RIVER RAFTING

I have to admit I was apprehensive about the river rafting that we planned for today and tomorrow. I had heard a horror story years ago from a friend of mine and it has never seemed like such a good idea again. I think the guys I'm with were disappointed it wasn't wilder, but we rafted 10 miles or so today on a fairly slow river with a few fun, but not dangerous Rapids. Our rafting guide gave us all instructions about how to paddle, sit, lean, hold on and what to do if you fell out. 

This is the rafting guide. He does this part of the year and then does the same in Japan during the Nepal rainy season. 

Our co-captain took the picture of our raft with Dayton Young, left, me, Captain Harry (?), and John. 

This is the other raft with Doug, Harold and Binoy. 

It was hot and sunny. We had lunch along the river bank. 

BREAKFAST IN POKHARA

HINDU WEDDING

As we got into Pokhara we stopped at a Hindu temple. It turns out that, in general, your stars need to line up just right to get married and it's only certain days that weddings are allowed, WITH THE EXCEPTION of this particular temple where you can get married any day you want. Binoy knew all that and hoped there would be a wedding there. We saw this and I don't pretend to understand it all, but it was interesting. It was the third wedding of the day. We were there about noon and watched for about a half an hour. 

Temple entrance. The we climbed MORE STAIRS to get in. 

The grounds. The white pointy building with the single red stripe is the actual temple. 

This is the bridal couple. They put the red paste on each other's foreheads.  Then they put the gold things around each other's necks. 

Then the bride's parents put on more red paste with them sitting under the tree. The people holding the white towel are relatives I think. 

The bride's mother and a couple other female relatives of the bride put on more red paste. I think it is more blessings. 

Then the bride's mother washed the bride's feet ceremonially. I didn't see soap or any scrubbing. The mom drank some of the water. She scooped it up in her hands and sort of poured it on her own face. 

When this was all done the couple went inside the temple and got the blessing of the priest. That makes them officially married. The bride never came vaguely close to smiling. She has to leave her home and join his and give up everything behind her. 

 

TIBETAN REFUGEES

I don't claim to know all about the Tibetan refugees here in Nepal. China took over Tibet and people have escaped. About 2,000 are living in a Tibetan Buddhist monestary near here. 

We toured it earlier today. 

The entrance. 

A prayers wheel. The guy inside is walking around and around. It has something to do with blessing and the special numbers you are supposed to spin the wheel. 

Some young monks. 

Taken through the open door. You have to take your shoes off Binoy explained a lot of the decorations. We burned incense. It was a little reminiscent of some of the grand cathedrals in Europe I've seen. 

Burning incense at the entrance. 

The main temple. 

HOUSE MOVED

I'm going to post short stories and pictures so they will load better. 

This house is up high in the foothills where we hiked. There are no roads. They have a guest house and we're adding on rooms and a shower and toilet. You can see this is a new building. The wife told us that the entire house shifted downhill with the earthquake. She held her hands apart about 1-2" to indicate how much it moved. Then she shook to say how scared she was. Her husband and niece are repairing the walk that was in the process of being built when the earthquake hit. The slabs were cut with some type of electric saw. The rest is done by hand. 

The wife. 

Another woman was laying sheets out to dry on the roof. 

Straight behind her is a steep cliff overlooking the rhododendron forest. The flowers had just past bloom at this altitude and were in bloom a little higher up. 

U.S. Standing by the cliff. We were careful not to back up too far. 

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. 

TREKKING

Not much time. I'll post a couple pictures of I can. Internet is week. We hiked 2 hrs starting at 4:30 am and now had breakfast and are heading down for 6 hours. Here are some sights. 

Touching the peak of the 5th tallest mountain in the world. I don't know how to spell the name. 

 

Along the trail yesterday. 

Lady chipping rocks for $3 a day. 

FIRST HIKE

We walked down to the lake. 

Got in our little boats with our porters rowing. We crossed the lake. 

Stopped at a Hindu temple. I couldn't go in to get blessed because I had leather shoes on and cows are sacred. Our ported got blessed so came away with red paint on their foreheads. 

Then we climbed up to a Buddist Temple. It was a mile up very tough hike so my porter in the rear asked if he could carry my backpack. He didn't have to twist my arm. 

The orange backpack is mine. This is Bemba. He is going to get a for serious tip. 

This temple is way on the top. Look at the top of the mountain for the white building in the next picture. We took our shoes off to go up and look at the temple. This is serious business here and you have to be silent and respectful. 

It's so high I can't see it but it's on the top of this ridge. 

By the time I got back down my legs were rubber. It's a good thing I worked out as much as I did before coming or I might not have made it. 

We get to hike another hour this afternoon. Whose idea was this anyway? The views are spectacular. 

This is from the top of the city of Pokhara. 

HOTEL ORCHID

This was the best night's sleep I've had yet. The water works and shower is hot. Internet is strong. 

Our room has the third balcony up on the right side. 

The entrance with our bags. 

Our room. 

The towel is folded like and orchid. 

Two of our team has made it to China on the way to Houston. One gave up on the airport and rejoined us. One left for Bali via Bankok and one was headed to New Dehli but we have had no word from him at all. Our breakfast this morning was fried curried potatoes, papaya and watermelon, steamed vegetables toast, omelets and tea. 

I woke up at 5 to pouring rain so quickly got the clothes off the balcony that I had washed in the shower. Fortunately there is an overhang so they weren't drenched, but everything is moist. I decided to just wear them today since my wardrobe is limited. I had expected to wear the same clothes for a week at a time without showering but things are a little better than that. Our duffle bags can only weigh 30 lb. each porter carries two so they  limit the weight. 

Pokhara is beautiful and not nearly as chaotic as Kathmadu. We are hiking up to somewhere this morning, then driving an hour to hike from the end of the road to Seuli Bazaar and spend the night in a tea house. I don't expect a shower there but they should have electricity. 

I highly recommend these hiking pants. The legs zip off and they have lots of great zipper pockets big enough to keep your passport right on you along with some money. They are stretchy, comfortable and dry quickly. 

 There is another Shintu priest standing in the hotel doorway with his little bucket of red paint and marigold petals to bless me but I still have the red dot on my forehead from yesterday, in spite of the shower, so I don't need another one. 

We have a couple from the UK who had to abandon their trek to Everest Base Camp when the earthquake hit half way along the route. 

Jules and Lynsey from UK. 

They have a harrowing tale to tell. They are in the process of moving to India with the military and are delightful. 

Our Sherpas aren't from the Sherpa clan so I learned a lot about them at dinner last night. I'll get a picture of them and post more when I can. 

KGH

I only slept till about 2:30 and was able to text with the kids a bit. The toilet doesn't flush any more. Bathroom saga abroad is always an ongoing problem. We still have running water in the sink. 

We are sitting down to breakfast in the hotel. Hot boiled eggs and bread. Food is to be eaten judiciously. 

Most of the team is here. Two more probably won't make it. The International, one runway, airport is only open for government planes, aid, etc. people her are heading to the airport. Wishful thinking I'm afraid. 

Breakfast of boiled eggs and bread. Tasty. 

POKHARA

This was a long day. We ran out of water in our bathroom overnight and felt more aftershocks. Many small ones overnight. It's easy to get up early because of jet lag so I was awake befor 4am. We packed our duffle bags and backpacks, leaving extra non essential stuff at the KGH. 

We had to walk to the end of the street because it was too narrow for our van. The porters carried the ruffles for us. They can carry up to 200 lb for 10 hrs according to Binoy, our guide, so two 30 lb bags is relatively easy. 

Our van picked us up on a very dusty street after waiting a bit. I'm not sure why. 

A Hindu priest came along and put red dots on our foreheads along with marigold petals as a blessing for our trek. He also wanted some money so I gave him 10 Rupies. I think that might only be about a penny but he seemed happy with it. We took Ag about 9 am on a 6 hour drive to Pokhara. We got there at 6:30 pm. We had heard that 100 buses were taking people home to India and peasants back to their villages leaving Kathmandu. We also heard a rumor conflicting reports about the road being blocked with a landslide. Here is a small one. 

It only blocked our lane. It doesn't seem like drivers pay much attention to the lanes anyway. 

I don't know for sure about the 100 buses, but the 'bus stop' Binoy said had 5,000 people when it usually should have 500. 

Bus patrons. 

We were stopped in traffic where the road divided and one lane went off toward India. 

We walked on past all the cars and over the bridge to eventually be found by our driver. 

Our driver picked us up across the bridge at a cafe an hour and 1/2 later. 

We made it to Pokhara and it is great!  It has a great shower, electricity, toilets that flush, and Internet that works. We are in the lap of luxury. We went for supper and had water buffalo meat appetizers called mo mo. 

Vegetarian masala. Lots of curry. 

I don't remember the name of what I had but it was good and it wasn't rice! 

Tomorrow morning we hike up to a Hindu temple in the morning then take off and drive up an hour to a trail for real hiking. 

I've got to sleep. It's beautiful here. I posted a couple videos on FB Columbus medical mission team.