Our driver’s name is Parveen. His english is passable and he seems nice enough. We leave Delhi at 0900hrs and even though Jaipur is only 250km away, it will take the better part of the day to get there. The roads are decent (much better than the one to Varanasi) but they are packed with traffic and of course cows. There are also 4 or 5 toll booths along this stretch of highway. I’m looking forward to Jaipur, the Lonely Planet makes it sound like a little gem of a city. As we get closer to the city we see more and more camels, elephants, wild pigs, and peacocks. Parveen suggests a hotel for us (we know about the commission but at this point don’t really care anymore) and say ok. We get to this place and the guy is excited to see us and takes us to a room. He opens the door and its a massive fancy suite- for only 3500rps. Ugh. We are looking for something under 1000...he takes us to another room, smaller but still nice. Its 1600. We say no but thanks and try to leave. The negotiations begin. I don’t negotiate- that is Steves area. He gets him down to 1200 which we still think is too high so we leave. Its outside of town anyway. We give Parveen another chance. This time we go to a smaller less fancy place and get a room for 500. Its near the old city which is also known as the Pink City. A prince way back in the day painted the city pink (considered a welcoming color in Hinduism) and the tradition has been carried on. According to the Lonely Planet the city is beautiful and the pink glows at sunset, colorful sari’s blow in the breeze...etc. I am so excited! We freshen up and head out for the pink city. We’ve been sitting in the car all day so we decide to walk. Tuk tuk’s and rickshaws pester us and follow us. The streets are typical of what we’ve come to know in India, full of garbage, stink, animal excrement, and street food. Its a long walk to the gates of the Pink City. I’m not sure if they actually are the gates because they don’t look entirely pink to me. More of a rusty light red. Ok, I think, thats ok, lets go in, its evening and the city will be warm and glowing. We enter the gates, instantly the streets are smaller and more packed, we dodge traffic and people. Its so crowded we can’t walk together. There is mud and garbage everywhere and among that people are selling fruit and junk. So between all the people and chaos, we focus on not getting ran over- the side walks behind the vendors are used as the garbage dump and packs of dogs are lurking there. The buildings are in shambles and the rusty red color isn’t what I had envisioned. Its a horrible smelly hole and for the first time in our travels I am disappointed in Lonely Planet. I am entirely disappointed in this so called “pink city”. We push through the crowds and traffic for a few minutes, I turn to Steve and say “I’m ready to go.” He has been so patient with this and he gladly gets us a tuk tuk and we make our way back to the hotel. There is a performance with dancers, musicians, and a magician at our hotel that night. Its interesting and we enjoy it. The magician is really entertaining and Steve likes his homemade top hat complete with skull and crossbones.
Parveen picks us up to take us to more sites in Jaipur. We tell him we walked into the pink city and he says “oh how was it? nice isn’t it?” Steve says “yup it was nice” and I am just thinking to myself how not nice it was but Steve says we shouldn’t complain about India to Indian people. He has a point and I hold back about how it needs a paint job and a good cleaning. The monsoon rain is pouring and the streets flood. People walk around barefoot and carry on about their business. We go to the Amber Fort which is up on a hill just outside of Jaipur. It is a massive place!! Huge courtyards and all sorts of passages and walkways. The views from the fort are impressive and we have a nice time exploring- and of course dodging the cameras of men. We enter one room and there is a distinct strong sour smell. I look down a well and it is full of bats!! I try to take some photos but the noise or flash or my presence bothers them and a few fly around- we run away. We’ve been warned about the rabies in India! There are elephants carrying tourists up the hill to the fort. They enter the courtyard to off load the passengers. We stand next to them as they pass- they are really amazing creatures! Their size is unreal! Their feet are so neat! Then the driver beats them over the head with a stick. Elephants are intelligent animals and I am worried they are beat like this.
I am looking forward to visiting the Hawa Mahal. There is a photo of it in Lonely Planet and it looks fantastic! When we get to it, I am surprised. It is on a very busy street surrounded by dilapidated buildings. Parveen advises us not to go inside as “its full of garbage”. I had imagined it to be standing alone in grandeur! It is still an interesting structure- I jump out to take some photos and have yet to take one before a man is directing me to some building to get a better view. I kindly decline but like most people here he chooses not to listen and joins me on the side of the street trying to convince me to go. While this is happening a woman is holding her baby at Steve’s window and asking for money. We visit the city Palace and by then end of the day we are exhausted.
We leave for Agra in the morning. I am super stoked to finally see the Taj Mahal! Its down pouring for most of the drive but we still stop at a famous fort/mosque. We get soaked and our umbrella from France is falling apart. The fort was widespread like the last one with many passages. We enter one building and smell that distinct bat smell and leave. We wander around and I begin to feel unwell. A young girl latches on to us as we walk back to the car. She says to Steve “your umbrella broken sir, its a gift for me?” then she points out piles of cow poo for us along the path. We are soaked and back on the road. Being on the road means passing more toll booths. We laugh at one when we see one man collecting the toll, one counting the change, and one marking down the number of cars! Three men working in one booth! We have noticed this in other places too. We go in a purse shop, one man to open the door, one to follow you around, one at the cash register, and one cleaning the bags- twice as many people working there as necessary! At least they are “working”...another example: We see 5-6 police men around one radar gun with only one car. Hmmmm...
We get to Agra, its crowded and polluted like every other city we’ve seen. The last bit of highway was rugged and rough. I am really feeling unwell and my anti-nausea bracelets don’t seem to be helping. We get to the hotel and I lay down. I am contemplating which end to go over the toilet! Soon enough I am chundering while sitting on the can. I’m crying and moaning and basically in agony. I am all cramped up and absolutely miserable. Steve, my fabulous nurse, is rustling around in the room. He comes into the bathroom with a headlamp. A headlamp???!! What the heck? A cool cloth or a gravol might be nice, but a headlamp? I groaned “what is that for?” He answered “I thought you want to see what your doing” at the moment I just shooed him away and cried some more...but now, I see how well he listened! My last vomiting session was in Nepal behind a tea house in the pitch black and I asked for some water and a headlamp. However, the light was on in the bathroom and I could see just fine! Hahahha! He is so funny. Once again Steve tucks me into bed and cleans out the bucket I used. We had arranged an Agra tour with a friend of Brandi’s, but after a couple more hours of misery we decided we should cancel. That sucked, I was looking forward to meeting an Indian woman (I’ve had enough of the men) and was planning a little shopping with her. I have only bought 2 pillow cases and some chai tea the whole time! In the end it was a good choice as I am up most of the night with stomach pain and frequent bathroom trips.
We do see the Taj. We take a nice little tuk tuk through the garbage strewn streets and are at the gates. Foreigners pay 750rps each whereas locals pay something like 50. We walk along a nice path towards a giant gate. Through the gate is the Taj- and its absolutely amazing! It looks like a painting and is stunning! I have time to enjoy this for a moment and take one photo before I hear a “click”- I look to my left and a man has his cellphone camera at my head. This time I am soooo mad! I am tired and cranky and now I am mad too. Ugh. Steve says “let me see that, let me see” and points at the phone. The guy is all smiles and proudly shows Steve the picture. Steve is mad too and says “you like my wife? you take her picture? thats 50rps” Apparently the guy didn’t speak english...or decided to appear that way. I scowl at him and his group of friends and say “why do you do that? Your a bunch of pigs!” Maybe they understood that or they could tell I was mad because they all looked uncomfortable. We walked around the Taj for an hour or so. The detail in the building is wonderful and from every side it looks the same. I’m happy we went and saw this!
After a shower and some toast I am feeling a little better. We visit Agra’s Red Fort and are then on the highway back to Delhi. Its a long drive (not for distance but for time) with 4 more toll booths. We have Parveen drop up off right at the airport even though our flight is seven hours away. We are done with India and have no desire to see anything more. Parveen has been ok, but I’m tired of listening to him complain about how poor he is. Its not a place we have really enjoyed, but at the same time nothing really horrible happened. I don’t like how I feel in India. Not trusting anyone and being stared at and being ripped off...makes me dislike them and put them all in one bucket of badness. I know there are good people there, but I didn’t meet them. When I build up this wall of distrust I feel like a bad person. I don’t want people near me, don’t talk to me, just get away. I feel like now, the sites in Egypt were worth the hassle, but I can’t say that about India. I think I need more time to reflect on all this...I’ll do that on the beach! Thailand here we come!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Delhi
We’ve worked on the just ‘go with the flow’ plan...but man I get frustrated here!
We arrived to Delhi around 0800. I hardly slept on the overnight train despite having a sleeper. We couldn’t get a sleeper with AC but we did have three big fans blowing on us and open windows all night. I would like to know where all the women are in India!!? We see so few! I saw only two in our cabin on the train and the rest were men- dozens and dozens of them! The sleeper we were in was one big train compartment and is similar to an army barracks! Basically, you walk down an aisle and on one side are cubby holes containing 6 beds (two rows stacked three high). On the other side are two bunks running parallel to the aisle. So, anyone walking by can see you...there are no doors and no privacy. There is a half wall and a mini sort of chain link fence between us and the other upper bunks. The compartment is huge! Until later in the night, everyone sits on the bottom bunk- to eat or visit. People come down the aisles selling various foods like chai, omelets, veg burgers (which is raw veggies on a hamburger bun). The train also serves dinner if you want it. Steve ordered a veggie dinner and as we were waiting for that two oversized police men came towards us. They shooed away sitting passengers and took their seats. The one who appeared to be in charge said “What country are you from?” Steve answered ‘Canada’ and he even did it without the squirmy hesitation that strikes him at every U.S. border crossing. The one in charge handed me a paper in a plastic cover. It was a dozen or so warnings to tourists traveling on Indian rail. For example we are not to talk to anyone, not to give anyone money, not to accept food or drinks from anyone as they may contain poison, we are to keep all money and valuables next to skin, lock our bags, and not to leave our bags unattended, and to find one of them if we have any trouble, etc. Then we sign a paper saying we read the warnings. I asked “where do we find you” and he just nodded and gave me a look that said ‘don’t worry- we find you’...I have heard they are always near us. So off they go and then comes Steve’s dinner. He finished that up and we read for a while. When the train stopped, poor people, disabled people, and performing people, entered the train for baksheesh. A little boy sang and played the rocks- just like some people play the spoons! He should go on “India has Talent” because he was pretty good! A little boy came on holding an old blind mans hand- the blind man sang and the little boy collected coins. One guy came on and his legs were deformed so he used his arms as legs. Half naked dirty kids came on...
Soon enough we climbed up to our top bunks, cable locked our bags to our beds and tried to get comfortable. The bunks are hard and narrow. I looked down and see men sharing bunks! I don’t know how they did it- they slept at opposite ends of the bunk. Also, through the night the train picked up more and more people- and these people had no seat, they were in the aisles and on the floor. There was a rather heated argument in hindi that broke out in the cubby hole next to me at 0200 and lasted for a long time.
Finally that train gets to Delhi, it has barely stopped and a women is thrusting her child through one of the unbarred windows and the kid starts gathering bottles. We get off the train and are pounced on by rickshaw and cab drivers. We have found a hotel on tripadvisor, we know its near Jassa Ram Hospital and that it should only be 3km from the station. Everyone here is trying to make a buck, and the drivers are notorious for taking tourists to hotels where they receive a commission (the commission is of course paid by us and can be rather high) or to a travel agency where they also receive commission. So we are looking for the pre-paid taxi/rickshaw booth but when I say we are being pounced on I am not exaggerating. We can barely push through this crowd- all of whom are vying for our business. With no pre-paid booth in site, we give in to frustration and get a motorized rickshaw. We agree on 200rps for both (WAY over priced- we find out later it should be 50rps!!!) and we ask to be taken to Jassa Ram. We thought the man setting the price was the driver but no, he is the tout. So we all pile in the rickshaw and the whole way he is fishing for information- do you have a hotel, a tour booked, I know this place, I know that...we just keep saying we need to go to Jassa Ram. We are so happy to get there, but we know we have to get rid of these guys. Steve goes to pay him and the tout says “220” and Steve says “No way, 200 is enough” and we walk to the hospital entrance. We can see in the reflection of the doors that they aren’t leaving, they are watching us. So we enter the hospital and go to the front desk, Steve asks to use the bathroom, and he takes his sweet time doing so. Finally the rickshaw disappears. Now on foot, we take a couple wrong turns, but find our hotel in less than 30 mins. Yay! It isn’t a bad place, we have AC, wifi, and breakfast included. Its also near a shopping district of the non-tourist area- so prices are marked and locals are shopping. There is even a McDonalds a few blocks away- complete with metal detectors and guards! We settle in nicely and rest for the day.
The next morning Steve is not feeling well. He is sneezing like mad, has a sore throat, a cough, and fatigue. By the afternoon he has a fever, chills, and diarrhea. Swine flu crosses my mind so I download some info on when to seek medical help but keep in mind that the hubs is perfectly healthy. No sense in getting panicked, so we wait. I ventured out solo to a corner store to get him some juice and water. The fever subsides by the evening but he is so weak. He has no appetite and I am starving, I haven't eaten since my toast for breakfast. So, Steve being the best husband, musters up the energy to walk with me to get some take away dinner. It nearly knocks him out! He spikes again through the night but the next day no more fever. He feels weak but well enough to take a little tour around Delhi. We hire a driver and guide...Instantly I don’t like the guide, I don’t like how he talks to me and I don’t like how he talks to the driver- like we are of lower quality. We visit popular sites around the city- a massive hindu temple, the government buildings, India gate, Indira Ghandi’s Memorial/museum, and my favorite- the Lotus Temple. While trying to enjoy Indira’s memorial, a group of five guys keep trying to take my photo- I keep turning away, but it really starts to annoy me- I’m trying to enjoy and learn at this place and at the same time avoid them. We wait for them to get ahead of us. But as soon as we walk outside they are there waiting- this time with video. I am so irritated, I said something along the lines of don’t do that and leave me alone and Steve acts as my shield. In the courtyard they ask Steve for a photo. I am walking away because we know they want my photo but Steve plays dumb and jumps in for a pic with them and asks for 5 rupees. They say “we want a picture with her” and Steve said “that will cost 50 rupees” hahaha! They look at him like he is crazy. A similar sequence of events happens at the lotus temple. Its incredibly frustrating.
The contrast between rich and poor in Delhi is unreal. We see massive shiny skyscrapers with shacks built from garbage at their bases. Some streets look like they could be anywhere in North America and the next street is a dump- literally. The poverty here is depressing and widespread. Beggars are everywhere and tap on our car windows at almost every stoplight. The tour guide is annoying to me. We have about 20 mins before the Lotus Temple opens for visitors. He says “we go to government emporium” which is like a shopping place. We are cool with that because its always better to be in air conditioning than in the heat. The vendors at the place are aggressive and pushy. We go into the jewelry section and I spot matching ankle bracelets I like. I ask how much, he says “3600rps” then says “its real silver” so I inspect it. No stamp. I am proud of my recently acquired assertiveness and ask “where is the stamp?” he fumbles around with it and then says “you try on here” and points to a mirror. I have enough junk jewelry to know what feels fake and it certainly doesn’t feel real...hmmm. I reply “you said its silver and there is no stamp and it feels fake” He says “its real” I say “no its not and you are a liar” and walk away. I know the stamp can be counterfeit too- but they didn’t even bother faking that. Steve is beside me now and says “whats wrong?” I tell him what happened. The other jewler says “I will show you real stuff!” but I am so mad I get out of that scammer joint. Our guide is following us and asking what is wrong- why we aren’t shopping. I tell him they are scammers and try to sell me fake silver. “Ok, I know another place” and we walk around the corner. This time its the pillow cases that catch my eye. I bought two similar ones in Turkey and two from India would be nice. “How much?” and the guy says “900 rps.” I said “thats way too high.” Twenty dollars for one??? I paid maybe $2-3 in Turkey! Nothing was marked in the ‘emporium’ and I read that gov. emporiums have fixed prices. Knowledge is power and we bolted. No commission for our scuzzy guide either. By the end of the tour, Steve is completely exhausted. He hasn’t been eating and has no energy left.
We planned to see Jaipur and Agra by storing our packs at the hotel and just jumping on trains with small day bags. But thus far our encounters with people here have not been good- I trust absolutely no one and feel like we are constantly being preyed upon for money. We change our plans. Instead we hire a car and driver to take us to these places. This way we don’t have to worry about booking the train tickets which allows us more flexibility and best of all- less interaction with the people. We scope out the Air India office (with much hassle- “its not here anymore”, “it moved to the airport- I can take you there for 40rps” etc etc) at Connaught Place and joyfully change the departure dates on our tickets. We wander around Connaught Place and I see a lady selling cushion covers! Hmmmm....”how much?” and she says “100rps” I almost jump with glee! I don’t even bother haggling and I buy two. I feel like I have won something. Finally we head to the Red fort (its closed due to the upcoming Independance Day) and then go back to our hotel.
We arrived to Delhi around 0800. I hardly slept on the overnight train despite having a sleeper. We couldn’t get a sleeper with AC but we did have three big fans blowing on us and open windows all night. I would like to know where all the women are in India!!? We see so few! I saw only two in our cabin on the train and the rest were men- dozens and dozens of them! The sleeper we were in was one big train compartment and is similar to an army barracks! Basically, you walk down an aisle and on one side are cubby holes containing 6 beds (two rows stacked three high). On the other side are two bunks running parallel to the aisle. So, anyone walking by can see you...there are no doors and no privacy. There is a half wall and a mini sort of chain link fence between us and the other upper bunks. The compartment is huge! Until later in the night, everyone sits on the bottom bunk- to eat or visit. People come down the aisles selling various foods like chai, omelets, veg burgers (which is raw veggies on a hamburger bun). The train also serves dinner if you want it. Steve ordered a veggie dinner and as we were waiting for that two oversized police men came towards us. They shooed away sitting passengers and took their seats. The one who appeared to be in charge said “What country are you from?” Steve answered ‘Canada’ and he even did it without the squirmy hesitation that strikes him at every U.S. border crossing. The one in charge handed me a paper in a plastic cover. It was a dozen or so warnings to tourists traveling on Indian rail. For example we are not to talk to anyone, not to give anyone money, not to accept food or drinks from anyone as they may contain poison, we are to keep all money and valuables next to skin, lock our bags, and not to leave our bags unattended, and to find one of them if we have any trouble, etc. Then we sign a paper saying we read the warnings. I asked “where do we find you” and he just nodded and gave me a look that said ‘don’t worry- we find you’...I have heard they are always near us. So off they go and then comes Steve’s dinner. He finished that up and we read for a while. When the train stopped, poor people, disabled people, and performing people, entered the train for baksheesh. A little boy sang and played the rocks- just like some people play the spoons! He should go on “India has Talent” because he was pretty good! A little boy came on holding an old blind mans hand- the blind man sang and the little boy collected coins. One guy came on and his legs were deformed so he used his arms as legs. Half naked dirty kids came on...
Soon enough we climbed up to our top bunks, cable locked our bags to our beds and tried to get comfortable. The bunks are hard and narrow. I looked down and see men sharing bunks! I don’t know how they did it- they slept at opposite ends of the bunk. Also, through the night the train picked up more and more people- and these people had no seat, they were in the aisles and on the floor. There was a rather heated argument in hindi that broke out in the cubby hole next to me at 0200 and lasted for a long time.
Finally that train gets to Delhi, it has barely stopped and a women is thrusting her child through one of the unbarred windows and the kid starts gathering bottles. We get off the train and are pounced on by rickshaw and cab drivers. We have found a hotel on tripadvisor, we know its near Jassa Ram Hospital and that it should only be 3km from the station. Everyone here is trying to make a buck, and the drivers are notorious for taking tourists to hotels where they receive a commission (the commission is of course paid by us and can be rather high) or to a travel agency where they also receive commission. So we are looking for the pre-paid taxi/rickshaw booth but when I say we are being pounced on I am not exaggerating. We can barely push through this crowd- all of whom are vying for our business. With no pre-paid booth in site, we give in to frustration and get a motorized rickshaw. We agree on 200rps for both (WAY over priced- we find out later it should be 50rps!!!) and we ask to be taken to Jassa Ram. We thought the man setting the price was the driver but no, he is the tout. So we all pile in the rickshaw and the whole way he is fishing for information- do you have a hotel, a tour booked, I know this place, I know that...we just keep saying we need to go to Jassa Ram. We are so happy to get there, but we know we have to get rid of these guys. Steve goes to pay him and the tout says “220” and Steve says “No way, 200 is enough” and we walk to the hospital entrance. We can see in the reflection of the doors that they aren’t leaving, they are watching us. So we enter the hospital and go to the front desk, Steve asks to use the bathroom, and he takes his sweet time doing so. Finally the rickshaw disappears. Now on foot, we take a couple wrong turns, but find our hotel in less than 30 mins. Yay! It isn’t a bad place, we have AC, wifi, and breakfast included. Its also near a shopping district of the non-tourist area- so prices are marked and locals are shopping. There is even a McDonalds a few blocks away- complete with metal detectors and guards! We settle in nicely and rest for the day.
The next morning Steve is not feeling well. He is sneezing like mad, has a sore throat, a cough, and fatigue. By the afternoon he has a fever, chills, and diarrhea. Swine flu crosses my mind so I download some info on when to seek medical help but keep in mind that the hubs is perfectly healthy. No sense in getting panicked, so we wait. I ventured out solo to a corner store to get him some juice and water. The fever subsides by the evening but he is so weak. He has no appetite and I am starving, I haven't eaten since my toast for breakfast. So, Steve being the best husband, musters up the energy to walk with me to get some take away dinner. It nearly knocks him out! He spikes again through the night but the next day no more fever. He feels weak but well enough to take a little tour around Delhi. We hire a driver and guide...Instantly I don’t like the guide, I don’t like how he talks to me and I don’t like how he talks to the driver- like we are of lower quality. We visit popular sites around the city- a massive hindu temple, the government buildings, India gate, Indira Ghandi’s Memorial/museum, and my favorite- the Lotus Temple. While trying to enjoy Indira’s memorial, a group of five guys keep trying to take my photo- I keep turning away, but it really starts to annoy me- I’m trying to enjoy and learn at this place and at the same time avoid them. We wait for them to get ahead of us. But as soon as we walk outside they are there waiting- this time with video. I am so irritated, I said something along the lines of don’t do that and leave me alone and Steve acts as my shield. In the courtyard they ask Steve for a photo. I am walking away because we know they want my photo but Steve plays dumb and jumps in for a pic with them and asks for 5 rupees. They say “we want a picture with her” and Steve said “that will cost 50 rupees” hahaha! They look at him like he is crazy. A similar sequence of events happens at the lotus temple. Its incredibly frustrating.
The contrast between rich and poor in Delhi is unreal. We see massive shiny skyscrapers with shacks built from garbage at their bases. Some streets look like they could be anywhere in North America and the next street is a dump- literally. The poverty here is depressing and widespread. Beggars are everywhere and tap on our car windows at almost every stoplight. The tour guide is annoying to me. We have about 20 mins before the Lotus Temple opens for visitors. He says “we go to government emporium” which is like a shopping place. We are cool with that because its always better to be in air conditioning than in the heat. The vendors at the place are aggressive and pushy. We go into the jewelry section and I spot matching ankle bracelets I like. I ask how much, he says “3600rps” then says “its real silver” so I inspect it. No stamp. I am proud of my recently acquired assertiveness and ask “where is the stamp?” he fumbles around with it and then says “you try on here” and points to a mirror. I have enough junk jewelry to know what feels fake and it certainly doesn’t feel real...hmmm. I reply “you said its silver and there is no stamp and it feels fake” He says “its real” I say “no its not and you are a liar” and walk away. I know the stamp can be counterfeit too- but they didn’t even bother faking that. Steve is beside me now and says “whats wrong?” I tell him what happened. The other jewler says “I will show you real stuff!” but I am so mad I get out of that scammer joint. Our guide is following us and asking what is wrong- why we aren’t shopping. I tell him they are scammers and try to sell me fake silver. “Ok, I know another place” and we walk around the corner. This time its the pillow cases that catch my eye. I bought two similar ones in Turkey and two from India would be nice. “How much?” and the guy says “900 rps.” I said “thats way too high.” Twenty dollars for one??? I paid maybe $2-3 in Turkey! Nothing was marked in the ‘emporium’ and I read that gov. emporiums have fixed prices. Knowledge is power and we bolted. No commission for our scuzzy guide either. By the end of the tour, Steve is completely exhausted. He hasn’t been eating and has no energy left.
We planned to see Jaipur and Agra by storing our packs at the hotel and just jumping on trains with small day bags. But thus far our encounters with people here have not been good- I trust absolutely no one and feel like we are constantly being preyed upon for money. We change our plans. Instead we hire a car and driver to take us to these places. This way we don’t have to worry about booking the train tickets which allows us more flexibility and best of all- less interaction with the people. We scope out the Air India office (with much hassle- “its not here anymore”, “it moved to the airport- I can take you there for 40rps” etc etc) at Connaught Place and joyfully change the departure dates on our tickets. We wander around Connaught Place and I see a lady selling cushion covers! Hmmmm....”how much?” and she says “100rps” I almost jump with glee! I don’t even bother haggling and I buy two. I feel like I have won something. Finally we head to the Red fort (its closed due to the upcoming Independance Day) and then go back to our hotel.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
More pics
Hello everyone, here is the link to our another account. This is where all the new pics will be
http://picasaweb.google.com/stevebjandtheworld
S&BJ
http://picasaweb.google.com/stevebjandtheworld
S&BJ
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Holy Men, Holy Cows, Holy River...
Each time we venture into the streets of Varanasi, I become more and more convinced that there is absolutely no other place like this in the World...
For those who don’t know, Varanasi is on the River Ganges which is considered a holy river by the Hindi people. Its considered a crossroad between physical and spiritual life. People come here to die and we see little shops displaying photos of how you can be “done up” for your cremation. Along the river are “ghats” which are used for bathing, washing the water buffalos, swimming, and several ghats are used for cremating people in a public ritual. So, that being said, you can imagine there is a lot to see around here! We walk along the ghats and see people bathing and rinsing their mouths with the Ganges water. Its so brown you can’t see any part of the body under the water. There are 30 sewage drains polluting the river and it has become uninhabitable for life due to no oxygen. Just past some swimmers we see a dead goat floating amongst all the garbage. We see funeral processions everyday- the deceased is carried on a stretcher and is wrapped in white cloth, over the cloth is an elaborate red and gold fabric and then some type of glittery garland decorating it. There are men carrying the body but they don’t go slow and they don’t seem to worry about going smooth. The body bounces around as they half run - avoiding cows, motorbikes, and people in the narrow street. The streets are only as wide as sidewalks...they also chant and there is a mass of people (assumed to be family) following the stretcher. We had a good laugh today after Steve pointed out how the chanting got quiet and all eyes were on me when the procession trotted by. Stay focused people. The staring and gawking is obvious here- and we caught one guy taking my picture on his cell phone. Other men are really obvious and use cameras. So I take their photo too. But we are sticking together and taking it all in stride- the men usually just talk to Steve. We are offered drugs numerous times every day. Hash, opium...The children scratch at my arms or try to grab my hands but I don’t let them, I just smile and say hello or namaste. We are loving the food. We have yet to work up the courage to eat the street food. Once while on the street (remember its a side walk) we had to jump out of the path of two massive running bulls- it was very scary. There are also packs of dogs running around and we have seen them fight other dogs. That is scary too. But then we also saw puppies in a wagon cart- they weren’t moving and I think they were nearly dead. With all the garbage, dogs, cows, and goats, and men peeing, the streets are filthy and stink and there are flies everywhere.
We watched a Pooja ceremony which was interesting and took a boat down the Ganges. I was worried that the oar would splash me with ganges water. We had the option to cross the Ganges and walk the shore. We did not go to the other shore because it is littered with decaying bodies and skeletons. Not everyone who goes in to the Ganges is cremated. If you are a holy man, a pregnant woman, young child, missing any body parts, or have died from a snake bite you are tied to a rock and thrown into the middle where its 30m deep. Sometimes the bodies float up, so if a body makes it to the Ghat side of the river it is retied to a rock and tossed again, if it goes to the other side of the river, the dogs and eagles eat it and the monsoon cleans the leftovers. Now lets talk cremation. The main burning ghat (which is a 1 min walk from out hotel) burns 200 bodies every day! Its a 24 hour operation. There are wood dealers around the ghat and they have giant scales to measure out the wood. It costs 5-7 rps/kg and take 300-350 kg for one cremation. We walk by the ghat and see the silhouettes of bodies on the fires, this is more than enough for us and we never go close enough to see detail. The smoke is always around, when we are eating on the balcony, walking in the street, and we know its not a wiener roast down there... so its a little creepy. This is all so far from our culture I don’t think we will ever understand. I am particularly dumbfounded with the fact that the ‘holy river’ is a giant sewer that people bathe in.
We are getting into the flow of chaos...are chilling out a bit more...and I've only had a couple minor outbursts...there is a sweeper at the hotel and I was standing at the sink brushing my teeth. Unknowingly I was also standing on a small drain that the sweeper puts all the dust in. So, instead of asking me to move or waiting for me to finish, he sweeps the dirt onto my feet! ARGH!
For those who don’t know, Varanasi is on the River Ganges which is considered a holy river by the Hindi people. Its considered a crossroad between physical and spiritual life. People come here to die and we see little shops displaying photos of how you can be “done up” for your cremation. Along the river are “ghats” which are used for bathing, washing the water buffalos, swimming, and several ghats are used for cremating people in a public ritual. So, that being said, you can imagine there is a lot to see around here! We walk along the ghats and see people bathing and rinsing their mouths with the Ganges water. Its so brown you can’t see any part of the body under the water. There are 30 sewage drains polluting the river and it has become uninhabitable for life due to no oxygen. Just past some swimmers we see a dead goat floating amongst all the garbage. We see funeral processions everyday- the deceased is carried on a stretcher and is wrapped in white cloth, over the cloth is an elaborate red and gold fabric and then some type of glittery garland decorating it. There are men carrying the body but they don’t go slow and they don’t seem to worry about going smooth. The body bounces around as they half run - avoiding cows, motorbikes, and people in the narrow street. The streets are only as wide as sidewalks...they also chant and there is a mass of people (assumed to be family) following the stretcher. We had a good laugh today after Steve pointed out how the chanting got quiet and all eyes were on me when the procession trotted by. Stay focused people. The staring and gawking is obvious here- and we caught one guy taking my picture on his cell phone. Other men are really obvious and use cameras. So I take their photo too. But we are sticking together and taking it all in stride- the men usually just talk to Steve. We are offered drugs numerous times every day. Hash, opium...The children scratch at my arms or try to grab my hands but I don’t let them, I just smile and say hello or namaste. We are loving the food. We have yet to work up the courage to eat the street food. Once while on the street (remember its a side walk) we had to jump out of the path of two massive running bulls- it was very scary. There are also packs of dogs running around and we have seen them fight other dogs. That is scary too. But then we also saw puppies in a wagon cart- they weren’t moving and I think they were nearly dead. With all the garbage, dogs, cows, and goats, and men peeing, the streets are filthy and stink and there are flies everywhere.
We watched a Pooja ceremony which was interesting and took a boat down the Ganges. I was worried that the oar would splash me with ganges water. We had the option to cross the Ganges and walk the shore. We did not go to the other shore because it is littered with decaying bodies and skeletons. Not everyone who goes in to the Ganges is cremated. If you are a holy man, a pregnant woman, young child, missing any body parts, or have died from a snake bite you are tied to a rock and thrown into the middle where its 30m deep. Sometimes the bodies float up, so if a body makes it to the Ghat side of the river it is retied to a rock and tossed again, if it goes to the other side of the river, the dogs and eagles eat it and the monsoon cleans the leftovers. Now lets talk cremation. The main burning ghat (which is a 1 min walk from out hotel) burns 200 bodies every day! Its a 24 hour operation. There are wood dealers around the ghat and they have giant scales to measure out the wood. It costs 5-7 rps/kg and take 300-350 kg for one cremation. We walk by the ghat and see the silhouettes of bodies on the fires, this is more than enough for us and we never go close enough to see detail. The smoke is always around, when we are eating on the balcony, walking in the street, and we know its not a wiener roast down there... so its a little creepy. This is all so far from our culture I don’t think we will ever understand. I am particularly dumbfounded with the fact that the ‘holy river’ is a giant sewer that people bathe in.
We are getting into the flow of chaos...are chilling out a bit more...and I've only had a couple minor outbursts...there is a sweeper at the hotel and I was standing at the sink brushing my teeth. Unknowingly I was also standing on a small drain that the sweeper puts all the dust in. So, instead of asking me to move or waiting for me to finish, he sweeps the dirt onto my feet! ARGH!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Off to India
We bought a used India guide book in the Kat. Another traveler gave me some advice I like- she said “don’t try to understand India, or you’ll go nuts, just go with the flow”. So thats my plan, go with the flow and kill em with kindness. We’ve decided to take the bus to Varanasi. We get on the overnight bus in Kat and find it to be the least luxurious bus we’ve been on...ever. Its painted like all the other buses, in a Partridge Family/Hippie style colors with “good luck” painted on every side and hindi or buddha gods on it. The seats are school bus bench style with little padding. No A/C but the windows open. It takes nearly two hours to get out of Kat because they stop everywhere. Our packs are in a back compartment which is fastened with a little peice of wire. I’m not so happy about that. We eventually make it to the “highway” but its pitch black out and we can only see the silhouette of the landscape when a lightning strike flashes. We can feel that the road is a steep descent thats very twisty, when other vehicles are encountered the bus slows to a crawl so they can pass each other. Its probably better that we don’t see what we are driving on! The road is full of potholes and the ride is a rough go. We make stops through the night and the men jump off the bus (there are only 3 women) and take a whiz- but I never see a bathroom for women. I doze off a couple times only to be jerked awake by a pothole or the slamming of the brakes. Steve sleeps a little...At 0630 we arrive to the last stop, which is a couple km’s from the border crossing at Sunali. As we pull into the station, a guy is chasing the bus and yelling something. The bus stops and the running guy climbs on the side of the bus and is trying to slide open our window- seems that he is calling dibs on us and yelling it to the other tuk tuk drivers. I ignore him. I get off the bus and go to the back to find our bags still in the compartment- I am so relieved. The crazy yelling tuk tuk man is trying to negotiate a ride for us. He is asking far too much (150rps) and we know that. Another driver comes up and says “I’ll take you for 50rps” and we go off with him. Tuk tuks are ok around the city, but down a road for a few km’s and they are just annoying- we need to catch the bus in India! We finally make it to a hotel we’ve been directed to and get our ticket finalized. The hotel guy will meet us on the other side of the border and get us on the bus. The bus is leaving later than we thought and we have time to use the squatter and eat some toast at the hotel. There is a water leak somewhere which has made a lake in the hotel where Steve sees a boy taking a pee...sanitary.
We get through customs with no problems- as we are leaving the checkpoint a man is taken to a small room off to the side and is being beaten. We get out of there. Our hotel guy gets us to the bus and introduces us to the ticket checker. He warns us “Do NOT talk to anybody, do NOT give money to anybody, the only person who needs to see your ticket is this man” and off he goes. The bus is not crowded. Its a crappy bus. But you can sit in a row with 3 seats which gives us more space. Two israeli and one japanese guy are on the bus too. The staring has begun. Its like they just can’t help it! The man sitting in front of us keeps turning around and looking at me- I finally stuff my daybag between the seats. Now, I assumed the road to Varanasi would be a highway but its far from it. Its a crowded road with people, rickshaws, and COWS all over the place. The cows just lay in the middle of the road. We seldom drove through nonpopulated areas! Just people and people and more people. I swear I couldn’t look out the window for more than five minutes without seeing someone peeeing on a wall, peeing in a gutter, peeing in a canal, squatting on the side of the road! The bus becomes full and we have to share our three seater- the bonus for me is that I always get the window to prevent any groping. Its hot/humid and its crowded. We cannot leave our seats or else we won’t have one anymore. Steve gets off the bus to pee but with no washroom I stay on and keep the seat safe. We finally arrive to Varanasi and its 7pm. We have been on these buses for 24hours! We are hungry, exhausted, sweaty, dirty, overheated, and in a new city/new country, and don’t know how to get to our hotel. Also, Steve is still bitchy about coming to India and has litterally said to me “I can’t wait to say I told you so.” This is basically a recipe for disaster. A rickshaw driver begins the negotiations with us. We agree on a ride to the old city for 50rps. I said “For Both” and he agrees. Ok, we get in the rickshaw and the Japanese guy gets in the front. We are all stuffed in there with our packs but before we leave some man is sticking himself in there giving us his card and telling us to “just come look at my place” etc etc. I am sweating and have packs on me and we kindly say no thank you but he is persistant and won’t leave us alone. Finally I just say “leave us alone, we are tired and want to go” he gets all mad and storms off. We make a mistake here, we havn’t renegotiated the price since the Japanese dude has jumped on- or rather the Japanese guy hasn’t sorted out his fare. We finally get near the old city (we find out later the rickshaw could have gone much further but he didn’t) and get out. Steve offers him 60rps for us (the 50 we agreed on and a little tip) he says “NO! Its 150rps! 50 each!” Steve said we agreed on 50rps for us two (meaning me and him) he is arguing saying “NO! Its 150!!” I can understand that the Japanese guy needs to pay, but we had a price for us. This is the EXACT scam Brandi warned us about- thats why I made sure it was 50 for both when we got on. The argument goes on and on. My kill em with kindness plan goes out the window. I didn’t yell, but it was a bitchy assertive voice and I couldn’t hold back “This is why people hate India. Because of people like you- trying to rip us off!” Steve and the rickshaw man look at me- the argument has ceased. Steve puts the money on the seat and we walk away. I swear I have a split personality and she is mean- I just have to fast for 24 hours, not sleep, be covered in sweat, be day one menstruating, and get mad- then out she comes. The guy was a scammer, I think he knew we would fight back so he stopped way before the boundary for rickshaws and we ended up walking a really far distance anyway. We are trying to find the Shanti House we are planning to stay at and it turns out the Japanese guy is dead weight. So Steve is all mad that he is tagging along and we are about to lose the Amazing Race because of it. I tell him to chill out. Then, a boy asks where we are going. Steve says Shanti House and the boy says he can take us there- for 200rps!!! We are following him through a maze of streets and its dark and there are cows and stray dogs and men. Steve offered the kid 10rps and they continue to negotiate while we walk. I think this is a poor tactic. We must set prices before doing anything with anyone- otherwise we are giving them the advantage. They have more control. The kid gets us to Shanti house and Steve offers him 30rps. And, like the rickshaw driver he says no and won’t take the money. Steve likes it when they do that, he says take it or leave it...he takes it. Let me give you a perspective of money here. For us to buy a bottle of Pepsi in a restaruant it costs 12rps. This is a restaurant and tourist price. So, 30rps to walk with us for less than 10 mins is not too bad! There is a room for us, the Japanese says he doesn’t like it and leaves...Steve was happy for that. We have a ceiling fan but no window so its muggy but ok. Not too bad for $3 CAN/night. We shower and go up to the rooftop restaruant. We see other travelers! Yay! We meet some druggy hippy types and share butter chicken, naan, and rice! It takes over an hour to come but its worth the wait! We sleep like logs.
We get through customs with no problems- as we are leaving the checkpoint a man is taken to a small room off to the side and is being beaten. We get out of there. Our hotel guy gets us to the bus and introduces us to the ticket checker. He warns us “Do NOT talk to anybody, do NOT give money to anybody, the only person who needs to see your ticket is this man” and off he goes. The bus is not crowded. Its a crappy bus. But you can sit in a row with 3 seats which gives us more space. Two israeli and one japanese guy are on the bus too. The staring has begun. Its like they just can’t help it! The man sitting in front of us keeps turning around and looking at me- I finally stuff my daybag between the seats. Now, I assumed the road to Varanasi would be a highway but its far from it. Its a crowded road with people, rickshaws, and COWS all over the place. The cows just lay in the middle of the road. We seldom drove through nonpopulated areas! Just people and people and more people. I swear I couldn’t look out the window for more than five minutes without seeing someone peeeing on a wall, peeing in a gutter, peeing in a canal, squatting on the side of the road! The bus becomes full and we have to share our three seater- the bonus for me is that I always get the window to prevent any groping. Its hot/humid and its crowded. We cannot leave our seats or else we won’t have one anymore. Steve gets off the bus to pee but with no washroom I stay on and keep the seat safe. We finally arrive to Varanasi and its 7pm. We have been on these buses for 24hours! We are hungry, exhausted, sweaty, dirty, overheated, and in a new city/new country, and don’t know how to get to our hotel. Also, Steve is still bitchy about coming to India and has litterally said to me “I can’t wait to say I told you so.” This is basically a recipe for disaster. A rickshaw driver begins the negotiations with us. We agree on a ride to the old city for 50rps. I said “For Both” and he agrees. Ok, we get in the rickshaw and the Japanese guy gets in the front. We are all stuffed in there with our packs but before we leave some man is sticking himself in there giving us his card and telling us to “just come look at my place” etc etc. I am sweating and have packs on me and we kindly say no thank you but he is persistant and won’t leave us alone. Finally I just say “leave us alone, we are tired and want to go” he gets all mad and storms off. We make a mistake here, we havn’t renegotiated the price since the Japanese dude has jumped on- or rather the Japanese guy hasn’t sorted out his fare. We finally get near the old city (we find out later the rickshaw could have gone much further but he didn’t) and get out. Steve offers him 60rps for us (the 50 we agreed on and a little tip) he says “NO! Its 150rps! 50 each!” Steve said we agreed on 50rps for us two (meaning me and him) he is arguing saying “NO! Its 150!!” I can understand that the Japanese guy needs to pay, but we had a price for us. This is the EXACT scam Brandi warned us about- thats why I made sure it was 50 for both when we got on. The argument goes on and on. My kill em with kindness plan goes out the window. I didn’t yell, but it was a bitchy assertive voice and I couldn’t hold back “This is why people hate India. Because of people like you- trying to rip us off!” Steve and the rickshaw man look at me- the argument has ceased. Steve puts the money on the seat and we walk away. I swear I have a split personality and she is mean- I just have to fast for 24 hours, not sleep, be covered in sweat, be day one menstruating, and get mad- then out she comes. The guy was a scammer, I think he knew we would fight back so he stopped way before the boundary for rickshaws and we ended up walking a really far distance anyway. We are trying to find the Shanti House we are planning to stay at and it turns out the Japanese guy is dead weight. So Steve is all mad that he is tagging along and we are about to lose the Amazing Race because of it. I tell him to chill out. Then, a boy asks where we are going. Steve says Shanti House and the boy says he can take us there- for 200rps!!! We are following him through a maze of streets and its dark and there are cows and stray dogs and men. Steve offered the kid 10rps and they continue to negotiate while we walk. I think this is a poor tactic. We must set prices before doing anything with anyone- otherwise we are giving them the advantage. They have more control. The kid gets us to Shanti house and Steve offers him 30rps. And, like the rickshaw driver he says no and won’t take the money. Steve likes it when they do that, he says take it or leave it...he takes it. Let me give you a perspective of money here. For us to buy a bottle of Pepsi in a restaruant it costs 12rps. This is a restaurant and tourist price. So, 30rps to walk with us for less than 10 mins is not too bad! There is a room for us, the Japanese says he doesn’t like it and leaves...Steve was happy for that. We have a ceiling fan but no window so its muggy but ok. Not too bad for $3 CAN/night. We shower and go up to the rooftop restaruant. We see other travelers! Yay! We meet some druggy hippy types and share butter chicken, naan, and rice! It takes over an hour to come but its worth the wait! We sleep like logs.
Trek 15-22
Day 15: Back to Namche
Turns out yesterday we actually covered over 15km. We sleep in until 0800 and leave Pangboche at 0900. Up and down to Tangboche. Arrive to Tang. at 1130. Visited a buddhist monastery where we see monks wearing red, burgundy, and gold sari’s. They all have shaved heads and wear sandals. The monastery was much less immaculate than I imagine it would be. There are weeds growing everywhere, bird poo on windows, and its just untidy. We enter the temple and see a massive golden buddha, it was very nice. I eat pineapple for lunch and steve has fries. I’m so tired of the food. The onions and garlic make me stink worse as it all pours from my pores. The other day Steve said “mmm. I smell salsa!” as we were hiking in the middle of nowhere. I said “no dear, thats me you smell!” Anyways, I should have had more for lunch, only if I knew what the trail was like ahead of us! We descend the mountainside all the way to the river!! The old bridge is submerged, the boulder it was built on turned to its side. We cross the river and then climb back up the mountain. Its cloudy today and we spend most of the afternoon in the clouds. I’m so happy to be going to Namche Bazar- we know there is more food there :) We are at the Everest Hotel by 1630. Shower time! Once again its so hot it scalds the skin, but I don’t really care this time. There is two weeks of buildup on my skin that needs to come off! Dinner Time! We both jump off the vegetarian wagon and order chicken. Its sooo good! Steve has some chocolate pudding and I order fruit salad which has apple, banana, mango and something that looks like a plum. My eyes have been itching and burning off and on for a couple days now. Steve ( my nurse) ensures I wear my sunglasses whenever outside- he is worried I’ve had too much UV exposure and the itch/burn may be a version of snowblindness. The eyes are too sore to stay up and visit with our new friends (brazil/spain) and once again Steve helps me to bed.
Day 16: Rest Day
We sleep in. We decide to have a day of rest in Namche as the last two days have been a pull and we are ahead of schedule. We eat eggs and chapatti with hash-browns for brunch. We walk around Namche with Tony and Laura (brazil/spain). Steve buys a Mammut jacket that looks pretty authentic...but could be a fake. Spent $1000rps (approx. $14). My eyes are burning and watering constantly.
Day 17: By Steve
Walked to Lukla in the rain. Its been a real monsoon day. Rain pours down, stops for a bit, and does it all over again. Went to Mohan’s house and saw his woman and little boy. Had awesome shower, ate a good dinner and started to wait for the weather to lift. BJ’s eyes start out good then go all red and hurt. Just the right one now. Lots of people in tea house- all Nepali.
By BJ
We make good time to Lukla...its raining and my feet are soaked- but I don’t care because we are getting outta here! I finally get some use out of the poncho I brought along, but its hot like a sauna. Steve and Horka hike with umbrella’s- which is funny to see, but all the nepali carry umbrella’s during monsoon. The trail is muddy. We are crossing a long bridge and a big cow decides to cross from the other side. We yield as the cow barges past us. We stop in at Mohan’s tea house. They give us hot lemon. My eyes are burning and I don’t know if its due to the smoke in the tea house- they cook on open fire. His son, almost 3, is running around doing karate moves. He gives us a “namaste” and then “handshake”. We go to our tea house. I have saved my cleanest clothes so I can travel and not stink too bad! My right eye is burning- feels like it has sand and soap in it. I take a shower- must go outside through monsoon rain to get to shower. Should just shower in monsoon rain! The shower is nice because I can control the heat, but not so nice because I am half blind.
Day 18: By Steve
Wake up to rain and clouds. No plane today... We start to wait. BJ’s eye is not better. We will go to hospital today.
By BJ
We hike up a huge hill to the Lukla hospital. Paid 4000rps ($60) to see an eye doctor. Dx: Conjunctivitis in right eye. The hospital is nice- we must take off our shoes and wear sandals before entering. Its neat and clean, it even smells pleasant. I am issued antibiotic eye drops, antibiotic ointment, and anti inflammatory/pain killer pills. The doctor put in a couple eye drops and I thought my eye was going to burn out of the socket. In the afternoon we lay down for a rest. Someone knocks on our door and opens it. The young worker boy says something and we interpret it as asking us if we want another blanket. We say “oh yes, sure why not...” A few seconds later the tea house owner busts through the door and yells “Make ready!! Make ready!! Airplane!!” We frantically pack our stuff. The lady yells “bag too big!” and Steve says “only 22kg” and she yells “OK!” and loads it onto the young boy who is pretty small. He runs it to the airport. Horka is with us and we rush to catch up. Suddenly we hear a plane. Half of Lukla is heading to the airport. The plane lands, it is not yeti air. It is loaded in a few minutes, I stand on the path above the landing strip and take footage of the plane flying off the cliff. What a site! I rush to the terminal and we wait. Finally an air yet flight arrives! Unfortunately it is “Yeti #1” and we are on “Yeti #2”. Yeti #1 takes off and we wait some more. We can hear a plane but can’t see it. Suddenly everyone is leaving the airport. The clouds move fast and they are too low. Yeti #2 cannot see the runway and is returning to Kathmandu. Back to the tea house. There will be no more flight attempts today. Its 1400,we eat popcorn and drink tea. We go to Lukla “Starbucks” (a complete knock off) to use the internet. Steve bargains for internet time and gets us an hour for 300rps. Later we go back to Mohan’s tea house with Horka. Mohan is out feeding his pig so we have hot lemons with his wife. Horka and Rossin (the son) drink Chang. I laugh at the thought of a western kid drinking home brew at three years old...
We return to our tea house. Eat dinner of chicken sizzler and chips, I have veg curry and rice. A Japanese group of five are having a goodbye dinner with their 15 porters/guides/cooks! They were trekking and camping...They sing/dance- its very nice and something to watch. Must wake up at 0530 to check for airplane. My eye is feeling better already! I love drugs!
Day 19: By Stevie
Got up to a weather opening at 0600. Had some tea and all of us at Lukla headed to the airport with big smiles. We checked bags and got out tickets again and started to wait for the plane. Around 0900 some people start shaking their heads and start to leave. The plane could not see the runway since the clouds rose up. We waited some more but no plane. I spent most of the day with BJ and she spent most of her day with me. We feel like we are really stranded in Lukla now. We have no board games and we have read all our books. It is really boring. We are lucky we don’t have a flight booked out of Kathmandu or we would have missed it. BJ’s eye is soooo much better already- that is good. One less thing to complain about. My beard is huge, way longer than the hair on my head. BJ still does not like it. Some monks are staying in the tea house tonight too. Since they need the cheap room we have been upgraded to a room with a bathroom. Its nicer but we miss the double bed. We met some dude from New Zealand today. He is weird but at least he speaks english. He doesn’t have any games or books either so that sucks too. At least we can talk to him if we want, but I don’t want to yet...
Day 20: Rain rain go away!
Fog at 0530. Horka gets us up at 0700 because the sky is clearing. We can hear the airplanes. Once again we all gather around the airstrip but the planes never land. :(
Fog and rain come back. I go back to bed, getting frustrated now. All we do is eat, sleep, and stare at each other. There are more stranded people now. Steve meets a brit who tells of the worst stories of his time in India. Now Steve doesn’t want to go...he says “its too much hassle”. The group of Japanese are talking about hiring a helicopter.
Day 21: Get me outta here!
Fog @ 0530. Clear @ 0630. Fog @ 0700. Fog @ 0900. Japanese are leaving by helicopter. Another loooong day. We hang out with some more brits and an american. They teach us to play spades and hearts- nice to play new card games! Good laughs. They are the funniest people we have met in a long time. Steve and I hike up to a “golden buddha”. We then go for a chocolate walk- its become a part of the routine of being stranded with nothing to do. After dinner, Horka returns to the tea house after drinking Chang. Our guide of few words is much more chatty when he’s on the Chang. He is hilarious! Only wish he would share so much about buddhism and their culture when I’m not so tired! I go to bed while they pound back the beers...
No clean clothes. No place to wash dirty clothes. Too cloudy and cold out for anything to dry outside. I stink. My towel reeks too. Everyone stinks. We have a prolonged discussion regarding leeches. They can jump from trees and run. Horka says they come in all sizes. ewww. He explains you can get hundreds of them on you at once. I’m so happy we are above the leech line. We could walk to Jiri- which is 5 days away- then take a 10hr bus ride to Kathmandu but There is no way I am walking below the leech line. Not to mention the tapeworm... A trekking group of 62 is supposed to arrive tomorrow so the planes will make extra attempts at landing. We are hopeful.
Day 22: Where are you Yeti!? By Steve & BJ
We get up at 0500 to find a semi-clear day. Have the usual RaRa noodles and BJ has a pancake. We have been offered a heli ride for $200USD per person. We said no but are worried we will have to stay because of the clouds. At 0700 we go to airport for our daily recon. We are very hopeful- they told us planes are coming. Dozens of people are waiting. It is the best weather day so far. The heli comes and picks up the people who were willing to pay for the ride. But we are still hopeful. Everyone is anxious. People demonstrate their personal squatter positions...we are so bored. At 1000hrs we go back to the tea house and eat a second breakfast because clouds have come in. We are not so hopeful. The clouds move away and they tell us planes are coming! We all run back to the airport. At 1200 a plane lands! It is not our plane but they say ours is next. A few minutes later a second plane lands but it is not ours either. We are very bummed out to see all these people leave and we have to stay here longer. They say more planes are coming but we don’t know what to believe. We are not going to leave the airport until later because if a Yeti plane does make it, we do not want to miss it! A couple hours later and another plane can be heard! Its not ours. Finally, after so many ups and downs a Yeti Air lands! Freedom!! We are all cheering and laughing and hugging! We take off- its like a rollcoaster ride! We shoot off the runway and the mountains are right beside the plane. The ride is a bit turbulent and BJ almost blows chunks on the plane. The Nepali woman across from Steve prays the entire trip. We are soooo happy to leave Lukla. Namaste Bitches! We are back in the Kat!
Your crazy, your dirty, and we love you Kathmandu!
Getting back to Kat was great! People everywhere, horns honking, garbage in the streets, dogs running around- and we are happy! We return to the hotel we were in when we first arrived. We have decided to stay only one night and then move to the “Kathmandu Guest House” where the people we met in Lukla are staying. Our hotel is boring, no other people, no action, no fan, most of the lights are burnt out, and this time we encounter a super bad ant infestation. We return our rented gear (down jackets, boots, water bottles) and jump back in the action in Kat. There is an energy in this city that I can’t put my finger on, but its here! People are friendly, we feel safe, and we meet travelers- all with an interesting story! Us stranded passengers now friends, meet at the Everest Steak House for some steaks- delicious! Everyone is showered and people are surprised by how Steve looks without the mountain man beard. The day after our return, Horka took us to some sights around the city. We went to the “Monkey Temple” which isn’t about monkeys, they just live there and its easier for tourists to say Monkey temple as opposed to its real name. And, I think the idea of monkey’s draw tourists who have to pay 100rps to enter. The monkey’s are lil’ creepers. They will take food right out of your hands! They are not shy. To reach the temple we climb stairs up up up! Its hot and we are soaking in sweat. Beggars line the steps. The temple is ok, but the view of the Kat is great! Worth the hike!.We walk through the temple park and get to a busy road. Horka gets us on a public bus- which is like a VW van type thing. The driver’s side kick is yelling “Botha!! Botha!!” And soon the bus is PACKED. I am sitting face backward beside an old old woman. She looks like the type to be photographed for the cover of National Geographic...very traditional and wrinkly and interesting. The van door stays open as we swerve through the streets and the sidekick yells for more passengers going to Botha. The old lady pats my leg and through body language she tells me she is getting off and that Steve (who is crammed into the far back with Horka) can come sit with me. I relay this to Steve and he just waves his hand and says no- its all good...she thinks thats funny and laughs, she climbs over me and several other people and off she goes. The public transit is a great way to see the people...but its soooo hot! The sweat is running down my legs. We finally make it to the largest stoopa in Kathmandu and get off the bus. Near this place, Horka and his friends own a shop that makes and sells Thuka (don’t know spelling) paintings. These are traditional buddhist art. We see the painters and students working on the Thuka’s. We sit down for a coke. Its airconditioned. I appreciate the art- the detail is absolutely amazing! Some of the paintings take four months to complete. Now, so far in our trip I think we have been open to other cultures and accepting and respectful..etc. But the sales guy is trying to sell me one- and they are really beautiful, but I really can’t see myself having a painting of a god I don’t believe in. Its the same when the Hindi holy men come up and try to “bless” me with red paint on the forehead- absolutely not! So, I finally see one that is of gold writing in a circular pattern on black paper. The writing is a meditation phrase/mantra that sounds like “oh ma neh pat me om” which we always hear being sung. Its also very pretty. So I decide it is a neutral piece and buy it. We go for lunch on a rooftop and people watch. After our late lunch we walk around until monsoon rain comes. It was a nice day to spend with Horka. We spent time with the brits, american, and they introduced us to some guys from Bangledash- we toured more of Kathmandu and went to well known places like the Yak & Yeti to gamble and to Rum Doodle and Fire & Ice to eat. We had a whoot! I would try to tell some of the stories, but they just wouldn’t soung funny...had to be there!
Turns out yesterday we actually covered over 15km. We sleep in until 0800 and leave Pangboche at 0900. Up and down to Tangboche. Arrive to Tang. at 1130. Visited a buddhist monastery where we see monks wearing red, burgundy, and gold sari’s. They all have shaved heads and wear sandals. The monastery was much less immaculate than I imagine it would be. There are weeds growing everywhere, bird poo on windows, and its just untidy. We enter the temple and see a massive golden buddha, it was very nice. I eat pineapple for lunch and steve has fries. I’m so tired of the food. The onions and garlic make me stink worse as it all pours from my pores. The other day Steve said “mmm. I smell salsa!” as we were hiking in the middle of nowhere. I said “no dear, thats me you smell!” Anyways, I should have had more for lunch, only if I knew what the trail was like ahead of us! We descend the mountainside all the way to the river!! The old bridge is submerged, the boulder it was built on turned to its side. We cross the river and then climb back up the mountain. Its cloudy today and we spend most of the afternoon in the clouds. I’m so happy to be going to Namche Bazar- we know there is more food there :) We are at the Everest Hotel by 1630. Shower time! Once again its so hot it scalds the skin, but I don’t really care this time. There is two weeks of buildup on my skin that needs to come off! Dinner Time! We both jump off the vegetarian wagon and order chicken. Its sooo good! Steve has some chocolate pudding and I order fruit salad which has apple, banana, mango and something that looks like a plum. My eyes have been itching and burning off and on for a couple days now. Steve ( my nurse) ensures I wear my sunglasses whenever outside- he is worried I’ve had too much UV exposure and the itch/burn may be a version of snowblindness. The eyes are too sore to stay up and visit with our new friends (brazil/spain) and once again Steve helps me to bed.
Day 16: Rest Day
We sleep in. We decide to have a day of rest in Namche as the last two days have been a pull and we are ahead of schedule. We eat eggs and chapatti with hash-browns for brunch. We walk around Namche with Tony and Laura (brazil/spain). Steve buys a Mammut jacket that looks pretty authentic...but could be a fake. Spent $1000rps (approx. $14). My eyes are burning and watering constantly.
Day 17: By Steve
Walked to Lukla in the rain. Its been a real monsoon day. Rain pours down, stops for a bit, and does it all over again. Went to Mohan’s house and saw his woman and little boy. Had awesome shower, ate a good dinner and started to wait for the weather to lift. BJ’s eyes start out good then go all red and hurt. Just the right one now. Lots of people in tea house- all Nepali.
By BJ
We make good time to Lukla...its raining and my feet are soaked- but I don’t care because we are getting outta here! I finally get some use out of the poncho I brought along, but its hot like a sauna. Steve and Horka hike with umbrella’s- which is funny to see, but all the nepali carry umbrella’s during monsoon. The trail is muddy. We are crossing a long bridge and a big cow decides to cross from the other side. We yield as the cow barges past us. We stop in at Mohan’s tea house. They give us hot lemon. My eyes are burning and I don’t know if its due to the smoke in the tea house- they cook on open fire. His son, almost 3, is running around doing karate moves. He gives us a “namaste” and then “handshake”. We go to our tea house. I have saved my cleanest clothes so I can travel and not stink too bad! My right eye is burning- feels like it has sand and soap in it. I take a shower- must go outside through monsoon rain to get to shower. Should just shower in monsoon rain! The shower is nice because I can control the heat, but not so nice because I am half blind.
Day 18: By Steve
Wake up to rain and clouds. No plane today... We start to wait. BJ’s eye is not better. We will go to hospital today.
By BJ
We hike up a huge hill to the Lukla hospital. Paid 4000rps ($60) to see an eye doctor. Dx: Conjunctivitis in right eye. The hospital is nice- we must take off our shoes and wear sandals before entering. Its neat and clean, it even smells pleasant. I am issued antibiotic eye drops, antibiotic ointment, and anti inflammatory/pain killer pills. The doctor put in a couple eye drops and I thought my eye was going to burn out of the socket. In the afternoon we lay down for a rest. Someone knocks on our door and opens it. The young worker boy says something and we interpret it as asking us if we want another blanket. We say “oh yes, sure why not...” A few seconds later the tea house owner busts through the door and yells “Make ready!! Make ready!! Airplane!!” We frantically pack our stuff. The lady yells “bag too big!” and Steve says “only 22kg” and she yells “OK!” and loads it onto the young boy who is pretty small. He runs it to the airport. Horka is with us and we rush to catch up. Suddenly we hear a plane. Half of Lukla is heading to the airport. The plane lands, it is not yeti air. It is loaded in a few minutes, I stand on the path above the landing strip and take footage of the plane flying off the cliff. What a site! I rush to the terminal and we wait. Finally an air yet flight arrives! Unfortunately it is “Yeti #1” and we are on “Yeti #2”. Yeti #1 takes off and we wait some more. We can hear a plane but can’t see it. Suddenly everyone is leaving the airport. The clouds move fast and they are too low. Yeti #2 cannot see the runway and is returning to Kathmandu. Back to the tea house. There will be no more flight attempts today. Its 1400,we eat popcorn and drink tea. We go to Lukla “Starbucks” (a complete knock off) to use the internet. Steve bargains for internet time and gets us an hour for 300rps. Later we go back to Mohan’s tea house with Horka. Mohan is out feeding his pig so we have hot lemons with his wife. Horka and Rossin (the son) drink Chang. I laugh at the thought of a western kid drinking home brew at three years old...
We return to our tea house. Eat dinner of chicken sizzler and chips, I have veg curry and rice. A Japanese group of five are having a goodbye dinner with their 15 porters/guides/cooks! They were trekking and camping...They sing/dance- its very nice and something to watch. Must wake up at 0530 to check for airplane. My eye is feeling better already! I love drugs!
Day 19: By Stevie
Got up to a weather opening at 0600. Had some tea and all of us at Lukla headed to the airport with big smiles. We checked bags and got out tickets again and started to wait for the plane. Around 0900 some people start shaking their heads and start to leave. The plane could not see the runway since the clouds rose up. We waited some more but no plane. I spent most of the day with BJ and she spent most of her day with me. We feel like we are really stranded in Lukla now. We have no board games and we have read all our books. It is really boring. We are lucky we don’t have a flight booked out of Kathmandu or we would have missed it. BJ’s eye is soooo much better already- that is good. One less thing to complain about. My beard is huge, way longer than the hair on my head. BJ still does not like it. Some monks are staying in the tea house tonight too. Since they need the cheap room we have been upgraded to a room with a bathroom. Its nicer but we miss the double bed. We met some dude from New Zealand today. He is weird but at least he speaks english. He doesn’t have any games or books either so that sucks too. At least we can talk to him if we want, but I don’t want to yet...
Day 20: Rain rain go away!
Fog at 0530. Horka gets us up at 0700 because the sky is clearing. We can hear the airplanes. Once again we all gather around the airstrip but the planes never land. :(
Fog and rain come back. I go back to bed, getting frustrated now. All we do is eat, sleep, and stare at each other. There are more stranded people now. Steve meets a brit who tells of the worst stories of his time in India. Now Steve doesn’t want to go...he says “its too much hassle”. The group of Japanese are talking about hiring a helicopter.
Day 21: Get me outta here!
Fog @ 0530. Clear @ 0630. Fog @ 0700. Fog @ 0900. Japanese are leaving by helicopter. Another loooong day. We hang out with some more brits and an american. They teach us to play spades and hearts- nice to play new card games! Good laughs. They are the funniest people we have met in a long time. Steve and I hike up to a “golden buddha”. We then go for a chocolate walk- its become a part of the routine of being stranded with nothing to do. After dinner, Horka returns to the tea house after drinking Chang. Our guide of few words is much more chatty when he’s on the Chang. He is hilarious! Only wish he would share so much about buddhism and their culture when I’m not so tired! I go to bed while they pound back the beers...
No clean clothes. No place to wash dirty clothes. Too cloudy and cold out for anything to dry outside. I stink. My towel reeks too. Everyone stinks. We have a prolonged discussion regarding leeches. They can jump from trees and run. Horka says they come in all sizes. ewww. He explains you can get hundreds of them on you at once. I’m so happy we are above the leech line. We could walk to Jiri- which is 5 days away- then take a 10hr bus ride to Kathmandu but There is no way I am walking below the leech line. Not to mention the tapeworm... A trekking group of 62 is supposed to arrive tomorrow so the planes will make extra attempts at landing. We are hopeful.
Day 22: Where are you Yeti!? By Steve & BJ
We get up at 0500 to find a semi-clear day. Have the usual RaRa noodles and BJ has a pancake. We have been offered a heli ride for $200USD per person. We said no but are worried we will have to stay because of the clouds. At 0700 we go to airport for our daily recon. We are very hopeful- they told us planes are coming. Dozens of people are waiting. It is the best weather day so far. The heli comes and picks up the people who were willing to pay for the ride. But we are still hopeful. Everyone is anxious. People demonstrate their personal squatter positions...we are so bored. At 1000hrs we go back to the tea house and eat a second breakfast because clouds have come in. We are not so hopeful. The clouds move away and they tell us planes are coming! We all run back to the airport. At 1200 a plane lands! It is not our plane but they say ours is next. A few minutes later a second plane lands but it is not ours either. We are very bummed out to see all these people leave and we have to stay here longer. They say more planes are coming but we don’t know what to believe. We are not going to leave the airport until later because if a Yeti plane does make it, we do not want to miss it! A couple hours later and another plane can be heard! Its not ours. Finally, after so many ups and downs a Yeti Air lands! Freedom!! We are all cheering and laughing and hugging! We take off- its like a rollcoaster ride! We shoot off the runway and the mountains are right beside the plane. The ride is a bit turbulent and BJ almost blows chunks on the plane. The Nepali woman across from Steve prays the entire trip. We are soooo happy to leave Lukla. Namaste Bitches! We are back in the Kat!
Your crazy, your dirty, and we love you Kathmandu!
Getting back to Kat was great! People everywhere, horns honking, garbage in the streets, dogs running around- and we are happy! We return to the hotel we were in when we first arrived. We have decided to stay only one night and then move to the “Kathmandu Guest House” where the people we met in Lukla are staying. Our hotel is boring, no other people, no action, no fan, most of the lights are burnt out, and this time we encounter a super bad ant infestation. We return our rented gear (down jackets, boots, water bottles) and jump back in the action in Kat. There is an energy in this city that I can’t put my finger on, but its here! People are friendly, we feel safe, and we meet travelers- all with an interesting story! Us stranded passengers now friends, meet at the Everest Steak House for some steaks- delicious! Everyone is showered and people are surprised by how Steve looks without the mountain man beard. The day after our return, Horka took us to some sights around the city. We went to the “Monkey Temple” which isn’t about monkeys, they just live there and its easier for tourists to say Monkey temple as opposed to its real name. And, I think the idea of monkey’s draw tourists who have to pay 100rps to enter. The monkey’s are lil’ creepers. They will take food right out of your hands! They are not shy. To reach the temple we climb stairs up up up! Its hot and we are soaking in sweat. Beggars line the steps. The temple is ok, but the view of the Kat is great! Worth the hike!.We walk through the temple park and get to a busy road. Horka gets us on a public bus- which is like a VW van type thing. The driver’s side kick is yelling “Botha!! Botha!!” And soon the bus is PACKED. I am sitting face backward beside an old old woman. She looks like the type to be photographed for the cover of National Geographic...very traditional and wrinkly and interesting. The van door stays open as we swerve through the streets and the sidekick yells for more passengers going to Botha. The old lady pats my leg and through body language she tells me she is getting off and that Steve (who is crammed into the far back with Horka) can come sit with me. I relay this to Steve and he just waves his hand and says no- its all good...she thinks thats funny and laughs, she climbs over me and several other people and off she goes. The public transit is a great way to see the people...but its soooo hot! The sweat is running down my legs. We finally make it to the largest stoopa in Kathmandu and get off the bus. Near this place, Horka and his friends own a shop that makes and sells Thuka (don’t know spelling) paintings. These are traditional buddhist art. We see the painters and students working on the Thuka’s. We sit down for a coke. Its airconditioned. I appreciate the art- the detail is absolutely amazing! Some of the paintings take four months to complete. Now, so far in our trip I think we have been open to other cultures and accepting and respectful..etc. But the sales guy is trying to sell me one- and they are really beautiful, but I really can’t see myself having a painting of a god I don’t believe in. Its the same when the Hindi holy men come up and try to “bless” me with red paint on the forehead- absolutely not! So, I finally see one that is of gold writing in a circular pattern on black paper. The writing is a meditation phrase/mantra that sounds like “oh ma neh pat me om” which we always hear being sung. Its also very pretty. So I decide it is a neutral piece and buy it. We go for lunch on a rooftop and people watch. After our late lunch we walk around until monsoon rain comes. It was a nice day to spend with Horka. We spent time with the brits, american, and they introduced us to some guys from Bangledash- we toured more of Kathmandu and went to well known places like the Yak & Yeti to gamble and to Rum Doodle and Fire & Ice to eat. We had a whoot! I would try to tell some of the stories, but they just wouldn’t soung funny...had to be there!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Trek! Days 1-14
Day One- Nose Dive Landing.
Wake up at 0430 after sleeping only 2 hours- we are too excited to sleep! Mr. Horka (our guide) and Kristi (from trek company) greet us and we all drive to the airport. Domestic side is different from international. There is a pile of dog poo on the floor! People are bringing supplies and goods to be flown to Lukla- we see bags of rice, doors, plywood, chicken soup, and a wood stove. We board an 18 passenger ‘twin otter’- it appears to have made many trips to Lukla. The stewardess points us to seats and hands out cotton balls to plug our ears and candy to suck on- the cabin is not pressurized- daylight comes through the door seams after its closed. I’m a little anxious. The combination of a small plane from a third world nation flying into the highest mountain range on earth scares me. We take off. Fly through clouds for a few minutes adn then emerge above them- but we are not alone- to the left is the Himalaya! The peaks sore above the clouds- the peaks are higher than the otter! The flight lasts 30 mins and by the time we approach Lukla we are surrounded by mountains- in fact, we are flying directly towards one...I feel the plane slow and we suddenly dip, I see the mountain side out the pilots window. We dip again and I have Steve’s arm in a death grip- I see the mountain base. We dip steeply and I see the ground but no runway. I’m freakin out and weird noises of fear escape me. I think we are nose diving to the ground but then I see runway! The pilot swoops the plane up at the last moment and we bounce along the pavement. The plane comes to a stop in less than thirty seconds! We exit and see that the runway is very short and goes uphill. At the far end is the mountain and the other end is a drop off. The airport is on the mountain ledge.
We have breakfast at a tea house- porridge for me and eggs for Steve. Horka arranges a porter to carry our pack. Our pack weighs 22kg and I feel guilty that someone else will be carrying it for 3 weeks. However, its not long before my guilt subsides. Not only is day one being done on little sleep, the terrain is constantly up and down. The trail is rocky and a little slick from the rain. We learn that porters carry up to 120kgs! An average load is 40-50kg. Our bag is a simple load. Our porter catches up to us as we break for lunch at a tea house a few hours in. He is maybe 4’5’’ and looks like a Himalayan hard man. He seems to be grateful to be hired in the off season because he thanks us heartily for the job. He jimmies up the pack to his forehead strap and burns up the trail- he is wearing flipflops. We pass through several villages. No roads, just paths, farm animals are roaming and locals are working. We both feel like trespassers in some far off land. I want to tip toe and apologize for being there...people just smile and go about their business. Children pause to give us a folded hand ‘namaste’ then run off.
Two hours later we arrive to Manjo at 2835m (9300ft) and stop for the night. Our feet are sore from the rental boots- happy to be resting.
Day 2- By Steve
Slept good but kept waking up, some sort of rodent running around our room
BJ said it was in the walls, but don’t believe her
Took 3 hours to get to Namche Bazar
Heart rates both at 72 resting
Saw REALLY small kids, maybe 3 years old but less than 2 feet tall, we call them buddah babies.
Sherpa granny passed us on trail- at least 70 years old/4 ft tall/ no teeth/ wearing flipflops
took showers but were too hot, no cold water, staying at “everest hotel”
New discovery: RaRa noodles = Ichiban noodles! This is good :)
Clear morning but rained a little at noon
Saw injured woman riding in a porter basket- on way to hospital in Lukla
Today is July 12th, 2009 AD. In Nepal it is July 12th, 2066 BS. I think BS stands for “Before Sherpa” but I don’t know for sure
No headaches, no AMS symptoms
Day 3: By Steve
Woke up to clear skies
Hiked to lookout ridge above Namche, 400m elevation gain for acclimatization, took 2.5 hours.
BJ has big blisters all over her feet. She is a trooper.
Saw part of Everest!
Today is the best day because BJ turns 84 in Nepali years! She is older than me and I feel young :)
Bad news: BJ has head cold. She shows no signs of AMS but has little energy. I will keep a close eye on her. I love her way more than any of these mountains.
Mailed post card to mom and dad. Little hope it will make it. Don’t have address book so couldn’t mail anymore.
Day 4: “Showers Ready!”
I feel better than yesterday. I can’t think of a worse place to have a head cold. Its hard to breathe when I lay down and my throat is swollen and sore. We loaded up on drugs in from the shops in Namche. You can buy all sorts of drugs here! We decided to push on and leave Namche Bazar. Clear skies and we see all of everest- so exciting!!!
Trek in view of Everest and Lhotse for an hour and then turn up a valley. Going up to 3979m today then back down to 3500m. Get to 3979 and stop for lunch. I have zero appetite and have to force myself to eat the RaRa. I feel like I’ve just had turkey dinner and have to eat another turkey dinner. Takes a long time to eat. Steve has no problem- he pounds back a mountain of dal baht. I just stare at him in disbelief. We see kids at the teahouse and they wrestle and fight, some things are universal! We see yaks on the trail. They look like small cows with big horns who are covered in wooly fur!
Sunburnt faces/necks/arms. Temperature in the mid 20’s. Despite duct taping my blisters most of them are worse. Its very painful. I will wear my own shoes tomorrow.
We arrive to Phortse Tanga. I’m not feeling well. My lunch time RaRa is sitting in my stomach like a rock and the blisters are really raw. Steve is playing cards with H & M and the tea shop worker. I stink and decide a shower will do me good. Steve runs to the room and says “shower is ready!” So I go. I get in and turn on the water. Its very cold. I wash my feet with the cold water. Its not getting warm. I decide to wash my hair while the water warms up...I get it shampooed and partially rinsed then suddenly there is no water at all. AH!!! I fiddle with the tap. Nothing. I have to dry my legs and feet and get redressed. I go to the sink and finish rinsing the shampoo out. I am freezing cold. I go back to the room and use baby wipes to finish my ‘shower’. I can hear Steve and the others laughing and having a good time, I am miserable. Steve comes bouncing into the room and asks “how was your shower?!” We find out later that they have add a bucket of hot water to the water supply on the roof when someone wants to shower. That didn’t happen for me. Everyone has a good laugh at my expense, I hold Steve fully responsible :) I feel like crap all evening. No appetite.
Day 5: Blisters
-I wake up feeling better and am even hungry!
I eat some Yak milk rice pudding with raisins for breaky- mom’s is WAY better
- I wear my own shoes.
-I make little padded band aides using tissue, antibacterial gel, and duct tape for the really open blisters
Hit the trail- clear skies with cloudy patches
Yak had diarrhea all over trail for at least a kilometer
Monsoon rain makes trail muddy but at least it only rains in evenings/night
Many waterfalls along trail today
Climb 500m over 2 hours. Both feeling well
Elevation at Dole 4084m
Hungry at elevation!
Wash stinky clothes in river.
Eat lunch of RaRa noodles and MoMo’s (no meat here)
Food sits in stomach like rock. Again.
Play cards/play chess/read.
Hope my feet heal
Day 6: By Steve
-Trek to Macherimo @ 4410m
-Both feel good with no AMS symptoms
Had great view of Cho Oyo!
Above tree line now. Sun is HOT, wind is COLD
This tea house is empty. It is very nice though.
Tried on Pack “sherpa style” today. It was ok but could not walk very long like that.
02 level at 57% (relative to sea level)
Played cards and taught H&M new gambling game. They love it. They teach us Nepali card games. Mohan’s english is fast and random. Its funny.
BJ’s feet are a little better, but blister splits open when in squatter shitter position.
Extra Large fly in BJ’s potatoes.
Day 7: Missing Home
-Slept off and on. Made 2am dash to squatter in my undies. I like being the only one here!
Been bona-fide vegetarians for several days now. No meat here in the low season. Even fruit (canned or fresh) seems to be non-existent.
Food mainly consists of starches- Potatoes, rice, pasta. Veggies include onion/garlic/ and something similar to bok choy but they call it cabbage and it tastes like sand.
Steve got a little bit of cauliflower in his dal baht today
We eat yak milk (technically nak milk b/c a yak is a boy!) and yak cheese.
Hike today was nice. Made it to Gokyo in 3 hours
Glacier lakes and frikkin awesome mountain views.
Wind is cold and the sun still burns.
Walked by a rustic yak farm
A horse walked up the trail to us today. I put out my hand and he came up to me for a scratch.
Blisters are on the mend but I may have to wear torture boots for climb tomorrow.
Missing luxuries of home and thinking of home alot
I miss my shower gel and puff ball. Miss running water and power.
Our tea house guy just loaded up the wood stove with dried yak shit.
Miss all things bad! Ice cream, pizza and TV.
Miss breathing normal. Any exertion here makes you short of breath and dizzy.
Day 8: Gokyo Ri
Go to bed early and sleep horribly. Constantly tossing and turning, hot and cold
Wake up at 0430 to climb Gokyo Ri
Eat chapati and tea before leaving at 0500
I can’t bear to put on those boots- I wear my own shoes.
Cold out! A few clouds in sky
Hard to breathe as we switchback up the mountain
Moment of weakness an hour in. “Thats it!!! Steve, we are going home and Making babies!!! No more of this Shit!!” Steve laughs and gives me water as we rest.
Keep climbing up up up!
See strange bird family. They fly like kamikaze style but soar like eagles.
Can’t breathe well as sinus cold has gone to the chest...coughing sputum
We summit in 2 hours and have wicked clear view of Everest/Lhotse/Makalu
Took many photos @ 17590ft!!!
No wind but clouds move quickly around other mountain peaks
Its Amazing and this is the highest we have ever been!
Its OUR top of the world!
Spend 45 mins at summit
Eat chocolate and nuts.
Takes 1 hour 20 mins to de-summit
We are proud of our climb. We eat RaRa and go back to bed
Both wake up with massive headaches
My head pulses with every heart beat. My eyeballs bulge out of the socket with each heartbeat. I pop Ibuprofen. Crawl back into bed.
Later I find Steve in the dining hall chatting with an Irish girl. Her name is Tracey. We play cards and chat.
Finally eat dinner and sleep.
Day 9: Down we go
-Coughing through night keeps me awake
Leave Gokyo and make way back to Phortse Tanga. It takes 7 hours.
Sadly lost 800m in elevation.
Should feel like super woman with all these extra red blood cells but I don’t- I’m dead tired and have chills.
Steve is having a problem with his right leg. He thinks its nerve related not muscular. We suspect it could be due to his ambitious attempt at wearing the pack ‘sherpa style’
I barely eat dinner, appetite is low and the chemical flavor of the packaged spaghetti sauce is highly unappealling.
Play cards and read, in bed at 2000hrs.
Day 10: A rough day
Steve’s Account:
Left Phortse Tanga for Pangboche. BJ has hit her lowest mental level yet. She got REALLY p.o’d at all the ups and downs on the trail today. She even threw her hiking stick on the trail (it almost went off the side of the mountain...) I didn’t say anything because I was afraid. I was praying that her ipod would not run out of juice, I’m sure that it would have been the cake topper. She got a hold of herself and we continued. Made it to Pangboche in about 3 hours. We washed some clothes and our hair in the river and tried to eat some lunch. BJ had potato salad and soup. I had “potato’s with on top two eggs”. We played cards and chilled until dinner. I had dal baht and she had some fried rice. We watched some of a Nepali movie then BJ felt like she was going to puke. In ten minutes she was behind the building blowing chunks by light of her headlamp. I stood by her and comforted her. After she was done I put her to bed. We think it was the rice. She had a very rough day. She slept like a log. In the morning we checked to see the puke, the stray dogs ate it.
BJ’s Account:
Another night of coughing. We ate RaRa for breaky and hit the trail. Climbed three of the four hundred meters in 30 mins! WOW! We must be uber loaded with red blood cells! We stop for tea at Phortse. We keep going- more elevation- then more, and more- WTF? Every time we cross a ridge on the mountain side we see more trail with more elevation to be gained. Knowing we only have a 400m gain for our next stop and we have already gained 300m means we were working really hard and will inevitably descend. ARGH. Thats It!!! We’ve been ascending and descending for ten days!! I have a death grip on my hiking pole and begin stabbing it into the trail. The anger is brewing- I think H&M sense it and are keeping some distance behind us. I’m so mad. I turn on my ipod and try to get in a groove- I try to find my happy place. So frustrated! I’m crying but no tears come. I throw my pole at the mountainside and it nearly goes off the edge of the cliff. I decide I’m just being ridiculous and try so hard to cheer up but not even the views can pacify me. Steve says “its a mountain in the himalaya- its going to be hilly.” I’m just tired of it all. We see some mountain goats which are much different than the ones at home. I am happy to see some wildlife. We make it to Pangboche. I have pen tip sized water blisters all over my right arm from the sun. It feels like reptile skin. Steve’s head is peeling from his sunburn and the new skin is burning- its very painful for him. We wash in the river. Tracey makes it to our hut. Nice company. There are the cutest stray dogs here- they look like little bears. The locals are mean and kick them, toss water at them, and fire rocks at them. There is a sherpa here who has summited Everest four times. We play cards. I attempt to eat dinner but am unable to finish my fried rice- something is wrong. I am barfing my face off behind the hut in no time. Can’t think of a worse place to be barfing. Steve preps my bed and gets me gravol- he’s been a good nurse for me. I sleep all night- only get up once to use squatter. Feel better in morning. I eat a pancake and Steve eats RaRa. Horka agrees we are ok to go on.
Day 11: We find Bread!
Leave Pangboche and walk 3 hours to Periche. The walk is gentler than yesterday and the little black bear dog has followed us. Steve lets me pretend the black dog is ours and refrains from kicking it :) We pass memorials to those lost on surrounding mountains. We see a yak farmer and no one else (except for Tracey and her guide). We stay at the nicest tea house yet- its very clean and warm. We even have our own flushable toilet! We wash clothes in the river- I am really tired of stinking. I think the diet makes us stink worse- all the onions and garlic added to everything. While at the river a massive brown yak creeps up to less than ten feet behind us. He is walking away by the time I get a photo. Horka has some exciting news for us- the tea house has bread!! Its the first place that has bread! They also have tuna! Steve orders a grilled tuna and I get a grilled veg sandwich! Its made of onion, garlic, cabbage, AND carrot! Its delicious! The bread is light and fluffy! Later this night we even eat a can of fruit salad! I am finally feeling better (other than the loose cough) and we celebrate with some chocolate.
Day 12: Up up and Away
I slept so well I could barely pull myself out of bed @ 0700. The usual routine- porridge for me and RaRa for Stevie. On the trail by 0830- followed for some time by three stray dogs. I feel good, can breathe clear and the cough is loosening up. We have to take the long path to Thukla d/t the bridge being washed out on the shorter route- it adds an hour and a half to the hike. An hour or so in we spot Tracy's guide but no Tracy. The guide talks to H&M in Nepali. Steve asks ‘where is Tracy?’ he replies with “she wants to go back down” and quickly walks away. Hmmm...we see no sign of Tracy and I’m worried. We ask Horka what was said. The guide told him that she is mad that they walked too far yesterday and she wants to go back. We keep walking and it is sometime before we finally see Tracy- I am relieved to see her. As we approach each other on the trail we see she is upset and crying. Turns out her guide was a total creeper and thought they should share a room together for each others safety. She refused and he became angry and called her a stupid woman and then refused to talk to her. Freaky!! She was heading back to Kathmandu and he was no longer her guide. I was pretty shocked though that he would not arrange for someone to walk with her! We suggested she head to the lodge we were just at b/c it was nice and comfortable. There was a woman there waiting for her family and Tracy had met her before...perhaps they could trek down together.
Later we saw a sick woman coming down the mountain on a horse. Then at Thukla we met another woman with a fairly bad case of AMS on her way to lower elevation. AMS is scary and serious! Go slow! Thats the rule! After a RaRa lunch and macoroni for Steve, we start climbing and gaining big elevation. We hike up a steep rocky valley. While Steve and I are breathing hard and breaking, H&M chat and sing! I love when they sing. The wind is howling and cold on our backs but then it will suddenly stop and the sun bakes us. We get to the valley top and are met with a sombre site. There is a memorial site for climbers and sherpas lost on Everest. There are prayer flags on the stoopa’s and the clouds are blowing between them. Spooky and sad.
We arrive at Labouche at 1400hrs. Its the most expensive place yet! A cup of tea is 55rps compared to 30 when we started out. RaRa us 260rps- we paid 120rps at lunch! No other trekkers are at the tea house- only locals. The clouds have blown in and obscured everything so we play cards/chat/read. We eat a traditional yak meat snack. They don’t have fridges or freezers here...so they dry the yak meat. Then they cook it with spices. We have not yet had yak meat because its not the on season. I find it much much too spicey- it burns. And its like chewing on leather. The locals wash it down with a homebrew called Chang. It looks like milkshake but it is made from fermenting rice. We try that. Its horrible shit. Tastes like rotten yeasty loaf of bread with more rotten flavor added and a hint of alcohol. Its getting dark, they start playing with the power to get some lights on. A tiny old man stands on the plastic lawnchairs and rubs the florescent light tubes...apparently massaging the lights makes them come on...
One week left! Tomorrow we hike to Gorak Shep and then to EBC after lunch!
Day 13: EBC
- I have a PB&J pancake for breakfast, the PB is so dry it crumbles out of the jar! Tasted ok though, Steve ate RaRa.
- Leave Labouche at 0830. I felt like I couldn’t get going today despite a good sleep. My legs were like jelly. Still, we made good time to Gorak Shep- just two hours and 15 mins!
Steve still has pain in his right leg.
Clear blue skies in the morning. Sun burns us and my water blisters reappear all over my arm
Passed more memorials today
Hiked along the Khumbu glacier and up steep moraine
considered hiking kala pathar today but the clouds came in
Went to base camp instead! YAY!
Was great to be “where it all begins” but there wasn’t anything there! No prayer flags, no stoopa’s, couldn’t see any litter. Just glacier rock.
We couldn’t walk to the Khumbu ice fall because the glacier we were on was melting and shifting, across from us was Nuptse- who is making noise! Rockslides and avalanches are constant!
Horka broke a peice of glacier off for us. Steve ate it and it was full of sand.
I like the glacier dust here, its sparkly and makes my pants sparkle
Very tired now and cold. We are huddled in the tea house wearing down jackets, wrapped in blankets, and playing cards.
Its raining out
Kala Patar in the am.
Day 14: Kala Patar
What a day! Long day! Woke up at 0430 to climb Kala Patar. My lips were sore when I woke- felt like there were 2 cracks down the sides of my bottom lip. It was painful to form some words. I tell Steve something is wrong with my mouth. I get my headlamp and find a mirror- my lips are swollen up like sausages! Your kidding! I turn on the light to show Steve- he learns in to get a closer look and starts laughing- “you look like buba!” The sun from yesterdays climb must have burnt my lips! I brush my teeth but can’t spit. I take ibuprofen. We go to eat at 0500 and I spill my hot chocolate and oatmeal. The swelling seems to be going down by the time we are on the trail- but I can’t smile because it feels like the lips will split. I know what I will look like with collagen implants.
Turns out the peak visible from Gorak Shep is not the true summit of Kala Patar. It takes an hour and 45 mins to summit. KP isn’t as steep as Gokyo Ri and I make it without any moments of weakness ;) We find tonnes of prayer flags on the summit and they are something of a hazard! They get tangled up in your shoes easy and with a shear drop to the left of the summit it makes us extra cautious. The views were absolutely incredible! Clear skies and we are directly across from Everest. We can see the south col, and hillary step. We are directly below Pumor Ri. We take photos for nearly an hour at 18210ft (5550m). The O2 level is below 50%. Takes an hour to descend and we decide to have some RaRa and then hike to lower elevation today. A man enters the tea house and following him is Tracy! Wow! I was surprised and super happy to see her. She took some time at Periche and decided to push on. I’m so happy she gets to finish her trek and she is heading up KP for the clear views of the morning.
We leave Gorak Shep and set our sites to Thukla. Its a long climb down but we keep a steady pace. We finally get to Thukla- a little tired and a lot hungry. Mohan has a headache so we agree we should have a rest and food at Thukla and then keep going lower. Steve and I both order macoroni with tomato sauce. The food comes and we dig in- the sauce is separate from the noodles and this is how we notice something weird. The noodles look like they been boiled in dirty water. Steve finds a small oval brown piece inside a noodle. Then I spot one in mine. Hmm...Steve says “it must be a spice” and I said “yeah right, its a mouse shit.” Steve disagrees but I know what a mouse shit looks like and we dig out 8 more mouse shit containing noodles. Appetite lost. Steve says to the tea house worker who has black toe nails “What the hell is this? Mouse shit??!” The guy stares at it, picks at it, and can’t answer. We all decide its mouse poo. Barf! There are no health inspectors out here...the worker didn’t even apologize. I am so happy we are continuing down...
We hike on. Steve and I chat about home and what we want to do when we have a home. I want to learn to can food- make some pickles and salsa. A few hours later and we get to the tea house we were aiming for. It was closed! We hike on. We get to the next village- all is closed! We hike on. In the end we hike all the way to Pangboche. We are so tired and stiff- overall we hiked over 12 km and lost over 1.2 km in elevation. A 12 hour day of exertion. My lips are still puffy, anything salty burns like acid on them, but they are getting better. We will sleep in.
Wake up at 0430 after sleeping only 2 hours- we are too excited to sleep! Mr. Horka (our guide) and Kristi (from trek company) greet us and we all drive to the airport. Domestic side is different from international. There is a pile of dog poo on the floor! People are bringing supplies and goods to be flown to Lukla- we see bags of rice, doors, plywood, chicken soup, and a wood stove. We board an 18 passenger ‘twin otter’- it appears to have made many trips to Lukla. The stewardess points us to seats and hands out cotton balls to plug our ears and candy to suck on- the cabin is not pressurized- daylight comes through the door seams after its closed. I’m a little anxious. The combination of a small plane from a third world nation flying into the highest mountain range on earth scares me. We take off. Fly through clouds for a few minutes adn then emerge above them- but we are not alone- to the left is the Himalaya! The peaks sore above the clouds- the peaks are higher than the otter! The flight lasts 30 mins and by the time we approach Lukla we are surrounded by mountains- in fact, we are flying directly towards one...I feel the plane slow and we suddenly dip, I see the mountain side out the pilots window. We dip again and I have Steve’s arm in a death grip- I see the mountain base. We dip steeply and I see the ground but no runway. I’m freakin out and weird noises of fear escape me. I think we are nose diving to the ground but then I see runway! The pilot swoops the plane up at the last moment and we bounce along the pavement. The plane comes to a stop in less than thirty seconds! We exit and see that the runway is very short and goes uphill. At the far end is the mountain and the other end is a drop off. The airport is on the mountain ledge.
We have breakfast at a tea house- porridge for me and eggs for Steve. Horka arranges a porter to carry our pack. Our pack weighs 22kg and I feel guilty that someone else will be carrying it for 3 weeks. However, its not long before my guilt subsides. Not only is day one being done on little sleep, the terrain is constantly up and down. The trail is rocky and a little slick from the rain. We learn that porters carry up to 120kgs! An average load is 40-50kg. Our bag is a simple load. Our porter catches up to us as we break for lunch at a tea house a few hours in. He is maybe 4’5’’ and looks like a Himalayan hard man. He seems to be grateful to be hired in the off season because he thanks us heartily for the job. He jimmies up the pack to his forehead strap and burns up the trail- he is wearing flipflops. We pass through several villages. No roads, just paths, farm animals are roaming and locals are working. We both feel like trespassers in some far off land. I want to tip toe and apologize for being there...people just smile and go about their business. Children pause to give us a folded hand ‘namaste’ then run off.
Two hours later we arrive to Manjo at 2835m (9300ft) and stop for the night. Our feet are sore from the rental boots- happy to be resting.
Day 2- By Steve
Slept good but kept waking up, some sort of rodent running around our room
BJ said it was in the walls, but don’t believe her
Took 3 hours to get to Namche Bazar
Heart rates both at 72 resting
Saw REALLY small kids, maybe 3 years old but less than 2 feet tall, we call them buddah babies.
Sherpa granny passed us on trail- at least 70 years old/4 ft tall/ no teeth/ wearing flipflops
took showers but were too hot, no cold water, staying at “everest hotel”
New discovery: RaRa noodles = Ichiban noodles! This is good :)
Clear morning but rained a little at noon
Saw injured woman riding in a porter basket- on way to hospital in Lukla
Today is July 12th, 2009 AD. In Nepal it is July 12th, 2066 BS. I think BS stands for “Before Sherpa” but I don’t know for sure
No headaches, no AMS symptoms
Day 3: By Steve
Woke up to clear skies
Hiked to lookout ridge above Namche, 400m elevation gain for acclimatization, took 2.5 hours.
BJ has big blisters all over her feet. She is a trooper.
Saw part of Everest!
Today is the best day because BJ turns 84 in Nepali years! She is older than me and I feel young :)
Bad news: BJ has head cold. She shows no signs of AMS but has little energy. I will keep a close eye on her. I love her way more than any of these mountains.
Mailed post card to mom and dad. Little hope it will make it. Don’t have address book so couldn’t mail anymore.
Day 4: “Showers Ready!”
I feel better than yesterday. I can’t think of a worse place to have a head cold. Its hard to breathe when I lay down and my throat is swollen and sore. We loaded up on drugs in from the shops in Namche. You can buy all sorts of drugs here! We decided to push on and leave Namche Bazar. Clear skies and we see all of everest- so exciting!!!
Trek in view of Everest and Lhotse for an hour and then turn up a valley. Going up to 3979m today then back down to 3500m. Get to 3979 and stop for lunch. I have zero appetite and have to force myself to eat the RaRa. I feel like I’ve just had turkey dinner and have to eat another turkey dinner. Takes a long time to eat. Steve has no problem- he pounds back a mountain of dal baht. I just stare at him in disbelief. We see kids at the teahouse and they wrestle and fight, some things are universal! We see yaks on the trail. They look like small cows with big horns who are covered in wooly fur!
Sunburnt faces/necks/arms. Temperature in the mid 20’s. Despite duct taping my blisters most of them are worse. Its very painful. I will wear my own shoes tomorrow.
We arrive to Phortse Tanga. I’m not feeling well. My lunch time RaRa is sitting in my stomach like a rock and the blisters are really raw. Steve is playing cards with H & M and the tea shop worker. I stink and decide a shower will do me good. Steve runs to the room and says “shower is ready!” So I go. I get in and turn on the water. Its very cold. I wash my feet with the cold water. Its not getting warm. I decide to wash my hair while the water warms up...I get it shampooed and partially rinsed then suddenly there is no water at all. AH!!! I fiddle with the tap. Nothing. I have to dry my legs and feet and get redressed. I go to the sink and finish rinsing the shampoo out. I am freezing cold. I go back to the room and use baby wipes to finish my ‘shower’. I can hear Steve and the others laughing and having a good time, I am miserable. Steve comes bouncing into the room and asks “how was your shower?!” We find out later that they have add a bucket of hot water to the water supply on the roof when someone wants to shower. That didn’t happen for me. Everyone has a good laugh at my expense, I hold Steve fully responsible :) I feel like crap all evening. No appetite.
Day 5: Blisters
-I wake up feeling better and am even hungry!
I eat some Yak milk rice pudding with raisins for breaky- mom’s is WAY better
- I wear my own shoes.
-I make little padded band aides using tissue, antibacterial gel, and duct tape for the really open blisters
Hit the trail- clear skies with cloudy patches
Yak had diarrhea all over trail for at least a kilometer
Monsoon rain makes trail muddy but at least it only rains in evenings/night
Many waterfalls along trail today
Climb 500m over 2 hours. Both feeling well
Elevation at Dole 4084m
Hungry at elevation!
Wash stinky clothes in river.
Eat lunch of RaRa noodles and MoMo’s (no meat here)
Food sits in stomach like rock. Again.
Play cards/play chess/read.
Hope my feet heal
Day 6: By Steve
-Trek to Macherimo @ 4410m
-Both feel good with no AMS symptoms
Had great view of Cho Oyo!
Above tree line now. Sun is HOT, wind is COLD
This tea house is empty. It is very nice though.
Tried on Pack “sherpa style” today. It was ok but could not walk very long like that.
02 level at 57% (relative to sea level)
Played cards and taught H&M new gambling game. They love it. They teach us Nepali card games. Mohan’s english is fast and random. Its funny.
BJ’s feet are a little better, but blister splits open when in squatter shitter position.
Extra Large fly in BJ’s potatoes.
Day 7: Missing Home
-Slept off and on. Made 2am dash to squatter in my undies. I like being the only one here!
Been bona-fide vegetarians for several days now. No meat here in the low season. Even fruit (canned or fresh) seems to be non-existent.
Food mainly consists of starches- Potatoes, rice, pasta. Veggies include onion/garlic/ and something similar to bok choy but they call it cabbage and it tastes like sand.
Steve got a little bit of cauliflower in his dal baht today
We eat yak milk (technically nak milk b/c a yak is a boy!) and yak cheese.
Hike today was nice. Made it to Gokyo in 3 hours
Glacier lakes and frikkin awesome mountain views.
Wind is cold and the sun still burns.
Walked by a rustic yak farm
A horse walked up the trail to us today. I put out my hand and he came up to me for a scratch.
Blisters are on the mend but I may have to wear torture boots for climb tomorrow.
Missing luxuries of home and thinking of home alot
I miss my shower gel and puff ball. Miss running water and power.
Our tea house guy just loaded up the wood stove with dried yak shit.
Miss all things bad! Ice cream, pizza and TV.
Miss breathing normal. Any exertion here makes you short of breath and dizzy.
Day 8: Gokyo Ri
Go to bed early and sleep horribly. Constantly tossing and turning, hot and cold
Wake up at 0430 to climb Gokyo Ri
Eat chapati and tea before leaving at 0500
I can’t bear to put on those boots- I wear my own shoes.
Cold out! A few clouds in sky
Hard to breathe as we switchback up the mountain
Moment of weakness an hour in. “Thats it!!! Steve, we are going home and Making babies!!! No more of this Shit!!” Steve laughs and gives me water as we rest.
Keep climbing up up up!
See strange bird family. They fly like kamikaze style but soar like eagles.
Can’t breathe well as sinus cold has gone to the chest...coughing sputum
We summit in 2 hours and have wicked clear view of Everest/Lhotse/Makalu
Took many photos @ 17590ft!!!
No wind but clouds move quickly around other mountain peaks
Its Amazing and this is the highest we have ever been!
Its OUR top of the world!
Spend 45 mins at summit
Eat chocolate and nuts.
Takes 1 hour 20 mins to de-summit
We are proud of our climb. We eat RaRa and go back to bed
Both wake up with massive headaches
My head pulses with every heart beat. My eyeballs bulge out of the socket with each heartbeat. I pop Ibuprofen. Crawl back into bed.
Later I find Steve in the dining hall chatting with an Irish girl. Her name is Tracey. We play cards and chat.
Finally eat dinner and sleep.
Day 9: Down we go
-Coughing through night keeps me awake
Leave Gokyo and make way back to Phortse Tanga. It takes 7 hours.
Sadly lost 800m in elevation.
Should feel like super woman with all these extra red blood cells but I don’t- I’m dead tired and have chills.
Steve is having a problem with his right leg. He thinks its nerve related not muscular. We suspect it could be due to his ambitious attempt at wearing the pack ‘sherpa style’
I barely eat dinner, appetite is low and the chemical flavor of the packaged spaghetti sauce is highly unappealling.
Play cards and read, in bed at 2000hrs.
Day 10: A rough day
Steve’s Account:
Left Phortse Tanga for Pangboche. BJ has hit her lowest mental level yet. She got REALLY p.o’d at all the ups and downs on the trail today. She even threw her hiking stick on the trail (it almost went off the side of the mountain...) I didn’t say anything because I was afraid. I was praying that her ipod would not run out of juice, I’m sure that it would have been the cake topper. She got a hold of herself and we continued. Made it to Pangboche in about 3 hours. We washed some clothes and our hair in the river and tried to eat some lunch. BJ had potato salad and soup. I had “potato’s with on top two eggs”. We played cards and chilled until dinner. I had dal baht and she had some fried rice. We watched some of a Nepali movie then BJ felt like she was going to puke. In ten minutes she was behind the building blowing chunks by light of her headlamp. I stood by her and comforted her. After she was done I put her to bed. We think it was the rice. She had a very rough day. She slept like a log. In the morning we checked to see the puke, the stray dogs ate it.
BJ’s Account:
Another night of coughing. We ate RaRa for breaky and hit the trail. Climbed three of the four hundred meters in 30 mins! WOW! We must be uber loaded with red blood cells! We stop for tea at Phortse. We keep going- more elevation- then more, and more- WTF? Every time we cross a ridge on the mountain side we see more trail with more elevation to be gained. Knowing we only have a 400m gain for our next stop and we have already gained 300m means we were working really hard and will inevitably descend. ARGH. Thats It!!! We’ve been ascending and descending for ten days!! I have a death grip on my hiking pole and begin stabbing it into the trail. The anger is brewing- I think H&M sense it and are keeping some distance behind us. I’m so mad. I turn on my ipod and try to get in a groove- I try to find my happy place. So frustrated! I’m crying but no tears come. I throw my pole at the mountainside and it nearly goes off the edge of the cliff. I decide I’m just being ridiculous and try so hard to cheer up but not even the views can pacify me. Steve says “its a mountain in the himalaya- its going to be hilly.” I’m just tired of it all. We see some mountain goats which are much different than the ones at home. I am happy to see some wildlife. We make it to Pangboche. I have pen tip sized water blisters all over my right arm from the sun. It feels like reptile skin. Steve’s head is peeling from his sunburn and the new skin is burning- its very painful for him. We wash in the river. Tracey makes it to our hut. Nice company. There are the cutest stray dogs here- they look like little bears. The locals are mean and kick them, toss water at them, and fire rocks at them. There is a sherpa here who has summited Everest four times. We play cards. I attempt to eat dinner but am unable to finish my fried rice- something is wrong. I am barfing my face off behind the hut in no time. Can’t think of a worse place to be barfing. Steve preps my bed and gets me gravol- he’s been a good nurse for me. I sleep all night- only get up once to use squatter. Feel better in morning. I eat a pancake and Steve eats RaRa. Horka agrees we are ok to go on.
Day 11: We find Bread!
Leave Pangboche and walk 3 hours to Periche. The walk is gentler than yesterday and the little black bear dog has followed us. Steve lets me pretend the black dog is ours and refrains from kicking it :) We pass memorials to those lost on surrounding mountains. We see a yak farmer and no one else (except for Tracey and her guide). We stay at the nicest tea house yet- its very clean and warm. We even have our own flushable toilet! We wash clothes in the river- I am really tired of stinking. I think the diet makes us stink worse- all the onions and garlic added to everything. While at the river a massive brown yak creeps up to less than ten feet behind us. He is walking away by the time I get a photo. Horka has some exciting news for us- the tea house has bread!! Its the first place that has bread! They also have tuna! Steve orders a grilled tuna and I get a grilled veg sandwich! Its made of onion, garlic, cabbage, AND carrot! Its delicious! The bread is light and fluffy! Later this night we even eat a can of fruit salad! I am finally feeling better (other than the loose cough) and we celebrate with some chocolate.
Day 12: Up up and Away
I slept so well I could barely pull myself out of bed @ 0700. The usual routine- porridge for me and RaRa for Stevie. On the trail by 0830- followed for some time by three stray dogs. I feel good, can breathe clear and the cough is loosening up. We have to take the long path to Thukla d/t the bridge being washed out on the shorter route- it adds an hour and a half to the hike. An hour or so in we spot Tracy's guide but no Tracy. The guide talks to H&M in Nepali. Steve asks ‘where is Tracy?’ he replies with “she wants to go back down” and quickly walks away. Hmmm...we see no sign of Tracy and I’m worried. We ask Horka what was said. The guide told him that she is mad that they walked too far yesterday and she wants to go back. We keep walking and it is sometime before we finally see Tracy- I am relieved to see her. As we approach each other on the trail we see she is upset and crying. Turns out her guide was a total creeper and thought they should share a room together for each others safety. She refused and he became angry and called her a stupid woman and then refused to talk to her. Freaky!! She was heading back to Kathmandu and he was no longer her guide. I was pretty shocked though that he would not arrange for someone to walk with her! We suggested she head to the lodge we were just at b/c it was nice and comfortable. There was a woman there waiting for her family and Tracy had met her before...perhaps they could trek down together.
Later we saw a sick woman coming down the mountain on a horse. Then at Thukla we met another woman with a fairly bad case of AMS on her way to lower elevation. AMS is scary and serious! Go slow! Thats the rule! After a RaRa lunch and macoroni for Steve, we start climbing and gaining big elevation. We hike up a steep rocky valley. While Steve and I are breathing hard and breaking, H&M chat and sing! I love when they sing. The wind is howling and cold on our backs but then it will suddenly stop and the sun bakes us. We get to the valley top and are met with a sombre site. There is a memorial site for climbers and sherpas lost on Everest. There are prayer flags on the stoopa’s and the clouds are blowing between them. Spooky and sad.
We arrive at Labouche at 1400hrs. Its the most expensive place yet! A cup of tea is 55rps compared to 30 when we started out. RaRa us 260rps- we paid 120rps at lunch! No other trekkers are at the tea house- only locals. The clouds have blown in and obscured everything so we play cards/chat/read. We eat a traditional yak meat snack. They don’t have fridges or freezers here...so they dry the yak meat. Then they cook it with spices. We have not yet had yak meat because its not the on season. I find it much much too spicey- it burns. And its like chewing on leather. The locals wash it down with a homebrew called Chang. It looks like milkshake but it is made from fermenting rice. We try that. Its horrible shit. Tastes like rotten yeasty loaf of bread with more rotten flavor added and a hint of alcohol. Its getting dark, they start playing with the power to get some lights on. A tiny old man stands on the plastic lawnchairs and rubs the florescent light tubes...apparently massaging the lights makes them come on...
One week left! Tomorrow we hike to Gorak Shep and then to EBC after lunch!
Day 13: EBC
- I have a PB&J pancake for breakfast, the PB is so dry it crumbles out of the jar! Tasted ok though, Steve ate RaRa.
- Leave Labouche at 0830. I felt like I couldn’t get going today despite a good sleep. My legs were like jelly. Still, we made good time to Gorak Shep- just two hours and 15 mins!
Steve still has pain in his right leg.
Clear blue skies in the morning. Sun burns us and my water blisters reappear all over my arm
Passed more memorials today
Hiked along the Khumbu glacier and up steep moraine
considered hiking kala pathar today but the clouds came in
Went to base camp instead! YAY!
Was great to be “where it all begins” but there wasn’t anything there! No prayer flags, no stoopa’s, couldn’t see any litter. Just glacier rock.
We couldn’t walk to the Khumbu ice fall because the glacier we were on was melting and shifting, across from us was Nuptse- who is making noise! Rockslides and avalanches are constant!
Horka broke a peice of glacier off for us. Steve ate it and it was full of sand.
I like the glacier dust here, its sparkly and makes my pants sparkle
Very tired now and cold. We are huddled in the tea house wearing down jackets, wrapped in blankets, and playing cards.
Its raining out
Kala Patar in the am.
Day 14: Kala Patar
What a day! Long day! Woke up at 0430 to climb Kala Patar. My lips were sore when I woke- felt like there were 2 cracks down the sides of my bottom lip. It was painful to form some words. I tell Steve something is wrong with my mouth. I get my headlamp and find a mirror- my lips are swollen up like sausages! Your kidding! I turn on the light to show Steve- he learns in to get a closer look and starts laughing- “you look like buba!” The sun from yesterdays climb must have burnt my lips! I brush my teeth but can’t spit. I take ibuprofen. We go to eat at 0500 and I spill my hot chocolate and oatmeal. The swelling seems to be going down by the time we are on the trail- but I can’t smile because it feels like the lips will split. I know what I will look like with collagen implants.
Turns out the peak visible from Gorak Shep is not the true summit of Kala Patar. It takes an hour and 45 mins to summit. KP isn’t as steep as Gokyo Ri and I make it without any moments of weakness ;) We find tonnes of prayer flags on the summit and they are something of a hazard! They get tangled up in your shoes easy and with a shear drop to the left of the summit it makes us extra cautious. The views were absolutely incredible! Clear skies and we are directly across from Everest. We can see the south col, and hillary step. We are directly below Pumor Ri. We take photos for nearly an hour at 18210ft (5550m). The O2 level is below 50%. Takes an hour to descend and we decide to have some RaRa and then hike to lower elevation today. A man enters the tea house and following him is Tracy! Wow! I was surprised and super happy to see her. She took some time at Periche and decided to push on. I’m so happy she gets to finish her trek and she is heading up KP for the clear views of the morning.
We leave Gorak Shep and set our sites to Thukla. Its a long climb down but we keep a steady pace. We finally get to Thukla- a little tired and a lot hungry. Mohan has a headache so we agree we should have a rest and food at Thukla and then keep going lower. Steve and I both order macoroni with tomato sauce. The food comes and we dig in- the sauce is separate from the noodles and this is how we notice something weird. The noodles look like they been boiled in dirty water. Steve finds a small oval brown piece inside a noodle. Then I spot one in mine. Hmm...Steve says “it must be a spice” and I said “yeah right, its a mouse shit.” Steve disagrees but I know what a mouse shit looks like and we dig out 8 more mouse shit containing noodles. Appetite lost. Steve says to the tea house worker who has black toe nails “What the hell is this? Mouse shit??!” The guy stares at it, picks at it, and can’t answer. We all decide its mouse poo. Barf! There are no health inspectors out here...the worker didn’t even apologize. I am so happy we are continuing down...
We hike on. Steve and I chat about home and what we want to do when we have a home. I want to learn to can food- make some pickles and salsa. A few hours later and we get to the tea house we were aiming for. It was closed! We hike on. We get to the next village- all is closed! We hike on. In the end we hike all the way to Pangboche. We are so tired and stiff- overall we hiked over 12 km and lost over 1.2 km in elevation. A 12 hour day of exertion. My lips are still puffy, anything salty burns like acid on them, but they are getting better. We will sleep in.
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