getting into nepal

nepal is a gorgeous country, with a troubled political climate that i am struggling to make sense of. i really know nothing, though. when we were crossing into nepal from india, we were warned that an overland crossing could take a super long time because there are all kinds of protests against the government, which close down the roads. if buses try to go through the demonstrators, they throw rocks at them. regardless, when we got to kikarbhitta, the border town in nepal, we still opted for a bus to pokhara (where we would be starting our trek). it is supposed to be a 12 hour bus ride, but we were told that it would take closer to 18 hours. in fact, it ended up taking closer to 24 hours. we did get to a road that had protesters on it, so the bus pulled over on the side of the road behind all the other buses. everyone filed off the bus and just hung out for a couple of hours and chit chatted. i wasn't in the mood so i listened to a couple of episodes of this american life. yes, i am a westerner. after 2 and a half hours, people filed on, and the bus started up again. there was a sense of anticipation in the air, but it was all for naught. there were a couple of false starts, but we didn't really hit the road for at least another hour. by this time all the electricity in the area was out (the government does daily, sweeping blackouts in the country) so the roads were pitch black. we drove for about an hour until the us was stopped by army personnel and told the bus driver that we were going the wrong way. after much arguing, the bus driver had to turn around and retrace all the ground we had just covered, which was a real pain. but it all seemed fine and good, until we were stopped by another gaggle of army officials. these guys were angrier than the previous army men and started shouting very loudly in nepalese and waving their guns around. the bus driver had to get off the bus, have a yelling session with the small men with guns, and then go a different way yet again. the men with guns always win. eventually after hours of sitting on a seat that was broken on a bus made for people less than 5 feet tall, we got to a destination only to discover that it was not our destination. we had to get on another bus to get to pokhara. so we got on another bus, squeezed into seats and were on our way. this bus driver also is close friends with death and careened through the mountains like satan on a harley. it was madness. he would also go over these huge ruts in the road so fast that we in the back would jump up from our seats almost 3 feet high. my back is still feeling the aftershocks. but 5 hours later we arrived in pokhara, which is a cool little town. it is very touristy, but has some of the comforts of home. like real filtered coffee and espresso. you can also buy knock-off trekking clothes and other such goodies. this was a good place to rest up before getting on the trekking road.

trekking in nepal

nepal was definitely one of my favorite places on this trip. i just wish that i had been able to stay longer than one week. the beauty and sanctity of nepal deserves much more time. sadly with a trip like this, there is just no way to spend a great deal of time in any one place. not that i am complaining or anything.

we opted for a 6 day trek because we only got a 2 week visa and annette wanted to do a 4 day kayaking trip. i decided to do a 4 day mountain biking trip, but that didn't pan out since most of the organized biking trips leave from kathmandu, which is 6 hours away. the trek was magnificent and a lot of hard work, but totally worth it.

the first day i struggled, seeing as how i made bad choices the night before. i realy need to learn how to say no when someone says, "just one more". needless to say, the next day was rough. i threw up on 2 separate occasions. the first time my dinner from the night before and the 2nd time the 2 liters of water that i had been drinking to quell my aching head. i really didn't think that i would be able to hike that day. we even had to stop for about 45 minutes so i could take a nap. the nap did the trick and we were able to make it to the first tea house where we were sleeping for the night at around 4 pm. i was promptly asleep by 5 and did not get out of bed until the next morning. there was a gnarly thunder and lightning storm that went on all night. i was terrified and titillated all at the same time.

while i was sleeping annette got to talking to some british kids who were just finishing their trek and decided that instead of doing the circuit we had planned to do, we should instead hike up to annapurna base camp, which takes most people 10 days to do. i was against this, considering that it didn't really seem we would have enough time, we didn't have warm clothes or sleeping bags, and i hate the cold and we would be hiking up to 12,800 snowy feet. but, despite my better judgment, i agreed to go. looking at the prodigious mountain that is annapurna was quite humbling. not too many people actually go on expeditions to summit annapurna (which has an elevation of 26, 545 feet and is the 10th highest mountain in the world). for every 2 people who summit, one person dies. actually a couple of days before we got to base camp a ukranian guy was up a bit on the mountain and slipped on a sheet of ice to his death. so seeing this herculean mountain was not only humbling, but a bit harrowing.

the good thing was that i was feeling remarkably better ater 14 hours of sleep and the toxins being out of my system. but day 2 was long, becausewe had to go further than we had planned in order to get to base camp in enough time to descend. the thing about this hike is that you are constantly going up, up, up (obviously. we are climbing a mountain) and it is exhausting. also it is not a gradual uphill. we had to climb at an almost 90 degree angle up all these uneven stairs. i did love the challenge, but at around 2 pm, i hit my wall and had to stop for food. eating lots of carbs was a good motivator though and after lunch, i instantly felt better.



here are some of the stairs that we had to clamber up

the trek was magnificent and really cathartic. i hadn't realized how much i had missed being out in nature after so much time being a city dweller, with no real escape (especially in india). the only bad thing, besides the little bit of snow walking and the shivering cold at one of the camps, was that annette got sick on the way down and seemed pretty miserable. we think it may have been food poisoning. trekking up and down all those stairs with an unstable body is no picnic. but annette was a trooper and managed to get through the entire trek (and was well enough to do her kayaking clinic!).



annette and me after making it to annapurna base camp. i really am awed by the people who actually summit annapurna. they are either the bravest or craziest people ever.






here are some pictures of the annapurnas. there is annapurna 1 and annapurna south, i am not sure which one is in the pictures, but the scenery is glorious.




as you are trekking, you encounter many different people who live in the mountains. i loved meeting the children, even though they were always disappointed that i did not have any candy or gum to offer them.




this is what the little villages that we slept in looked like. most of them were pretty small. they are cut off from roads so porters (who are men who carry up to 80pounds of goods on their backs) carry in all the supplies they need. seeing these men walk up to 20 miles a day with all this weight on their backs made me feel like a real weakling and also reminded me how amazing people are.




children would have to walk anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours each way to get to school, depending on what village they lived in. their tenacity was moving and inspiring.

darjeeling and sikkim

after the madness and chaos of most of india, darjeeling and sikkim were a welcome reprieve. although they are technically part of india, these 2 states really feel as separate from india as elizabeth taylor is from one of her many ex-husbands. both states are in the himalayas so i think that the calm mountain energy and the influences from nepal and tibet just completely shift the culture. there is a lot less staring (in india no matter what you are doing, people are falling over themselves staring. i almost just want to walk around in a bikini covered in paint so i can really give people something to stare at). there is also far less hassle. people may ask you for something or ask you to come into their shop, but if you decline, no one starts yelling at you or shouting, "good price, good price" or "just looking, no buy". don't get me wrong, the absurdity and chaos of india keeps me on my toes and makes me feel...something. and i appreciate india for that. but sometimes you just need a break. it brings me back to my teaching days. i love each and every class i have ever taught. but there were days when they were so outrageous, i just needed to escape somehow, someway. but i always went back and found one me reason to love them. india is my out of control class and i just need a break.

in darjeeling, we walked around the town and saw some astounding views. we found a local pub, called joey's, where we hung out nightly. everyone knew my name for a second, but promptly forgot it. but it was ok, because at least they asked. we discovered that the owner of the pub was in a hindi, bollywood movie called chowrstra (which is also the name of the main square in darjeeling). all in all, it was quite a relaxing experience. which was the same with sikkim.

after a torturous ride in a jeep through the himalayas from darjeeling(which they managed to squish 12 people into), we did arrive to gangtok (the capital of sikkim) safely. i don't really know how, seeing as every turn seems like a dance with death, and an almost deafening experience since the horn is the dominant form of communication. the horn can mean anything: move, asshole; hello; i like your car; my head hurts; will you marry me?, etc. and i can never make any sense of the messages so i just try to block it out. maybe i will take up horning as an alternate language for the next time that i am back here.




this is the steam train that rides up the himalayas to get to darjeeling. i really wanted to be on the steam train going up, but somehow we got on the diesel train. but i did get to see it as it was getting ready to go down the mountain. it takes the train 8 hours to go 88 km (about 60 miles) because it is so slow. kids were running alongside it and jumping aboard, which looked fun.


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while in sikkim, we visited a couple of buddhist monasteries. this was on one of the walls. i have no idea who it is; i just thought it was pretty.



in darjeeling, we woke up at the ungodly hour of 3:30 to take a jeep up tiger hill and see the sunrise. on a clear day, you can see some of the highest peaks of the himalayas. we did not get a clear day. there were throngs of indian tourists there to see the sunrise. when the sun came up they all ooohed and aaahed. i was trying not to fall to the floor from exhaustion.




the sunrise. the sun did in fact come up that day. whoopty doo...




there are street vendors everywhere, especially when you are near any kind of transport, like the jeeps and trains. they sell the most delicious street food. my favorites are the samosas. i have probably eaten at least 50 in the 2 weeks i have been in india.



this is the owner of joey's pub who was in the bollywood movie. and the other guy is brad, an aussie fellow who we met on the toy train to darjeeling. he has been traveling with us ever since, although he opted for a different trek in nepal. annette must have been getting on his nerves.