So, mid-trek I am actually able to get on-line from a computer in my lodge. The owner is letting me use his laptop, but unfortunately I am not able to upload any photos. I will try to get on wifi in another village so that I can e-mail myself photos from my phone and add them to the post.
Once again I nearly missed an international flight on Saturday because I didn't get to the airport early enough. In this case, I think I could have gotten to the airport in New Delhi six hours ahead of time and it still would not have been enough time. My cab was about half an hour late picking me up for the hostel so I arrived at the airport only about an hour and a half before the flight to Kathmandu. However, the line for check-in was so long that in half an hour I had barely moved an inch. Luckily at that point the airline let me skip to the front of the line. Then I had to wait to pass through immigration in a line that was just as long and also not moving. I finally went to the "special assistance" counter and though the agent originally indicated for me to get back in line, he finally processed my passport when I pleaded with him that my flight was boarding. The next hurdle was security. They had to open all my bags and look through all my cameras and electronic equipment before concluding I didn't pose a threat. The agent claimed my gate was close by, but it turned out to be on the other end of the terminal. I just made the final boarding call, though once again I wasn't even the last person on the plane.
When I got to Kathmandu I made the stupid mistake of accidentally deleting the address to the hostel from my phone. I knew approximately where it was so after quite a bit of inquiry, my cab driver and I found the location. It was actually more a home stay than a hostel since the owners live in the house and cook breakfast and dinner for the guests every day. The proprietress, Sarita, was also nice enough to bring me into downtown Kathmandu to start looking into trekking companies to book my tour. We rode in a small tuk-tuk bus and on the way back crammed into the front seat of a somewhat larger mini-bus. There were so many people crammed into such a small space, but I guess the people who live there are just used to it. I had a chance to go around to about three different places to get tour rates before we had to head back for Sarita to cook dinner. I shared the meal with an Indonesian girl who is studying in Kathmandu and a retired Dutch couple who are volunteering at a school there. After the meal, I had about four cups of Sarita's delicious homemade chai tea.
The next morning, I went back into Kathmandu in the tuk-tuk bus (called a tempo) and started going around to more trekking agencies. I decided to book a tour with an agency that had a group from the UK that had just left that morning, which I could hopefully catch up with. The tour agent then took me to a trekking shop to get everything I needed to hike. I ended up paying way more than I would have liked on boots, thermals, socks and a pair of pants. I also rented a down jacket, a sleeping bag and those stupid hiking poles that look like cross county skiing poles that I always make fun of people for using. The shopkeeper had to talk me into getting them and boy am I glad he did.
At about 5:00pm, I went back to the trekking agency to pick up my tickets and permits. When I got there, the agent had some bad news. He told me the tour group from the UK didn't want to wait for me and so I was going to be on my own with another guide. He wanted me to pay for half of the guide's flight since that wasn't factored into the original cost. I was pretty upset because I had wanted to go up with a group and didn't feel like paying the extra fee for him mistake. In the end, I paid for about a quarter of the ticket price in US dollars.
Bright and early on Monday morning, I left for the airport for my flight to Lukla. I had left about 10 minutes late and then went to the international terminal instead of the domestic one. So I was about half an hour late to meet my guide when I finally got to the right place. I didn't see anyone waiting for me and started to worry that he had given up on me and left. I didn't have my airline ticket so I couldn't even go inside the terminal to see if he was there. I thought our flight was at 6:00am and was sure I was going to miss it. Then I started to think that maybe the guide wasn't coming at all. I furiously thought about how I was going to back to the trekking agency to give the owner a piece of my mind that afternoon. Then finally a guide showed up and when the security officers asked his name, he confirmed he was my guide, Chandra. It turns out our flight was actually at 7:00am and we were supposed to meet at 6:00pm. Crisis averted.
We flew the 23 minutes up to Lukla and safely landed at one of the most dangerous airstrips in the world (whoops Mom and Dad... forgot to mention that.) We then hiked from Lukla up three hours to the next village where we spent the night. The next morning we started at the crack of down for the long and strenuous hike up to Namche Bazar. After just about five and a half hours we arrived at our lodge. On the way, we had the chance to see Everest from afar for the very first time. One more of the items on my "List of 25 Thing to Do Before I Die" (not to be confused with my "Top 10" list for this trip)--See Everest--has been checked off. Today was a rest day to get acclimatized to the altitude. We are at 3,440 feet and have about 2,000 more to go. We went on a short hike today up to the highest "airport" in the world, but it was too cloudy to have much of a view.
I will try to write another update at some point before the end of the trek. We should arrive at the base camp in about four more days!
Once again I nearly missed an international flight on Saturday because I didn't get to the airport early enough. In this case, I think I could have gotten to the airport in New Delhi six hours ahead of time and it still would not have been enough time. My cab was about half an hour late picking me up for the hostel so I arrived at the airport only about an hour and a half before the flight to Kathmandu. However, the line for check-in was so long that in half an hour I had barely moved an inch. Luckily at that point the airline let me skip to the front of the line. Then I had to wait to pass through immigration in a line that was just as long and also not moving. I finally went to the "special assistance" counter and though the agent originally indicated for me to get back in line, he finally processed my passport when I pleaded with him that my flight was boarding. The next hurdle was security. They had to open all my bags and look through all my cameras and electronic equipment before concluding I didn't pose a threat. The agent claimed my gate was close by, but it turned out to be on the other end of the terminal. I just made the final boarding call, though once again I wasn't even the last person on the plane.
When I got to Kathmandu I made the stupid mistake of accidentally deleting the address to the hostel from my phone. I knew approximately where it was so after quite a bit of inquiry, my cab driver and I found the location. It was actually more a home stay than a hostel since the owners live in the house and cook breakfast and dinner for the guests every day. The proprietress, Sarita, was also nice enough to bring me into downtown Kathmandu to start looking into trekking companies to book my tour. We rode in a small tuk-tuk bus and on the way back crammed into the front seat of a somewhat larger mini-bus. There were so many people crammed into such a small space, but I guess the people who live there are just used to it. I had a chance to go around to about three different places to get tour rates before we had to head back for Sarita to cook dinner. I shared the meal with an Indonesian girl who is studying in Kathmandu and a retired Dutch couple who are volunteering at a school there. After the meal, I had about four cups of Sarita's delicious homemade chai tea.
The next morning, I went back into Kathmandu in the tuk-tuk bus (called a tempo) and started going around to more trekking agencies. I decided to book a tour with an agency that had a group from the UK that had just left that morning, which I could hopefully catch up with. The tour agent then took me to a trekking shop to get everything I needed to hike. I ended up paying way more than I would have liked on boots, thermals, socks and a pair of pants. I also rented a down jacket, a sleeping bag and those stupid hiking poles that look like cross county skiing poles that I always make fun of people for using. The shopkeeper had to talk me into getting them and boy am I glad he did.
At about 5:00pm, I went back to the trekking agency to pick up my tickets and permits. When I got there, the agent had some bad news. He told me the tour group from the UK didn't want to wait for me and so I was going to be on my own with another guide. He wanted me to pay for half of the guide's flight since that wasn't factored into the original cost. I was pretty upset because I had wanted to go up with a group and didn't feel like paying the extra fee for him mistake. In the end, I paid for about a quarter of the ticket price in US dollars.
Bright and early on Monday morning, I left for the airport for my flight to Lukla. I had left about 10 minutes late and then went to the international terminal instead of the domestic one. So I was about half an hour late to meet my guide when I finally got to the right place. I didn't see anyone waiting for me and started to worry that he had given up on me and left. I didn't have my airline ticket so I couldn't even go inside the terminal to see if he was there. I thought our flight was at 6:00am and was sure I was going to miss it. Then I started to think that maybe the guide wasn't coming at all. I furiously thought about how I was going to back to the trekking agency to give the owner a piece of my mind that afternoon. Then finally a guide showed up and when the security officers asked his name, he confirmed he was my guide, Chandra. It turns out our flight was actually at 7:00am and we were supposed to meet at 6:00pm. Crisis averted.
We flew the 23 minutes up to Lukla and safely landed at one of the most dangerous airstrips in the world (whoops Mom and Dad... forgot to mention that.) We then hiked from Lukla up three hours to the next village where we spent the night. The next morning we started at the crack of down for the long and strenuous hike up to Namche Bazar. After just about five and a half hours we arrived at our lodge. On the way, we had the chance to see Everest from afar for the very first time. One more of the items on my "List of 25 Thing to Do Before I Die" (not to be confused with my "Top 10" list for this trip)--See Everest--has been checked off. Today was a rest day to get acclimatized to the altitude. We are at 3,440 feet and have about 2,000 more to go. We went on a short hike today up to the highest "airport" in the world, but it was too cloudy to have much of a view.
I will try to write another update at some point before the end of the trek. We should arrive at the base camp in about four more days!
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