Trekking in Nepal - (new pixs!)

I'm back in Kathmandu after an incredible 8 days trekking in the Himalayans. It was unlike anything I've ever imagined. The mountains are stunning and breathtaking and humbling. I don't have words to describe how amazing the view was.

We flew into a town called Lukla at about 9,000 ft, which is the primary starting point for anyone trekking to Everest base camp. The entire mountain region of the country (about 1/3 of the land and 10% of 23M population) does not have roads or cars. From Lukla all people walk and supplies are carried by foot or by animal, but mostly by foot. And most of the people live more than one days walk from Lukla and don't think anything of making the trip several times a year or even month. On the one hand the travel by foot means that the people live without a lot of things which we consider basic necessilities, on the other, they are self-sufficient or local community-sufficient when it comes to growing food or helping each other out. I think when I imagined trekking before, I imagined being completely alone out in the wilderness, but it wasn't like that for most of the time. The paths we were on were busy with commerce, but it was bustling and peaceful at the same time. And even though it was a common trekking/tourist path, most of the supplies didn't seem to be for the trekkers. Some things, like the bottled water were for the trekkers (we drank about 3 1-liter bottles a day), but a lot of the supplies were for the locals. But as in the rest of Nepal, tourism is the main industry and we could see that the trekkers were the major economic influence in the region.

The first day was a short hike - only about 3 hours - to a town called Phakding, while we aclimated. At 9,000 ft I was pretty much ok. The path is not straight up hill. Our highest point was about 13K+ feet, which seems like we only hiked up 4K feet. But no paths are straight lines. On the first day we probably went up and down between 9K and 8K about three times. Sometimes the path is flat, some times it's loose rocks, sometimes it was good climbing rocks, sometimes it is really steep and it's really dusty. Nothing is measured in miles or km - it is measured in hours and altitude (we were usually about 20% behind the estimated time). The path ranged between 2 and 8 feet wide. There were (very shakey) steel, cable bridges and wood bridges which we crossed back and forth across the river. On our itinerary, on two consecutive days we were hiking between two towns at 13K and 13K. It seemed like it was going to be a great day, until we realized that we had to go down to 10K feet to cross the river and then back up again.

Athletically, I won't say this was the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was hard aerobically because it was very hard to breathe. The first day we were at 13K feet, we stopped almost every 50-75ft to catch our breath. Also, I undertrained for this little adventure. Walking 6-8 miles a day at sealevel, and considering Columbus Avenue a hill doesn't count.

The trekkers we met were great people. Some were doing the same path as us, most were going up to the Everest base camp, some were a little nuts and were spending months in the mountains. We were told we did 2 of the 4 hardest days on the way to Everest base camp, which is at 19K feet, which was good enough for me. I didn't meet a single person from NY. Most trekkers were either European or Japanese. Of those from the US, the majority lived in the Rockies. Altitude definitely makes a difference. We generally started early and trekked until about 3, about 6-7 hours. It was warm during most of the days, at least when you were moving, but at night it was really cold. I think it was about freezing, but that's really cold when there's no heat.

We stayed in lodges and tea houses along the way. When we arrived we'd have hot cocoa and wait until the lodge owner started a fire at about 5:30. Nobody wastes firewood, so there was only a wood burning stove from 5:30 when the sun went down until 9:30 - and we went to sleep as soon as the fire went out. Sometimes earlier, if it was a rough day. Everyone hangs out around the fire, so it was a chance to hear everyone's adventures. I was travelling with two other women, so we'd pick up a fourth for cards after dinner. The Nepali guides were the best card players I've met. They'd watch one round and pick up a new game, and beat us the second time through. The lodge owners were very warm and took pride in their places and the home cooking. Some spoke English and others relied on the guides to translate. The lodges were very basic. I can't think of anything I'd compare them to in the US - nothing is that "basic". Most of them had an indoor toilet, but not in your room. One of them had an outhouse which is not very exciting if you wake up in the middle of the night and its freezing outside. Most of the lodges had hot showers you could pay for, but they weren't always appealing. Imagine hiking for 7 hours and deciding that you could skip a shower either because it involved having to walk outside afterward to get back to a non-heated room or had a high grossness factor. In eight days, I showered twice and that was more frequently than most of the people. I cannot describe the level of dirt I experienced. I thought I brought enough clothes to be reasonably clean, but its not possible when you're sleeping in 3-4 layers every night. Just trying to get your hands clean in order to eat was a challenge. The food options included a surprising amount of western options like pizza and french fries. I stuck mostly to daal bhat - rice and lentils, because it seemed safe. Anything with cheese seemed a bit risky. The other two women with me, started out thinking they'd eat meat, but after seen the meat being carried up the hill, unrefridgerated, they decided to become vegetarians for the trip too.

We traveled with a guide and a porter. Today, most of the porters, aren't sherpas. The sherpas were a specific cultural group who migrated from Tibet 600 years ago into the mountain region. Today they live all around the country. The porters are amazing. Our porter was probably about 50 years old, 110 lbs, a foot shorter than me and carried all three of our bags, about 50 kg. And he generally reached every lodge an hour or two before us. But Jeti, was only a trekking season porter for 2 months a year. The rest of the time he was a farmer. The regular, non-trekking season, porters carried a lot more supplies. They were paid by the kg and someone told me they carried about 250 lbs, but I don't believe its possible, but it was a lot. One day, we felt like we saw an entire house being carried up the mountain - treated wood, ply wood, some alumium. It was pretty incredible to watch, and sometimes a little scary if they were passing you when the path was only 2 feet wide.

Supplies were also carried by Gopse (a cross between cows and Yaks) and at higher altitudes yaks. I assume it was a combination of economics and logistics that the animals weren't used to carry more of the supplies, but I would guess they only handled about 20% of what we saw going up the mountains. Our mantra, whenever we heard the cow bells ahead was - "get to the mountain side". Usually they stayed away from us or could be shoved away with a nudge of a trekking pole.

As you would expect, the further we got from the mechanical transportation, the more expensive things got. Our liter bottles of water that cost 20R (about $.30 US) in Kathmandu, cost about up to 150R ($2.10 US) on the mountain. Since I've paid that much for water in NY, I thought it was a bargain given the transport involved. Internet service which costs about $.50/hour in Kathmandu cost about $.30/minute when it was available in the "big" city, Namche Bazar, we stopped in along the way. And the bank charged 19% service fee for a cash advance. I asked our guide at one point how much a house cost in a village we were going through - maybe four rooms (not bedrooms). It was maybe about $60K because of the cost to build, rather than the cost of land. Statistics are not easy to come by in Nepal and there is no NYT real estate section to compare to so I don't know how realistic it is, but it seemed pretty expensive if the average salary was $130/month.

Just a few more comments. I have a much better appreciation when you hear about avian flu and people talking about diseases transferring from animals to people because the people here live with their animals. I've been within a foot of chickens, roosters, monkeys, yaks, cows, dogs, - even when trying to avoid it. These people live with their animals.

I haven't touched on the political situation which is part of the reason there are so few americans traveling to Nepal. For the last 15 years, and especially the last three years, the Maoists have been a presence in the country. Fortunately, they seem to respect the tourist industry. Just after the entrance to the national park, we had to pay a "contribution/extortion" (depending on who you talk to) to the Maoists. But they give you a receipt and if you are stopped by anyone else, you can show them your receipt. While I was here, there was apparently some agreement between the Maoist leader and the government which was going to lead to them stopping from collecting extortions, but they were still collecting from people as we left. It was hard to get a translation of what the agreement was. Also, everyone we talked to had a different perspective on the maoists - from supportive - because they were a counterbalance to the king and military, to they were rebels, to support of them, but would prefer peace because it was better for business. It was interesting to hear such different opinions from people who were living in the middle of the situation.

Hope you are all doing well. Sorry for the rambling on a bit. Look forward to hearing from you. I've arrived in India and am looking forward to my time here.