Monday, April 27, 2015

BACK ONLINE

It's been a roller coaster the past day with plans shifting and changing by the minute. We have had no internet for a day and a half and have been trying to decide how to best proceed. We are still at the Kathmandu Guest House. The water in the bathrooms quit 24hrs ago but now is back, although it's brown. We've eaten fried rice 3 of the last 5 meals. Boiled eggs and bread for breakfast. The electricity might even be back on, but I'm not sure. Our hotel has been on backup generator all along. 
We visited the U.S. Embassy "club" this morning and got some MRE's. That is meals ready to eat. They weren't the best, but also wasn't fried rice. 
This is the embassy compound. Really the lap of luxury. It's only about 6 blocks away and admitting all Americans. There is a tent city there but we weren't supposed to take pictures. I snuck this one so I hope I don't end up on the black list. I don't think it includes any military secrets. 
We are down to a few choices and have debated all this at length. Our mission part is over, I think. We did a mini clinic at a tent city set up at a Nepal army base. It wasn't much ENT, mostly injuries. They seemed grateful to have us there for yesterday morning. 
The tent city. 
A bunged up knee that needs x-Rays. 
Mom and baby. 
People lined up to see us. 
They found a Red Cross flag so we took a picture by it, but it wasn't anything to do with the Red Cross. 
Then in the afternoon we visited the B&B Hospital. It's a private hospital where Dr. Pine had planned to see patients. Most of them didn't show up because of the earthquake, but we were able to see some and donated equipment to Dr. -uh you pronounce it. ;)
Dr. Gyawali with Dr. Pine. 
They had moved the patients out of the hospital afraid the building might collapse and they didn't want us inside too long. There is a sense of fear here. They were doing surgery outside in a tent. Only the very urgent surgery so most things were on hold. 
This is a tent for patients. 
Here they are putting up a surgery tent. 
Broken leg. 
We were tired of fried rice so had our own supper in the balcony when a team member brought in a massive papaya. We ended up hungry later and walked out on the street to find more rice and French fries. It was a blackout so we wore headlights to see on the street. There were 9 of us so we had safety in numbers. The area, although crowded and a little disorganized, seems safe and the people are just wonderful and kind hearted. 
In the midst of all this the trek to the Everest Base Camp has totally fallen through. One trekker supports 10-11 Nepalese for a full year so to abandon our trek is a huge hit for our guide, Binoy. He was very discouraged to find out about all the deaths (17 so far) on Everest and that the villages along the way are badly damaged. There are rock slides and he said it's too dangerous for us to think of going. To come straight home has its own problems. The airport is chaos with people trying to get out and all the treks cancelled. A single one way ticket home costs as much as the entire trip and it might include spending a couple nights on the floor of the airport. Our airline, Qatar Airway's next open seat was May 2 last we heard. To switch everything around without Internet was a huge hassle. We've had 4 of our team that are in the midst of doing just that to get out but we've decided to ride it out for now. We even discussed a 25 hour bus ride to New Dehli, which would be an adventure in its own right but I can picture that and it's ugly, not to mention the difficulty getting a visa for India, but it only costs $36. Much more reasonable to be sure. 
Our plan currently is to change to an easier, 3 part 'trek'. First drive to Pokarah tomorrow and trek there for 5 days in the foothills (15,000 feet). So not so high. Then water rafting at Seti River Camp, then Chitwan National Park safari in the low elevations. We could drop off at any point if things change. It's an area that is much less affected by the earthquake. 
There are a lot of interesting dynamics at play here and we are flexible. We will know more for sure later today. There are rumors of rockslides on the road so we are hoping they aren't true. I'll post more when I can. 
Rickshaws hoping to give you a ride. They are everywhere. 
This is a Bhuddist temple crumbled just down the street. There are cracks in the cement everywhere including our hotel. 
The courtyard of our hotel.












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