Nepal. 8 April

I woke at 5, but was cold and didn't want to get out of bed. So I listened to music for an hour. I was getting up when Kagi knocked on my door to say it was nice out. So I hurries and sure enough it was amazing. I snapped another roll of the monastery and mountains, but this time in good light. I stopped by the visitor center and bought yet another shawl, this time for Christi. I also picked up a postcard of a ceremony inside the gompa, because I'm worried it was too dark for mine to turn out. Besides, there was no ceremony when I was there.

After breakfast we left at 8 to the now common "We go now James. Slowly…very slowly." Which really means we alt at a moderate to brisk pace then stop somewhere for too long. It is in this manner that we play one of the trail games, leapfrog--we pass people and yaks going our way, then they pass us while we rest (for too long).

Another of the trail games is chicken--where your opponent is oncoming yaks. We always lose at the last second. (I was corrected btw by another guide. Dzopyik's can go to any altitude. Yaks can't go below 10k, but due to the temp, not the air.)

Finally the third game I'll call "The Perry Pass." If you're on a one lane trail and get stuck behind yaks going the same way, you're stuck. But every so often, you get 1 1/2 lanes, but only for a few meters before it narrows again. So you have to book around them, clear the horns coming up your tail, and get back on the trail before you run out of room. It is much like I would expect Matthew Perry to be like passing a car on a one lane highway with oncoming traffic much too close. This little maneuver also winds you having to sprint at 12k ft. But I digress.

We stopped for lunch for so long everyone passed us. We waited so long, we never caught up with anyone except one old Japanese man close to our destination. Bad day for leapfrog.

Nonetheless it was an easier day than yesterday. I did have s slight headache that ibuprofen took care of. Hopefully it doesn't get worse tonight,

We're at another 100 R lodge, but the rooms are nicer. Unfortunately the lodge isn't. It's cold up here, and they don't start the stove until the evening. As it turns out the yak dung fueled stove only heats the one foot perimeter around it. If there's one thing the lodges on this trek need, it's insulation. Two would of course be real toilets--even porta-potties would be a step up.

I've had quite some time to kill since we've been here so long. This time I brought more stuff to entertain myself in the lodge, but as mentioned before, it was cold, so I quickly got tired of my books.

I did watch the Sherpas play cards for a while. They were playing Spades (they called it Rummy though). I was able to follow mostly (all the trump games are basically the same), but it did look like there was some bidding going on after dealing, which I couldn't follow. I asked Kagi later, but this was one of the few times we weren't able to communicate effectively with one another. Anyway, again most of them weren't very good.

There was also a group of 6 French in the lodge. SO at this point there were 13 people. 6 speaking French, 6 Nepalise, and me understanding none of it. After complaining earlier in the day about how crowded it was, there are enough lodges that none of my acquaintances are at mine. Not the Kiwis, Swedes, Canadians, or the German girl (she headed back to Namche). To quote an Apple ad, "It's kind of…a bummer."

I just stepped outside and stargazed. It was too cold to stay out. It's been too cloudy or I've been asleep too soon to see them. It's a shame because places like this or Wyoming--the sky is more white with stars than it is dark.

April--various days, things I'd left out.

I lost my good Oakley sunglasses in Namche. I guess it's karma--I had found a similar pair at the wine tasting.

My dinner at Tengboche caused quite a stir. I had the cheese sandwich. I couldn't tell if it was yak cheese because there was also onion and mustard, and that was all you could taster. More important was its shape. It had been pressed into two triangle wedges a la George Foreman Grill or some such thing. At least 3 people ordered the same after seeing mine.

I order garlic soup ate Dingboche after about 3 spoonfuls, I was done. I AM done with garlic soup. Even if it is supposed to be good for altitude.

The small prayer wheels (~1 ft high) have prayer books in them--the same ones the monks chant from. The tall one (8-10 ft) have thousand of them. Every turn of the wheel is like saying the prayer. So turning a large one is like saying a million prayers.

The large mani stone are "relatively" new. The smaller main tablets can be 600 yrs old. The large prayer wheel next to my lodge at Tengboche is 2500 yrs old.

Kagi had 4 children 3 mos-9 yrs. He guides so much he doesn't see them very much. He didn't seem too upset about this. (Nor too happy though). Sometimes in the morning he sings.

The Namche people (maybe even the whole area) are considered wealthy due to the profits they've made off of trekkers. As a result more kids are able to stay in school longer without having to quit to work. Also, the cooks and other help are rarely the owners of even from Khumbu. They hire them for cheap from other parts of Nepal. It's a bit like us hiring Mexicans and Salvadoreans in our restaurant kitchens.

There is an aversion to paper. No napkins. And Obviously no TP.

I had OJ today from a can. It tasted like no OJ I've ever had, maybe more like tangerine juice. Also stated on the can "40% juice."

I saw tahr today. This was the second time but I didn't have my camera out, and they were too far away anyway. Kagi didn't even see them and kept calling them yaks--which were next to the tahr (mtn goats). Another guide however confirmed. Kagi's nice and helpful, but this was another incident that makes me think I'm with the wrong guide.

I haven't had any blisters, but I have warded off some with duct tape. I haven't had problems sleeping, which I hear some people are having. And I haven't had an intestinal problems, although I do get nervous every time my stomach gurgles. Knock on wood.

Ama Dablam means Mother Double Mountain. Again, learned from someone else's guide.

The Canadians said trekking through Peru is great and "luxury" compared to this.

I've met quite a few nationalities including a Hungarian and a half French Half Portuguese. I'm met no Spanish speakers though.