"The best climber in the world is the one who's having the most fun." - Alex Lowe
I arrived in Kathmandu yesterday morning after what seemed like an epic journey, I guess journeys half way across the world tend to feel like that. It also probably didnt help that I only seem to have gotten ~ 6 hours sleep over the two days spent in transit. My first impressions of Kathmandu are that it is a city of painfuly beautiful chaos. Everywhere is madness, yet there is an indescribable beauty in said madness, it really must be experienced by oneself to fully appreciate this city. When I first arrived I was a wee bit niave assuming that everyone who was being kind and helpful were doing so because they were kind and beautiful people, and while that may infact be the case, more often then not they extremely interested in my ruppees. I have never been really good at saying no, but over the past two days I believe I have become quite adept at it out of sheer fiscal necessity. I have also taken up the fine art of haggling, at first I was glad to have Claire along (a british woman I met my second hour in Nepal) on my first shopping forays as she is quite experienced and saved me a fair quantity of ruppees. This morning I struck out on my own and managed to save 300 ruppees on my two purchases, not bad for a nonconfrontational haggling newbie. I've done so much in the short time I have been here and can only possibly give an abridged version of my 2 days. Yesterday Claire and I went to Durbar square and were lucky enough to see the Kumari (the living goddess), she made a brief (10 sec) appearance at a window, quite comical actually, one second there was an empty window then the next there was the 9 year kumari smiling at us and then she vanished. Seeing her is supposed to bring good luck. After that we had a beer at the Rum Doodle resturant that I had been wanting to vistit since reading the book, it was quite enjoyable. We also took a ride in a rickshaw which was an exciting if not terrifying experience. It seems that traffic laws in Nepal are really just a suggestion rather than the law and that these suggestions are not really taken to heart. On more than one occassion I was sure I must have ahd a death wish as our rickshaw sped full speed into on coming traffic only to deftly veer away at the last possible second. Today my trekking company arranged for a guided tour of three different religious sites of great importance; 1) monkey temple, 2) second largest stuppa in the world, and 3) the most important hindu temple. I really enjoyed both stuppas, but especially like the monkeytemple as there were frickin' monkeys everywhere, like squirrels in Canada. The second stuppa was so incredibly massive that it was impossible not to stand in wonder. I was also fortunate enough to get to visit a school were tibetan paintings are made (the proper term escapes me right now), watching the masters ply their trade was amazing, the detail is simply mindboggling as is the price (100USD and up for an 8 x 11 piece of art, perhaps not that crazy but when compared to prices of other items in Nepal this is quite expensive). The hindu temple was interesting but I didnt enjoy it nearly as much as the buddhist sites, the sight of funeral pyres and smoke produced by them may have created a bit of a bias. Other than that I spent a bit more time shopping and did a bit more sightseeing with Claire and I think thats enough detail for now as I'm getting quite tired and need to be up really early tomorrow morning for my flight to Lukkla. Yup, I'm off to start my great adventure tomorrow and that means there probably won't be any updates on my blog for about 3 weeks as the only place I may be fortunate to have internet access will be Namche Bazaar and that will only be a day or two before I return to Kathmandu. So I hope everyone has a great month and won't miss me too much while I'm gone.
PS I had planned on uploading some photos but the internet service is stupidly slow, thus they'll have to wait until my return. I guess isn't really the best blog but I'm tired so I don't care : P
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
t - 3 days
"Short is the little time which remains to thee of life. Live as on a mountain". - Marcus Aurelius
This is likely to be my last post before I step on Nepalese soil and the excitement and anticipation is starting to reach epic proportions. I am mostly packed and really only have to select the books to bring with me, and this may prove to be one the most difficult planning phases. 21 days is a long time to be stuck with crumby reading material and I have learned my lesson after twice thinking that a trip into the woods would be a great place to read "Walden: or a life in the woods", on the latter trip it did, however, serve as great fire starter so all was not lost. I have reserved tomorrow afternoon for procurring fine literature and if all else fails I will bring along the always worthy "Unbearable lightness of being". In all other regards I'm ready for launch and can't wait to start trekking.
While I intend to try and keep my blog up to date, you will likely see few new posts during the time I spend outside of Kathmandu, which is to say most of my trip. While development has occured quite rapidly along the Everest basecamp route, I will be mostly trekking through regions which have been far less influenced by tourism (be it good or bad) and thus internet access is unlikely. And to be perfectly honest I wouldn't really want it any other way. There is a sense of peace that I desperately seek that can only be found when life is experienced at its simplest. I'm going to cut this post short lest I start sounding like Henry David Thoreau and alienate those of you reading my blog, but before I do I just wish to say to my family and friends that I love you all and I will see you in a month's time.
This is likely to be my last post before I step on Nepalese soil and the excitement and anticipation is starting to reach epic proportions. I am mostly packed and really only have to select the books to bring with me, and this may prove to be one the most difficult planning phases. 21 days is a long time to be stuck with crumby reading material and I have learned my lesson after twice thinking that a trip into the woods would be a great place to read "Walden: or a life in the woods", on the latter trip it did, however, serve as great fire starter so all was not lost. I have reserved tomorrow afternoon for procurring fine literature and if all else fails I will bring along the always worthy "Unbearable lightness of being". In all other regards I'm ready for launch and can't wait to start trekking.
While I intend to try and keep my blog up to date, you will likely see few new posts during the time I spend outside of Kathmandu, which is to say most of my trip. While development has occured quite rapidly along the Everest basecamp route, I will be mostly trekking through regions which have been far less influenced by tourism (be it good or bad) and thus internet access is unlikely. And to be perfectly honest I wouldn't really want it any other way. There is a sense of peace that I desperately seek that can only be found when life is experienced at its simplest. I'm going to cut this post short lest I start sounding like Henry David Thoreau and alienate those of you reading my blog, but before I do I just wish to say to my family and friends that I love you all and I will see you in a month's time.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Trek description
"Great things are done when men and mountain meet; This is not done by jostling in the street". - William Blake
While I have already posted a copy of my itinerary it probably means next to nothing to most people, the only name recognition likely is Kathmandu and perhaps Lukla, so I decided to post a more indepth description of my journey.
My trek officially gets under way in Lukla the starting point for all trekkers and climbers headed North to the Everest massif. My party, however, will be headed East to the Hinku Valley along a high ridge that will force us to cross several cascading streams and take us through dense rhododendron and Himalayan pine forests. At Tangnag we will take a rest day to both aid acclimitisation as well as allow time to explore an incredible glacier lake North of the village. Tangnag will also be the last sign of human inhabitation we will see for atleast 13 days. Next we will continue on to Khare where we will establish our base camp for Mera peak at 16,729 ft. If all goes according to the schedule we will follow Mera glacier to Mera La and up to the summit three days hence. At 21, 247 ft Mera is the highest trekking peak in Nepal. From the summit no less than 5 of the 14 8,000m peaks are visible, (Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Everest, Lhotse, and Cho Oyu) making it easily one of the most incredible views in the Nepalese Himalaya.
Next we travel through the uninhabited Hunku Valley where isolation and wilderness are unlikely to be of shortsupply. Our destination, Island peak (renamed Imja Tse in the '80s), will require 5 days to reach and the climbing of the technical Ambulapcha La, 18,958 ft. Island peak lies at the base of Lhotse Shar which rises an astounding 8,835 ft from a small pass separating the two peaks. While standing a robust 20,305 ft Island peak appears to cower next to this towering giant. We will follow steep slopes up to high camp from which we will attempt the summit the following morning. A steep and exposed 300 ft ice ramp will necessitate the use of fixed lines to reach the summit ridge. Hopefully after having completed two successful climbs my party will follow the Everest trek route back to civilization, taking 4 days to reach Lukla.
All told I will have spent 23 days in the Himalayas with a couple of days before and after spent in Kathmandu.
While I have already posted a copy of my itinerary it probably means next to nothing to most people, the only name recognition likely is Kathmandu and perhaps Lukla, so I decided to post a more indepth description of my journey.
My trek officially gets under way in Lukla the starting point for all trekkers and climbers headed North to the Everest massif. My party, however, will be headed East to the Hinku Valley along a high ridge that will force us to cross several cascading streams and take us through dense rhododendron and Himalayan pine forests. At Tangnag we will take a rest day to both aid acclimitisation as well as allow time to explore an incredible glacier lake North of the village. Tangnag will also be the last sign of human inhabitation we will see for atleast 13 days. Next we will continue on to Khare where we will establish our base camp for Mera peak at 16,729 ft. If all goes according to the schedule we will follow Mera glacier to Mera La and up to the summit three days hence. At 21, 247 ft Mera is the highest trekking peak in Nepal. From the summit no less than 5 of the 14 8,000m peaks are visible, (Kanchenjunga, Makalu, Everest, Lhotse, and Cho Oyu) making it easily one of the most incredible views in the Nepalese Himalaya.
Next we travel through the uninhabited Hunku Valley where isolation and wilderness are unlikely to be of shortsupply. Our destination, Island peak (renamed Imja Tse in the '80s), will require 5 days to reach and the climbing of the technical Ambulapcha La, 18,958 ft. Island peak lies at the base of Lhotse Shar which rises an astounding 8,835 ft from a small pass separating the two peaks. While standing a robust 20,305 ft Island peak appears to cower next to this towering giant. We will follow steep slopes up to high camp from which we will attempt the summit the following morning. A steep and exposed 300 ft ice ramp will necessitate the use of fixed lines to reach the summit ridge. Hopefully after having completed two successful climbs my party will follow the Everest trek route back to civilization, taking 4 days to reach Lukla.
All told I will have spent 23 days in the Himalayas with a couple of days before and after spent in Kathmandu.
Monday, March 26, 2007
The first
"Mountaineering /n./ slow walking uphill while not feeling very well." - Unknown
I should probably start off my blog by stating that although I aspire to be a competent mountaineer I do not yet suffer from the delusion that I am anything beyond a hill walker.
That being said I suppose its difficult to determine at what point one becomes a mountaineer (perhaps akin to determining when a boy becomes a man; in the case of many climbers, never). In many ways this trip is the puberty phase of what I hope to be a long mountaineering 'career' (for lack of a better word). With any luck the awkard phase will pass mostly unnoticed and see me no worse for wear at the end. And if I am fortunate enough to be spared the ability to form rational thoughts for the next few years or suffer from cronic climber's memory then I would very much like to climb one of the 8,000m peaks before I turn 30 (probably not so much while on the climb, but before and after).
I should probably start off my blog by stating that although I aspire to be a competent mountaineer I do not yet suffer from the delusion that I am anything beyond a hill walker.
That being said I suppose its difficult to determine at what point one becomes a mountaineer (perhaps akin to determining when a boy becomes a man; in the case of many climbers, never). In many ways this trip is the puberty phase of what I hope to be a long mountaineering 'career' (for lack of a better word). With any luck the awkard phase will pass mostly unnoticed and see me no worse for wear at the end. And if I am fortunate enough to be spared the ability to form rational thoughts for the next few years or suffer from cronic climber's memory then I would very much like to climb one of the 8,000m peaks before I turn 30 (probably not so much while on the climb, but before and after).
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