Guest post: NEPAL

Hello everyone.  Holly asked me to make a guest post about the trip Isaac and I took to Nepal.  I feel a little pressure knowing the following Holly has...

The idea for this trip actually began five or six years ago.  We had some money left over from a tax refund that we had gotten and didn't have any real immediate need for it.  Certainly we could have blown it on something (and I'm surprised we didn't to tell you the truth), but I thought it would be nice to save for a graduation trip for each of the kids when they finished high school.  Isaac would have been about nine or ten at the time.  He and I have always enjoyed the outdoors.  Going to Nepal to see the tallest mountains in the world, the Himalayas, seemed like the ultimate trip.  And so the budgeting category, "Travel-Nepal" was born.

Most of you know Isaac and know he hasn't graduated from high school yet (just finished his freshman year), but as I researched various trips we might take from Guam, I realized that a trip to Nepal now would be more affordable and take less travel time than from the mainland so we decided to celebrate his graduation three years earlier and go for it and talked four friends of ours here in Guam into going with us. 

Nepal is considered by many to be the trekking  Mecca of the world, with the biggest attraction being Mt. Everest.  Surprisingly enough, climbing the mountain itself requires more time and money than actual ability.  Because of a lengthy acclimation process of two or more months, and as much as $100,000 most who want to see the mountain choose to instead hike up to Everest Base Camp (EBC) at an elevation of about 17,600'. Holly flatters me when she tells me not to get any crazy ideas about wanting to go to the top.  The truth is, I've never wanted to, but seeing the mountain has been something I've always wanted to do.  From the get go, it became "EBC or bust"!

With days to go before the trip, we learned that our flights into the small mountain village at the trail head had been cancelled because of poor weather, which meant no EBC.  Fortunately though, Nepal has no shortage of big mountains or trekking options.  Plan B became the Annapurna Trek.  It's a 156 mile circuit which in recent years has been whittled down to around 50 miles due to road construction.  Some die-hards still insist on doing the whole thing, but the jewel of the trail is the 50 mile section we did.   

There are a few things that make trekking in Nepal unique... the elevations, tea houses, and the availability and affordability of porters. 

Elevation... we began at 8,900' feet and went as high as 18,000'.  Isaac and I didn't have any issues with the altitude fortunately, but I think we benefited from the gradual ascent that most trekkers do.  Helicopters hauled people out of there every day who weren't able to acclimatize and it's not uncommon for people to actually die.  It wasn't really on our minds, but playing it smart and not pushing it was the obvious thing to do.

The tea houses... They should actually be called "guest houses".  The porters called them hotels.  Along the circuit, there are no shortage of these places to stay and which also serve hot meals for almost nothing.  Isaac and I spent $10-15 per day for a room, dinner, breakfast, and all the hot chocolate we could drink... and that was for both of us!  The accommodations are basic but more than adequate.  And believe it not, they include things like hot showers, internet service, and bakeries.   No hot tubs or room service though.  We were completely content with each one we stayed at and slept well every night.  The highest guest house we stayed at was at what they call "High Camp" at 16,200'. 

Porters... For $15/day, you can hire a porter to carry up to 60 lbs of your gear.  Because of the tea houses, you don't need a tent or much food, so a porter can carry two people's gear.  At first, it's easy to feel bad having someone else carry your stuff, especially for just a few dollars a day, but you quickly get over it knowing they are desperate for the work and are capable and it's so nice not to have to haul any more weight than you need to.  Some porters literally wear flip flops.  Ours wore cheap tennis shoes and hoodies.  We got along well with our porters and took care of them.  We made sure they ate well, purchased gear for them, and included them in anything we did including meals, visiting on the trail, and playing cards. 

One note of interest it that from the time we got on the plane in Guam until we returned home, we didn't meet another American during the whole trip.  Our travels took us from Guam, to Tokyo, to Singapore, and then for an overnight in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) and then on to Kathmandu.  Coming home we stayed over in Kuala Lumpur again and then back through Bangkok and Hong Kong.  It's sounds very exotic but really was just a lot of airports.  My point is that there really are a lot of people that aren't Americans in this world.  I think we may have passed American couple at a lunch spot along the trail, but other than that, nothing.  Lots of Israelis and Europeans. We enjoyed meeting others along the way.  One man who I really enjoyed meeting was a man who grew up in Siberia who is now an climbing guide for big, technical mountains around the world.  He has a first ascent on a route on Denali (Mt. McKinley) and soloed El Capitan (the big granite face in Yosemite National Park) along with many, many impressive peaks around the world.  When he's not climbing, he is a back country ski guide in Chamonix, France.  Isaac enjoyed playing cards with a young Israeli couple we met at one of the places we stayed along the way.  We also met a family with two teenage girls from New Zealand that were doing the trek together.  And many others.  The people you meet along the way end up being an nice addition to the trip.

The last thing I want to say about the trip is about the culture.  As I was planning the trip, my focus and anticipation was entirely on the logistics and details of the trekking.  Said another way, we went to Nepal for the mountains, not the culture.  In hind site, our exposure to a totally new way of living ended up being an unexpected highlight of the trip.  Few people there get any sort of formal education, cows roam the streets of the major cities, public transportation is not limited to the number of seats but rather the amount of available space (to include on top and off the sides of buses), they eat with their hands and most of the country eats the same thing day in and day out, driving is not separated by lanes but is done by weaving in and out of ongoing traffic with the use of the horn every few seconds.  You constantly feel like you are in the middle of a National Geographic photo shoot.  The people are extremely poor and the evidences of poverty are everywhere, but one thing that I found very impressive is that the Napali people do not beg and take great pride in that fact.  I thought I couldn't be culture shocked but I was taken back by the third world living.  The people all seem very happy and don't know life any other way, but the obvious struggle just to survive was a little depressing for me.

Anyway, I'll let the pictures do the talking from here.  All the photos are from our trip, but I must confess the really good ones were taken from a friend of ours who does more than point and shoot with his camera. 

We had an amazing time and are sooo glad we went.  It was a treat to get to do this with Isaac and I enjoyed it 10x more seeing him get to experience this at his age knowing he will never be the same.  Neither will I. 

THE PEOPLE

 THE ANIMALS

THE TRAIL

 

THE MOUNTAINS

 

THE HIGHLIGHT