Tammie's Travels

Namaste

2009-11-07T19:37:00.003-05:00

You've stumbled upon the blog of my 4-month journey in Nepal and India from October 2008 to February 2009. It might make more sense if you start from first post in October and read in chronological order. Happy reading!

Potty blog

2009-03-02T14:35:00.016-05:00

So many times, I had photos to go with my blogs but I didn't have the time or patience to post them in an internet cafe. Therefore, I've decided to continue the blog of my travels, even though I'm home. Let's start with bathrooms...the same way I started a few months ago : )

You remember this one...an oldie but a goodie. You can't tell, but this is built on the side of a hill. If a board breaks (my worst nightmare), you not only fall several feet into a pile of poop, but you then slip and slide down the side of a steep hill. Yes, these are the kinds of things you think about when perched precariously over poop.

See the skinny red tent? That's our toilet tent. For most of the trip, this is where we...went. One porter was in charge of digging the hole and setting up the tent. And in the morning, the same lucky guy was in charge of topping off the hole with dirt or rocks and taking down the tent.
What's that? Oh thaaat...that's a yak. I'm not sure if you can tell from this photo but he's ENORMOUS. It is a bit disconcerting to hear the clank, clank of a yak bell approaching the toilet tent while you're inside.

Brian's gonna kill me but this photo is too funny. The yaks didn't make Brian nervous at all. I, on the other hand, had already imagined the scenario of being trampled by yaks while in a toilet tent. My earlier run-in with a particularly grumpy yak made me skittish. More on this later.

This was one of the nicer "squatty potties". No, you don't sit on it (though I heard of one traveler that spent months trying to sit until someone told her she was supposed to squat. Seriously!?!). You put your feet on the little ridges. Yes, it's tricky. The ridges a usually wet, which makes them slippery. And of course, I had thoughts of slipping and how bad that would be. The faucet, bucket, and bucket scoop are for "cleaning" and flushing. I never could break my toilet paper habit and headed to the toilet with toilet roll and a plastic bag in hand.

This is one of the showers at Shivananda ashram, the more western of the two ashrams. Notice the proximity of the shower head to the toilet? This explains why we were always sitting on cold, wet toilets.

Without the shower head, this would be an example of a typical non-western shower (aka, the bucket bath). Jubilee was the name of my dorm, which had two floors. The upstairs bucket scoop was mis-paired with the downstairs bucket (obviously, someone was slacking a little on their karma yoga).

That's all for today. Check back again in a week or so. I'll tell the story of me and the grumpy yak.

Back in Chicago

2009-02-14T17:27:00.004-05:00

After one taxi ride, three flights, and two long layovers, I made it to Chicago at about 5:30 Wednesday night. It's good to be back. Here's how I spent my last two weeks in India : )

Blogging from the Delhi airport...for free!

2009-02-10T13:52:00.002-05:00

So far, the first leg of my 50-hour journey has gone well. I left Quiet today at noon, took a taxi to Chennai airport, and then flew from Chennai to Delhi. I:m now checked into my Delhi-Seoul flight and am taking advantage of the free internet. How cool is that!?!?

Gotta go. 29 hours left of traveling. Phew. Gonna be tired when I get to Chicago.

Tick tock. 4 days, 15 hours

2009-02-06T00:16:00.003-05:00

I think this might be my last blog from abroad, though I do plan to keep blogging when I get home. First, I'll catch up with some travel photos, which I'll send from the comfort of my living room using a broad-band network and a virus-free computer with a working DVD drive. Then, who knows what. Maybe I'll keep it as a photo blog.

The last 14 days of my travels are being spent at Quiet Healing Center in Auroville, India. Auroville is on the east coast of India and the guest house overlooks the Bay of Bengal, which offers a beautiful view of the sunrise. Check out the link to the web site from a few posts ago. I was looking forward to lazy afternoons on the beach but, unfortunately, this is not the kind of beach that you'd like to stroll along. You see, the local fisherman use it as their toilet. Yep. Yuk. It's really not a big deal though. There is small, brick, bougainvillea-covered wall that forms an effective barrier between the grounds of the resort and the poopy sand. From a hammock between two palms, you can make out the ocean view but you can't see the locals doing their daily business : ) Yay!

The food here, again, is fantastic. The residents of Auroville are mainly western and the food is prepared by western standards. That means that, hallelujah, I can actually eat the salads! So I've been eating lots of salads. Good stuff.

My days are ridiculously simple here. Reading, yoga, meditation, eating, and sleeping. Hence, that lack of posts over the last week or so. To keep busy, I took a 1-day workshop called Pills to Peas. I was expecting a workshop on the curative ability of different types of foods. Instead, I learned a lot of what I already knew, that diseases can be both caused and cured by diet. According to the China Study (arguably, the most research-based book on the subject), many health problems are directly related to consumption of animal products. The workshop was presented by an Indian woman, a physician and homeopathic doctor, who has been a vegan for many years. While I may not become vegan (even though the research is very convincing), I did have two excellent vegan meals which were tasty and satisfying. For me, the myth of the starving (and taste-starved) vegan has been dispelled.

Tick tock. 4 days, 15 hours until I fly out of Delhi. These last few days have gone a little slowly . It will be good when I have things to do again, like make my way by bus to Chennai, catch my flight to Delhi (on the 10th), and then catch my flight home (2AM on the 11th). My itinerary is: Delhi to Seoul and then Seoul to Chicago on the 11th. Stay in Chicago for a few days. Chicago to Columbus on the night of the 16th.

Thanks to everyone who offered me a place to crash when I return, though it looks like my apartment will be free. Yay : ) It will be nice to be home. See you soon!

Namaste!

Shameless plug for Icebreaker undies

2009-01-27T02:50:00.005-05:00

Dad, you can skip this blog if you want : )
So a few months ago, I was in a car with some friends driving from a river takeout back to the put-in to pick up a car. I was thinking how happy I was to be wearing my merino wool thermals. It was a cool day and the water (the Nanty) was freezing, as usual. Even though I was soaking wet, my base layers kept me warm from shoulders to ankles. They're soft, they dry fairly quickly, and they can sit wet in a bag for a day or two without getting stinky (you all know how sensitive my nose is to stinky things). My wool thermals are among my favorite items of clothing.

So there I was, sitting in my wet wool on the way back to the put-in when I thought, somebody should make merino wool underwear (and by underwear, I mean panties)? What's the point of a wool base layer if the base base layer was cotton or nylon? I must have been mulling out loud because my friend Eve said, "Icebreaker makes wool underwear!" So two weeks before my trip, I ordered 5 pairs of Icebreaker wool underwear over the Internet. These are the only pairs I brought on my trip and have worn them every day. I have to say, I will never wear anything else. After 21 days trekking (17 without a shower), a few months of bucket laundry and air drying, and about a month of Keralan jungle heat, they are still as good as new. They didn't shrink or stretch, they are not scratchy, they kept me cool in the heat and warm in the cold, they washed easily, and they dried in about 2 hours. Aaaand best of all, they all still pass the non-stinky test : ) Check them out here:

http://www.icebreaker.com/site/catalog/search.html?flag=Underwear&gender=Woman

I ordered them from an online outdoor retailer but I can't remember which one. So there you have it. Icebreaker undies are the best undies ever : ) Now don't get me started on my Icebreaker sweater, which I've also worn nearly every day and still looks like new.

Thanks Eve and thanks Icebreaker!

The Audacity of Hope

2009-01-20T04:52:00.002-05:00

I'm spending tonight in Bangalore with a friend I met at the ashram and then tomorrow, I'll be heading back to the ashram. Why did I make this one-day trip? There are no TVs at the ashram and tonight (10PM or so India time, 11:30AM your time), my friend (from DC) and I will be glued to the TV to watch the inauguration. Yay, yay, yay!! Today is Bush's last day in office. I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself.

Uniquely Indian (and Nepali too I guess)

2009-01-18T09:52:00.003-05:00

Here are a few things I've noticed throughout my travels in India and Nepal.

1. Buckets: Yep, buckets are big here. They have entire shops devoted to buckets and bucket scoops (little buckets with handles that double as a handy hook to hang on the big buckets). What can you use a bucket for? Bucket showers (there are few showerheads in India or Nepal); bucket laundry; food container; regular waste basket; toilet paper waste basket: yep, in some places, TP can't go in the toilet (western or eastern) so the paper is tossed into the bucket next to the toilet. The contents are then added to the burn pile. Yep. Yuck.

2. Sales tags: Tags stuck to bathroom fixtures, buckets, plates and cups, automobiles, etc are not removed...ever. There's a car parked here at the ashram that still has the window stickers and paper strips over the hood. And I don't think I've used a bathroom mirror here that didn't have a sticker on it. I saw a woman on the train that left the tag on her cashmere scarf.

3. The phloem hoark: Hoark and spit. Everyone does it. Women, men. On the train, in meditation class, in the lunchroom. It's loud. It's messy. It's gross. No one cares. Why everyone have so much phleom? And it's not just limited to phloem. There's plenty of burping and farting (men and women) right in the middle of yoga class.

4. Cell phones: Everyone has one and no one knows how to turn it off. I've not had class here (and there are several per day) where a cell phone hasn't gone off. In one meditation class, one person's phone went off three times!!! Seriously?!?

And a little side note. I can't wait to use a shower with a shower head and...a shower curtain. I haven't had a shower curtain since the Radisson in Kathmandu (early November). The showers here are right next to the toilet with no curtain separating the two. If I forget to take the TP out of the bathroom before I take a shower, I end up with a sopping wet roll of mush. And after a shower, the entire bathroom is wet for the rest of the day. Yay for the western shower.

And a second note. Although this post is a bit negative, I really am enjoying my time India : ) I'll send more positive stuff later this week : )

Conversational Indian

2009-01-11T22:17:00.003-05:00

Here are a few phrases you should know if you converse with Indians in India. Again, it's more fun if you bring to mind an India accent.

1. Phrases created by saying a common English word twice:
okay okay
use 1. affirmative, answer to a question. As in:
Question: okay?
Answer: okay, okay (accompanied by the head waggle, approximated by making a small figure 8 with your nose)
use 2: term of concession, esp. after bargaining; consider the following conversation:
me: How much to go to the post office?
rickshaw driver: 75 rupees
me: 75 rupees?? That's too much. Yesterday, I paid 50 (yes, had to go twice, separate story).
rickshaw driver: 60 rupees
me: No, too much. 50
rickshaw driver: okay, okay
use 3: phrase used in cell-phone conversations. Overheard:
"okay, okay...okay, okay................okay, okay"

same, same
meaning: this is the same as that, even when it is clearly not. Consider the following conversation between a tailor and me when I tried on a pair of pants he sewed for me:
me: These don't fit the same as the sample I tried on.
tailor: Same, same.
me: No. These are much longer here (length) and shorter here (rise).
tailor: Same, same.
me (upon trying on the sample again): See, these are not the same.
tailor: okay, okay (accompanied by the head waggle)

2. Common phrases heard in areas with many tourist shops.
Just come inside.
Just have a look.
Looking, free of charge.
Just look, madame.
You first customer. I need good luck. Good price.
Morning time. I make you good price.
Evening time. I make you good price.
This is good price, madame.

3. Phrases describing the relative gravity of a situation.
No problem
meaning: what you might consider a problem isn't really a problem.
me: Why has the car stopped running?
taxi driver: No problem, madam. I'll be right back. [he leaves with no explanation. 20 minutes later, he comes back with a can of gas (petrol)].
taxi driver: No problem.

Big problem
meaning: something that you might not consider a problem but which is actually a deal-breaker
taxi driver: 50 rupees, madam
me: I only have 100. Can you give change?
taxi driver: big problem

Not possible
meaning: response to what you might think is a reasonable request
me: Can I have the fruit muesli curd (cereal with curd and mixed fruit) but without papaya?
waiter: Not possible.
me: Is the fruit pre-mixed?
waiter: No madam. Not pre-mixed. Made when you order.
me: Can you not add papaya?
waiter: Not possible. It comes with banana, orange, papaya, and mango.
me: okay okay (accompanied by the head waggle : )

[Side note: since coming to India, I’ve discovered that I really don’t like papaya. For some reason, to me, it tasted like vomit.]

That's all for now : )

Onward in India and then...home!!

2009-01-08T09:57:00.004-05:00

After I left the ashram in Kerala, I've had a little time in civilization. I spent about 2 days (with travel) at the Amma ashram and then traveled to Varkala, a beach town with a stunning cliff overhanging a beach on the Arabian Sea. I left there this morning and am making my way to Bangalore in the state of Karnataka, leaving the state of Kerala : ( There, I will visit another ashram that was recommended by my ashram book (yes, I have a book of ashrams: From Here to Nirvana) and by a fellow traveler. Here's the web site to the ashram. I'll have to get up even earlier at this place. Yikes!!
http://www.svyasa.org/arogyadhama/arogyadhama.asp
I'll be there for at least one week and maybe for two, depending on how I like it. Again, I have no idea whether or not I'll have internet or phone. I'm going to try to buy a SIM card for my cell when I get to Bangalore but the ashram is about an hour outside the city.
After Bangalore, I'll be making my way to the state of Tamil Nadu on the eastern coast of India. There, I will be spending about 10 days at the Quite Healing Center in Auroville (in interesting community...check out the web site.)
http://quiethealingcenter.info/index.htm
http://www.auroville.org/

And then....I'm coming home! Yep. I'm heading home on Feb 16th, about a month earlier than I had originally planned. I've decided to enroll in a yoga teacher training course at It's Yoga (now Grow Yoga) that starts on Feb 19. I couldn't pass up the opportunity, especially since I'm not working right now. I'm not sure if Michael (he's subletting my apartment while I'm away) will be able to find a place that soon so I might need to couch-surf for a few weeks after I return. Any takers? I will have been living out of a backpack for 4 months so I guess a few more weeks won't hurt.

Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you about the elephants. No, they had nothing to do with Amma except that we visited an elephant sanctuary the day we left the ashram for Amma's. We were only going to go for an elephant ride but when we arrived, they were bathing one of the elephants in the lake. We got to get in the water to "help" scrub his wrinkly skin with coconut husks. I put "help" in quotes because we probably weren't doing such a good job with the cleaning, what with all the posing for photos that we were doing : )

I'll be in touch when I arrive at my next destination : )

The Hugging Mother

2009-01-07T02:58:00.008-05:00

Okay, here it is, my experience with Matha Amrithanandamayi, one of India's few female gurus. She is known as Amma (mother) and is called the Hugging Mother because she hugs everyone who comes to visit her as if they were her own child. When she resides at her ashram (which is only a few months of the year), she doles out "Darshan" (meaning blessing) in the form of hugs on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays (usually, but per the Indian way, not always). In addition to hugging, Amma has amassed a huge, and very well-organized charitable organization which includes a world-class hospital that treats anyone who can't afford it (which is most of India), a world-class university, and an orphanage. I made a last-minute decision to go there. I thought, what better way to spend New Year's Eve than getting a hug from Amma. I've heard her hugs are a spiritual experience and since I haven't had one yet in this spiritual country of India, it was a opportunity I couldn't pass up.

On the day I arrived, Amma hugged from 11AM to midnight. Rumor has it that she doesn't get up once during Darshan but I didn't watch long enough to see whether or not that was true. I'll skip the travel and arrival at the ashram and get straight to the hugging process (yes, process). Because it was New Year's Eve, there were thousands of Indians at the ashram for the day. Day visitors get priority in the Darshan line. Everyone gets a token containing a range of numbers and a digital message board tells you when to get in line. In the meantime, you wait in chairs in the huge, covered but open auditorium. Amma is sitting in an armchair on the stage at the front of the auditorium but you can't see her from the floor as she is mobbed by her attendants and huggees. Queues (lines) form at the left (men's) and right (women's) of the stage and extend to the back of the auditorium.

After 7PM, those who are spending the night at the ashram are allowed to join the queue. The queue consists of plastic chairs. Every 5 minutes or so, everyone in the queue stands up and shifts forward 10 or so chairs. After being in the queue for about an hour, I finally reached the "gift" table (not sure what else to call it) where I was given the opportunity to buy a gift for Amma. Maybe I wanted to present Amma with neck garland of plastic flowers or perhaps some sweets? I didn't bring any money with me so I didn't buy anything. Presenting gifts to the mother isn't necessary for a hug but I felt a little conspicuous without it. Once I passed the gift table, I had another hour or so to go. Sitting in Amma's Darshan line offers people-watching at its finest. Westerners generally wore white outfits (something like a white nightgown and white pants) and Indians came in their finest silk saris. Westerners talked about all the times they've been hugged by Amma...serial huggees who seem to follow her around like groupies. I'm not sure what Indians talked about but something tells me that many don't get the opportunity to see Amma more than once.

To the left and right of the stage are two rooms. When I reached the front of the line, I walked up the ramp to the stage and entered the room on the right. That's when I realized that, like a line in an amusement park, the Darshan line continues on the stage, weaving back and forth among more chairs. But from inside the room, I could finally see Amma! Amma was wearing all white and sitting in a gigantic arm chair. Many have asked me how old she is and I couldn't say. You'll have to google this. I would guess maybe in her 50s. She was surrounded, first, by several attendants. Most attendants were helping huggees move through the line. One attendee massaged Amma's shoulders while she hugged. Another handed her prasad (a blessed sweet that Amma handed to each huggee after their hug). Surrounding the attendees were maybe 100 already-hugged huggees, sitting on the floor cross-legged, meditating. If a huggee wanted to sit, another who had been sitting for a while was tapped on the shoulder and asked to leave to make space for the new huggee. All the while, singing was being played over the loudspeakers. It was quite a spectacle. Since cameras are not allowed, I have no photos. You'll just have to take my word for it : )

As I approached the front of the line, an attendant took my bag and asked me to wipe my face (imagine all the oil and makeup that would accumulate on Amma's white gown after a day of hugging). Another attendant asked me what language I spoke. With only one person in front of me now, another attendant pressed down lightly on my shoulder, indicating that it was time to kneel (the hugging position). When the person in front of me stood up, the attendant pushed me forward and I waddled up to Amma on my knees. Another attendant placed my hands on the arms of the arm chair and pushed my head into her...well, into her chest, and held it there. Now, I must pause a moment. Amma is a busy woman who is very involved in her charitable organizations. She can't give up hours a day to hug when so much work has to be done. So how does she get it all done? She carries out business while she's hugging. Yes, the woman doesn't get up to pee for 13 hours carries on business conversations while she's hugging. So there I am, with my hands on either side of Amma and my head being held against her chest while she's carrying on a conversation with one of her attendants, who's taking notes. Amma is holding me, sort of, but I must wait for the full-on hug until she's finished her thought. I must have stayed in this awkward position for 20 or 30 seconds. And all at once, she squeezed, kissed the side of my head, pushed the prasad into my hand, mumbled something in my ear (I have no idea), and released me. That was it. The attendant pulled me up and ushered me away before I had time to say, "What was that? I didn't hear you." After I left, I realized that I didn't even have a chance to make eye contact.

So that was my experience with Amma, the hugging mother, the living saint. It wasn't quite the experience I'd expected, but it was truly an unforgettable experience (not unlike all travels in India). I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else on New Year's Eve.

Monk video!!! I'm so excited!

2009-01-05T11:02:00.004-05:00

Look!! My video posted!! It only took 30 minutes : ) I posted a few blogs (one with photos) in the past two days so look at previous posts too.

Random assortment of paragliding, diners, and monks

2009-01-05T10:05:00.015-05:00

I'm catching up. These are from the last weeks in November and the first week of December.

Paragliding over Pokhara: Did I mention that I did this? Did I mention that after about 20 minutes of turning in circles to catch thermals, I puked over Pokhara? Somehow, it didn't occur to me that you can get motion sickness from paragliding. Oh well. It was still fun but I won't do it again.

Remember the roadside diner "gift" shop we stopped at on the overnight bus to Mcleod Ganj? I sneaked (snuck?) a snapshot of the 3-D paintings just before the shop owner came around the corner. Notice the plastic children's tricycle on the floor.

Indian signs continue to amuse me. I was scolded by a drunk Indian for taking these photos of the signs outside the diner. He said it was "very very wrong!"

Monk debates in the courtyard outside the Dalai Lama's residence: The two monks standing are quizzing the two seated monks. The discussions were pretty intense with yelling and scowling but, as you can see, it was all good-natured.

Traffic

2009-01-04T13:11:00.004-05:00

It's late and I want to post but I don't have time to do the whole photo rigmarole. So this one is short and sweet. I've been keeping a running list of animals I've seen walking down the road in Nepal and India:
1. Dzopku (yak/cow cross; I would add yak but there were no roads in the Everest region)
2. Horses
3. Donkeys
4. Goats
5. Cows (lots and lots)
6. Water buffalo
7. Oxen
8. Camels (yep...walking along a highway no less)
9. Elephants (again, walking along a highway but was so stunned that I didn't get a photo)
More tomorrow. I'll try to post some photos and I'll tell you about New Year's eve.

Ashram life

2009-01-02T12:36:00.003-05:00

Hi all! I finally have Internet access. First off, I'm now in a beach town on the western coast of southern India called Varkala. BEAUTIFUL!!
Now, back to my last few weeks in Kerala, which I've really enjoyed. I spent December 16 through December 30th at the Sivananda Yoga Ashram in Kerala, which is very near the southern tip of India. The schedule there goes something like this:

5:20AM First wake up bell (which I stopped hearing on day two)
5:50AM Second wake up bell (which I stopped hearing on about day 7)
6AM Meditation (30 minutes), and Satsung chanting, aka Kirtan, if you've heard of that, not unlike hymns in church except these were not in English (30 minutes)
7:30 Tea (weak chai)
8AM Yoga (2 hours) consisting of 15-20 minutes of pranayama (yogic breathing practice, my new favorite yoga), 15 minutes or so of sun salutations, 60 minutes or so of a specific sequence of hatha poses, and lots of sivasana (relaxation pose) interspersed
10 AM Brunch eaten sitting on the floor with my right hand (vegetarian, good food, though a bit dull after 15 days). Side note: real, non-westernized south Indian food is some of the best I've ever had. I would recommend borrowing a south Indian cookbook (Keralan, if you can find it) from the library, especially if you're looking for substantial and varied vegetarian food.
11 AM Karma Yoga, selfless service, which consisted of tasks like cleaning, trash pickup, food service, etc. My karma yoga was brunch serving and cleanup of the dining room so I had free time after around 11:30.
2 PM lecture, talks on meditation, yoga, and chanting
3:30 yoga (2 hours, same as morning)
6PM dinner (not as much variety as brunch, usually boiled vegetables over rice with a side of boiled vegetables, which got really old)
8PM Satsung (same as the morning, exactly the same, words and all, which are now burned into my brain and I find myself humming throughout the day)
10PM lights out

Many of you asked if the ashram celebrated Christmas and indeed, they did. Many Keralans are Christian. The streets and houses were decorated with lights and these beautiful illuminated paper stars and the ashram hosted several different cultural (music and theater) performances on the days before and after Christmas. We even had a visit from Santa, who made an entrance shouting "Happy Christmas" and carrying balloons : )

To end this post, I will share with you my favorite phrases spoken by my Indian yoga instructors. When reading these, it might help to bring to mind an Indian accent :

1. "straight your legs" (as in, your legs are bent and they should be straight in this pose)

2. "feets together" (as in, your feet are apart but they should be together in this pose)

3. "close your left nose", "close your right nose", and my favorite "close your both noses" (referring to holding the breath during pranayama, which I had trouble doing the first time I heard "close your both noses" because it made me laugh)

It's getting late. I had a very interesting New Year's eve (which I'll write about tomorrow) involving elephants and a saint. More tomorrow.

The Ashram

2008-12-16T04:33:00.001-05:00

I made it here and things are good but internet access is very limited. Therefore, I'm signing out for the next two weeks or so. Have a great holiday! I'll be in touch again next year.
Namaste!

Last day in Mcleod

2008-12-12T00:03:00.002-05:00

If you haven't checked the blog for a while, make sure you read the previous two posts.
Travel for the next few days:
1. Tonight (Friday): overnight bus to Delhi
2. Tomorrow (Saturday): drive to Agra, driver and car arranged by a travel agent
3. Tomorrow night: overnight in Agra
4. Sunday: Sunrise tour of the Taj Majal followed by a drive back to Delhi
5. Sunday night: Overnight in The Airport Hotel (Delhi)
6. Monday: Early rise for 7:30 Kingfisher Air flight to Kerala. I should be in Kerala by 2:00 or so.

I'm booked at a yoga and meditation ashram for the last two weeks of December and possibly longer if I like it. I will have limited email access and the connection will probalby be fairly slow : ) so I might not be able to post more photos to the blog. However, I'll at least post something every few days.

Namaste!

China today

2008-12-11T10:37:00.006-05:00

I remember sitting in front of my TV this spring and seeing footage of monks speaking out to reporters who were on a government-orchestrated tour of Tibet. Before the Olympic games, China was trying to give the impression that the uprisings that occurred across Tibet beginning March 10th of this year had been quelled and that Tibetans were happy. The monks were supposed to keep quiet, but they didn't. I remember the monks sobbing to reporters, telling them that they had no human rights in China, that they weren't allowed to practice their religion, that they were forced to denounce the Dalai Lama as their leader. What courage it must have taken them, knowing what had happend to others who'd spoken out in the preceding weeks . I remember thinking that the monks I saw on the news were clearly identifiable by Chinese police, and were probably already dead by the time I was watching the footage.

I'm not sure what happened to the monks I saw on the news, but the latest report published by a Tibetan human rights group describes the marked increase in unspeakable crimes against the Tibetans in China during the past nine months. Hundreds have been killed--either shot on the spot during protests; or rounded up in the middle of the night, beaten, tortured, and released, only to die within days because state-run hospitals refused to treat them. It is estimated that approximately 6,700 Tibetans have been taken into "custody" since March. Many have been "released", but only after days or months of severe beatings and torture. Some have been convicted of their "crimes" (such as waving the Tibetan flag and shouting slogans) and will remain in prisons. The whereabouts of over one thousand are unknown. Bodies of victims (some still alive) have been cremated to erase evidence of torture.

In the years since China invaded the soverign nation of Tibet in 1949, 1.2 million Tibetans have been exterminated. But this is China today. This is the China from which we buy and to which we sell our goods. This is the China that seems to have been welcomed with open arms and few reservations into the global economy. This is the China that is fast becoming more influential than the US. I thought that since none of this information is in the mainstream media, I would post it here.

Priceless!

2008-12-10T08:23:00.006-05:00

Things I've been lucky enough to do in the last few days:

Receive a huge hug and a white scarf (kata, or blessing) from the owner of the Hotel Shree Tibet, who said I was "very, very nice girl." This is a Tibetan tradition bestowed upon guests, holy men, and statues of deities. (Aside: At the monestary here in Mcleod Ganj, it looks as if deities also get offerings of food, such as boxes of Chips Ahoy. No kidding.)
Sit on a 12-hour bus ride next to an elderly monk who made sure that his wool blanket covered us both from head to toe.
Sit in the courtyard between the Dalai Lama's residence and his monestary and watch Buddhist monks debate each other for over an hour. They debated in pairs, one standing and one sitting. I have no idea what they were debating, but the debates were loud and animated--each point was emphasized with a dramatic hand clap from the standing monk, his hands just inches from the nose of the sitting monk. They yelled, clapped, laughed, and pushed each other around in fun...a far cry from the usual vision of silent or chanting monks. I have video, which I've been trying to load for an hour now but I don't think it will work. The connection here is just too slow. So for now, you'll just have to take my word for it; it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. The girl sitting next to me put it best, "There isn't anywhere else in the world I'd rather be right now."

Namaste!

Chonor House

2008-12-07T23:11:00.003-05:00

The bus to Mcleod Ganj left promptly at 6:30PM last night. Oh yes, this is what they mean by the term "smelly Delhi". Traffic and smell increase tenfold during rush hour. We spent at least 4 of the 12.5 hour bus ride in Delhi. At around 10:30 PM, we stopped for dinner at a roadside cafe conveniently situated next to a "gift" shop. The shop contained an odd assortment of items including giant vases filled with fake liquid and flowers, 3-D paintings (which reminded me of Phoebe's 3-D painting of Gladdis from Friends), and a plastic baby doll standing next to a giant, golden happy Buddha. Oh, and toss in a popcorn popper and a display of used sandals. It was worth the stop even though I didn't eat anything.
Once entered the countryside, the ride got really bumpy and...swervy, for lack of a better term. Imagine the bus from the Harry Potter books...the one that picks Harry up when he gets in a bind? Yes, this bus clanked and lurched and swerved to miss potholes, dogs, cars, people, cows, etc.
But we made it here and I am checked into a beautiful hotel called the Chonor House. It's part of the Norbulingka Institute and the proceeds go toward the preservation of Tibetan culture. Cool. Okay, I'm off to nap and then wander the town. Tomorrow I'm going to see the residence of the Dalai Lama : ) : ) Can't wait!

Delhi: 1st Impressions

2008-12-07T02:21:00.003-05:00

The trip to the airport and the flight to Delhi went smoothly. Understandably, was tight upon boarding the plane in Kathmandu. Our bags were scanned, checked, and rechecked, which was just fine with me. The view from the plane, once again, was fantastic; the Himalaya seem to stretch on forever. The Delhi airport was clean and customs was efficient. Not too bad, I thought.

But then, the hassle of Delhi hit me. The signs pointing to where you wait for taxis were unclear, so much so that an Indian woman from North Carolina was also confused. After waiting in the wrong place for 15 minutes or so, we asked someone and were directed to the correct place. But it turned out that, even though I had called the hotel to confirm my complimentary airport taxi ahead of time and sent an email, they were not there. (By the way, sending emails to confirm anything in Nepal or India is pointless. I'm sure no one reads them as I have never received a response.) I called again and the hotel asked me to spell my name 5 times and then said a driver would be there in 10 minutes. Sure enough, a driver appeared in 10 minutes and took me to the correct hotel. Phew, I had negotiated the whole transport nightmare and was on my way to the serenity of a nice airport hotel.

But when I got to the hotel and was in the process of checking in, they told me that the airport transport was NOT complimentary. I had passed up the prepaid taxi stand at the airport (56 rupees for <5 kilometers) because I was told I had prepaid hotel transport waiting for me. Now the hotel insisted on charging 500 rupees (more than $10)!!! This, even in the US, is a complete ripoff. But I was stuck and didn't have much choice. I didn't have rupees (because the exchange rate at the airport is pretty low), so I paid with a $20 bill and received 400 Indian rupees change (a 45 rupee/$1 exchange rate, which will become important later).

My room was nice, the bed was the nicest bed I've slept in since maybe my parent's house in Chicago, and the shower was hot. But the hotel had no Internet services (which was my only requirement when I booked), which made it impossible to confirm future reservations with my travel agent. And to top it off, with 70+ channels on the TV, only one was English-speaking and played the same news stories over and over. Ug.

Upon checking out, the hotel again tried to rip me off. They tried to charge more than was quoted for the room, they tried to charge me for breakfast (which was clearly stated as complimentary on the booking form), and this time, conveniently for them, the exchange rate was 49 rupees per dollar (which worked in their favor when converting a US dollar room rate into rupees). And then they wanted to charge 750 rupees to hail a taxi for me to Majnu Ka Tilla (my next stop in Delhi). The rate should be in the neighborhood of 500 rupees. I walked outside and hailed a cab myself, paying 650 rupees, which was still too high but, at this point, I didn't care.

After that, it's been smooth sailing. The driver stopped at a bank ATM, as requested, and the drive here was actually not too scary. The trip from the far southwest corner of town to the north side took only about 45 minutes with very little traffic. There's more green space in Delhi than I imagined and I only had one person knock on my window asking for money (I expected swarms). Majnu Ka Tilla is a small, quiet Tibetan refugee neighborhood in north Delhi and is where you can catch the overnight bus to Mcleod Ganj. So far, everything here has gone smoothly. I found an internet cafe (hence, this blog) and a free place to store my bag for the day (Wongdon House). I walked into Tibet Trek and Tours and bought my bus ticket for the price advertised. Hallelujah! This time tomorrow, I should be at the Chonor House Hotel in Mcleod. Of course, between now and then, I will be taking a 12-hour, overnight bus ride. Should be interesting.

That's all for now. I'll write more in a few days : )

Namaste!

Off to India

2008-12-05T23:48:00.000-05:00

I'm off to Delhi and then to Mcleod Ganj. I'll be in Delhi one night (6-Dec) and then will take the overnight bus to Mcleod. I'll blog when I get to the hotel in Delhi and then again when I get to Mcleod. Thank you everyone for thinking of me. I'll be careful.

Namaste!

Back to Kathmandu

2008-12-02T07:35:00.003-05:00

After staying in Nepal a little longer than planned (see previous few posts), I've made plans to head to India. I plan to steer clear of big tourist hotels and cities named Mumbai (seriously, how does spell check not know this city??). Here's the tentative plan:

Wednesday (3rd): Pokhara to Kathmandu by bus
Saturday (6th): Kathmandu to Delhi by plane
Saturday night: stay in a safe, clean airport hotel one night (hot shower, flush toilet, real bed)
Sunday night (7th): Take the overnight tourist bus (wonder how this will be) from north Delhi to Mcleod Ganj (residence of the Dalai Lama, immediately north of Dharamsala)
Monday (8th) through either Thursday (11th), Friday (12th), or Saturday (13th): stay in Mcleod Ganj (possibly do some hiking, hang around for the festival for the Dalai Lama's Nobel Peace Prize. No, he won't be there, but it should be fun.)
After Mcleod Ganj (no later than the overnight bus on the 13th): Travel back to Delhi (possibly via train through Amritsar to see the Golden Palace), or possibly straight to Delhi via bus and then to Agra via train for a day trip to the actual Taj Majal (not the hotel), or just straight back to Delhi, no stops, no sights.
Monday (Dec. 15): Fly to the southern coast of India (Kerala). I have a reservation at a yoga ashram.

As you can see, a few days are still fuzzy but it's coming together. I should know more about whether or not I'll make any additional stops (Agra, Amritsar) in the next few days. I'm having a travel agent work on that and it will depend on security. The plans can all change if things in Delhi heat up. But I'm limiting my time in Delhi (2 nights max), and heading to places that are relatively cool.

Namaste to you and to Nepal! I'll be back to both.

Oh, and one more thing...

2008-12-01T06:24:00.003-05:00

...my sense of smell is even more sensitive than usual today. Everything stinks. What's that all about?

Puking in Pokhara, but okay now : )

2008-12-01T05:26:00.003-05:00

First off, let me say that I'm well on the road to recovery. And kudos to the basic medical care here in Pokhara. I didn't even have to leave my hotel room, for which I am grateful. The pharmacist a block away was able to perform the appropriate, ahem, test, and prescribe the appropriate antibiotics within about 3 hours and for less than $15. Seriously. When have you been able to walk 3 minutes, wait 3 hours total, and spend less than $15 to get any medical care in the US? Tell me.

And on that note, I'm just catching up on election night videos. Did anyone catch David Letterman, referring to Obama, "Anybody mind if he starts a little early?" Not at all.

Cheers!

India will have to wait a bit

2008-11-27T01:50:00.002-05:00

I'm still in Pokhara, Nepal. Actually, I was planning on booking a flight to Dehli this morning for a week from today but will wait a few days to see what happens with the situation there. So for now, I'm staying put. I'll post some photos this afternoon.

Namaste!

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs

2008-11-26T00:22:00.025-05:00

Of course, I think the signs add to the scenery here.
On a boat in the lake in Pokhara. The word welcome is never written as one word here. Not sure what "Don't my veza" means.

I think the VIP room is the waiting room, or is it the toilet?

Promoting a university education.

In front of a lodge in the Gokyo valley...probably the Yak Guest House, or Everest View, perhaps, or maybe the Yeti Lodge, or was it the Namaste Lodge? It was one of those. How do I know? There are at least 10 of each on the Everest Circuit trek.

Wel come to the Hotel Ari zona. Such a lovely place. Such lovely place. Plenty of room at the Hotel Ari zona. (Dingboche)

Pointing the way across a lake bed on the way to Labouche.

Of course, there was only one monestary here, Tengboche Monestary, so I guess it was the one in charge.

Zoom in to see the fine print added to the upper right, "Save the snow leopard."

Hee hee. Love the name. Maybe I'll have to stay here a night.

What a great name for a kayak shop.

This has to be one of my favorites. Such a desparate plea from a shawl.

The most amazing golf course on Earth. Seriously.

They spelled it correctly on the upper right-hand corner (zoom in to see it), but I still question the truthfulness of the statment : )

If you're looking for typical, we have it here.

Love this one. It's written exactly how someone would speak it. Not sure if the word take ever appeard.

Makes sense (the cost difference).

See you.

High five, still alive!

2008-11-21T00:14:00.003-05:00

This is what a Norwegian girl on my trip said after a particularly difficult rapid : ) Really though, it went pretty well. I was the only kayaker on the first day of my trip along with one safety kayaker...I went with a rafting group. On the second day, we met up with a beginner kayak class.

The river (the Lower Seti, not the Sun Kosi as I had mentioned earlier), was decidedly not a beginner river : ) Ha! That's what I said after I swam twice the first day : o The best way to describe the river was that it had the pushiness of the Gauley but with class II-III rapids instead of class III-IV. Big-a** wave trains that knock your boat around...big fun. The scenery was beautiful, the water wasn't too cold, and the river was a pretty aqua color.

The first day, I couldn't for the life of me, put my boat where I wanted it so I ended up flipping and then missing rolls. The second day was supposed to get harder but I switched to a more stable boat and got the feel of the water and didn't flip. Yay!! The new boaters did amazingly well on the river, especially the last rapid of day 2, which was class III+ and was pretty big. It was carnage (about half swam, upside down boats everywhere) but half stayed up and made it through. Nice job!

The bus ride back was a little sketchy. We left later than we wanted and it was dark for about half of the 4-hour ride. I will try to avoid that in the future.

I'll try to post some photos this afternoon.

Kayaking tomorrow

2008-11-18T06:33:00.004-05:00

I'm going on a kayak trip for the next two days on a river called the Sun Kosi with a company called Paddle Nepal here in Pokhara. Should be fun. No stress. I'll be in touch in a few days.

Okay, some scenic photos, finally.

2008-11-17T06:42:00.017-05:00

By now, you're probably wondering if we saw any mountains on this trek. I haven't posted many scenic photos, mainly because my little point-and-shoot can't really capture the color and immensity of the scene. But since the scenery was the reward for the discomforts of trekking, I'll give it a try. Here are some taken from the 3-day trip up between Lukla and Namche Bazaar.

On the way out of Lukla, we passed through this gate. However, at this point, we haven't entered the Sagarmatha National Park. We're just getting a glimpse of the Himalaya but for a few days, we'll still be trekking in what is considered "hill country."

I wish I knew which mountain this is, but I don't. All I know is, it's not Everest : ) It doesn't matter though. They are all stunning.

This is our first view of Everest. You can only see the top of it over the ridge in front. It's the one with the cloud forming off the peak.
For the first several days, we trekked along the Dudh Kosi (milk river) and crossed back and forth across it several times (see previous post with the bridge photo). This photo doesn't do justice to the clarity and beauty of this river.

On the 2nd day (maybe the third?? I can't remember) we finally entered the Sagarmatha National Park. Sagarmatha is the Sherpa name for Everest. If I recall correctly, the name Everest came from the cartographer who discovered that it was indeed the highest peak in the world. I guess the more boring name stuck. Too bad. This is a building houses a museum and registration office. All trekkers had to have trekking permits registered at this office. They checked our permits again when we left but we got to keep them as souveniers.
Just past the registration office, is the main entrance. As you pass through, you can spin the prayer wheels (clockwise). I'll have more on this in a future post.

Signs here are always interesting. Read this one closely. It gives the rules to be followed while in this sacred park.
1. Refrain from taking life.
2. Refrain from anger.
3. Refrain from jealousy.
4. Refrain from offending others.
5. Refrain from taking excessive intoxicants.

Just past the entrance, we hiked down to the river. From here on out, we passed countless mani walls with the inscription Om Mani Padme Hum, a buddhist mantra or prayer that, evidently, has power in the number of times it is spoken. You pass with the walls on your right.
On the way into Namche, we saw a sign pointing the way back to Lukla. This sign will be a welcome sight when we visit it again on the descent. To us, it reads "This way to hot showers, real beds, and flush toilets" :

People on the way to Namche

2008-11-16T06:51:00.009-05:00

So I'm really behind in the photo posting. Here are more from the first few days journey to Namche Bazaar.

Lots and lots of kids out running around. They all seemed to know that tourists usually come with candy. Giving children candy or handouts is looked down upon by Nepalis so we didn't give in to their cute faces.

The trekking valleys of the Everest region contain some of the richest Nepalis in the country. Even though Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world, people here are healthy and seem generally happy.

The Nepali army has a pretty strong presence on the trails and in Kathmandu. They wear camouflage but instead of shades of green, it's shades of blue...odd.

These men are Nepali army taking a break along the trekking trail. I guess hiking up these trails is tough for everyone. The dog...well, there are stray dogs everywhere. For the most part, they seem to be well-fed.

Okay, as an aside, there is a little girl in this internet cafe who is singing the alphabet tune (but in Nepali) at the very top of her lungs while looking at her reflection in a window. Cute. But maybe later, when I trying to talk via Skype halfway across the world, it won't be so cute : )

Many times along the path, we needed to move to the inside, maybe halfway up a cliff, to get out of the way of a dzopku train. Harka is laughing at me because I crawled so far up the rock to get out of their way. They made me a little nervous after 1. we heard of a tourist being gored in the leg a few days earlier in Namche and 2. I was chased by one in Namche for maybe 20 yards a few days later. All turned out okay, really. There's a slightly longer story to this that I will save for another post. Anyhow, I give them their distance.Okay, this is all for now. I'll post more tomorrow.

Slight change in plans...

2008-11-15T10:22:00.003-05:00

So, I've decided to travel to Pokhara to stay for a week or two...or three. Pokhara is a much smaller town than KMD situated about...well, about 6 hours drive west of KMD. Georgia (my friend from England) and I took the Greenline bus, leaving KMD at 7AM this morning. I have to say, this was probably the best bus ride I've ever had. Not because the bus was really nice (it was okay, probalby luxury compared to riding on top of a bus, maybe), but because the scenery was FANTASTIC!! People, rivers, valleys. It's a Saturday, the weekly day off from school and, if you're a lucky Nepali, work too. Lots of people out. Lots of things being carried. It's also rice harvesting season so we saw rice in every stage of harvest. Unfortunately, my camera wouldn't have done the scene justice so I don't have very many pictures.

Pokhara: I've only just arrived but it's very scenic. The town sits on a lake beneath the Annapurna mountains. Really pretty. This town is quieter and cleaner, and seems safer. We're staying here for $15/night total (not per person...a steal!!! Brand new, hot showers, flush toilet...all the ammenities that I've grown to love).

I'll post more photos tomorrow. Promise!

Namaste!

1st Trekking Days

2008-11-14T01:44:00.013-05:00

More photos : ) Each one takes about five minutes.

On the left is Mingma, our Sherpa guide, though he's not Sherpa, who walks in front of the group, and Harka, our guide who walks behind the group. In this photo, Mingma looks like thug but he's really not : )
These are not our porters but it's typical of what they carry (these baskets are everywhere). Most porters carry a very heavy walking stick that doubles as seat. Each of our porters carried two large, red, World Expeditions duffels along with a tent. Lots of stuff. On our way out of the park two weeks later, we saw men carrying tremendous loads including several cases of beer. Oh, and the average height of a porter is shorter (and thinner, ha!) than me.These boys were playing marbles on the "street" in Lukla (they were quite good). They really loved the camera and seeing themselves on the LCD screen.

Here is our first campsite, in Ghat. See our orange tents in the background? This particular site was occupied by a baby cow who trotted around after us like a puppy. Our lunch table was usually a blue tarp placed on the ground (we wouldn't want to sit on dung, would we).

A Typical bridge: we crossed several back and forth across the Dudh Kosi (milke river...because of all the white water!!). This one is 109.5 meters long and is constructed of steel (nearly all are, at least what we saw in the Everest region).

Photos, finally!!

2008-11-13T04:42:00.022-05:00

Namaste!

Yes, namaste is used as both a greeting and a closing. I'm still in Kathmandu. I've done some switching of hotels but will be settling into one place for seven days starting Saturday. I'll spend this time researching India and touring places in KMD. The seven days will be at the Kathmandu Guest House, a tourist mecca. I ate lunch there today and have already met another single, female traveler. So it should be a great place to meet people and possibly someone to travel with (yes, I've ended in a preposition and I'm just fine with it : ).

Here are more photos. I've been having a terrible time downloading even a single photo. They've all been transferred to my flash card and, from there, I copy a few onto the desktop. But when I try to post, it gets hung up. Each photo takes between 5 and 10 minutes and any hitch in the connection during that time causes the download to fail : ( Technology here is a bit unreliable to say the least.

I hope Holly doesn't kill me for posting this one : ) Here she is getting on our tiny plane, bound for Lukla. She looks a little worried.

Our first view of the Himalaya (okay, 2nd...the first was on the flight from Dehli to Kathmandu). The snow-capped mountains on the horizon are the Himalaya. The brown peaks in the foreground are the "hill country".

Here's the runway in Lukla. I'm photographing from a walkway that runs above the wall that a plane would crash into if its brakes didn't work : )
I wonder what the "24" means. There's only one runway. Neal, Eve, any guesses?

See the end of the runway? Yep, it pretty much drops off a cliff. Just to the left of the runway, from this view, you'll see a building with a shiny roof. I'm pretty sure this is the lodge we stayed in on our last night, with the hot shower, flush toilet, and real bed.

Welcome to Lukla. This crowd of men is standing outside of baggage claim waiting for trek portering or guiding work. We already had a guide, Harka, who met us in Kathmandu. And our cook (Purshu Ram) had already hired our porters, who were waiting for us up the road a bit in town. The airport is named Tenzing Hillary after Sherpa/climber pair who made the first ascent of Everest.

This is the "main drag" in Lukla. From here forward, transportation is only on foot or hoof, unless you're getting helicoptered out due to severe altitude sickness (or other equally life-threatening illness). The buildings are typical Sherpa architecture; stone with brightly-painted window and door frames.

So, after that hair-raising plane ride (and I didn't even describe the hairy-scary trip to the KMD airport in the dark at 5AM), my badder was full and it was time to dig out some of that precious toilet paper. Here's one of the not-so-fancy toilets I mentioned. Yep, they're called toilets. In Nepal, bathrooms are used for bathing and may or may not contain a toilet. What's the Buddhist prayer for "please don't let these boards break"?

I guess you can't judge a toilet by how pretty it looks from the outside : ).

That's all for today. I'm glad I was finally able to get a good connection and post some photos. Maybe more tomorrow!!

Getting my act together to post photos

2008-11-10T06:48:00.005-05:00

Okay, I'm trying to download my photos again. The computer I'm using today (right next to the one I was using yesterday, which is now occupied by a Nepali boy playing a video game), is having trouble multi-tasking. I'm copying 100 photos at at time and am hoping the computer doesn't crash. Something sounding like Nepali Ricky Martin is playing on the radio. Oh, and another funny thing about this Internet cafe, which is a hole in the wall that doesn't serve coffee or beverages of any kind: all the keyboards have the letters handwritten on little pieces of paper and taped on. So, the keys don't stick but my fingers stick to the keyboard.

Okay, here are some pics from the first few days of the trip.
Day 1 and 2: 101 World Heritage sites in 8 hours. These were from our sightseeing day around KMD with Shree. You will find more on Brian and Anelle's site.

We visited the gigantic Bodhnath stupa. Surrounding the stupa are hundreds of small shops and several monasteries. We were allowed to go inside one of the monasteries between prayer ceremonies and take photos. At first, I thought the juxtaposition of the traditional and modern was interesting. But then I realized that this clock was positioned in the front of the room within easy view of the monks. Hmmmm. I guess the Rinpoche sometimes gets a little long-winded?

Okay, more photos tomorrow, I promise. I've spent the last three hours downloading disk 2 onto a flash drive. Huge pain in the a**. In fact, I can no longer sit in this seat : )

Namaste!

One little photo

2008-11-09T06:26:00.004-05:00

Okay, if you want to see more photos, go to Brian and Anelle's blog. They have their act together and have been posting photos along the way. I'll be adding photos to my blog as soon as I get them downloaded. After downloading 540-something of 576, there was an "unexpected error" and I had to start over. I did this twice. Ug. There goes 20 rupees. I'll try again tomorrow doing maybe 100 photos at a time to see which photo is causing the hangup.

Here is one from card 1 of 3. Remember the woman cleaning the cow's tail with her hands? Here she is : ) Brian and Anelle will provide the scenic vacation photos. I'll provide the comedic ones.

back in kathmandu. the pilot stuck the takeoff : )

2008-11-09T00:56:00.003-05:00

hi all,

i'm in an internet cafe in kathmandu. the shift keys stick a bit, hence the lack of caps and some punctuation : ) actually, all the keys stick but the right shift barely works. this must be why it's 40 rupees per hour instead of per minute? for some reason, i still don't have cell service. i'm going to try to get this cleared up today.

we got up at 5:00 am this morning from our deluxe lodge right next to the lukla airstrip. i might sound sarcastic, but really, this place was nirvana. a private bathroom with a free hot shower and flush toilet, and a bed! lovely! i washed my hair 3 times.

this morning, we walked about 5 minutes to the "airport" and harka (our guide who has kept us alive and happy these past 3+ weeks) worked on getting us on an early yeti air flight. yep, yeti airlines. nope, the pilot wasn't a yeti. 6:15 at the lukla airport reminds me of the floor of the stock exchange. pure chaos (but strangely, no farm animals inside the building). the flights for each airline are first-come, first-served. everyone with a reservation for a given day will get on a flight but there are several flights in the day. you are not guaranteed a certain flight. harka managed to get us on an early flight. our flight number was "3" (funny).

the takeoff is even more sketchy in person. the single runway starts at the top of a hill pitched at maybe 30 degrees...i guess it's the only way the pilot can gain enough speed for takeoff : ) flights here are nothing like the US, and not just for the obvious reasons. you don't need to show ID (harka takes care of everything). you don't need to put liquids in a bag. no one checks to see if your seatbelt is fastened (like it matters), no one gives any sort of safety talk (again, like it matters). your carryon bag doesn't go into the overhead compartment (what overhead compartment) or under the seat in front of you...it goes between your knees. it's all about turnaround time. a plane lands, they spend about 3 minutes unloading bags and passengers, another 3 loading, and you're on the runway before you stuffed the cotton in your ears (passed out in a basket by the flight attendent wearing full sherpa attire).

tomorrow, when i have more energy, i'll try to post some photos of the entire trip and maybe some video too.

namaste

In Namche again

2008-11-06T06:03:00.002-05:00

I'm in Namche again on the way down. Feeling good, cold almost gone. It's pricy here so I'll be quick. Click on my profile and then on to Brian and Annelle's blog. They have a few photos downloaded. I'll figure the photo thing out when it's 20 rupees per hour in KMD rather than 20 per minute here.

Oh, and YEA YEA YEA Obama. People here are very excited and hopeful. It's amazing how closely they've been watching. It's BIG news here. One sherpa woman was wearing an Obama button : )

Later all. I should be KMD in a few days (3, 4, who knows). The airport in Lukla just opened today after being fogged in for 3 days. The weather is clear and beautiful now.

Oh, and Madonna (Like a Prayer), is being blasted in the room below. Odd.

Namaste

oh yah

2008-11-04T04:27:00.001-05:00

I really miss everyone. It's very weird being out of contact. I hope I get cell service soon.

I'm still standin'!

2008-11-04T04:10:00.004-05:00

I'm in Dingboche today. Pretty little village. It's been a long...lots of days, can't count. I'll write more when I get to a cheaper spot. This place has plywood walls and gravel floors and no heat, of course. Funny.

Trekking in Nepal is amazing. The mountains tower over us with each step. It's physically but more mentally exhausting even though I'm doing pretty well, relatively speaking. I haven't had any issues with altitude though mild AMS has plagued my trekmates. Everyone has been on Diamox except me. Unfortunately, Holly had to descend at Machermo due to moderate AMS. She's doing well and probably on a plane back to the states as I write this. So, I'm on my own a little earlier than anticipated. But, so far so good.

So, we're on our way back down. I'm happy about that. It's really very cold up here and I'm happy to not have to sleep in a down coat inside a down sleeping bag. Cho La pass was definitely the most physically exhausting 7 hours of my life. The first three hours involved crawling up a boulder-strewn cliff. The next hour involved crossing snow and ice. And then three hours down a boulder-strewn cliff. Yep, tears were shed : ) I was sure a porter would have to carry me out. But I later realized that I was coming down with a slight cold and had a low fever. My energy was sapped. I could barely put one foot in front of the other.

I'm good now. Feeling good. I'll write more later.

Brian and Anelle

2008-10-23T11:09:00.001-04:00

Our trekmates have a blog. Click on their photo in the "follower" section to get to their blog. Sorry no photos. It would cost me too much internet time to figure out how to post them. Maybe when I get back to KMD.

Namaste!

TP makes me happy

2008-10-23T05:45:00.005-04:00

Yes, that's right. Toilet paper makes me happy. We were given a ration of 4 single-ply roles and let me tell you, that's not enough. Not even close. One reason is that one of the effects of altitude is that you have to pee 5 (and up to 12 times...Holly), in the middle of the night. That's a lotta paper. So, here it is. The bathroom report: They don't have many western toilets here in the east. Go figure. What we've seen so far is the fancy porcelain toilet which is basically like a bathroom sink in the floor with places to put your feet on either side. While this seems pretty bad, it's really not. I've been in port-a-pottys that are far worse (helloooo, the Yough stop!). Generally, the trick with these is to make sure you roll your pant legs up and keep your boot laces tucked in to avoid any...soilage. Also, make sure you have your TP ready and a pocket to put it in so you don't accidentally drop this paper gold down the hole. That would be bad. So, these are the fancy toilets. In one village that we trekked through, fancy wasn't available. Here, we had an outhouse situated over wood slats with one missing. Yep, that was bad. Worse than the yough stop. Anyhow, after the first night of getting up a billion times in the middle of the night and fiddling with boot laces and pant legs, I think I have a system down. Subsequent nights have been better. Of course, #2 is not very easy when you're balanced over a hole trying to keep your boot laces and pant cuffs dry. It's not just me. We're all having issues. Let's just say we were all happy that the "lodge" we're staying in has flush toilets. Nice. Hopefully, the next 10 days goes well.

Okay, that's it for the bathroom report. Hopefully it wasn't too much info : ) but I know you were all wondering.

As for the rest of the trek, it's amazing. There are mountains and blue skies all around us. It's hard to describe. Yesterday, we got our first glimpse of Everest as we hiked up and up and up all those stairs. Today, we did a short hike (again, straight up), to the Everest View Hotel. AMAZING! It's all worth it. I think we were at 12,800 ft today. Again, we're doing well with altitude. I wasn't short of breath today and no headache. Yea! Oh, and we get to shower today. Yea yea yea!

We'll be out of contact now for several days (10??). Wish us luck. It will be very cold and very high. But it will be beautiful too.

Namaste!

The pilot stuck the landing!

2008-10-22T05:42:00.002-04:00

Flight:
- Get there early (6AM or so). Flights are first-come, first-served.
- Sit on the left side of the plane for a view of the himalaya. Beautiful
- Only about 18 seats in the plane. I assume the seatbelts are for show only.
- Stick the landing. The runway is short-- it starts at the edge of a cliff and ends at a wall (just below baggage claim).

Lukla:
Beautiful town. No cars. Cows (not yaks, that only live above 3000m) are the local transportation. One "street" with shops on either side selling water, snickers bars, pringles (yep), and various trekking gear.

My group:
4 people total. Holly, me, and a couple (mid-30s) from NJ.

Our crew:
Guide: Harka- head guy. He's worked for World Expeditions since '96. Educated in "commerce" in university in Kathmandu. The guide is the go-to guy for everything and is in charge of the staff. Harka walks behind us on the trek.

Sherpa guide (it's what they call him though he's not sherpa?): MingMa. 2nd in command. He's done 40+ treks. He's on a 45 day holiday from university in KMD (also studying commerce). He serves us our meals, washing water (in a sing-song voice) and morning wake-up tea. He walks in from on treks.

Cook: we haven't met him yet but the food is good and plentiful.

Porters: at least 10. They carry our kit bags, tents, food, and cookware. Lots of stuff. All are shorter than me and carry bags over their heads!!

Trekking: So far so good. Today was the hardest day: 30 minutes down, 4 hours up, up, up. We're now at 11,500 ft. Lots of up. No altitude sickness thoough. so far so good. Oh yah, watch out for the big, huge, cows with long, sharp horns (not yaks). They tie a bell around their necks so you can hear them coming. Stay to the inside of the path and away from the cliff edge. No sudden movements.

That's all for now. The internet here is 15 rupees a minute (crazy). We're in Namche Bazaar for two nights, staying in a lodge (heavenly!). Stay tuned for the bathroom report tomorrow. I know you were all wondering how that would go.

Also, if you have questions, I"ll try to answer them. Send me an email tlgortner@yahoo.com today and I'll read them tomorrow (at a cheaper internet cafe, hopefully).

Namaste!

last day in the big city

2008-10-19T07:02:00.003-04:00

Holly and I will both be glad to head to the mountains tomorrow. The tour today was like 101 world heritage sites in 6 hours. I saw people bathing in a holy and dirty river, bodies being cremated (exhausted stupor caused misspelling of this earlier...hope confusion wasn't caused), a monkey taking an offering from a buddhist shrine, and a woman fastidiously cleaning a cows tail with her hands (seriously!). That's enough for one day. This will be the last you hear or read from me for quite some time. At about midnight your time, we should be flying to Lukla. I'm sure it will be fine, really. Really. I'm sure.

Namaste.

IJA: Internet Junkies Anonymous

2008-10-18T05:35:00.004-04:00

Hi, my name is Tammie and I'm an Internet junkie. So we spent the better part of a day wandering Thamel. Pure chaos. It will be nice to get out of the city and into the mountains. But, alas, we found a hole-in-the-wall Internet location recommended on a random web site. Prices vary...a lot! Hotel: 15 Internet minutes = 200 rupees. Here: 15 minutes = 15 rupees.

If I didn't mention it earlier, 1 dollar = about 75 rupees

Purchases
1 set of trekking poles: 900 rupees
1 pair of boot gaiters: 300 rupees
1 fleece neck gaiter: 100 rupees
1 rickshaw ride: priceless

Actually, the rickshaw ride (prefix, rick-, as in rickety) was 200 rupees (yes, way way too much).

More later!

2008-10-17T23:35:00.001-04:00

Well, we’re here in Kathmandu. I’ve been in a catatonic state most of my few waking hours here so I haven’t seen much. Here’s what I remember:

The airport
Even though we’d been warned not to give our bags to anyone at the airport, we were easily duped by a guy that we though was with World Expeditions. He wanted $10 to push my bag cart about 30 yards to the car. Chalk that one up to sleep deprivation : ) We each gave them $2 and they seemed satisfied. On the plus side, my bags made it safely from Columbus to Kathmandu through 5 airport transfers! No kidding! Yea for United, Asiana Air, and Jet Airways.

The transfer from the airport to the hotel
Kathmandu gives new meaning to the term tailgaiting. Our taxi nearly rear-ended a motorbike (seriously, slamming breaks, 2-3 inches to spare) and we saw several other near-misses with other vehicles. I was surprised not to see downed cyclists on the side of the road. But, due to my catatonic state, it didn’t really faze me.

The hotel
Radisson Kathmandu. Nice. Really. For $60 it’s far better than the Super 8 we stayed at between WV and NC a few weeks ago. That was billed as a non-smoking room and smelled of cigarette smoke. This one has two ashtrays with matches but doesn’t smell at all (and you all know I have a really sensitive sense of smell). However, even though we’d been warned to look at the seals on water bottles, we were duped by water in resealed bottles. The complimentary bottles of water in our room looked like new, seals and all, but after a few hours of sleep and upon reexamination, they turned out to have been refilled bottles. Who knows if the water was contaminated or not. We only had a few sips and treated the rest with iodine tabs.

The food
Good. Really good. The dahl (sp??) is excellent, and thoroughly cooked! And for breakfast, Holly got two eggs over easy (sort of), bacon, and coffee. For those of you that know her, that made her happy. Also, the black tea here is so good, it doesn’t need sugar.

Today’s plan
We’re going to wander around Kathmandu and look for a few last-minute trekking items. We’ll also look for un-tampered with bottled water. We meet with the World Expeditions tour group tonight and then tomorrow we’ll get a guided tour of Kathmandu. Yea!

So far so good. Will write more again before we start the trek.

We're here

2008-10-17T01:01:00.002-04:00

It's 10:47 AM in Nepal and we've been here for about 2 hours. Our room isn't ready yet so we're spending a few minutes in the hotel's business center (15 minutes on the net = 200 NR). I knew that 26 hours in flight would be rough but I had no idea how little sleep I'd be able to get. I'm running on fumes at this point with maybe 8 hours of sleep since Tuesday morning. First impressions: the weather here is fantastic. It's clear, dry, and about 70 degrees F.

I'll write more when I'm feeling coherent.

7 and 10

2008-10-07T19:52:00.000-04:00

Yikes. After months of planning and mulling and shopping and fretting, I have just 7 days and 10 hours before my travels begin. It's all a little surreal. Yes, I'm excited about traveling, but I'm still waist-deep in the last-minute planning that's involved in leaving the country for a few months so I haven't really had a lot of time to dwell or dream about what's to come. I'm doing such a random list of things: vote, get my teeth cleaned, clean out the fridge, pay ahead on my car insurance, apply for private heath insurance, pack, get traveler's checks, order extra camera batteries, etc. etc. I think it will all sink in during that 11 hour flight over the Pacific : )

My Flight
To save a little cash on the flight, I'll be taking the "scenic" route to Kathmandu, Nepal.
Columbus - Chicago: 1 hr (6AM flight, Wednesday morning)
Chicago - Tacoma: 4 hr, 30 mins
Tacoma - Seoul: 11 hr, 50 mins (!!!)
Seoul - Delhi: 7 hr, 45 mins (!)
Dehli - Kathmandu: 1 hr, 30 mins (arrive 8:15AM Friday morning or 10:30PM EST Thursday)

That's 26 hrs, 36 mins in the air, not counting layovers! Most of the layovers are 2-3 hours although the Dehli layover is about 7 hours. I wonder what it will be like spending 7 hours in the Dehli airport. God, please let them have flush toilets ; )

Lukla
Next Monday, I'll be flying to an airstrip in Lukla, near the base of the Himalaya. This airstrip was built by Sir Edmund Hillary when he began building schools and hospitals for the Sherpa people. The trek to Everest base camp starts from here.

Here's a video of a takeoff from Lukla. Watch the runway disappear about 2 seconds after the plane lifts off. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHkcEpxVc6o

Nepal Facts for Today
Time Zone: Nepal time is 9 hours and 45 minutes ahead of Columbus time. So if it's 8:30PM here, it's 6:15AM the next day in Nepal. What's with the odd 15 minutes? I'm not sure.

Exchange Rate: $1 = 77 nepalese rupees (which supposedly will buy one meal of daal bhaat, made of lentils, rice, curried vegetables). Since it's cheap, plentiful, filling, and healthy (?), I'll be eating plenty of it so I hope I like it. I hope my belly likes it too.

Hopefully, this gives you a little insight into the first few days of my trip. I'll write again when I get to Kathmandu!