9:40am We�re on the way! The bus is loaded up to the gills. Lots of yellow and black IMC trekking bags. I finished packing after breakfast. I think I have the right combination of clothes to take for the road. Some people aren�t taking too much. As we piled stuff outside Dagmar, the doctor took the "before" expedition photos. We were each presented a white silk scarf for good luck. There are a total of 21 of us all packed in the bus. The countryside soon takes place of the city scene. Lot�s of farms everywhere and as usual, half built buildings. I�ve seen only three gas stations the entire time we�ve been in Kathmandu. They must keep them well hidden. They must make these buses for miniature people. I�m fairly short and they are uncomfortable. The tall guys are now pretzels. On the door of the bus between the drivers cabin and passengers it says, "We Welcome Your Saggetion". Hello up there, I have one small one. Oh never mind.
1:50pm Stopped for lunch at a small village by a river. Plenty of Nepalese food including dalbaht, spicy something, vegetables of some sort and a Coke. We�ll see who gets sick first. The bathroom was the most unique I�ve seen. It was under the porch out back. The concrete floor had a hole in the corner that dropped into the river. There were animals out there also and this stupid rooster kept crowing at me. Well, at least it didn�t smell! We all piled back in the bus and headed out into the beautiful countryside. We followed the river for a long time. Some of the things I saw:
I found why the people write things on buildings such as; "Vote for Cow" or "Vote for Sun". The people running for the position, use a symbol so the illiterate people know who to vote for. Sounds like a good idea to me.
5:30pm We�re sitting in front of the guest house in Kodari, Nepal. Stan and I just finished the "circuit" where we walked up to the solar power station on the top of the hill above the road which Is Kodari. Very primitive here but friendly. I don�t think my nose will get used to the smell of human waste but I guess I�ll have to. The solar panels create enough electricity for the city to have lights from 6pm to 10pm. The guest house sits right on the road. There is room here for 14 people and are 3 in our room. It�s really just a barn I think. The walls are cardboard and we don�t have glass in the windows. The bathroom is a little latrine like thing that�s totally gross. Of course it empties down the back and into the river below. Everybody here spits all the time. The little kids are really cute though. Their toys are so primitive, mainly hoops and sticks. Lots of furry puppies all around with chickens pecking at them. One of the kids is leaning over my shoulder watching me scribble. He�s really adorable. The two year old has a Batman cap on and a red fuzzy coat. Most all are wearing flip flops or sandals.
When we got here we walked to the Friendship bridge which crosses the river into Tibet. The border closes at 4pm and the guards were not there. I�m not sure when we leave tomorrow but I�m already tired of that bus. At least the road was intact because we had heard it was closed. Meal tonight was dalbaht, spicy something, vegetables of some sort and a Coke. Yep, same as lunch and I have a feeling I better get used to it.
This morning Stan asked, "Did they start the stove or is the building on fire?" Quite the possibility in this place which is just a large tinderbox. We got out of the sleeping bags and made a trip down the ladder stairs to check it out. There was a chicken nesting right above the stairs staring at us as we made our way down. The smell was from a small fire the women had made. In the dark little room she was teaching her children out of schoolbooks. Most all of the children outside of Kathmandu are taught at home like this.
9:00am We�re all sitting here waiting to cross the border into Tibet. Right now the Sherpas are loading the trucks with the equipment. Damn, some old guy just walked up to me and got in my face and yelled "Hasa". I�m not really sure what the heck he said and now they�re all staring at us. This is getting on my nerves.
12:00 Still waiting at the border but this time we�re in Tibet. We took off in a truck where we drove about half way up. The truck made a load noise and stopped. A spring broke on the rear axle of the truck. We walked about 45 minutes into the town. Kind of cool really. We were last leaving the truck and went up a steep cut off from the road. We walked the road a bit then the two natives in front told us to follow them. We made a great cut off again and beat everyone up to the village. We got everything stamped OK and all the paperwork filled out with no problems. Now they are loading the Chinese trucks up. Of course there is the usual confusion and yelling as expected. The mountains are soaring about the town. It�s very nice out now and the sun is getting hot. I drank a ton of water and need a place to pee. Can�t really stop in the local 7-11 store and ask for the bathroom key. Thank God for my pee funnel since I could pretend I was a guy and lean against a building like all the rest of the people around here. Well, there is much screaming and yelling so we must be going to do something now. These Chinese guys can�t drive worth a shit. It�s time for us to eat some lunch so we�re going to follow one of the Sherpas.
After a great lunch we loaded into Toyota Landcruisers or better known as "Jeeps" here in Tibet. Nobody know which to get into because there are a lot of these running around here. We did hop in one and the driver starts yelling "Cho Oyu" at us. Sorry buddy, but we�re staying in the truck. Both groups are going to the same place next anyway so there is no difference really. We took off with the leader of the Cho Oyu expedition and two porter guys. The road was spectacular. The shear drops were at least a thousand feet in some spots. The road wasn�t too bad except for one section where it had washed down mud and rocks. That section was closed this morning and just opened back up. It took about an hour to get to Nyalam. We had to stop to change a tire along the way. Nyalam is a bunch of nothing really. The altitude is 12,440 feet here and is full of pigs and dogs running around. The guest house we�re staying at is one notch up from yesterday but that�s not a lot. The Everest group is all in this place and the Cho Oyu group is in the regular hotel. Stan and I have one room to ourselves. Being married does have it�s advantages. We walked around a little which doesn�t take too long. The toilet is public and is at the end of the street. Kind of a dump chute made out of concrete that of course runs in the river. As we walked down the street this little kid was swinging a long stick at a plastic thing. As I walked past he whacked me behind the knee�s hard. Wicked move for a very strong three year old. We went down the street for tea and supper. I can�t believe we didn�t have dalbaht all day. We ate tons of great food here. We got some money exchanged at 8 jwon to the dollar. A large beer is 5 jwon. Such a deal! We then headed back to the guest house to hit the sack. Tomorrow is hiking in the surrounding mountains.
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