Days 5-8 - Annapurna Circuit

Day 5: Chame to Lower Pisang (Distance:  (Elevation 3250m))

After a great sleep last night the brisk morning woke us up right away. Temperatures were now starting our day around the minus 5 mark and soon will be dropping lower as we climb higher. Breakfasts were now taking a regular menu and each of us were ordering the same things - muesli, porridge and a buckwheat pancake instead of toast.  The terrain today wasn't super steep but we always were climbing. It was a slog of a walk today and for the 6-7 hours we went, things just pressed on and on.

As we made our way parallel to the river, the mountains grew larger and became more spectacular every step of the way.  Before we stopped for lunch, I looked at my GPS and it was reading over the 10,000 foot mark - hooray! Almost at the same landmark, we were passing a Japanese memorial paid to those who've lost their lives climbing for their country in Nepal's mountain. The memorials seemed to just have sprung up and were in a peaceful area surrounded by trees as the sunshine cast shadows over their memorials. As a tribute, passer-bye's would stop and give a moment of silence to pay their respects. So many people have lost their lives on these mountains and they've paved the way to new explorations so we can follow in their paths.

Continuing on to our destination for the night, the paths were totally clear and were like walking on a park trail in Stanley Park. Our tea hut this night was great - we had a great view of Upper Pisang, this medieval-style village that scaled the hillside and offered centuries worth of history from those living there. It would be part of our walk the next day...

Day 6: Lower Pisang to Manang (Distance: 19.75km (Elevation 3540m))

Today was by far our hardest day as right from the get go we were climbing. With frost on the tin roofs and jackets zipped up to stay warm, we made off for the hike. We went up through Upper Pisang to see all the ancient architecture and prayer wheels that sprung up through much of the village. What a gorgeous place, something that none of of had expected from this hike! After passing through Upper Pisang we continued up the hill so a series of switchbacks that moved us from the Marsyandi River all the way up to a monestary at Ghyaru, 11,500 feet. We had been climbing straight up for almost 2 hours on a trail similar to the one that takes you up to Garibaldi and Black Tusk. Stopping for dude chhia (milk tea) at the monestary, we got some great photos.

After our tea we pressed on, up and up and up - and more up, then some down, then some flats, right into Manang. There was this one area where we both saw a vulture and got a great shot of Nic (and might I add it's now her Blog backdrop photo...haha).  Passing bye views of Gangapurna, Tilcho Peak and both Annapurna 2 & 3 we rolled into Ngawal where Surya and Nic helped make the momo's they'd ordered for lunch. This is unlike many Nepali families to offer guests into their kitchen but this time they did and it was with gratitude they accepted and went for it.  

7 hours after we started for the day, we rolled into Manang and called it a day (for 2). Here we would spend the next 48 hours acclimatizing for the push over the next 2 1/2 days. With a good rest and hike planned for tomorrow Day 6 ends...

Day 7: Acclimatization Day in Manang:

A morning sunrise at 5:30 with my tripod and SLR camera started my day. We had a local hike planned today to get used to hiking at altitude and exerting lots of effort. There was a gompa behind the tea hut and it took us just over 30 minutes to climb to it.  The whole team made it with no problems and we even had some energy left over for some laughs! Ya, that's right... Bill IS wearing his face mask as a thong.

We came back down to have a bite to eat then set off for another walk around Manang to see what it's all about and we came across a great lake called Gangapurna Lake. It was obviously glacier-fed and had a pristine aqua colour to it. On one side there were huge hulu's formed from years of erosion giving this small puddle some real character. To give the area some perspective, you can see how small we are in the photo compared to all that was around us...

Day 8: Manang to Yak Kharka (Distance: not much (Elevation: LOTS - 4022m)).

The wind was howling today and I still can't understand WHY generators aren't used here to foster power from it... it is a developing country so in a few years I hope they get it straight! Today's hike wasn't too bad - a little up, a little down - you know. You can really feel the drop in temperature now as we're well above the 10,000 ft mark and as we make our way further up into alpine territory the down jackets and tuques come out.  Nothing too exciting here except for I saw my first YAK. I heard stories of how large they are and until you see one face to face you can't fathom their size (and how much hair they have). Not only did we see the yaks, we say Blue Sheep and spotted deer, all of which are specific to these altitudes and climate.  So with a warm fire, good company and more card games, Day 8 finished and the real fun begins tomorrow where we climb to Thorong Phedi or possible to High Camp, depending on how we all feel with the altitude...

Days 1-4 - Annapurna Circuit

Day 1: Bhule Bhule (Elevation 840m)

It took us 6 hours by private bus to drive from Kathmandu to Beshishar, our launch point for the start of this trip. Once we were dropped off, we then switched all our gear onto a local bus where we drove on a dirt road for another hour. The road was narrow, very bumpy and had steep cliffs on one side - no mistakes were wanted here!

Tonight we stayed at the Everest Guest House and it was just us and one other guest. During peak trekking season, on any given day there might be 300 to 350 registered hikers going into the Annapurna Region for the circuit - the day we registered there were 13 plus us... needless to say, we felt as if we were the only ones out there which was awesome!

Day 2: Bhule Bhule to Jagot (20km - Elevation (1260m)

We got up at 6am, warm, well-rested and HUNGRY! We were served black tea and continuously offered more food, as it's the Nepali way to be as studious as possible. Now let the hike begin - we crossed our first supension bridge and started walking.  The village of Bhule Bhule was very cool as it was both our first glance at mountain-side Nepali living, and showed us the stonework used to build their homes and walkways. Everything was very old and the villagers were always working on something.

For the next 2 hours we walked along the hillside where there had been a landslide, it took out one of the roads and made for some tricky passings us. The workers were throwing rocks from above and whistling to each other to stop when hikers were close by. I'm guessing that the landslide took out the main bridge for hikers and that this makeshift one was put up. We crossed it then made our way back up an insane hour-long hill climb.  Strolling into our tea hut in the late afternoon, we wound down with a game of cribbage, a Gorkha beer and discussed how we were going to do the next few days where the elevation gain gets increased!

Day 3: Jagot to Dharapani (18 km - Elevation 1800m)

Our guide Surya must have been playing a joke on us with the route as we would climb for hours, have a break, then decend for an hour of steep terrain, another break for lunch then haul ourselves back up another hill... Today was no exception. After switchbacking ourselves down the route, we came to a riverside village called Tal Phedi and had some lunch. Nic had been carrying balloons with her since the beginning and brought one out for a child at lunch. He was so happy and played with it for all of our lunch with his grandfather.

It really is amazing to watch something so minor to us be given to another person that wouldn't normally get something like a balloon and see their reaction. This boy had a big smile on his face and the grandfather was just as happy!

So back onto the trail on into our last few hours of hiking this day. Was crossed this spectacular suspension bridge that had mindblowing views of the mountains from the valley that we were in and set itself up as just a very nice spot to stop and take a minute to soak it all in.  Arriving at the tea house for the night, Bill and I ate Dal Bhat then the group played a mean game of "O Hell." Bill scored 153, Nic scored 138, Dave 116... and me, well, lets just say I was learning tonight!

Day 4: Dharapani to Chame (16.5km - Elevation 2688m)

What a hike today...wow! Not too technical but we got our first real closeup view of an 8000'er - Manasalu (8,156m (8th highest in the world)). To see one of these mountains so close put so many things into perspective. Forget that we're standing at nearly 8500 feet ourselves, this behemouth of a mountain just stared at us and called out greatness. Imagine being in the centre of a valley and having the sun shine right onto the snow cap of Manasalu's peak at a quarter past 6 in the morning... what a sight to wake up to! Check out the picture below!

Chame was a beautiful spot to call home for the one night. Bill and I tried a local rice wine called Chhangy, which is equivillant to some homemade moonshine but stronger! One cup and I was slurring my speech and feeling great. The other part that made for such a great night was that the owners offered each of us FRESH yak momo's (like dumplings). These baby's were fresh as two yaks had been 'relived' of their duties earlier that day and prepared for dinner that night. SOOOO GOOD! More Dal Bhat for dinner then off to Pisang tomorrow....

My Nepal Journey Ends and my Vancouver One Begins!

Phew... I haven't blogged in a while and I've been getting rather ancy to tell YOU all about what's been going on these past few weeks.

So first off, I'm back in Vancouver, have settled into my new home in West Van and am piecing together the life that I had prior to leaving and getting going for 2010 with a BANG! I am very excited to see what happens this year as Nepal gave me a chance to really think about what I've done, where I am and where I want to be. It was an experience of a lifetime that I am so incredibly thankful for!

So what's next:

I'm going to tell you all about our trek through the Annapurna Circuit and the last 6 weeks in Nepal - the protests, political situation, having to fly out early from Kathmandu, photos and so on... I'm going to break the trek down into a few different parts so you don't have blogs that are too 'heavy' to digest.

Where I stand for 2010 - what some of my goals are (so YOU can keep me accountable) and how I see the year playing out.  After spending 109 days travelling in totally foreign cities than what I'm used to, I have gained a completely new perspective on personal values and thoughts on day-to-day living, helping me carry myself as a much more well-rounded person (eliminating a lot of the BS that goes on (and has gone on) in my life).

I would love all of YOUR feedback on these blogs as I'm going to give the straight goods and tell things how I saw them.  It's all about learning isn't it, so your honest feedback is very welcomed!

Until then....

And We're Off...

SO... ladies and gentlemen, as my placement finishes my second leg of the race starts. I have had an amazing time with the kids at my placement and have enjoyed listening to ALL the successes that have come from others at the house. It truely has been a trip of a lifetime thus far!

Tomorrow our trek begins. We are up at the crack of dawn for a 7 hour bus ride to stop #1 - Beshishar. Communication is very limited and there won't be time for any blogs along the trek but let me reassure you that when we get back, multiple posts and photos will be ready to go.

The trek will include my awesome girlfriend Nicole, her dad, his doctor buddy Dave, our guide and two porters. The highest pass scheduled is Throng-La at a tad under 5500 meters (18,000 feet). I am gitty just thinking about the hike and can't wait to get things rolling, but right now I need to catch some shut eye.

I look forward to catching up with all of you when we get home.

Ps: A huge shout out to Meyrick Jones, Kris Schelderup and the Innovative Fitness team in Port Moody. Your facility looks awesome and business will treat you well. Good luck guys and I can't wait to come check things out.

Nameste!!

Photo Updates!

After hearing back from all of you, I've fixed the photo problem on my Blog. On the right-hand column you'll see a spot for my updated photo album. I've made sure it all works so this time we're good to go.

Hope you ENJOY!

Just Checking IN....

I've gotten some feedback from readers that some of you haven't been able to check out my photos on PICASA (Google's photo viewer website) so I wanted your feedback. Two things:
1: Please email me at Steve.Bell.Irving@gmail.com letting me know you're getting my blog posts
2: A 'Yes' or 'No' on whether or not you have been able to view my photos.

I'm hoping that it was just a select few that had the problem but if not, then I'll fix things.

Placement is 1/2 done already and the days are just flying bye. Hope all is well for YOU back home and that you'r all getting dressed up for Halloween!

My Placement - Patan Community Based Rehabilitation Centre

After writing so many blogs about my activities each weekend, it was about time that I write about what actually brought me here to Nepal - volunteering. Thanks to my support crew at the West Vancouver Little League, I was able to come to Nepal 2 months prior to my planned trip here in November to volunteer with a Canadian-based organization called Volunteers Abroad.

I have been placed at a community rehabilitation centre for children with physical and mental disabilites. Having very little grasp of the Nepali language, I have found that interacting with these kids, especially their teachers, challenging to say the least but so far very rewarding! Each morning their bus arrives at 10:30am and 15 or so kids unload down a very rocky road to the placement. Some kids need help either in their wheelchair or just a helping hand to walk, while others can mosey down the path and start the day's lessons. After all the kids are there, the group sings the Nepali national anthem, a few nursery rhymes then a simple prayer.  Let the day begin!

Right now I am working with the group's most disabled kids. There are 10 or so kids in our class and their challenges range from autism to cerebral palsey to severe musclular and skeletal deformations as well as very limited cognitive capacities. With the limited resources available to the centre, our class is very basic. Each morning we do role call, work on the ABC's and 1,2,3's then try to recite children's songs and clap our hands. When lunch comes around, I feed one child. Each day I try to work with a different one but I've taken a liking to one girl with CP because her smile lights up the room! Her name is Surina and she is non-verbal and loves to draw circles and follow connect the dot patterns. We've been working on her motor skills and response to verbal cues such as, "high five" "left hand / right hand" and "come here (from her chair)." Yesterday and today were successful days as we climbed two flights of stairs together - she can't get up stairs on her own and has a tough time with support.

I see myself (and the other volunteer from our house) trying to help out in a way that will be simple to follow and leave a legacy. We have come up with a few suggestions for the staff at the centre work on each day in the hopes that when we leave, they will be running their facility in a much more efficient manor. Here are our suggestions:
1. A daily agenda from when classes start to when classes finish. Currently the teachers just come into class unprepared and rip out a sheet of paper and do the same thing over and over with each student.
2. Progress reports with each student. Currently their monitoring system is done once a year and with very little professional input. Our hope for this is to teach each teacher the basics of keeping track of student's progress through weekly report cards and group reviews.
3. A volunteer handbook - this placement gets a lot of volunteers through its doors and for some reason they either leave or end up just playing with the kids because there's no system set up for when they arrive. We want to draft up a very simple first week program as well as have each studen't profile up-to-date so they have all pertinent information to do the best job possible.

I know that there are plenty of other things we could try to help out with however if we make goals that are too lofty then we're setting ourselves up for failure. My partner and I have 6 more weeks at this placement and have made great headway on improving Patan CBR's methods.

The placement has been a lot of fun so far, even with the mayhem we've gotten ourselves into! The kids are great, I'm learning so much about working with children with diabilities and the whole time getting to help out an organization that would benefit from my knowledge in the anatomy and physiology field.

Chitwan National Park

Sorry for the weird layout of the blog but for some reason I can't align things up. Enjoy anyways!

So a post that actually has some photos rather than YOU having to click on a link to see what we're doing on the opposite side of the globe (to see all of our pics from this trip click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/home?tab=mq) haha!

It was another packed weekend trip with Nicole and our group where we made our way by tour bus to Chitwan National Park. The drive was along the same road as my crazy experience 3 weeks ago however this time we had our own vehicle and because of the holiday Tihar, the roads seemed empty! The park was dedicated as Nepal's first protected park in 1973 as many of the animals that survive here were or are on the verge of extintion. Since the program's inception more than 30 years ago, species of Tigers, Elephants, Crocodiles and Rhinos have begun to increase in population and show positive signs of growth because of the program. We stayed at the Jungle Adventure World, beside the river and beside the bar! The photo shows just how beautiful the views were at sunset and this was right outside our door. Nic and I lucked out and were able to have a small hut to ourselves making for a great weekend together. The price was right and the group was awesome!

The following day we set out on a jungle tour by foot looking for Rhinos and Tigers. Notta, zilch, zero! We did come across a group of monkeys, a tarantula and a few spotted deer. None-the-less, the walk was really cool because of the iminent dangers, we had to walk as quietly as possible and were direted by hand signals from our guide. It added a touch of realization to the walk and made for a very exciting 3 hours. Almost as soon as we arrived back to our resort, we were beckoned into the river with our guide for one of the coolest experiences I've ever had - elephant bathing! They had us climb onto these guys bareback and try to stay on for as long as possible. You get an idea of how tough it was with the four of us on this guy trying to stay on for as long as possible.

We went for lunch, had a few hours to relax then it was showtime once again. We got into groups of 4 and took off on a group elephant ride. We were about 8 feet up from the ground and on top of an elephant - who wouldn't make a face like Nic? About 30 minutes into the walk we came into a grassy meadow with at least 20 other elephants. To our surprise, there were 3 rhinos just kicking it, eating away at what was left of the tall grass. Cameras were flashing like crazy, people were making noise and there was a ton of chit chat, yet these rhinos didn't mind. We got lots of really cool photos with them - an NO, nobody got out of their elephant seats and walked around!

Once back at the resort, the sun was setting and made for an amazing sunset. Nic and I ran as fast as we could to get the million dollar picture but missed the sun over the horizon by two or three minutes. The photo we got is good but doesn't do what we saw justice.

On our final morning, our group went out on a canoe trip down the river and back to our village. As I mentioned before, crocodiles roam the waters yet are seldomly seen during the day. Coming off of a straight away section of the river and with a section of still water on one side, there it was - a salt water crocodile, a man eater, the big kahuna! It was poking its eyes out at us to see if we were tasty enough to take a run at. This time it wasn't the croc's day and it let us not only pass, but turn around and pass again with our cameras perched snapping away!! I've seen crocs before in Mexico but this was pretty cool knowing that this species of croc is one of the largest in the world!

So that's it for Chitwan. The trip was a ton of fun and our guide made for an awesome trip. I would recommend this part of Nepal to everyone who comes to this country as it's now marked as one of my favourite places travelled!!

Photos and Stories Update

I can't believe how much time has already passed since arriving here in Nepal. This entire week has been packed totally full with orientation at the volunteer house, familiarizing ourselves with the area around us and exploring more of the city as the group gets to know other volunteers on a much better level.

Our group here has been awesome - or should I say 'attiutum'! Nic and I have been taking tons of photos of our adventures which are all posted on PICASA (link below) but here are a few to show off some of the highlights from the past week or so:

On Tuesdaythe guys in the placement went to get fitted for durwall suari's the male equivalent of the Sari. It was really cool having them fit every inch of our body to get just the right fit. And talk about inexpensive! These things cost just NRS 2500 - about $40 CDN. This Friday we are all dressing up in our gear and heading out for a traditional night out in Thamel at a traditional restaurant nearbye.

Afterwards the group went to see Kathmandu Durbar Square. Kathmandu’s Durbar Square is one of three durbar (royal palace) squares in the Kathmandu Valley. It is the site of the Hanuman Dhoka Palace Complex, which was the royal Nepalese residence until the 19th century and where important ceremonies, such as the coronation of the Nepalese monarch, still take place today. The palace is decorated with elaborately-carved wooden windows, panels and houses and is an amazing place to see any time of the year. I however didn't go with the group as I has a sudden 24-hour sickness that got the better of me. I can happily say that all is good and that all cylinders are firing now!

So after taking a hiatus from activities with the group, I was back in action and went with the group to a very historic site on the outskirts of Kathmandu called Pushupatti. The Pashupainath Temple is the most important Hindu shrine for all Hindus in Nepal and also for many Hindus in India and rest of the world. Here families will take the body of the deceased and place them onto a concrete pillar located at specific points within the temple grounds. The location at which the body gets placed will reflect that person's rank within the society. If you're of royalty or government then your body gets placed up river on one side of a dividing bridge.

After visiting the temple, we made our way to Boudinath - the lsecond argest Boudah stupa in the world. We had lunch here and took lots of funny pictures!

Friday was a very full day. Not only was it the last day of our language training with our teacher Sharma G, it was our Amazing Race day and night out wih the volunteers wearing our new Saris & Durwall Suari. The race took us around the city with a three hour time limit. I was paired up with another housemate from Ontario and we took to the streets. First Challenge: hand feed your partner a bowl of dhaal bhat! I totally had to eat from her hand and basically inhale what was given to me. Not a bad start - we got out second.

So after bartering with locals, recording a video of speaking Nepalese with market sellers and making up a catchy song for other racers, Nadia and I finished last...boo! It was a lot of fun and a great way to see more of the city.

With our night out, everyone looked awesome! Nic especially looked amazing and even took the time to pose in a Charlie's Angel stance! You Rock Nic! The dinner was a traditional Nepalese tapa-style meal with authentic music, dancing and entertainment. It was a great was to finish off a week that was packed full of things to do.

This week everyone begins their placement. It should be a great week!!

Check out more photos online at: http://picasaweb.google.ca/home?hl=en&tab=wq

So Far in Nepal...

It's been 17 days here in Nepal so far and my photo collection has grown substantially. Don't worry, no photos from Dashain but here are some of my favourites from the past few weeks:

Our house... Nic and I are staying in a four-floor, updated group guest house with 10 other volunteers. It's pretty fun so far but there's only 1 other guy - hmmm...

Here is a view from the Monkey Temple, one of the highest landmarks in the city. The shot is part of Kathmandu, a much larger city then first anticipated!

The monkeys at the Temple are fierce - loud, in-your-face and love to steal shiny things. I saw a woman get her water bottle taken right from her hand when she wasn't paying attention and the monkey simply sauntered off chirping away...! When Nic and I run up here it's tough to watch everything that goes on around you since there's just so many of them. Hopefully they don't jump out of a tree and latch onto one of our backs for a ride!

So this is a local butcher shop. It's not dirty, it's FILTHY! They simply chop things up right on the street corners then put them into plastic bags and sell away. You can now see why I will ask many more questions as to where and how my meat has been prepared.

Only a few more... So I'm guessing the city was built for those no taller than 5'8. I'm a mere 6' even and walking through some of the alleyways and doorways the need to duck and cover comes into play. This was a shot of one of the very old buildings and I'm not joking when I say I'm almost a story tall! My head almost reaches the second floor window! Pretty cool being a giant out here... Dave... There's no way you would ever survive being 6'7 !!

SO after finally waiting as long as I possibly could for a haircut, I bit the bullet and paid a whole $1.25 CDN for a new doo. There was a big debate with which razor to use, either a #1 or a #5, and I finally said "just do what you want... it's just a haircut!"

After a few knocks to the noggin, a scary shave of the neck and some serious pulling of the scalp, this was my new doo... I am now wearing a hat!

Well, that's it from Nepal for now. Orientation starst today and we're heading out for an afternoon on the town.

Dashain - Nepal's main festival

I've never considered myself to be particularly interested in watching animal sacrifices but since I am here in Nepal and the festival going on this week embraces them, I thought I'd grin and bare it to see what the stir was all about.

During the month of Kartik in the Bikram Sambat calendar (late September and early October), the Nepalese people indulge in the biggest festival of the year, Dashain. Dashain is the longest and the most auspicious festival in the Nepalese annual calendar, celebrated by Nepalese of all caste and creed throughout the country. The fifteen days of celebration occurs during the bright lunar fortnight ending on the day of the full moon. Throughtout the kingdom of Nepal the goddess Durga in all her manifestations are worshiped with innumerable pujas, abundant offerings and thousands of animal sacrifices for the ritual holy bathing, thus drenching the goddess for days in blood.

Today I witnessed two water buffalo get sacrificed by having their heads taken off in one fell swoop from an ancient sword by a man decorated in Nepalese clothing. A very disturbing scene (no details required) and I can honestly say that this will be a once in a life time occurrence as I felt my stomach get VERY queasy! None-the-less, I did it, I saw their ritual and have witnessed a new culture's way of celebrating freedom and life.

One thing is for sure from this point on however... I want to know where and how my meat gets prepared before I sink my teeth into it. There is a very good chance now that I will ask more of these questions and will probably need to pay more for a higher quality cut!

Nepal - Week # 1

I left off from my last blog telling you that I was going on a rafting trip outside of the Kathmandu Valley. This turned out to be no regular trip...
The launch point for rafting is located about 110km's from the city of Thamel, Kathmandu's main area for people. The river we went down was called the Trishule and it's host to class 3+ rapids with some 4+'s along the way. After a few S-bends, steamrollers and large rocks known as Upsets (flipping your boat is a 50/50 chance) we finshed the first day off with a wicked car ride back to camp. We rode in an old Isuzu pickup truck with all our gear, 13 people and some wobbly back tires a whole 18km's back to where we were staying for the night along the highway at a local village. My buddy and I had to sit on the roof of the truck as there were no seats inside the cab or in the bed of the truck, just on the steel cage welded to the box. The kid sitting next to us brought out his MP3 cell phone and started playing some James Blunt then some Bryan Adams and we began belting out the lyrics as we sped down the highway!

Speaking of the highway, this isn't like hwy 1 in Vancouver, nor is this like a fire access road up to Cypress Mountain - imagine the road to be similar to the old Sea-to-Sky highway but sharper corners, potholes the size of storm drains and nothing but dirt, all the while being no less than a 500 foot sheer drop if you fall off the edge! So with the music we tried to put that out of our minds and be at ease...

The family we stayed with cooked dinner and breakfast for the 3 of us as well, made up out tents beside the river for the night. A few bottles of beers later and off to bed. Day 2 of rafting took us down the same river but since it rained the night before, the water was heavier and faster! Each section we hit the day before was twice as big today making for a really fun ride. After the raft, we were about 125km's from Kathmandu and needed to get back to the city to the hostel. Back onto the sketchy road and off for another adventure.

As the busses in Nepal are hop on hop off, we waited on the side of the highway for one that could fit the three of us, out guides and their gear. About 30 minutes later we got one and were on our way. Fast forwarding to the people on the bus and the drive itself... If a 10/10 for scariest driving experiences meant that you crashed and were dead, this bus ride was about a 9.5/10 ! In this country their roads are like raceways - very little rules and a horn honking system that lets the car/truck in front of you know that you're passing. The bus that we were in (and all cars for that matter) pass at every possible chance they get. Up hill, on blind corners, on the tail of another truck trying to pass already, nothing stops these drivers. There were many times we had to slam on the brakes because we were about to have a head on collision or were about to take a corner too fast and go straight through the barrier, but luckily we didn't and I'm home in one peice.

So besides that driving, a drunk teenager picking as many fights as possible with those on our bus, a woman that seriously was on the verge of death and indian music that was being played at the stereo's loudest setting, the ride was one to remember to say the least.

This week my friends Ryan and Shauna have started their placement at their volunteer centre so I have the week off to explore local hikes and check out what Nepal has to offer. I've checked into my guest house where Nicole and I will be staying for the next 2 months and so far it seems like a 5 star hotel compared to what I've been living in the past 2 weeks.

Before I forget, I just wanted to throw in a tid bit about a local bar in Thamel called the "Rumdoodle." It's famous for climbers to plan out their expedition when choosing to summit Everest and has been around since the Nepalese sherpa Tenzing Norgay summited in 1953. Inside the bar is a picture, framed for longevity, with signatures of all those who have summitted the highest peak in the world. It was kind of cool seeing this as that's a part of climbing history, something that very few people get to see first hand.... That's all !

Beijing Trip

Sorry for the delay in blogs... it's been a wild past few days!

Beijing – September 13th to September 15th, 2009

After a long haul flight from Vancouver to Beijing (with stopover in Hong Kong) I made it to the big smoke! Having slept for a good portion of the flight I didn’t feel any jet lag, nor did I feel sluggish when starting my day. This was awesome because I only had 72 hours to check out the city. The Beijing Airport is huge and fairly simple to navigate through as most of the signs have english written underneath the Chinese. Once I picked up my bag my hostel driver, Bruce, picked me up and I got the day started.

After checking into the Downtown Beijing Backpacker’s Hostel, I attempted to hop onto the subway and head for the Olympic sites in the North of the city. 3 trains later and about a 45 minute walk to and from my hostel, I got to the Birds Nest and the rest of the sites.

With Vancouver hosting the 2010 Games, I thought this was cool to see how another country set up their Olympic Village and compare that to ours when they are all finished. Inside the Birds Nest is the track for running, it was also host to the opening and closing ceremonies. This place was really cool! Everything was clean, the stadium was shaped in such a way that no seats were bad seats and as well, the sound system pumping music was better than that of GM Place! After the Birds Nest, I walked around checking out the memorabilia from the Games and how they’ve kept the legacy of what happened. The coolest spot I found was the Wall of Fame, which had photos of every podium medal winners from the entire Games. Of course I had to check out those that I knew – so big ups to the Canada’s Men’s 8 Rowing Team and Ben Rutledge! Out for an authentic dinner around the corner from the hostel and straight to bed – I’m hiking to Wall tomorrow!

6:30am rolls around quickly when you’re anxious to get going on something… I was meeting my driver to go to the Great Wall and specifically, the section from Jinshangling to Simatai, about 4 hours from Beijing. About 3.5 hours into the drive traffic came to a complete hault. There was an accident. Not too uncommon on these roads as drivers are total maniacs and have no care or attention to the rules of the road! So after an hour delay (and hearing that the accident was a 5-car pile-up with some that didn’t walk away) we made it to our destination. I was in complete awe of this Wall. Having heard stories of the section we were hiking, I wanted to get going so I could experience it first hand and see how technical it actually was.

SO after almost 4 hours of hiking, our 8.5 km section was almost finished. There are two options when you get to the finish: 1. Hike around the lake and down the mountain into the parking lot OR 2. Look the lake straight in the face and say, “Not today buddy… you’re mine!” and take the zip line across, suspended about 300 feet in the air to the other side.

What a trip. It’s toughted as one of the seven wonder’s of the ancient world and I can see why. It’s technical, historic, beautiful and will simply take your breath away when you see it.
Being completely knackered from the hike, I fell asleep in my hostel and slept from about 7pm onwards until 7am the next day!

My final day in Beijing was more touristy than anything. I went to the Forbidden City (very cool), Jinshangling Park to see the temples, locals dancing and how the Chinese spend a typical Monday morning in the park, then finished with a walk-through of Old Beijing where you really get a feel for how life was way back in the day with bartering markets, tiny ally ways and local cuisines like you couldn’t imagine.

So that was it for Beijing. I came, I saw, I conquered! It was a great puddle jump trip through an amazing city and I got to see everything that I had intended on seeing in such a short time. I would go back for sure but I would skip Beijing – I would like to see other places like Xain (Terracotta Warriors), Hangxiou (National Wldlife Sanctuary) or Shanghai.
I’m now in Nepal and have been checking out the busy street for the past few days with some friends from Vancouver. It’s really nice to have them around as a friendly face and someone to have a second opinion on what local foods to have for lunch.

Next posting... our rafting trip down the Trichule River.