THE TREK (+Cutie McCuters part 2 and our future plans)

oh! it has been far too long since an update. so sorry about that, there have been mountains, heavy backpacks, swedish friends, and children in between...but don't worry, I'll give you the scoop.

Again we find ourselves in Pokhara, beautiful town of mountains, a lake, and the most delicious daal bhat we have ever eaten (the Almond Cafe is spectaular. and amazingly cheap). "What britta? aren't you still supposed to be trekking to the gloriousness of mt. everest?" you ask. Well, yes. We were intending to spend 25 days in the wilderness (which was not nearly as "wildernessy" as you might think, we had a padded bed in a lodge every night), but after 14 days we called it quits. Actually, I called it quits and dragged Becca with me. I know it was the last thing in the world she wanted to do, but at near 12,000 ft., my body seemed to be rejecting the prospect of continuing up the big mountain, and she (amazing friend that she is) came down with me.

But back to the beginning of the story~ the trek was FABULOUS. By far the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen in my life. We hiked in from Jiri, which hardly anyone does anymore as it is 10 days from the tourist hub of the Everest trek (Namche Bazaar). Everyone usually flies into Lukla, a mere day from Namche. We, however, were going to experience the FULL Everest valley and subvalley and subsubvallies....thus starting in Jiri. AND we were going to carry our own packs (this would prove to kill me later on, but not for the first 12 days). Our first night in Jiri we met a pair of hilarious Swedish boys that would turn out to be our buds in trekking, as there was hardly ANYONE else on the trail (except for a really intense Spanish couple that chain smoked and a motley crew of about 10 others, most with porters). But they were by far the highlight of the people we met on the trek- in fact, when we got to Namche and had to part ways, I felt like we'd known each other forever...and in reality it had been 10 days. But 10 days when all you're doing is walking up and down mountains and eating seems like a lifetime.

Our days went something like this:
-Wake up with the sun (around 7:30. actually, it was ALWAYS exactly 7:30 when I woke up and that kind of freaked me out. guess I have a good internal clock.)
-Eat breakfast.
-Start hiking.
-Eat lunch.
-Keep hiking.
-Eat dinner.
-Go directly to bed.
-Rinse, repeat.

So for 10 days this is how it was, and let me tell you, I have never exerted my body more than I did while hiking from Jiri. It was the most physically strenuous thing I have ever done. We would hike up and over sometimes two mountains a day...sometimes totaling 5,000 ft climbed (thus at least 3,000 ft down as well... because you had to go UP DOWN UP- oy, it was frustrating. ) Just when the guidebook said something like, "Nice walk to Bupsa from Karikola" you look down the trail, and there it is- BUPSA, 2,000 FEET ABOVE YOU. Needless to say, we had killer bodies. "Apple bottoms" were all around, noted by Tobi (one of the Swedes). We learned that "Nepali flat" means that the ups and downs cancel each other out in the Nepali mindset. We pleasured ourselves by night with food, food, and more food, and of course, good conversation. I wish I could describe to you each little villages that we passed through, but it would take hours...the only one we didn't have a pleasant experience in was Nunthala (large spiders, stained ceilings, rooms filled with petrol, and communist flags.... altogether the makings of a horror movie, Everest-style). The trail was a land of juxtapositions; ups and downs, HOT and COLD (have never been hotter or colder in my life...in Namche I lived in a puffy down coat, day and night), clean and dirty, agriculture and wilderness, rich white tourists hiking alongside Nepali porters (sometimes young children carrying 50 kg of beer on their backs...another story unto itself), pain and pleasure. It was both something I would do again in an instant and something I NEVER want to do again.

In the end, I reached Namche (3,440 meters). I actually went a little bit higher, possibly near 3,800...but that's when I began wheezing and my legs started giving out, so I stopped. I didn't have altitude sickness (I was extremely aware of the symptoms of that, and I did not have them), but that doesn't mean the altitude didn't effect me...I think that my body was just completely spent after the hike from Jiri. For 10 days we hiked 6-7 hours a day, and strenuous hiking at that, and when I got to Namche, my body just quit. I waited it out for three days, but after not getting any better (I tried each day to climb a little higher, but alas, my legs wouldn't go), so we came down. I revere my body with the greatest respect (after all, it does pretty much anything I want it to), and if it says no, I comply. Though I was disappointed that I couldn't go any further (especially that first day, gosh I cried my eyes out), after doing some meditation in our hotel room I realized that the reason I came to Nepal was not to accomplish anything on that mountain. It's just a mountain. I accomplished all that I wanted to at Harka. That was the reason I came to Nepal. I came here to love some kids, and I got much more than I ever expected in return. Not only a wonderful time, but I added 17 brothers and sisters to my family (at Harka) and met a slew of new people in Kathmandu, on the trek...everywhere we've gone.

So we decided to go back to the orphan home! Just for one night, but the kids were SO EXCITED to see us (as we were them). Tulie and AShish and Jamuna could not stop smiling and giggling, Manish and Budi clung to our arms all evening, and even Ramesh seemed happy to see us. It was awesome. Granted, we had to leave, again, but I feel like it meant a lot that we came back. And they know we WILL come back in the future. We hadn't seen them for a month, but it seemed like we never left. And now we're back in Pokhara, tomorrow going to do a little trekking with our friend Guru (his family is from Pokhara and we get to visit them and he's going to guide us through the valley). Then we get to "observe" some of the voting on election day- which should be an altogether crazy experience. Jimmy Carter's going to observe as well! I'm not sure if he'll be in Pokhara... but it would be cool if he was. Evidently people from around the world are going to be here "observing" so that everything goes well/safely/accurately. Should be interesting in a country where the ballot consists of 85 pictures. I'll let you know more later I guess!
Love you all-
Britta

PS I miss you too Dad, and Mom and Kurt and Alex also- I'll be home soon!

THE HIMALAYAS (pt. 2)

one of my last steps before i keeled over and stumbled down the mountain

Sherpa children are quite possibly the cutest children on earth, even if they're a little dirty

7 hour days make for muscles

ama dablam, way cooler looking than everest

everest...see? not that cool. it's always hanging out behind other stuff. 

THE HIMALAYAS

looking out our window in Bupsa

Phewa Lake in Pokhara...we took out the "yeti boat" for a day

one of our first days on the trek, outside the little village of Bhandar

our lodge in Sete, arguably one of the most beautiful places I have ever been

our final night of the trek, our packs crushing us in our Lukla lodge room

before i go into the wilderness...

Just wanted to give everyone a few pictures before we head off to Sagarmatha for a good 3-4 weeks. We're not sure if there will be internet anywhere, but if there is, I'll let you know I'm alive! In the meantime, enjoy these photos... some of the cream of the crop~

ashish giving a big smacker to aunt jemima (aka tulie with bad hat)

manesa, "namaste"

pointing out John Cena on the WWF poster.

jamuna and tulie, the cuties.

sirjana with the staple: daal bhat tarkari

5 kids and a national park.

Secil and the elephant ride salesman, consulting.

budi. atop an elephant in the middle of the jungle.

samjana. thug life.

radika. we both look mad, but we're actually REALLY EXCITED TO SEE ELEPHANTS.

most hilarious picture of Secil. ever.

punums.

tulie.

babu (cries a lot, but that punum almost makes up for it)

ashish and tulie hangin out (ashish is eating a bag of old orange peels)

pre-breakfast time with the kiddos, they're mixing nasty bisi food

(l-r, gonga, secil, jamuna, tulie)

ashish throwing a tantrum in front of the bisi

i like lists

so i started making a list the first week we were at Harka of "things we have done", and continued it throughout our stay (party because I love lists, and party so that I remember all the randomness). warning: some things may gross you out.

removed slivers, popped and medicated infected scabs, soaked and medicated heads that were covered in scabs (Ashish had 5, Jamuna at least 15, still not sure what they were from), given Jamuna medicine for tumor-like bumps at the base of her skull (evidently a virus? unsure about this one as well), picked lice out of everyone's hair, had our own lice picked out, cut hair, shaved heads, had children blow their nose into our hands, washed kiddos after using the latrine, after playing in mud piles, after a week without bathing.... comforted after fights, comforted after Kumari or Prim screamed or slapped, chopped veggies, cooked rice over a wood fire, learned how to cook Nepali daal bhat tarkari to perfection, cleaned dishes, floors, latrines, sorted bad rice from good rice (a tedious process), picked vegetables from the farm, watched wrestling (not by choice) and Nepali soap operas with awful scene change music, woke up in the middle of the night to Kumari and Prim's voices and/or cell phones, chased chickens out of veggies, chased dogs out of everywhere, stomped compost, run across rice paddies to school (if we were late, or just wanted to run), pulled Secil's sweater (that had insanely tight arm holes) over his hands, played endless games (Nepali and American), sang endless songs, danced, cuddled (and taught to cuddle...Jamuna still gets a little freaked out about it), stopped for tikka on the way to school, joined the entire village of Nauranga in extracting catfish from the fish pond, watched baby goats grow from the day they were born, heard traveling packs of foxes howling in the night, heard geckos calling each other in the night across our bedroom walls, listened to dogs freaking out because there was a tiger "nearby" (according to Kumari), listened to TV that is FAR too loud for comfort, tucked in 5 little ones into one cozy bed, mended and sewed school shirts, skirts, pants and backpacks, boosted self-esteem, warmed up a chilled Tulie and Gonga after they wet/pooped their bed and were made to stand in freezing cold water (I couldn't handle this!!), painted murals, made friendship bracelets, pulled teeth, trimmed eyebrows (Gonga), loved kids whose parents didn't (Ishwor, Samjana), comforted when no one else seemed to care, held hands, hugged, kissed, fist pounded, elbow pounded...

i think that's probably enough for now. i'm going to try to put up some pictures!!