Himalayan Housesitter

(House)sitting at the top of the world.

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Walking to Everest Basecamp

Some clips from the walk to EBC, September 2013. I was starting to feel the altitude towards the end.

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Nepal Himalaya – Everest Base Camp

I wasn't planning to go to Everest Base Camp but I met some good folks on the trail and had time so I joined them. And I'm glad I did because the views were off the charts and we had some good laughs. This album is from that part of the trip.

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Nepal Himalaya – People

Some of the Nepali people I met on my walk through the Nepal Himalaya.

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Lukla Airport Take-offs and Landings

Some clips of takeoffs and landings from inside and outside the plane

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Nepal Himalaya – On the Trail (Pt 3)

Photos from a three week walk in the Nepal Himalaya. Here is a selection from the trail. The third of three parts.

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Nepal Himalaya – On the Trail (Pt 2)

Photos from a three week walk in the Nepal Himalaya. Here is a selection from the trail. The second of three parts.

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Nepal Himalaya – On the Trail (Pt 1)

Photos from a three week walk in the Nepal Himalaya. Here is a selection from the trail. The first of three parts.

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Himalayan Plans & Island Peak

Since I arrived in Nepal over a month ago I've seen what an Ontario flatlander like myself would call mountains around the Kathmandu valley. Tomorrow, however, I head off to see what Nepalis call mountains.

The trip starts with a flight into Lukla, the most dangerous airport in the world. If I survive that I'll begin the trek north towards Namche Bazaar and then into the Everest region. My final destination on the first leg of the trip is Chukkung but on the way I'll stop to stare at Ama Dablam.

Ama Dablam is one of the most beautiful mountains I've ever seen. It's not the tallest (almost a full 2 vertical kilometres smaller than Everest) but it makes up for it in sheer beauty. I don't know why I haven't been able to get this mountain off my mind but I hope to find out by standing in front of it.

I'll also be climbing a mountain, Island Peak – that's the second leg. This definitely wasn't in the original plans (as I have absolutely no mountaineering experience) but when someone mentioned flatlanders like me can climb Island Peak I took the opportunity.

Island Peak was named for it's position, a lone peak in a sea of glaciers. It's often called a "trekking peak" which is a little disingenuous, I think, as I've seen the pictures and at 6200m it looks like a proper mountain to me.

Both Island Peak and Ama Dablam are neighbours to Everest so I'll do the 3-day roundtrip to basecamp and then make my way to Gokyo via the Cho La pass. (Gokyo is where most of the Everest panoramas being sold in shops were taken so the views are apparently stupendous). From Gokyo I'll make my way back to Lukla and then Kathmandu.

The plan is rough and I have time to go on side trips and follow interesting leads. Carroll and Tom have given me the names and numbers to their sherpa friends in the area so I'll pop in and say 'hi' and see where those meetings go. Total length of the trip, between 20-25 days.

See you all soon!

(Photos: me and packing cat, gear, gear in bag, maps, Ama Dablam, Island Peak)

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Update – September 6, 2013

It's been a while since my last update but lots has happened. A visit to the world's largest stupa in Boudha, the planning for a trip into the high mountains, and an earthquake.

The largest stupa in Boudha was quite the sight. Off the main road, nestled into the blocks and shops of town, you follow series of narrow alleyways leading to it which only make it's impact more striking. The area around it is surrounded by merchants, restaurants, and cafés, many of which have 3rd floor patios which are worth heading to for the view. (The top photo was taken from a cafe.)

The Himalayan trip is an exercise in keeping realistic expectations. There's so much to see and do that it's easy to over commit and forget everything that can send a plan sideways – weather, infrastructure, getting sick. One place that is in every one of my plans is Ama Dablam so that puts me in the Everest region. Hopefully there's enough time for a trip to the Annapurna region afterwards because that area was stage to many mountaineering stories as well.

Finally the earthquake. Seismologists have warned that another big earthquake will hit Nepal any day. People are quite concerned because the infrastructure is bad and the country is landlocked so help would be a long time coming (the government advises to stock 6wks of food). Last week's was a 4.9 and very short so there was little damage. If anything it was a good thing, reminding people to go over their kits/plans and releasing some of the tension in the earth.

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Kitten Rehab

Every good rehabilitation program has a physical component.

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Hattiban Mountain Biking

Went mountain biking in Hattiban today. There are several big hills surrounding the Kathmandu valley and Hattiban is one of them (Shiva Puri, Nagarjun, and Nagarkot are the others). There are mountain biking courses on most of them including Hattiban.

There were 4 of us riding and and we couldn't fit all the bikes, people, and gear into one car so we hired a cab to take us.

This guy was a crazy taxi. The city driving was expectedly crazy but it was in the hills where he shone. Flying up the winding roads, bouncing the engine off the rev limiter, laughing the whole way up; there was barely a moment when there wasn't smoke coming from somewhere on the car. When we finally got to the end of the road and waiting for the second vehicle to arrive (it never made it) I discovered this cab was 35 years old and had 475,000km on an 0.8L engine – half the size of a Honda Civic and only 50cc bigger than my motorcycle. We walked down to unload the second car and started hiking up the track.

The forest was beautiful. It had no undergrowth, only big pine trees and grass and looked so soft it made you sleepy. The grass seemed to absorb the sound so it had an eerie quiet to it, like after a snowfall in the winter. It seemed strange that a forest wouldn't have any brush until we noticed the trees were burnt and a fire must have cleared everything but these huge pines. I'd never been in a place like it.

We rode around for a few hours, got another couple flat tires, and made our way back. It took us an hour to get down.

When I got home and into the shower I discovered I'd taken a few leeches home with me, a couple of us did.

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Mountain Biking in Chobar

Some photos from our mountain bike ride in Chobar. Beautiful sunsets and close to the city, this is a popular place at the end of the day.

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From the back of a motorbike through the calmer streets of Kathmandu going to buy some breakfast supplies this morning.

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A short video of a mountain bike ride south of Kathmandu in Chobar. A little rain gave way gave way to a great sunset – well worth the sog and mud.

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Birthday in Bhaktapur – Pt 2

More photos from Bhaktapur and Gai Jatra.

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Birthday in Bhaktapur, Pt 1

My birthday corresponded to the Gai Jatra festival in Nepal so we took a trip to Bhaktapur to have a look.

Gai Jatra translates to "procession of cows". Since cows are sacred it is believed that your best chance of getting through the gates is holding on to the tail of a cow. Families create colourful shrines of their loved ones (the tall umbrella-capped structures) and parade them around the streets – these are the cows. The long sashes symbolize the cows' tails.

Durbar Square in Bhaktapur, the procession of cows all end here. Durbar means 'palatial' and many cities in Nepal have a Durbar Square (a point of early navigational confusion for me), a legacy from centuries ago when Nepal was made up of kingdoms – over 30 I've been told.

This day is also for public displays of humor. Men and boys dress up in outrageous costumes and lampoon Nepalese customs, institutions, the government, and political leaders. Newspapers apparently come up with humorous editions and cartoons (it's very April Fools-like). The tradition  goes back to the XVIIIth century when a Malla king who was trying to console his grieving queen after the loss of their son, announced a large reward for anybody  who could bring a smile to the queen's  face. Droves of people turned out in front of the palace, the queen laughed, and it became a tradition.

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A sunny day in the monsoon automatically becomes laundry day but it can start raining at any moment so you have to stay close.