Nepal 1998

Journal Entry - September 30, 1998 - Santa Barbara, USA to Katmandu, Nepal

My first day traveling - the plane flight was not bad but it did seem like a long time. The food on Thai Air was good but it was sure hard to sleep sitting up. The sleeping pills and ear- plugs were key. Stayed for about an hour in Osaka Japan. They even had sushi in the display cases there. The most notable thing was the toilet. No way to sit - just squat and go. This could save considerable time for companies all over the U.S. - no more wasted time sitting and reading the sports.

Thailand airport was cool - I had about a 5-hour layover there. Met a log of nice people. Three different sets of people on the way to adopt babies in Hanoi, Vietnam. Very nice people. I then hung out with a guy from San Diego named Phil who was traveling for about 3 months. The flight to Katmandu was wonderful. The customs was easy and Gary met me at the exit to the airport.

We then had a wild ride to the Thamel District at Katmandu. Drove like crazy, honked and scared the crap out of us several times. The Hotel is on a nasty street, but is actually quite nice. The roads are dirty and very narrow. You must look out for the rikshaws, motor bikes and cars.

We ate dinner at Thai restaurant and it was quite good. Before dinner we walked over the area with the stupas and religious temples etc. Due to the Festivals there were lines of people all over waiting to get into the temple.

After dinner we rested early. I took a sleeping pill and slept well.

Email - September 30, 1998 - Katmandu

I did meet up with Gary just fine. Everything went very smoothly on the way here. Katmandu is insane...the noise, the dirt, the travelers, the festivals.

The peaks are a real problem. The cost is greater because we cannot do it without an organized trek. We set up Mera peak only to keep the cost down. It is costing us 1046 a piece for the peak. Sorry about the extra cost but I did come a long ways for this. I charged it on the MasterCard.

We leave for Lukla on the 5th. I will send another email each day until then. It costs 8 rupees per minute at 62 rupees per dollar.

Tad

Journal Entry - October 1, 1998 - Katmandu (Hotel Dynasty Thamel)

This day was spent eating and setting up the climb. The government regulations required a government licensed guide for the trekking peaks. We decided to finally take a program including Mera peak for about $1900/2. Way more than we expected. A lot of money for pain and discomfort. We shopped, sent email for 8 rupees/minute and went to bed later. I slept well until about 2:30, skipped the sleeping pill and stayed awake the rest of the night.

Journal Entry - October 2, 1998 - Katmandu

Although I slept very little last night, I actually felt pretty good all day. We had a bad breakfast - runny scrambled eggs and weird sausage. We then came back to the room where I finished reading "Sirens of Titan". It is nice to get a chance to read. After a little nap and some lunch, we shopped for Gary's plastic boots - there are no bargains to be had on the gear. We then went to the Swayambunath temple and shot quite a bit of film as the sunset approached. It was pretty and afforded a nice view of Katmandu Valley. The monkeys were cool to watch. We rode the little motorized rickshaws - like Mr. Toads Wild Ride. Had Chinese food for dinner. It was ok - good soup - ok kung pau chicken, crummy veggie dish. Sent Anne an email and came back to the room for a good nights sleep - I hope.

Journal Entry - October 3, 1998 - Katmandu

It was a good nights sleep. Woke up about 1:30am with the neighbors across the alley were really loud. Took a sleeping pill and slept to 8:30am. Ate breakfast in the hotel. Good coffee (considering it is instant, Nescafe). We shopped for Gary's boots and cramp-ons and ate lunch at KC's. Pretty good.. Came back from lunch and started packing for the trek. We also went for a walk down the street - Gary got a hair cut and I walked back to the hotel alone. The trip back was cool. Bought some little bananas for 3 rupees a piece. For some strange reason, a Nepali shop keeper a couple of doors down from the fruit shop wanted to buy a banana. He said I paid too much but gave me 3 rupees anyway. Really strange. I looked at gorka knives and bought a coke for 10 rupees. The people are quite nice.

We had dinner at La Vita Dolce. A pizza for 190 rupees and a large beer for 150 rupees. We seem to be able to buy about anything we need - film is 120 rupees and batteries are available too.

Dear Family and Friends,

The trip has been interesting so far. We were disappointed to learn that we had to set up a whole expedition including climbing guide, cook, kitchen boy, porters for the food and gear and porters for ourselves for 12 days to climb Mera peak in the Hinku region. We will hopefully fly to Lukla on the 5th of October. We will then trek up to Everest Base camp and return to Lukla on the 21st of October. We meet our entire crew in Lukla on the 22nd of October and will then trek up to Mera La for a summit attempt somewhere around October 29th or 30th. We will then return to Lukla and hike out to Jiri and hire a taxi or take a bus to Katmandu by the 14th of November.

Hope all is well in California.