Nepal: The Trek (part 3) 

Waking up fresh and well rested is an amazing feeling.  I should have savoured it longer as this would be the last morning for quite some time that I would experience such a feeling.  Breakfast was good, but not nearly as apetizing as the dinner had been.  The guide prepped me for the day ahead which he said would be the hardest.  He created a nice little visual aid with his arm... tilting it straight up for effect.  I didn't expect this to be an easy task, if I wanted something less challenging and more luxurious I would have gone to Colorado.  I  was interested to see how my body would fair because I hadn't trained or prepared for this experience at all.  I joined a gym in Bangkok a few months back and go regularly (amazingly enough), but it's like a guy told me on the bus, "those treadmills don't have a Langtang setting."  I knew I was in far better shape than I had been the previous year, but this wasn't some little weekend hike in the Smokies.  These were some of the highest mountains on the Earth and topics such as altitude sickness, helicopter rescues, and even mortality rates were brought up before we began.  These were the primary reasons I chose to hire a guide... for a brief moment I had considered going at it completely alone.  But while I wanted solitude, I wasn't prepared to die for it.

Not more than 20 minutes into the journey my guide realized he left his ring back at the teahouse.  I waited patiently while he hiked back up and retrieved it.  The rain had cleared all the dust from the air and the visibility was clear as glass from a windex commercial (the one where the birds keep flying into the windows). I found a nearby boulder to be the most comfortable seat available and sat there soaking in the incredible scenery.  During this time, a group of children noticed I was taking photos and came up to me.  They wanted their pictures taken and when that had been accomplished they wanted candy... I should have known.  Speaking of "should haves",  I should have bought a smaller camera for the trip, as my DSLR added several unecessary pounds to my pack.  I made good use of it though, for the first half-hour I took picture after picture as if the mountains were going to suddenly implode. 

The candy beggars.
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I almost peed in my pants when I saw the peaks in the distance.  This was a
luxury I didn't have, however, as I only brought three changes of clothes.
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The guide returned and we were on our way once more.  The scenery was gorgeous, but aside from one peak that was occasionally visible, there was no snow in sight.  This concerned me quite a bit, but the guide just laughed and said to wait until we reached higher elevation.  The trail was steep and narrow; the only way to achieve a Langtang setting on the treadmill would be to mount it vertically on the wall.  At times the trail never ended.  I would look up and it would be an exhausting stairway to heaven. This became quite demotivating and after some time, I simply quit looking any further than a few feet in front of me. And while I was winded several times, there was no dramatic gasping for air or anything like that...  People certainly weren't passing us thinking "Who does that idiot think he is trying to climb this?"  And well, as long as people weren't thinking that, I was a happy camper... err hiker.  We arrived at the village of Lama Hotel after 7 hard hours.  The guide said we made excellent time and I threw a little party in my head.   This was definitely an indicator that I was at least in decent shape.  I've always been a rather lazy person (although usually I perfer the term "chilled out"),  so I was very much in the process of surprising myself.

I was exhausted and wanting to take a nap when my worst fear became a reality.  My guide reached into his bag and pulled out something so horrible, I think I made an audible grunt when I first caught a glimpse of it; an English phrasebook.  His English was pretty good, so he wasn't asking dumb questions, but man, this was the VERY last thing I wanted to do on my vacation.  Was I paying a guide to in turn teach him English?  I don't think so.  I entertained a few questions and then fell asleep.  I woke up a few hours later to the sound of a group of European backpackers.  These were adults and they carried on like a bunch of school girls... I guess they don't grow out of it.

The tea house was very cool.  While the kitchen was in another building, there was a large cast-iron stove in the dining hall with tea kettles on top.  I realized how much better food tastes when your body actually needs it.  So many time we eat without really needing to, but this was different;  I was eating for energy, not for pleasure. After a decent dinner, I ordered some hot cocoa and talked with my guide for a long time as there was no point in trying to sleep while the Europeans were still in party mode.  

The kitchen's clay oven is used for food, drinks, and heat.
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He asked many questions about America.  He couldn't wrap his head around why we didn't know about Bin Laden's plans to attack NYC and why we couldn't stop it.  He gave the CIA far too much credit as being an omnipotent organization.  His girlfriend was an Aussie, so he talked about wanting to go to Sydney quite a bit.  He also discussed Hinduism and how the younger generations weren't following the religion nearly as strictly as their elders had.  I felt very cultured after our conversation; it's a good feeling.  One thing I'm gratefull he didn't bring up again; English.

The Europeans finally called it a night, and so did we.  Even though I was out in the middle of nowhere, I was still able to have Snow Patrol sing me to sleep.  Thank God for Ipods. 

Nepal: The Trek (part 2) 

Another day of vacation, another day beginning far earlier than it should.  On this morning, however, I woke up with a sense of uncertain excitement as a nine day trek in the Himalaya mountains was only a 6 hour bus ride away.  I threw all of my unecessary items into a large shopping bag and left it at the hotel desk.  There would be no need for shorts or flip flops on the trail, and I opted to trek with only 3 sets of clothes in order to lighten the load.  The two most important things, my camera and Ipod, were safely tucked away in my backpack.  I met my guide in the lobby and was relieved that he could hold a conversation in decent English.  Apparently one of the first ways trekking companies cut costs is to hire cheap guides that can't speak English.  We took a taxi to the bus "station" which was more or less a large dirt area on the side of the road, and waited.  

The bus wasn't anything special, but by now it was everything I expected it to be . . . and more!  The mere fact that we both had a proper seat was a luxury in and of itself.  It only took 1/2 an hour or so until the cityscapes gave way to scenic mountain views.  The morning air was chilly, but by noon the bus was nothing but a hot tin can baking its contents.  To make matters worse, I'm 99% sure that the two kids behind me stole my bottled water - this wouldn't have bothered me had I not been thirsty, or had they not been gazing at me with cheeky grins every time I turned around.

The asphalt crumpled into a fine dust after the fourth hour and the buses were far cries from all-terrain vehicles.  While ours survived the journey, there were three lengthy pauses as we waited for a bus ahead of us to make needed repairs.  I longed to be in a jeep on more than one occasion.  While the villages were far and few between, we were "lucky" enough to have the other bus break down a short walk from an awesome mountain top village.  The homes doubled as storefronts and were made from massive stones and small sticks. As I went from shop to shop in search of a bottled water, I met a girl from Alaska. While it always brings a warm smile to my face when I hear an American accent, she was pretty cool too; definitely not your average backpack.  Unfortunately she didn't have the luxury of a seat and once the other bus was repaired, she was forced to return to her spot on top of our moving oven. That was the last time I would see Alaska girl...

Waiting for another bus to be repaired.
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The bus skidded to a stop at a medium sized village called Syabru.  Bakeries, guesthouses, and small general stores lined the earthen road and the town's rustic charm was only a sampling of the incredible villages to come.  I wiped the dust off my face, grabbed my bags, and followed the guide to our cabin (our teahouse as they are called along the trail).  It was a two story wodden building and my room was on the secong floor overlooking a valley on the left and towering mountains on the right.  I was giddy at the sight of a snowcapped peak in the distance.  As night fell, the electricity failed, and candles were lit.  I took advantage of my "prepaid meal plan" and ordered cheese lasagna with apple pie.  Some of you may recall that I never ate apple pie in the U.S.  I'm quite ashamed to admit my first apple pie was at a Mexican restaurant in Bangkok, but it was very tasty, and I've been hooked ever since. 

I relished the moments and the experience I was having.  It was only the first day and I hadn't even set foot on a trail yet, but sitting there in the mountain lodge eating a delicious home cooked dinner by candlelight was incredibly relaxing and enjoyable.  The night was complimented by an electrical storm over the valley.  I fell asleep thanking God for such an incredible experience. 

Kathmandu, Nepal: The Trek (part 1) 

I needed a break.  That was what brought me to Nepal.  For all of the great things about Bangkok, in the end it's still a polluted, hot, concrete jungle. Two and a half years of sweltering heat make you dream of snow; of the cold.  Therefore the primary goal of this vacation was to reunite with my good buddy Jack Frost and build a snowman together.  Yes, India was cool, Kathmandu was fascinating, but the Himalayas were going to be the highlight of this trip.  A nice mountain trek was going to provide me with everything I needed; nature, solitude, and cold weather.  Little did I realize, but two and a half years of the heat also make you forget that you and Jack Frost never got along that well to begin with...

I never got a chance to get a second quote.  The minute I arrived at the hotel the manager had me in his office presenting an onslaught of trekking packages.  I hadn't planned any aspect of my trip and had  a hundred different questions to ask; the most important of which was "will I see snow covered peaks?"- ahh, how naieve.  He was an extremely happy, slightly overweight man who radiated genuine kindness inbetween his different sales pitches.  I carefully weighed pros and cons for dozens of packages and eventually pruned my options down to two.  The trek to Everest Base Camp or the Langtang trek.  The Everest trek was appealing because it was afterall, Everest.  But thats pretty much where the positives stopped.  It was significantly more expensive, slightly more crowded, involved joining a group of 15, and entailed a flight to the world's highest airport, on the side of a scary mountain.  Because the weather fluctuated so quickly at the airport, it isn't uncommon for trekkers to get stuck for days waiting for their return flights.  Missing a flight wasn't an option for me, so I chose the Langtang trek. 

My route is in blue.
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While settling on a trek was by far the most important thing we discussed, he also asked about my travels and offered two rather amusing anagrams for me to consider:  I.N.D.I.A. = I'll Never Do It Again   and   N.E.P.A.L. = Never Ending Peace And Love.  Considering I had just finished a 2 day bus ride from Hell originating in India, this seemed quite accurate at the time.

The manager then called the owner of the trekking company and he took me out to dinner.  I was introduced to my soon-to-be favorite Nepalese food; the Momo, and we discussed the upcoming  trek.  The $400 price tag included transportation, a guide, meals, and accomodation.  Drinks were on me, which I found slightly odd.  The company would provide a down coat and sleeping bag, but I needed to buy pants, shoes, gloves, and a hat.  Shopping for these items is unbelievably easy in Kathmandu as trekking shops seem to pop up every time you turn a corner. Medium to high quality Northface knockoffs were available everywhere for very reasonable prices.  I made my purchases after dinner and went to sleep, enjoying a warm bed one last time before the trek began.

Kathmandu, Nepal: Durbar Square 

After exploring the monkey temple I unfolded my map and once again cursed its inaccuracy as I wondered around the city looking for Freak Street.  Freak St. is basically a road where all the hippie backpacks stayed in the 80's and where a few of them stay today.  Bangkok has a street very much like this called Kao Sarn Rd.  (Bangkok's version is better, by the way).  Seeing as the map was essentially worthless, I took to just following crowds and ended up in place called Dubar Square.  This is an older part of town and there are "pay booths" set up along the streets leading to the area.  Entrance for locals is free, and money collected from the foreigners is supposed to go towards restoration and preservation, however the majority of the money, I'm sure, was spent preserving the bank accounts of those collecting the fees.  Somehow, in my lost confusion,  I managed to emerge from some narrow alley inside the square and looked around.   There weren't many foreigners to be seen and the locals were relaxing in the shade almost everywhere I turned... Once again I found myself in a place that felt more like a movie set than reality:

A pit where weekly child sacrifices take place...  Just kidding, I think it was a bathing area at one point.
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Two holy men at Durbar Square.  After I took their picture they decided they wanted some money.  I gave one man 100 Rupees
and then the second guy held out his hand.  I told them they could share the money since it was quite a bit and the second man
still asked for another 100 Rupees.  They knew I had already given them plenty because he had a guilty smile on his face as he
asked for more money.  I laughed and told him that I was only taking a picture of the first guy, but that he was sitting so close, he
just happened to be in the picture as well.  A nearby girl who had been waiting patiently to sell me something told them something
in Nepalese and they stopped asking me for more money.
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Yes, there were cows here as well.  I felt like I was in a Chik-Fil-A commercial.
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A typical building found in Durbar Square.  Many of them had temples or shrines inside. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rickshaws lined up in front of one of the pagodas.
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A colorful Buddha.
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A statue of one of the Hindu gods.  The colored powder really looked cool.
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More pagodas in Durbar Square.
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Holy Cow!
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