rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
|
Post by rebeccad on Dec 17, 2021 8:09:23 GMT -8
I’m getting through my photo editing, and have started to share photos on my blog. I’m afraid I’m going to be lazy and send you there to see, after a couple of teasers. Note that my blog is not monetized; I’m just too lazy to reproduce the whole thing here, or to write one more appropriate to this crowd. In a nutshell, Second Son and I spent all of November in Nepal. In all about a week of that was in Kathmandu, 5 days before the trek and 2 after (flight in was scheduled to allow for the 5-day quarantine in place when I bought my tickets). The rest was a 100-mile loop through the Khumbu, the Everest region. There were 7 of us, including the couple I had signed on with (geologists—it’s always a good idea to carry a geologist along on a trip like this, though they can slow your progress!), and in general very few trekkers anywhere. My son was a late addition to the tour. He graduated from UCSD in June and as he still hadn’t found work by the end of September, he agreed to come along as a sort of graduation gift (and as a gift to me, because I loved having him). I think he had a good time, even if he did have to spend a lot of time waiting for us old folks! I’ll keep adding to this as I post new reports on the blog (probably weekly). First was the Kathmandu report, which wasn’t exactly trekking but did include a killer dayhike. Nothing like looking up from your lunch and seeing something like that out the window.
I then started numbering the posts with Part I: Lukla to NamcheEvery trip to the region starts with the moderately terrifying flight into Lukla (well, almost—I did talk to someone who had walked from the end of the road, which adds several days but probably allows for better acclimatization). These flights had the fastest turn-around ever, probably about 5 minutes from pulling up by the terminal to taking off again. The demand in the morning is extreme, and they have to coordinate carefully.
Watch this space! Just to make it more fun, I’ll be changing my blog to a new address in January, but the posts will be copied over, and I’ll try to remember to upgrade the links.
|
|
GaliWalker
Trail Wise!
Have camera, will use.
Posts: 3,703
|
Post by GaliWalker on Dec 17, 2021 10:24:41 GMT -8
I've been waiting for this one! I really liked the second report (Lukla to Namche). "Dudh" is pronounced 'doodh', in which the starting "d" and ending "dh" are pronounced the same as the "th" in "the" and "soothe" respectively...I think.
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
|
Post by rebeccad on Dec 17, 2021 11:54:10 GMT -8
"Dudh" is pronounced 'doodh', in which the starting "d" and ending "dh" are pronounced the same as the "th" in "the" and "soothe" respectively...I think. I'm not sure I heard any locals pronouncing it. But I got the feeling there's no "th" in the local speech--at least, places written with a th were pronounced with a hard t. So my impression was it was said "Dude," with just a whisper of an H at the end.
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
|
Post by rebeccad on Dec 23, 2021 9:29:31 GMT -8
|
|
|
Post by burntfoot on Dec 23, 2021 17:07:59 GMT -8
Thank you for the reports. I did this back in 2003 as a "visa run" when I was living in Ladakh in India. Not many people do it anymore, but I hiked in from Jiri. The trek to Lukla from there took us 5 days, plus 1 more to Namche, which is a total of 3 days fewer than common. But, where I was living in India was at 11,500 feet, so I was acclimatized and able to do more per day than most trekkers. I hired a guide/porter independently in Kathmandu to pay my guide directly and avoid agency prices (much of which remains in the city), and also so I could do my schedule and adjust as desired on a daily basis. I'm glad you stayed at Monjo instead of Phakding. Phakding rubbed me the wrong way, and most of the tour agencies aim for there. Sounds like you did everything possible, including a couple of places I missed. You had a good guide. Where did you stay in Kathmandu?
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
|
Post by rebeccad on Dec 24, 2021 7:41:48 GMT -8
burntfoot, I think we had a great set of guides, and the acclimatization schedule was pretty sane, though hiking from Jiri would make it better . All but one of us were from pretty close to sea level (the 7th is from Denver, which didn’t seem to make much difference) and we did struggle some. I remember meeting at least one party that did hike from Jiri, so some still do it. But the extra days make it tough. Doing Lukla to Namche in one day is only for the fit and acclimatized—we had no trouble doing the reverse at the end of the trip, but just getting to Monjo felt like a long day. We had lunch in Phakding, but apparently many trekkers are starting to do what we did, and Monjo is getting pretty developed too. We stayed at the Kathmandu Guest House.
|
|
|
Post by burntfoot on Dec 24, 2021 9:48:55 GMT -8
Okay, I know that guest house, and stayed there once. I loved roaming the streets of Thamel. In Kathmandu, I got a free city tour from an agency that gave me a driver to the Annapurna area who was very late and with a vehicle that didn't work (sporadic brakes). When I got back to town after that hike, I went to that agency and demanded a partial refund. They told me that I was in Nepal and shouldn't expect things to be as in America. I came back with "Well, if you are going to charge American prices, then I expect American service." They compromised and gave me a city tour including Durbar Square, Pashiputinath, Boudinath and the Monkey Temple.
That first trek was to the Annapurna Circuit. Upon return from Pokhara, the bus dropped us off at a place OTHER than the bus station (this happened a lot in India also). This young guy showed me the way to Thamel from there. I had memorized the routes from all 3 bus stations, but not a random drop-off. Months later, I ran into the same guy in Thamel and found out that he guided for an agency in Kathmandu. I went there expecting them to give me him as a guide. Instead, they said that my friend was not up in the rotation and I had to use their itinerary. After 3 trips to that agency bargaining for that Everest Basecamp trip, I had a talk with my friend. I told him that I was willing to pay him agency price, but with my itinerary (which I could modify at will). He suddenly had a family illness at home in his village in Langtang, and told his agency this. He was my guide for 16 days, and was excellent. We still communicate via Facebook and an occasional email. With my online recommendations and referrals, he was able to get his own agency around 2010.
My guide earned his tip before we even started. The bus to Jiri got into an accident when a big truck came around a corner in the rain without honking. Our driver took the bus off the road, aiming down a 3,000 foot slope with the back end about 6 feet about the road high-centered in the middle. My guide grabbed my by the collar and yanked me off that bus.
The trip to Lukla from Jiri was eventful. The Maoists were holding up trekkers for a "donation" of their choosing. A British guy donated his leatherman knife. Another trekker donated 2,000 rupees, and even showed me his receipt from the Communist Party of Nepal. They left me alone because, I found out later, I wasn't using an agency where most of the money remains in Kathmandu. I had hired independently, which the Maoists liked. Beautiful 5-days of walking, but harder than Namche and above because of the in and out of deep valleys. I got in the habit of staying at small guest houses up high each night, going down in the morning and up in the afternoon, which was the reverse of most trekkers. I had a great view of Everest on Day 3.
|
|
|
Post by autumnmist on Dec 24, 2021 11:45:49 GMT -8
rebeccad, I kept returning to the first photo on your blog, the beyond stunning photo of the beautiful rhapsody in blue mountains and sky. I'm speechless.
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
|
Post by rebeccad on Jan 1, 2022 10:20:04 GMT -8
|
|
zeke
Trail Wise!
Peekaboo slot 2023
Posts: 9,886
|
Post by zeke on Jan 2, 2022 5:11:02 GMT -8
Somehow, I never considered Nepal would have branded clothing.
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
|
Post by rebeccad on Jan 2, 2022 8:43:21 GMT -8
Somehow, I never considered Nepal would have branded clothing. It’s all over the place. Some is probably brought by westerners and left for people, but most of it is counterfeit, like our “North Face” pants. The only major label that didn’t seem to be being pirated right and left was Patagonia. I presume they work harder to protect the name. It was easy to tell the fakes—they cost 1/3 to 1/4 as much as the real thing. We were happy with our fakes.
|
|
|
Post by burntfoot on Jan 2, 2022 13:46:05 GMT -8
Thank you again for posting these.
|
|
rebeccad
Trail Wise!
Writing like a maniac
Posts: 12,685
|
Post by rebeccad on Jan 8, 2022 9:47:22 GMT -8
Post #IV. Making progress. By the way, this is my new blog. Same old writer, new space And today's bonus photos. Beautiful faces of Nepal.
|
|
|
Post by autumnmist on Jan 8, 2022 17:04:07 GMT -8
The last photo is stunningly beautiful.
|
|
|
Post by burntfoot on Jan 9, 2022 19:15:45 GMT -8
I missed Ama Dablam base camp, which looks amazing. I had yaks coming at me horns-first on the Annapurna Circuit trek. My guide and I took a "rest" day to go up to the Dhaulagiri Icefall. On the way up, a herd of yaks was being driven downhill (horns first) by their herders. My guide and I quickly ran to the downhill side of large trees, which the yaks went around on their way downhill.
I liked your report again; you are doing a lot and seeing a lot.
|
|