathe the clear air for a change, although getting there and back took a huge toll on our lungs. Later in the evening, back at the hotel, Barbara and I had a light meal in an outdoor terrace on the 6th floor of the Radisson, while others spent time in their rooms or back in Thamel. In bed by 9 pm with a plan to get up at 7:30 am for a leisurely breakfast in the Radisson before heading over to the airport in hopes of catching a mid-day flight to Lukla.

Nov 4 and waiting

Well, today's weather at Lukla is cloudy, so we waited at the airport for 5 hours for a hope that planes would eventually fly to the Everest region, but at 1:00 pm flights were called off and we returned to Kathmandu to search for a hotel for the night. We are in the Radisson which is a step up from our previous hotel but in a different part of town. Our flight now gets bumped, so we have to come back tomorrow in hopes they will add a flight.

Yesterday (Nov 3) we spent part of the day getting Rupees (Nepalese money, ~79 rupees to the dollar) and visiting the historic part of Kathmandu. We walked through marketplaces on our way to the more historic buildings (first photo).

Day 2 Kathmandu

After a nice breakfast at the hotel we braved the streets of Kathmandu by taxi. WOW! Vehicles going seemingly in every direction! While Dawa and his future brother-in-law were off getting our trekking permits and insurance the rest of us were accompanied by Sharon's friend BK who gave us a tour of Swoyambu temple also known as the monkey temple. This was followed by a stroll along the road to a newer portion of the temple and about 1000 prayer wheels. We spun a number of the wheels but after 30 minutes of doing so one's arm gets very tired!

Another harrowing taxi ride back to the hotel and we met up with Dawa and walked to the garden cafe at the Kathmandu guest house for a wonderful lunch. We have to get in a few of these multinational cuisine meals before heading up to the Khumbu where variety isn't the norm.

Finally, we all took taxis to the Bodhnath (or Boudhanath) temple, a favorite of visitors to Nepal, and Sharon lit 80 candles in tribute to her mother (first photo) who she lost one year ago on this date.

A final taxi ride back to the hotel and four of us split off for evening drinks at Rum Doodles, a restaurant that is a favorite of climbers and that is conviently located next door to our hotel. In bed by 9 pm after our concierge wished us "sweet dreams" (true!).

Nov 2 - Heading off for the day

Here are Maya, Sharon, BK, Barbara, Jonathan and Namgyal out in front of the Vashaili Hotel on our first full day out in the Thamel (tourist) section of Kathmandu.

Nov 1 - Day 1 in Nepal

After checking in at the hotel we met for a walk through Thamel with a stop at a restaurant run by Dawa's aunt Chhring (see photo with Dawa and Namgyal). It was on the second level on a main street in Thamel above some shops. We had teas and momos. Jonathan had an Everest beer. After a couple of hours, around sunset we set off to see the shops. A wild neighborhood full of activity with vehicles going every which way. Rickshaws carrying those hoping to get around without being run over. Shops sell just about everything you might not want or need so it is more of a curiousity than a spending mission.

We got some cash from a machine (77 rupees to the dollar) and purchased some bottled water and small munchies in case we got hungry overnight and headed back to the hotel. At about 7:30 pm we fell asleep and after a brief interruption of sleep at 3 am we slept until 7 am Sunday.

We are at breakfast now. The weather looks nice for a walk on the town. More later ...