Thorung La Pass (17,769 ft)

Thorung La Pass

Ok, so many things have happened since my last post, I can't possibly try and fill you in on all of them. Instead I'll give you the quick version and one detailed story from the last two weeks.

Short version: I went on ANOTHER Trek, (The Annapurna Circuit) while Amy stayed in Pokhara reading and relaxing for 10 Days. We are also skipping over India due to high temperatures and lower then expected funds. We will be flying to London on July 1, and staying in Europe for about one month. We should be back around sweet pea time. :-D

Ok, now for the good stuff:
It was the night before our final ascent over the pass. The town was called Thorung Phedi. I couldn't sleep very well. It could have been the lack of oxygen at 4,500 meters but it was more likely the adrenaline pumping through my body. An english fellow decided to join us because he had no one to cross the pass with. I was happy to have the company. So far it was just Krissna (my guide) and I. Being that this was the off season, their were very few trekkers on the trail. His name was Rory.

I could hear Rory snoring away next door. Apparently he wasn't having any trouble sleeping. Krissna was going to come by my room and wake me up at 3:00 AM. When 3:00 did role around I was already awake, staring at the ceiling, and running through the symptoms of AMS in my head (Accute Mountain Sickness). So far I had no headaches so I assumed I was doing just fine.

Rory was already sitting at the table reading when I came to eat. I forced myself to swallow down a bowl of less then appetizing porridge. Rory rubbed his hands together in anticipation of his warm bowl of Muesli. "MMMmmmmm!" he said sarcastically.

After our brief meal we strapped our headlamps on and started up the hill. Half a dozen Nepali tourists from Kathmandu had already left, but we were gaining on them quickly. The first 500 meter vertical gain took us about 45 minutes. It was by far the steepest section. We passed all of the trekkers and were feeling very good about our pace. At this point I was taking one breath in, stepping on the right foot, then one breath out, and stepping back over to the left foot. I still had no headaches and we had just reached that 5,000 meter point (16,400).

We stopped for a few minutes, had some water, put on our hats, took off our headlamps, and continued up the trail. From here the trail was not nearly as steep but the elevation made it feel very difficult. I had my own internal speed limit, ticking away in my chest. While I was walking on flatter ground at a nice slow pace I could feel my heart beating away in my chest. As the trail began to incline, I could feel my heart beating in my neck, and soon in my head all I could feel was the pounding of my heart. The pounding drums pushed all the thoughts from my head.

When the trail became this steep I forced my self to slow down. I began timing my breathing with my walking. "Breath IN Breath OUT, Step... Breath IN Breath OUT Step" This technique helped to lower my heartrate and kept me moving forward at a decent pace. Again we stopped for water, and Krissna mentioned that their was only 20 minutes left to the top. Filled with excitement I took off again. Forgetting my counting and rushing for the top, I began to feel dizzy. I stopped, stared at the ground and said "shit...too fast, one step at a time." Krissna recommended putting on another coat, so I did, and when I started walking again, my heart rate was back under control.

Before long, just as Krissna had said, we reached the top. A swell of emotion poured over me as the "top of the pass" sign came into view and I felt a cold tear run down my cheek. Just then The clouds opened up for only a moment and we could see the incredible Annapurna Himalayas all around us. I snapped a few photos of Krissna and I at the top and within 15 minutes we were on our way down.


See you in London next, Stay tuned...

Rafting

Rafting in Nepal

We decided to take a two day rafting trip down the Seti river near Pokhara. It was larger then the Yellowstone and took a more aggressive approach to finding it's way to the ocean. The river seemed to boil and swirl like pot of water over a hot fire.

Our trip started out with a short pep-talk from our guide. His name was Chrisna and he was short, sturdy, and seemed to know his way around his gear as well as he could read the river. Later I would discover that this was not just a summer job for him, but was his chosen line of work. Since 17 he has been a river guide, and after 2 years of training, he guided for 12 years in this region. He said the water was quite high from all the rain we've been having, but as long as we followed his instructions everything would be just fine.

Being Amy's first white water rafting experience I could read a bit of concern from her face. I reassured her it would be fine and I left the beach with the excitement of seeing a new river. The rapids would come sporadicly, but they were well worth the wait. Giant swells of churning brown water, frothing and splashing perpetually, pulled us into their rolling bellies. Only to spit us out the other side, soaked. The water was surprisingly warm, it must have been dammed further up the valley for power. Our guide Chrisna would later confirm this. As the water slammed into the front of our NRS raft, water droplets would fly in every direction. Often this water landed in our mouths. It was impossible to prevent and fear of Giardia or other illness flooded my mind. After many face fulls of brown water, I decided to give up fighting a losing battle and pushed these thoughts to the back of my mind.

When the standing waves gave way to small ripples, our guide gave us the go ahead to jump in. At first I looked around in disbelief, having just passed through some serious waves, but downstream it looked calm. Russ and I took hold of the moment, set our sun glasses down, and jumped in. The water was great, not too cold, not too warm. I couldn't believe the speed at which the current dragged us along. Afraid of snagging a foot on a boulder I lifted my feet and kept them pointed down stream.

Before long everyone was in the water, cruising next to the raft. If anyone floated too far ahead our safety boat (a Kayak) would zip over, pick them up and bring them back to the raft. After a few minutes Chrisna was yelling, "Back in the Boat." We all dragged our soggy bottoms back into the raft just in time to grab a paddle and charge into the next set of waves.

At the end of our first day, we camped out on a beautiful little beach, grazed to the ground by yaks. Leading up to the trip the weather had been poor to say the least. Daily rains have plagued our plans to go fishing or take hikes in the near by hills. However tonights weather was superb. After our Dal Baht (Traditional Nepali Rice Dinner, very good :-D), the overcast skies cleared for an evening of outstanding star viewing. The only light came from small candles placed near our tents to help light the path through our camp.

I didn't sleep very well that night, due to some bad sun burn on my shoulders, but at least the water had not made me sick. The next day our river joined with another river, turning our brown churning river into a massive flow of water, over taking most rocks while keeping a smooth surface. A small drop up ahead seemed to be the target, as our guide gave out rowing commands. Just before we dropped in, I caught a glimpse of it from the back of the raft. In an instance I gripped the raft tighter with my legs as we plunged down into the standing wave. It had looked small in respect to the broadness of the combined rivers, but the drop was quick and the raft punched through just like all the others. Out the other side we shot, dripping with excitement.

Before long we beached the raft, deflated, and unloaded.


When I began this tour I had an image of myself riding a bus filled with foreign people speaking a foreign language and traveling through a foreign land. On this bus I reluctantly had a seat, but many were standing. People who did not want to stand sat on top of the bus with the bags and barrels of various things. In this dream, along with the people were livestock and baskets of harvested plants. Until this day I had not witnessed this, but today was unknowingly the big day.

We waited at the take out of the rafting trip for a local bus to pass by. Our guide lept out of his seat as what appeared to be a bus approached. The bust pulled over and agreed to take us to Pokhara, just as soon as they had changed their flat tire. We waited patiently, and with all honesty, nervously as they banged and clanged to get the tire off. Before too long we were on our way.

The bus wound it's way around the steep edges of the river canyon, several hundred feet about the raging river. I tried hard again to push thoughts about local bus accidents we had read previously in a daily newspaper. Their were not emergency exits, or break away windows if we rolled down into the river. I wonder if it would be safer to ride on top... could I jump off if we went off the road or would I be crushed by the side of the bus as it rolled down the steep slopes into the valley. Impossible to ignore the dangers, I decided to flip through our photos on the camera in order to distract myself. Before long I noticed I had a small audience. Not only was the lady behind me looking over my shoulder at our pictures, but a young girl and her chicken were also staring across the isle at me. Just then I realized that I was on a bus like the one in my dream.

Not only was it full of foreign people, in a foreign land, speaking a foreign language, it also had some features of it's own. The inside of the bus, as Amy put it, reminded her of a circus. Every panel was decorated with a different color, and none of them really matched. The front windows had colorful balls tied together to make a swaying dance of string as the bus bounced and bobbed along the pitted road. Lastly were the horns. So loud that any bi-standard whom heard these horns and weren't expecting them would jump with the press of the button. Not solo, or monotonous like the horns of the US, these horns were small bursts of various notes, randomly placed together to make an irritation to the ear so revolting that even the inventor must have cringed with their sound. It was horrific, every time any bus, van, motorbike, or truck would pass, they would all beep, honk, and blurt out their own piece of an awful symphony, chopped up and distributed to every motor vehicle in the country.

Relieved to be back in Pokhara alive, Amy and I retreated to the hotel.

Stay tuned for more...

Nepal

Kathmandu and Annapurna Trek

We arrived in Kathmandu in the late evening. Russ and Kala had some trouble getting a Visa because Russ did not have enough US Currency left to purchase one. Kala had to Run in and out of the airport getting Money from the ATM. After that amusing delay, we hired a taxi to take us to a hostel that was recommended to us by a friend of Russell's. Unfortunately it was all booked up and we had to stay next door at a hostel of some lesser quality. All things considered it was still a relatively easy country to enter.

We spent two days walking around Kathmandu, picking up cheap, knockoff, Northface gear and gifts for friends and family back home. We also picked up our trekking permits and bust tickets to the small town of Pokhara.

Our bus wound around some very steep mountain passes before finally descending into Pokhara. Pokhara is a much smaller town, full of trekkers getting ready to, or just arriving back from the long Annapurna region treks. We fell into the first category. We planned to spend a few days preparing, but found ourselves too ancious to hit the trail. Within 24 hours of arriving in Pokhara, we had left again. The little lakeside town with good food would have to wait.

We hired a taxi to take us to the small village of Naya Pul, from here we would begin our Annapurna Sanctuary Trek. This trek would take us deep into the center of the Annapurna Conservation Area. This area is only accessible by trail, and suprising full of small villages. I could not believe how many people not only live in the hills, but still live off the land like they do. Every day you could see planting rice in terraced mountain sides, or corn and wheat when they didn't have the irrigation. It was the first time I had seen water buffalo being used to plow a field, and people using their hands to plant the seeds.

We trekked in for 1 day, and Amy decided that she didn't have the stamina to keep up with the rest of us. So along the way we picked up a Nepali porter named Beam. Beam offered to carry her bag for the remainder of the trip for a reasonably good price. After that the climb became more enjoyable for all of us. We hiked in for 5 days total, covering about 24 miles. We crossed numerous rivers, many waterfalls, and several wonderful villages. The villages were quite amazing to me. They were always filled with lots of little children, running up and down the steep stair cases made of stone, going too and from school. The children were always smilng and greeting us with "Namaste". Sometimes they tried to ask for candy, but we were told not to give the children candy or balloons, it just encourages their begging.

After 5 moderate days of walking we arrived in A.B.C. (Annapurna Base Camp) Completely surrounded by the impresive Himalayan Mountains, we rested and enjoyed the amazing views. The elevation, of 4,130 meters or 13,630 feet was more then enough to leave you winded. Amy and I both suffored from minor headaches at first, but they quickly passed once we stopped hiking and had a hot pot of tea. It was truly amazing to wake in the morning, find that the clouds had cleared and have a full 360 degree panorama of the snow capped Annapurna mountains! I've never been quite so impressed with a view before.

We relaxed for a day before heading back down. The trek down would go much faster, but not exactly easier. We cruised fast, and made great time... but their were a few setbacks that really caused some psychological damage to Amy. On the night of the first day of our descent we came face to face with an unknown cenipede looking bug the size of a playing card. The owner of the lodge tried to grab the bug but it scurried off into a crack in the rock wall by the bed. :( Amy did not sleep well that night to say the least.

On the evening of the second day, we stopped at a small village near the river. We had decided to take the low trail out of the conservation area in order to save energy and avoid the hilly sections. At this particular village was a natural hotspring right along side of the river. It had started to rain earlier that afternoon and the leeches had started to come out onto the trail. We all started down the trail wearing nothing but but flip flops and shorts. Within 5 minutes the girls were freaking out and headed back to the lodge. 30 minutes later we made a second attempt... this time armed with long pants, long sleave shirts, and bags of salt. We would run down the trail for 5 minutes, then stop, search each other and remove all the leaches with a pinch of salt. After the initial shock of having a slimy little leech, inch worming it's way up your leg, looking for a bare patch of skin in order to latch itself on and drink your blood, after the shock passed, it actually became a fun game of who can torture the leeches most. Anyways, at the base of that leech infested trail was the most wonderful thing a hiker can find after trekking for a week straight is a fresh hotspring. And their it was, warm and wonderful in every way.

The last day out was fast and uneventful. Soon we found ourselves drinking cold beers and relaxing back in Pokhara. Since then we've been streching our muscles and enjoying ourselves by the lakeside. Tomorow I may even rent a small boat and go out fishing on the lake. :-D

Amy does not seem very enthusiastic about going on a second trek, so we may end up travelling around Nepal and seeing some other sites. I guess we'll all find out soon...

Stay tuned