Well, we made it to the top at 10:30 AM. Six hours, but I did it - I got to the top of one of the world's highest passes - Thorung La at 5,416 meters/17,769 feet. We met Elsa and Manu and Mingma up there and took lots of congratulatory pictures and I had a lemon tea. I thought I was feeling okay - a little shaky but no headache.
We started down at 11 AM and I was carrying my small pack again. I felt okay at first but I started feeling a little dizzy and nauseous after about an hour. Finally, after about an hour and a half, I got sick and vomited a few times. Nar wasn't happy about that because it is a sign of altitude sickness and he was really worried about me. He wanted one of the boys to carry me but I said no, that he should just carry my bag again. Well, a half hour later I was sick again, and Nar said there was no way I could walk.
He got Pratik to carry me. He took a bed sheet and knotted the ends together to make a big loop. He put me on his back with the loop under my butt and the other part across his forehead and I put my hands on his shoulders (sort of like a piggyback ride). Pratik is so strong; he is about my height and weight and he carried me for about two and a half hours down some incredibly steep trails which had some snow cover in places. I felt so badly about having to be carried (which also meant that Nar and Singa needed to carry all the gear that Pratik had been carrying) because it must have been so hard for Pratik. He never complained and told me it was his duty to take care of me. I know I could not have walked down that trail.
When we got to Muktinath (which is where we had all planned to stay) it was about 3:00M and Nar wanted to hire a horse to take me down lower to Kagberi. No one wanted to hike any further and we were already lower than the previous night's altitude because we had trekked up about 3,000 feet and come down about 5,000 feet. Nar was right to be worried because altitude sickness is nothing to fool around with, but I actually don't think I had altitude sickness. I had no headache and I wasn't nauseous anymore. So, we decided to stay at the tea house in Muktinath. I got in my sleeping bag for a while because I was very cold, but I did get up and eat some supper. I think I was so stressed emotionally (wondering if I could do the climb) that my body just over-reacted and made me sick. I will never forget how good and caring everyone was to me (Nar, Pratik, Singa, Shar, Elsa, Manu, Minga).
5/01: We were going to take a rest day in Muktinath but we didn't like our tea house (the room was very small, the toilet was smelly and the food was bad), so we all decided to hike down to Kagberi and take our rest day there. After breakfast, we walked up to a temple that attracts both Hindus and Buddhists, looked at the sights (a long prayer wall, cleansing fountains, alters, prayer bells and monks) and took lots of pictures at the temple and of the surrounding scenery. One of the mountains we can see in the distance is Dhaulagiri at 8,167 meters/26,795 feet. It is the seventh highest peak in the world.
We then hiked down to the town of Kagberi at 8,186 feet, so we have come down 8,583 feet since the Thorung La Pass. We are staying at the Asia Hotel which is quite nice. We have a large clean room with a big window and white walls, an attached bath (with a western toilet) a lovely dining room and a good place to hang our laundry aftert the boys washed our clothes. We bought some Lifebouy soap for the boys to use for our laundry and our clothes smell much better. All for 100 Rupees a night - about US$0.64 each.
Unfortunately, my stomach is bothering me again. I think it was the lousy breakfast at Muktinath this morning. I didn't really like either lunch or dinner here, plus I'm very thirsty. I'd love a glass of milk, but I'll wait until I get to London for that. Shari and I are also looking forward to a cheeseburger when we get there.
Manu likes to cook, so we talk about food quite a bit and he and Elsa gave me lots of suggestions for food to try when Shari and I get to France. I am really going to miss them. We will stay in Kagberi again tomorrow night but Elsa, Manu and Mingma will go on to a town past Jomson. At least we know we will see Elsa and Manu again when we get to Paris.
5/02: A couple of things I forgot, or were incorrect:
1. The big mountain we saw out our tea house window and as we walked yesterday and today was Nilgiri, not Dhaulagiri. There are three Nilgiri peaks - the highest is 23,166 feet. We could see Dhaulagiri on our way down from the pass, but I was feeling too sick and wasn't looking at the scenery.
2. Yesterday we saw some men carrying boards and I know I've written before about the heavy loads they carry, but this something else. One of them had about 14 boards (10 feet by 8 inches by 2 inches) plus four 2x4s, all strapped on his back.
3. I was pretty optimistic about the place we stayed last night, but I'm not feeling well again today. When I wrote that the hotel was nice, that is in relative Nepalese terms. I can't stand the smells n Nepal - the food, the toilets, the soap they use to wash the linens, and the animals. I am really having an especially hard time with the food. I don't like the smell or the taste and it's hard to imagine spending 34 more days here. I feel guilty even writing these feelings because the Nepali people are so nice, the scenery is beautiful and I love being with Nar and the boys.
We had an interesting morning. Nar, Elsa Shari and I went to see a Nepalese school. We had met a young woman, Beth (from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) who is teaching English here for the Peace Corps. She has done one year of a two year assignement. The children go to school from Sunday through Friday, but Friday is a pretty unstructurerd day. The children and teachers meet in the courtyard of the school and sing the national anthem. Today, they then picked teams for something (Beth wasn't sure what) and then they clean the classrooms on Fridays. They have only a couple of classes when they finish cleaning, so we didn't get to see them doing any lessons. The school has 10 grades with about 70 kids and 12 Nepali teachers (Beth was the only Western teacher). Beth said that usually only 40-50 kids show up each day.
Shari and I had decided not to take a rest day so we started hiking with Elsa and Nar down to Jomsom to meet the others, who had gone on ahead earlier. This area is known for its very strong winds and we hiked in it all the way. It is also surrounded by brown hills, so lots of dirt and dust blew on us all day. It took about 3 hours to get to Jomson (10:30 AM - 1:30 PM) and we met Manu, Mingma and the boys at the Trekkers Hotel. Elsa had lunch and Shari and I just had soda and some crackers, and then we all left for Marpha.
We got here about 4 PM and are checked into the Sunrise Hotel. It's a nice place (a room with attached bath for 150 Rupees - US$0.95 each), and we each took a hot shower to get rid of all the dirt and dust. Unfortunately, I still don't feel well and as I sit here on my bed all I can smell is the soap used to wash the sheets. It makes me feel pretty nauseous. Shari and I both ordered plain boiled spaghetti with a little butter. Hopefully, they won't put any spices or sauce on it, I think it would make me sick.
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