We are back in Kathmandu after spending some time in Pokhara and the Annapurna region. We left for our trek on the 18th and were supposed to end our trek in Phedi and return to Pokhara on the 23rd. We had started at Nayapul, stayed in Urellli (sp?), then Ghorapani (and went to Poon Hill for the views), over to Tadapani and then Ghandruk (really unique village) and then somehow (not difficult to do with all the trails leading every which way) we didn't take a left to head down to the river and across for our last night so we ended up cutting the trek a day short and heading out through the town we came in through....oh well.
The area definitely had a different feel to it than the Khumbu region where we spent most of our time. Since it was so much lower in elevation (the highest we got was only about 10,500 feet) there was a lot of farming which was beautiful to see. I started reading The Snow Leopard as soon as we ended the trek which was written in the late 70's about a trip in the same general area and even though it is 40 years old the descriptions of what you see, and how people go about their daily life is exactly the same....it was really neat to read it after just being there.
Since we now had an extra day in Pokhara we spent Monday visiting one of the Tibetan refugee settlements just outside of Pokhara. We walked there which was interesting making our way across some of the people's land but it was a short walk and beats having to hassle with a taxi driver.
On Tuesday we took a taxi out to a couple of other lakes about 20 km outside of Pokhara, Begnas Tal and Rupa Tal. The night before I felt adventurous and tried fish from Begnas Tal at one of the restaurants thinking that I'd better do that before I see the lake (there is trash everywhere and after I saw a lot of the lake at Pokhara I opted to not try the fish that had been caught there). But, the bigger of the two lakes was actually really nice, and clean-looking. We walked around there for a while, stopped for tea and to identify the mountains that we could see peaking out of some of the clouds and then decided to try to walk to Rupa Tal....not so straightforward. We ended up taking a road up as high as we could and when we got there and couldn't see the lake. We got off the road, battled a couple of mischief monkies, and found a sunny opening on someone's land with great views. Hung out there for quite some time then decided to follow the signs to this lodge for some lunch. Three girls were walking down the road from school, probably 3 years old to 6, and made sure to hold both my hands the rest of the walk there giggling all the way. It was nice that they weren't just begging for sweets, school pens, and rupees like a lot of the other little kids that you see that whitey has conditioned to beg. We got to the small lodge and what do you know, could see down to Rupa Tal. It looked murky and not worthy of walking down to and the guy told us that it is only about 4 meters at the deepest but has 28 species of fish that they eat. It was a great little place with almost 360 views. After lunch headed back down the road and caught a bus back to Pokhara in time for dinner....if there is one thing we haven't been skimping on it is the food.
Yesterday was the bus ride back to Kathmandu. And today, Thanksgiving, we are going to spend out at Bodhanath which is one of the world's largest stupas and is a religious center to the huge population of Tibetan exhiles and monks.
I leave tomorrow evening but have about 30 hours to spend in Bangkok so will probably find a hotel and do a little bit of site seeing on Saturday before my 3 flights back to Seattle from Bangkok.
I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving!....and I wouldn't object to someone saving me a little bit of turkey and stuffing;)
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Pohkara
It is Tuesday evening here and we arrived in Pokhara yesterday after 7 hour-ish bus ride from Kathmandu. We had tried to leave on Sunday but we couldn't get a reservation so stayed in Kathmandu from Friday night to Monday morning once we got back from Lukla (didn't think we would make it on a plane that day but had someone work their magic). My stomach hasn't been doing great things so the hike from Namche to Lukla, the plane ride, and the taxi ride made for a miserable of couple of days. We stayed at the guesthouse above the Sherpa store knowing that it would be super nice for us, and not knowing the price, so unfortunately we ended up paying pretty expensive US prices, but it was worth being spoiled for a few nights.
Today we took a row boat across the lake here today then walked up to the World Peace Pagoda and walked a longer "scenic" route back down and were greated by woods full of monkeys at dinner time. Lol...I took my knife out and put it in my pocket just in case but they paid no attention to us.
Tomorrow we will leave for a 6 day trek in the Annapurna region. It is muggy here, lower elevation than even Kathmandu, we aren't hiring a porter on the trek so will be carrying all of our own stuff, it is quite a bit of elevation gain, AND the weather is cloudy/foggy so it may not be quite as enjoyable as previously but I'm still looking forward to it....(Jay is afraid of the leeches:)).
Once we are back we only have a couple of days left between here and Kathmandu before I leave to head home!
Today we took a row boat across the lake here today then walked up to the World Peace Pagoda and walked a longer "scenic" route back down and were greated by woods full of monkeys at dinner time. Lol...I took my knife out and put it in my pocket just in case but they paid no attention to us.
Tomorrow we will leave for a 6 day trek in the Annapurna region. It is muggy here, lower elevation than even Kathmandu, we aren't hiring a porter on the trek so will be carrying all of our own stuff, it is quite a bit of elevation gain, AND the weather is cloudy/foggy so it may not be quite as enjoyable as previously but I'm still looking forward to it....(Jay is afraid of the leeches:)).
Once we are back we only have a couple of days left between here and Kathmandu before I leave to head home!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Successful climb
We are back in Namche after a successful climb of Island Peak (20,305 feet).....and believe me, those 305 feet were scary so I'm not leaving them off! It was windy but we had good weather overall. Another 30 minutes I don't think we would have been able to get up the ridge to the summit, I think the others that were coming up after us ended up having to turn around. It was a little harsher than I expected and yep, some of the fixed lines and the ridge had me wimpering like a baby but I did it. Eventually I may have some pictures to post too.
Spent the day of the climb at base camp before heading down to Pangboche yesterday. Our cook staff even made us a summit cake...it was super nice and incredible what they can do with two burners in a tent....best food we had eaten yet. We went through Tengboche today on our way to Namche for the night. In Tengboche we ended up timing it just right so that we got to go into the monastary and listen to the monks...it was awesome. I did all of the climb with the exception of the last 1500 feet in my trail runners which are shot and falling apart so when we rolled into Namche and saw that the Tibetan traders were here selling their knock offs I thought for sure that I could find some new shoes but, I'm a big girl so no shoes for me! (Denise, didn't we hear that a time or two in Hong Kong?:))
Tonight we are splurging and spending $5 for a room (cheap rooms, not so cheap food at any of the lodges) and another $4 for a shower...wahoo! This place is really nice but doesn't quite have the family feel to it as a lot of the lodges do. And then, who do I run into at the market, the girl from the lodge that we stayed at last time....busted....she wasn't happy that we weren't staying with them again but at least the one we are staying at is owned by the older woman's relatives...of course.
My fingers are too cold to type anymore, just wanted to let the family know I made it up and down off the mountain safely....well, I did have one incident of falling flat on my face and knees one day while looking at Ama Dablam while trying to walk....just another scar with a story:) I am glad to be lower where it is warmer!
Spent the day of the climb at base camp before heading down to Pangboche yesterday. Our cook staff even made us a summit cake...it was super nice and incredible what they can do with two burners in a tent....best food we had eaten yet. We went through Tengboche today on our way to Namche for the night. In Tengboche we ended up timing it just right so that we got to go into the monastary and listen to the monks...it was awesome. I did all of the climb with the exception of the last 1500 feet in my trail runners which are shot and falling apart so when we rolled into Namche and saw that the Tibetan traders were here selling their knock offs I thought for sure that I could find some new shoes but, I'm a big girl so no shoes for me! (Denise, didn't we hear that a time or two in Hong Kong?:))
Tonight we are splurging and spending $5 for a room (cheap rooms, not so cheap food at any of the lodges) and another $4 for a shower...wahoo! This place is really nice but doesn't quite have the family feel to it as a lot of the lodges do. And then, who do I run into at the market, the girl from the lodge that we stayed at last time....busted....she wasn't happy that we weren't staying with them again but at least the one we are staying at is owned by the older woman's relatives...of course.
My fingers are too cold to type anymore, just wanted to let the family know I made it up and down off the mountain safely....well, I did have one incident of falling flat on my face and knees one day while looking at Ama Dablam while trying to walk....just another scar with a story:) I am glad to be lower where it is warmer!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Lost track of what day it is a long time ago...
We are in Dingboche (just over 14,000 feet) now, a few days ahead of schedule, and will rest up for our climb that we leave on in a few days. It is nice to be back at a lower elevation and hopefully it will be a little warmer too. I'm impressed that they have internet here. It is a nice little town with Ama Dablam looking down on us, and we can see Island Peak down the valley which we will be climbing in a few days.
When we left Namche I had already caught Erin's cold, I thought it had gotten better, but now it is down in my chest and downright flemy and nasty. I am going to start taking some antibiotics to see if that clears it up....hopefully. So far I have been ok with the altitude minus a couple of small headaches and a couple of restless nights but we are down quite a bit lower for the next few days so should have some relief.
After Namche we stayed one night in Thame and then 2 nights in Langden. In Langden we did an acclimization hike up to a better view of Kyajo Ri in hopes of making the trek over the pass easier. The few days up to Langden was really nice. We got away from the crowds and got to watch the Tibetan traders coming down from the Nangpa La pass with goods from China on the real yaks. Most of them are from the ethnic group called Khampas I think and they are very unique looking with their features and long hair. The people and lodges have all been great so far, very friendly and wanting to please you and it is unbelieveable how many speak English and speak it well....I wasn't expecting that. After Langden though we lost a lot of the cultural experience as the "towns" above there only exist for the few lodges and people don't live there otherwise.
After leaving Langden we headed over the Renjo Pass at +/- 17,500 feet depending on the book/map that you consult. It was a longer day of walking but we all made it without problem. The views were unbelieveable...too much to even try to explain. I am glad that we decided to do the circuit in the direction that we are going as the views are all in your face versus at your backs. Just being able to walk and look at Everest (and all the others) for an entire afternoon is just awesome....and difficult to describe. From now on I'll just mention Everest but the others that you see often are just as incredible (Nuptse, Taboche, Cholatse, Kantega, Thamserku, and eventually Lobuche, Ama Dablam, and tons more that I can't think of right now).
That night we made it down to Gokyo with great views of Cho Oyu. We spent 3 nights there to further acclimate and to take advantage of some of the day hikes out of there. The day after we arrived we were all beat and didn't do anything. And the second day we opted to go up to the lakes rather than Gokyo Ri. Again, incredible views of Cho Oyu all the way up and then that pesty Everest came into view again:)
The weather has been clear and wonderful, but cold....and even colder inside the teahouses I'm convinced. The night before last our water bottles even froze in the room....it'll be nice to sleep in a warm bed without being bundled up in a sleeping bag when I get back home. Erin and I have both been sick but have been surviving just fine. On our last morning in Gokyo before a short walk to the next town of Thagnak Erin decided that she had enough and was going to head back down. It kind of happened suddenly but I think between her cold, a slight headache in the mornings from either the altitude or a crappy pillow, and constantly being cold she thought it best that she go back home. I felt bad, I don't think that she knew exactly what to expect when she signed up to come along, but we didn't argue with her as we were only going to be heading up in elevation for the next few days and felt that she had to go with what her gut was telling her. Since Jay and I didn't need to continue paying two porters to carry our stuff we send Nima's son, Rinzig (I think), down with Erin and Nima continued on with us. We still have her climbing gear that we had sent up separately to where we are now and we just paid Nima to take that to her if he can catch up with them in the next few days.
After we parted ways with Erin we also said good bye to Cho Oyo, crossed the Ngozumpa Glacier and arrived in Thagnak in less than an hour and a half. We stayed at a great lodge there, the best so far I think with "solid" plywood walls that seemed to keep our hot air inside for once and a kitchen that held the smoke away from where we were sleeping....it was borderline luxurious even if you had to walk quite a ways outside to the squat house.
The next day we had another long day going up and over the Chola Pass (again +/- 17,500 feet depending on book/map). This pass was supposed to be a little more difficult but it wasn't bad at all. The only thing that made it difficult was the number of people coming up and over and having to constantly be aware of rock fall. In fact, a couple of weeks earlier a porter had been killed by the rockfall and it was easy to see how that could happen with so many people, and jackasses at that, who are oblivious to what they are doing and not paying attention to others. We were going to stay on the other side of the pass in Dzonglha but got there a couple of hours earlier than we had expected to (Nima is running us up and down the hills now!) so we decided to push on to Lobuche. This would also hopefully allow us to get to where we are earlier so that we could catch Erin's climbing gear up with her. We got to Lobuche by about 2 in the afternoon and found a room. There were a lot of people there, the town in general was nastier than the others, and I was ready to get out of there as soon as we got there.
We decided to do a day trip up to Kala Patthar at just over 18,000 feet the next morning, hurry back for lunch, and then meet up with Nima to head down to Dingboche. We didn't get started until just after 8:00 am and it took longer than expected to get to the top of Kala Patthar, about 3 hours total up, and almost 2 hours down. It was exhausting for me after the long day before and struggling with being sick but it was soooo worth it. Pumori, Everest, Nuptse, and the Khumbu icefall were so close and Ama Dablam came back into view too....and again, clear blue skies! We rushed back to Lobuche, ate some lunch, bundled up and walked another 2 hours downhill to where we are now....Ama Dablam in our face the entire way...not so bad.
We are going to change lodges here shortly. After we went to collect our climbing gear and send Nima on his way Jay saw the shower at the other lodge and was sold. I gotta admit, as much work as it is here it'll be nice to have a shower. It is funny the things that you just deal with while traveling that you wouldn't accept at home. It becomes a lifestyle here, purifying water, eating, trekking, eating, taking pictures, writing in my journal, eatting, and then spending 12 hours laying in bed waiting out the night....but I love it!
I'm not sure if I'll get online again before we leave for our climb or not on the 7th. If not, I'll send out an email when we are back in Namche probably.
When we left Namche I had already caught Erin's cold, I thought it had gotten better, but now it is down in my chest and downright flemy and nasty. I am going to start taking some antibiotics to see if that clears it up....hopefully. So far I have been ok with the altitude minus a couple of small headaches and a couple of restless nights but we are down quite a bit lower for the next few days so should have some relief.
After Namche we stayed one night in Thame and then 2 nights in Langden. In Langden we did an acclimization hike up to a better view of Kyajo Ri in hopes of making the trek over the pass easier. The few days up to Langden was really nice. We got away from the crowds and got to watch the Tibetan traders coming down from the Nangpa La pass with goods from China on the real yaks. Most of them are from the ethnic group called Khampas I think and they are very unique looking with their features and long hair. The people and lodges have all been great so far, very friendly and wanting to please you and it is unbelieveable how many speak English and speak it well....I wasn't expecting that. After Langden though we lost a lot of the cultural experience as the "towns" above there only exist for the few lodges and people don't live there otherwise.
After leaving Langden we headed over the Renjo Pass at +/- 17,500 feet depending on the book/map that you consult. It was a longer day of walking but we all made it without problem. The views were unbelieveable...too much to even try to explain. I am glad that we decided to do the circuit in the direction that we are going as the views are all in your face versus at your backs. Just being able to walk and look at Everest (and all the others) for an entire afternoon is just awesome....and difficult to describe. From now on I'll just mention Everest but the others that you see often are just as incredible (Nuptse, Taboche, Cholatse, Kantega, Thamserku, and eventually Lobuche, Ama Dablam, and tons more that I can't think of right now).
That night we made it down to Gokyo with great views of Cho Oyu. We spent 3 nights there to further acclimate and to take advantage of some of the day hikes out of there. The day after we arrived we were all beat and didn't do anything. And the second day we opted to go up to the lakes rather than Gokyo Ri. Again, incredible views of Cho Oyu all the way up and then that pesty Everest came into view again:)
The weather has been clear and wonderful, but cold....and even colder inside the teahouses I'm convinced. The night before last our water bottles even froze in the room....it'll be nice to sleep in a warm bed without being bundled up in a sleeping bag when I get back home. Erin and I have both been sick but have been surviving just fine. On our last morning in Gokyo before a short walk to the next town of Thagnak Erin decided that she had enough and was going to head back down. It kind of happened suddenly but I think between her cold, a slight headache in the mornings from either the altitude or a crappy pillow, and constantly being cold she thought it best that she go back home. I felt bad, I don't think that she knew exactly what to expect when she signed up to come along, but we didn't argue with her as we were only going to be heading up in elevation for the next few days and felt that she had to go with what her gut was telling her. Since Jay and I didn't need to continue paying two porters to carry our stuff we send Nima's son, Rinzig (I think), down with Erin and Nima continued on with us. We still have her climbing gear that we had sent up separately to where we are now and we just paid Nima to take that to her if he can catch up with them in the next few days.
After we parted ways with Erin we also said good bye to Cho Oyo, crossed the Ngozumpa Glacier and arrived in Thagnak in less than an hour and a half. We stayed at a great lodge there, the best so far I think with "solid" plywood walls that seemed to keep our hot air inside for once and a kitchen that held the smoke away from where we were sleeping....it was borderline luxurious even if you had to walk quite a ways outside to the squat house.
The next day we had another long day going up and over the Chola Pass (again +/- 17,500 feet depending on book/map). This pass was supposed to be a little more difficult but it wasn't bad at all. The only thing that made it difficult was the number of people coming up and over and having to constantly be aware of rock fall. In fact, a couple of weeks earlier a porter had been killed by the rockfall and it was easy to see how that could happen with so many people, and jackasses at that, who are oblivious to what they are doing and not paying attention to others. We were going to stay on the other side of the pass in Dzonglha but got there a couple of hours earlier than we had expected to (Nima is running us up and down the hills now!) so we decided to push on to Lobuche. This would also hopefully allow us to get to where we are earlier so that we could catch Erin's climbing gear up with her. We got to Lobuche by about 2 in the afternoon and found a room. There were a lot of people there, the town in general was nastier than the others, and I was ready to get out of there as soon as we got there.
We decided to do a day trip up to Kala Patthar at just over 18,000 feet the next morning, hurry back for lunch, and then meet up with Nima to head down to Dingboche. We didn't get started until just after 8:00 am and it took longer than expected to get to the top of Kala Patthar, about 3 hours total up, and almost 2 hours down. It was exhausting for me after the long day before and struggling with being sick but it was soooo worth it. Pumori, Everest, Nuptse, and the Khumbu icefall were so close and Ama Dablam came back into view too....and again, clear blue skies! We rushed back to Lobuche, ate some lunch, bundled up and walked another 2 hours downhill to where we are now....Ama Dablam in our face the entire way...not so bad.
We are going to change lodges here shortly. After we went to collect our climbing gear and send Nima on his way Jay saw the shower at the other lodge and was sold. I gotta admit, as much work as it is here it'll be nice to have a shower. It is funny the things that you just deal with while traveling that you wouldn't accept at home. It becomes a lifestyle here, purifying water, eating, trekking, eating, taking pictures, writing in my journal, eatting, and then spending 12 hours laying in bed waiting out the night....but I love it!
I'm not sure if I'll get online again before we leave for our climb or not on the 7th. If not, I'll send out an email when we are back in Namche probably.