Nepal (1981) Part 5

One of our porters, carrying three tents with a tumpline.

4 February 1981
Nuntale

Yesterday was dominated by my illness.  I got a pretty serious case of diarrhea, probably from the shitty lunch stop by the river the day before, or perhaps from eating salami there -- it seemed to be a bit off.  I took lomotil in the morning and it seemed to be fairly effective.  Unfortunately, I misplaced the stuff and couldn't take the noon dose.  At 3 PM, I dumped all that remained, with great pain.

The day for me was exhausting.  Uphill walking made my head throb -- especially after lunch -- and Ingrid had to carry everything for a few hours in the afternoon.  I only drank black tea until supper.

We began by climbing along the ridge line steeply above Sagar.  There were a few houses along the way.  These people don't seem to farm, but rather live off animals.  We saw some magpies with beautifully long tails.  After three hours walk, we reached our lunch stop at about 11,000 feet elevation.  The stop was near a shepherd's house.  A Tibetan monk came by and offered us a copper necklace for an outrageous Rs 1000 (Rs 100 seemed a fair price).

Prayer flags at Lamjura Pass

After lunch, we climbed another 600 feet, then did a long traverse across a snowfield with rhododendrons everywhere.  After 1.5 hours traverse, we descended (!) to Lamjura pass at 11,580 feet.  From there we descended steeply, under cloudy skies, for an hour.  As the terrain flattened, we walked out from under the clouds (they seemed to gather around peaks and along ridges in the afternoons).  We did a long traverse to Junbesi, a large, interesting village.  We sat inside a tea shop with Woody and Nancy Jo, then went on to camp, which was in a shady spot right alongside the river.

Our first great view of the mountains; Everest at left.

As we came into Junbesi, we had excellent views of Numbur and some other peaks.

I spent the evening in the tent and ate only rice and soup for dinner.

This morning, I was feeling much better.  Our morning hike climbed through pine forest east of Junbesi in the fog.  We did a long traverse around the ridge separating Junbesi from Ringmo.  As we rounded the southeast end, we got our first view of Everest.  It is mostly black, far enough away to seem unimposing, and had a white plume near its top from blowing snow.  We could also see Nuptse, a long, flat peak, and the southern face of Ama Dablam.

We continued our traverse northward, passing through Salung, where we stopped at the "Everest View Hotel." (!) Here, Woody and Nancy Jo were drinking chang, a fermented milky colored drink made, in this case, from corn mash.

Our lunch stop was by a river and Ingrid and I washed our hair in the icy water.

All the trekkers at our lunch stop near Ringmo.

After lunch, we climbed through Ringmo, a beautiful village on a hillside with the appearance of a southern plantation.  There are apple orchards here and we bought some apple rakshi (a distilled liquor).

Foggy conditions at the (closed) Trakshindo Cheese Factory.

Fog shrouded stupa at Trakshindo Pass.

We continued climbing toward the Trakshindo Pass, stopping along the way at a cheese factory that, unfortunately, was closed.  We were treated, however, to the sight of two yellow-throated martens -- large, omnivorous mammals with black fur and yellow throats and about the size of anteaters.

Bill and Lhakpa Nurbu in the forest below Trakshindo Monastery

At the pass, the clouds and fog were thick.  The temperature was only 36 °F, very low for early afternoon.  We descended via the Trakshindo Monastery, where we stopped to see the gompa.  From there, the trail passed through a lovely wet forest land -- with the heavy fog, it appeared almost enchanted.  The trail descended fairly steeply to Nuntale, our camping spot.  This village is the most medieval that I've seen in Nepal.  About 15 buildings line the trail.  In one, a woman was grinding corn using a hand spun millstone.  There is a rack of drying corn in the middle of the village and a chicken sits atop it eating kernels.  (The rack is 10 feet high.  How did the chicken get up there?)  Two young men chase a pig and catch it by a rear leg and pull it screaming into its pen for the night.

Nepal (1981) Part 4

Sister carries younger brother outside tea shop

2 February 1981
Sagar Schoolyard

Today is Monday and we've now been on the trail for 8 days.  Both Ingrid and I are in fairly good condition, health and spirits.  We have no trouble now completing the day's hike and still feel fine in the evening.  I am still bothered slightly by a nagging sore throat and Ingrid's knees give her some trouble.  And I still have some small fears about the altitude and the cold as we progress.

Saturday afternoon we made a long traverse and gradual descent to Mali.  The walk was on a dirt trail along an undulating ridge top that reminded me of the hills near El Sobrante in the summer.

Nepali children at Mali

Burning fields near Mali.

As we descended, we passed one village where they were fertilizing the fields.  They gathered all of the left over weeds and dried crop stumps and dung into piles and set them afire.  The piles mostly smoldered -- with many burning the whole field was smoky and with the people busy gathering more piles and the sun low in the sky the whole operation reminded me of some autumnal rite.

Nancy Jo, Ingrid, and Woody on the way to Mali.

In Mali, we stayed on a broad flat field.  The late afternoon was windy and cold -- after sunset the wind died down and it became more pleasant.  Our dinner this night was the last with Kerin as cook and it was a lousy one: mashed potatoes, overboiled noodles, cauliflower and a cheesy sauce.  The next day, Kerin was replaced by Lhakpa Tenzing's usual cook, Ung Tharkey, who had been unable to meet us early on because the Lukla airport was snowed in.

Porters crossing the bridge to Kenja.

Sunday was a relatively easy hiking day.  We descended to the river from Mali, crossed a bridge at 5800 feet and bought biscuits from a small shop.  Here, we rejoined the main trail.  We climbed a few thousand feet before lunch.  At first, the way was steep, but it soon turned to a gradually climbing traverse.

Glenn visits with Nepali children at lunch stop.

Our lunch stop was at a tea shop that was most interesting.  The house was made of wood instead of the stone and mud we usually find.  In the yard was a picnic table and benches -- most pleasant!  There were several small kids about.  They had a 4-month old water buffalo and a nanny goat that had just that morning given birth to two kids.

In the afternoon, about half the group went to Thodung, a cheese factory at 10,150 feet elevation.  We instead headed directly for our stop at Bhandar (Changma).  First we ascended to an 8900 foot pass.  At the top was a tremendous set of mani walls and good views back to Timsang Lo and forward to Lumjore La.  There was a small hotel there, Hotel Mane, and inside were 6 or 8 people, apparently just back from a wedding, drunk on Rakshi and singing out of tune.

Stupas at Bhandar

Our descent was slow and pleasant to Bhandar.  We stopped at a monastery/gompa with two handsome stupas.  We also stopped at a woodcarver's shop.  Lhakpa Tenzing bought an attractive rakshi bottle for 40 rupees here.  At camp, we visited the porters' night spot.  Ten or so were upstairs in a dark building preparing their dinners.  For most, the fare was spicy greens boiled and a pasty dough made by mixing flour in boiling water.

In a kitchen in Shiulaya

Our dinner included fried chicken, tough as I imagine jackrabbit to be.

Today was a similar hiking day to yesterday.  We descended the bridge below Bhandar to the river, followed it to its confluence, crossed, then traversed upstream for about 90 minutes to a small town.  We washed clothes and lunched by the stream.  In town, Ingrid and I bought 500 g of hard candies (20 rupees) and saw three women grinding some yellowish grain (corn?).  While two women lifted and dropped the mortar with their feet, the third scooped up the flour into a woven basket and sifted it in a similar manner to gold panning.

After lunch, we ascended very steeply (but also rapidly, as we are getting much stronger) about 2700 feet.  We did the lion's share of the climb in about 1.5 hours.

Bill on the trail, Sagar in the background.

Our campsite is in the schoolyard of a village called Sagar.  This is the site of one of the schools that Sir Edmund Hillary built.  Also in town are a stupa and gompa with two big prayer wheels and some nice paintings.

When the clouds lift, there are excellent views of some of the peaks NNE of here.  I took some photos of them at sunset.  There was also a brush fire burning out of control on the hillside, covering a few acres, perhaps.

Before and during dinner, we played Scrabble.  We ate in one room of the school house (not Hillary's building -- it was locked).  The temperature at 8 PM was about 32 °F and, as is typically the case, there was neither wind nor clouds once the sun set.  The moon is very nearly new.

Nepal (1981) Part 3

Young child near Khartali

30 January 1981
From Amatal, we continued our eastward traverse high above the river.  For the first hour, much of the land was cultivated and inhabited.  We came upon a beautiful house -- actually three buildings in a yard with fruit trees -- extremely fancy by Nepal standards.  A young man invited us into the yard and we had a look around, then shot some pictures.  (We are to send him one of himself and his mother.)  His address indicates that his father is the village mayor, which may go a long way to explain the nice home.

Nice home at village Panchayat.

Another hour took us to the top of the spur of this ridge.  The countryside here was very arid and sparsely populated.  We hiked down about 1000 feet to the confluence of two rivers, where lunch was being fixed.  The river provided a good opportunity for bathing, but it was too cold for me and Ingrid had forgotten her bathing suit, so we just washed hands, faces and legs.  After lunch, Ingrid began suffering from an upset stomach (bloated) and I also felt lousy, primarily from a sore throat.  The afternoon hike was very long, although flat, following the river.  In many places, small sections of the trail were washed out and the footing there became uncertain.

Trailside house near Amatal

We finally reached camp at an elevation of 3300 feet on the bank of a river in a fallow rice field.  Ingrid conked out almost immediately and I passed out at 8 PM, shortly after dinner.  (I only ate soup and dessert.)  I was feverish and had a bloated stomach for a few hours -- I think a result of exhaustion.  I was almost hallucinatory in my sleep with very unsettled dreams.  Finally, before midnight, the fever broke and I slept well the rest of the night.

The bugs were terrible at low elevation, even during this winter period.  My lower lip was bit and had swollen to twice its size.  I still feel, after four days, that I am not getting any stronger.  I am more sore and tired with each passing day.

Today, it seemed that nobody wanted to get out of bed and the kitchen crew had to whistle us to breakfast.  I just had black tea -- my stomach not yet being right.  We hiked a nice flat trail for about an hour, coming to a chain bridge.

Children in the village of Bigute

We took a short side trip to a bazaar town that had perhaps six shops selling slate for roofs, batteries, cloth, and some other general sundry goods.  We then crossed the river and began a steep ascent towards our second pass.

Crossing the Tamba Kosi.

Another bridge, across a smaller river.

We saw at the bridge a wedding procession with the young bride carried by her father in line with several musicians.

Nepali woman at Juka.

We climbed about 1500-2000 feet before stopping for lunch in the village Juka.  After lunch, we hiked another three hours, traversing and slowly climbing towards the south.  I'm feeling stronger today than yesterday, a good sign.  We stop well short of our scheduled goal; however, this is no great surprise as we are the first Himalayan Journeys trekking group to walk the Bharabise-Mali stretch.

We have a good storm for an hour or so near sunset, with thunder, lightning, rain and hail.

Good views of Gauri Shankar as we climbed today.

Yak driver, Pema Dorje, Sila, Jeta, Dhan Bahadur, Ang Lhakpa, Dorje

Among the Nepalese working on our trek are these men:
• Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa (the Sirdar) -- he is in his late 30s, has climbed Everest (1973 Italian expedition) and Daulagiri
• Jetha Sherpa (guide) -- about 18 years of age
• Lhakpa Nurbu Sherpa (guide) -- also about 18, from Namche Bazaar
• Kerin (cook)
• Dorje (cook's assistant)
• Duan Bahadur (cook's assistant)

Our trekking group was small, eight in all including the leader:
• Tom -- from Palos Verdes, CA
• Glenn -- from Cambridge, MA
• Hugh and Terry with their son, George (age 12) -- from New York, NY
• Nancy Jo -- from Madison, WI
• Ingrid and Bill -- from Oakland, CA
• Woody -- the western trek leader, with Himalayan Journeys in Kathmandu

31 January 1981
Lunch Stop
We woke early today -- tea at 5:45 AM -- and were on the trail by 7 AM.  We continued our southeastward traverse climbing toward the head of the valley through forested land.  There was a small amount of fresh snow on the ground from last night's storm.

We reached Serukapti after hiking about an hour, then began a steep climb of about 2000 feet to the pass.  The climb was deceiving.  We climbed very steeply up a slope for about an hour -- very tiring.  As we continued, the trail followed the spur of the ridge for another 45 minutes.  We finally seemed to crest, but instead had to climb the ridge -- fortunately for only 15 minutes.  From the crest, at 9400 feet, we again had a view of Gauri Shankar and several other peaks.  We hiked a slowly descending traverse for another hour before reaching our lunch stop on a hot southern slope.  The air temperature was about 72 °F, but with very bright sun.  The hillside is uninhabited and we have a good view down to the village Jiri in the valley below.  The vegetation is largely fir and pine trees plus rhododendrons.

Both Ingrid and I feel well today and fairly strong.  We may be over the hump as far as our condition is concerned.  We slept very well last night for the first time on the trek.  I'm beginning to get into this thing!

Nepal (1981) Part 2

28 January 1981
When we reached Barabhise, our starting point, the porters and Sherpas were assembled and (for some unknown reason) camp was set up. 

Camp is set up for our lunch stop at the start in Bharabhise.

We ate lunch of lemon tea, cheese, salad (!), bread and omelets.  After lunch, we officially began trekking.  Barabhise, at 2700 feet, is a large Nepalese town with perhaps 1000 population.  We crossed the river, headed up the main street, turned right (east), and began climbing some steps.  After climbing perhaps 500 feet, we reached an official rest spot: a large peepul tree with stone platform, a resting bench for porters to set down their loads, and some prayer stones.  The countryside was largely uninhabited with rice paddies covering most of the land.  The people in the lowlands are typically Chettis of Hindu faith.  Their features are more Aryan than the Bhotis (including Sherpas) who descended from Mongoloids.

Children outside home near Khartali

Trekkers pause for a rest on the afternoon of the first day.

We climbed perhaps 1000 feet more before reaching a beautiful lookout point from which a huge amphitheater could be seen to the east and the river valley could be seen below. We began a traverse along the mountainside with some gentle elevation gain and after hiking about 1.5 hours more we arrived at our camp in an idle rice paddy near the village of Khartali (elevation 5500 feet).

Curiosity about trekkers camping in Khartali

We ate a dinner of rice and pork stew by lantern and turned in fairly soon after.

Cook's assistants on the trail: Dorje and Dhan Bahadur.

The weather was generally clear with a high of about 75 °F and a low of 40 °F.

Mother and son.

We awoke Tuesday at 6:15 and, after packing our gear, had breakfast of thin porridge.  We climbed several hundred feet before reaching a beautiful point with terraced fields of wheat and a good view of our ridge to the east.

One of our porters.

Plowing the fields in Porteng.

We continued to hike in and out of side valleys, crossing streams and slowing gaining elevation.  Our pace was pleasant, with several stops along the way.  We climbed steeply to a ridge crest and to a village called Porteng, which consisted, as far as I could see, of a tea shop only.  We ate lunch in Porteng (elevation 7500 feet).  We were treated to an excellent view of the pass -- Tingsang La -- that we would eventually cross.

Terraced fields 1 h past Khartali

I felt excellent on Tuesday.  The hiking was hard but the pace was comfortable.  All of us had ravenous appetites, particularly at lunch.  We were supposed to reach Tingsang La on this day, but the distance was too great -- we required 1.5 hours to reach the bottom of a 3000-4000 foot climb.  So, instead, we hiked until 4 PM, reaching Kapka (summer pasture) at 9000', and here we camped.

Husking corn near Dolangsa

The area was isolated.  About 1000' below, we passed a Sherpa village, Dolangsa, and we visited the gompa (Buddhist religious center) there.  This one contained statues of three main incarnations of Buddha (prophets?) including Avalokeshivar (?) a Tibetan.  There were also religious prayer books wrapped in cloth and pictures of some Hindu deities.  The room was about 10 x 15 feet and we paid a few rupees for the privilege of seeing the inside.

Water powered corn mill at Dolangsa

In the evening, the spirit of the trek, so high before, was dampened by a theft.  Tom and Glenn had their daypacks ripped off from the head of their tent, presumably while we were eating dinner.  Woody and the Sherpas searched that evening and the next morning; what evidence they found suggested that the thieves were long gone.  The tea shop owner at Porteng reported hearing 3 people trotting down the trail at 9 PM Tuesday night.  Tom lost $85 and a parka but took it well.  Glenn lost two cameras and was very upset.

It got super cold that evening, dropping to 16 °F.  The next morning was most miserable, since the sun didn't rise until long after dawn and, due to the search, we didn't begin hiking (and warming up from the exertion) until 9 AM.

Wednesday's hike began with a steep climb up 2000 feet to Tingsang La (elevation 10,900 feet).  We passed through rhododendron forests and snow covered ground.  The final 20 feet to the pass was tough going with negotiating a narrow channel of steep rock steps, covered with ice and snow.  From the top, we had an excellent view of snow-capped peaks, including Gauri Shankar at 23,400 feet and Melungtse at 23, 500 feet, which I photographed.  There was much snow on the downhill side of the pass; however, the slope was gentle.  The porters could often be heard laughing a storm as one or another of them slipped and fell.  Both Ingrid and I took spills in mud as we hustled for a good hour to reach our lunch spot.

I was feeling rather lightheaded, a combination of the altitude, the exertion, and the bright, bright sun.

Among our first glimpses of snow capped peaks.

After lunch, we descended steeply, through forests of oak (stripped of its branches for firewood), rhododendron, maple, and magnolia.

We crossed a small stream after descending about 2000 feet and then the trail leveled off as we passed through a very moist region (it was cool at this time of year though).  There were ferns and moss and very green growth throughout.

We saw some lampur monkeys with black faces and gray hair at the edge of the forest.  The trail then opened up to a beautiful traverse on the south side of a small river.  The range visible from Tingsang La could be seen as well as terraced fields extending large distances up from the river on both sides.

After a very long afternoon hike, we reached our camp site at Amatol.  Dinner was late because the cooks had taken a longer route and only caught up to us just before we reached Amatol.

Boy playing at a rest area along the trail near Amatol.

I felt sort of lousy most of the late afternoon and evening -- I think the third consecutive hard day of hiking wore me out.  My legs and shoulders ached and I was slightly chilled from a mild sunburn.

Nepal (1981) Part 1

Cleaning out old stored items, I came across a journal that I wrote during our trek in Nepal from the winter of 1981.  I've decided to reproduce it on the blog. 

The trek duration was about 3.5 weeks.  I've posted it in nine entries.  The images are a combination of new scans of 35-mm slides taken during the trip and new photos of stored memorabilia.

26 January 1981
Well, the long awaited time has arrived.  Today we are off on our 24-day trek from Barahbise to Kala Pattar.

We arrived in Kathmandu on the day before yesterday after a week in Bombay.  In Bombay, I spent the week attending a conference: Second Special Symposium on the Natural Radiation Environment at the Bhabha Atomic Research Center (BARC).  Ingrid visited Bombay and spent much time with relatives of Pram Garg, an ex-clerk at Pacific Telephone.  The relatives were Mridula and Vishnu Paddar, Urmila Roongta and her husband, and Neeta, Pram's cousin.

Sunset in Bombay

For me, the stay was quite tiring.  We typically were up at 6 AM and had tea and toast (room service) for breakfast.  At 7:30, the bus came for the one-hour ride to BARC.  We met for most of the day, with 1.5 hours for lunch.  At 5 PM or so, the bus would return us to our hotel or, more commonly, take us out for the evening program.  Monday night, we were treated to a banquet at the Taj International (*****), Tuesday in the gardens of the Hotel Horizon at Juhu Beach, Wednesday there was a lovely program of Indian classical dance.  Wednesday evening, Ingrid and I ate dinner at Mridula's -- Indian style chupattis with dal and other curries and no utensils at all.  On Thursday, we ate at Urmila's. Both families are upper middle class with cars and multibedroom flats.  Urmila's husband works for the trains; Mridula's is a sales rep for Newsweek and other publications.  These people were wonderful to us, really helping us to understand some of the good things of Indian life: close family, and moderately easy life (Mridula has 2 servants).

Dinner at Urmila's included "dress up" for Ingrid and me.

Bombay is in a scenic setting but it is extremely congested.  From our hotel to BARC is about a 15 mile distance and the drive took 45-90 minutes, depending on traffic.  Many people in the city have come from rural areas looking for work, but prices are so expensive (by Indian standards) that they must live in shanty town shacks built of stone or thatch or wood and rags; these have sprung up all over the city.

Our hotel, called Nataraj (god of dance), was decent although hardly up to its 4-star rating.

Other than a moderate stomach ache for 8 hours or so on Monday night, my health was okay.  I probably lost a few pounds though as my stomach seemed tender and my appetite modest.

Our flight over (to India) was smooth, although tiring.  We landed Monday 3 AM after ~ 24 hours.  It took 2 hours to clear customs & immigration.  We were met by someone from BARC and carted to our hotel.  I then had about 2 hours before the conference began.  I didn't catch up on sleep all week.

The conference was fairly good.  Indoor radon is not as hot an international topic as I had expected, although quite a few papers dealt with the topic.  I presented two papers, one on alpha spectroscopic techniques for radon daughter measurement, the other a general overview of our program.  The papers were well-received, although the audience numbered only about 60.

Our trip to Nepal was typically unpleasant.  We checked out of our hotel at 5 AM Saturday, took a taxi to the airport and caught a 6 AM flight to Delhi, arriving 7:45 AM.  Our connection to Kathmandu was scheduled for 9:30 AM, but, somehow, it departed at 8:15 AM, before we reached the check-in counter.  We then had to sit around the Delhi airport for what turned out to be 7.5 hours before catching an RNAC flight.

We were pleasantly surprised on arrival to be greeted by Woody, our trek leader.  Backtracking, our flight into Nepal was less scenic than normal because of heavy clouds and rain.  As we dropped into the valley, however, we got a tremendous view seeing widely spaced, multistory houses, gentle roads and streams, the terraced rice fields and the brick factories.  The appearance was very quaint and my face exploded in a smile.

We stayed at the Yellow Pagoda Saturday and Sunday before departing today on our trek.  The accommodations and service were excellent.

27 January 1981
On Saturday, we arrived about 5 PM and after a brief meeting about the trek, I conked out.  Sunday, we were taken on a short tour of the city, visiting Pashupatinath, a large Hindu temple, and Bodinath, a large Buddhist stupa and monastery.  After lunch, we bought two Tibetan carpets, one for my parents and one for us.  They are top quality, 3' x 6', and cost Rs 1125 (US$95), down from Rs 1300.  In the evening, we had a lengthy pre-departure meeting and packed our gear carefully for the last time before departure.

The hotel food was excellent and very great in quantity.  Breakfast was fruit juice, cereal, eggs, toast & croissants, and tea.  Lunch and dinner consisted of soup, meat, vegetables, potatoes & dessert.  The weather on Kathmandu was not excellent.  It rained Saturday and was overcast Sunday; on Monday when we departed, it was socked-in foggy.

The long awaited (!) moment had finally arrived.  I was literally quivering with excitement.  Physically, I don't think I have ever felt better in Asia and I'm certain that much of this well-being is attributable to my mental state.

The bus ride was about 3 hours, although we traveled less than 90 km.  During the ride, Ingrid and I sat in the front of the bus. As we headed NE from Kathmandu, we began climbing and finally lifted out of the fog.  As we reached the top of a ridge, we got our first views of the mountains.  Spectacular!  Spanning almost 180 degrees on the horizon -- heavily snow capped and very craggy.  The countryside was well populated alongside the road and we passed many small villages and road toll booths.  We crossed the Sun Kosi, a large river basin, passed a hydroelectric plant (Chinese built) on the Bhote Kosi and finally a Swiss built steel-girder bridge that marks the beginning of the traditional route. 

Reminiscing

A long overdue post-retirement activity is cleaning out all of the old storage throughout our house (attic, basement, garage) and my office.  I made negligible progress during the first year, but with Ingrid's encouragement and my own growing sense of unease, I'm determined to do better starting now.  We're beginning with the garage.  I completely tossed (recycled) a full box of paper that was the final typescript of a textbook I co-wrote.  That effort started in earnest during sabbatical in Israel (1996-1997) and was finished a few years later (copyright date: 2001).  The book was a reasonable success, selling more than 10,000 copies.  It is still in print and still being used at Cal in the class for which it was written.  Buried in this box of papers was a cover art concept that I drew; it's displayed here along with the published version of the cover.

Monte Bello Open Space Preserve

This location was surprisingly remote, given its proximity to Palo Alto. It's just 7 miles east of Hwy 280 on Page Mill Road.  But the majority of those miles are narrow and windy.  Our hike was advertised as 6 miles and logged as about 7, with 1300 feet of elevation change.  The climbs were long and gentle, to Black Mountain (for a nice lunch stop) from the parking area and then along Stevens Creek to return to the car.  The descent after lunch was steep.  Views were great and the variety between open grasslands and shaded riparian habitat was very nice.