Fast times in Kathmandu!
Hello Everyone, this is cheryl writing! We have had a couple of busy days touring around Kathmandu. We are staying in Thamel, which is a touristy backpacking area with tons of great food options, shopping, etc…. We haven’t been hungry yet. Yesterday we went to the old part of the city, wandering around the busy streets, markets, shops and more shops of random things – about 10 shops per item all in a row whether it be brass,
dentists, paper, flutes, or vegetables… after that we went to durbar square the heart of the old town where kings were once crowned. There are many wooden temples, pigeons, cows, and crazy drivers. After that we went to the
Swayambhunath, “Monkey Temple”, known for the monkeys all around the place (just sleeping when we were there). We had to walk a very steep staircase to the top which had great views of Kathamandu. Today we went to Bhaktapur, a medieval town about 30 minutes away. It is closed to traffic (mainly) and we were able to walk around and see Newari architecture (which is the wooden multi-leveled temples and type of woodwork) We also prepared for our trek which starts bright and early tomorrow morning with an exciting plane ride to Lukla. After that we begin hiking with our guide/porter, Gengan (MIKE WRITING HERE: his name sounds just like Bill murray in Caddyshack, talking about the Llama, I kept wanting to laugh as we were trying to learn his name…”Gunga….Gunga galunga…”) a little mike humor and a mike fact, he has no sense of direction so on his trip he is learning 2 new skills: navigation and shuffling cards. We are going with Social Tours, www.socialtours.com, they seem to trek with an environmental way of thinking. Ok enough of my boring details, we may or may not get to email on the trek so this may be the last post for a couple of weeks!!
Tags: Travel
mischaefe
For any of you blog followers that may be interested in seeing where Mike and Cheryl will be trekking, let’s go to the map. Click on the India/Nepal map in upper right. When Nepal appears, double click (DC) on Nepal until Katmandu (KTM) appears, then DC on KTM until other towns in Nepal appear. It will take about 6 or 7 times total to get magnified enought to see other towns. Next pan right (with arrows in upper left) until you see Namche Bazar (NB). Now click on HYBRID (upper right). Keep DC on NB until the scale on the left is 7 lines from the top (+). This should give you a good photo view of the region.
You’ll notice that 2 rivers come together below NB. Lukla the airport they are flying into is a day or two hike down (along) this river. Once they get off the plane they won’t see any motorized vehicles or even bicycles any more, the terrain in not wheel friendly.Once they reach NB they will hike up the left side river, but I’m going to take you around the reverse direction because the landmarks are easier to follow in that direction. Follow the right side river up. You will see a faint trail to the left of the river; this is their trail. Keep following the trail and river, soon you will see a large white glacier, go left of the glacier to the second lake (not the bright blue one). The small swirl on the right lake side in Gokyo, their turning point. From the upper end of the lake there are 2 trails, one leading to another big lake and also a trail to the left going 3000′ up to Gokyo Peak (about 18,000′) with spectacular views of Everest. They might go up there but since they will already have great views of Everest earlier they might not go. There is also a trail along the upper edge of the lake (not visible) that goes left over the mountain. Pan left over the mountain until you reach another river and trail. The pass over this river is about 18,000′ in elevation; this should be a challenge for them. Now just follow the river and trail back down the mountain until you again reach Namche Bazar. Remember they plan to do the trail in the reverse direction. This trek will be challanging but the views will be magnificent.
I hope I’ve made this clear enought to follow and haven’t left any important details out.
Have a wonderful trek!!
Oh, I am so jealous. Can I quit my job and come hang with you guys? Have fun–I think I am going to try to go to New Zealand with Tracey…
Sounds like fun – and Doug thanks for the tips on the map –
Hey Guys!
Its great to follow along on your journey. I hope your trek is going well. Did you guys go with a tour or just get a guide/porter? Can’t wait to see photos. We miss you!
Toni and Breezy