Nepal!

(From another of Jenny's letters)

The sun is setting over western Cambodia, silhouetting the Buddhist temples dotting the skyline.  Siem Reap, home to the famous Angkor Wat complex, is a lovely French-style Cambodian town filled with wonderful people and, thankfully, a clean and wonderful place to stay.   So here I sit on the rooftop bar of our Hotel, the Soria Moria, sipping a glass of crisp Sauvignon Blanc, thinking back to our time in Nepal.

My last letter left us in Delhi anticipating our transition to Nepal with some trepidation. India left us a little gun shy so we weren't expecting much from Nepal.  We knew it was poorer than India, so we figured it would just more of the same but with big mountains.  Thankfully we were mistaken.

We arrived in the tiny international airport of Kathmandu in the afternoon and proceeded to the visa processing counter. We were met by the classic Nepali grin and twinkling eyes.  Five minutes and three loud bangs of stamps in our passports, we were on our way.  A rickety old taxi was waiting  to whisk us off to the International Guest House located just on the edge of the tourist district of Kathmandu.

The drive into town surprised us and we all felt a sense of immense relief.  There were sidewalks, by golly!  And some semblance of organization to the streets, an obvious effort to pick up the trash and rubble, FAR fewer people, less honking of horns and just a decrease in the ambient level of mayhem.  However, compared to the West, Kathmandu was still dirty, smoggy, trash strewn, feral dog-laden, and chaotic.  But still, with a sense of order. Does that make any sense?  Many Westerners we met in Kathmandu were struggling with the chaos.  Yet we found it a relief from India.  I guess it all depends on your perspective.   I am sure if we landed there first we would have been appalled.

International Guest House, Nepal

Our man in Kathmandu

Our lodging was in a beautiful red-brick hotel with amazing carved wood trim, Nepali and Tibetan artwork, a lovely courtyard for dining and a clean room and bathroom!  On the downside, there was no heat and it was cold at night.  The food and atmosphere made up for it, though, and we met some very nice folks, both Nepali and foreign, while there.

Once in our hotel we got settled and then did what we had wanted to do in India: walk around.  It felt great to walk through the narrow streets peering into totally cool shops, restaurants and alleys.  It also felt great to be left alone to look at things without immediately being hounded by shopkeepers and touts.  The Thamel district, while clearly very much for tourists, is fun.  Its shops are full of cool hippie clothing, trekking ware, Nepali and Tibetan trinkets, great restaurants and a groovy vibe.  My inner hippie was definitely being channeled and Kate was ready to blow our budget on lots and lots of funky clothing.  I think we have raised a hippie chick.  Uh-oh. In a mere four hours we had fallen in love with Nepal.

The sun was setting and the streets of Kathmandu get dark very fast as there are few street lights and most stores have limited power.  We learned that the entire country has rolling blackouts because they cannot afford oil to power their power plants.   So that meant Kathmandu goes dark much of the time.  Since Kathmandu is the largest city in Nepal and they still have to do business, they rotate the outages throughout the city in four-hour periods.  Many larger buildings have generators but most don't.  It is just a fact of life for Nepalis – it’s not a temporary situation - that we Westerners can't even comprehend putting up with.  It didn't affect us too much, however.  Our headlamps came in handy, as did our warm clothing.  We had a number of very early mornings in Kathmandu and it was strange to see a city waking up without lights.  Kind of cool, too.

On our first full day we looked into doing a trek.  We had thought about hiking for 7 days at reasonably low elevation, given the season and our lack of exercise in India.  We didn't want to bust a lung, or a brain, from altitude sickness.  In our usual consistent fashion, we ended up signing up for an Annapurna Base Camp trek, 13 days climbing to and from 13,000 ft., and lots of snow.  How did that happen?  As usual, we just punted and went with it.  Since we had to leave the next morning at 6:30 we zoomed off to purchase appropriate gear.  Needless to say, Doug and I didn't sleep well that night.

Early the next morning we gathered our gear in the dark, met our guide, Buddhi, and our porter, Rabi, in the hotel lobby and walked out into the early dawn to catch a bus to Pokhara, a small city that lies at the base of the Annapurna range. We boarded a rather comfortable bus, meaning it had cushioned seats and a functioning suspension, and spent the next eight hours winding our way west from Kathmandu on a narrow two-lane "highway" through lowlands, river valleys, along precipitous mountainsides and rural villages until we arrived 120 miles later (yes, in eight hours!) in the thriving tourist town of Pokhara.  Along the way we stopped at a tourist buffet with heaps of yummy steamed rice, Dahl, curried vegetables and Nepali tea.
   

Splendid view from the Splendid View

Our hotel in Pokhara was called the Splendid View Hotel.  It was aptly named as it did have a splendid view of the Annapurna Range.  I still couldn't believe that we were going to hike into those mountains.  Frankly, I was kind of intimidated by the whole thing.  I have done a lot of ‘oh what the heck’ on this trip and this was one of those times.  (Editor’s note:  This wilting violet is the very same person who, having only car-camped and never having ridden more than 20 or 30 miles on a bike, said “Sure!” when I asked her to bicycle 4000 miles across the US in 1985.  In 1987 she said, “Yep!” when I suggested biking from Paris to Basel, Switzerland.   She's game for anything.  Don’t let her fool you.)

On the drive up to the trailhead

The next morning we met Buddhi and Rabi and squished into a tiny van to drive about two hours out of town to our starting point.  Buddhi was carrying a regular pack with his and Rabi's gear.  Rabi was carrying Kate's travel pack with ALL our trekking gear and we were carrying our wee little daypacks.  Kind of felt strange.  We had to pack very light so we could get everything into one bag.  I think they thought we had a regular back pack and were concerned about us having enough gear.  We did but we also wore the same clothes for ten days.   Needless to say we were ripe when we returned.

Registering at the trailhead

Along the road above Nayapul

We began our trek after being dropped off on the side of the road near the little town of Nayapul.  There we found winding dirt streets, kids playing jump rope, a small group of Christians singing joyfully in a tiny chapel, Buddhist prayer flags all over the place, tiny tea houses and shops selling everything from kerosene to Tylenol and some very cool architecture that looked remarkably like American colonial two-story buildings with porches. We walked through the town and then onto a well-used dirt road that began our ascent into the Himalayas.  Slowly it got quieter and more rural until the road turned into a path about two hours later.  This was the last road we would see for eight days.

Our first Nepali suspension bridge

Outside our room at Tikhedhunga

Prior to leaving Pokhara I had felt the early twinges of nausea.  All through India my stomach had been a bit off, mostly indigestion from all the spices and the Doxycycline we were taking for malaria.  But as we began to hike it became more pronounced.  The heat and exertion finally won out and I began to feel awful.  We stopped at a tiny tea house for lunch and I choked down a Coca Cola and a piece of bread.  We had about two hours to go so I had to eat something.  After many stops and apologizing to our guides, we finally made it to our destination for the night and I collapsed into my bed.  All the possibilities ran through my head as to cause.  The list was long.   Finally, I just vomited and VOILA!  I was all better.  The body is amazing.  Clearly there was something I had eaten in the last day that my body did not want to digest and it didn't.  Phew!  I had been worried the trek might not continue.  Buddhi and Rabi had their doubts about us that first day.

For some reason there wasn't a long queue...

Hillside scene on the way up

The next day we headed out and really got into the meat of the hike.  We climbed 4500 feet in altitude that day and most of our steps were stone stairways maintained by the many villagers that live along the trails.  Kate counted 4002 steps in one section alone.  Up, up we went, skirting the edge of incredibly steep hillsides with spectacular terracing.  The terraces were covered in brilliant yellow mustard, grown here for oil and spice.  We saw hundreds of tiny hand-built fields with yellow flowers sweeping down the mountainsides.  It was just beautiful.  Along the way were well placed stone seats for resting.  We took advantage of these while we drank our water and looked out at the breathtaking views.  Behind us was a vast green and yellow valley and ahead of us were snowy peaks towering nearly four miles into the sky.  Not a view one sees every day.

The day ended with us arriving in a large town called Gohdipani, several days’ walk from the nearest road.  It sat at about 9000 feet and still had snow on the ground.  All goods are brought up here by human porters who carry up to 80 kg (180 lbs) on their backs in woven baskets with head straps.  They don't use shoulder straps or hip belts to carry the weight.  The strap around their forehead is all that holds the basket on their back.  They just lean forward and go.  Nepalis start young, carrying wood and grass for their homes and animals and work up to kerosene tanks and anything else that needs to go up the mountains.  Sometimes we saw a playful bunch of kids seeing who could run fastest up a steep section of trail while carrying their load.  It was an impressive sight.  I wondered what the level of cardiovascular disease there is in Nepal since the Nepalis are so fit and no-one is overweight.  There are of course tons of other health problems and the life expectancy is still 10 years lower than the US.

The Annapurna from Poon Hill at sunrise

With sunlight added a few minutes later

Hot tea sure helps!

Annapurna South from Poon Hill

 Our teahouse was rustic and cold but had an impressive view of the entire Annapurna Range, which is vast.  We had a room at the top of the building with lots of windows, so we got to enjoy the view.  The only heat source was an inefficient wood stove made from a 55-gallon drum three floors down in the common area.  Needless to say we spent most of our time huddled around the stove instead of looking at our view.  Despite the cold we had a great evening talking with some locals and a German couple.  Our dinner was hot ginger tea, noodles with veggies and bread.  It was great!

We awoke the next day before sunrise for a 45-minute hike up Poon Hill to about 10,000 feet to see the sunrise over the Annapurna range.  It was quite a climb, lit with headlamps, over an icy and snowy trail but well worth the effort.  At the top we were treated to the sun rising over the spectacular snow-capped peaks of these enormous mountains.  There were mountains as far as the eye could see.  It was astounding.  I think I am running out of adjectives.  The town’s tea houses trade off on who gets to serve hot tea at the observation area.  Not only is the view great, but you can drink yummy hot tea while gazing out at the remarkable landscape!  We descended slowly back to our lodging, had breakfast and headed out for another wonderful day of trekking.

The Annapurnas on the way to breakfast from Poon Hill

Our days pretty much went like this.  Rise, pack up and head down for breakfast.  We found porridge with honey, one egg and tea a great breakfast for our energy expenditure. We would head for about six to eight hours each day through massive rhododendron and bamboo forests, cliff-side villages, misty jungle ravines, and snow-topped hills.   Along the way were small Buddhist temples, prayer flags strung all over the place,  huge suspension bridges that spanned deep gorges, villagers young and old carrying loads of grass, wood and food, villagers herding cows and goats, school children, men and women tending small garden plots, dogs and monkeys, intricate water systems and tea house after tea house.

Buddhi and Rabi

We went up and down in elevation for many days as we traversed the valleys that led to the Annapurna Base Camp.  We would stop for lunch and tea in the middle of the day and then finish our day around four in the afternoon at one of the tea houses along the way.

Along our traverse south of the Annapurnas

Rabi

Jungle valley along the way

The farther we got the more rustic the accommodations got. The last tea house we hit before turning back, the trekker haven of Himalaya, had just opened for the season and we were lucky to have running water as it was really cold.   Thankfully, even this one had one hot shower available which made all the difference.  Our room was a dark, cold stone square with a stone floor, rickety window and three platforms with 2-inch foam pads on them.  Luckily we had warm sleeping bags and blankets.  After cleaning up with a shower we would crawl in our sleeping bags and read.  At dinner we would join the other trekkers in the dining hall for great food, interesting conversation and a bit of warmth.  We met all sorts of people from all over the world.  Kate really loved just sitting back and listening to all the stories being told. It was great to see her laugh and engage in conversation with all sorts of people.

Tibetan crafts for sale along the way

Terraced farms

Woman carrying wood

Happy tea house kitty

Our goal was way up the valley

Rabi and Buddhi waiting for us

Snow cloud from the second avalanche

Our "turn around point" came on day six, one day earlier than expected.  The morning we left Himalaya we had planned on hiking to the Macchupuchre Base Camp (MBC).  The morning after that we would have ascended to Annapurna Base Camp to look around, congratulated ourselves on a job well done, and then turned around to start our four day trek back down to civilization.   All along our trek we had heard that the hike up to MBC from Himalaya was the trickiest part due to avalanche danger.  We had been told that this year’s snow pack was heavier than usual and it was warming up fast so we needed to get going early in the day to get through the "zone".  The "zone" took only about one to two hours of hiking.

Deciding where to cross

 
While we were milling around in Himalaya’s little square, getting ready to head out that morning, we looked up the trail and saw a huge cloud of snow rising from the ground.  We realized we had just seen the remnants of an avalanche that had just come down across the path we needed to trek.  It was still early, no sun on the slopes yet but avalanches were already letting go.  Buddhi, our guide, looked concerned.  All the trekking groups decided to head up and check out the situation.    Some groups had left about 15-30 minutes earlier and we wondered what they saw.

Rabi, Kate and Jenny surveying the crossing

About 45 minutes later we stood on the edge of a massive avalanche field right on the leading edge of the "zone".  The field was about 500 feet wide filled with bowling ball-size chunks of ice and debris and ten-foot ice walls on either side creating a chute that descended into the valley below.  Above was a cliff with snow still gently pouring over the edge like a waterfall, telling us that more snow was still waiting to come down.  Additionally, the sun was just starting to hit the snow above us.  The trekker town of Derauli was just up the trail and just one hour from MBC.  Where we were, the trail was gone.  It had been completely obliterated.
  

Snow keeps coming over the cliff

We realized that two avalanches had happened at this spot this morning.  One at 5:00am, heard by several people in Derauli, and the one whose snow plume we saw.  About ten of us, porters, guides, and trekkers, bunched up on the edge of the chute, pondering the wisdom of going on.   One local porter piped up and said, "50/50 chance of getting hit".  Buddhi was reluctant to go on but left it up to us.  Just then a porter came along and headed out across the flow.  He basically ran from ice chunk to ice chunk, scaled the ice wall and was on the other side in no time.  He scouted out the trail on the other side and then waited to see if we would follow. We decided to go for it.  He’d made it look so easy.  I was thinking, "ok.... All we have to do is get across this and to Derauli and then we can decide about going on.”  We were sooooo close.  And making every mountaineering mistake in the book.   Well, at least all the mistakes in the little chapter on avalanches. 

So one by one we slid down the first ice wall and started hoofing across the flow.  Buddhi, in his infinite wisdom, had us pull hiking socks over our boots to increase our grip on the ice.  I was skeptical but boy did it work.  The oversocks were truly life savers.  We affectionately called the socks Nepali Crampons.  About half way across we heard rumbling from above.  Doug, who was first across, yelled “RUN!!”  Kate and I ran.  I grabbed the hand of the porter and he basically swung me up the ice wall, Doug hurled Kate over the wall and Buddhi and Rabi levitated themselves over.  The rumbling didn't amount to anything except for greatly increased heart rates and fear.   It did, however, really make us question the wisdom of our decision.

On the other side we looked up and saw from the way the forest had been sheared off in slides in other years that we were still in a very big avalanche path.   We started to move quickly toward Derauli which we could see and was about a five to ten minute hike away.  In about three minutes we ran into another group that was retreating.  The woman was terrified and her trekking companion was hiking but in shock.  They had just gotten caught on the edge of another avalanche just above Derauli  about 15 minutes prior and had been covered with snow.  Her companion had the wind knocked out of him.  She had crouched in a ball behind a rock and thought she was going to die as the snow poured down around her.  Their guide and porter were shaken and reported that there had been 5 avalanches that am between Derauli and MBC, taking out one path completely and leaving only a second, more dangerous one passable.

That did it.  We retreated.  Until that moment on our trek, Buddhi and Rabi had been incredibly calm, encouraging us to go slowly, “No need to rush, ma’am.”  Now they were yelling, "FAST, FAST!" because the danger was increasing by the minute as the sun rose higher.  With Kate and Rabi in the lead, we ran back along the path, dashing from one boulder to another for cover.  We paused only a moment to regroup before reluctantly jumping down the ice wall we had just climbed.  We slid down the ice wall, leapt from ice chunk to ice chunk, hauled ourselves up the opposite wall and collapsed.   After running as fast as we safely could for ten minutes at 10,000 feet and being very afraid that snow would pour down from above at any second, we were very out of breath but were safely out of the "zone".  Kate said it was the most afraid she has ever been in her life.  I think I might agree with her.  Safely on the other side, we turned back to see a tide of other trekkers also retreating and making their way across the avalanche field.  We were disappointed in that we were so close to our goal and had to let it go.  Oh well, it was a good lesson.

Flowers on the way back down

That night we met up with other "survivors" and shared war stories over veggie noodles and beer.  It was a great evening.    Later we learned that those that went on to ABC made it ok but were very nervous the entire time.  One fellow we had met in Himalaya was the son of a doctor I had worked with at the University of Utah.  Small world.

Jenny and Buddhi chatting away

 The next three days were very satisfying as we descended from the snowy landscape into warm weather.  The stress of the trip was essentially over and we all just sauntered along and enjoyed ourselves.  One night proved to be very fun.  All along the way Buddhi and Rabi had been teaching us a traditional Nepali trekking song called "Resim Firiri".  We in turn, at their request, taught them the “Star Spangled Banner” and John Denver’s “Country Roads”.  They also wanted to teach us a traditional Nepali folk dance.  So one night, along with about six other trekkers, their Nepali guides and porters and the people who worked at the tea house, we learned a folk dance.  The Nepalis entertained us with other great music, dances and just sheer gaity.  It was such a fun evening.  I wish I could have gotten it on film.  Kate had this great big grin on her face as she was clapping and dancing in a circle with her new Nepali friends.  It was a memorable moment.

Valantina (from Italy) and Will (Australia) at the hot springs

Buddhi and Rabi proved to be the best part of our hike.  These two young men were extraordinary.  They are both from the same rural village, named Tamang, north of Kathmandu and are both living in Kathmandu working on their university degrees. To reach their village they take a bus for about five hours and then trek another five hours over a very steep mountain and descend into a fertile valley.   I would love to go there.  Buddhi is 23 and has essentially finished his bachelors except for some exams.  Rabi is 18 and just starting out.  Both hope to improve their chances for a better life by increasing their education and learning English.

Happy Kate!

Unfortunately, a college education doesn't give them a better shot at employment in Nepal. But it will enable them to possibly get a visa to be able to leave Nepal, learn a trade or business, and earn money so they can be their own bosses when they return.   We talked at length with them about their dreams and what they needed to do.  Buddhi spoke pretty good English so we could talk with him the most.  He was hoping to apply for a Visa in about two years.  During the two years he would need to pass certain English exams, put away a substantial amount of money and get married to a Nepali woman.  The last two would show that he had a reason to come back to Nepal.  If he achieved this he might be able to get a temporary work or student visa to leave Nepal.  Getting to the US is out of the question.  He might be able to go to Norway or Australia as they are more open to Nepalese coming across their borders.  We have been constantly humbled by how easy we Americans have it. We moaned and groaned about a three week delay for our Indian visas.  Hell, we have only needed to apply for visas two times on this entire trip.   Most of the people we have met in Turkey, India and Nepal would never be able to travel at will whether it be due to visas or cash.  It is just not an option.  I shake my head.

You never know when chocolate cake may be available

 So on our long days of hiking and our evenings at the teahouses we talked about their lives and hopes.  We tried to give them sound advice.  Kate spent one evening with both of them helping them read some pages in a novel by William Schatner.  She was helping them with vocabulary and pronunciation.  The three of them sat together in great concentration, laughing and smiling the whole time.  I am fairly confident that Kate impressed them on this hike.  Not only for her endurance, which proved to be way better than Doug's or mine, but for her spirit.  They really liked hanging out with her.   I think Rabi was kind of taken .  As for Kate, she is hard to read.  She is not showing much interest in boys, yet.   Another memorable moment was when the three of them were doing break dancing moves while we hung out at a rest spot along the trail.  We have photos of that one.

Kate and Rabi bustin' some moves

Rabi picked rhododendron for Jenny and Kate.  Sly Dawg!

Farmer off to work with his plow and buffalo

Mighty Fishtail was in view most of the hike

The road back to Pokhara

Our last view of the Annapurnas - for now

Thank you, Nepal!

We reluctantly returned to civilization after nine days of trekking.  We didn't see any roads until our last day.  By then we were a well-oiled, or should I say greasy, team by the end. We rested in Pohkara for one night, took Buddhi and Rabi out to dinner and introduced them to Italian pasta.   I think they really liked it.  All they pretty much eat is dahl baht - steamed rice with lentil soup and occasional bony chicken bits.   So we felt it was our duty to expand their palates.  Rabi was particularly eager to try new things.  The next morning we boarded our bus and endured another very long bumpy ride back to Kathmandu.  We spent two more days there regrouping, doing laundry and purchasing trinkets.  Rabi joined us one day to go and see a beautiful Buddhist monastery with lots of monks, a lovely prayer wheel and stupa and a very peaceful feeling.  We also visited a massive Buddhist stupa just outside of Kathmandu.  It was along the ancient trade route from India to Tibet, so the stupa and surrounding town were steeped in spiritual and cultural history.  Thousands of prayer flags flapped in the breeze, sellers hawked their wares, people prayed and spun prayer wheels.  It was great.

Kopan Monastery

Entrance to the main hall at Kopan

Stupa at Kopan

Some Nepali architecture

More Nepali architecture

On our last morning we rose very early for a second try at a flight to see Mt. Everest. (We'd tried on the first full day we were there.)  Flying in Nepal is a bit funky.   When we were sitting at the head of the runway ready to take off, the captain came on and gave us the choice of flying or not.  The clouds seemed to be obscuring the view of Mt. Everest.   A quick vote was taken of the 20 or passengers.  We all decided to go for it.  I am soooooo glad we did.  View was spectacular.  We flew at about 21,000 feet along the range that leads up to Everest.  There are many other massive peaks in this range so we were wowed even before Everest came into view.  There was no mistaking Mt. Everest.  She stood out among the rest with a perfect triangular peak towering over them all.  Given all the other peaks I wasn't sure if she would stand out.  She did!  It was surreal to be looking at the highest point of land on our planet.  It gave me pause.  It was also a great way to end our action-packed two weeks in Nepal!

Everest

I started this letter in Cambodia and am finishing it on the train through Malaysia on our way to Singapore.  Our time in SE Asia has been really wonderful but we barely scratched the surface.  We were hampered by heat and Doug being sick through all of Cambodia.  One thing I do know is that we want to come back to this region.  We were very intimidated about this part of the world because it felt the most foreign.  What we found was a beautiful region with a rich culture and lovely people.

Buddha's eyes, Kathmandu