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Published: January 3rd 2009
Tibetan Buddhist Chorten
One of many Buddhist temples along the route to Everest. This one inNamche Bazaar.Greetings folks! Having just returned from the
Mt. Everest trek, I realize that it's been a little while since my last posting here. A lot has transpired, but I'll ty to keep it brief here and just stick to the main events. Since my last entry, my friend Elaine and I headed back from Pokhara to Katmandu (about 185 km east) to line up our permits and make necessary arrangements to begin our trek to Mt. Everest (i.e. Sagarmatha) base camp at about 17,000-ft elevation. Our journey got off to an inauspicious start with me battling a vicious but thankfully short-lived boute of food poisoning (bad goat meat) and a fairly rough bus transit back to Katmandu. I think that since my last trip to/from Katmandu, the road workers have been industriously installing new pot-holes in the the already porous asphalt. I'm also fairly well convinced that all of Nepals's long distance bus drivers must have trained by driving getaway cars for bank robbers at some point. Nonetheless, we arrived to Katmandu on about the 14th of December with intentions of just staying in Katmandu - which despite it's fairly exotic sounding name is really quite a hellhole - for 1
Lukla Airport Runway
So, do ya' feel lucky? Well do ya'?! The white speck at the end of the runway is a plane taking off into the abyss. Note the downhill grade. or 2 nights before getting out into the mountains. 1 to 2 nights quickly turned into 5 to 6 nights as acquiring permits and a bush flight to the remote airfield that we identified as out desired starting point slowly panned out. During our time in Katmandu (much of it against our will), Elaine and I befriended Alan, a 50-ish carpenter from New York living in Calcutta for a year or two and learning to become a yogi master. I always thought you could do that by sending 30 bucks to an address adverstised in the back of
Rolling Stone magazine, but whatever, to each their own. Alan was a decent guy and I enjoyed his company, as did Elaine, especially as he certainly kept us entertained, albeit unwittingly. Case in point: the venders and street hawkers in Katmandu's frenetic Thamal district are enough to try the patience of a saint. If a tourist isn't dodging speeding motorbikes and rickshaws on the narrow streets, he/she's being constantly accosted by aggressive hustlers trying desparately and shamelessly to hawk some useless ware or service. Usually the encounters, which are virtually constant, end with the tourist doing everything he or she can just
Namche Bazaar
Carved into a mountainside, this centuries-old village has grown from a strategic trading spot for Tibetans, to a major trekkers hub enroute to Everest. to get away from the pursuing, and quite annoying hustler/peddler. Alan, to his credit, would engage just about every peddler that approached him, listen to his sales pitch, and then counter by asking myriad questions about whatever it is he was selling (I didn't know so many questions could be asked about a 2-oz. jar of tiger balm) ask each question over a second time, finally ask for a business card (!), and finally say no thanks to whatever was on offer. The beauty to this whole approach was that at some point during Alan's inquisition, the hustler/vender would realize that Alan probably wasn't going to buy whatever it was that he was selling, but would be unable to disengage to a fresher target because of Alan's continued questioning and seeming interest. Basically, he reversed the game where the hustlers and peddlers were trying to get away from him! I'm not sure if he planned it all to go down like this, but if so... brilliant. I also enjoyed Alan's very vocal explanation about how yoga and meditation has enabled him to embody a greater sence of peace and harmony with the world around him. At one point he advised
Another Shot of Namche Bazaar
3500m (about 11,400-ft) above sea level. me very emphatically that I was, "wasting my life," for not delving into the same meditative and spiritual enlightenment ways as him. This was about 20 minutes before I witnessed him get into a streetside shoving match with a street peddler which I later learned hinged around Alan and the guy disagreeing over the fair market value of a measured volume of marijuana that Alan was interested in buying from him. Following that incident, and my full understanding of what had occured, I kept some distance between him and me.
Okay, it may sound like we were enjoying our extended stay in Katmandu, but Elaine and I were really kind of dejected about not getting into the mountains sooner. Katmandu is really not a fun city to be stuck in and we were itching to get out of there as soon as humanly possible, especially knowing that each day spent in the city was a day that we weren't spending in the Himalayas. Finally, efter everything was lined up, we were packed and ready to leave. On our final night there, we ate at a little restaurant which, to my amusement, displayed a most unfortunate misspelling on the menu,
Grizzly Discovery
Vertibral bone of some animal at 13,000-ft. I think:
Chocolate Crepes was listed as
Chocolate Craps. Maybe a misspelling or maybe just "truth in adverstising," I'll never really know since I didn't order whatever it actually was. Regardless, it was a fitting note to end our 5-day hiatus in Katmandu. We were finally on a bush plane for Lukla, the typical starting point for Everest treks, the next morning.
What can I say about the trek to Everest? It was pretty spectacular; I think I'll just try to keep my comments brief and let you all judge from the photos. The trek was about 9 days to Gorek Shep which lies at the end of the line, and 6 days back to Lukla. We started off at about 2800m above sea level (9100-ft), travelled through the centuries-old trading village of Namche Bazaar (which has shoved the Tibetan traders to the small corner of town in favor of the deep-pocketed western trekkers and climbers who now account for much of the villages income) and finished at about 5200m (about 17,000-ft, I think). At various points along the 10-day trek to Gorek Shep (nearest point before actually climbing Everest itself) there are several dozen small monuments to fallen
Buddhist Chorten
On the way to Tengboche from Namche climbers and a few trekkers, many of whose remains are still out in the Himalayas somewhere, frozen like fishsticks. It's a pretty sobering reminder that this part of the world really isn't too understanding of human error, and can often decide by lottery who makes it to the top and who never returns. Having said that, our trek did not involve any high-risk activity, such as technical climbing or summiting any peak above 19,000-ft. Our main risk facters were exposure, slips & trips, and altitude which we did a pretty good job strategizing around to avoid problems. Our trek began in Lukla, proceeded through Namche Bazaar where we took 2 days to acclimatize, before heading north into the really cold weather of Tengboche and beyond. At Tengboche, perhaps commanding the best Himalayan view of any village in all of Nepal, we visited the Buddhist monastary there - one of the largest in the world, where the monks invite trekkers into view thieir 4:00 pm meditation service. It started as a very austere ritual with typical chants and incantations. The room slowly began to darken with the afternoon sun disappearing while the monks, clad in red robes, continued their somnorific chanting.
Yak Train
If you consumed it, it probably came up the trail by yak. With no vehicular roads, and taking several days to transport stuff, it sort of explains why a Coke costs nearly $3 US. If it wasn't o cold in there, I probably would have fallen asleep. Suddenly and without warning, the room erupted in a caucophany of frenetic drum banging, crashing metal instruments, and horn blowing (that sounded like elephants running through a symphony orchestra pit while farting). This, in turn, prompted each of the monks to simultaneously don these huge hats that looked like a cross between a Trojan soldier's helmet with the centrally aligned bush-like plume, and a live rooster. It was quite a show which many of my fellow observers said that they found deeply moving. I, on the other hand, couldn't help feeling that I had just witnessed some sort of Monty Python skit. Nonetheless, it was something that few people get to see, due to the monastary's remoteness, so I feel fortunate for having had the opportunity.
Following our stay in Tengboche, we headed to Dengboche and onward towards Lobuche and Gorek Shep at the base of Mt. Everest. The remainder of the trek took us another 4-5 days including an extra night at 15,500-ft to acclimatize to the altitude again. Once at Gorek Shep, and after 8 days since our arrival in Lukla, we each climbed
to the peak of Kala Patthar (about 5700m or 18,520-ft according to my GPS) about 1 mile from the Tibetan border, which offered a spectacular view of Mt. Everest as well as the 25,000+ monsters of Lohtse and Nuptse. The peak also afforded amazing views of the Kumbu Glacier and Western Cym - pronounced
coom, which is apparently George Mallory's Welsh coinage for the upper reaches of the Kumbu Glacier. The view was worth every step, even though my water supply froze less than halfway up. Truly a once in a lifetime event, not easy to get to, but one that I'll never forget - perhaps the most stiking vantage point below 21,000-ft to really observe the high himalayas. I really can't accurately express the moment in words, but I'll throw in a bunch of pictures that will hopefully convey the enormity and grandeur of this part of the world. I also summitted the 18,300-ft peak of Chomkong Ri a few days prior to this, which was also pretty amazing. During the entire trek, we were constantly reminded of the close Tibetan ties that this region's sherpa residents hold - closer than those to the rest of their Nepali countrymen
Tengboche
The plateau village of Tengboche, between Namche and Lobuche along the Everest trail. - as well as the profound Buddhist influence that dominates the region. Virtually every minor peak, bend in the trail, or little overlook has a little temple - or chorten - expressing the sherpas' Buddhist ideology. The other thing that no one could fail to observe was the temperature: it was COLD!!! Day time temps got to about freezing or a little bit above, but by 4 pm, when the sun disappeared behind the mountains, the temperatures quickly dropped to about 5 F or -15 C. And that was inside the guesthouses! Each guesthouse had a potbelly stove that the innkeepers dutifully kept lit in the afternoons and evenings. The kicker was that the fuel used to keep them pumping out heat was dried yak ducn which they collected from the trails (there must have been more yaks that people on the trails) and loaded into the stoves by bare hand. I didn't think anything of this practice until I realized that the same person at each guesthouse that was shovelling yak turd was almost always the same person serving our food. Between the cold and the high altitude hypoxia, I had enough to worry about and just let things
Tengboche Monastary
One of the largest and most inaccessible Buddhist monastaries in the world. Trekkers are welcome to observe the monks' afternoon meditations held in the main area. Pretty interesting stuff! happen as they may. Neither Elaine nor I got sick at all, although others did, so I guess we made a clean getaway.
We enjoyed Chrismas dinner at 16,200-ft. I indulged on yak steak and chips while Elaine tucked into a plate of steamed momos, a Nepali dish that basically consists of vegitable stuffing inside of a steamed dough roll, sort of like an empanada. I has also purchased a small bottle of Nepali whiskey, knowing that we'd be spending Xmas and New Year's Eve somewhere in the Himalayas. The whiskey, however, was pretty rough. Judging by its taste and price, I can guess that its the type most commonly consumed by people who typically die penniless. I'm pretty sure that on the reverse lable of the bottle were some directions for using the contents to degrease cast iron stoves and diesel engine blocks. Elaine tried a little nip of it at one point and nearly went apoplectic. In 15 days on the trail, I think we only managed to consume about half of the 8-oz bottle. I still have it in my rucksack, for what reason, I have no idea. Well, we hiked back to the small airport
Looking North from Chomkong
On the way to the summit of Chumkong Ri, a side trip to an 18,250-ft peak south of Everest (out of view). town of Lukla, where we flew into at the beginning orf our trek. A word about Lukla: it's a mountainside sherpa village with a 1300-ft runway carved into the side of the mountain. For anyone not familiar with runways, 1300-ft is pretty short, and the runway ends literally in the side of the mountain. Even a small Cessna 4-seater needs at least 2000-ft. To aid the necessarilly rapid decelleration of arriving planes, and assist departing planes with accelleration, the runway is built on an 8-degree uphill rise (for arriving planes). Despite this, planes must land pretty smartly, utilizing every foot of available tarmac, and get slow pretty quickly. This usually results in some bone jarring landings, and pretty dramatic take offs (kind of like those from an aircraft carrier). It's so dramatic that locals often come out to watch arrivng/departing aircraft. I don't know what they're hoping to see, but it's a little unnerving when you're looking out of the window of your own plane as its about to depart, only to see dozens of expectant onlookers with the same expressions on their faces as if they were at a minor league hockey game or pro-wrestling show. Planes don't fly
Me and Couple of Yaks
Photo taken by Elaine as she was cowering behind me. In her defense, however, she was unprovokedly "assaulted" (according to her) by a grouchy yak earlier that day. in or out at night or during fog, and for good reason. One of my favorite quotes is from a British pilot operating here when asked why they don't fly in cloudy or foggy weather. He replied, "Because around here, our clouds have rocks in them!"
In summary, our trek was pretty memorable, one that I won't soon forget. We saw some pretty stunning sites, met some great folks along the way (Dan and Carla from Canada, Marcio from Brasil but now living in Barcelona and with whom I got to practice my Spanish). I'd be happy to cross paths with any of them again and enjoyed their company as we bumped into each other along the way. And, of course, Elaine was wonderful company and made the whole experience that much more enjoyable for me.
Well, I'm back in Pokhara now after yet another harrowing 6-hr bus trip from Katmandu. I'll be here for another week or so before heading off to India for a little while, then it's back to USA. I'm looking forward to seeing a little bit of India, but I think I'm looking beyond that, thinking about getting back home. It's been a
Summit of Chumkong Ri
Looking north to the Lohtse Wall. Everest is behind there, out of view from the summit. great trip so far, but the overall fatigue is starting to set in, and I think I've gotten from this experience everything that I wanted. Mostly, I really am looking forward to sinking my teeth into a good, pulled pork BBQ sandwich; something that I'm convinced cannot be obtained anywhere on the planet except for certain locations within the continental US.
Thanks for checking in on me. I hope you enjoy the pictures and video clips.
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