Nepal Earthquake 2015

This is a slideshow of our trip to Nepal April 25-May12.  Things didn't turn out like we expected, but it was the adventure of a lifetime.

LIVING GODDESS KUMARI

We made an appointment to see the living goddess (Kumari). There are three in the Kathmandu Valley and the rules vary a bit from one to the other. The history is complex, but in a nutshell, this girl is selected from The Newar tribe, local indigenous people and started in the 1600's when the king needed to consult the goddess so she had the king pick a girl so the goddess could inhabit her until she hit puberty. Then they pick a new goddess. This girl is 7 and can only speak through her father. 

This is the entrance to her temple. 

Inside the compound. 

Her toy room. 

The Kumari. She didn't speak at all. She sits mostly stone faced. I posted a short video of her fidgeting on the CCMT FB page. 

Her father answered questions for us 

Her father. Her picture is beside him. This is a great honor to the family. This goddess lives in Patan, a suburb of Kathmandu. There are three goddesses, one in each of three areas of Kathmandu.  They were originally three kingdoms that came together at some point. 

You have to donate some money, $2 in the plate beside her, then she will bless you with the red flower paste on your forehead. 

There are actual flower petals in the paste. 

This is her sister. 

And her brother. 

This is an ancient chariot nearby that the pull around town, dedicated to the rain God during the rain festival that is going on. It got stopped by the earthquake. 

EARTHQUAKE TREK

I haven't had reliable internet for any length of time so have had trouble posting. Also, my trusty Eye Fi card didn't seem to work for a couple days. If you haven't heard about it, I will do a little advertising here. It's an SD card for any old digital camera that links to your smartphone or laptop, etc. It's like a miracle. I can take the pictures on my camera, then load them on my phone and post much better quality pictures. I don't remember where I heard about it, but I'm glad to have it. Most of the photos you see here are from my good camera and a few were taken on my phone. Go to http://www.eyefi.com

I bought mine at Radio Shack in Columbus. 

I'll finish up with a couple more Chitwan pictures then do a Buddha and Living Goddess post and an earthquake post, then a Kathmandu earthquake and team post. 

We got to feed the elephants a "sandwich" made from high protein, healthy stuff wrapped in grass. This is me feeding one. I actually touched it's tongue. It was softer than I expected. 

This is John doing the same. 

Then we took off for the Crocodile breeding center in a canoe. We drove upstream about 15 minutes to get in the canoes. I think they are made from a single log. 

It was about 30 minutes downstream. A very gentle ride in what seemed to be fairly shallow water. 

The crocodiles are endangered so they breed and raise them till they are 6 years old. 

The Gharial crocodile is the breed. 

They had about 8-10 pens of different ages. 

These were yearlings. 

That night we saw some native Tharu dancers. They came to our villa to perform for us. I bought a tambourine from one of them for Rylan to play with. 

They did a stick dance that I think Lynnette or Barb could use. 

Then they had us join with them. It was fun, but steamy hot. 

I'll post this and see if it loads. 

5 DAYS OF TREKKING

Again the Internet is slow, but I'm excited to share what we've done. 

Trekking day one we crossed the lake and climbed to the Bhuddist temple. I've posted pictures of that a couple days ago, then we got in the van and drove to the trailhead at Annapurna National Park. 

This is John by the bridge at the park entry. Note the Bhuddist prayer flags. 

These are our porters loading up. They get paid by the weight of the packs. I think they are making about $30 a day. 

They strap the duffle bags together and wrap a plastic strap over their forehead then carry this huge load on their backs. They are known to carry 200lb for 10 hours. Some haul up to 400 lbs. we are in an area with no roads so everything has to be carried in. 

We stayed at the Sanctuary Lodge. 

It was raining when we started off the next day. 

A rest stop area. ;) Note this is perched on the edge of a cliff. 

People are selling stuff along the road. The people are very friendly and welcoming. Occasionally the kids ask for "candy" or "chocolate". 

These two said "Namaste". That is the standard greeting. 

These 8 year old girls were cutting forage to take home to their animals. They are both carrying big knives. 

This is a typical trail scene. The steps are anything from 3-18" high and aren't nearly as uniform as this picture implies. We hiked about 3 hours the first day and 4 the second. Then jumped to 6 and today was 8. Today was mostly downhill which is much easier, but has challenges of its own. 

There are water buffalo along the route and about every hour there is a mule train that comes through. 

I guess I don't have a picture of a mule train but there are horses and cows around. 

I will try to load this and see if it goes. 

GETTING PSYCHED

Now I'm really getting psyched for Nepal.  I looked at the roster of our team members.  There are 12 people on the trek.  We will visit 3 medical facilities, the biggest is at the beginning in Kathmandu. Our team includes John, the McGyver, 8 Otolaryngologists, one Pediatric Infectious Disease physician, an engineer and a real estate broker.  Most come from Texas, but the rest are from Nebraksa, Chicago, Baltimore and Canada.  I do not have all the details on everyone, but it looks like an interesting group.  I figure John and I will be mom and dad to the group :).

I looked at the Hillary Bridge, Nepal on the internet today.  We get to go over this along the way.

PLANNING NEPAL

We are gearing up for our mission to Nepal.  I will fill in some informaion about our trip over the next few days. We have been getting packing lists almost daily, so are getting organized. We have been working out since our trip includes hiking at high altitudes without any motor vehicles.

As it stands now, there are 12 of us on the trip.  One had to drop out because he broke his arm.  We will spend the first part of the trip in Kathmandu and tour the hospital in order to plan out future medical missions.  We will visit 2 other medical facilities on the trek, but most of the time will be on the trek. About half of the team are ENT doctors and the rest are friends, family and other helpers.  The rest of the trip includes a trip to the Base Camp of Mt. Everest, so we are really pumped about that.  The main goal is the peak of Kala Patar, which is a peak near Everest where you can get the best view of the mountain.  Of course much of this depends on how we tolerate the altitude, as we will be up to 18,000 feet.  We will be prepared for altitude sickness and be able to treat climbers along the way (ourselves included).

I spent time today talking to a REAL photographer about how to take the best pictures possible, so I am cautiously optimistic that I will have some good pictures.  I found an SD card that has built in WiFi so the pictures can go straight to my phone and hopefully I can post them.  If that doesn't pan out I will have to do it when we get back to reality.


In the mean time, I'm really looking forward to this.  I'm attaching a picture of the countries where we have done missions before to get the bird's eye view.

Highlighted in red - Ecuador, Jaimaca, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Kenya, Haiti, Nepal and DR Congo (next year).

SEARCHING FOR THE YETI

There is a lot going on in my life!  There is a new grandchild on the way and a daughter getting married before our next mission. In the mean time, I have to pinch myself to be sure it's not a dream that we get to go to Nepal to set up a new mission AND trek to the Base Camp of Mt. Everest all in the same trip.  To that end, I've been reading (in all my spare time) about Nepal.

Since I don't have much information about the mission, especially since it's not even established yet, I've decided to share some interesting things about this country.  This is VERY different from any place we've been before. Poverty is a huge problem due to changing governments and instability, but things have been improving over the last few years, so it is encouraging.

This is a summary gleaned from http://www.lonelyplanet.com/nepal about the Yeti. It is paraphrased to save time and space.

'Along with the equally slippery notion of Shangri La, the Yeti is one of Nepal's most famous cultural exports, occupying a hotly debated biological niche somewhere between zoology and folk religion.
..... The word yeti comes from the Tebetan yeh-teh, or "man of the rocky/snowy places'.  First hand accounts describe it as 'abominal snowman', having reddish fur, a conical head, a high-pitched cry and strange body odour that smells of garlic. There are various descriptions, one says it moves on all fours and preys on goats, sheep and yaks. There are more than one type of Yeti. Worst of all is the man-eater, 6ft to 8ft tall and a very bad temperment.  Consider yourself warned. '
"Trekkers to the Base Camp can still see the yeti scalp at the Khumjung Monastery (actually made from the skin of a serow (type of goat/antelope). The regions's Yeti pelts' actually belong to the Himalayan blue bear. "  Image result for yeti image

I guess I'm more afraid of the altitude than the Yeti, but I'll keep a lookout!

NN

NEPAL TREK TRAINING

We are getting lined up to travel to Nepal.  Our team leader is Dr. Harold Pine from Galveston, TX. The group is up to 11 people now, mostly ENT doctors and friends.  We will be looking at establishing a medical mission in Kathmandu.  I have been reading up on Nepal.  It is a fascinating country with a fascinating history.  While part of me feels like I should focus on one location, there is a wanderlust that keeps calling me from every direction.  Three members of our team from Haiti last year are heading there again in April while we travel to Nepal. The Nicaragua group is also going back to Puerto Cabezas.  They are blogging from Global Passion Ministries.

There are more opportunities than a person can count for doing missions and I''m finding more every day.  I've become involved in the Humanitarian Section of the AAO HNS who sends Otolaryngologists all over the world and is committed to training the locals in addition to providing care.  The goal is to eventually make ourselves unnecessary.  The mission this year will not involve so much work as just planning and deciding how it could work.  We have a contact ENT physician in Kathmandu who we will work with.  The other object of our trip is the hike to the base camp of Mt. Everest, so it's much different than our usual missions, and although I'm feeling a little guilty about trekking more than working, I see this as the opportunity of a lifetime and just couldn't pass it up. I read the book "Into Thin Air" several years ago and decided this was the most exotic place in the world.  We are not looking for donations for this trip as it is more 'vacation/adventure' than work, but bear with us and follow the adventure.  We will be back at it next year with anticipation of DR Congo.

In the mean time, John and I have been hiking in preparation for this trip.  Stay tuned.

NEPAL

It looks like things are lining up to go to Nepal on our next mission.  Our national academy sent out a request for ENT surgeons and other medical personel who were interested in setting up a new mission site in Nepal.  We will be doing reconnaisance and not the usual surgery dawn to dusk.   We will be able to hike to the base camp of Mt. Everest while we are there.  This is totally different from our other trips.  It's what keeps things interesting.  Every mission is unique and we've been studying up on Nepal already and getting in shape for the trek.