The Build

Haven't been online lately.  While internet places are around, in Birtamode connections are slow and electricity is even a luxury here.  I realize the headlamp is a very good investment here as one never knows when the power will go out.  Hot or even warm showers are out of the question here, but its ok.    

Been working on the bamboo house quite a bit.  It's a lot of work.  Know what a bamboo stalk looks like?  Well, we take 20-40 foot stalks cut down,  measure adn cut them the length of a wall (usually 8-14 feet) and split them length wise into 4-6 in to smaller pieces, then cut them in to fine wood (like flooring) and then weave them into walls.  Had blisters even through gloves and it wore me out!  Today I moved over to help put in a concrete floor.  Sounds simple enough, but it is back breaking work given teh tools we are using.  so crude here.  also had rain a couple days while working.  Regardless it has been a great experience and the locals and Aussies are a great group.  The homeowner is so happy to have our support and help, the community is pitching in and the local children are having a blast with foreigners here.

Besides all the hard work I have been kinda designated as the official 'entertain the children guy' when shcool is out which entails finding ways to entertain about 20 kids ranging from 4 to maybe 14. they love teh football I brought, but they really have no concept of actual football.  more like keep away, throwing to the group...   20 on 1 is not fair odds, even if i am 20 years older and a couple feet taller than most of them.  The kids are so happy and don't realize how hard their life really is.

So far we have built 7 of the 9 walls required.  These will be installed after we finish creating the concrete flooring, which could be tomorrow.  Pushing it to get done by Thursday!  It will be a much needed improvement over their current place, which I thought was just a shed when I first saw it. 

Dinnertime soon.  After getting sick a couple weeks ago I have gotten less fond of the Nepali food and all of its spices.  I find that french fries and tomato sauce are actually good to sustain me here, so I keep visiting teh local mcdonalds for fries.  Oh wait, that's not a McD's.  It's a Punjab Cheap and Best place to eat in Birtamode.  Little scary.  Haven't seen a single chain restaurant in Nepal...nor a Wal Mart, super market...  It's kinda nice!


 

Pokhara

Ok, enough for the poking fun at nationalities.  I must say, Pokhara is the coolest place so far in Nepal (albeit not a hiking adventure, but more of a hiking base camp for Annapurna region).

Made a new good friend (Mike from NZ) on the 5 hr bus ride from Chitwan to Pokhara.  We got real close and part of that was b/c of Nepali buses are not designed for two grown white men to sit next to each other.  Kinda felt like that movie "Stuck on You" when we got off the bus.  Anyways, after sharing our life history and views on african vs asian elephants, we decided to keep it going and hang out in Pokhara. 

Pokhara is surrounded by mountains and has a nice sized lake in the middle.  Seems as though all the touristy things involve a cab there, so instead of dishing out rupees to cab drivers, we did it old school and rented motorcycles.  Ah, I can still remember laying the last motorcycle I rode onto my knee in 8th grade, but the pain wasn't enough as the embarrassment of having to ask how to get the tranny back into neutral on my Yamaha Enticer (i.e. little man motorcycle).  Remembering how to work the clutch we were on our way.  First an unground temple in a cave (cool - 100 ft down with a waterfall), then off to the mountain climber museum.  After catching up with Tenzing Norgay and being harrassed by high school girls wanting their pictures with white people, we hit a cross road - off to the 'bat cave' or just explore...exploring wins! 

We hit the road north along the lake, with incredible views all along the way.  About 45 min up the road ended and became more like a dirt/rock road.  No worries, the Enticer can handle it in 2nd gear.  small streams...keep the feet up.  small streams and rocks...that's a new one.  Finally we pulled over in the middle of rice patties and rocks, just in time for us to be rushed by a bunch of Nepali children.  'Ride, ride, ride!!!'  Let's see, mom, can you waive them off?  Nope, she laughs and says go, so we take off.  I have two little ones in two (probably 5 and 8 years old).  If she only knew my motorcycle driving record, or lack thereof.  100 meters down, 100 back, happy kids.  They didn't want off.  Mom pried them off then mouths 'GO' to us and we're off again.  Whew! 

Dodging the cars, bikes, walkers, bovine and dog we blew around the lake!  Man, I gotta get me one of these.

Bars in Pokhara are awesome.  Live music = Western music.  There's nothing like hearing "Sweet Home Alabama" when you walk in the door until you realize it's a Nepali band!  Little Bryan Adams Summer of 69, Freebird, Skynard and Green Day and I felt right at home.  Had a couple Everest beers and off to the next place. 

If I ever come back to Nepal, Pokhara will be my #1 non-hiking destination.

PS - traffic laws are great here.  3 years in jail for involuntary bovineslaughter, 2 years incarceration for taking out a goat.  It's better to hit a person than a sacred animal here.  No worries, I find a cow sacred now too, as I have found myself dreaming of the ultimate hamburger.  Yum. 

PPS - bought a Mammut dri-fit shirt for 450 rupees ~ $6 USD.  Very nice.  Got an embroidered shirt for 450 as well.  Let's just say I'm feeling Super.

Golden Corral, Part Deux, and Next Steps, and General Thoughts

Wow, I really liked trying Nepali food.  So many different flavor combinations, and each one my stomach responded to uniquely.   Apparently virus stew was the last straw.  In Dingboche my stomach said it had had enough.  So, after not keeping any food down two days later, I called off the Island Peak attempt.  It was either a three day's walk (for a healthy person) to Lukla plus flight out or a $8k helicopter ride to the KTM hospital if conditions worsened.  Not sure how, but Phurba was able to get me to Lukla alive and walking, although I do need to give a shout out to the Spanish doctor who saw me yakking and gave me those awesome pills.  Don't know what they were, but they got me to civilization.  I'm better now, but wow, there were moments where I wondered if there could be any less any me than 5 min before...

Of course the sick time did allow me to set a few new hiking records: 
- Most yaks in a hike
- Most breaks in a day
- Shortest time between breaks (My personal best here was taking a break immediately after taking a break.  Only managed to stand up before sitting back down).
- And my favorite - taking a break on a downhill.  Who knew that could be taxing

Best surprise during sickness:
Phurba look of disbelief when I ordered a Sprite and Snicker's bar (Sneaker Bar on the menu) for lunch on a long day.  Could also have been the best meal ever, if I hadn't already designated the Sour Cream Pringles and bottled water as that the night before.  That signaled the end of my Nepali food experiment on the hike.  Processed, western food from then on out. 

Still trying to post pics...  Seems the Internet can't work well enough here to upload files.... 

So, in the days I have b'n the scheduled end of my hike and the Habitat build I decided to hit Chitwan National Park for a couple days and then Pokhara. 

How to describe Chitwan:  They say it was the first national park in Nepal.  It's 'like' a wildlife preserve and boasts the home of the Bengal tiger, Rhino, wild Asian elephants, couple kinds of crocs, monkeys, etc.  Kinda makes me think of a national park in Arkansas.  Think about that one for a minute.  So far I've seen all but the elusive tiger.  Oh the stories I can boast about this 'resort' when I get home, but I'll just say cold showers in the dark set the tone.  Glad I brought the headlamp.  Poor French suckers in the 'cottage' next to me.  Makes me miss the Yak fired stoves and Dal Bhat in the Himalayas.

In the spirit of the holiday season, I am releasing my first single when I return:
"Dal Bhat roasting on the Yak Dung Fire"

and to replace Jingle Bells I've got ""YakCow Bells"

Foreigners (including me):
I've met my fair share on this trip and tried to be friends with all (succeeded a few times), though the generalizations are fun:
- Canadian's  - No, Americans don't want people to think we are Canadian.  If it means a terrorist is going to kill me, then fine, but we will not bow to the queen and say "Don't Ya Know" outside of the Dakotas
- French - STOP COMPLAINING
- Germans - cool so far.  It took a few Germans to warm up to us, but the younger generations are cool and like Americans. 
- Aussies - Fun.  Suck at Scrabble, now matter what version of English we use
- Brits - No, I don't care that you think I am a weenie for hiring a porter and yes, I do get less vacation than you.  What's that, you can't see a point to going Everest Base Camp since you can't see the mountain?  Wow, I can't even respond to how that comment came out. 
Fins - Sorry, just can't understand you
Russians - Put some pants on.  It's not a game to see who can wear the shortest shorts with their Teva's and tanktops and high tech walkie talkies.  Walk together, then you don't need those very expensive walkies.
Americans - GET OUT MORE.  We don't travel enough, if at all.  Did have a guy from San Fran comment that he couldn't believe someone from Georgia left the US, let alone the South, to vacation.  We American's are pathetic at vacationing, period.  However, to the French guy that only works 5 months per year and then has trouble coming back after his 7 month vacations, "Boo Hoo". 
Dutch - Cool.  I never knew the Dutch could be so tall.
Israeli -  Stop being so serious and acting like you are being constantly persecuted, even amongst allys.
Irish - Nice accent
And lastly, to the Japanese:  I don't know where to start here.  Share the trail, hike faster, respect trail ettiquite, yes, Americans do know Japanese.  When I am nice enough to say Kenichiwa, don't laugh at me and walk on.  Japs do have the nicest cameras. 

Largest group award:  Goes to the Japanese - to the group of 70 that booked up all the hotel rooms in Gokyo and left the rest of us out in the cold.  Thanks alot. 

 Still loving the vacation.  All of this has made this the awesome trip it has been so far!


RE: Golden Corral - last time I yakked.

Finally, Pics

Ok, so it's taken a while, but the pics are beginning to upload...


On day 3 of the hike we ventured into the village of Khumjung, probably a population of a hundred people (which is rather large in the Khumbu region).  One of the original Sir Edmund Hillary schools are there.  After climbing Everest, Hillary dedicated himself to educating the region's children.  Today the school is supported by donations from various climbing clubs and organizations from around the world. 

My favorite pic from Khumjung.  Hard to appreciate from home, but seeing children there fly a kite was inspiring. 

Phurba (my guide) and me sharing a moment with Sir Hillary.

The entrance to the school (not as impressive as ours...)

After leaving Khumjung, on our way up to Dole, Phurba took me via a 'short-cut'.  More like climbing up the wall into Mordoor, for you Lord of the Rings fans. 

Irony is not lost on me here...

So far so good on this trip.  Next up, the incredible views begin

Everest Base Camp and Kala Pattar

'Sorry the blogs have been non-existent.  I get the feeling that the satellite internet is running through China airspace and they really don't want me talking about Tibetan life, as the Nepali's tell me.

Anyways, yes, I am still alive.  Yesterday I made the trek up to Everest Base Camp, over 17k feet up.  No matter what anyone says, it is well worth it, regardless of no direct views of Everest (when I get to KTM I will post pics.  Right now the price is wrong).  The Khumbu Icefall where the official trek begins is amazing, and you are surrounded by multiple mountains (Pumori, Lohtsi, Nuptsi) that all rank in the tops of mountains in the world.  I heard and then saw three avalanches while there, none of which were close.  I can now see how hikers died years ago during an avalanche right after starting their climb. 

Today we hit Kala Pattar, the best place to see Everest in Nepal.  Amazing.  KP involves climbing to over 5500m in altitude, which was almost impossible at 5 am with the temps below 0.  No problem for my guide Phurba Sherpa.  Did I mention he's 51 and kicks the pants off me every day?  I stand a fair chance at keeping up with him on the flats, but he's gone when we hit any hills. 

Tomorrow we begin the 3 day journey to Island Peak...

PS - had my first shower in 10 days today.  Wow.  Also got the experience of hand washing my clothes and hanging on a line outside.  Dry time is slow in 40 degree weather. 

Lukla to Namache (Hike days 1 and 2)

Note – connections still slow (like dial-up, but slower)

Happy Birthday Dad!

After landing in Lukla I met Phurba Sherpa, my guide for the next 3 weeks.  He’s 51 but will still kick my butt up Island peak and all the other mountains we go up.  He’s led many expeditions up Island Peak, Mera Peak and all several others.  Two of his sons are guides, his wife manages the farm and his daughter is in school.  One other son goes to the KTM university.  Sounds like we will have a lot to talk about. 

View of Lukla, still in the clouds from earlier weather issues.

After a quick bite to eat we were off, chasing daylight on day one already!  Made it one hour before dark, missing our targeted destination for the day.  Phurba guides me to a teahouse he’s visited often.  We will stay for the night and get an early start.  Tea houses are basically hostels.  You get a room w/o heat or a/c, bed, sometimes a place to shower, and meal service.  Had garlic soup for dinner (good for acclimatization) and Tibetan bread and honey for breakfast.  Whoever said I would lose weight on this trip was way off.  The food here is excellent! 

We meander along through villages on cobblestone paths and do the occasional suspension bridge crossing.  I can’t imagine crossing these with Yak or cows, as we were bouncing all over.

Hard hiking up to Namche.  We gained over 3000 ft of elevation by the end of the day, but were rewarded with good views.

Had our first peek at Everest and Lohtse, two of the tallest mtns in the world.

Wednesday we are off to Kumjung

A lesson on Nepal

Let me just start off with this.  After hiking uphil for 4 hours, I came across an Aussie hiking solo going the opposite direction.  He said, 'Only one more hour to Namche' to which I was like "Great!".  He made a comment about how I had such a good attitude for the brutal uphill just completed and it dawned it me - I love this place.  No picture I post will do it justice (even with 12 megapixals). 

Rewind 36 hours.  For all my sarcasm on the KTM International terminal, it was at least an organized system.  Land, shuttle, visa, baggage claim, out.   Leaving KTM domestically is another story.  I get dropped at the terminal at 9:30 and promptly hit the security baggage scanner.  Packs go through, no problem.  Let's see, I have a couple knives, poles, trowel, a bunch of 3 oz bottles, steripen (looks like a laser) and any other number of things that would normally get me in trouble in a US airport.  Then off to check-in.  Find the Agni airlines booth, weigh the bag - wait, I've got to pay the airport tax.  What?  Off to the bank on the side to give more money away.  Then back to check-in.  On to the actual terminal, where the security guard nails me for my hiking poles and trowel.  Guess I'm going to dig a hole in the plane?  Trusty trowel had to be checked.  Once in the gate, it's either organized chaos or a chaotic organization.  Chaos rings true.  My flight is at 10:30 so I have a 30 min wait.  Take a seat, look around, no problem.  Then the lady that checked me in majically appears and gives me a new boarding pass.  There's around a 1000 people in this room (Nepalis and trekkers not quite 50/50 split) and she remembers me.  Weird.  10 becomes 10:30, 11, then on to 12.  No news of my flight.  Finally, around 12:15, I hear my flight number and go to board.  Present ticket, get searched, ride bus to plane, and sit on bus looking at pilots joke with our stewardess.  15 min later, board plane, ready for take-off.  Stewardess passes out candies and cotton balls...  Having no idea what they were for, I passed.  Turns out when propellor planes start going, their noise levels leave something to be desired.  Oops. Put in ipod earphones.  Thanks Steve. 

Finally, we take off and begin towards Lukla and Everest.  Annapurna can be made out above the clouds.

Are those clouds in the distance?  30 min in the 45 min flight the pilots bank hard right and back to KTM.  NOOOOOOO!  So much for Lukla today.  But wait, when we land they said we would try again at 2 pm.  So in 45 minutes the weather will be better?  Yeah right. 

I stand corrected.  45 minutes later it was a repeat.  Call to board, security check, shuttle, sit on shuttle while pilots flirt, board, take the cotton balls, take-off.  Did I mention that I lost my boarding pass and just walked on through the gate while everyone else was showing theirs?  30 min into the flight the weather appears again.  This time our daring pilots weave in and out of the clouds.   Then the famous landing in Lukla (Youtube Lukla, Nepal airstrip).  Finally, we made it at 4pm

Lesson of the day.  Patience is not a virtue.  It is a requirement. 

Other world, other Marcus

Flying across the world is quite an experience.  I have an all new respect for my foreign friends that tavel home on occasiion to India, Russia, Australia...  ATL -> Chicago, Then we left Chigago at 7:30 Friday night, landing in Delhi at 8:30pm.  We saw the sun rise somewhere between Greenland and set before Kabul.  Losing a whole day (thinking of the Third-eye Bling song "Losing a whole year".  Then spending Saturday night in the Delhi airport before an AM flight to KTM.  One look out of the plane as we approached KTM made it all worth while, seeing Annapurna and the Himalayas.  The view from the airport was stunning. 

Having traveled to a few third world countries I kinda knew what to expect, but every time it gets me...  So we land at the KTM airport.  As we deboard the plane to take a shuttle to a terminal, I look over at what appears to be the old "international" terminal. 

Now this terminal was only about a 100 feet away.  Regardless, the shuttle driver took us past the terminal, did a U-turn, then pulled up right in front of where the security guards are standing.  While I was pondering this amazing door-to-door service, I saw a John Deere tractor pull out from behing the plane carrying our luggage...my expectations for the efficient use of resources by the locals was revived.

Atlanta traffic is like a walk in the park.  Try battling motorcycles, bicycles, three-wheeled carts, walkers, cows, dogs, monkeys and oh yeah, other cars coming at you.  Technically they drive on the left side of the road here.  I think that is more of a suggestion.  My truck would never make it here, as I would curb it on both sides of the road when in town. 

One of the less scary times above.  Little more crowded below.  I was holding on to anything I could in that Corolla at any major intersection.

All in all, KTM is pretty cool.  Bought a knock-off Mammut down jacket and gloves for probably $30 US.  Good views from the hotel. 

Mt. Annapurna from the roof.  Notice the water filtration system on the roof.  Filtered water, cold shower!

View of part of the Kathmandu Resort Hotel and part of Thamel.

I must admit, today I was a little off.  After getting to my hotel, I was planning to eat, then sight see and stay up until around 9 pm local time.  Must have been the water becuase I took a shower, bought my down jacket, then went to sleep.  Totally missed the first day here!  I did get out for a little dinner tonight. 

Tomorrow I'm off to Lukla and trekking. 

Namaste!

Arrived in KTM!  So did my bags!  Can't wait to see this place.  Annapurna overlooks KTM.  This place is gorgeous and third world at the same time.  Pics to come soon.

One roll or two?

36 cliff bars, two backpacks, one sleeping bag, 5 shirts, boots, sunglasses, sunblock, spare alpine sunglasses, waterproof this, waterproof that, ice axe, crampons, rope........check, check, check and check.  One roll of TP or two?  Bigger question, what the heck is this?

I don't want to ask what the bucket is for, but I have a scary feeling I know. 

Nepal, slight detour

Can't go to Nepal without seeing Everest.  That is a cardinal rule of mine.  So is hiking at least once annually on the AT.  I thought about hiking Everest, but that would require 60 days of vacation, which would also require me to find a new job.  So a hike around Everest and a side mountain were put in the plan.  A two week vacation turns to five.  I think I'll still have a job when I get back, but who knows...

Island Peak is a solid 6000m (20,305ft) peak, with some technical ice and glacier climbing.  Guide company and porter chosen, I'm feeling pretty good.  AT hiking, Colorado 14 climbing, and visiting the local climbing gym (thanks Robbie, Lucinda and Tibor for the training) have prepped me for this stellar adventure.

If you look closely at the bottom pic, you'll see the pamper pole to the left (Mr. Pierce).

Nepal, the Plan

So a few months back I got this random email from a buddies wife, "Habitat for Humanity trip to Nepal...interested?"  Well, you can't really ignore an email with a subject like that.  I clicked to read more...

Dear friends,

Some of you may recall that Jonathan & I packed up and headed north to Cambodia to participate in a Habitat for Humanity Global Village build in August of last year.  We feel privileged and blessed to have the chance to participate in another Habitat Global Village build, this time in Nepal.  I am leading the trip again this year and we are in the process of recruiting a team so I thought I would let you guys know and see if any of you are interested in joining us.

I know that we have spoken with quite a few of you in a VERY long time, so the thought of going to Nepal to do a Habitat trip might seem preposterous, so apologies for not knowing what's currently happening in all of your lives!  But if you're interested, keep reading...

I know that quite of you have had some involvement with Habitat for Humanity 'state-side' over the years so I thought I would let you know a bit about their overseas volunteer program, Global Village. Through GV, Habitat takes its mission global, giving thousands of families in some of the world's poorest families a hand up out of poverty through safe, decent and affordable housing.  GV also gives participants a way to connect personally with the individuals Habitat serves.  I cant speak highly enough about Habitat or the GV experience. 

I have attached a few documents with some information about our trip, which will take place from 15-26 November of this year.

I recognize it may be a bit of a stretch, but let me know if you are interested, or if you just want to let me know what's going on in your life (that's great too!). 

Love,

Bon

 
Wow, what an awesome trip.  I was currently planning a trip to Colorado with a few other friends so I just thought, "cool, that would be fun, some other time..."  That email stuck with me though, and after talking to the wifey and sitting on it for a couple months, I decided what the heck, live life.  Maybe it was the bumper sticker I saw that said, "Don't delay joy", or a dream I had of one day building a school in Africa, or just the thought of going to Nepal instead of Golden Corral for Thanksgiving (sorry Dad).  Perhaps it had a little to do with Bonnie continuing to send emails how awesome this trip would be.  Whatever it was, I felt compelled to do this.  So on August 6th, after confirming with everyone possible at work it would be ok for me to go, I committed to Bonnie and Jonathan (her husband, my friend and former colleague). 

Below is an actual Habitat House built in Nepal.  Bamboo studs (grown locally in Nepal by HFH), plaster and tin roof (not rusted).