Wednesday, December 31, 2008

So you decided to go walking. Again. What are you doing?

Rolwaling trek + peak bag + Namche to Jiri, terrible maps at: http://www.caingram.info/CD-Browser/Maps/rolwaling.htm. Michael + Francesca + Anthony + Chhiritheguide + various awesome Porters. On our own after Namche.

December 8 Emergency Evacuation Positions!!!!
Got picked up this morning in The Nirus shiny, expensive new Tata. It's a friggin' truck it is. The man is doing very well and truly deserves it all. The bus to Barabise was eerily comfortable. Driving through the outskirts of Kathmandu was not. The poor animals that are forced to live in this dump with these people. Whom, honestly, I can't say if I feel sorry for them or not. Not that they care, why should they? I feel sorry for the waterways though, having to double as a river and a waste dumb must blow pretty hard. After a pretty great Daal Bhaat, Chhiri announced we would be taking a "maybe four hours" bus ride to save what we thought was a three hour walk. Yeah. And wow. That bus ride. There are places where there really should not be a road. That was definitely one of them, far too narrow and sheer drops for a long way on the down side. The roof was packed and most uncomfortable. Driver left part of the bus on the road side about three times. And then the road got worse. Got to a town I can't remember the name of and made camp right in the middle. Francesca and two of the porters had lost their head torches from their packs to a light-fingered so-and-so. Oh, we have Binod, Hem and Hira again, plus three new porters: Dipak (cousin of The Niru), Bramod (younger brother of The Binod) and Surya (former porter of The Tony). Binod is now just a cook so is privileged enough not to have to carry. Except the eggs. Which there seems an abundance of... Heard Bishnu's daughter is sick, hope all is ok. I think the town made us an offering, and I think we did the same back. It resulted in some super fun, if slightly awkward, dancing around the fire with the town drunk proving to be a joy and then some. First day of Rolwaling trek, no walking. Oh, some kids were mimicking us talking, so we tried to teach them "You're gonna give the company to Eeeeewick!". Fail.


December 9 The Most Amazing Sandwich In All The World.
Walking up most of today towards TinSang La. Gained about 800m, which is 300 short of the pass, Chhiri wanted to stop. I mean, it was 2:30. Chhiri days end consistently about there, but it was a nice campsite and they busted out the toilet tent we asked not to bother with (come on...). Saw the town drunk this morning, yeah he was still drunk. Outstanding. Lunch was pretty special. This sandwich. Ok. Imagine. Brown de-crusted bread, lightly toasted. Spanish onion, lightly sauteed. Yak cheese, slightly melted. And Peanut Butter. Together. Sure, it sounds awful. Sure, it's barely half as good as I remember it to be. But it was the most amazing sandwich. In all the world. Then. Some kids were hanging around, as they do, and (no word of a lie) this old lady just walked over yelling at them, bends over, picks up a big handful of fresh Yak shat and hurls it at them. Then follows up with rocks. Outstanding. Simply outstanding.


December 10 Meeting At 12.
Got to the top of TinSang at about 9. You get a fairly good view of the ridge line that forms Nepal's border with China to the north and the murky brown haze that is the Northern Indian plains to the South, so it's pretty special. Nice forest, very nice actually, lovely walking. Except they're pushing a road through here as well. As sort of expected, we crossed paths with The Tony about 10:30, just in time for lunch. That was really nice actually. Got to Bigu Gompa and camped at a school (strangely, no loiterers). Didn't bother with the Gompa, played volleyball with the porters instead, so fun. Hira was so into it. My height ruled all. Not really.


December 11 Happy As Can Be.
Solid day of walking high up a river valley, feeling good. Loads of mandarine breaks. Lovely. Got to Ladruk, another splendid location but terrible site. On a lumpy, pointy, crap covered dry rice paddy. Pretty hot today, but perfect at night, especially when you have a late night rest break under the full moon under a clear sky with village lights on the other side of the valley to keep you company. Gorgeous. Had a pretty good dinner, this Yak cheese deep fried cake thing was so rich and intense and amazing. Got a star junior loiterer. He was marvellous, will go on to much bigger things.


December 12 I'll Tell You When We Get There.
Really nice and surprisingly flat morning through some Maoist ravaged areas. Afternoon was hot and very up and down. Staying tonight in Jagat, which is a nice little village in a pretty nice valley. It has been interesting to see how the kids ask for things differently in the different valleys from "pen?", to "give me pen?", "give me your pen?", "hello pen?", "give my pen?", to the current "this is my pen?". Whoever teaches these kids English, and to beg, is a disgrace. We met a group of Koreans who are attempting Gaurishankar, seven of them, forty porters, thirty days, 7135m summit, technical winter climbing. They seem a little underdone but have balls for certainly. Hope they summit. We have another 'porter', Ganesh, who apparently is also Nirus top guide. He's a really nice guy, but this is a interesting if not confusing development. Could potentially change the nature of the rest of this trek. We shall see.

December 13 Sigh, You'd Better Get Me The Pentagon... Now!
Rather cold this morning. This valley floor would get no more than five hours of direct sunlight a day. Walked along the river all morning, afternoon was a easier than expected but sweaty 700m climb straight up the side of the valley. Had a sugar cane sucking break which was grand. Simigaon is a really nice village and the start of the restricted zone. On the way up here got to see first hand how the Nepali's blast a road, not pretty, this one is going to China, so more useless toys and poor quality plastic products can be trucked down. It seems instead of the three porter loads we were supposed to get we got only two and no porters to carry, the loads have been spread amongst the porters and considering what we've eaten and some things we no longer needed it's no extra weight for them. We lose three porters up higher, we will be struggling for food if we get stuck in bad weather up there, so hopefully not. I suspect Ganesh is here to get us to Namche in the number of days we've paid for (we were going to take a few extra days, for various reasons), so that's fair enough, I suppose. Had a killer sunset and Binod made us a cake (how?). A whole cake intended for three after another massive dinner was always going to lead to me overfilling myself. Again. We took out about half. Porter cake.

December 14 The Unexpected Ice Caught Alvin Unawares As He Overtook Alice (Quite Unnecessarily, I Might Add).
It's 7pm and damn cold, but it's another beautiful night and we're camped about ten metres from the Rolwaling Khola (river) so can't complain. Nice walking up through the forest, it's all up for a few days now. Pretty quiet as most of the locals have left for the winter and we don't expect to see any other trekkers till Namche. Had pizza for lunch, a lovely surprise. Saw no sun all day on the shady side of the valley. Were going to camp at Riverside Kharka, which is not on the riverside, it's 200m above, to the side of the river, hence the name (ohhhhh), instead walked another 45 minutes to where we are now, which is really nice. Potato cakes have made a reappearance, this boy is killing me.

December 15 Ahh To Rest These Weary Extremities.
No, I feel good actually. Cannot trust these Nepali brand maps though, apparently we climbed 1000m today, felt like 200 but we are at 3700m. No idea. Walked along the river all day and got to Beding way earlier than expected. Only a few people left here but loads of goats and some yak about. Getting cold, too cold to wash. Currently 3km south of China and loving Bradley Hathaway's poetry more than ever.

December 16 Oh Man, It's Everywhere.
So last night was great fun. Woke about 11:30 to really bad stomach cramps and at about midnight decided to try and vomit, sat up and burped a massive sulphurous burp, which is never good, there was about a half a second period where all seemed well then, (still in the tent remember) the vomit came. I tried to hold it in my mouth but there was more than that, sort of into the hand but the tent, mattress, my sleeping bag, clothes, it went everywhere. Managed to transfer most of it to a plastic bag and sat there whimpering and panicking for a couple of minutes, not knowing what to do. I mopped most of it up and put the vomity clothes outside. Fell back into a brief, uncomfortable and paranoid sleep but stomach cramps and gassyness returned after a half hour or so. If you haven't had sulphurous burps, let me tell you they blow horribly. Then the diarrhoea started. And the rest of the night goes as follows: sleep 15 minutes, stomach cramps, go outside, sulphurous burps, watery shat, and repeat. Got up about dawn to clean, which was almost 100% successful considering limited resources and below zero temperatures, but I'm still banished to this tent for a while yet. And turns out the abandoned farm's paddock I was using as a bathroom and disposal site wasn't so abandoned (oooops). The luckily only four hour walk to Na was torture but a (short) afternoon relaxing in the sun was magic. Washed my clothes again, but vomit can be a stubborn stench. Ate practically nothing, despite another stellar day of Binod cooking. Feeling a little better now, hopefully a good night sleep cures all. I am so sick of getting sick in this country. Camped at 4200m.

December 17 Turn This Landscape Upside Down.
Feeling better today, but very weakened, which is amplified by the altitude. Struggled. Still managed the side trip out to Dudh Pokhari (Milk Lake). Gorgeous, murky lake almost completely surrounded by mountains at 4800m. It was a pretty awful morainey walk to and from though, not much fun, then a slog up the natural dam wall of Lake Tsho Rolpa which I somehow managed in one hit. Easy (thankfully) walk below the lake to our campsite at 4700. I have no appetite still.

December 18 Damn These Pants And Their Saggy Crotch, At Least Be A Target.
Today was a slog up to 5200, back down to 4900 then far too long walking up, down, left, up, across, up, down, etc on the disgraceful moraine covered Takarding Glacier. One of the more exhausting days of my life. No surprises when we hit the campsite, trash everywhere as usual. Tables, shoes, food, glass, whatever. Tent site is like a bath made out of sharp rocks. Woeful. No wind and a lot warmer than is to be expected at 5000m+

December 19 Don't Believe A Word He Says, That Fucker's No Martyr.
Hem, Hira and Bramod left us this morning, sad to see them go. Especially Hem, the original porter. Finally got off the glacier, had a very steep, in some places near on vertical, climb up to the next section at 5300. Was quite fun actually, Ganesh got stuck on one section, hilarious. The porters were impressive as always with their awkward loads and Chhiri is half mountain goat for sure. On to another , the Drolambau, at least this one is halfway clean (meaning ice without the moraine topping). Camped on a morainey part again. This is about where Sir Ed saw his Yeti footprints and the pass we attempt tomorrow he claimed was the most difficult he'd ever done. Thankfully, glaciers move, it's now just a lump. Have a slight altitude headache that should be gone tomorrow. Feeling good.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Oh yeah, It's the month.

December 1 Damn 500m Contour Lines.
The map we have is proving to be quite painful, having 500m contour lines is useless, especially in Nepal. Me and Anthony thought today would be flattish. No. Still, we're quite fit now and it really wasn't too bad. It's just when you slog up to a ridge line and Chhiri points across the new valley to the town we're staying at it's a little disheartening. Down, down, down, then back up, up, up. Binod whipped out his best effort yet though, soup, chicken, potato cake, fresh veg and pasta. All of it was stellar. So ridiculously and consistently full in a country where half the population is starving. Yes, I feel like a massive asshole. And it tastes good too. Oh, at lunch I got 542, the best three Yahtzee game score ever. And broke the 200 barrier on chronological. In consecutive games. Yes.


December 2 Why Bob Geldof Hates Me.
Today's walking was fairly easy, going through some very picturesque towns. It's quite hot down here during the day, close to 30. At least it feels like that. Pretty humid too, considering it's winter. Darbang though (town where we're camped), the road comes here. It's a hole. I'm not exaggerating, the change is immediate and very drastic. Road less side of the bridge the town is really nice, other side is filthy and most stores sell worthless Chinese plastic products. Heaps of kids "Give me pen" "Give me sweets". Damn annoying. Today we passed a school and a teacher literally jumped out of the bushes onto the trail in front of us waving his donation book. Far out. Had to push past and tried to explain to Chhiri why we probably come across as assholes whenever we get asked to give money. We realise we have more money than most of these people can dream of, I mean the cost of my flight here alone could build a couple of mansions in the upper class suburbs of Kath, but if we gave to everyone who demanded it, well we can't. I can't. And I honestly don't want to, I'm not here to save the world I just want to see it. He told us some very interesting things about donations, Sadhus, begging (he refers to it as the begging industry) and Indians. Very interesting.


December 3 Yeah Good Timing
Missed out on the massive last night feast and party cause I had some lame 12 hour virus or something. Felt awful walking this afternoon. Although it might have something to do with all the food we get given and me passing nothing for whatever reason (yes, you needed to know that). So yeah, I missed out on all the stellar food. Couldn't sleep (luckily Anthony couldn't either) and finally at about midnight decided to bite the bullet and make myself vomit as my stomach was trying to punch through my skin. Best decision I ever made.


December 4 Start Angry, End Mad.
Last day of this trek! Exciting times. Only a two hour walk to Beni which is a bit nicer than I expected. Although had to walk through some of the worst towns to get here. Saw our first fellow tourists in over a week. Hard to believe we've been in Nepal a month already. Have heard no news at all since leaving Sydney, except I think Obama won. Currently killing time in a bhatti with Chhiri and the porters before a potentially brutal 12-16 hour bus trip back to Kathmandu. Watching woeful Indian movies and had a disappointingly cold shower. All the porters dressed up for the last day, where they had these clothes I'll never know. Bishnu looks like a gangster and Hem even got a haircut. Actually the porters have all been beyond amazing and are so fast and damn strong. Except Bishnu, who operates on Bishnu time. Love him. I cannot fault a thing Chhiri has done either, especially during the Tilicho debacle. He's a stellar companion as well. And does more for us than we will ever realise. We learned we will likely have the same porters for Rolwoling as well which is perfect.

The night bus turned out to be quite an experience. I had a full zen battery to drain which made time pass a little easier. The first six hours or so passed as quickly as they could but the seat was damn uncomfortable and Anthony's bottle was slowly draining it's contents all over it via a pin hole leak. We stopped for a Daal Bhaat that I shouldn't have eaten, stomach started cramping again. No fun. The porters had laid the mats out on the roof to sleep the remainder of the trip away. Best idea ever, we decided to join them. Sleeping bag, mat, roof of a bus, comfortable enough. Better than inside at least. After about two hours the cramps were becoming unbearable and I spent some time whimpering, buried in my bag. I think the bus broke down or something but it had stopped and that's all I cared, I flew off the roof and force vomited for the second time in two days (and my life), climbed back up and slept like a baby until we arrived in Kath at about dawn. Magic. Later on whatever virus I've had claimed it's final victory over me and I committed the ultimate shame. But I will say no more about that.

No, I'm not Michael Willie (that's not how you spell it but you know who I mean).

November 26 You Mean Up There?
Got up bright and early for our 1200m or so climb up the seldom (maybe thrice only) climbed Tashi Kang. It was a slog to the base and I was already dying (at 5000+ remember). Made it to about 6100m before exhaustion and the altitude won the battle. I barely could walk up another step. It was easy climbing though, a snow plod on good, firm snow. But 1200m is a big ask. Anthony was feeling a bit better and Chhiri is unstoppable they managed to reach the 6386m summit while I happily waited eating my little piece of chocolate and ducking wind gusts. It was a magic view from where I was and I'm no mountaineer so not topping was not an issue for me. Made really good time coming back down but it was still super tiring. Then we reached the bottom of French Pass. The porters had moved camp for us to the other side. At sea level it would take twenty minutes to get there. At our altitude maybe forty-five minutes. In our (even Chhiri by now) condition it took about two hours to go up 150m across 100 and down 30. The top of the pass was amazingly beautiful though. With Dhaulagiri there in all it's massive, lumpy, fat, 8167m glory. It is truly an imposingly beautiful piece of mountain. The campsite was on a spectacular, yet horribly uncomfortable piece of land. Pretty happy with today. Getting used to the cold too.

November 27 That's Not A Cairn, That's A Carefully Stacked Pile Of Rocks.
Spent basically all day walking on the Chhomburdan Glacier which runs along the Western side of Dhaulagiri. Not easy going, glaciers never really are, especially when covered in moraine. The main Dhaulagigi Base Camp is the filthy, rubbish littered trash hole you come to expect at major peak BC's. We're camped at the old Japanese BC, right in the middle of the glacier with avalanches and rockfalls constantly providing entertainment to the east of us. Cloud completely filled the valley by about three so the weather tomorrow could be interesting.

November 28 Relax You, Welcome You.
Weather no problem. Actually other than that one day over in Tilicho the weather has been perfect. Really settled this time of year and not unbearably cold. Took about an hour to finally get off the glacier this morning. Very happy, glacier walking is so very up, down, across, back, up, across, down, up, back, up. As we moved away from the terminal face the valley closed in around us and you begin to feel like you're somewhere so far from where you just were. The track got a bit dodgy crossing some landfall areas, across another glacier and up a massive moraine wall. Got to the old Italian BC pretty early (it's VERY Italian and confusingly, a long way from Dhaul, no idea) and relaxed in the sun eating and doing nothing. Chhiri won all the porters money in cards I think. We've piked out of our other climb as the approach would be a slog and a pain, it would be a 2000m in one day climb and is likely technical way beyond our abilities. So Tsaurabong remains unclimbed, it's all yours.

November 29 Oh, Trees!
After about a week above the treeline we're out of snow and into trees again. After a week without a wash, we're halfway clean again. Have a few extra days so we told Chhiri to just take the days as he and the porters want to. So we only walked for about four hours. Got to a magic little campsite in an tiny seasonally abandoned village. Spent the evening between a fire and a stream eating, drinking and chatting. Good times. Got appetite back big time (you kind of lose it at higher altitude). Feels like we're done but still five days to go.

Found out later that was where a porter died of illness on an Adventure Geo Treks trip earlier in the year. The helicopters only help tourists, so his body had to be carried to the road end.

November 30 Well You're Not Going To Avoid Every Thorn Bush...
More of the same today, walking down through the forest. Easy enough. The valley has widened significantly and there are some massive waterfalls. Saw the first people outside our group in four days. Had some Nettle soup at lunch, tastes like nothing and I just don't trust it. Staying a school in Bagar. Binod got to resupply so back to over generous meals again (although can't complain about the previous weeks effort). The towns in this valley don't see many tourists so the locals are more curious than savvy. Although the kids go home, tell their parents about us, get told to ask for pens, chocolate, sweets, money, and come back doing so. Which is a shame. I don't know who these tourists are with packs full of chocolate and pens, but you're not helping anyone. Turning Nepal into another state of India. Had a loiterer hang around a good ten hours with his notebook waiting for the opportunity to ask for a donation. We knew what was coming. I doubt the money goes to the school, I hate being asked. It probably sounds bad but I'm not here to give money to everyone and they way they ask is so irritating. Porters gave us some Rakshi (local spirit), it's more man than I am.

I know, I know...

November 21 The Maestro.
It was so so cold this morning and the wind last night introduced my face to the tent roof a couple of times it was that strong. Easy walking but longer than anticipated down to Jomsom. Being put up in a hotel here while Chhiri tries to organise food and porters for Dhaulagiri. Had free go at the menu, made many poor choices. Although the Apple Crumble was something I would expect at restaurant I can't afford. And I got to recharge the zen, most important. Wasted a whole Rs 50 on chocolate and Rs 1150 on socks (which turn out to be worse than useless).

November 22 For Extreme And Soft Trekking.
Walked back down to Marpha then straight up, gaining about 1100m. It was hard. I am tired. Hence the length of this here entry. First day of the Around Dhaulagiri part of the trek.

November 23 Pineapple Flavoured Biscuits vs Diarrhoea.
Anthony seemed rather unwell this morning, seems he made a number of trips to the bathroom last night. Except there is no bathroom so watch where you put those big feet son. He was worried it was Giardia but I highly doubt it, just plain old bacterial diarrhoea. We walked for an hour before Chhiri and I convinced him to just take a rest day, save it getting worse. Set up camp in the trashiest, dirtiest campsite I have ever seen. The Nepali's really don't care about their country (I assure you, 95% of the trash is not from tourists, although I suppose it's there because of tourists). I spent the day trying for 150+ on chronological Yahtzee, finally got there after 50 or so attempts. I have a touch of bacterial fun too so we littered our surrounds with spurts of caramel liquid joy. Might have to go back down tomorrow for medicine. NO FUN. Although taking a crap at 3800m staring at the gorgeous Nilgiri Massif in the twilight while clouds roll softly up the valley 500m directly below me was perhaps the most beautiful moment of my life. Oh, and these Pineapple Cream Biscuits we have in the food supply are amazing.

November 24 And Still More On The Pineapple Cream.
Yes that's right, we got a bag of the delicious delights from a group coming down. Got introduced to Nepali Muesli, which is raw instant noodles, the flavour sachet and beaten rice. Simple and tasty as. Met a nice American guy who has given me an excuse to go to Jackson Hole (I was looking for one) when I'm in the States. Awesome day overall. Anthony took a clogger and is about 80%, I felt really good going up at altitude, and got our first good look at Dhaulagiri. Plus the campsite is the polar opposite of yesterday. It's cold and windy but that is to be expected, can't complain.

November 25 I Suppose Pens Don't Work Very Well At -10.
Another good day walking, shorter than expected, but that's not a bad thing. Luckily we don't need the map we're carrying. It is woeful. Valleys and peaks all over the place. Quite dangerous actually. Thankfully we have Chhiri, Hem has done this trek recently also and is absolutely gunning it along with Binod. Both so strong. Another really great campsite on a snow plateau surrounded by 6500m+++ peaks. At about 5100m ourselves, the highest we've ever slept. Easily -15 overnight, climbing tomorrow.

Well It Seemed Like A Lot Longer To Me.

Got back to Kathmandu yesterday after a torturous twelve hour, 250km bus ride. Yes it was that slow and that bad. No, actually it was worse. It cost twice as much as we were expecting and our fellow passengers were mostly loud, obnoxious, annoying and vomiting out the windows. So happy to get back into Kath, pretty much went straight to the awesome Mo Mo place (Mo Mo's are Buffalo dumplings, and are amazing, and by Buffalo I'm fairly certain they mean Cow) and our favourite Tea and Bakery place. Today was close to perfect, Anthony got a superb Uni result and we have managed to shave another Rs100 of our dailykathbudget, although it doesn't matter too much anymore so we spent it on more food. Like this Pineapple cake...

I'm going to try and catch up on the last month as much as possible before we head to Incredible India via another joyous twenty hours of efficient, comfortable subcontinental public transport. (What do I expect right? and we use the cheapest possible way)

Saturday, December 6, 2008

This is where it gets messy;

When you come to Nepal, the most pressing concern is always your back end, hence the next few weeks revolve heavily around bowel movements. So I am sorry. Also, this is all taking me a long time so I doubt i will get up to date before we leave tomorrow. I'll get around to it eventually.



November 18 Does This Ice Axe Make Me Look Like A Badass Or An Overprepared Wanker?
Anthony got into a tussle with the squat (Yeah, they're all squat toilets) this morning. There were no winners. Yet another short day, mostly across a very dicey landslide section. Still blown away by the geology, the mountains, but more so the rock formations. I'd be climbing all over them if they weren't so crumbly. Getting altitude high and remoteish once again. Went to the terminal face of a glacier near the campsite to practice ice climbing. Except. I got a short, sharp, brutal dose of diarrhoea, went temporarily blind (literally) and almost passed out, all while I was supposed to be belaying Anthony. Good times. Pretty much ok now though. I hope. The very lemony coleslaw was horrid but the rest of Binods food is stellar. Freezing.



November 19 So Much For Blue Skies.
Woke up to snow, slightly unexpected even though it's near enough to winter. Most of the snow falls during the summer monsoon. Had an 800m climb to the beautiful Tilicho Tal (lake) and the cloud lifted just as we got there which, well, you can imagine. So so so cold though. Pretty magic. The afternoon was loads of fun. Trail was hard, thick ice with anywhere between one and five inches of fresh powder snow. Much hilarity followed, although I'm not certain the porters or the two Thai guys that are travelling with our group enjoyed it as much as we did. No wind amazingly, and looks as though it should clear. The trail on the West side of the lake had fallen into it, so Chhiri explored other possibilities and we made camp earlier than expected. Shouldn't have drunk as much hot chocolate as I did, oh well.



November 20 And It Feels Like Its.
Last night was a bit of a work out, sleeping on smooth, uncomfortable pebbles sliding down towards the lake was no fun. Loads of avalanches on the other side too. Our boots and most everything else were frozen but it had cleared. Had to get up a dicey pass as a detour to the nonexistent trail. Almost got nailed by some head sized rocks. I kind of froze and they flew a metre either side of me. We are a bit more nimble than the porters as they carry more and do so off a head strap so helped out as best we could. Lots of snow on the next pass making it an interesting challenge. Turned into a bit of a shit-fight actually. Only Anthony, Chhiri, The Thai's guide and myself have an ice axe and crampons so the porters and the gear was slid down resulting in a massive mess at the bottom. And the other two took about two hours to do what took everyone else ten minutes, partly due to an overprotective guide who loves cutting steps. Meanwhile we all froze waiting at the bottom. Including my boots again, with my feet still in them. I know. Didn't end up getting anywhere near where we wanted to and a very long day. The wind is currently trying to blow us to Jomsom and near on succeeding.

Man, I am so glad that worked...

November 13 22.
Only a three hour walk from Jharkot, up to about 4200m. The village is three tiny lodges, very rough and basic but very useful as tomorrow will top at 5416m Thorong La (La means pass) and this is the last village on this side. Only one other person here as everyone attempts the pass coming over from the other, easier, side with much better acclimatisation. Not us though. Actually, we need to do it this way as it fits what we (i.e. Anthony) want to do infinitely better. Spent the last hour picking thorns out of my hand from some horrid bush that makes Spaniards seem like clouds (and there's still thorns in there a month later) and it's going to be COLD tonight. Exciting.

November 14 Trip On Excess Steps.
Started at 6:30 this morning, and apparently that was late. Was so damn cold my water bottles froze within an hour. And I thought shorts would be a good idea, my legs were purple. It was a pretty steep climb and loads of people were coming down the other side as we slogged up making me wonder if they left really early (turns out they do, sometimes 3am, although that is overkill) or it really is a lot easier the other way (yeah, it is). This is my first experience walking at high altitude and far out it's hard. You just can't walk. You can't breathe. You just want to sit there. I think the oxygen rate is about half that at sea level so every deep breath is really a half breath so you feel winded constantly. And this is only 5400. So much respect and understanding of the physical and mental demands of climbing an 8000er now. We were the second last of the day over at about midday, and you practically run back down. Started getting a headache from the altitude and was pretty exhausted by the time we got to Thorong Pedi, which is the start point if coming the other way, but it was very crowded and a bit dumpy even though it's in a beautiful valley end. Decided to walk an extra hour and a half to Letdar which was a slog but well worth it. Eating the best food yet in front of a fire soothed my headache and exhaustion into a smile. I wish I had taken some photos up the pass but it was cold and I was tired and my batteries are very temperamental below zero anyway (they usually don't bother). Oh well.

November 15 Sour Dudes.
After the easiest, most pleasant three hour walk down the valley with some amazing views of unbelievable geology we hit Manang. It is a bit more expensive than we're used to, although we are staying in a hotel rather than a lodge and it is jam packed full of tourists. We met one of our porters, Hem Prasad, apparently Chhiri (our guide) and the other porters have been held back a day with their current group. We aren't to sure what's going on as Hem has practically no English and just agrees with whatever we ask or say, no matter what it is and whether he understands, in true Nepali style. We will walk to Khangsar on the afternoon of the 17th and hopefully meet the rest there.

November 16 Well That's A Poor Argument, I Mean Every Band Has At Least One Person Who Thinks They're OK, Besides Your Socks Are Frozen...
It's 10:30, unexpected rest day. Most of the tourists have left towards Thorong or on acclimatisation trips so its pretty quiet for the moment. We found an awesome cheap bhatti (restaurant, sort of) with an amazingly, if unintentionally, entertaining host. I swear, five dice always equals twenty.

November 17 Porter! Oh, Porter!
Left for Khangsar with Hem and met up with the others along the way so turned out alright. Got to Khangsar about 2:00. Why do I need porters? Shouldn't I be carrying everything and if I can't leave it behind? Well yes, but let me explain. The really touristy parts of the treks we're doing are fine. Easy, plenty of lodges, near impossible to get lost and most locals know enough English and we know enough Nepali to communicate quite well. But the more difficult and remote parts (Lonely Planet suggests we will die) we need at least a guide, and porters help by carrying a weeks worth of sometimes overly extravagant food, tents, climbing equipment, etc. Tony Manea is good friends with the owner of our trekking company so we get lots of flex ability and 100% trust. Porting is one of the traditional ways of transporting goods in the hills, it provides much needed and well paying employment and exposes them to English which gives them greater opportunities (I know). If nothing else they're good fun and good companions. So we have our guide, Chhiri (I'm pretty sure that's how he spelled it), plus four main porters Binod (the cook), Hem Prasad (also assistant cook but they all help), Hira Kati and Bishnu Lama who are all simply the best, plus a couple who we had for a few days. They carry, set up camp and cook and are all gun walkers, although Bishnu is on Bishnu time. We carry our own stuff but they do nearly everything for us which takes some getting used to but I suppose we are paying for a service and they're getting paid to do it. We try do be as demanding as possible...

Actually, they're everywhere.

So many hippies yesterday. So many. Most of them don't even want to look at you. In their minds they're the only Westener in the country, and they 'fit in' so well the beggers don't even bother them.

Friday, December 5, 2008

The reunification of John Cena and Tate the Dog.

Just to clarify, One Australian dollar is about Rs 50 and despite things being generally very cheap (sometimes unbelievably so) I am cheaper than all. Also this: http://ncthakur.itgo.com/map09.htm is the best map I could come across, and it's a pretty poor effort. We started say, a little bit south-east of where Ghorepani is. Also, I use quotation marks (imagine me telling the story and 'air quoting'. Shudder) way too much.

November 5 What Is 'The Happening' About Anyway?
I basically spent the whole nine(? maybe it was seven) hour flight to Singapore exploiting Singapore Airlines' amazing entertainment system, I spent the whole of the four hour flight to Kathmandu wishing I still was. In between we had nine hours to kill in Singapore airport which was rather painful. Driving out of the rather lacklustre airport (X-Ray operator was far more interested in her phone but a presence of WWII era firearms was reassuring) Kathmandu slapped me hard and fast across the face. You don't drive, you beep your horn and go exactly where you want no matter if it's on the other 'side' of the road, the footpath, or where someone is standing. Trash everywhere and I've yet to see a structurally sound building other than the new royal palace. And for every person there is three mangy mutt dogs with rabies. The city is quite beautiful though in the ugliest way possible. Got some cheap some legit, some good enough knock-off gear.

November 7 Ow, Start!
Bus to Pokhara, Taxi to Phedi, walk to Dhampus. Started trek with a 500m ascent of stairs. Some nice villages and first good Himalaya view including Annapurna I. Apparently John Cena is a massive cult figure here. I know.

November 8 U Shapes.
Going up stairs is hard going down is awkward whinge, whinge, whinge. Every time we walk past kids its "sweets?" "sweets?". I wish I had some sweets. For myself. Seriously though, as much as I would love to be that super generous tourist who give the kids candy, pens and chocolate, it just encourages begging and the government organisations who work in these areas prefer you don't. Besides, moneys too tight for sweets. And steak. Nice walking today though. Except after lunch Down one side of a valley, up the other, took four hours for about 700m of horizontal distance gain. Almost collapsed onto my dinner. All day three disgraceful songs have been battling for headspace: 'Woman', 'Umbrella' and that Numa Numa guy song.

November 9 Your Throat Is On Fire
Walked to Ghorepani today, ascended at least 1300m getting to about 3300m. Two sloggy days of walking in a row. Tired. Ghorepani is very nice though and our lodge host is hella entertaining. All grunts and awkward lingering. Got a first glimpse at Dhaulagiri, the lump of an 8000'er we'll be walking around in a fortnight or so.

November 10 In & Of Descending Stairs
Went down today. Down. Lots of down. 1750 vertical metres of down. Tatopani should supposedly remind us of Pokhara and Kathmandu due to its gardens. Well it does remind us of those places, but only because it's a filthy hole of a town (well it is). The road comes here and further and with the road the town degrades into a cheap Chinese crap selling hole. First time we've stayed at a lodge with more than two other Westerners, but all the tourists here give me asshole vibes (well they do). Maybe I'm getting surly. No, wait, a fat Australian slapper just started shaving her armpits in the outside dining area (NOT KIDDING).

November 11 Vehicular Walking
Oh, what a day. Found out yesterday the road goes heaps further up the valley and it's super dusty. We didn't really want to walk it but were told it's hard to get a lift up the valley. Ha. Five seconds after we got to the bus park a jeep arrived that could take us 10km up to Dana for Rs 100. Yes. The road is a disgrace though, narrow, rough and sheer cliffs on either side. Plus the jeep was at least fifty years old and the steering was about as responsive as a dead rock as far as I could tell. The driver took great delight in scaring the shit out of us continuously. After Dana we came across a 'road crew' which was this guy in an excavator clearing a landslide by hurling massive car sized rocks down into the river. In the monsoon this road will be completely destroyed, there is no doubt. Luckily in Ghasa we scored a tractor ride to Khobang saving us perhaps another 25km. It was rather rough though and one guy insisted on sitting on my leg which I'm sure hurt him more than me. Walked to Marpha with some nice folk and got a Rs 30 kilo of amazing apples.

November 12 Lonely Planet Lies
I swear the guidebook times must have been for jeeps. Didn't get as far as we expected but can see Thorong La. We're at about 3600m so have to be very altitude-conscious from now on. Don't really want to die from AMS. Pack is giving me a bit of grief, carrying a good 8kg of climbing and snow related paraphernalia which seems stupid when it's close to 30 degrees down here but we will need it soon enough. I'm getting very addicted to my raspberry Vitamin C Tablets.

Professional Loitering

In Kathmandu again after month long treck in the Annapurna region, will try and write up my attempts at a diary before we leave for Rolwaling. Rekindled our love with awesome Mo Mo place last night and discovered an even better and cheaper place to have breakfast. Sixty-four cent breakasts can't be wrong and fifty cents for a plate of Mo Mo's. Fairly quiet on the tourist front in Kath at the moment, basically at the end of peak season although I hear the Christmas period is big with Australians so that could be interesting and we haven't been back to Thamal yet. Being on Freak St means we get to see all the crusty sixty year old hippies fighting one last battle to find 'themselves'. And man is there ever loads of them. I think there's one thrashing about outside right now. The internet is Bowen Mountain slow too but considering it's not to bad. At least I could find out that New Zealand were disgraceful on their tour of Australia and the dollar is still going to make America a massive tightass effort for me. My beard is coming along epically and Francesca is coming in a couple of hours so we will be a party of three. Good times.