Annapurna Dreamin

Today I purchased the necessary permits to do the Annapurna Circuit trek. But first, a bit of catch up.

After 5 nights in Kathmandu, my hoped for trekking partner backed out so I struck out on my own with the intent of catching a local bus (an experience that should only be attempted with a fully intact sense of humor! reminiscent of the craze in my youth of seeing how many people could pack into a VW bug - there's always room for one more!) to Bhaktapur, trekking to Changu Narayan Temple and then on to Nagarkot to spend the night, returning to Kathmandu after a 4 hour trek from Nagarkot to Sankhu the following day. The trip to Changu Narayan took much longer than anticipated however and I ended up taking a local bus back to Bhaktapur followed by one to Nagarkot. 

According to the young school boys who showed me the way to the top, Changu Narayan is considered to be the oldest temple in Nepal. It certainly looked old and somewhat in a state of disrepair. Overall it was a bit of a disappointment I think mostly because I was tired from the long uphill hike and there was no visible information available about the temple. Meeting the kids was delightful though and I wished I'd had something to give them. 

Nagarkot held the promise of amazing views but the haze limited visibility to just the shadow of mountains. It was still good to get out of Kathmandu and the trek through the forest and remote small villages on the way to Sankhu the next day was great. More than anything, the overnight excursion returned some of the travelers confidence that New Delhi stripped me of. 

After a couple more nights in Kathmandu, I was anxious to get out and so took what they call a "tourist" bus (everyone gets a seat!) to Pokhara to finish planning and shopping for the Annapurna trek. Pokhara is a lovely little town stretching along a massive lake. It is considered a launch point for the Annapurna region though it really is closer to the end of the circuit trek. I will take a 4 hour bus to Besi Sahar day after tomorrow and start from there.

I chose the AC trek mostly because it is a long "tea-house" trek that should be doable without a guide. Meaning, I can walk all day and then get food and a bed at night. On my permit applications, I allowed for 21 days - which seems to be the most anyone takes to complete the circuit. I will take my time in acclimating and do some side trips around Manang. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about the whole trip. Most of it should be fine, but the highest point is a crossing of Thorong La pass at an altitude of more than 5400 meters (about 17,700 feet) - much higher than I've ever been. 2 or 3 nights above 3500 meters is a must on the way up. The balance between weight and warmth is still knocking around in my head and I hope my pieced together gear will suffice. I've promised myself (and now all of you) that I won't be a hero and will turn around and come back down the way I went up if for any reason I don't feel up for it. But it would be disappointing... 

I think some internet should be available in some of the larger villages - I will try to post or at least send out an email, but please don't worry (Vicki!) if you don't hear from me for awhile. The infrastructure is the worst here of anywhere I've yet seen. Between lack of electricity to charge devices, slow/intermittent internet and anticipated daily exhaustion, blog posts are likely to lose out. 

A Comfort Oasis in Kathmandu

I've landed in a lovely hostel called Dorm Nepal in Kathmandu. The young people who are running it are simply amazing. Intelligent, well spoken and conversant on a variety of subjects. During the time right after the earthquake, they set up a facebook page, took in donations, bought food and distributed it to people in need. They housed people who came here to help for no charge. Al Jazeera came and did a piece on what they were up to and donations poured in - as did the area NGOs - wanting to partner with them, or flat out claiming a partnership with them without having one. Some tried to move in and take over distribution of what they had collected. Listening to their stories made me realize what a truly money grubbing, ugly business the "helper" business can be. They are pretty adamant that little or none of the massive amount of money donated to the victims of the tragedy actually got distributed to those in need.

The reality is, Kathmandu is a pretty fail city and I suspect most of the country is the same.  The earthquake struck a blow, but the real crisis is the ongoing fuel shortage. I walked for 2 or 3 blocks past hundreds of stopped motorcycles and cars to find at the end, a single gas pump doling out petrol at around $5/ liter. For cooking, a single propane bottle roughly BBQ size costs $80 usd to fill. Most simply cannot afford to do so.  Electricity is on twice a day for a total of 11 hours (there are phone apps to tell you when there will be electricity in your area). In spite of the fact that Nepal has extraordinary water resources from the Himalayas, there is an extreme water shortage and none of it is drinkable.

I haven't had a chance yet to do independent research into the cause of the fuel shortage,  but the locals attribute it to India. Nepal seems to be tightly bound to India (in fact, it's currency is locked to the Indian rupee at a rate of 1.6 npr to an inr). Nepal apparently passed a new constitution that resulted in a dispute over water on the India/Nepal boarder (I'm not even pretending to understand this yet...) so India has cut fuel supply to Nepal as a form of political pressure.

In spite of all of their struggles, the Nepalese people are smiling, happy and kind. I'm liking it here and I haven't even gotten out of the big, ugly city yet.

The plan for Nepal involves a lot of trekking. There are multiple opportunities for teahouse trekking - walking from village to village and finding a teahouse to stay in overnight. Most people hire a porter ( $10/day) or a guide ($25/day) or both. If I had more money to go on, I'd happily offer someone employment. But, I'm not sure it's necessary on the route I've planned. My roommate here is a young girl from Mexico who is here awaiting a visa to return to India. She and I will be undertaking a short two night trek starting and ending about an hour outside of Kathmandu (not set in stone yet but I think starting at Sundarijal, staying overnight in Chisapani and Nagakot then returning to KTM). Followed by a 7 hour bus ride to Pokhara, close to the Annapurna wilderness area. I haven't committed to it just yet, but am strongly leaning towards an attempt at the entire Annapurna circuit trek. Apparently, it isn't the epic trek that it used to be due to the building of a road to access most areas, but I'd still like to do it, and the road makes it a pretty safe venture for even a solo trekker. I will attempt to find trekking partners for as much of it as possible and might even hire a local for the most difficult part, Thorung La pass - at a height of 17,700 ft.

The net result of a country with poor infrastructure (Nepal isn't even included in my US t-mobile unlimited text and data plan) and remote trekking is that I might be out of pocket quite a bit while here. Any chance I get, I will at least update Erik with my location and planned itinerary.

Yet another New Year!

Still in Dharamshala but I will be taking a 4am bus to Amritsar tomorrow to see the Golden Temple. It is the number one holy place for those who practice the Sikh religion and I think I should see it.

Dharamshala has been a peaceful place to hang out for a couple of weeks, though I have struggled with stomach upset most of the time I've been here. Unfortunately, the Dalai Lama is in the US all this month at the Mayo clinic so there has been no chance of getting a glimpse of him. The Tibetan new year was on Tuesday, today is the last day of the annual 3 day celebration. I went to the temple on Tuesday and watched the monks chant and "perform" - it was fun even though I didn't understand any of it. They then passed out cups and small plates and gave us all butter tea and sweet rice. After it was over, they put up a ladder to the upper floor of the temple and all the Tibetans in their traditional garb lined up to go up it. After watching for awhile, my curiosity got the better of me and typical of me, instead of asking what was up there, I just got into line. An hour and a half later I was up the ladder and in a room leading to an alter where people were offering up white scarfs and money, feeling every bit the clueless fool. But everyone was kind and gracious and no one made me feel out of place.

I've been wanting to make a blog post about the plight of the Tibetan people but have been struggling to know exactly what I want to say about it. So, first just some history.

For centuries the Tibetan people lived in a remote mountainous region who's main protection was the fact that no one really wanted the worthless forbidding land they lived on. Then in 1949, China made claims that Tibet had long been part of it's territory and their army moved in. The 13th Dalai Lama had seen this trouble coming and warned of the Chinese threat before his death. Tibet had heeded this warning and had a small army, but they were no match for the Chinese and were systematically defeated and pushed back. In 1951, Tibet signed an agreement surrendering sovereignty to China. But, there was still a lot of rebellion and resistance in the form of guerrilla warfare going on. In 1959 China cracked down and the Dalai Lama escaped by way of a long walk over the Himalayas to Dharamshala. The Chinese crack down was brutal and almost total. In an attempt to wipe out the separate identity of the Tibetan people, the vast majority of the Tibetan temples were demolished, sacred texts were burned and used to make shoes. Monks and other Tibetans were imprisoned and tortured, forced into labor camps, or simply killed outright. It's a complex and sad situation. From my perspective it's unlikely that Tibet will ever regain independence but hopefully with all of the Tibetans that are in exile around the world, their rich and beautiful culture won't be lost to history the way so many vanquished civilizations have been.

There are many good documentaries on the situation in Tibet the one I saw was called "The Sun Behind the Clouds". The situation is complex and my thinking about it has been all over the place, but in the end...

"I stand with Tibet"