NEPAL
We survived and had a great time on our trek in the Himalayas. Well, actually Aaron had the time of his life, and Laura nearly lost hers, keep reading!
Because we have so much to share with you, text as well as pictures, we can't fit everything one one page. Just click below and start at the begining, of click on a specific day. As you read there will be links to lead you onto the next page, or back to the Nepal page, or the home page. And a note of warning, Aaron had been reading Dickens while he was writing the website text, that explains his colorful use of language at times.
I'm Going to Khatmandu!
Nepal,
Oct 2, 2000 thru Oct 9, 2000. Written by Aaron
Our time
in Nepal was filled with various types of sickness, but, and
I want to emphasize this, in spite of this, we loved Nepal! This
was the first country where Laura said, "Oh yes, we are
coming back here!" Even after the dangers and intrigue of
the Dhaulagiri Ordeal, I think if we can afford it in later life,
Nepal will see our footsteps again! We stayed for a
week in the Thamel district of Khatmandu, and we were struck
how much like Hanoi it was, but how much nicer! There were beggars,
but they weren't aggressive. There were touts & rough salesmen
selling wares, but they stopped selling with only one NO! Only
one, it was a miracle! The streets were narrow & there were
cars and motorcycles, but not nearly as many as Hanoi. The shops
were full of cool, cheap things to buy, and buy we did, but that
was after the Dhaulagiri Ordeal.
Before
we left on the trek, we mostly stayed in the gardens of the Khatmandu
Guest House, reading, writing, relaxing, trying to heal. What
were we sick with? After consulting a doctor, it was found that
I had a parasite, yes a parasite, running around in my intestines
and bowels. I took some medication and was feeling better, but
then Laura took ill, and then I caught her illness! We loaded
up on antibiotics and rested, but it was hard to rest, as it
was Dashain, the festival celebrating the slaying of the buffalo
demon by the goddess Durga! It was a time of sacrifices, as every
household had to sacrifice something in order to gain good luck
for the coming year! We saw goats everywhere, painted red, and
we joked that they were not long for this world! People walked
around with red paint and rice affixed to their foreheads with
rice stalks tucked behind their ears, given to them by their
elder relatives. Since our relatives couldn't be found, our trekking
company did it for us, but I think it was to allay our very real
fears about the upcoming trek they booked for us! We went through
a Nepalese company that was recommended to us by a driver for
the Khatmandu Guest House, and I'm sure he got a healthy kick
back for the recommendation! Maybe as much as a fourth of the
total cost of our trek!!!! We spent the days were we weren't
fixed to the KGH's garden, exploring the Thamel, buying books,
and setting up the trek, interviewing companies, et cetera.
We met our guide and our cook, were pleased with them, were fitted for heavy down coats, gortex pants, rain slickers, and smelled our sleeping bags to make sure that they weren't filled with any grotesque odors from their former occupants. It all checked out! Our company promised that the Round Dhaulagiri trek was only "a little harder" than the ever popular Annapurna trek, and that we could do it within the allotted time (21 days). We decided not to do Annapurna because we wanted to camp, and with the Annapurna trek, the only camping that was allowed was inside villages, right next to Teahouses. With Dhaulagiri, you had to camp, as four days of it was going over passes on top of a glacier! Since it was only "a little harder" than Annapurna and the fourth most popular trek in Nepal, we decided to risk it! On Monday, October 9, 2000 we woke up early, took the last shower we would get for sixteen days, and met Wongdee Sherpa, our guide, at 6am in the lobby of the Katmandu Guest House. And so the Dhaulagiri Ordeal began!
Laura in the gardens of the Katmandu Guest House, trying to get well before the trek
Aaron
blessed with the Tika (rice & red dye) on his forehead
The Dhaulagiri
Trek Begins
Nepal,
Oct 9, 2000 thru Oct 26, 2000. Written by Aaron
The
Dhaulagiri Ordeal -- Day One
The first day was spent on a tourist bus from Khatmandu to Pokkhare.
The bus was nice, we got meals, Fanta, mineral water, comfortable
seats, frequent stops at pit toilets, foot rests, and travel
videos of Nepal. Then we got off the tourist bus in Pokkhare,
boarded the Nepalese local bus to Beni, and the adventure began.
The bus was crammed, the driver quite insane, and the pictures
of Krishna in his chariot along with a trident weilding Shiva
did not lessen our apprehension in the least. Our bags were thrown
unceremoniously atop the bus where there were already gaggle
of Nepalese riders, though the clouds threatened rain. And we
were off. At one point the sky cleared for a moment, and I turned
to Laura, pointing out the window, "Is that a mountain or
a cloud?" With the sun shining on it, we realized it was
a mountain, rising like a god above us. For an hour we road,
until the bus stopped and Wongdee pulled us off the bus, and
we stood by the road, as Nepalese men shouted, and Wongdee found
us another bus the rest of the way to Beni. Just was we got on
this second bus, equally as crowded, it began to rain. That second
bus to Beni careened along a patch of dirt that could hardly
be called a road. It was a Rockie Mountain fire road, not dissimilar
to the roads my family used to travel in our jeep in my youth!
But we did this in a bus, with the rain creating what seemed
like insurpassable mud holes that the bus roared through like
some crazed demon, and all the while the road became more and
more steep. Laura could not bear to look through the window,
as one side of the road was mountain full of unstable rain soaked
mud, the other side was cliff only that dropped suicidally to
a raging river beneath. Other buses and cars and buffalo and
porters came along and we all had to share the narrow ribbon
of road.
After an eternity, we arrived in Beni, its streets a morass,
the buildings brick topped with corrugated metal made heavy with
massive stones to keep them on when the gales started. Laura
looked about and said simply, "What a shithole." Beni
is the last village one can drive to, from here on out, its transportation
by foot or pack aminal only. Our hotel was strictly for Nepalese,
the toilet was a simple cesspool, literally, the beds simple
boards, and the food just simple. Wongdee apologized, but ke
gar ne (a Nepalese saying, "What can you do?"). So
ended day one.
The streets (or should I say street) of Beni
Another view of Beni. The buses in the pic are the type we road along with the locals. Little did we know our hotel also served as the town bus depot.
