Nar came to get us at about 3:15 PM for our acclimatization hike. We started hiking up behind the town about 3:30 PM and we hiked up until 4:20 PM and then came down and got back about 4:45 PM. Hike high and sleep low - that's the best acclimatization routine. It stopped snowing while we were hiking and the sun even came out for a brief time, but it started snowing again before we got back.
Shari and I went into the dining room to put in our order for tonight's dinner and it was chilly and somewhat dark in there. Well, one of the workers brought out a kerosene heater (it looks like a big whisper lite stove with a blue ring of flame at the top. He put it right under one of the tables (which have table clothes on them that hang down on all sides). I guess they must do this all the time, but it seems that either the fumes would kill you or it would catch on fire.
We came back to our room to do notes and read, and it is quite a sight out our window, There is now about 2 inches of snow on the ground and it is really coming down. Our room tonight is about 10 feet sqaure, no electricity, and of course no heat. Thank goodness for down sleeping bags. Nar said we might have to stay here an extra day if the weather is bad tomorrow, but I hope not. He said Thorung Base Camp Lodge at Thorung Phedi is quite nice. I would rather spend the extra night there than here if necessary. It is so exciting to think we may get to cross the pass the day after tomorrow.
I can't believe how good I feel about being in Nepal now. Five days ago I seriously doubted my ability to spend 49 days here. The food, the toilets, the trash and my stomach were all bothering me. Now I'm used to the food and my stomach problems seem to be under control, thanks to the pills I got from the Beth Israel Hospital back home. I don't mind the basic accomodations and the hiking has been good. You have to go really slowly at this altitude but I always hike pretty slowly anyhow. I had a headache when I first got here today (from hiking at altitude) but it went away as I rested and I didn't even need to take any pills.
I consider myself so fortunate to be here with Nar and the boys. Roberta had told me I would want to take Nar home and she is right. I almost start to cry whenever I think that I won't see him again after I leave Nepal. The boys are great too. They are so happy all the time. Shari taught them some board games and has played cards with them, as well as with the other trekkers.
4/29: I shouldn't have complained about the lantern under the table last night. It was wonderful. When we went back in for dinner, the fumes were gone and it really made the room quite warm sitting around the table.
We started hiking around 7:20 AM and it was a fair amount of uphill from Yak Kharka to Thorung Phedi (4,018 meters to 4,450 meters - about 1,400 feet). Nar was concerned about rock slides along the way and told us to run if we heard any rocks sliding down. He was worried about me because I go so slowly uphill and he thought I might not be able to run. I told him I would be okay on the flat and I would run downhill if I was going up. He took my small pack for a while and it made quite a difference to me, even though it is not very heavy.
We got here about noon, and ate lunch and took a nap before we went on our acclimatization hike with Nar. We hiked up behind the tea house for about 45 minutes on the trail we will take tomorrow morning and then came back down in 20 minutes. I was basically carrying only water and it was still very hard. At least the trail is a wide uphill trail versus today's, which was quite narrow and dropped straight down to the river in some spots. I'm still kind of scared about tomorrow's hike over the pass becuase of my breathing. This is the hardest thing I've ever done, but at least I know what the first part of our hike will be like.
We are getting up at 3:30 AM to have some breakfast (probably porridge) at 4 AM and then start hiking by 4:30 AM. Nar is concerned about getting over the pass before it starts snowing (which it seems to do about noon at this altitude) and he knows it will take us a long time to get there. Normally, the boys and Shari hike ahead of us but he wants us all to stay together until we are over the pass. It might take about 5 hours to get up there and then another 4 hours to get down to Muktinath. We will ascend 3,169 feet and then descend 5,302 feet.
Nar wants us to stop at a couple of tea houses along the trail to get more food and have hot drinks because it will be quite cold and windy on the trail. It will be well below freezing overnight tonight.
Nar takes such good care of both of us - bringing our hot drinks, filtering our water, making sure we are comfortable in our rooms, but he also watches out for me on the trail. He never leaves me while we are hiking. He always walks behind me and if the trail is wide enough for both of us, he walks on the outside of me when we are on a trail with a steep drop-off. He never calls me by my name, either. He calls Becky "Madam," Roberta is "Buddha," Shari is "Ma'am" or sometime "Shareeee, me - "Ma'am." He knows my name and can pronounce it fine, but I think he calls me Ma'am out of respect for my age - 57 to his 47 years old.
It's almost 6 PM and we are sitting in the dining room with a lot of other people. Quite a few groups are going over the pass tomorrow - the Dutch family, a group of Israeli women, Manu and Elsa (French), a group from Austria, a few men from India, and Shari and me (the only Americans). There will also be a number of Nepali guides and porters leading the way and carrying gear.
HOME PAGE