27 FEB 99

Hello from Pokhara. Fiona and I had a change of plans, so now I have one day of Internet access before I head back into the hills.

Two weeks ago, I picked Fiona up from the Kathmandu airport and we spent a day seeing the sights. After our Trekking Permits were ready we took the bus to Pokhara. When we got here the most amazing thing happened. At the bus station we were met by a man holding a sign with my name on it. The guy at the hotel in Kathmandu had called his friend in Pokhara and told him to come get us. I was well impressed.

The bus station in Pokhara was interesting for another reason as well. Outside the station were many touts holding signs for their hotels. Inside the station all of the touts wore blue trousers and white shirts. They were also very polite and once you were claimed by one of them, the others left you alone. It was a very nice first impression of the town.

We went to the Hotel Geo and after I removed the dead roach from the ceiling, Fiona gave the room her approval and we stayed there. We were eager to hit the trail, so we only spent one night in this lakeside town.

On the morning of the 17th of February we hopped on the bus and spent a few hours driving through the hills. We went as far as Nayapul and then started walking. It was a pretty hot day and there was quite a bit of uphill walking. I think some of my fitness from my previous trek remains and I felt quite good. Fiona, on the other hand, while being in good enough shape to trek, was burdened by a very poorly designed backpack. She did not seem to enjoy the day much.

That first night of the trek we stopped in Hille, at about 5,000 feet. I carried Fiona's bag up to our room and in the ten seconds that it was on my back my neck started to hurt. I don't know how she survived the entire day with that thing on her back. We asked the people at the hotel to find a porter for us for the next day.

In the morning, Kala showed up. He was a nice older man who did not speak English. I soon learned to call him bajay. Bajay means grandfather and it is what all of the Nepalese called him on the trail. I enjoyed having him along on our walk and I tried to learn a few basic words each day to broaden our conversations.

Bajay carried the pack on his back for about an hour the next day. Then he decided that it was too painful and switched to the local way of carrying goods. He put a rope around the pack and looped it around his head. Thusly encumbered, we had a hard time keeping up with him.

From Hille, we climbed the 3318 steps to Ulleri and then spent the night in Ghorepani at about 7500 feet. The next morning we started walking at 5:30 so that we could be on top of Poon Hill for sunrise. We got most of the way to the top and took a few pictures of the rising sun on the mountains. The early start and the altitude took a lot out of us, so we just went back down to Ghorepani and had our first rest day. We did such exciting things as washing our socks and registering at the police check post.

From the heights of Ghorepani, we descended to the Kali Gandaki River. We spent the day walking through the Rhododendron forest. Last October a large landslide blocked the river and flooded the town of Tatopani. The water has now receded, but the trail has not been fixed. Within sight of the town, we were forced to climb a very high ridge, and immediately descend the other side. They say the new, river level trail will be blasted through in about three weeks, but we could not wait.

Tatopani, as you can tell from the name, has hot springs. We went and soaked in the hot water for a while. Some children through instant noodles into the water and they cooked pretty quickly. That evening I had a fairly thorough Nepali lesson from some of the men working at the hotel.

The next morning we continued north. Across the river there was a very large landslide and the air was quite dusty. In the middle of the afternoon we entered the Mustang District of Nepal and hurried to Ghasa. For a while it looked like rain, but we were lucky this day. Ghasa was the first place we stayed that had burning coals under the table to keep us warm.

After lunch the next day we entered the upper Kali Gandaki River Valley. For the next several days we walked along a very wide dry riverbed. The trail barely gained altitude for several days, but it was a little difficult walking on the rounded river stones.

At one point we were at the bottom of the world's deepest valley. Mt. Dhaulagiri was on our left and Mt. Annapurna I was on our right. Both mountains tower to well over 26,500 feet and we were walking three and half miles below them at about 8,000 feet. I really enjoyed the several days spent walking along the river valley and looking up at some of the tallest mountains in the world.

After a long day of walking, we arrived in Tukuche (8500 feet above sea level). In the past Tukuche was a trading town and there are still several large warehouses there. It is very windy in Tukuche and all the lodges are built around courtyards to make them a little more pleasant. They also had a nice glass room on the roof that was very warm.

From Tukuche, we made it to Jomsom for lunch. Jomsom is the administrative capital of the region and an army base. Then we walked another few hours and made it to Kagbeni for the evening. They have a very nice fort there, but it started to rain, so I headed back to the lodge. Up until this point we had had very clear mornings with nice views and some clouds in the afternoon.

From Kagbeni, you can continue north if you have a $700 permit, a large trekking staff, and a policeman. Fiona and I had the ten-dollar permit, a trekking staff of one and no police escort, so we were not allowed to continue into the recently opened area of the North Mustang Region.

We left the gently sloping, but incredibly awe-inspiring, valley and headed up to the ridge. We made it to Jharkot for lunch and stopped for the day. Jharkot is at about 11,600 feet and we needed a day to acclimatize. At about one o'clock it started to snow. This was the first time I had ever seen a chicken running around in the snow.

After a short stroll, we spent the afternoon looking out the window and watching the brown countryside turn white. The most amazing part of the experience was the local farmers. They were not about to let a few inches of snow delay their plowing and planting. They had the cows yoked up and were dragging the plow through the white fields and planting seeds. The cows wore bells and the people were singing and it was a really incredible scene.

The next morning was relatively clear, so we continued up to Muktinath. Bajay was looking a little worse for wear. He had had a bit of a headache the night before and was a bit cold. We sent him home and he hurried down the hill. After we paid him the very generous $6 per day, he called us sahib (big boss) and got down on his hands and knees and touched our feet. We were slightly embarrassed by this display.

After lunch we went up to the temple complex. At 12,500 feet, Muktinath is holy to both Hindus and Buddhists. We looked at the temples and the 108 waterspouts. There was no one around to show us into the Jwala Mai Temple, where a jet of natural gas burns.

That afternoon was again taken up by avoiding the snow. We had planned to take the next day as a rest day and just go strolling into the local mountains. Unfortunately, the snow covered all the trails and it did not seem like such a good idea to wander around on the slippery slopes with no idea where the paths were. Instead we descended to Jomsom. I took as much of the weight from Fiona's pack as I could and we started down. I think the pack still bothered her a bit.

Every morning a very strong wind rushes up the Kali Gandaki valley on its way from the Plains of India to the heights of Tibet. On the walk up this wind literally pushed us up the valley. On the way down it was a bit of a struggle. We put on our Gore-Tex and pushed through the strong wind. In Jomsom we found a very nice room with an attached bathroom. At nearly nine dollars it was quite extravagant, but it was time to splash out. The room even had a TV and a remote control. The TV did not work, but still, just the idea. In the high season the room price is $30 per night. Normally, we paid a little over one dollar per night for a double room with a bathroom down the hall or across the courtyard.

This morning we caught a flight from Jomsom back to Pokhara. I sat right behind the pilots and had a great view of the mountains through the cockpit. We had planned to walk back and then go to Annapurna Base Camp, but we figured out that we did not have quite enough time to do this. So, we flew out and will start our walk to ABC tomorrow. We have a new porter, who is much younger and even speaks a bit of English. Tomorrow, the three of us will start our walk and we will finish by the 12th of March.

I now understand why the Jomsom Trek is the most popular in Nepal. It is called the Apple Pie Trek and sure enough, apple pie was available nearly every night. Except for the first few days, the trail is pretty flat and the highest point reached is only 12,500 feet (very low for Nepal). There is an airport near the end, the lodges are well regulated and the food is very good. Walking through the valley was one of the most amazing things I have ever done.

Today has been spent on laundry and Internet, but I am eager to get back into the mountains.

12 FEB 99

Hello from Kathmandu.

After I finally dragged myself away from Pushkar, I headed down to Udaipur. The bus took all day and then I found a very nice room on an island next to the old walled city. Udaipur has a nice palace and a very large tourist ghetto, the first I had seen since Kathmandu. Many restaurants show movies. The only problem was that the videos were filmed in movie theaters, so some times people get up in the middle. The James Bond movie, Octopussy, was filmed in Udaipur so about twenty different places show it every night.

I ran into my friend Gary there. He came down to Udaipur for drum lessons and was still there. It turned out that his favorite place to eat was the one next to my hotel. He was also staying at the hotel that I had originally looked for. Additionally, the place he stayed in Pushkar the year before, was the same one that I liked so much. What a bunch of coincidences. Gary and I went for a walk up to the Monsoon Palace. On the way, three Indian students from the Christian College stopped me and took my picture. They said something about me looking like Jesus.

According to the astrologers and the weather patterns, now is a very good time for Indians to marry. Everyday, many wedding processions march through the streets. They sing and dance. They even have a cart with the DJ. The groom sits on a horse and watches it all.

On the 26th of January, I took a bus to Abu Road, a train to Palanpur in the state of Gujarat and then an overnight train to Bhuj. On the first train, a Muslim man literally hand fed me bananas, oranges, and grapes. There was just no saying no. On the overnight train, I met a bunch of students from the technical school and they taught me a few words from the local language. The train conductor was a Sikh. He had a big beard and turban. He put his turban, jacket and tie on me and put my beard up in his religious way. I got some good pictures that night.

I got to Bhuj on India's Republic Day. I went to the parade and watched the Indians celebrate. I even bought a flag to wave. My favorite part of the parade was when the protesters threw rocks at the police and were then chased away and beaten and shot. I think it was a reenactment of some Indian history. The trained dogs jumping through rings of fire were also pretty good. That evening I went to a concert.

Bhuj does not get many tourists and is pretty laid back. There is really only one guesthouse for us, which makes it pretty easy. Whenever I got lost, which was often, all I had to do was ask any shopkeeper where my hotel was. He would then say "City Guest House" and point me in the right direction. There were about twenty tourists there and it was easy to meet each other around the table each night.

David, a Belgian, and I went to the port of Mandvi for the day. We walked for several hours on the beach, along the Arabian Sea. We eventually arrived at the Maharaja's summer palace. The ruler lost power in 1947, but he still spends one night per month at this oceanside palace. It was decorated in fading 1950's furniture.

The next day was spent getting permission from the police to go to some small local villages. This is another sensitive border region with Pakistan, so we had to fill out some forms and get a few signatures.

Bhuj is in the area known as the Kuch and is surrounded by the big and little Ranns. The Ranns flood every year and the Kuch becomes a large island. In the winter the water recedes and the area is used to evaporate sea water and make salt. I went to the far northern area of the Kuch to a town called Kudra. From there I went to a very small village and looked at some local handicrafts.

I left Bhuj by bus, crossed the Little Rann of Kuch by bus and went to Junagadh. Junagadh has an incredible fort with some of the deepest wells I have ever seen. They also have some very nice mosques and hills. The rickshaws there do not use electric horns. They all use big clown horns which need a good squeeze on the bulb to make a honk. It sounded like a circus to me.

From Junagadh, I took a train and then a horse drawn cart to the island of Diu. Diu was Portugese holding until 1961 when India took it. Now it is a very nice island. It is about three miles wide and seven miles long. It is a bit difficult to get to and out of the way for most tourists, so it is pretty mellow. Most of the shops in Diu Town were usually closed and nobody every hassled me there. I found a nice place to stay out on Nagoa beach and rented a bicycle for the five mile commute to town.

My stomach had bothered me a little up until this point, but after my first meal in Diu, I was really sick. I spent about four days sitting in the hammock and reading. With some more pills, my belly got completely better and it was time to go. I was 70 hours worth of travel time from Kathmandu.

I took an overnight train to Ahmadabaad. I spent the day with a crazy English guy who never shut up. Then I took a two-night, two-day, forty hour train ride to Gorakpur. From there is was a few hours by bus to the Nepal border.

It was great to get back to Nepal. I could feel the difference at the border. The touts were much more laid back and even if you did not give them any money, you could still joke around with them. I spent the next day on the bus to Kathmandu.

It is really nice to be back here. It was a mild winter and the weather is quite warm. I ate dinner in a nice Italian place last night and will spend several days enjoying the vast selection of food in the tourist area of the city. Also, the price of Internet access fell from $6/hour to $3/hour, so I can say all I want to and it does not cost too much.

On Sunday, my friend Fiona arrives from Australia. She will stay for one month and we will go trekking in the mountains. In mid-March my friend Julia will arrive from Germany and we will spend the next month trekking and rafting. In mid-April I hope to do a little more kayaking and am now planning to return to Florida on the 23rd of April.

20 JAN 99

Hello, again, from Pushkar. I can now understand why so many travellers spend so much time here. They sell hot apple pie in the street at night and have plenty of western food. They also have many buffets. The breakfast buffet lasts until afternoon and the dinner buffets feature good Israeli food. There are many restaurants to choose from and also many tea shops. But best of all, plenty of book stores. I have spent most of the last ten days reading books.

I moved to a new Guest House on the lake. I have a good sized bed room and an adjacent sitting room with a table and two chairs. The walls have plenty of nails to hang things and twelve shelves as well. For the first time since the week I spent in Harare, Zimbabwe in January, 1996, I have my own room that I was able to decorate from scratch. I put my books on a bookshelf and completely unpacked my pack and put everything on the shelves. Then I hung my pack on the wall. I have greatly enjoyed the chance to unpack everything and put it away in its own place. It has been nice to be settled, but now it is time to move on.

Pushkar has about 15,000 people and many Indian and foreign tourists. Because it is so holy, it also has many holy men. The Brahmins, one kind of holy man, puts a flower in your hand as you walk by and tells you about a festival at the lake. He then drags you down there and makes some blessings with coconuts, red powder and flowers. After requesting a hefty donation he ties a string around your wrist. This is very useful. When another holy man approaches with his flower, all you have to do is show the string and he leaves pretty quickly.

Some days I hung out at my local eateries and read books. One day I took a walk into the desert and climbed a nearby mountain. Yesterday I went to Achapal. It was a nice morning walk to the temple. I met an Indian family there and they showed me around the place. After they left I explored the very nice valley a bit before returning to Pushkar. I saw many peacocks in the trees. When I scared them by walking past, they flew off. I had never seen them fly before.

One morning a monkey jumped onto the electrical wires and died. The local shopkeepers were upset. Apparently other monkeys had suicided this way and even one peacock, the national bird, met his end in this fashion. The men blocked the street and sat in the middle. They sang a few songs and made a few jokes. Then the police showed up for a chat. After the policeman saw the monkey, the protest broke up peacefully. I think they do this every time an animal dies on the wires in the hope that the wires will be moved.

I also ran into Steve and Sheila here. They are the Australian couple that I met in Nepal in November. We hung out for a few days before they headed to Jodhpur.

A few days ago was the national kite festival day. Kites sell for a few cents each and everybody loads up on twenty or so. Then all the men and boys go up onto the roofs and fly kites all day. Apparently this is not challenging enough for Indians, so they add their own twist. They try to use the string from their kite to cut the string of other kites. One man from my hotel roof was able to cut the strings of seven kites before his was cut. In professional competitions they put ground glass onto the string to help it cut, but this was just a festival for fun. Of course, many of the kites ended up in trees so the trees were covered in paper kites for days.

Many people call me 'Babu'. This means grandfather and they call me this because of my beard. Indians don't grow big beards until they are very old so anyone with a beard must be a grandfather.

It has been interesting to see the many Rajistani men in their traditional dress. They wear very big turbans, a big mustache, nice earrings and a type of cloth wrapped around their waist and legs.

My stomach has not been quite right so I went to a doctor. He diagnosed me with 'Gastritis'. I did not have any change so I ended up paying him $2.50. I filled his prescription for about 15 cents and took his cure. It did not work so today I went to a homeopathic doctor. I also paid him $2.50 for his advice and cure. I just started his natural remedy and will see if it is any better than the western method.

They have a very nice alternative to paper plates and cups here. Disposable cups are made of clay. When you finish your drink you can throw the cup in the street and it is quickly ground down to red dust. Disposable plates are made of molded banana leaves. When those end up in the street the cows and pigs take a break from eating paper and plastic and eat the plate instead.

That is about it for now. I will head down to the state of Gujarat tomorrow and then look for a beach to relax on. Fiona, an Australian friend will meet me in Nepal in the middle of February. Then two German friends will meet me in March, along with two Kiwi friends.

11 JAN 99

Hello from the city of Pushkar in the state of Rajisthan in the country of India. I found a nice cheap Internet place and went there to write a really long account of my recent activities and thought.

After my last update, I went on a camel safari from Jaisalmer. With a Belgian, another American and two Italians and a few Indian guides we got onto our camels and headed for the desert. I quickly learned that camels have one very fascinating habit. They regurgitate their food back into their mouth so that it can be chewed again. In the process some large inflatable organ pops out of their mouth and makes really fun wet blowing sounds.

For the better part of four days we rode the camels and stopped at small desert villages to look at the people. We spent the second night on some small sand dunes and the third night on the roof of our main guides house in his village. We did not go to all of the places we were supposed to and the safari was not worth the nearly eleven dollars per day that it cost. But, it was enjoyable.

The safari finished on the 31st of December. With three Belgians and an American, I went to dinner in the old fort of Jaisalmer. The fort has 99 bastions in its wall and the restaurant we ate in was in one of them. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and climbed up to the roof. At midnight we watched the fireworks over the brightly lit fort and greeted the new year.

I spent the first day of the year eating. I wanted to eat a lot to make up for the camel safari. I also think it is important to spend a day concentrating on eating every once in a while. Between meals, I looked at the havelis. Havelis are several story buildings in the old city that maharajas and rich people used to live in. They have very intricate stone work and and good views. Pretty much this whole state is saturated with great forts and beautiful stone work.

On the second, I took a bus out to the Sam Sand Dunes with the three Belgians. I had loaded up my backpack with three days worth of food because I felt like getting a little exercise. After leaving my friends, I walked for a few hours in the evening, scared a few deer, and then spent the night on some sand dunes.

After a late start the next day, I decided to walk back to Jaisalmer. I walked about 12 miles that day. I saw very few people. I did run into two guys with guns. The guns were about five feet long and about eighty years old. I explained what I was doing and they told me something in Hindi or Rajisthani. That evening I found a dry river bed to sleep in. I had no sleeping mat, so I had to look for a patch of sand each evening. I walked through the desert and avoided the road that day. The ground was mostly sand or hard dirt with very occasional trees and fields.

On the 4th of January, it was very foggy and cold. I set off at about 8:30. I walked for an hour and found the road. After walking from one distance sign to the next I knew which way Jaisalmer was and decided to get away from the road so that the occasional jeeps and trucks would not honk at me. I had lunch and headed back into the deserted desert. I soon came upon my footprints in the sand and wondered how some one with my same shoes had gotten here. I followed the footprints for a few minutes and quickly found my sleeping place from the previous night. The night and morning had been so foggy that I could not see any stars or even the sun to get my bearings. So, after about three hours, I was right back where I had started the day.

Now I was going in the right direction and decided to finish off the rest of the 18 miles this day. By about five in the afternoon I was getting a bit tired, but the hardest part of getting near the city was explaining to all of the rickshaw drivers that I did not want a ride, even for free. I returned to my previous hotel, but could not stay there. They have very cheap rooms and expensive safaris. They are good at selling the safari, but upon your return they are not very friendly and want you to leave as soon as possible. I moved over to Hotel Swastika and spent the night there. The 5th was another eating day.

Khuri was supposed to have bigger sand dunes than the disappointingly small ones at Sam. I took a local bus out there. Khuri was as far as tourists are allowed to go. After that it is a sensitive border area with Pakistan. This is also near the area that India tests its nuclear bombs. I went out to the bigger sand dunes for sunset and saw a bunch more deer. These sand dunes were also not big enough to inspire me to spend a few days on them so I went back to Jaisalmer the next morning.

Before Jaisalmer I had avoided tourist cities pretty well. Here there were quite a few tourists and I wondered why I never saw many in one place. Then I saw a crowd in front of a drinks shop. They were selling marijuana milk shakes (bhang lassi). Now I new how to find the crowds.

The next morning I took a bus to Jodhpur. This is the town that the horse riding pants are named after. Their fort, Mehrangarh, is one of the most impressive I have ever seen. It is on a very high hill and quite large. From the fort you can look down on the old walled city. Nearly all of the houses are painted blue and it was one of the most impressive sights I have seen in India. In the fort museum I looked at some three hundred year old paintings of princes having water gun fights.

As usual, in Jodhpur, I was the most popular man in town. Dozens of people said 'hello' to me as I passed. Quite a few people took me into their homes to give me tea and show me their collections of foreign currency. Most could only say 'hello' and ask my name and country, but some wanted to discuss President Clinton's troubles and ask me what the U.S. is doing in Iraq. Since the Indian Prime Minister is a celibate virgin for religious reasons, the Indians seem to have an especially difficult time understanding Clinton's actions.

Now I am in Pushkar. This is another holy Hindu city, which means no meat or alcohol and plenty of Hindu pilgrims and holy men. This is also one of the most popular places for neo-hippy freaks and Israelis on motorcycles. There are hundreds of travellers here with dredlocked hair and blankets over their heads. The restaurants play rave/techno music and serve nice cakes. Of course, the most popular places are the bhang lassi shops.

Puskhar is a smallish town and has a nice feel to it. Tomorrow I will move into my new hotel with a room over looking the lake and the area where pilgrims take their ritual baths. I expect to stay here for a few days.

I also have a bunch of observations of India to record.

Rajistan is one of the most colorful areas of India. The women wear brightly colored veils and the men have pretty rose earrings. The women's dresses and veils do not prevent them from working on construction sites and carring things on their heads.

In Nepal it was a national pastime to loudly bring up something to spit and send it on its way as often as possible. Here, in India, people don't spit as much, but those who do make up for the others. They put flavored betel nut (pan) into their mouth and suck on that. Then, when they are tired of looking up when the speak so that the bright red juice doesn't leak out, they spit it out onto the street or floor. Needless to say, the color of their teeth suffers from this abuse.

One thing I like about India is the public urinals for men. Here you don't have to look for a shop or a restaurant when you have to go. If you want you can just go up to the nearest wall, but if you can wait a minute they have a special treat. Along many walls, next to the street, they have partitions, just like in a men's room. You can just turn your back to the sidewalk and take care of business.

I have been surviving quite comfortable on about ten dollars per day. Much of that goes towards books and Internet. Rooms are usually two to three dollars per night and food about the same per meal. Buses usually cost about one dollar per hour, which is about 40 miles.

27 DEC 98

On the evening of the 15th, Gary and I took leave of our hotel in Kathmandu. They presented us each with a silk scarf around our necks and a small Bhuddist blessing. Then we took an overnight bus to the Indian border. The next morning we took a rickshaw across the border to catch our new bus. Our rickshaw driver did not stop at either Nepalese or Indian customs and we had to go back and get our passports stamped.

After an all day bus ride, we arrived in Baranas (the city formerly known as Varanasi). Baranas is one of the seven holiest Hindu cities. We spent a few days looking at temples and also went down to the Ganga (the river formerly known as Ganges). They have two areas on the river bank where they cremate people on open fires. Even though they do not burn children, snake bite victims or small pox victims, the demand is so high that burnings take place 24 hours a day. We took a boat ride on the river at sunrise to see all the faithful Hindu pilgrims bathing in the holy waters. We also saw a few Gangatic Dolphin swimming in the very dirty looking river. One evening, we went to a small concert and listened to some traditional Indian music.

After an overnight train journey across the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, we arrived in another one Holy City. In Hardwar we watched some more pilgrims bath in the Ganga River and looked at a few more temples. Gary was also diagnosed with Ameobic Dysentary and started taking some pills.

On Gary's birthday, the 22nd of December, we parted company. He headed off for some tabla (Indian drum) lessons and I went in search of the desert. I went west through the state of Punjab. This is the main area for Seiks, the men with big turbans and beards. Then I went south to the state of Rajistan. Rajistan is a desert state with many camels and old palaces. I spent a few days in Bikaner looking at temples and forts.

Along the way, Gary and I learned that we were too late to see the Dali Lama in Baranas and too early for skiing in Auli.

Now I am in Jaisalmer. I leave on a four day camel safari through the desert tomorrow.

Many people find travel in India very difficult and I can see why. A simple walk down the street usually turns into a meet and greet session with the local population. Most shopkeepers yell "Hello" as you walk by and so do many children and pedestrians. Sometimes it is just a quick hello and a handshake and then I am on my way. Most people know enough English to ask my name and country. Quite a few can continue our conversation to the point of asking if I am married and what my opinion of Bill Clinton is. At some point most of them make their request for money, pens, or my business. I enjoy talking to people, but the fact that about 95% of conversations end with some sort of request from me does get a little bit old.

There are some great people and places in India, but you need a bit of a thick hide to be able to enjoy it fully. Also, the cities are very crowded and very polluted. I am looking forward to riding a camel through the desert for a few days and getting away out of the cities.

I am planning to see a few more cities in Rajistan and then head south to the state of Gujarat. I will work my way down the west coast of India until I run out of time and head back up to Nepal. I hope to return there by mid-February.

13 Dec 98

I just finished a very enjoyable few days learning to kayak. On the 9th, Gary and I went out to the Seti River and met Dan and Richard. Along with Min, Suko, and Anil (our guides) we headed down the river. We spent three nights camping alongside the river next to the jungle. We also spent the better part of four days getting thrashed about in the river. I learned quite a bit and would like a chance to practice a bit more sometime.

On the first day we learned a few basics and went through some small rapids. The second day I learned to roll the kayak in flat water and ended up swimming after wrecking in a few rapids. The third day I nearly perfected my kayak rolling technique and survived most of the rapids without an emergency ejection from my upsidedown kayak. On one memorable rapid, I ended up upside down and tried to roll back over. That did not work. Then I felt a big bump. I thought it was my guide coming to rescue me. My guide would bump the side of my boat with his so that I could grab his boat and turn myself over. After a moment I realized that the hard bump I had felt was not on the side of my boat, but was on the back of my head. At this point I decided that I was being pounded by rocks, and not being rescued. At that point I decided I would be better off swimming the rest of the rapid with my head above water, so I got out of the kayak and enjoyed my swim.

On the final day, I amazed my guides and myself by rolling my kayak upright after being overturned in some rapids. On the next rapid, I was again over turned and able to right myself without any help. None of the other people in my class were able to roll very well and apparently very few people learn how to do it in the first few days. I think because I open my eyes underwater I was able to be more comfortable sitting in a kayak and blowing bubbles. All four of us ended up swimming through the next two rapids. I tried to roll back over, but the waves were just too big and I got nowhere. I told my guide that I could roll easily in flat water, but found it much more difficult in rough water. On the next rapid he told to practice rolling again. So, with great trust in his judgment of the depth of the water in the rapid, I rolled my self upside down as we entered the rapid. I rolled back upright and, at his urging, rolled again in the rapid. This went well, so I tried a third roll. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get my head above water again, I ended up pulling out and swimming.

Now Gary and I are in Kathmandu again. Tomorrow we head down to India. Our first stop will be Varanasi. It is a holy city for Hindus and we will spend a few days seeing the sights. Then we will try to find this skiing place he heard about in the Indian Himalayas.

Some more observations from my trek -

Language - On several occasions I was surprised to be addressed in Spanish by Nepalese people. It turns out that the words for 'what' (que) and 'goodbye' (hasta) are the same in both languages. They also have quite a few other words in common, but with different meanings. Both Spanish and Nepali have no 'V' sound and use 'B' instead. Also, they don't have many words that start with an 'S' sound. They both use the 'Es' sound, so Steve becomes Esteve.

Porters - In warm weather they wear no shoes or flip-flops. In cold weather they usually have some tennis shoes. The trail is littered with broken flip-flops.

6 DEC 98

Hello from Katmandu. I have just returned from a very enjoyable five week walk through eastern Nepal and will now bore you with the details.

Day 0 - Gary and I went to the bus station for our five o'clock bus. We had to buy three seats, one for each of us and one for our bags. The seat barely fit the two of us so our bags ended up in the aisle. We were near the front of the bus so people tripped over our bags all day, but no one seemed to mind. After a while a chicken found the floor beneath me comfortable and rested there for most of the day. Later, a woman with no seat got tired of holding her baby and plopped him down on Gary's lap.

In the late afternoon we arrived in Jiri, the end of the road, and found a place to stay. We got a nice double room for about five cents each.

Day 1 - Jiri is at about 6,000 feet above sea level. We spent the morning climbing to nearly 8,000 feet and then went down to a little under 6,000 feet before climbing back up to nearly 10,000 feet to spend the night. The last bit of the climb was very tiring and I had to take many rest breaks. I quickly discovered that walking in Nepal involves a lot of up and down. It seems that the river valleys all run north south, while the trail we were on ran east west. The Nepalese don't grow much facial hair and my beard proved to be quite popular. I pulled a couple of hairs out and chased the children around the schoolyard for a few minutes before continuing.

Day 2 - After spending the night on the cold mountain pass, we headed down the valley to about 5,000 feet. At this point we were below our starting point. After lunch we started climbing again. At a little over 8,000 feet we spent the night in Sete.

Day 3 - We spent the morning climbing to about 11,500 feet. There was a nice little place to eat at the top of the Lamjura pass. I had my first, and best, bowl of Sherpa Stew. It had potatoes, vegetables, and dumplings in it. Sherpa Stew is made of whatever ingredients were available at the time and is always different. After lunch, we walked through a foggy forest and came to the prayer flags at the high point of the pass. Then we started down the other side. Along the way a little girl fell on the path and hurt her leg. I tried to help her lift her basket, but it was too heavy for me to lift. She did not want us to help her get to the nearby lodge, so we ended up having to leave her there. Eventually, I got to Junbesi, at about 8,500 feet, and spent the night.

Day 4 - From Junbesi, we crossed the river and started up the next hill. After a while, we came around the hill and had our first few of Mt. Everest and a few of her neighbors. Then, after a descent to the river, we climbed up the next ridge. From there it was a several hour descent to Nuntala. I ended up in the middle of a small group of porters for about half-an-hour. I decided that their language sounded like Italian with a little bit of Chinese thrown in.

I arrived in Nuntala well before four and still had a lot of energy left. I ended up playing with the kids. First we climbed a wall and the little ones told me that their names were Tenzing Norgay Sherpa. He was one of the first two people to climb Mt. Everest. Then I lined all the kids up on the wall and gave them a lecture. I was doing well, even if they did not understand me, until a man on a horse came by. He was still training the horse. When the horse came by the kids all ran after it until it left town. I joined them. When the horse returned it threw the rider and he seemed a bit upset. After a while, he got the horse under control again and hopped back on. The horse immediately threw him again and his shoe went flying away. This time he saw the humor and the whole town laughed with him. Later, I declined his offer to ride the horse.

The kids and I went to play in the schoolyard for a while and then, when they got out of control, I ran into the lodge to escape. They would not follow me in there and I had a nice peaceful dinner while they ran up and down the street making noise.

Day 5 - From Nuntala we went down the hill until we were at 5,000 feet again. After a break by the river, we started up the next hill. We arrived at Bupsa early and decided to push on. We were skirting up and around a ridge and a fog rolled in. It proved to be a long walk to the next town and we both got very hungry. We each ended up buying a Snicker bar for well over a dollar. I arrived at the Beehive Lodge in Puiyan well after five. The owner had two daughters and I kept them riled up and noisy until nine. This did not go over too well since most trekkers are in bed by seven. It was Halloween, but no trick-or-treaters ever came to lodge. I don't know why.

Day 6 - Three Americans who had been on the same pace as us for the last few days told me that I was a nice guy, as long as there were no kids around. From Puiyan we were now headed north, towards the mountains and away from the foothills that we had been in so far. After lunch we joined the trail from the airport and the trek changed dramatically. Up to this point we had seen a few people going the other direction each day and about 15 or so going in our direction. After the airport, we saw hundreds of people.

The lodges got much fancier and we ended up paying nearly a dollar for our room that night in Phakding. Also, the people got much older. Many retired Japanese, Americans and Germans fly into Lukla and do only a four or five day walk into the mountains.

At around seven that night a few of us decided to stay up until at least eight. We got a deck of cards, but nobody could think of a game. We ended up inventing the game as we went along. The British people were good at making up silly rules, but the German woman was slow to catch on. Near eight, she asked if this was an English game and said it was very confusing.

I was kept up much of the night by the rat that sounded like it was eating the bottom of the leg of my bed.

Day 7 - For the first hour we had to push through large crowds of porters, yaks and large, slow groups of tourists. Eventually we left them behind and entered the Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park. Up until this point we had been walking through villages and fields. Now we were in a park and the villages thinned out. After a nice walk along the river, we came to a flimsy bridge. The bridge, one of many of this type along the trek, was a suspension bridge with a wooden floor. Wherever the wood had rotted away, large rocks were placed to prevent the yaks (and people?) from poking through.

After a very difficult climb, we came to Namche Bazaar. At well over 11,000 feet it is the gateway to the mountains for all of the trekkers. As a major tourist center, it contained gear shops, bakeries, many lodges, a high altitude sauna, a visitor center, an airport, a hotel with pressurized rooms, a pool hall, a disco, and many trinket shops.

We found a lodge and settled in. Our neighbors turned out to be a Buddhist Lama and a few disciples. They burned incense and played their trumpets and drums very loudly. Luckily, after several straight hours, they stopped for the night.

Day 8 - Namche had been our goal for the first week. Here we took our first acclimatization day. When going into high altitude places it is important to go slowly and allow your body time to adjust. We climbed up the ridge behind town and went to a viewpoint. We sat on the ground and looked at the mountains for a while. Then we went back down to Namche and ate lunch. Then, I made the biggest mistake of the whole trip. I took a shower.

They boiled up the water, put it in the bucket and carried it out to the shed. The water came out of a real shower nozzle and was warm enough, but other than that it was rough. The shed let in the cold breeze and the concrete floor drained my body heat through my feet. Despite the trickle of hot water, I was soon shivering. I went back to my room, put on all my clothes and got in my sleeping bag to recover. I lost my voice for a little while and got a fever and a small cold. I vowed not to shower again until the outside air temperature was more hospitable.

Day 9 - I left about ten pounds of worthless junk that I had been carrying in Namche and had a much easier time walking. We went up to the monastery in Tengpoche and saw the monks practicing for the upcoming festival. We continued on to Devuche to spend the night.

Day 10 - We continued our climb up to Dingboche. We got there early and I was pleased to discover that they had a large selection of books and were willing to trade them. We took an afternoon stroll up the ridge and then settled around the yak-dung fire in the evening.

Day 11 - Here we took our second acclimatization day. We were now near 14,000 feet and our bodies needed another chance to adjust. We took a day hike up a very steep hill to well over 16,000 feet. We sat there and acclimated while looking at the view for a while and then went back down to Dingboche for the night.

Day 12 - Gary had come up here to climb the 21,000+ foot Island Peak. He headed off to his climb and I went up to Lobuje. I spent the coldest night of the whole trek here, at around 16,000 feet. My water bottle froze next to me and I spent much of the night shivering. I realized that my aging synthetic sleeping bag might not be up to the task of really, really cold nights. For the next week, which I would spend at an altitude well above Colorado, I slept in all of my clothes every night.

Day 13 - I took a nice two-hour stroll up the moraine and over the glacier to Gorak Shep. I had a long lunch and around noon I started up Kala Pattar. Kala Pattar is a hill that tops out at a little over 18,000 feet above sea level. It is a good viewpoint to look at Everest, Everest Base Camp, Pumori, Lhotse, many other mountains, and over into Tibet. I spent an hour and a half sitting up there and looking at the views. Then I went back down to Lobuje for the night.

There was a British military climbing expedition in the lodge. They had been trying to climb Pumori, but after a few avalanches took out their base camp they decided to come off the mountain. They were a great group of guys and had many good stories to tell.

A Spanish woman lost feeling in the left half of her face and her arm. Dr. Hugh, from the British group, went out and got her a Gamow Bag. They put her in it and inflated it to the air pressure of around 11,000 feet. After an hour, she was feeling better and at nine p.m. she headed down the mountain to the doctors at Pheriche. Dr. Hugh then went on to tell us about the 13 deaths in three weeks he had come into contact with up there. Almost all of them were from altitude sickness. Mostly it is twenty-something year olds who go too high too fast and don't properly acclimatize. They ignore the warning signs, push on, and die.

The British expedition was, in part, sponsored by Mars Candy and they passed out Mars bars before heading out to their tents for the night.

Day 14 - I slept late and then read a book while I waited for Mei, a Chinese woman I was going to walk with for a few days. She spent the previous night up at Gorak Shep so I had to wait for her to come down. Then, after lunch, we walked down the valley a little ways and then headed over the ridge. We walked for a few hours and spent the night in Dzongla.

Day 15 - We continued up the mountain to the Cho La pass at around 18,000 feet. We had some great views and then had to walk across a glacier for a little ways. After a rest near the prayer flags, we headed down into the next valley. There were no villages up this high, but there was a guy with a blanket spread out and candy and tea for sale. He had a little radio and sat in the middle of nowhere waiting for some business. By late afternoon we had followed the valley down to the town of Tauna.

Day 16 - We had a bit of a slow start because we only had a two hour walk ahead of us to Gokyo, down at 15,500 feet. We had to cross a very large glacier after about twenty minutes. Half way across we sat down and stayed for over two hours. It was too amazing to continue. The glacier was pretty flat and covered with rocks and boulders and lakes. We sat next to a frozen lake with steep sides. As the sun heated up the lake, the covering of ice broke up. Also the rocks embedded in the walls broke loose and fell onto the ice or into the lake. The sounds were incredible. It was the best concert I have ever heard. The little and big rock falls and the creaking of the ice had us mesmerized for hours.

Eventually, we continued on to Gokyo and had lunch. In the middle of the afternoon we headed up Gokyo Ri, a small hill with more excellent mountain views. We climbed up to around 17,500 feet and watched the sunset on Everest. Then we went back down to our lodge, the Gokyo Resort. They even had a glass enclosed lounge room and pizza. It was very expensive. A double room cost nearly three dollars. It is a very popular place and was quite crowded.

Day 17 - Mei had to head back down the valley and I took a walk up the valley. Gokyo is on the third lake in a series and I took two hours to walk up to the fifth glacial lake. I went to Scoundrel's View. It is called this because it is one of the best views of Everest, and all you have to do is climb the moraine (pile of rocks next to a glacier). It is easy to get to and one of the best viewpoints. Then I skirted around the fifth lake and climbed the hill behind it. I sat up on the mountain for a few hours and then went back down to Gokyo.

This area above Gokyo was the most impressive of the whole trip and I wish I had had a tent. I would love to have spent a week up there climbing up every hill and valley.

That night I met Tom. Tom is a retired Army Ranger mountaineering specialist medic. About six months after he retired he got itchy feet and started walking. Now, almost seven years later, he has walked most of the way around the world, including 18 months across Russia, four months through China, and across Laos, Cambodia, and the Nulibor Plain in Australia. He had planned to walk around the world in six years, but is having too much fun to hurry.

Day 18 - Tom had just crossed the Renjo Pass the day before and when he saw the number of people in Gokyo he was appalled. He decided to head back across the pass. I had been questioning him about the pass the night before and he invited me along for the day. Another American, Erik, joined us and we headed over the pass. It was a tiring climb up to the nearly 18,000 foot pass, but the view from the top was great. We looked down the valley, across the blue lake, over the glacier, over a mountain and right at Everest. At the top of the pass we met one of the only other trekkers we would see the whole day.

Going down into the next valley was difficult because the path was steep and rocky. At the bottom we skirted a lake and headed down a long sloping valley. We passed a bunch of yaks and continued on to a small stone house. Shepards live in the house in the summer, but now it is empty. We moved in and slept on the floor.

This day was a bit like an adventure because we saw almost nobody and did not sleep in a lodge.

Day 19 - After breakfast we continued down the valley and came to the main trading route between Tibet and this part of Nepal. At times the trail was wide enough for a car, if one could have been flown up here. It was a hard decision to turn down the valley and deeper into Nepal. We were only a day away from the Tibetan border. There were a few Tibetans on the trail leading there yaks back to Tibet.

We got to the town of Thami for a late lunch. Many Nepali Sherpas who lead expeditions up mountains use the money they earn to open lodges in Thami. It was one of the nicest towns on the whole trek and the first town in a long time that was not there solely for the trekkers.

I was supposed to meet Gary back in Namche that night so, in the late afternoon I headed down the valley some more. Tom and Erik went up to the monastery to spend the night. I had a nice walk through many villages. I was now down below 12,000 feet and the thicker atmosphere and easy downhill grade made me feel very strong. For the first time the whole trip I was able to walk up the small hills briskly, without losing my breath.

I got back to Namche and was so pumped up from the last three days that it was half an hour before I could even sit down.

Day 20 - Gary had had an excellent climb, but now had a bit of a cold. We decided to have a rest day. We went to the pizza place and I ate a couple of pizzas and chocolate cake and a bit more food. Then we went down to where the Tibetens were camped and looked at the stuff they were selling. They did not speak any English, but they were very friendly.

Day 21 - The second phase of our walk was now over. We had walked to Namche. Then we had walked above Namche. Now it was time to walk back out. There is a big hill leading down from Namche and in the 45 minutes it took to get down I passed many of my rest stops from two weeks earlier. I was amazed that some of them were only a few minutes apart on the descent, but thirty minutes apart on the climb.

We stopped for some soup at the park entrance and my friend Mike showed up. I had not seen him since I left Kathmandu. Our meeting in Namche never happened and now he was on his way down to the airport in Lukla. Later, I ate some steamed potato dumplings for lunch. I walked with Meghan, another Trek America guide, for about an hour or two. In Phakding we took a break and I asked her if she felt alright. Then I ran into the toilet and lost a lot of liquid out my backside and a little out my head. It was my first case of food poisoning for the trip.

It was a very long couple of hours to our night stop and I thought many times of hiring a porter to carry my pack, which was again way too heavy with the junk I had left in Namche. I got to the lodge, sat down and then ran outside to loose a lot of liquid out my front and a little out my back. I went to sleep early, without dinner.

Day 22 - I did not have much breakfast and felt a bit weak. Also, it was our first day of rain. I put on my rain gear and off we went. By about one we got back to the Beehive Lodge in Puiyan and decided to call it a day. I ate a big lunch and was over my food poisoning. I read a book until the girls got home from school and then riled them up until their parents yelled at them. That night was a big meteor shower that we had been anticipating for the whole trip. All we saw were clouds.

Day 23 - It was still raining. We walked all morning and in Bupsa had lunch. We again decided to stop for the day.

Day 24 - We had walked into the Solo Khumbu region from the west and were planning to walk out to the east. Bupsa was the place where we left the track we had come in on and headed east. We went up the ridge and ran into three trekkers who told us how great the trail ahead was. We noticed one big difference right away. The road from Jiri to Namche is a major highway. Porters are carrying in beer, water, soda, food, toilet paper, mattresses, and nearly every thing else that is used by the locals and tourists. Now we were off the main highway and saw almost no one else. We walked to the town of Sebuche and spent the night as the only tourists in town.

At one point we heard a couple of booms off in the distance. We found out later that it was a plane crash.

Day 25 - We went down the river, at about 6,000 feet, and then continued up to Najidingma, at about 9,000 feet. We met six trekkers going the other way and four going our way. We stayed in a house built of bamboo mats and some sort of ferret like animal ran through the ceiling all night.

Day 26 - We went over a little 10,000 foot pass and went down to Bung. We were now in the Makalu-Barun Conservation Area and saw many improvments. They had very nice cement water faucets outside. The entrance fee was obviously doing the locals some good. I paid the $15 for my park pass and signed the book. I was the 396th trekker to pass through Bung this year.

Day 27 - We trekked down through the millet fields to a river and then up to Gudel. Gary, the two Australians we were with (Shiela and Steve) and I all agreed that this was one of the most beautiful sections of the whole trek. We all wanted to move there. We continued up the valley to Sanam and had the first bit of yogurt in several weeks. At one point we passed a school and the three teachers came out to ask for money. I gave about $1.50 and am now a benefactor of the school. I even got to sign a book. Then I went in and taught class for a few minutes before it was time to walk some more.

Day 28 - Sheila and Gary were a bit sick from the previous nights dinner. We passed a group of trekkers headed the other way and then got up to the 11,000 foot pass. Now, except for the last day, we were done walking up. Even though it would take three days to get to the river, we were headed down into the Arun Valley. We walked down to Jaubari and spent the night in our most primitave lodge yet. Lodges have one big room with a row of benches around the edge. Up until this point we had slept in seperate private rooms or dormatories at high altitudes. Now the benches were our beds. Normally the family sleeps there, but since we were paying about four cents each, we got to sleep up there. There was room left over for the children, but the adults got the floor. After everyone was in bed, one of the girls let off a really loud fart. Gary and I pretended to be asleep, but everyone else laughed alot.

Day 29 - We continued following the river in a side valley down towards the Arun Valley. We were now in Nepal's most fertile area and there was a lot of agriculture. People were selling oranges and tangerines on the side of the trail. It was nice to snack on some fruit as I walked. We also stopped for a swim in the river.

At the end of the day I came around a bend and realized I was in a jungle. The village of Gothe Bazzar consisted of fewer than ten houses, but the houses were all on stilts and made of bamboo. The children all ran around mostly naked and we slept outside on a sort of porch. The place looked like something you would expect to see in Vietnam or Thailand. I ate the first banana of my adult life here. It was very good.

Day 30 - After a few hours walk I realized that I had food poisoning again. I threw up a bunch and then stumbelled through the next few hours. By late afternoon all the bad stuff was out and I felt better. I ran into a police man from Namche and we walked together for a while. Then I met the lodge owners kid from the next village coming home from school. This was not the first time that I helped a kid practice his english and then learned that his family's lodge is the only one in the next town. So, I got to play with Nabin all evening. In Balawa Besi I had a good time talking to Nabin's family. We also met one other trekker going the other way.

Day 31 - We finally got to see the mighty Arun River. The little stream that we had started next two a few days earlier had grown and grown until it flowed into the Arun. We crossed the Arun on a big bridge after paying the two cent toll. Then we followed the river for a while and then went up a small ridge. At the top we came to a plataeu that was four miles long and perfectly flat. For the first time in a month I was able to walk for more than five minutes with out going up or down. The locals were so excited about the plataeu that they have brought in bicycles. We spent the night in Tulmingtar. Tulmingtar has an airport so we saw about ten other trekkers there. Sheila and I went to the airport to watch the plane land. They sounded a siren to scare away the livestock and let people know that a plane was coming. A large trail bisects the runway and it would be easy to get caught out. Some other people were obviously there for the first time and ran away scared when the plane started up its engines.

Then there was an earthquake. Sheila and I were sitting on the edge of a building and we felt it shake. But, it was a pretty mild one and no damage was done.

Day 32 - Sheila and Gary were not feeling too well again so we opted for another rest day. We walked about an hour down to a tributary of the Arun and spent a few hours sitting on the beach and swimming in the water. Then we went back to Tulmingtar.

As we waited for dinner, a woman near us started crying. Then a big group of men came by. They were carrying two bodies wrapped in plastic and hung from poles like game animals. They dumped the bodies on the side of the trail and came into our restaurant for some tea. After a while they picked up the bodies and headed off to the big town up the hill. Apparently, the night before, some robbers broke into an old man's house and took about $30,000. The old man killed one with his knife and then was shot.

Day 33 - We went back down to the Arun and continued down stream for the rest of the day. The temperature was finally perfect for hiking, if you enjoy hot jungles like I do. The others were complaining about the heat, but it felt good to walk in shorts and drip sweat. We were now well under 700 feet above sea level. Very few trekkers use this trail and there were no tourist lodges along the way. We spent this night in a small lodge that caters to porters going up and down the valley. Gary walks faster than me and I was not able to catch up to him this day. Actually he kept walking faster than me and I never saw him again until Kathmandu.

Day 34 - Sheila, Steve, and I continued south along the river to Mangmaya. They had a little place that sold sweets, so we spent the night. I asked for the toilet and they said "River Toilet". I went down there but it was like a mine field. I guess the river has not risen to clean the banks recently. A couple of Dutch trekkers caught up to us and the five of us spent the night in another porter lodge. I spent the afternoon reading a book by the river.

Day 35 - The end of our trek was a little over 5,000 feet above us. All we had to do was walk up one last hill. By about two p.m. we were four miles from the end. They were building a road there and we saw the first car since Jiri. Sheila got the Colonel in charge of building the road to give us a ride the rest of the way. We spent the night in Hile.

The walking was over and all that was left was to get back to Kathmandu.

The next day we sat on the roof of the bus for the three hour journey to the next biggest town. Sheila and Steve don't like to take overnight buses in Asia because the drivers often fall asleep, so we bought bus tickets to take us half way back to Kathmandu. From Dahnkuta we rode the bus until a little before seven p.m. Then we got off a small town. For dinner we ate some small birds, sauteed in garlic. They were very tasty. We slept in a room that looked liked a converted garage and slapped mosquitoes all night while bed bugs bit us. On the 2nd of December we finished our bus ride back to the capital. After all those weeks being able to see views one hundred miles away, it was nice to be able to see the air only a few feet away. Also, for the first time in over a month, I was able to sit on a toilet instead of squat. The angles seemed all wrong, but it worked in the end.