Hana Hawaii
Monday, June 30, 2008
June 30, 2007
As a diversion from the heart of Nepal, I needed to make a quick announcement! Today is John and I's ONE year wedding anniversary!! I can not believe that a year has flewn by so fast! Happy Reamer Day to my Reamer! What an amazing year full of lots of love, adventure and amazing memories! I can't wait for the year ahead!
Hana Hawaii
Hana Hawaii
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Nepal Part 3
May 12, 2008
Tengboche, Nepal
9:00 pm
**another entry from the old travel journal
Today I am grateful for hand sanitizer and my precautionary Pepto bismol chaser I take before each meal. As we move higher and closer to Everest, societies' luxuries begin to break down and crumble. Lights only work part of the time and toilets are 100% non-exsistant up here. I never realized how wonderful and such a treasure having running water and a toilet truly is. I will never take advantage of it again! In fact, I am quite certain that as soon as I get home I am going to hug our toilet. I miss it so!
Our tea the past few days has been made of rain water taken from a barrel placed under the rain gutter of the roof. All other water is hauled up from the river on the backs of young porters. No pipes, just nature is giving us our water. Such a strange thing that all of our water at home comes to us through pipes and yet it is normal. It seems in some sort of instinctual way it should be the opposite, water from the river and rain should seem more correct.
.. As for the dreaded toilet subject, yes I am going to talk about it.. I will try to keep it as sanitary as possible in my explination.. quite unlike the conditions. The "toilets" up here consist of a slab of concrete in the floor with a hole in the middle. There is a porcelain piece with two places one on each side of the hole to stand on and then squat to do your business. I had no idea how this strange contraption worked at first so I would sit on it to pee... gross and disgusting I realize.. but what is a girl to do? After a couple of days of getting really tired of having to sanitize my butt each and every time I had to pee (please note the "I"m grateful for.." up above and the vast amounts of water I have been taking in noted in another entry), I figured out how to squat. This ritual included taking one shoe off in order to carefully take one of my legs out of my pants and balance without getting my now shoeless foot anywhere near the hole or the ground around it, then squatting doing my business and carefully doing the ritual again in reverse finishing with a grand finale of a huge amount of hand sanitizer. The bathroom is horribly stinky as all the [toilet] paper products can not go down the hole but has to be thrown away in a large garbage barrel that sits in the room and is only emptied every once in awhile. The smell is enough to swallow you, so you also have to do the ritual discussed above while holding your breath. I can balance, hold my breath, not get my feet dirty and squat all at the same time.. who knew? I have had to go el numero dos (#2) for a couple of days now, however not quite knowing how that ritual works yet, I am holding off for now! This proves to be the hardest part of our journey. Luckily we have not gotten sick (thank you again Pepto!) but I can only imagine what a nightmare many of these poor food poisoned people are going through! I am certain that my little pink pills are saving me from this fate at this point! It is not that the food is bad, it is just different, prepared different and our stomachs aren't use to it! We are not eating any meat or cheese (Yak meat and Nak cheese just isn't sounding so good), we have been living off of soup and toast.. and potatoes, at least for the first couple of days. Lets just say, I will not be eating potatoes for quite some time when I get home!
In Kathmaudu, Geljen told me to "drink like horse, pee like elephant," this I have been doing and then I have to pee starting only about an hour into the walk, but I hold it as long as I can until I am about to pee my pants before I venture to the nearest hole. ok, enough about holes..
The walking is difficult being either straight upor straight down, however the view and the scenery is so jaw dropping beautiful that even the toughest of walks is an incredibly good adventure. Birds sing, ravens cackle, the river gushes below and the wind bustles around me like it is rush hour in New York. Best of all though is the lucky moment when the clouds part to reveal the most amazing peaks. John and I both stop in our tracks and stare up in amazement each and every time! It is simply incredible! There are heart shaped rocks that are all over the ground up here, literally thousands of them that go for miles. I have been filling my pockets daily with these little treasures and then have to narrow down my selection on which ones I can bring home to my heart rock collector mom and then release the hearts back to the mountain in the morning! I am convinced with all of the hearts everywhere that this is a sacred place. Today John and I saw our first glimpse of Mount Everest!! We just saw the very top floating in the clouds! What a pitter patter moment! I have a feeling we are going to bore everyone with our thousands of pictures when we get home!
Yesterday was Mother's Day and with the 12 hour ahead time difference I was able to call my momma on Mother's Day evening in SLC. I have been emotional lately and had to really hold it together while I was on the phone not to cry! I miss my family, Ebi, friends and home. This amazing adventure is so incredible and is making me appreciate my home and family so much more! I really miss everything that encompasses HOME! I need my support team and crew! Anyway, so I got to call on Mother's Day from a sherpa lady's kitchen at 7am (not Mothers Day in Nepal) while she was cooking breakfast over a fire for her children. It was a surreal moment to contemplate where I was standing and where I was calling and me being caught in a time warp somewhere in between.
Ama Dablam
Everest
Tengboche, Nepal
9:00 pm
**another entry from the old travel journal
Today I am grateful for hand sanitizer and my precautionary Pepto bismol chaser I take before each meal. As we move higher and closer to Everest, societies' luxuries begin to break down and crumble. Lights only work part of the time and toilets are 100% non-exsistant up here. I never realized how wonderful and such a treasure having running water and a toilet truly is. I will never take advantage of it again! In fact, I am quite certain that as soon as I get home I am going to hug our toilet. I miss it so!
Our tea the past few days has been made of rain water taken from a barrel placed under the rain gutter of the roof. All other water is hauled up from the river on the backs of young porters. No pipes, just nature is giving us our water. Such a strange thing that all of our water at home comes to us through pipes and yet it is normal. It seems in some sort of instinctual way it should be the opposite, water from the river and rain should seem more correct.
.. As for the dreaded toilet subject, yes I am going to talk about it.. I will try to keep it as sanitary as possible in my explination.. quite unlike the conditions. The "toilets" up here consist of a slab of concrete in the floor with a hole in the middle. There is a porcelain piece with two places one on each side of the hole to stand on and then squat to do your business. I had no idea how this strange contraption worked at first so I would sit on it to pee... gross and disgusting I realize.. but what is a girl to do? After a couple of days of getting really tired of having to sanitize my butt each and every time I had to pee (please note the "I"m grateful for.." up above and the vast amounts of water I have been taking in noted in another entry), I figured out how to squat. This ritual included taking one shoe off in order to carefully take one of my legs out of my pants and balance without getting my now shoeless foot anywhere near the hole or the ground around it, then squatting doing my business and carefully doing the ritual again in reverse finishing with a grand finale of a huge amount of hand sanitizer. The bathroom is horribly stinky as all the [toilet] paper products can not go down the hole but has to be thrown away in a large garbage barrel that sits in the room and is only emptied every once in awhile. The smell is enough to swallow you, so you also have to do the ritual discussed above while holding your breath. I can balance, hold my breath, not get my feet dirty and squat all at the same time.. who knew? I have had to go el numero dos (#2) for a couple of days now, however not quite knowing how that ritual works yet, I am holding off for now! This proves to be the hardest part of our journey. Luckily we have not gotten sick (thank you again Pepto!) but I can only imagine what a nightmare many of these poor food poisoned people are going through! I am certain that my little pink pills are saving me from this fate at this point! It is not that the food is bad, it is just different, prepared different and our stomachs aren't use to it! We are not eating any meat or cheese (Yak meat and Nak cheese just isn't sounding so good), we have been living off of soup and toast.. and potatoes, at least for the first couple of days. Lets just say, I will not be eating potatoes for quite some time when I get home!
In Kathmaudu, Geljen told me to "drink like horse, pee like elephant," this I have been doing and then I have to pee starting only about an hour into the walk, but I hold it as long as I can until I am about to pee my pants before I venture to the nearest hole. ok, enough about holes..
The walking is difficult being either straight upor straight down, however the view and the scenery is so jaw dropping beautiful that even the toughest of walks is an incredibly good adventure. Birds sing, ravens cackle, the river gushes below and the wind bustles around me like it is rush hour in New York. Best of all though is the lucky moment when the clouds part to reveal the most amazing peaks. John and I both stop in our tracks and stare up in amazement each and every time! It is simply incredible! There are heart shaped rocks that are all over the ground up here, literally thousands of them that go for miles. I have been filling my pockets daily with these little treasures and then have to narrow down my selection on which ones I can bring home to my heart rock collector mom and then release the hearts back to the mountain in the morning! I am convinced with all of the hearts everywhere that this is a sacred place. Today John and I saw our first glimpse of Mount Everest!! We just saw the very top floating in the clouds! What a pitter patter moment! I have a feeling we are going to bore everyone with our thousands of pictures when we get home!
Yesterday was Mother's Day and with the 12 hour ahead time difference I was able to call my momma on Mother's Day evening in SLC. I have been emotional lately and had to really hold it together while I was on the phone not to cry! I miss my family, Ebi, friends and home. This amazing adventure is so incredible and is making me appreciate my home and family so much more! I really miss everything that encompasses HOME! I need my support team and crew! Anyway, so I got to call on Mother's Day from a sherpa lady's kitchen at 7am (not Mothers Day in Nepal) while she was cooking breakfast over a fire for her children. It was a surreal moment to contemplate where I was standing and where I was calling and me being caught in a time warp somewhere in between.
Ama Dablam
Everest
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Nepal Part 2
May 11, 2008
6:10 AM
Thame, Nepal
**another entry from the travel journal!
Good Early Morning from Thame!
Early morning and early nights are our usual routine here. We usually get up at about 6 am, pack and get "cleaned up".. meaning wipe off with a moist towelette, put some lotion on, comb our greasy hair and head down for tea and toast at 7:30 and start hiking at 8 am. We walk until about 10 am when we stop for tea and then stop again at 12 for lunch. I am hardly ever hungry, I am on such a spread out eating schedule at home, but Lhapka insists that we eat something often! Between all of the food and the liters and liters of water and tea, food is forced down into an already full stomach! After lunch we continue on to our destination, rest for a couple of hours in our small lodge room and then head down to the dining hall at 6pm. It seems strange that I am so much like a machine in this world dominated by wild places and nature. My body-like machine parts on a strict conveyor belt system of practice, discapline and efficiency. Sleep, pack, wash, eat, walk, drink, pee, eat, drink, walk, pee, drink, drink, drink, walk, walk, walk, walk, drink, drink, drink, drink, eat, sleep, pee, sleep. This is my day. I am a robot moving through the wilderness.
The lodges are all set up in the same fashion, a dining hall with small tables and benches framing the room. A long hall of very small rooms with lovely mountain views and two double beds. The rooms are constructed out of plywood and are bare except for one open bulb light. The rooms seem private but in fact you can hear every noise and word that comes out of your neighbors mouth through the single plywood walls. With only two small double beds John is on one side of the room, me on the other.. since we haven't showered for days.. this may not be a bad idea. The bed in the room next door is pushed up to the other side of the wall where my bed is.. I feel as if I am cuddling with a strange person.. usually an older man that loves to snore. With the high altitude every one snores.. everyone but me that is. Since most of the trekkers and adventurers in this region are men.. snoring concertos are extremely loud, lodge wide and usually occur all evening except for short periods when a particular snore bunny gets up for one of the many pee visists to the communal bathroom that is common practice for all us trekkers that drink a minimum of 3 liters of water a day on the mountain.
As for personal hygiene, I have not taken a shower since May 6 in Kathmandu. There are only a few showers on the trail.. we have not run into one yet. When we do, I am excited to wash off my body but it is not the same as a real shower. I still will not be able to wash my hair for fear that my body temp will drop dramatically with long wet hair that may not dry and will not be able to rise back up.. hypothermia and illness are the last things I need out here. Dirty seems like a better option. I am trying to keep my hair as clean as possible by keeping it tied back in a braided bun at all times. It is as clean as it could possibly be, but you can imagine with all of the walking that sweat mess is bound to occur. Gross! The hair in my armpits and on my legs has grown to a embarrassing length.. good thing I can only wear pants here! I just try not to think about it or look at it. A shower has to be up the mountain somewhere and for now the hair has to stay! I also have acquired a nasty rash in my arm pits and on my legs as a result of an allergy to a component, sulfa, in my altitude medication! The rash is a series of raised bumps and sores.. it is highly uncomfortable, itchy and getting more and more painful by the day. Yet with all of these endurance tests, my spirits are high and my adventure is great! I feel brave and bold on our endeavor and wake up excited for a new day each day! Only 13 more days until I get to wash my hair... good God that is a long time..
So today we are in Thama staying at our friend Apa's lodge (fitting titled) "The Everest Summiteer" (have I mentioned that Apa holds the world record for most summits of Mount Everest.. 17.. going for 18 in a few days!?) In Thame we rested yesterday and visited the Thame monestary for tea with the Llama Reincarnate and to watch a prayer session. Then we visited the small Thame school. Many children walk for miles and miles every day for the opportunity to go to school. School is every day all day Sunday - Friday. They only get Saturdays off as a holiday day. The school is made up of a series of small one room buildings that have no heat, no insulation and no lights. Yet the rooms are filled with colorful art and lessons, maps, pictures of a human eyes labeled in both English and Nepali. The rooms seem inviting with support and learning in such harsh conditions. Today we are lucky enough to get to go back to the school to take pictures of the kids before our walk to Kumjun. We also have the treat of walking with both Apa and Lhapka today. Apa is a celebrity up here, it is so nice to see him in his element. He seems so minature in comparrison to his massive oponents yet he is so strong and brave as he runs up his mountains. Every few feet we meet someone that either wants to shake Apa's hand, wish him good fortune on his climb, or that knows him and invites him in for tea, beer or rakshe (black tea and whiskey). Today Apa heads for base camp.. we are all thinking good thoughts for his climb.. for now... I better go get ready!
Nepal Family
My New Dear Friend
Thame School
Walking Through the Mist
Ancient Adventure
6:10 AM
Thame, Nepal
**another entry from the travel journal!
Good Early Morning from Thame!
Early morning and early nights are our usual routine here. We usually get up at about 6 am, pack and get "cleaned up".. meaning wipe off with a moist towelette, put some lotion on, comb our greasy hair and head down for tea and toast at 7:30 and start hiking at 8 am. We walk until about 10 am when we stop for tea and then stop again at 12 for lunch. I am hardly ever hungry, I am on such a spread out eating schedule at home, but Lhapka insists that we eat something often! Between all of the food and the liters and liters of water and tea, food is forced down into an already full stomach! After lunch we continue on to our destination, rest for a couple of hours in our small lodge room and then head down to the dining hall at 6pm. It seems strange that I am so much like a machine in this world dominated by wild places and nature. My body-like machine parts on a strict conveyor belt system of practice, discapline and efficiency. Sleep, pack, wash, eat, walk, drink, pee, eat, drink, walk, pee, drink, drink, drink, walk, walk, walk, walk, drink, drink, drink, drink, eat, sleep, pee, sleep. This is my day. I am a robot moving through the wilderness.
The lodges are all set up in the same fashion, a dining hall with small tables and benches framing the room. A long hall of very small rooms with lovely mountain views and two double beds. The rooms are constructed out of plywood and are bare except for one open bulb light. The rooms seem private but in fact you can hear every noise and word that comes out of your neighbors mouth through the single plywood walls. With only two small double beds John is on one side of the room, me on the other.. since we haven't showered for days.. this may not be a bad idea. The bed in the room next door is pushed up to the other side of the wall where my bed is.. I feel as if I am cuddling with a strange person.. usually an older man that loves to snore. With the high altitude every one snores.. everyone but me that is. Since most of the trekkers and adventurers in this region are men.. snoring concertos are extremely loud, lodge wide and usually occur all evening except for short periods when a particular snore bunny gets up for one of the many pee visists to the communal bathroom that is common practice for all us trekkers that drink a minimum of 3 liters of water a day on the mountain.
As for personal hygiene, I have not taken a shower since May 6 in Kathmandu. There are only a few showers on the trail.. we have not run into one yet. When we do, I am excited to wash off my body but it is not the same as a real shower. I still will not be able to wash my hair for fear that my body temp will drop dramatically with long wet hair that may not dry and will not be able to rise back up.. hypothermia and illness are the last things I need out here. Dirty seems like a better option. I am trying to keep my hair as clean as possible by keeping it tied back in a braided bun at all times. It is as clean as it could possibly be, but you can imagine with all of the walking that sweat mess is bound to occur. Gross! The hair in my armpits and on my legs has grown to a embarrassing length.. good thing I can only wear pants here! I just try not to think about it or look at it. A shower has to be up the mountain somewhere and for now the hair has to stay! I also have acquired a nasty rash in my arm pits and on my legs as a result of an allergy to a component, sulfa, in my altitude medication! The rash is a series of raised bumps and sores.. it is highly uncomfortable, itchy and getting more and more painful by the day. Yet with all of these endurance tests, my spirits are high and my adventure is great! I feel brave and bold on our endeavor and wake up excited for a new day each day! Only 13 more days until I get to wash my hair... good God that is a long time..
So today we are in Thama staying at our friend Apa's lodge (fitting titled) "The Everest Summiteer" (have I mentioned that Apa holds the world record for most summits of Mount Everest.. 17.. going for 18 in a few days!?) In Thame we rested yesterday and visited the Thame monestary for tea with the Llama Reincarnate and to watch a prayer session. Then we visited the small Thame school. Many children walk for miles and miles every day for the opportunity to go to school. School is every day all day Sunday - Friday. They only get Saturdays off as a holiday day. The school is made up of a series of small one room buildings that have no heat, no insulation and no lights. Yet the rooms are filled with colorful art and lessons, maps, pictures of a human eyes labeled in both English and Nepali. The rooms seem inviting with support and learning in such harsh conditions. Today we are lucky enough to get to go back to the school to take pictures of the kids before our walk to Kumjun. We also have the treat of walking with both Apa and Lhapka today. Apa is a celebrity up here, it is so nice to see him in his element. He seems so minature in comparrison to his massive oponents yet he is so strong and brave as he runs up his mountains. Every few feet we meet someone that either wants to shake Apa's hand, wish him good fortune on his climb, or that knows him and invites him in for tea, beer or rakshe (black tea and whiskey). Today Apa heads for base camp.. we are all thinking good thoughts for his climb.. for now... I better go get ready!
Nepal Family
My New Dear Friend
Thame School
Walking Through the Mist
Ancient Adventure
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Nepal Part 1
* I have decided that I am going to record a select few of my journal entries to go along with the images. This is mostly for us... but if you are not to bored, feel free to take a read!
May 6, 2008
7:11 pm
Padking, Nepal
Yesterday we arrived in Kathmandu. The airport was old and raw, hard times were clearly visable on the exposed brick. To our relief all of our bags made it safely into our hands. We were so happy to see them after not laying eyes on our bags since SLC, three plane rides and one day later. We were rushed through the visa line, then customs and then were literally pushed out into the humid Kathmandu air. It instantly began to rain, then hail, then more monsoon force rain. After searching hundreds of faces pressed to the glass at the arrivals gate we spotted our guide, Geljen holding a sign "John and Annie Ream." Geljen quickly grabbed us - yelled in Nepali for the people to leave us alone and went for a car. The rain continued to shower down on the pavement as we shoved our bags and ourselves into a small car.
They drive on the right here, the steering wheel is on the right, that was unexpected! There are also no street lights, no traffic lanes.. it is a free for all and the bravest car with the loudest horn wins. We were on all sides of the road, back and forth, back and forth to get wherever we were going even faster. I personally didn't understand the hurry but what a moment- terror and fun all at the same time! Mix in inches of rain, no defrost in the car and poor windshield wipers and you have yourself a rollercoaster of fun. Our driver had only a cloth as his defense to wipe off the water and steam from the windshield. Most of the time he was steering blind through the choatic streets. Kathmandu is a strange, rough and raw city. It speaks of better times now literally crumbling with the buildings. Life looks hard here for these people and I can't help but feel so lucky for being born in the situation I was. A family to love and care for me, food, shelter an education - things so precious and yet so taken advantage of back home. Little children beg. People lie in the streets. Dogs and cows roam in and out of the heavy traffic. It feels like a war of survival and it seems only the roads and the sacred cows are winning. The city smells wild. A mix between animals, dirt, car exhaust, crumbling concrete dust and rotting buildings penetrate my nose. It doesn't stink, it just smells strange and old, like an old book that's been dropped in a puddle and walked over for a hundred years.
This place is loud! Hindu Music blasts and blares from windows, horns honk - thousands of them, people yelling, laughing and talking. I am grateful we have Geljen navigating us through the city, this experience would have been much scarier without him!
In Kathmandu with our bag!
The very large Kathmandu Valley
This morning we left our hotel at 5:30 am to go back to the airport to catch our plane to Lukla. I woke up early this morning to take a shower and while the warm water streamed down my face I said goodbye to showers for a while! I have a feeling I am going to miss this!
Once again the airport was crazy, but more so today! The airport opens at 6 am, with the first flight (our flight) leaving at 6:15 am. You can imagine the 15 minute panic. Today we leave Geljen and depart with our guide Lhakpa, his wife and his young daughter. Everyone runs nervously around as we are pushed (again literally) from one line to another. The women in one group of lines, the men in another. From there we are pushed out onto the runway in a bus and into a very small 19 seat plane. This is by far the smallest plane I have ever been in and my heart races as we take off. "do a good job, do a good job!"
Early Morning Plane Ride to Lukla
in the 19 seater plane
After about a 25 minute ride through the mountains we arrive in Lukla. Lukla is a small village perched on the side of the rugged Himalayas. I can not believe that we are finally here!! The crisp and sweet air smells of rain and onions. The cool morning mountain air tickles my cheeks and bare arms. We leave the runway and make our way to a giant chain linked fence wrapped with barb wire. On our side, guides and travelers, on the other.. hundreds of porters looking for work. Lhakpa picks two. One porter, very small grabs John and I's two giant duffles and begins to lug them up a steep trail that connects the airport to the village. After a cup of tea, we begin our trek..
Lukla Airport
The trail is lovely! High on the side of the mountains, it meanders through green pine trees and furs. It strikes me just how far away from EVERYTHING we are! This trail is literally the only way in and the only way out! The remoteness is amazing and incredible. There are NO Roads, NO cars, only feet, houses and yaks. Everything here has to be packed in. Packed in on the backs of porters, young and old men and women and yaks. Everything I see man made is the result of feet and backs. Toilets, lights, glass, plywood, food! All is packed in in woven baskets. We keep seeing two porters carrying some sort of electronic equipment we assume is going to base camp. They have to stop every 100 feet or so to rest from the heavy load crushing their backs. I am saddened and hate that I am participating in this apparent human explotation. That is all I can say now about that.. Besides this, the walk is beautiful! We walk through villages and see people gardening, children playing and men chipping at rocks to build structures and houses. John has been giving the children candy and making lots of new young friends! Our experience so far is amazing!
May 6, 2008
7:11 pm
Padking, Nepal
Yesterday we arrived in Kathmandu. The airport was old and raw, hard times were clearly visable on the exposed brick. To our relief all of our bags made it safely into our hands. We were so happy to see them after not laying eyes on our bags since SLC, three plane rides and one day later. We were rushed through the visa line, then customs and then were literally pushed out into the humid Kathmandu air. It instantly began to rain, then hail, then more monsoon force rain. After searching hundreds of faces pressed to the glass at the arrivals gate we spotted our guide, Geljen holding a sign "John and Annie Ream." Geljen quickly grabbed us - yelled in Nepali for the people to leave us alone and went for a car. The rain continued to shower down on the pavement as we shoved our bags and ourselves into a small car.
They drive on the right here, the steering wheel is on the right, that was unexpected! There are also no street lights, no traffic lanes.. it is a free for all and the bravest car with the loudest horn wins. We were on all sides of the road, back and forth, back and forth to get wherever we were going even faster. I personally didn't understand the hurry but what a moment- terror and fun all at the same time! Mix in inches of rain, no defrost in the car and poor windshield wipers and you have yourself a rollercoaster of fun. Our driver had only a cloth as his defense to wipe off the water and steam from the windshield. Most of the time he was steering blind through the choatic streets. Kathmandu is a strange, rough and raw city. It speaks of better times now literally crumbling with the buildings. Life looks hard here for these people and I can't help but feel so lucky for being born in the situation I was. A family to love and care for me, food, shelter an education - things so precious and yet so taken advantage of back home. Little children beg. People lie in the streets. Dogs and cows roam in and out of the heavy traffic. It feels like a war of survival and it seems only the roads and the sacred cows are winning. The city smells wild. A mix between animals, dirt, car exhaust, crumbling concrete dust and rotting buildings penetrate my nose. It doesn't stink, it just smells strange and old, like an old book that's been dropped in a puddle and walked over for a hundred years.
This place is loud! Hindu Music blasts and blares from windows, horns honk - thousands of them, people yelling, laughing and talking. I am grateful we have Geljen navigating us through the city, this experience would have been much scarier without him!
In Kathmandu with our bag!
The very large Kathmandu Valley
This morning we left our hotel at 5:30 am to go back to the airport to catch our plane to Lukla. I woke up early this morning to take a shower and while the warm water streamed down my face I said goodbye to showers for a while! I have a feeling I am going to miss this!
Once again the airport was crazy, but more so today! The airport opens at 6 am, with the first flight (our flight) leaving at 6:15 am. You can imagine the 15 minute panic. Today we leave Geljen and depart with our guide Lhakpa, his wife and his young daughter. Everyone runs nervously around as we are pushed (again literally) from one line to another. The women in one group of lines, the men in another. From there we are pushed out onto the runway in a bus and into a very small 19 seat plane. This is by far the smallest plane I have ever been in and my heart races as we take off. "do a good job, do a good job!"
Early Morning Plane Ride to Lukla
in the 19 seater plane
After about a 25 minute ride through the mountains we arrive in Lukla. Lukla is a small village perched on the side of the rugged Himalayas. I can not believe that we are finally here!! The crisp and sweet air smells of rain and onions. The cool morning mountain air tickles my cheeks and bare arms. We leave the runway and make our way to a giant chain linked fence wrapped with barb wire. On our side, guides and travelers, on the other.. hundreds of porters looking for work. Lhakpa picks two. One porter, very small grabs John and I's two giant duffles and begins to lug them up a steep trail that connects the airport to the village. After a cup of tea, we begin our trek..
Lukla Airport
The trail is lovely! High on the side of the mountains, it meanders through green pine trees and furs. It strikes me just how far away from EVERYTHING we are! This trail is literally the only way in and the only way out! The remoteness is amazing and incredible. There are NO Roads, NO cars, only feet, houses and yaks. Everything here has to be packed in. Packed in on the backs of porters, young and old men and women and yaks. Everything I see man made is the result of feet and backs. Toilets, lights, glass, plywood, food! All is packed in in woven baskets. We keep seeing two porters carrying some sort of electronic equipment we assume is going to base camp. They have to stop every 100 feet or so to rest from the heavy load crushing their backs. I am saddened and hate that I am participating in this apparent human explotation. That is all I can say now about that.. Besides this, the walk is beautiful! We walk through villages and see people gardening, children playing and men chipping at rocks to build structures and houses. John has been giving the children candy and making lots of new young friends! Our experience so far is amazing!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sweet Buckwheat
We are back from our amazing adventure!! We had such a wonderful time! Throughout the next few days I will be highlighting our trip. We took over 2400 pictures, so we are still in the process of going through them all! It is going to take awhile!
First I need to address some very sad news. While we were gone my bird Buckwheat very unexpectedly died. This is a very tragic loss. In memory of my unique soul of a pet, I wanted to attach some pictures of BW. I loved my bird very very much and am very sad that she is gone.
Thank you to my parents for taking care of her so well this past year when she lived with them (our apartment did not allow noisy birds) and for being there to take care of her throughout her last days. I know this was very hard and sad for you and I am so sorry I wasn't there. Thank you for everything!
Buckwheat, this is for you..
First I need to address some very sad news. While we were gone my bird Buckwheat very unexpectedly died. This is a very tragic loss. In memory of my unique soul of a pet, I wanted to attach some pictures of BW. I loved my bird very very much and am very sad that she is gone.
Thank you to my parents for taking care of her so well this past year when she lived with them (our apartment did not allow noisy birds) and for being there to take care of her throughout her last days. I know this was very hard and sad for you and I am so sorry I wasn't there. Thank you for everything!
Buckwheat, this is for you..
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