Safe and secure back at home

Jeff and I have made it home and are resting after a long trip. I will provide a rundown when I feel better. All for now, Scott

Back in Hong Kong

After a brief 4 hour flight,we have arrived back in Hong Kong. We will be here for about 8 and a half hours before starting our final leg homeward.

Good-Bye Nepal, you've been great!

We are packed up and are getting ready to leave for the airport in just a few short hours.  A car is coming to pick us up at Raj's house.

We spent the day shopping and touring temples and such.  The Monkey temple was true to it's name as there must have been hundreds, if not thousands of monkeys.  They ran free all over the place and they would let you walk very close to them.  I got some great pictures as did Jeff.

I've said it many times in the last few posts, but we are very excited to be heading home.  Jeff and I are basically waiting for the time to leave as everything is ready to go.  Raj's wife is going to fix us one last meal as they won't seem to let us go hungry, even if we don't really want to eat.  The hospitality has been over the top and it may take us a bit of time to learn to fend for ourselves once again.

The weather here is still shirt sleeve temperature and we are walking around in our bear feet and dining out on the patio.  Not sure what we will get in Hong Kong, but we are not leaving the airport, so not really relevant for us.  San Francisco is supposed to be calling for rain by the time we arrive, so perhaps a nice wet welcome back to the bay area for us.

Anyhow, I will attempt to report our progress once we reach Hong Kong and then again when we make it home.  It has been a great adventure and I am hoping for a smooth trip back to reality.

Scott

Back in Kathmandu (and another mass update)

Alright, we are back at our guide Raj's house.  Hari is his brother and was our actual guide, but Raj owns the business.  

We are departing tomorrow night and should have access to an Internet connection for most of our travels, so I will make sure to provide updates as often as possible.  Here are the last few days of our hike as well as the trip up the hill to the top of Gokyo-Ri.  

11-07 (Gokyo – Luza)

Gokyo-Ri! Woke up this morning at around 4am and dressed for the hike up the peak. Walked out of the room and went outside and wow, the stars are so bright it was like they were electric. I have never seen them so bright, but I guess that what being at 15,500 does for you. The temps are freezing and it is tough to get out of bed. Everything is frozen, even my drinking water has frozen.

The walk up the hill was just as tough as I was fearing. It was pitch black when we started and we saw that there were other people already on the hill. We could see the headlamps of the hikers zig zagging up the hill. Our porters were supposed to have tea ready for us to take up the hill, but nobody could find them and we went up with Hari. After two tough hours, we finally saw the top of the hill where there were already a few people. The weather was perfect and visibility was pretty much unlimited. We stepped up to the top and in to the sun. There were prayer flags draped everywhere and a sign that told us the elevation (17,989 feet). The fog was working its way up the glacier far below us, but the Himalayan mountain range was unbelievable. Mount Everest ruled over everything else, but the other mountains were just as impressive. We took a ton of photo's, but the morning sun probably hurt the quality of them. The wind started blowing the fog up the hill as we departed back down towards Gokyo. As we descended, we ran in to dozens of people working their way to the top. The fog was coming up so quickly we were not sure what to tell them when they asked if it was clear on top. All we could say was it was nice when we left. It took us just about an hour to reach the bottom of the hill and we had a quick breakfast before departing for Luza.

The trip to Luza was cold and foggy. It even started snowing on us just a little. Once we arrived at the lodge we were tired and freezing (it seems we are always freezing), but the owner started a fire and we slowly started warming up. I had my socks washed and we put them up to dry next to the fire as we all huddled next to it. I finally gave up trying to stay warm and went to bed early so I could get in my sleeping bag. I went to sleep with my iPod on and drained the battery, so now I need to recharge it.

11-08 (Luza – Namche)

We woke up for the first time in quite a while where the sun was out. It was finally clear skies! Of course it was still freezing cold. We had our breakfast and headed towards Namche. The day was mostly sunning, though there were a few clouds blowing around. We marched in to Namche after about seven hours of walking and were tired and sore. We were able to take a warm shower which helped to ease our pains, and then had a nice meal to finish us off. All of us decided to have a beer and it was probably the best tasting beer I have had in some time. We also were able to connect to WiFi and send out some emails and update the blog. Emails from home are a double edge sword, where I am so happy to hear from them and to read what they are doing, but it also makes me miss them terribly.

Now that we are heading down the hill towards Lukla and our flight out, it has really fired up my desire to go home. My thoughts are almost entirely on my family at this point and I am counting every day until I arrive at the airport. Home sickness has kicked in big time!

11-09 (Namche – Lukla)

Big day today as we make the long march to Lukla. It normally takes at least two days to hike from Lukla to Namche, but going downhill (much of the way anyhow) makes it doable. We woke up and had our breakfast and I was able to make a quick phone call to speak with Kate and the kids. Of course this makes me want to go home even more than I already did. As promised, it was a long day backtracking over the same trails we took coming in. While there were some uphill climbs, we made good time and made it to Lukla around 4pm. Our lodge sits right at the end of the runway. As I write this entry, I am looking right down the centerline of the runway here. Four airplanes arrived and departed before it got too dark to continue and we watched them with many other people who lined up to see the action. We were trying to get an early flight out tomorrow, but the chances of that appear to be fading fast. It looks like we get to hang out an extra day here. While we all want to get back to Kathmandu, I think we are all good with a day of relaxing here watching the aircraft come and go. Arriving at Lukla officially ends the walking portion of our trek and we will be using modern forms of transportation from this point on.

Lukla is much larger than I thought it would be, and like other towns of decent size around here, it is also petty dirty. There are bars and shops all along the street and dirt and garbage are everywhere. Regardless of its condition, I am very happy to have made it here at last. It is one step closer to home. I also am really enjoying watching the aircraft here. It sure fires up the juices to go flying again. Then come in and land right on the numbers and quickly reverse their props and hit the brakes hard until they reach the end of the runway where they turn off. There is only enough room for about four airplanes on the ramp. A fifth airplane just landed and is unloading right on the end of the runway. We watched the unloading and reloading as everyone scrambled to work as quickly as possible. The right side engines remain running while all this happens. After about 15 minutes they are all ready to leave. When the airplanes position themselves at the end of the runway to prepare for departure, you are only 20 – 30 yards behind it watching from the fence. The smell of kerosene is thick and the prop wash blows dust right up at you. They throttle up, release the brakes and go careening down the sloping runway until right at the very end of the asphalt runway before pulling up hard and lifting off. There are four planes that have landed and unloaded their cargo and are all taking back off loaded with passengers. The takeoff procession is so rapid that you can still see the first aircraft climbing out when the fourth one is departing.

Still not sure what tomorrow's plan is, so I guess we will have to wait and see.

11-10 (Lukla – Kathmandu)

Well our guide has worked his magic and was able to book us a flight to Kathmandu a day earlier than planned. This was especially impressive when you count the fact that the airlines were still catching up from being grounded by weather for nine days. It turns out that the manager for the airline we were using, also owned the lodge we were staying at. On top of that, his mother (who really runs the place) acts as a agent herself. Just after breakfast we were watching the planes take-off (as does everyone in Lukla) when Hari come running up telling us to pack our bags, just in case. A little while after than, he yells at us to grab everything and run to the airport. The lodge Mom, is running and yelling at us to go, so we grabbed our stuff and jumped in to the crowds in the departure terminal with lodge mom leading the way. She yells at the people working behind the desk and they grab our bags to weigh them and then gives us boarding passes for the flight after the next. We run through security, still not exactly sure what we are doing or if we are really catching an early flight, but soon enough our airplane arrives and we are ushered outside and we all scramble to the aircraft. We wait while they unload cargo before being shoved on to the plane (all the time the right side engine is running) and grab a seat and buckle in. No more than a minute or two later we are moving on to the runway, and 30 seconds after than we are airborne. No safety briefing needed I guess.

So taking off from Lukla was as exciting as I would have hoped, though probably smoother than I would have guessed. We taxied up to the end of the runway where the pilots performed a very brief run-up, and then they punched it and we careened down the hill towards the end of the runway (and the end of the world as far as we were concerned) where we gently lifted off in to the wild blue yonder. The climb out and cruise to Kathmandu was uneventful, but we essentially followed our trekking path back to town. I saw a number of places from the air where we had just trekked through. We landed at the airport back in Kathmandu and found a taxi to take us back to Raj's house. Once here, we had a beer and had a chance to clean up before dinner. The rest of the night was spent relaxing and catching up on emails and the like.

11-11 (Kathmandu)

When we arrived at Raj's house last night, there was chanting being played over a loud speaker from a temple not far away. Raj told us it had been going on for several days and they were supposed to shut it down after 10pm, but I can tell you now that it played all night long. As I type this update it continues on and on. Thankfully it has become mostly background noise at this point, but it would be nice to have some quiet.

Today was spend touring Kathmandu and the surrounding area. We explored some very cool temples and other historic spots. I took lots of pictures, which I will be posting once we get to a place with a more consistent Internet connection. There are a ton of photos and I will also need some time to go through them. We are now back at Raj's house and are relaxing before we have dinner. Raj is treating us like royalty and we are very grateful for his hospitality. He is leading our tour of Kathmandu as part of the price for the trek. It's all included.

I have to mention the traffic here in Kathmandu. If you have ever been driven around a busy city in a developing country, you probably have some idea of what we are seeing, but I don't know if anyplace can compete with the chaos that we are going through. I have seen some crazy driving in my time, but here everyone jumps in to the fray. Big trucks, buses, cars, tractors, motorcycles animals and people all share space on the roads. Not only are they all out on the road, but they seem intent on killing either themselves or others. There is such a crush of people, animals and different forms of automotive transportation, that you would never expect to reach your destination intact. People walk right in front of speeding traffic without even appearing to look. Our driver deftly swerves and weaves through all this like a maniac while somehow managing to avoid hitting anything. Motorcycles weave in and out like little kamikazes looking for a target. And I should probably mention that motorcycles are super popular here. They probably outnumber all other forms of transportation combined. Everyone is honking their horns like madmen, but it seems like they depend on them to alert other drives and pedestrians to their presence. I don't think they use it in anger like we do in the states. It is just a normal part of driving here, if you can call their driving normal that is.

Tomorrow is the famous Monkey temple, then after that we start preparing for our late night departure to Hong Kong. We are schedule to depart Kathmandu at 11:30 tomorrow and arrive in Hong Kong somewhere around 5am Saturday morning. We have a bit of a layover until 2:30 local before boarding our flight to SFO. Due to our crossing the International Date Line once again, we actually arrive at 10am on the same day we departed Hong Kong. In fact we arrive about four hours before we departed. Nice little trick, though I would imagine that we will be too tired to care much at that point.

Now than we have an Internet connection once again, I will try to update the blog once a day to let everyone know where we are and what were up to.   

Mass update #2

So here is another mass update.  I did not have time to include the trip up to Gokyo Ri at 18,000, but we did it.  The views were incredible and Everest was there for all to see.  It was a really difficult two hour hike up to the top on the hill and we started at just after 4am to make it in time for sunrise.  

We are now back in Namche and hope to catch a flight to Kathmandu on Wen or Thurs.  The weather has been terrible and the flights were all canceled for the last 9 days or so, but the weather has cleared and we hope to catch a plane soon.  Everything is still on schedule.  My knee is fine and I have been walking normally, but I have been carful to not aggravate it.  We all feel great and are getting very homesick at this point.  My only thoughts at this point are seeing my family at the airport when I get back to SFO.  

Once I am back in Kathmandu, I will have a better Internet connection and will catch up with the emails and finish my daily updates.  

That's all for now!

Scott

11-02 (Monju – Namche) Ending elevation:

Woke up early this morning and noticed it was clear out, but within the hour the fog rolled up the valley and we saw no more. Another morning of no flights in to Lukla. My appetite continues to improve and I had eggs and a huge pancake for breakfast thing morning. Today is the day we finally made it to the crossroads of the Everst region. We started out heading up the river and crossed over several times before coming to a high suspension bridge that marked the beginning of our climb. Hari had told us that he thought it would take close to four hours to get to Namche, but we started climbing the steep hill, picking out way through the massive crowds of trekkers coming down towards Lukla and we just keep going. I don't know if we stopped for more than a couple of minutes at any one time. Usually the only time we did slow down was to let a Yak train pass by us. Yaks tend to be road hogs and it is prudent to get out of their way before they push you right off the side of the mountain. Finally around 11am, we came to the check-point in Namche. We had our permits checked and went in to town. Namche Bazaar is tough to describe, but it is like an old west trading post. The streets are very narrow and dirty with animals, people and trash everywhere. Shops line the street, and you can find almost anything you need here. We passed through the heart of the town and climbed up to our lodge near the top and checked in. The lodge is pretty large compared to the ones we have been staying in and it had Internet.

After lunch we descended back down in to town and I purchased a down jacket and a daypack to carry my things in. My knee is getting stronger everyday, but I won't carry another heavy load for the rest of this trip, so I needed a bag for my water and other supplies I need during the day. Just as we were thinking of heading back up to the hotel we heard people shouting and yelling and I look up to see a Yak coming down the street in a full run. The streets of Namche are only about 8-10 feet wide, so when being charged by a Yak, it is a good idea to run. Fortunately the Yak turned off in to a side yard and the herder was able to get it back up where it belonged. Turns out this type of Yak encounter is as common as rude drivers are in San Francisco, and we ended up dodging several more Yaks before calling it a day. I was able to connect to the Internet for a short period of time to update my blog and read and respond to a few emails. The computer was very popular as everyone wanted to communicate with their friends and family, so I did what I could with the time I had.

While its great to reach Namche, it is a dirty little town and very crowded, so I will be happy to move on tomorrow.

11-03 (Namche Bazaar – Khumjung) Ending elevation: 3790m

Kept waking up last night, but feel pretty rested. The bed was nice and we each had a thick blanket to protect us from the cold. The dining areas are always headed, but the rooms are cold as ice. We usually spend our evenings in the dining area sitting around the stove trying to stay warm. When we are not eating, we can read, talk or just hang out. People come and go and it is fun to strike up conversations with the other trekkers. I expected to see more Americans over hear, but they have really been few and far between. Mostly you see Europeans and Asians such as the Japanese. Most everyone speaks at least some english so we can at least hold a basic conversation without too much trouble. Almost every conversation starts with the question of wether your going up the hill or back down it. The next one typically asked is when did you fly in (to Lukla)? People are usually surprised to hear we walked in from Jiri, since a overwhelming percentage of people fly in.

Today was a very easy day as we had only about a three hour walk to our next destination. We have to be very careful with gaining too much altitude too quickly, or we risk getting sick, so our schedule is based on altitude gained and not distance traveled. After leaving Namche, we made a brief climb up the hill to a museum. It had some exhibits on the history of the area and a few displays, but was pretty basic. After that, we headed straight up the hill to the Everest View Lodge. This is a very nice place built by a Japanese owner and it was one of the nicer buildings I have seen since I have been here. Unfortunately once again the fog has decided to spoil any views we might have had. The fog and low clouds have been a constant companion the last several days and we are getting tired of their company. Anyhow after spending a few minutes admiring the building, we headed back down for a very short walk to our lodge. This is the first lodge that is like a motel, where the rooms are outside. The owners are very friendly and the husband has even summited Everest. We got settled and had some lunch before heading out to explore the town a bit. Khumjng is similar in size to Namche, but is much more residential. It is much cleaner here and it feels much more comfortable to me. We are also now at the elevation where wood has become scarce and the people burn Yak dung in their stoves. Everywhere you look there are dung patties drying on the stone walls. They look like giant chocolate chip cookies clinging to the walls like an abalone. Lucky for us they don't seem to smell, and they appear to burn really well in the stove. We also visited a Buddhist monastery and a school that Sir Edmond Hillary had founded. My knee feels fine, as does the rest of me, and I am very excited to continue on up to Gokyo.

Now if we can just get the weather to cooperate!

11-05 (Khumjung – Luza) Ending elevation: 14,101ft

Hard day hiking today. First though, we woke up to the same weather we have had for the last six days. Hari called down to his friend in Lukla and there are very few flights if any getting out or in. People are forced to wait in Lukla for the airport to open as well as down in Kathmandu. The only way in or out is by walking (through Jiri) or helicopter, and neither are great options for people constrained by money and time. The upshot for us is that the lodges are almost empty and we pretty much have the places to ourselves.

Today we started out with a nice downhill walk, but then took this short-cut that went almost straight up the mountain. It was actually fun, but a little tiring due to the altitude. Essentially we did a climb, then a decent, and then a full on climb again before leveling out for the last section that took us to Luza. We are now over 14,000ft, which is the same as having us sit on the summit of Mount Shasta. Tomorrow we go higher still as we reach our destination of Gokyo. The last part of the trek today had us on the side of the hill far above the glacial river below. Shrouded in fog and walking apart from each other, it was very relaxing and peaceful. Aside from being tired and cold, it was a great walk. Oh, and I forgot to mention that the fog being blown up the hill freezes once it hits something, so there is ice on the bushes and trees and even a little on us. My beard started freezing over at one point. The lodge was nice and heated when we arrived, but Tomoso told us he left his thermos back at the place we had lunch, so he and Dawa went back for it. They should be back in time for dinner as it was only going to take them about and hour and a half or so to make the round trip.

While they are gone, the rest of us are sitting around the stove (burning Yak dung) and eating Pringles and drinking tea. I also splurged and purchased a snickers bar. This is my first candy bar of the trip and I think I just went in to sugar overdrive. There is nothing as satisfying as junk food after several weeks of eating the same thing. Life is very good at the moment.

11-06 (Luza – Gokyo) Ending elevation: 15,500ft

Another day when I have woken up to fog outside. I believe that this makes seven days straight, but who's counting at this point. We were told last night that there were 1,800 trekkers waiting for a flight out of Lukla and that every room for miles was booked solid. Many more Napelie's were waiting as well. Well about a half an hour after getting up, the sun started poking through some of the overcast, and by the time we had our breakfast and started walking, it was mostly sunny. For the first time in days, we were warmed by the sun. The sun lasted long enough for us to grab some photos of the mountains and see some of area we had been walking in for the last week. Soon enough the fog and low clouds rolled in, but the sun continued to peek out every so often. We arrived in Gokyo for lunch and it was exactly as pictured. It is a small little village sitting on the edge of an alpine lake, and it is very scenic. We followed a Yak train in to town and once here, they unloaded the animals and simply let them roam free. When in my room organizing my things, one of them peeked in to my window to see what I was doing. I really like these Yaks. They are slightly smaller than a cow and have long hair. The face is cow like, but longer and more elegant. The sound they make is similar to a cow, but is much lower. They have large horns and are usually wearing bells and collars to identify them.

After lunch, we decided to hike up to the fourth lake where we would have a great view of the glacier. The hike up was only about a half a mile or so an had a modest altitude gain, but it took us some time to negotiate the rocky path. The sun was able to shine through the rolling clouds as we made our way up the hill to the fourth lake. The wind whipped at us and dropped the already chilly temps well below freezing, but the views made it worthwhile. The glacier drops down from what looks like a huge vertical wall of ice and flows pass Gokyo as a rock strewn river in a dirty trough. While the wind masked much of the sound, you can hear the rocks falling and the ice cracking as it slowly flows down the hill. This was something that I had looked forward to seeing with my own eyes, and it did not disappoint. We came back to the lodge freezing and tired, but soon warmed up with tea and even some coffee. The lodge scene here is much more crowded than we are used to. There are two large heated dining rooms in our lodge and they are both stuffed with trekkers. Everyone sort of sticks to their groups, but most are friendly enough. We all sit in a dimly lit room eating dinner, or doing the other things that occupy our time here. I am reminded of the old west, where dusty travelers gather together for food and drink in the hotels and guest houses. We are all similar here in that we are tired, dirty and probably far from home and everything familiar. Everyone seems to have a cough and sniffle or suffering from some sort of ailment. As the sun goes down, the tiny lights come on in the room, but everyone pulls out their headlamps to have enough light to read or write by. Even with the fire, we must keep our warm clothes on to stay comfortable.

Tomorrow we wake early and depart the lodge by 4am to start a two hour hike to the top of Gokyo-Ri. The climb promises to be difficult in the cold darkness and we are to dress in our warmest clothes. The reward for efforts is to hopefully see the sunrise upon Everest and the other mountains in the range. Everyone rants and raves about how wonderful it is, if the weather cooperates. We shall see what we get in the morning.   

Mass Update

Not really much time to post here, so I am dumping everything in one post.  Probably some spelling and other errors, but here it is.  I am currently in Namche Bazaar and am heading up the hill towards Gokyo tomorrow.  Here is our trip almost up to this point.  Oh yeah, we are freezing our butts off...

10-21 (SFO-HONG KONG)

Hellia took Jeff and I to the airport and we checked in before setting saying good-bye. At that point, the trip really began for me. Unfortunately, we did not check in together and were assigned seats far apart from each other. So much for assigned seats. The flight itself was not too bad. I have high praise for Cathay Pacific airlines. Lots of good food and nice entertainment system. I probably watched at least four different movies and a couple episodes of television. Not much else to do on a fourteen hour flight. We arrived in Hong Kong and took a double decker bus to town. The ride took about an hour and we were able to see the town all lit up in lights. Very nice. We arrived at the hotel, which was right in the middle of a very busy area. The room was very small and had no windows, but we were able to get some much needed sleep after checking out the local area a bit.

10-22 (Hong Kong - Kathmandu)

I think it must have been around 3:30 or 4am when Jeff asked if I was awake, which of course I was, but we did sleep enough to knock the cobwebs out of our heads. We checked out early and went to a fancy hotel just down the street where we had a couple of beers the night before and decided to have breakfast. They had a large buffet which we both really enjoyed. As we had checked our main bags through to Kathmandu, we only had our backpacks with some clothes in them, so we headed off to take the tram up to the peak. We figured out the train system enough to get to where the tram was and found the terminal. Since it was early, there was almost nobody there and we got right on. The tram ride is pretty cool as it goes up hills that must be at a 45 degree angle. Your sitting there and it seems like your going almost straight up at times. Hopefully there is a good safely system, because you have a long way to go if the cable snaps. We got to the top after about 15 minutes or so and could only see parts of the city due to the cloud cover, but the view was still very impressive. After looking around for a while we decided to take a walk around the top of the hill. I think it was about 3200 meters (about 10,000 feet) for the entire trail, but it was really very nice. It is a tropical environment and everything is green and overgrown, but the trail was paved and well kept. The only issue was that we got very sweaty.

After the tram ride down the hill, we located the train station again and took a train to the airport. What a great ride that was. The US really needs to get back in to rail transportation. The ride was fast and smooth and we were able to view much more of the countryside. After about 40 minutes or so we arrived at the airport. When arriving the night before, I did not notice how large this place is. The international terminal was simply huge with a single ceiling covering everything. We got checked in for our flight to KTM early and had plenty of time to sit back and charge our electronics and simply relax a bit. After a while, we boarded our flight and headed to Kathmandu. There was one stop in India and then we landed on time about 10:30 at night. It took us a few minutes to clear customs and then we came out to a mass of people in the reception area. Thankfully we located Raj quickly and he was able to steer us through most of it. There were people trying to help us with our bags and lead us in different directions, but Raj kept us going in the right direction and we were able to load our things in small car and eventually get out of the airport.

Kathmandu is a very large city, but the ride from the airport to Raj's house took us through rough dirt roads and back alleys. I was not expecting all that much when we arrived at Raj's house, but it was very nice and had several guest rooms and an Internet connection. We had some food and a beer and met our trekking partner Tomaso before retiring for the night.

10-23 (KTM – Jiri) Ending elevation: 7000ft

We woke up and starting getting our gear ready as the van that would take us to Jiri was scheduled to arrive around 9am or so. Lots to do with having to decide what to bring and what to leave. Finally got packed and started off on a seven hour trip. The trip was very long and the road was narrow and had a lot of traffic. It was nice to see a bit of Nepal outside of the busy city, but it was very dirty and smoky. There are motorcycles everywhere and they zoom all over the place. People are walking along the road side and sometimes in the road. Honestly, I don't know how there are not more accidents. It was simply crazy! Once we finally arrived in Jiri we were pretty tired and had dinner before crashing for the night.

10-24 (Jiri – Deurali) Ending elevation: 8000ft

We got ourselves together and finally hit the trail with our packs. I will cut to the chase here and say that the day proved to be extremely challenging. First days usually are challenging, but the trail started climbing almost immediately and we were soon puffing and sweating like crazy. The climate in Jiri is not what I expected at all. It is very green and lush, with lots of water everywhere. Both Jeff and I were very tired by the time we hit Shivalaya for lunch, but were very impressed with the scenery. We stayed in a great little lodge on the top a hill. Good food and hot shower.

10-25 (Deurali – Sete) Ending elevation: 8600ft

The day started out going down. Down and down and down. We descended a steep and rocky trail that just killed our knees and feet. We came out on a flat area with lots of farms and stopped to rest a bit. We bought some Nepali candy in Jiri and we each carry a pocketful to hand out to the children. Everywhere we go children come out and say Namaste, which means greetings, so that we will give them candy or a pencil. They are very cute and I gave two 4 or 5 year old boys each a piece and they did a handstand for me in return. Some kids are bashful, but others are very social and will work you pretty hard for an extra piece. Our guide Hiri is protective of us and trys to not let anyone take advantage of us, so he will shoo them off if they get too pushy. Part of the attraction for trekking through Jiri is the up close interaction you get with the Napali people. The trail basically goes right next to their homes and farms. Everyone you look people are in the hills tending their goats, cows and chickens, or they are tending their fields. They look like they have a difficult life, but they seem to be happy. Their homes are essentially shacks and they usually have their cooking fires burning in them with little ventilation. The eves are darked black from the smoke billowing out from them. It is difficult to breath, but it does not seem to bother them.

We had our lunch in Kinja and then start climbing again. It seems that we are always climbing or descending, never getting to relax on the flats. This was probably one of our more grueling climbs and it was probably Jeff's toughest day. About two-thirds of the way up the storm clouds gathered and it started raining. Small drops here and there at first, but then we started getting hail. As it started raining harder, we found a small restaurant to shelter in. Pretty soon it really opened up and we got lightning and thunder along with heavy rain. It lasted about an hour and then lightened up and we continued up the hill in our rain gear. Finally made it to the lodge dead tired. Dawa who is one of our porters was sent ahead to get our rooms, but he did not go to the place our guide told him to, so it was probably not as nice as it could have been, but we were so tired it did not matter.

10-26 (Sete – Junbesi) Ending elevation: 8771ft

Started the day climbing again, but at an easier grade than previous. One of the things we have been seeing everyday are the planes and helicopters flying overhead on their way to and from Lukla. When the weather is good enough to permit landing and taking off from Lukla, the planes are overhead every ten minutes or so. There are around 50-60 flights per day when the weather cooperates. We will be departing the Everest area on a plane from Lukla. The weather here is usually clear in the morning and then cloudy by early afternoon. Somedays the clouds come early and other times a bit later, but they always show up. It is no wonder that this countryside is so green. On our climb up the hill today we went through a huge rhododendron forest. It was covered in moss and absolutely stunning. If I was not struggling for breath I would have appreciated it more, but we had to keep moving. Once on top of the pass, you could see where much of the forest had been cleared for firewood. Lamjura pass was 11,393 feet and it is where all the aircraft pass through on their way to Lukla. They take this pass because they are unpressurized and need to keep their passengers from becoming hypoxic. It was really cool to be at almost eye level with the dozens of air craft zipping through. The pass is where we had our lunch and then started downhill. We arrived in Junbesi around 5pm and stayed in a great little lodge. It even had satellite television and we were able to catch up on a little news courtesy of the BBC. Another hot shower, which made everyone feel great. I have been told the hot showers will be ending soon, but I did not expect them in the first place, so no worries.

10-28 (Junbesi – Nunthala) Ending elevation: 7237ft

Today was billed as an easy day, but I ended up with a bum knee that slowed me down to a crawl. On top of that, I did not feel well at all. Together it made this one of my more difficult days, at least for the first half. Coming out of Junbesi, my knee started hurting. First it was just going downhill, but after a bit, uphills were killing me as well. Coming up the hill for lunch I was sick and almost crawling from knee pain. The porters took my pack so I could make some progress. I was also getting bummed because I am thinking this could end my trip, so my mood was going south as well. We finally made it to our lunch spot and I laid down while the porters worked on my knee with medicinal oil and a massage. I don't know what was in it, but I started feeling better. I forced myself to eat some sherpa stew and relaxed for a while. During this time, a group of happy (and some a bit drunk) boys came in singing songs to celebrate the flower festival that has been running for a couple of days now. They sing songs and try to collect money. It is a very festive holiday and we have been seeing signs of it for a while. One day was for dogs, so all the dogs were blessed and given flower collars. The next day it was for the cows (which are scared here), so we would see cows with flowers and painted red dots on them. Anyhow, the boys were finally given some money and shoved out the door by the lady cooking our meal. I was told that she was telling them I was sick and needed to be left alone. Glad it good for something. At this point we all decided that tomorrow would be an unplanned rest day. We were all tired and we had one extra day to burn.

After lunch I felt much better and was able to finish the climb up to the ridge line where there was a temple. This is also were we got our first glimpse of Mount Everest. It was shrouded in clouds, but we were able to get a pretty good view of it. It provided and nice little lift in our spirits. We descended down the hill at a very slow pace (thanks to me), but we came upon a large Buddhist temple. We were told that it was home to over 150 lama students. We were allowed in and were able to see inside the temple. It was really very beautiful and we left a donation and were blessed and given a silk scarf. We finally made it to our lodge where I crashed on the bed. I stayed there for a few hours listening to music when Jeff came in and told me I needed to come to the next room over. Hari had his sisters hike in from a village a couple of hours away to have us take part in the festival celebration. We were given flower lei's, had a red dot painted on our foreheads and then handed bread and a bandana. In turn we thanked Hari's sisters and gave them some money. It made me instantly feel much better and I was very grateful to have gotten to take part in the ceremony. This is why I wanted to go through the Jiri route. You feel part of the entire scene here. Great way to end the day.

10-29 (Rest day Nunthala)

Woke up this morning and knew this was going to be a better day. For the first time in several days I actually had an appetite and nothing was sore. We eventually got up and started walking around. It was great knowing that we were taking it easy today. We have been hearing music much of the night as everyone continues to celebrate, but this morning while drinking tea out on front of our hotel, there were people gathered around singing and dancing. All morning we spent outside washing our clothes, drinking tea and watching the celebration. This was an excellent way to spend our rest day. After lunch I was given another treatment for my knee. So far today it is feeling really good, so I am crossing my fingers that it will hold out. I am ready to leave the lowlands and start to head up in to high mountains. Tomorrow we turn towards Lukla and in a couple of days will start to mingle with the folks flying in. The scenery will change as will the entire culture. We will leave old Nepal and move in to the Nepal that is configured almost entirely for tourists.

10-30 (Nunthala - Kari La Pass) 9300ft

We left around 7:30 or so and started heading down the hill. I had my pack on and was doing pretty good with my knee until around lunch. The brutal downhill was just too much for my strained knee and it gave out again. We had lunch and I relinquished my pack to one of our porters and went the rest of the day with just two trekking poles to help me along. The good news is that as the day went on my knee felt better. When it went out earlier, I was thinking that my trip was in jeopardy, but I am feeling better now.

We ended the day in a little lodge on a ridge-line that had one of the best views I have ever seen. I know my parents enjoy their views of the ocean, but the mountains here are beyond description. At over 9000 feet, it feels and looks like the Alps up here. Clouds move in and out, and huge peaks shoot up in to the flight levels. Looking around tonight, you can see much of the terrain we covered today. Hard climbs and punishing descents that brought us up to this insane vantage point. Our bodies are beaten and tired, but we are all happy to be here doing this.

Tonight we ordered our dinner and all huddled around an old stove in the dining room. The fire was meager and the stove would barely put out any heat, but we all sat around it enjoying what heat it did put out. We all took turns working to get the fire going and finally got it warm enough that it made the room somewhat comfortable. Of course we are all in our cold weather mountain gear, so warm is a relative term here. After dinner we all sat around the dining room reading or talking and I was watching all this going on under a single dull light when it really struck me how this scene could have happened a hundred years ago. Except for the small dim light and the fact we had on modern clothes, there was no technology or anything else that would clue you in that it was the twenty-first century. The lodge owner and someone else where playing cards, while others simply sat drinking tea and staring at the burning stove or discussing the events of the day. It was really a wonderful feeling and one that I think I sought out but was not really sure what it was. It was old Nepal.

10-31 (Kari La Pass – Cheplung) 8842ft

Fog! I am waking up this morning in some of the thickest fog I have seen in some time. I can barely see twenty feet. Quite a change from the fantastic views of last night. I called my family this morning and spoke with Mackenzie when she answered the phone. I was so great to hear her voice. While I am having a great time here, I also miss my family terribly. I was able to speak with everyone including Jack and it really brought up a lot of emotions, but it also gave me a lot of strength. It is difficult being so far away, but I am taking full advantage of the time that they have graciously given me. Other than that, I slept pretty well, and feel rested today.

Due to my knee not behaving, I am traveling without a pack to minimize the chances of having to bail out of the trip early. I am planning on getting a day pack up in Namche Bazaar where there is a huge selection and the prices are reasonable. The walk today was not very taxing as we did not gain or lose a lot of altitude. It was mostly an easy path today along a very steep hillside. As the weather was preventing airplanes from getting to Lukla, we noticed quite a few helicopters going back and forth. We were so high that most of them actually passed underneath us on there way in and out. It was fun to watch. About noon the passes clouded up completely and even the helicopters were grounded for a short time. We took lunch just below the Lukla airport just as it started raining lightly. Just as we ordered, a helicopter landed a couple of hundred yards down the valley on a medical evacuation flight. Someone had a problem with the altitude up higher and needed to get down quickly. Right after it took off, we saw the first plane of the day come in under the overcast and make a landing high over us. Lukla was open! We finished out lunch (vegi spring roll with chili sauce) and headed out. It was not a long climb up on Cheplung, which is just below and outside of Lukla, and we found our hotel at around 4pm. The first hotel we found they wanted our guide and porters to sleep in the dining room and were rather rude, so we went right next door to a great little place with two little children playing in the kitchen. We have all decided that the kitchen is much more fun to eat in than the formal dining room normally used by foreigners. We hang out with the Napali's and sit by a warm cooking fire. The couple that owned the place were super nice and their little girl who was two, kept us all laughing while we played with her. She would bring us menu's and then take them away to bring us something else. Everyone including her parents were laughing all night. We will come back this way on our way out and will stay with them again.

Cheplung is where the trail from Lukla comes down and meets the trail we have been on. It was like going from a small town to the big city. All of a sudden, there were people everywhere. We saw more people in an hour than we have seen the entire trip from Jiri. But these people are all tourist and their guides and porters, and not the local people we have been living among the last week. It is a bit of a shock to the system coming in to Lukla. Even though there were some airplanes coming in, it was nothing like the crowds we would have gotten if the weather was good. Lukla can get upwards of sixty flights per day, so having only a dozen or so make it in that day cut the crowds down considerably. The food was tasty, the beds were good and I slept well.

11-01 (Cheplung – Monjo) 9314ft

Got up this morning and discovered that the weather had not improved at all. It was about the same as yesterday. No flights coming in this morning at least. Bad news for everyone trying to get in or out, but good news for us as it means the trails will be much less crowed, as will the lodges. We got a late start after having breakfast and headed off for Monjo which was about four hours away. Right off the bat, we noticed the crowds of people. While there were few people going up the hill due to the lack of flights the last few days, there were still lots of people coming down the hill to catch their fights back to Kathmandu. While we have been used to seeing people in groups of two or three, now it was an almost constant parade of people coming down the hill at us. There were Yaks, Donkeys, and an never ending precession of trekkers coming at us. Along with that, there were buildings everywhere along the trail. Restaurants, lodges, shops and bars all line the route up to Everest. Honestly, it is a welcome change from the relative solitude we have had the last week or so. We came across a bakery and were able to buy brownies. These are not the same sort of brownies that we all know and love, but they tasted great all the same. The fact is that there is very little familiar to me here in terms of food. You understand that coming here, but it still worth pointing out. Curry is very popular and is used extensively in the dishes. We have been living on a dish called Dhal Bhat, which is a dish of rice with potatoes and other vegetables that comes with this curry soup you pour over it. It is spicy and tastes quite good. They serve it with pickled peppers which are really hot. I have been trying not to eat too much of it because it is one the few dishes you get as you go higher and I don't want to be sick of it before we are finished. It seems like forever since I have eaten meat as we live on rice and vegetables spiced with various forms of currie. I am already having food withdrawals, with my dreams filled with pizza's, hamburgers and just about anything but rice and curry.

One little surprise I stumbled on today was a can of BBQ Pringles potato chips. I was like a crazed little animal when I opened them up and started woofing them down. Oh sweet joy! I did regain my senses after a half a can and offered to share with my companions, but they looked at me a little strangely for a time.

We got to our hotel and discovered that it was much larger than we are accustomed to, but it was very nice. This is the first place we have stayed with an indoor bathroom since Kathmandu. We took was supposed to be a hot shower, but warm would be an over exaggeration. Needless to say it was a quick shower, but it did feel great to be clean. I did not expect to see a shower during this trip, be we have been able to remain somewhat clean. Much of what passes for a bathroom and shower would make an old gas station bathroom look good, but it works. The showers are sometimes just a tub of hot water, while other times it is a dribble of hot water from an ancient faucet. They have all been outside or attached to the outside of the main lodge and they have all very airy, so you tend to get out of the shower much cooler than you went in to it. There are (very) few toilets you can sit on, mostly just porcelain holes in the floor in an very well ventilated outhouse. No need to get in to the gory specifics, but we can safely say I am looking forward to a proper bathroom and shower. While the room tonight is a bit nicer than what we have been staying in, it is pretty much the standard accommodations here. You get a small room with a couple of wooden beds and a thin mattress on them. They offer a pillow and blanket, but the beds are so hard we normally sleep on the blankets verses under them. There are no sheets as everyone uses sleeping bags. The rooms are unheated and have no insulation whatsoever, and there are cracks and small openings where you can see the ground below or in to the next room. Some of the rooms are as cold inside as it is outside. When we started in Jiri, it was pretty warm, but it has gotten progressively colder as we marched on. When we get up a bit higher, we will need to start sleeping with our water bottles to keep them from freezing at night. A neat trick is to fill your bottle with boiling water at night and put it in a sock which then goes in your sleeping bag. Your water is safely boiled (which kills all the nasty's) and it cool by morning when your ready to drink it.