Nepal Trek 2009 - May 6, Lukla to Phakding

At last, the day of departure arrived and we loaded all our gear and ourselves into a bus for the ride to the airport. Once we got there it was sheer chaos as the porters all wanted to grab our gear for the transfer into the terminal. Everyone wants a tip - the outside porters and the inside porters.

Even though Babu Sherpa had organized everything, we were still hit up for tips by everyone and his brother.



After getting our boarding passes, we went through a security screening where the guys went in one line and the ladies in another. It's very different from TSA procedures - a bit of questioning, a thorough search of carry on, a pat down. However, they don't care about you carrying on a water bottle that's full. Duct tape, however, is a no-no. We had some last-second reorganization to do. . .

The planes that fly to Lukla are small turboprops that seat about 16 passengers. There are weight limitations on gear and it's a pretty wild ride. It seems so strange to just be standing around the plane, waiting for the previous passengers to disembark and for the transfer of gear and supplies. I have other pics posted - you'll have to follow the link to my "Lukla to Phakding" album to see them.




Eggs that were loaded onto the plane - for us to eat during the trek? Maybe they were heading to Lukla to be used in one of the tea houses.














This is our sardine can, I mean airplane. There were no restrictions on using electronic devices and you had to put your gear on your lap. I think you can discern that it was pretty cozy in there, not to mention very LOUD! The flight attendant passed a basket with cotton balls that you were to put into your ears. I had some of my shop earplugs to wear - 90 db reduction in noise, and it was still LOUD!





I had a window seat right under the wing. I had to crouch down to see anything on the horizon, but I was rewarded with my first glimpse of Mount Everest shortly before we landed in Lukla. Everest is the tallest peak there on the right, flanked by Lhotse and Nuptse. These would become familiar friends during our trek.








This was the sight that greeted us upon arrival at the Lukla airport. It's hard to describe the arrival except to say it's quite an experience.









Here's a link to a YouTube video that shows the landing and take-off of four different planes within the span of four minutes. The runway is uphill and very short. It takes about 10 seconds to travel the distance of the runway before the plane makes a sharp right turn. Once you're there you have to get off the plane and your gear is unloaded very quickly so the next group can load up and take off.

As soon as we got through the airport terminal, our trek was underway. We walked through the first part of the village, regrouped at a guest house for tea while the Sherpa staff was being organized, and then we headed up the trail toward the Solukhumbu region and Sagarmatha National Park.




The first lesson I learned about trekking is to watch your step! This is yak dung and you'll find it everywhere - especially on the easiest track up or down a steep slope. Sometimes it's accompanied by horse dung.










Lukla is stretched out along the trail for quite a ways. Near the airport you'll find all the tourist shops. As you get farther away from the airport you start to encounter village life at a less frantic pace.






The lower elevations of this trail are where you'll find the agricultural regions. It's beautiful. The whole region is breathtakingly stunning. I couldn't absorb it all, there was just so much to see.




The one constant throughout the trek, aside from yak dung on the trail, was the heavy traffic of porters, yak caravans, trekkers, and locals walking. Porters have to be amongst the hardest working and strongest people in the world. I'm totally amazed at the loads they carried. The T-shaped walking sticks are used for balance and for resting the packs on while they take a break.

Yaks wear bells that became our ambient sound while trekking.




The path is sprinkled with stupas, prayer wheels, mounds of prayer stones, and prayer wheels. These are sacred sites and you should always pass them in a clockwise direction, so passing the site on the left (with the item to your right) is the correct way to proceed.





Prayer wheels are inscribed with prayers and are spun in a clockwise direction.









Some of them are very colorful and some have a chime or bell that rings as the wheel completes a turn. This is Pasang Sherpa, one of our trail sherpas, showing me how to properly spin a prayer wheel. There's usually a handle at the base that can be used for leverage.











I spent a lot of time taking photographs of plants along the trail - this is wild strawberry.














Primroses were a pretty constant companion, even up into the alpine zone. I read somewhere that there are 48 species of primrose in the Solukhumbu region.












Our first major break of the day was at lunchtime. Our kitchen staff arrived to a tea house early and prepared our lunch. Trail sherpas and kitchen staff worked together to serve out the food.

From day one of the trek it became obvious that we were in good hands. Mountain Tribes was our trekking outfitters and the staff they provided was absolutely amazing.





Lunch was a refreshing break, but we still had another three or four hours of walking ahead of us to our evening stop.

I got a kick out of the juxtaposition of traditional Sherpa buildings with the satellite dish there in the background.






This particular porter's pack had Steve's and my duffel bags. I felt sorry for the guy who was carrying this load. Our duffels collectively weighed about 100 lbs at the beginning of the trek. We had packed a lot of energy bars, cough drops, and other food stuff for later in the trek when we knew we would lose our appetites.











This was one of many suspension bridges we crossed over the next two weeks. Some were long and high above the river, very windy with lots of motion.









Clouds started to gather over the valley in the late afternoon and, eventually, we were in the rain just before we finished walking for the day.






Our rest stops were usually where we collected everyone together again. Our lead trail sherpa was Tendi Sherpa. He carried a backpack with an orange rain fly and you were not to get in front of him.

We had another couple of staff members walking in the middle and Pasang Sherpa usually was the one at the back to make sure no one was left behind. The first couple of days we stayed together pretty well, but after that we usually had a fast group, a middle group, and the "slow" group. That usually included me since I was stopping to take pictures of plants along the way. A couple of days it included me because I was ill and was having a very difficult time with an upper respiratory infection in thin air (I'm still trying to get over it three weeks after the end of the trek).



We followed the Khumbu river all the way to its source, the Khumbu glacier. The pictures from the higher reaches show an awesome landscape and I'm looking forward to sharing those pictures on my blog.






Our first campsite was at a tea house in Phakding. I think you can tell from the faces of some of my fellow trekkers that the first day's walk was a bit tiring. However, it's worth noting that we had a net loss of elevation from Lukla and the next day's trekking would include a climb of about 3,000 feet - all in one hill up to Namche Bazar. That will be my next post to the blog.

More pics from this day can be found by following this link to my "Lukla to Phakding" album.

Spoke in Wood Exhibit

Brief interruption to the Nepal and China posts. Yesterday was the opening of the Spoke in Wood Exhibit at the Mansfield Art Center. Eight of my pieces are included in the exhibit along with the work of Dorothy Gill Barnes, Norbert and Victoria Koehn, Craig Vandall Stevens, Stephan Goetschius, James Mellick, William Schmidt, John Pearson, and Daniel Grantham.

This is one of my pieces, "When I let go of what I am, I can become what I might be." - Lao Tzu, No. 4, made from redwood burl. It's 4.5 inches in diameter.


This is called, "Parturition," made from red resin tree burl; 3.25 X 4 inches.

You can see seven of my eight pieces by clicking on this link.

Photos from the opening reception can be viewed on this link.

More information on the exhibit as well as inquiries on purchases can be done through the Mansfield Art Center director via this link.

I thought it would be worth putting the curator's statement from Tim Gorka here for you to read. Tim is a very talented artist who works in multiple media, but spends his days carving carousel figures. (I have a future blog post on my visit to the carousel factory in Mansfield - I'm so far behind, it's scary!) When he contacted me last summer to ask if I would participate, I was intrigued and interested. When he asked me for eight pieces I just about panicked, knowing how slow my production rate is given my other activities. However, I really wanted to be part of this exhibit and I think you'll understand why from his exhibit statement:

A conversation with the aspiring wood artist will often begin with the question "Why wood?" By examining our reasons for selecting wood as a medium of expression, we are forced to more carefully consider its attributes, as well as its limitations Hopefully we will not just recognize the obvious physical advantages of the material. It is also warm and beautiful, abundant and economic. The amazing variety of color, strength, and texture make each species uniquely adaptable both physically and aesthetically. Nor should our appreciation be based solely on the ease by which wood is converted to our desired ends using the simplest of tools in both reductive and constructive processes. It is my hope that through this exhibition we will consider the cultural and romantic relationship that we have with the material, and the metaphorical comfort that it provides. To paraphrase anthropologist Harvey Green from his amazing book Wood: "Even as the wood is shaped and transformed, it in turn can serve to transform our own human activities, our forms of communication and our spaces into areas of greater meaning than the components of their construction."

It is the actions of the Artist that imbue the object and hence the material with meaning, but in some ways the relationship is reciprocal; even as the wood is being shaped, its origin as a tree is revealed. It is perhaps the kinship we feel with trees that gives the material the power of its own voice in the meaning of the created object. Trees are somewhat anthropomorphic. They are upright, with limbs; they move and breath. They too are subject to the cycles and seasons as times of growth, times of activity and abundant reward, and times of rest. Trees define the wilderness. The are the wild, a place we have both fled from and attempted to subdue, and at the same time continue to revere. Wood remains the touch-point to our origins in the wild. Just as the sandalwood perfumes the axe which fells it, so too the voice of the wood does not go unheard in the song of the Artist who selects it as medium of expression. I hope that you will enjoy exploring the amazingly diverse dialog in which these ten Artists engage us. Each one is masterfulluy articulate in their medium of expression. Each work of art is a conversation, spoke in wood. - Tim Gorka

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 5, Part 2 - Pashupatinath

After visiting the Buddhist temple we went to a Hindu temple. I had no ideas about what to expect there and so I was in for a few surprises. I don't know much about the Hindu religion except that only people born into it can practice it. There are numerous deities, but I don't know anything about them.

The temple sits along a small river that feeds into the Ganges. Thus, cremations take place here and the ashes are scattered into the river to flow downstream to the Ganges.




I noticed from sign in the background that there is a cornea recovery center right on the site. I guess that means families can donate corneas prior to cremation. I wonder if there is a screening process for viral diseases, too? I suspect there is a higher incidence of rabies in Nepal as compared to the USA, and there have been cases where rabies has been transferred via a cornea transplant. Just curious.











I only noticed men at the cremations themselves although there were many women throughout the temple.









It seemed like a social gathering - very casual. No scenes of grief, but that makes sense because death is just one stage of the cycle.








There was a corpse being prepared upstream from the cremation platforms. There were women in attendance here.










The body was wrapped in silk and adorned with flowers.










This is a view of the main part of the temple. There was a party taking place on the patio area above where the body lay.













The other interesting surprise at this temple was the occurrence of "holy men" in residence. Our tour guide explained that these were men who gave up their worldly possessions to pray all day.

It seemed to me that they more closely resembled homeless vagrants. We were allowed to photograph them for a small donation. With all the tourists visiting, it seemed to me that they spent all their time posing for photographs. Hmmmm.









They were rather photogenic, though. Dreadlocks, loincloths, painted bodies - who could ask for more?















I did notice that they had mirrors tucked away in their bags for making sure their make-up was fresh.















There must be some significance to the color and patterns used, but, again, I'm clueless here.
















There were beggars dotting the paths as well.











This was a beggar of a different sort - one of the roving vendors. "But you promised me you'd buy something on your way out."


One of these ladies must have been well educated because we exchanged greetings in several different languages. Afrikaans threw her for a loop, though.


More pictures from this temple visit and from our interesting dinner that evening are posted here: Link to rest of photos.

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 5, Part 1 - Swayambhunath

Our second day in Kathmandu was for sight-seeing and photo opportunities. We took a bus from our hotel in Thamel to Swayambhunath (The Monkey Temple) and then to Pashupatinath. The first one is primarily a Buddhist site, but there are Hindu shrines there as well. The second one is a Hindu Temple.

First, though was a drive through the streets of Kathmandu - avoiding any protest areas. The government was in complete disarray when we arrived in Nepal.

The shop fronts are colorful and full of advertisements for soft drink companies - Pepsi and Coca Cola products for the most part.





This is why Swayambhunath has the nickname, "The Monkey Temple." They're all over the grounds.











A small shrine to Buddha


















Shopkeepers like to keep up with the daily news when business is slow.














This is Jon Miller's friend, Kumar, who has been featured in The Rest of Everest podcast. Our trip will be featured in a future season of the podcast.

Kumar gave some of the group a tour of the grounds, including the monastery. Unfortunately, I missed out on that part of the tour. I was distracted by a photo-op and when I finished, the group had disappeared. I'll have to watch the podcast to see what I missed.









One of many, many statues of Buddha at Swayambhunath.













Steve bought a small prayer stone with the Om mani padme hum mantra inscribed in Tibetan script.












The eyes of Buddha on this very large stupa are very impressive.














Prayer wheels. These are all around the stupa and you're supposed to do a Kora in clockwise direction, spinning the wheels as you go. Everytime the wheel spins, prayers are sent up to -- I'm not sure where.




Prayer flags are more than colorful decorations. They are inscribed with prayers and the different colors represent the different Buddhas and elements. Once hung, they are to be left alone until they decay away.

These were aesthetically pleasing as well as comforting to contemplate, but they sure felt more at home up in the Himalayas.






Yes, the monkey temple seems an apt name for this place.

I posted more pictures from this temple here.

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 4, Thamel (Kathmandu)

Our first full day in Kathmandu was for exploring the tourist district, Thamel. Our hotel was on the south side of this area, which gave us plenty of opportunities for walking around to check out the shops and people. It also gave us an opportunity to work on street photography skills.

This was one of my favorite images from the day - a fruit juice/smoothie stand. It looked very tempting, but a westerner arriving should not sample these until the lower GI tract adapts to the local fauna.





Rickshaws were everywhere and you couldn't walk down the street without offers flying every which way from rickshaw drivers, taxi drivers, hashish sellers, and the like.







This mode of transport seems out of place in Thamel, but it's definitely what you'll see on the trail in the Solokhumbu region.










This was my photo for the day's workshop/critique.









Sunset from the roof of our hotel. Looking in this direction one can see several landmarks, including the "Monkey Temple," or, more correctly, Swayambhunath.

I've posted an album of the day's photos on Facebook. You can visit the album by following this link.

Nepal Trek 2009 - May 1 - 3

Instead of posting a bunch of pics to the blog, I'm going to try to link an album. This is just a preview pic of the Arctic Ocean. We flew from New York to Hong Kong over the northern route.

Steve and I flew to New York on May 1st, spent the night at a hotel near the airport and went to JFK early the next morning to catch our flight to Hong Kong. Kyle Anderson, Megan Sarge and John Coleman met us at JFK to take the same flight to Hong Kong.

Once were arrived in Hong Kong, Jon Miller, the podcaster for "The Rest of Everest" and co-organizer of the trek met us there. We took a flight to Kathmandu together and arrived at night to a huge blaze of flashbulbs and video cameras. The German members of our team had arrived before us and were waiting to do the paparazzi thing.

The trip was pretty long - more than 30 hours of transit time - probably closer to 36, but it didn't seem too bad. Cathay Pacific has a pretty comfortable flight to Hong Kong. The seats don't lean back, but recline by sliding down. Thus, you don't have to worry about leaning into the passenger behind and your knees don't get crushed by the passenger in front. The individual entertainment systems are also great and you can watch a wide variety of films. I saw some movies I hadn't had a chance to see in the theaters, and that made the time go by pretty quickly.

So, here's a link to the other photos on Facebook (you can access if you're already a member of FB, or it may let you view even if you're not a member - try it): Nepal trip May 1 - 3 photos

Please leave me a comment to let me know if this link works for you. If this isn't working, I'll go back to my usual posting of pics on the blog. Thanks for the feedback.