Life of Wry

Trip Day #5

Waking up in Kathmandu?  Yeah, pretty neat.

We ventured to the hotel’s large dining room for their breakfast buffet and actually liked it a whole lot more than the dinner buffet the night before.  Nothing much to say about it, except it was convenient and it did the trick.  We had a busy day ahead.

First, we were meeting up with Hari.  Forty years ago, Bill had found a way for Hari, only 12 years old at the time, to move from his home in the country to a place in Kathmandu and closer to a good school. This was Hari’s opportunity for a better education.  In return, Hari, at 12, served as Bill’s cook.  Bill was also instrumental in setting Hari on a lifelong career path in sustainable farming and community development.   Hari now lives in central Kathmandu with his family (wife, kids, grandkids) and also has a farm about a five-hour drive away.  He joined us for coffee while we ate breakfast.   He was a lot of fun to talk to and gave us a lot of insights about Nepalese life, his life, and his experiences with Bill over the years.  We made plans to visit again upon our return.  Nice to suddenly have local friends to make plans with!  Yay.

The big event of this day was our orientation.  We were scheduled to meet Homnath at 11:00 to walk to the Himalayan Glacier Trekking office in Thamel and spend a few hours reviewing details about the trek, paying balances, taking care of insurance, picking up extra gear, etc.

But the other Big Thing, which was also happening at 11:00, was meeting the fifth member of our trekking cadre–the guy who’d independently booked a trip with HGT and, by luck of the draw, got added to our group… a group of four women. The proverbial 5th wheel.  We were anxious to meet this guy.  I mean, if we’re going to spend the next 2 weeks hiking together, eating all our meals together, and who knows what other adventures or misadventures we’d encounter together..  well… we’d better like him, and vice versa, or it could be uncomfortable.

So, all that happened.  First we met Rick Whitney, who turned out to be a nice guy, very easy going, a fit and experienced hiker, well-traveled (and, we’d learn later, had great snacks, knew fun card games, was very accommodating, was a good sport, an unabashed dancer, and had a tri-pod).  So, wow, good fit.  Though we put him on Man Probation right away, anyway.

Then, Hom led us on a fun little sprint from the Shanker Hotel to the district of Thamel, where the streets are dense with people and persistent vendors and items for sale, and we had to stay alert to 1) keep Hom within our sights, and 2) avoid being flattened or crushed by some form of moving object.  The population of Kathmandu is 1 million, and it feels like they’re all on whichever block you happen to be on.

Thamel is a tourist ghetto, fun and convenient, and is packed with shops, cafes, cheap hotels, restaurants, hookah bars, people, and vehicles of every stripe.

Here’s a third world tangle of cables:

The HGT office is on the 3rd floor of a building in the heart of Thamel–trekker mecca, gear store overload.  We were greeted by one of HGT’s co-owners (Narayan Regmi, pictured with Leslie, below), who was gracious and welcoming and conducted a thorough overview of the trip (painstakingly thorough).  He processed remaining paperwork, answered innumerable questions, gave us free stuff (duffel bags, trail maps, shirts with corporate logos) and finally sent us on our way.

Next stop: get gear.  Hom took us to see this woman (see pic) who equipped us with sleeping bags, walking sticks and the biggest down coats I’ve ever seen, carried, or worn.  No worries about cold weather.  We could have brought our own stuff from home, but it was easier and less hassle to get it there, since it was included in the price.

Heading out of Thamel, it was impossible to not shop or to avoid vendors. Laura and Leslie both bought flutes.  Later, on the trek, we would be grateful for their purchases.  Leslie played hers often, offering a haunting and lovely start to many of our early mornings.

Pooped and shopped out, we returned to our hotel and settled ourselves in the garden.  We ordered momos (steamed dumplings, sort of like potstickers, made with chiles, garlic, ginger, onion and sometimes meat, served with a spicy tomato relish) and the most fabulous spiced peanut dish. This time we drank masala tea (spiced tea with milk), but later, we discovered these go better with beer.

The day ended with the HGT “welcome dinner” event.  Our group joined many other tourists at a restaurant that specialized in traditional Nepalese cuisine and offered a series of national and regional music and dance performances.  This was exactly as you would expect it to be–touristy and non-intimate–but it was a great introduction to the culture and we had a lot of fun.  We ate basmati rice and various curried meats (chicken, boar), Nepali style french fries, spinach & other veggies, some intense hot alcohol drink, a lemony yogurt dish for dessert and some Everest beer.  It was all really good.

One of our fellow table mates was Jan Smith, a 66 year old woman from Australia who we learned was planning her second attempt at climbing Everest.  She started trekking at the age of 60 and had already summited Cho Oyu (6th highest mountain in the world, also in the Everest region).  After failing last year (she got as far as camp 3 before they told her she was not ready), she changed her training and felt she was going to be successful this year.  It turns out, we were all flying to Lukla in two days (though on different flights) and starting our respective treks on the same day. We would meet up with her several times on the trail (and note she was an extremely fast walker and super fit).  She also must be fairly wealthy, as Everest ascents are not cheap.

We learned, upon our return home, that Jan did not, in fact, make it to the top, largely for weather reasons.  I read that this would be her last attempt.