Everest, Moving, Cooking

So I got back from my trip to Everest Base Camp a few days ago but haven't had a chance to post on here. While I was gone we moved to a new apartment a couple blocks away from where we had been and the internet isn't quite hooked up yet. We have been using these nifty USB connection things put out by Ncell, but they get used up by the amount of data you download, so I've been rather sparing with it. Should have our internet connection back up and working today though, I think.

So the trip up to Everest went really well and I'll have photos and some more detailed posts soon. We walked from Jiri to Lukla in four days, had some pizza at Khumbu lodge, and then made our way to base camp after a rest day in Namche and a few shorter acclimatization days on the way up the track. The upside of this trip was crystal clear skies, the clearest weather I've had up that way. The downside was that it was quite cold, and on the day we planned on heading toward the Cho La we got hit with a decent snow storm that kept us from crossing the pass and even made the high trail to Phortse questionable so instead we just headed back to Kathmandu. Still, I got some of my best photos of Ama Dablam, Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and others that I've ever been able to get. Donnie even got to drink his Everest Beer at Everest Base Camp.

While we were gone, as I mentioned, Kim got us moved into a new apartment. This ones a two bed, two bath, with a full living room dining room and a nice kitchen with a pantry. In an attempt to move to something that comes closer to resembling the first world we even bought a washing machine, so no more laundry by hand. This place is on another dead end street so it's still quiet for Kathmandu, which is a big bonus. Marble floors, moldings on the ceiling, and a bedroom almost as big as our last apartment has me feeling like we moved into a palace, but the electricity black outs sure enough remind you that we are indeed still in Kathmandu. Still we've been able to run the projector off the inverter and have been watching the first few seasons of Dexter at night while munching on whatever food I've been experimenting with. Hellfire wings a couple nights ago, various pasta sauces the night before and a blue cheese based yogurt dressing with a huge salad last night.

Which brings me to the final part of this update, new food and cooking. I'm planning on expanding what I sell at the market by a significant amount. The plan is to include the south west style pulled chicken, pulled pork, at least two different pasta sauces and a marinara sauce if I can get my hands on any red bell pepper, along with a hot sauce, some Greek style yogurt dip, and maybe a few other items. I'll also expand to pesto, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and possibly a Buffalo pulled chicken with blue cheese once I get some supplies from the states. The aim of all of this is to not only produce a bit more income, but to gage interest in a few items as I possibly start working toward putting a restaurant together. The big question mark is of course the up front financial investment, let alone figuring out how to get fresh beef in a Hindu country, how to keep prep refrigerated in a country that is without power more often than it has power, where to get things like fryolators, fountain drink machines and the gas that goes with them as well as syrup, and how you could motivate a staff of south Asians to run an American style restaurant. Starting the process of looking into all of it anyway, and in the meantime putting together some new recipes. 

Technology & Travel

My first big trip was back in 1999, it was a 2 and a half month backpacking trip around Europe. back then there wasn't much in the way of communicating with people back home. Internet cafes though were just becoming common and it was definitely nice to be able to send some e-mails back home in order to let everyone know where you were and that things were going well. I suppose you also had phones, but calls overseas were quite expensive and I have always traveled as a budget traveler even when I've had plenty of money...it's the only way I know to travel.

Fast forward to 2001/2002 and Kim and I are traveling fully around the planet for about 9 months or so. The internet has become a much more communal resource that even my parents are using quite often at this point. Digital cameras are also now commonly available allowing us to share our adventures with people back home in pictures and not just words. Another big development was the proto-blog sites, ones that allowed us to put up stories and post our pictures and our friends to post comments or messages to us as we traveled. All of this really made it easy to stay in touch with family and friends as we moved from one region to another.

Everest Trek Part 4: To Base Camp & Back Again

So when I left off, we had just spent all day trying to get to the village of Dragnag in order to prepare for crossing the Cho La pass, but complications on the trail over the Ngozumpa glacier had forced us to turn back and look for another way across. When we found the bridges also up when trying to cross to the village of Nha, we finally ended the day in Machhermo and had to plan another route around to base camp, skipping the Cho La pass. After studying the maps a bit we all decided that we would head south to Phortse Tenga and then cross the Dudh Koshi river ascending to the village of Phortse. From there we planned on taking the high trail to Pengboche and from there follow the main route up to Gorek Shep and Everest base camp. Our plan was to make for the village of Dughla, and then on to Gorek Shep.

The Village of Phortse

I hate getting behind, and my thought was that if I had been able to get over the glacier and the Cho La I would have ended the day in Lobuche. In the back of my mind this is really where I wanted to end the next day, but the distance seemed to make this fairly impractical. We were on the trail early the next morning and made good time retracing our steps south and we made it to the very picturesque village of Phortse still early in the morning. After stopping here for a few photos and dodging some streams that ran down the main trails through town we made our way to the top of the ridge and headed out on to the high trail to Pengboche.

The Vertigo Inducing High Trail to Pengboche

Everest Trek Part 1: Flights, Acclimatization, & Namche Bazaar

I'll start this series of posts with the usual disclaimer; this is a recounting of my experience, and I do not recommend this as an itinerary for most people. I am rarely bothered at all by elevation and thus I ascend a little faster than what some people with medical experience consider ideal. I also tend to walk a little faster than average and carry a light pack, so some distances may be a bit long for the average person attempting their first trip in the Himalaya. This will apply to all posts about this trip, especially my last day which was roughly a 34 mile marathon from the top of Kala Patar all the way back to Lukla.

Waiting for Take Off: The Twin Otter in this Picture is Identical to the Plane I was On.

This trek started with a flight out of Tribhuvan airport in Kathmandu. Not the international terminal, but the domestic one, just a little ways to the north. I arrived early, just around 6AM with a flight time of 7:30. The scene was one of a mob clambering at a tiny set of booths, and since "the line" does not seem to have been invented in Asia yet it was chaotic and a bit of a mess. The early flights got out, but the later flights were put on standby as clouds seem to have moved in to Lukla that morning, something that is not all that uncommon. I figured I'd stay a while to see if things cleared up, but went as far as to call Kim and let her know that I would most likely be around for another day. At 9:30 good news of clear weather came in from Lukla and passengers eagerly filled the planes.

View During The Flight

The flight to Lukla takes about 45 minutes or so, and our flight was in a twin otter. We flew high enough to clear the middle hills outside of Kathmandu, but low enough to be below the cloud cover that morning, and this put us not too high above some of the passes that we flew over. This gives some great views of the hills and mountains as you fly over the region, and this time of year you get to spot some really spectacular waterfalls. Landing at Lukla is a bit scary as the plane banks into the mountain and then lands on the sloping runway, coming to a stop just as you reach the top of the slope. To be fair, our pilots that day did a wonderful job and I had a very smooth flight.

Buddhist Monuments Line the Trail

Once off the plane I grabbed my bag which weighed in at 8.5 KG full with 4 liters of water, not too shabby for a two week hike. The delay in take off time meant that I didn't get out of the airport until about 10:30 in the morning, and I wasn't sure how long it would take to get to Namche Bazaar, the spot I was planning to spend my first night. Plenty of want to be guides and porters hawked their services at the gate outside the airport, but I just tried to separate myself from the crowds and made for the trail. One man asked me where I was headed, and when I said I was going to try for Namche, he replied by shaking his head and pointing to the sky, "Too late to get to Namche."

I Soon Pass Other Trekkers Heading North From Lukla

Still I'm a goal orientated person, and I'm not a slow hiker, so I kept a consistent pace determined to make Namche by evening. Within an hour or so of leaving Lukla I started passing the package groups that had gotten out on the early flights. I've read that during the busiest seasons you can wait up to 20 minutes to cross some of these suspension bridges due to the number of tourists on them. I passed by a group that was wide eyed on such a bridge snapping pictures of where the stream below joined the Dudh Koshi just beyond. It seemed there was a good chance the rumors were true.

Waterfall Near Toktok

The trail through this portion of the trek is cluttered with stones that have Buddhist carvings, well positioned chortens, and small stupas set here and there. Waterfalls cascade down from the high Himalaya above and you are still low enough that everything is quite green. While some of the villages seem to exist for reasons other than tourism, most of the structures you pass in this area are well stocked with cold drinks, pringles, candy bars and other commodities that trekkers may be craving. Most also advertise their willingness to serve tea, lunch dinner or rooms for a nights stay. You also pass a number of gompas, most set off the main trail a bit, but there are often signs posted to point the way for those who want to visit.

For those that come trekking and do not get their park entrance permit ahead of time, the office to get it in is at the village of Monjo. Somehow I completely missed it though, maybe because I was just concentrating on getting to Namche. Not far after that village is Jorsale where an army post checks your paperwork, and since I missed the post at Monjo I was without a permit. The army post however was convinced that the only place I could get a permit was in Kathmandu, and since I didn't see the post on my way through Monjo I thought maybe they removed it (it's there, I saw it on my way out). Anyway, they let me pass but the price of not getting the permit meant explaining this to every post I would pass a much bigger hassle than just forking over the thousand rupees.

View from the Bridge Crossing Over to the Ridge Below Namche Bazaar

After this point it was across the last suspension bridge and up the final rise to Namche Bazaar, a climb I remember as being particularly brutal as I had done it at the end of a ten hour trekking day last time. The climb is one of the more sustained on the trek going from Lukla to base camp, being surpassed only by the climb up to Tengboche. After making it up the climb I arrived in what must be the wealthiest town in Nepal, Namche Bazaar around 3:30. If Thamel was to be done right, it would look like Namche; paving stones, no trash, no traffic, good looking shops and friendly vendors. It was amazing to me how much Namche had changed since my last visit just over eight years ago. It continues to grow too, as the sound of people chipping away at building stones is a constant reminder.

Streets of Namche

Upon arrival I found accommodation on the west side of town at the friendly and well equipped Yak Hotel. As most trekking groups take two days to get to Namche from Lukla and no flights had gone out the day before, the town was relatively empty aside from some that were on their return or those who had walked in from Jiri. I spent my afternoon munching on baked goods from one of the nearby bakeries and reading my Kindle. I also spent a little time mapping out my route from this point forward, looking over the maps and reading some details of the trails ahead. The next day would be an acclimatization day in order to adjust to the rising elevation, and I would use it to explore the other Sherpa towns and villages around Namche.

Walking Through the Hills North of Namche

Unfortunately the weather was quite cloudy on my rest day so the sprawling views of Ama Dablam and as far as Everest from the hill near the National Park headquarters was non-existent. As I strolled through the hills though the clouds cleared here and there offering up some nice scenery around me. I watched school kids make their way to the school that Sir Edmund Hillary founded and walked past the famous Everest View Hotel. Upon returning to Namche following lunch I started to see a trickle of trekkers arriving from points south, and got to talk to a few of the people who I had shared a flight or time in the airport with the day before. I also bumped into an Israeli guy who had walked in from Jiri named Elie, and he was thinking about calling it quits and heading back to Lukla as the weather and solitude were starting to get to him. I told him to at least try to make it to Temboche where there was the potential for fantastic views and also a very interesting monastery.

Morning Views of Ama Dablam

The next morning I looked out my window to see clear skies and jumped out of bed got dressed and headed up top the viewing point above the town. Many of the mountains around Namche were quite clear, but the one I wanted to see most in Ama Dablam was wreathed with a thin layer of clouds. As the sun came up though it burned off the last clouds around Ama Dablam and I got the view I had been waiting for. On return to the town I ran into Elie again and he asked if I'd mind if he joined me, and I told him I'd be happy to have the company. So we set out toward the town of Dole which is just a few hours beyond the turn off toward the Gokyo lakes. The views all morning were spectacular, and Elie especially was thrilled to finally see the mountains he had been hiking under all this time.

Yak Poo Dries in a Field; Later to be Used to Keep Trekkers Warm

As we moved toward noon the clouds moved back in and we arrived at the small village of Dole and got a room at the quaint Juniper Guest House. Now that we were in the National park and the elevation was starting to creep up, fires are stoked not by wood but dried yak poo. Yup, yak shit in place of wood. Of course the fires are not open, it's like a coal stove and surprisingly it doesn't smell or burn out too quickly, it actually works quite well. Still it strikes one a bit funny that you can say, "Hey my friend, can you throw some more shit on the fire?" and mean it in all seriousness. On that note I'll bring this post to a close. In part two I'll discuss the trail leading up to the Gokyo lakes and discuss at length the problems with crossing the Ngozumpa  Glacier.

Ready for Everest

Well kind of. I decided to fly into Lukla because I didn't want to spend three plus weeks away from Kathmandu.  I'm not looking forward at all to the flight, but then I'm never really looking forward to travel in Nepal. In fact while I'm no flan of flying into an airport that has a short 1800' runway that is sloped uphill, at least the flight is over in 45 minutes or so. If I take a bus it's about 9 hours to Jiri and the roads this time of year are even sketchier than they are normally due to the number of landslides and such. In short flying may actually be more pleasant. For those who have never seen the craziness that is Lukla airport here is a quick video I found on You Tube. Notice the steep slope, the short run way, and notice at around the 2 minute mark how the one plane pulls out in front of the landing plane...sure that's how they drive here but I would think you wouldn't do that with planes.

So with time freed up from the walk in, I've decided to head up to Gokyo, which I haven't beet to before, and then cross over the Cho La pass and head up to Everest Base camp. Here is a rough sketch of the trip;

Everest Region

The plan is to fly into Lukla tomorrow if weather permits it, and then walk up to Namche Bazaar. Many people stop on the way up there to acclimatize a bit, but to be honest I've never so much as had a head ache below 11 thousand feet that had anything to do with elevation. I'll spend an extra day in Namche to get use to the elevation and then set out toward Gokyo, taking a couple of days to get there. I've heard the views from Gokyo Ri are some of the best in the Himalaya, and the trail ascends right next to glaciers. After an extra day spent at Gokyo to potentially do some exploring and again get use to the elevation I'll set out across the Cho La Pass to Lobuche, and from there up to Gorek Shep where I can do side trips to Kala Patar and Everest base camp. 

On the way down I'll follow the Khumbu valley and return to Namche via Tengboche. Tengboche is one of the coolest places I've ever visited and I'm thrilled to be passing through there again on this trip. I plan on tis trip taking roughly two weeks, and that's if the flights go well in and out, as I know people can stuck for days in Lukla waiting for the weather to clear so they can catch a flight. So while I'm quite looking forward to all of this, the downside is that this blog will be rather quiet during my time away.

Returning to Everest

Back in 2002 I made my first trip to Nepal, and I had no idea really what to expect. It was part of a trip where we spent about nine months circumventing the world. Kim had really wanted to go to Thailand and India, and while looking at the maps, I decided that Nepal looked like it could be very interesting, at least I figured it would be a good chance to see the Himalaya. That is about where my knowledge of this country ended, I knew it had the largest mountains in the world. So when I arrived here with plans to spend about a month I had no clear Itinerary, except I knew that at some point we would head south to India, and on the way I really wanted to stop in Chitwan. On the plane ride over I saw that Everest was in a National park. Huh...you must be able to drive to the entrance I thought. Yes I was that naive.

So on a little reading it became clear that in fact you could not drive to the entrance. Not only that, the nearest road was a good week long walk just from the Khumbu valley and then another week to get to base camp when you included the acclimatization days. Still the prospect of going to see the worlds tallest mountain really was something that once I got it in my head was hard to let go of. So I found some other traveler to head out that way with and took the bus to Jiri, the trail head for those who choose not to fly into Lukla.

Here I am at Tengboche Monastery, Everest and Ama Dablam in the Background

Last time I headed up that way my digital camera took floppy disks, and due to its expense and fragile nature I had to bring a disposable camera for pictures. I had these pictures transfered from the original film to a digital format. Nepal at the time was still recovering from the royal massacre which had taken place only about eight months prior to my arrival, and America was still in shock from 9/11. I was still a youthful 24 years old and I was even still single...though not for much longer. The Maoist insurgency was just starting back up in earnest and just a few weeks prior to my departure they had bombed the tower at Lukla airport, an event that caused a lot of negative reaction due to how it had scared off many tourists. 

Rhododendrons in Bloom with the Himalaya in the Background

So it's been quite some time since I've been up that way. In some ways though I remember that trip best of all my Himalayan treks. While I had found something very charming about Kathmandu, that most people fail to appreciate, I really fell in love with Nepal on that trek. I had never in my life spent time in rural villages that were days from the nearest road, and the experience of being so far away, but at the same time being able to sit converse and have tea, was just something I fail completely to be able to describe. The terraced hillsides on these huge mountains are just something you don't see any place else on this planet. It was the first time i had seen gompas and mani walls on a trail, and it was something so different that it really stuck with me.

The Amphitheater Shaped Village of Namche Bazaar

Once up into the Khumbu valley there was some really breathtaking stuff to see. Although you go up there to see Everest, the mountain that really has stuck with me is Ama Dablam, as I really do think it is the most beautiful in the world. The high valleys, the decorated yaks, the weekend market at Namche Bazaar, and visiting places like Tengboche monastery that I had seen in movies was something special. On my way back, the night before my flight to Kathmandu I stayed at a guest house that wasn't even officially open. My room in the upstairs was unfinished, and I was told I was their first guest. Ispent the evening dining with this Sherpa family, and the in-laws even stopped over for dinner, it was fried momos and this amazing sauce for everyone. Really great experience that sticks with me to this day.

Tengboche Monastery

So next Monday I think I will head back up that way again to see how things have changed, get some up to date photos and visit one of my favorite parts of the planet. While flying out off Lukla is scary, I'm even more reluctant to fly into it. Besides, I find that some of the most memorable parts of the hike, and certainly the less touristy part of it, came on the way to the Khumbu valley. I may or may not try to fly out of there, depends what the back log is, and what the price is on tickets. Even back in 2002 I remember there was internet access (!!) by satellite at Namche, so I can easily e-mail Kim my intentions from there. 

North of Namche, Looking Toward Everest.

I may even try to swing up and see the Gokyo lakes, but I haven't really started doing any research on the exact route I'm going to take. The worst thing I could try to do is recreate exactly what I did last time. Things change, people change and the experience changes too. On a trip like this it's important to try and not recapture the past but to make sure that what you are setting out to do is something new, even if it retraces a little familiar ground. It's always a little different, and this time won't be an exception. I'm looking forward to being able to bring back some pictures from this place, though despite their higher quality, they'll never replace these crappy old ones I've shared on this post today.

Othello, Apartments, Yoga & Maybe Some Trekking

So all kinds of things to talk about in this post. First I guess I'll talk about the play we saw on Saturday night, Othello: The Sen of Nepal. I wasn't sure what the hell a sen was, and at first kind of assumed it was a typo. Clearly it was supposed to be the line that replaces the Moor of Venice, so I thought maybe it was an ethnic group, but I had never heard of Sen people and I'm somewhat familiar with the Nepali ethnic groups, even though there are like 20. A Google search revealed it's a popular Bengali last name...so I guess it means the dude is Bengali, which would fit the play. Anyway the play was put on by a new stage company called Nepali Shakes, with the founder having studied and preformed in London and New York. The actors all appeared to be of college age, and it was held at a college in Patan, just south of Kathmandu. Now understanding people who speak with a Nepali or Indian accent can be tough to follow, when they are speaking in Shakespearian English it can be  almost impossible. The guy playing Iago talked a little fast and the guy playing Rodrigo was a little tough to understand, so the opening scene was brutal, with maybe 10% comprehended. After my ears warmed up to their speech patterns I was much better off and all of the female characters spoke very clearly and were easily understood. The sets were good, the acting very decent. Over all it was an enjoyable experience and if they did another play that looked interesting I think I'd go.
Next up is the apartment search. We looked at a whole bunch of places on Saturday, and though I liked one of them, Kim thought it lacked privacy due to a common area going through the area that connected all the rooms. I can't blame her for not being wild about that. So today we looked at another four places and liked a couple of them. One is just down the street from where we are, it's on the top floor, so when the sky is clear it will have mountain views, and best of all it is dirt cheap, merely $135/MO. The drawback is that it is a little smaller than the other places we've looked at having just a Kitchen, bath, living area and one bedroom. Another place we looked at is in a nice part of town with a good sized garden on the ground level and again sits up on the top floor with decent views. This place has a tiled bath with a tub, good sized sunny rooms and is just around the corner from the largest shopping center in Kathmandu. At just over $200/mo it's a good deal too. Finally there is the very large fully furnished apartment that is right next to the Prime Ministers house. This one has ample space, 3 bathrooms (one though is an Asian squat toilet), 2 bedrooms, overlooks the prime ministers grounds and comes with a localized hot water heater, TV, stove, refrigerator, and is fully stocked with plates and utensils in the Kitchen. This would be like getting a place next to the white house in the US, it's kind of weird. The real estate agent joked that there is 24 hour security because of the armed guards at the Prime Ministers place. Looking out the east facing window no more then 50' away is a tower with an army dude in it and a machine gun. Kim of coarse thought this was the best and at just under $350/month it really is a nice deal. The cheapskate in me is kind of trying to convince me that I want the place that is $135/mo. Kim may win this one though.
  lastly it looks like we may take some Yoga classes. Kim is the one pulling for this, but if she can go trekking, I can put in an honest effort at Yoga. Besides I could use some additional flexibility. As for hiking I'm thinking of going as soon as we get this apartment thing worked out. Tibetan New Year starts on the 14th, and they celebrate for like two weeks. I'm thinking any area with Sherpa or other Tibetan people would be the place to go. I'm inclined to try and do the Everest Trek again, as getting up to Namche Bazar to see any celebration could be a lot of fun. I am going to look into Langtang as well, but I have never been up that way so I have no idea what it's like or what ethnicity inhabits that valley.