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.