May 10, 2009

     This is the first chance we’ve had to get on the Internet in several days. We are back in Kathmandu after a hard climb down and more great views of Everest. We’ve been trekking nearly a week and it’s nice to be back with a real bathroom and bed.

      Our Sherpa guide was incredible.  He speaks 4 or 5 languages, travels to Italy for 3 months a year to guide Italians up the Alps and maintains his family in Namche Bazar. He treated us like a mother hen, we always came first and while the conditions were primitive, he always tried to find ways to make things better for us. Right down to hot water bottles (there was never any heat and the temp dropped to freezing at night) and making sure we ordered our meals at least an hour early (it took at least that long for them to prepare our food).

     The Himalayas are incredible, they seem to be younger than the Rockies, much more angular with sharper peaks. Like the Rockies, there are beautiful pine forests everywhere. This is different from the Himalayas we saw in India; they were almost barren of vegetation.  Almost everywhere it is possible the mountainside has been tiered to accommodate agriculture, mostly vegetables for local use. There is not much animal agriculture. They have cattle, Yaks and Tzoes (mix between a cow and a yak) but they use them for work not so much eating. There is meat processing in Kathmandu and other cities but since everything has to be carried up the mountain, it limits the amount and increases the cost of meat.  Plus there is very little refrigeration available.  Chickens seem to be everywhere and so are more commonly found on menus.

     On the way up all our gear was packed on the back of a Tzoe. At Namche the Tzoe driver decided he could carry our luggage himself and make more money, so he loaded up everything,  put the strap around his head and headed off….amazing!! He beat us down by quite a bit. By the way, the washer and dryer I mentioned earlier were carried up on a man’s back not by a Tzoe, the load was too wide for the animal, it has to be balanced, equal amounts on each side.

     We flew out of the Lukla airport this morning for Kathmandu. The planes (twin engine props) start coming around 7am, they land on the short uphill runway dump their passengers and baggage, load up and take off within minutes. We saw at least 4 planes land and take off within about twenty minutes. The window of opportunity to get to this airport is very limited by the weather and usually by afternoon it has to close.