Nepal 1998

Journal Entry - October 4, 1998 - Katmandu

Spend the rest of today getting ready for the trek. Picked up our trekking permits and left $500 each rescue deposit. We had a crummy breakfast at La Vita Dolce with coffee made with the grounds in the cup. Ok I guess but why not do it right?

We had a tremendous downpour around 2:30pm that lasted for about 2 hours. Went to another part of Katmandu for dinner at Wimpys - I will wait until the states for another hamburger attempt. There is the cutest little boy that works at his parents shop in Themal. Everyday we walk by and he say's "Maeste - Look in my shop", "Scuse please you look my shop". Very cute - we will by some t-shirts there before we leave Nepal. Hope the flight to Lukla goes tomorrow.

Journal Entry - October 5, 1998 - Katmandu

We got up and went to the airport. After checking our luggage and a brief wait we were summoned outside, where they took our boarding passes and loaded us on a bus. The bus took us to the plane where we thought we would get on. We did not make it. The flight was delayed due to clouds at Lukla. We waited around a while to discover that our flight was cancelled. Gary and I ended up sharing a ride with an Israli who was very rude and we overstuffed the cab.

He wanted to share a ride the next day but I declined. We went to the Royal Nepal AL Office and put our names on the list for tomorrows flight. Went to delay the trek/climb. Finally went to Boudanath and shot a bunch of pictures of the people and the stupa. A very interesting place. Dinner at the Thai restaurant, settle up our bill and off again to Lukla in the morning, I hope.

Journal Entry - Tuesday, October 6, 1998 -Katmandu to Lukla (Mera Hotel)

Got up and went to the airport again. The flight was supposed to leave at 8:00. It finally left at about 9:50. The flight was amazing. I was last in line so I was not able to sit on the left side of the plane where you get all of the good views. But instead I sat in the very first row. The pilots left the divider open so I was able to take pictures right out of the cockpit windshield. It was quite a relief to be in Lukla. No more beggars, no more cars, exhaust, fewer dogs, and mountain views.

We stayed in the Hotel Mera where we are supposed to meet our porters. I noticed at dinner that I have the beginnings of a cold. Hopefully it will run its course by the time we leave Namchee Bazaar. For dinner we had fried potatoes with onion, carrot, cabbage and a lot of salt. Not bad. Oh yes, I forgot about lunch. We ate lunch in another lodge where we waited forever but finally got our food. While waiting a coupld of little children came in and played with ballons with us. They were very cute and very happy. When I tried to take their picture, they scurried away.

Journal Entry - October 7, 19998 - Lukla to Monjo (Summit Lodge)

The hike from Lukla to monjo took longer than I expected. There were some awesome views and lots of new things to see. Our porters are both 20 years old and quite small. I think they feel lucky though because our paks our fairly light. I have seen porters carrying twice what we have. They seem like happy people. All of the people here in the Khumba are so nice. We stayed at the "Summit Lodge". The room was an attack sort of thing, but fine. I can't get over how warm it has been this far. Gary and I played cards for quite a while. We had apple pie for dessert. It was weird but a good change to the fried rice and chow mien I have most of the time.

Journal Entry - October 8, 1998 - Monjo to Namchee Bazaar (Himalayan Lodge)

Had quite a bit of problems sleeping. A sore throat, some intestinal problems but at least no barking dogs. We had to register with the park service as we left Monjo. We then descended to the river. The bridges are spectacular to cross. You feel so exposed but there is really little room for concern besides the wooden ones with broken boards. Took it pretty slow and easy, got my first and second views of Everest. What a site! Hopefully the pictures turn out well. We climbed about 2000 feet today not counting the big descent before we started up again. We made it from Monjo to Namchee in about 3 hours. We ate a place called Everest Bakery which touted itself as the worlds highest bakery but I think there are higher ones in the Andes. We then walked around the town and came back to the room to hydrate and rest.

Journal Entry - October 9, 1998 - Namchee (Rest Day)

We woke up early this morning and walked up the hill to see the morning sun striking Everest. It was great to see it. The clouds were pluming off it towards Lhotsie. Took several photos. Took another walk later in the morning up above Namchee to the other side.

Took several shots of Namchee and set a while. We decided to stay one more day in Namchee so we can see the Saturday market. It is a good thing too because my cold seems to be worse and diarrea won't seem to go away. If anything, it is worse. The outhouses are very foul here so I hope I can make it though the night without having to squat over that hole. I doubt it though.