Headed Home

Well the time has come; I am packing up for the trip home. It has been an amazing trip--walking around Kathmandu, riding elephants in Chitwan, touring the country on top of a public bus, climbing, trekking, seeing the Everest region, summiting Island Peak, hanging out at base camp, meeting lots of interesting people, and living with Chandra, Lisa, Prushant, Shova and which ever other children and pets were around.

There are definitely things that I will miss about Nepal and things that I look forward to at home. It has been great to travel around seeing amazing places and meeting interesting people, but it will also me nice to come home and see family and friends again. I have also enjoyed the relaxed nature of Nepal but I do appreciate things happening on a schedule in the US. It is a remarkable idea for scheduled events to actually happen and more or less on time; something that is generally not the case here in Nepal. I will also be glad to get away from the dual pricing and generally dual treatment of foreigners and locals throughout the country.

We had some frustrations with the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) this past week. At the beginning of my trip we had met with the chairman and he told us about a rescue course that they were offering this week. Chandra and I expressed interest and asked to be sent a course schedule. We even met with the chairman again and he again mentioned the course. Since then, however, they have not responded to us. This past week Chandra called again to find out what was going on and was told that the course was full. We asked if we could observe a piece of it just to see what they were doing and were told that they would give us a call. That never happened. Turns out they did not want any foreigners involved, nor did they want Chandra apparently. Unfortunately, they would not come out and tell us this until midway through this week, they just decided to ignore us.

We both found the experience rather frustrating and at the same time were amazed that an organization that operates in such a manor is functioning, and relays so heavily on western doctors to staff their medical outposts. It may partly be a result of a Nepali mentality where they don't want to disappoint people by saying no. (This will sometimes result in one getting really convoluted directions to places that don't exist or are really far away.) I for one find it far more frustrating to be given the run around though than told that something isn't going to work.

On a slightly funnier note, early in my trip here I was trying to get involved with the HRA and I sent an email to the chairman following up on a meeting we had had and asking if he had any further thoughts on what I could do. I never heard back from him. When we went to talk with him a couple weeks later he said that he had received my email but was waiting to get back to me until they had my office set. Funny, I wasn't aware of having agreed to do anything yet and certainly not sit in an office.

Anyway, enough ranting. I have packing to do and a few last minute errands to run. And then my 23hr and 55minute flight from Singapore to JFK.

Back from the Mountains

Well I am back in Kathmandu after a truly amazing trip in the Everest Region, and a couple extra days rained in in Lukla. I include a few photos here but there are many more on my Picasa page.

I flew up to Lukla in a little Twin Otter plane on May 6th. There I met up with Alex, a British guy who has been volunteering in an orphanage and who was going on the same trip as me to Island Peak. Though our climbing trip did not start until we got up to Chukhung in another week, we decided to meet in Lukla and trek up to Chukhung together.

Porters carrying loads of plywood into the mountains--some of their loads were remarkable

For 7 days we hiked along, up into the mountains. We took the pace very slowly to allow us to acclimate and because moving quickly at that altitude is really difficult. On the second day we hiked up to Namche Bazar, the last piece of which is a steep hill. We started hiking up it as a normal hiking pace but quickly were absolutely exhausted. It took us a while to get into the pace of walking really slowly. It is kind of strange, the standard walking pace up there is a very slow plodding along, and it took us a while to get used to that.

Day hike out of Namche

About 5 days into the trek we got to Pheriche where it turned cold and started to snow. It snowed off and on for the next several days. Also in Pheriche we went to a high altitude lecture at the health post of the Himalayan Rescue Association. After the lecture we got our blood oxygen saturation tested. At that altitude, roughly 14,000 ft, apparently the average is about 85%, mine was 91%. I'm not really sure how meaningful that is, but I found it kind of interesting. And, I had no problems with the altitude, even as I got much higher, so that was nice.

Snow in Pheriche

From there we headed up to Chukhung where it was also snowing. We met our guide Ang; spent a day practicing ropes, ladders, and jumars; a day ice climbing; and then headed up to Island Peak Base Camp. No one had summited Island Peak for about a week because of all the snow. While in Chukhung I also ran into Robert and Keith. They were doing a similar course but with another company. Turns out Robert had gone to Apple Hill and we had mutual friends from Keene. The four of us ended up hanging out in Chukhung for several days and then summiting Island Peak together.

Hanging out around the stove in Chukhung: Robert, Keith and Alex

Learning to walk on ladders

On May 17th we made out attempt at the summit. At 12:30am when we woke up the sky was clear and the stars were out. As we climbed through the boulder fields up to high camp the moon came out and we hiked by the light of the moon much of the way. We came to the snow line where we put on plastic boots, crampons and harnesses right as the sun was coming up. It was gorgeous. From there we traversed across a glacier, crossed a couple of ladders over crevasses, and headed up the fixed ropes. Then we traversed the final ridge to the summit. It was 9am; 20,306 feet above sea level.

The summit ridge


Happy to be on top

The sky was perfectly clear, giving us 365 degree views of the surrounding mountains. There was fog in the valleys but we could see everything above about 5000 meters. Lhotse and Nuptse rose to the north, Ama Dablam to the south, Makalu was visable to the east, Cho Oyu to the west, and so many others in between [Everest is blocked from this angle by Lhotse].

We then rappelled down. I generally find rappelling to be fun and easy but I found it so tiring this time. I was just exhausted.

I also thought back to reading about disasters caused by bottle necks on the fixed lines, and I understood exactly how that can happen. While we were on the way down, a large party was on their way up. You can't rappel down a rope that someone is jumarring up, and everyone is trying to use the same ropes. Communication is often difficult over the long distances. We ended up setting up additional ropes to get down. The fixed lines were also a new and minorly unsettling experience. I found it difficult to tie into a rope of questionable quality and questionable anchoring. In some places we put in additional anchors, but in others the ropes were frozen into the ground to the point that you could not see the original anchoring.

After climbing Island Peak I had an extra day before I needed to head back so I decided to hike up towards Everest Base Camp, up the next valley. In the late afternoon I ran into a guy who turned out to be the doctor with the Indian expedition to Everest. After talking for a while he invited me to stay with them at Base Camp. Despite being exhausted, I couldn't refuse the offer.

Hanging out in the Indian tent at Base Camp

That night I hung out with the Indian team. Many of them were up on the mountain taking advantage of the first break in the weather since early May. The rest of them were hanging around camp, eating really well and playing cards. Sleeping on the glacier was an experience; you can hear it cracking all night long. In the morning we sat in the strong sunlight drinking tea and I fried one ear. The sun reflecting off the snow at that altitude is really intense. Then we went for a walk in the Khumbu ice fall. I wasn't sure how far I was allowed up without a permit but I got the sense that we were pushing it. We could hear people from other camps celebrating as a few teams summited--some of the first summits of the year [one party summited on May 5th]. We also watched helicopters come in to evacuate people, an almost daily occurrence.

After lunch I headed back down, and in the next two days I hiked down to Lukla. I was supposed to fly out on the 22nd. I got to the airport in the morning, checked in, and waited for my flight. The first round of flights left but the second round never came. The clouds came in. They told us maybe in a couple hours. The airport emptied out, no one to ask what was going on. There were no planes there either though. Finally we left the airport and went back to town.

For 2 days I sat in Lukla waiting for a flight out. They won't fly in the clouds here because they are flying small planes with no radar through steep mountain valleys. I read a quote somewhere about how they don't fly in the clouds because the clouds tend to have mountains in them.

People started accumulating as everyone came out of the mountains from the end of the climbing season. Every morning we would go to the airport just in case a plane showed up and every day at 3:45pm we would go to the Yeti airline office to get re-booked on a flight for the next day. During the day we would sit around the coffee shops and lodges and walk back and forth on the street (singular). I actually met a bunch of cool people hanging out waiting though. All sorts of climbing teams and trekkers were also hanging out so that was pretty fun.

Finally on May 24th the weather cleared and I was able to fly out. Being stuck for 2 days isn't so bad but there is always a fear that you can be stuck for weeks, though it is always an option to walk down which is about a 4 days walk and one day bus ride. Some people were freaking out because they were missing their international flights home. Helicopters would fly in the clouds so they came in offering to fly people out for about $3500 per flight which can take 4 or 5 people. Apparently as the day went on the price kept increasing. Some people took them up on it; personally, I would have to be pretty desperate to take them up on it, especially after only one day.

So many more stories, but I think that that is it for now. This trip has gone so fast; it is hard to believe that I will be back in Maine next week.

Headed into the Mountains

I am getting ready for a trip up into the mountains. Tomorrow morning I leave for the Everest region to do some trekking and mountaineering. I will be flying into Lukla (one of sketchiest airports on earth--the runway is on a hill so that you land going up hill and take off by running off the end of it), then trekking up to Chukkung. There we (I am hiking in with a British guy that I will meet tomorrow) will meet our guides (friends of Chandra's) for six days of mountaineering. We work on mountaineering skills, glacier travel, and crevasse rescue for three days before attempting a climb of Island Peak (20,306 ft). Then I will hike back to Lukla and fly to back here to Kathmandu on the 22nd.

I am really looking forward to getting up into the mountains. It is supposed to be breathtaking--both literally and figuratively. Much of the trek in will be along the trail up to Everest Base Camp. Then we head east, away from some of the crowds. Island Peak is surrounded by Lhotse, Ama Dablam and Makalu. It should be an amazing spot.

Me in my down suit (actually Chandra's) getting packed for my trip

It may also be good timing. You may have heard that the Nepali government is going through a bit of a rough spot right now. On May 3rd, the Prime Minister single-handedly fired the Army Chief because of ongoing tension at including the former Maoist insurgents in the Nepali Army. This outraged many of the people in the government and so many parties withdrew from the assembly. The President then came out and said that he is actually the head of the army and so it is not within the rights of the PM to fire the Army Chief, and the President asked that the army chief be reinstated. In response, the PM resigned.

This is all made a bit more complicated by the fact that the constitution is currently being re-written, though there is an interim constitution. And yes, there is a Prime Minister and a President (or there was), and it is unclear exactly what each of their roles and powers in the government are.

There are some protests in the streets, and protesters clash with supporters. But that isn't a whole lot different than other days.

And an update on the Chariot, I was back in the old part of Patan yesterday and saw the Chariot right where we had last seen it two days ago. Apparently they decided that they needed to dismantle it and rebuild it before continuing on, an inauspicious turn of events.

No Power, No Water, No Fuel: Life in Kathmandu

It is raining out this morning, and thundering; this is the first time we have had real rain since I have been here. Sometimes it will pour for about fifteen minutes in the afternoon but this is the first sustained rain and the only time it has rained in the morning. But we need it. Hopefully it will clear up the air a little too.

I have been hanging around Kathmandu for the past couple of weeks, doing a bunch of work for Initiative Outdoors, Chandra's company. He is starting a new program with a new international baccalaureate program next year. Right now we are busy designed courses so I have been writing course outlines and handouts for many topics including climbing, backpacking, navigation, and first-aid.

A Monkey

In recent days, amenities such as water, fuel, and power have been hard to come by. There is an ongoing shortage of all of them, but in the last few days it has been more noticeable.

We have 16 hour power cuts each day and that has been ongoing. However there is a battery and inverter in the main part of their apartment so it is easy to forget that most of the city is without power. The battery provides enough power to run lights, the TV (though cable frequently goes out), and the computer. Large appliances such as the refrigerator, toaster, and water pump only work when the power is on. As such, the refrigerator keeps things more or less chilled but we only buy perishable items when we are going to use them. For example, we buy milk each morning and it comes in pint sized plastic bags.

There is also an ongoing shortage of water. City water only comes in the morning every three days, and if you don't have power when the water comes, you are out of luck. This is the case in our kitchen, so we frequently run out of water there. We are lucky however that we have well water in the bathrooms (city water is treated and cleaner so we have that in the kitchen). Many people, who do not have wells, have to go to town pumps to fill water jugs and carry them home. The well provides us with sufficient water, though it is also getting low, but again it relies on an electric pump to bring it up. I'm not really sure what the problem was but for some reason the pump was not filling the storage tank on the roof when we had power, so we have been running out of water the last couple days. I think that they fixed the pump yesterday, so we might be fine today. Either way, we fill buckets when we have water in case we run out later.

There is also a shortage of fuel and it has gotten more severe recently. Apparently there is a strike in southern Nepal which is cutting off fuel supplied to the Kathmandu valleys. This is making lines at gas stations even longer, and they are rationing the gas to about 6 liters for motor bikes and 12 liters for vehicles. Chandra drives his motor bike sparingly now because getting gas can be an all day task.

Long gas line on right side of the road

The other day I went out for a walk and to run some errands with Chandra, and along the way we ran into the chariot. It is a structure that they build from scratch, mostly of wood and hand made rope. Then they parade it through town to a temple, a task that takes about four days. Now this thing is about 40 or 50 feet tall, with a narrow base, it is kind of wobbly, and the roads are less than even. And, it is really bad luck if it falls over (it fell over last year and the year that the king was over thrown).

It was quite amazing to watch, the streets were full of people cheering every time it made any forward progress, or even straightened out. It is pulled by a bunch of men, kind of like one sided tug-or-war. And they are so energetic about it. It is also assisted by people holding other ropes and running along side or on adjacent rooftops, to keep it from falling over. And there are people on the tower, directing all of the pullers. It is really quite a sight.

At one point it tipped over so far that two of the wheels came off of the ground. People jumped up onto the wheels to pull them down, as all of the people standing under the tower ran away, lest they be crushed by the falling structure. At that point the even brought in a crane to straighten it out, which worked until they started moving again and it slumped back over.

Other than that life here has been pretty quiet. We went rock climbing in a park right outside of the city. It was a rock wall with about 20 bolted routes. As we were leaving a couple and their two guides came to climb. No one had climbing shoes or helmets. The guides lead climbed the routes in combat boots and then let the clients climb. When a client got stuck. The guide free climbed along side of her to give her pointers. The whole situation looked really sketchy. I was glad that we went with our own equipment and knowledge.

On the way back, we got stuck in a traffic jam after two trucks tried to pass on a narrow stretch of road and got stuck against each other. After sitting for a while, we decided it would be faster to walk past all of the commotion and get another taxi--one without a flat tire.

I have also walked around and visited a bunch more temples, including the Buddah Stupa and Pashupatinath Temple. Pashupatinath is on the holy but filthy Bagmati River. This is a place where many people are cremated. While we were there, there were two bodies burning on platforms next to the river. An office behind the cremation site, read "cornea excision center".

The Bagmati River (between Kathmandu and Patan) - The Buddah Stupa

And finally, a couple of weeks ago, we went to a movie theater and saw Fast and Furious 4. Movie theaters here have assigned seats and ushers, and an intermission just like Reel Pizza.

Filming a fight scene for a Nepali movie