Hello Again! and some photos from my village

My next door neighbor working on some bikes.

My homestay pops stretching it out in front of our house.

Massacre at the Palace!

No, not again, but here's a great history about the Nepali Royalty.

Click HERE

Nepal Elects a Prime Minister and Continues to have Political Gridlock

From the NY Times, "Nepal's bitterly divided legislature elected a new prime minister on Thursday, ending a stalemate that had paralyzed the country for months as competing political parties fought to control the government in this strategically located Himalayan nation. The new prime minister, Jhalanath Khanal, immediately called upon Nepal’s rival political parties to support his administration and work together in finishing a new constitution expected to restructure the national government."

See the full article here.

And a follow up article by the Times: HERE

"“We Nepalis, we grew up with political movements,” he explained over a cup of coffee. He had came of age amid student politics, was even jailed in 1990 for his activism. “Despite all our movements, we still haven’t been able to have the kind of change our hearts are set on,” he said. “I think that’s why we feel so happy when we see change taking place elsewhere.”
The May deadline set for finishing our new constitution is less than 100 days away, but the document remains in rough draft. The will to complete it — among the democratic political parties and the Maoists, as well as in India — appears to be wholly lacking."

A Ride Through Shivapuri Park: An Urban Forest

With a free day and a lot of energy I rode my bicycle north out of Kathmandu and made my way uphill to Shivapuri Park.  After grinding slowly up the side of Kathmandu Valley through varying urban neighborhoods the road suddenly ended at a gate guarded by frisky army soldiers.  Behind me was all of Kathmandu and in front a lush and green forest plopped right at the edge of the city.  Shivapuri is a ~20 square km forest preserve within a stone's throw of Kathmandu.  After drinking some tea and de-sweatifying myself I made friends with a hard rocking Nepali guy and we embarked on a fun, if mildly unsafe, ride through the forest.

'Morrison' (his adopted name coming from Jim Morrison) putting on his game face.

The Megadeath poster is on the other wall.

A Buddhist monastery in the middle of the forest complete with a hazy view  of Kathmandu.

Monks' slippers left at the door. We arrived just in time to hear midday chanting.

A row of prayer flags outside the monastery.

A Trek in the Khumbu

Mt. Everest (8848 meters) as seen from Kala Patthar (5545 meters).

I just returned from a superb two weeks of trekking in the Everest region. We stayed in cozy teahouses at night and wandered on trails during the day. The map below roughly shows our route.

Our trip started with a harrowing airplane flight to Lukla. Lukla airport (Tenzing-Hilary Airport) was built out of potato fields by Sir Edmund Hillary. The runway has a 12% grade, starts at a steep cliff, ends at a stone wall, and is aptly classified as a Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) airport. The plane at the bottom left corner of the following photograph was out of commission because it bumped into the runway wall during landing.

Although we were in the Solukhumbu region during the low tourist season there were still plenty of trekkers, porters, and yaks carrying loads up and down the mountain. Porters legally cannot carry more than 30 kilograms but it was common to see porters with loads well exceeding 100 kilograms (more than 220 pounds).

All along the trail we were greeted by stones carved with Buddhist scripts, temples, and prayer flags and ceremonial scarves draped just about everywhere.

Fuel sources are extremely limited in this area and over recent decades forests have been unsustainably harvested in order to heat homes, boil water, and cook food. The wood shortage is especially acute at high altitudes. The government is encouraging, and in some places legislating, the use of imported gas. There are other solar powered products that are making a difference.

A tree-planting nursery.

Our view from Namche Bazaar (3440 meters) on our second day.

Yak! Seen above Macherma (4465). There are actually many kinds of beasts of burden up here. A 'nak' is a female yak. So, in fact, 'yak cheese' is a misnomer.

Gokyo (4750 meters).

Porters and guides warming up by a yak dung fire.  Yak dung is the most poopular heating source for the large iron stoves in the guesthouses.  Yak dung, which is quite expensive, is collected from all over the mountains. 

The view from Gokyo Ri (5357 meters).

Going up and over Cho la pass (5420 meters). We had some trouble finding the trail.

From Everest Base Camp (5360 meters). Everest is not visible from Base Camp. The mountain seen here is Nuptse (7861 meters).

'Hi, Mom!' from Everest Base Camp.

The recently installed Ncell mobile phone tower in Gorak Shep (5164 meters) that made calls possible.

The small village of Dingboche (4530 meters) with Mt. Ama Dablam (6812 meters) visible in the background.

Musk deer grazing on the hillsides near Namche Bazaar.

We had really clear weather except for the last day. Although we were at altitude during the winter, as a result of the monsoon patterns coming from India there is more precipitation during the summer months. So, there is actually less snow around and on Everest during the winter.

The view from the Dornier 228 aircraft after a safe take off from Lukla airport.

Simon just north of Gokyo.

Alban and Simon standing on Kalla Patthar with Everest in the background.

Happy New Year!

Here are some photos from the past few weeks. I'm off trekking until the end of January so check back then for some mountain shots!
Happy New Year!

Near Ratna Park bus stop.

Farm fields east of Kathmandu.

Prayer flags at Namobuddha.

Namobuddha.