Final Ascent and Sentiment

Wow it’s about time I finish this up. Honestly I’ve had a hard time wrapping things up as it feels as though once my final blog entry has been made, my adventures are official done. But let me take a moment to explain my absence, as my last entry explained my embarkation on a week long trek, I did in fact survive my trek even though it’s been over a month since I have written. My computer crashed when I returned from the trek so I really was MIA ( a lot of action) at the end of my trip.

Let me start with the trek. Some fellow volunteers and I conquered a 6-day trek through the Annapurna region. It was, hands down, the most challenging experience, both physically and mentally, of my life. We honestly couldn’t have completed the journey without the constant support, sheer strength, and guidance of our trekking guide, Happy. Yes…his nickname is Happy, so appropriately given to him 3 years ago by some of his first customers. This guy seems to find humor, and energy in the outwardly most dire, challenging and miserable situations. Our first day was reasonable, about 7 hours of trekking to our first stop, Hile. Here we were greeted by the guesthouse owners with cold glasses of Fanta and bottled water. Ya, I forgot to mention, it was pretty luxurious trekking, as we stopped in local villages for every meal and stayed each night at a guesthouse along our way.

This first stop offered cold showers and friendly hosts up for all and any card game we had to offer. Our night concluded with a Spoons tournament, which for those of you who don’t know, is an outrageously fun yet ruthless card game with spoons similar to musical chairs.

The next morning Happy woke us up at 4 am with breakfast already on the table. All we knew was that the second day would be the most challenging but that after this day we’d be offered a spectacular view of the Himalayas. Well I’m so glad no more details were given because 12.5 hours, and 4,200 feet of elevation gain later of climbing through village after village, through the torrential downpour of the Nepali monsoon season, stopping every 15 minutes for a fellow trekker who was sicker than sick, we finally reached the guesthouse at Ghorepani! Our sick trekking friend really captured it all when he admitted, “there’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be sick, than creeping our way into the highest mountain range in the world, surrounded by such incredible people!” This day really challenged each of us in so many ways. Every few hours we’d stop, unsure if our legs could even bear to stand with our body weight any more, not to mention our packs half the size of us. But Happy fed us peanuts and cookies and notes of encouragement, “just a bit more,” which we learned later meant….well we aren’t even half way and we better keep moving so we only get rained on the last 4 hours of our day rather than 7.

But, Ghorepani was worth every step. We awoke the next morning at 3 am to climb 1,200 more feet to reach Poon Hill before sunrise. If we were going to get a good, clear glimpse of the mountains on this whole trek, this was our best chance. And we sure did. Our morning climb raced the sunrise, and we watched as the mountains began revealing themselves around us. And really…we were surrounded. The day before had been so rainy that we hadn’t witnessed the elevation we had gained. But here we understood the climb of yesterday with some of the highest peaks in the world circling us. Every direction I turned I saw snowcapped peak after peak!

That whole day we hung out in the Ghorepani guesthouse and took the day off. We had a member of our group who’s ankles were bothering her so we waited for the day for a horse to come up to bring her back down, as she was unable to finish the trek.  But I can’t complain. What better place to sit in good company and play cards and sip hot cocoa than eye to eye with Annapurna I and II, Dhaulagiri and Gurju?!

The next day we were well rested and ready for whatever Happy had in store for us! While this day ended up being 10 hours of trekking, it was mostly a traverse and we were all in high spirits. Our guesthouse this night was in Jhinudanda, where we treated our bodies to a dip in the natural hot springs. The shock of this 4^th day was when we reached our final destination, and shone our headlamps down to find our feet practically swallowed by the amount of leeches that had hitched a ride in our boots and on our legs for the past few hours. A few shrieks and gasps later we’d cleaned each other up and could now honestly claim that we were roughing it Nepali style!

That night a wildly competitive Nepali card tournament began with American volunteers and the Nepali guesthouse owners. The next thing we knew it was 4 am and the owner of the guesthouse was bringing out freshly popped popcorn, homemade chocolate pudding and hot lemon to keep us going. Despite my exhaustion the next morning on our trek, this is one of my favorite nights of the whole trip.

Our last day of trekking dropped us back into a village where we caught a bus to take us back to Pokhara, the town we’d departed from. Oh and when I say we “caught a bus” I mean we rode on the top of a public bus through the surrounding villages, and I can honestly say this is one of the craziest places I’ve fallen asleep…yes after our all nighter card tournament a few of us fell asleep atop a bus in Nepal as it wove it’s way through the village streets! Some of the best sleep in my life.

Our last day was spent in Pokhara, where we explored Fewa lake, Davis’ Fall and the Peace Pagoda in Pokhara We all enjoyed every moment, aware that it was one of our last days with Happy and this real tight knit team we had established. I’m starting to understand the bond that my grandfather shared with his fellow climbers. The team connection has been referred to as a brotherhood. While our adventures were not nearly the same caliber as Boppa’s, the connection between a group of people, tackling all sorts of situations, offering daily support, and motivation, in a land so unknown really creates friends and teammates out of strangers. Each and every one of us needed a spirit-lift sometime along the trek and every team member could offer gut wrenching laughter at any moment when appropriate. We all learned to step up to the plate.

My last day in Kathmandu was bitter sweet. I had to say goodbye to the house I’d considered home, the sisters and friends I’d called family for the past 6 weeks, and the boy, a new best friend, that I’d tutored/hung out with for over 100 hours. While I knew this group of amazingly, adventurous individuals would never all be in Nepal again, and these past few months could never be recreated, the sense of adventure, selflessness, and fearless approach to life that these fellow volunteers and Nepalis had taught me were lifelong lessons.

 I really have thought about Ishwor and his strength, Happy and his optimism and my friends and their sense of adventures everyday since I’ve returned home. Al’s Kathmandu Adventures may be over but this trip has provided lifelong growth and empowered me in so many ways. I thank you all so much for reading and following along and I hope you too will continue to “seek adventure” (Papa Scho in his GAAA interviews.) There is so so much fun to be had and love to be shared!

Love to you all,

Allison

In My Element

Again my apologies folks for my lack of blog entries, but the time is absolutely flying by here! I can’t believe I’ll be home in 2 weeks. Six weeks is barely enough to really start feeling comfortable and immersed the culture of a foreign city. Man, do individuals make an impact?! As much as I am appreciating the incredible landscape, stupas, food, and wildlife, it’s the individual interactions that have defined my experience here.

Last week, I was lucky enough to connect with some good family friends of the rocking Furbush family who were passing through Kathmandu after a long, successful season of guiding treks. The couple welcomed me into their home, as if they’d known me for years. We watched the sunset over one of the largest stupas in Kathmandu, the eyes of Buddha glimmering, visible from all corners of the city. I sat down for the largest, most delicious meal of my whole trip. At a restaurant, I’ll order momos, like chicken dumplings, and get 6, well aside from the mound of dal bhat (rice and lentils), and vegetable curry, I was given 10 momos!! Every few bites I took, my plate was refilled. Eight momos, what seemed like a few pounds of rice and vegetables, and 3 glasses of Mountain Dew later, it was time for dessert! This is just a demonstration of the kind of hospitality I have been offered during my stay. I am so grateful for yet another, incredible connection!

This past weekend we took a little vacation within our vacation and headed to Chitwan National Park, where a birder can fine 566 of the country’s 867 species of birds! Let’s just say, aside from being a bit overwhelmed by the sensory overload or new sounds, colors, and names, I was in heaven! After an 8 hour bus ride over the hills of the countryside, we were greeted by our rockin’ tour guides of the weekend, Krishna (my bird friend) and Arpan (the stud). We all took an evening stroll through the rainforest to a riverside hang out to watch the sunset. I was holding up the rear of the group, working on my Nepali with our guide Krishna, when he began pointing out the birds flying by. I practically froze in excitement and pulled out my binoculars and bird book as a sign of my approval! I’d met my match! This guy’s obsession with the birds of Nepal gave my interest a run for it’s money. He knew every call, every nest structure and the number of birds of each species to be found in Chitwan. Ya…we were buds for the whole weekend. While we struggled to communicate in everyday speech, ornithology was our common language.

Our guides: Arpan (left) and Krishna (right)

That night we attended a local dance performance, and boy were they amazing! Watching these boys interact with each other, feeding off one another’s energy and just having a blast made me miss being on stage. Lucky for me, they invited members of the audience to stage with them for the last piece. I felt completely at home, and in my element dancing around this circle of live musicians, surrounded by strangers who share a common passion for the art!

The next morning we all mounted elephants for a jungle safari, where we walked aside rhinos weighing up to 4000 lbs. and sloshed through crocodile infested rivers! Man, is that a way to see the jungle!! After our walkabout, we headed to the river to help bathe the elephants…and by “help bathe” they meant bath WITH the elephants! We rode the beasts into the river and then they were told to get down on their knees and rock side to side until we all fell off. Once all competitors were in clear view, the water fight was on! No Super Soaker will ever compare with the force of the trunk of an elephant blasting from 3 feet away!!!

During our 4 hour break some friends rented a few motorcycles to cruise around the city. Ya…ok so I don’t have the best sense of direction, and neither did my driver, because we ended up about 25 minutes down the road and realized it was time to turn around before reaching the Indian border. Not 2 minutes later our tire blew out….ya you should have seen the stall of traffic as every passing tractor, bike, bus, and taxi felt the need to slow down and take a good long laugh at the beet red Americans pushing a motorcycle down the side of the highway. I’m sure we provided a great story for that evening’s dinner table! We ended up finding a gas station, who didn’t have any gas or way to fix our tire but helped us to call 5 different hotels with names one word off from ours. They then walked us to the nearest tire repair station, where a 12 year old boy, who spoke impeccable English, helped us find our bearings and get things squared away. It’s always an adventure!


A sight to see...

We survived!!

That night, we all walked back from a local restaurant and were headed to bed when we were intercepted by our awesome guides and hotel workers sitting around a table, just chatting and rocking out to music. “Oh my goooood (God) it’s my bird frend! Come sit down!”  What was meant to be a 10 minute conversation about birds turned into a 3 hour music exchange and dance party in the courtyard of our hotel with 6 Americans and 4 Nepalis! These are the evenings I love the most, the unexpected, low key plans that turn into some of the most fun, laughter filled nights!

We received our wake up knock on the door at 6 am the next morning for our bird walk, which was so kindly arranged around my passion for birds. This may be one of my favorite mornings so far: sun rising over the river where the elephants prepared for their day, Kingfishers swarming the river bank, flashes of blues, golds and whites identifying their presence, binoculars gripped in hand, ready for any action ahead, and my bird friend, Krishna, giddy at the spotting of any species that I’d never seen (even though he sees them every morning), violently flipping through his bird guide to read my the species in English. Only in Nepal.

Well I’m off to my second to last day with Ishwor. I can’t believe how quickly the time has flown but I’ll try to post again soon before heading off on our week long trek!

So much love to you all,

Al