The world according to K

Photies show the famous Merrill Sandals and Monkey, Monkey on his way down, My roomie Annie and Me in Katmandu afterwards, all the girls who did the trek at party night, and one for the morbid – the head of Yeti that was in one of the monastries on our way down ( thanks to Chris for this- The yeti does exist)

Disaster coming down. Both my boots completely and utterly fell apart. The sole of one came away the other was on its way out. I had no other option but wear my famous Merrill Sandals ( with Socks) and descend slowly, precariously and hope that it never rained.

They did not fail me. Coming down should have been a joy for me- as everyone practically jogged down. I had to do it slowly – no grip – with sticks as it was so steep. We are talking about descending at an angle of about 20% at times 1000 metres over two hours. Terrifying . Many thanks to Simon who at one point lent me a knee brace ( I had fallen twisting my knee earlier on the first day)

I fell quite a few times and arrived half an hour after the group at each break stop . In saying that Ram the guide or Bibek another and I had the most fantastic quality time observing the views and taking it easy. I did it in sandals for 2 days until we reached Namache B where I managed to get a local guy to fix my boots temporarily- with nails – glue and stitching. amazing and it did the trick until I got to bottom.

Coming down ( literally ) gave me so many great memories. In my diary I listed what I remembered the most about the trek- stuff I could easily forget if I didnt put it down on paper.
Here’s some of them:-

A sherpa carrying approxiamtely 14 wicker chairs making his way slowly up.

Slabs of raw Yak meat in baskets- the flies the smell – this being carried by Sherpa’s uphill – a good reason to stay vegetarian on the trek

Suspension bridges- prayer flags- the sight of white rapids hundreds of feet below whilst swinging precariously on the bridge

Playing the game that Jan Ballinger introduced to us all at home – EMPIRES- at 3000 metres in Namanche

Ghost stories – told in urn and added to by each person – one featuring Diarrohoea People!!!!!

The smell of yak dung fires in the lodges

The eyes of Buddah painted on the stomas outside all the villages- to protect the village

Stones painted with MANI engraved – prayers- near stomas or temples- quite beautiful

Nepalese woollen hats- essential to keep warm at night whilst playing cards in the teahouses

Food – fried veg noodles, Roast potatoes, Egg drop soup, Dhal bat, Bounty Bars

Iodine tablets in water – turn it brown and you still drink it

Steep terraced villages, mangy dogs in the path, the sound of bells on Yaks, music from smokey interiors. Hens running free in villages and cockerals fighting with feathers flying and the crowd becoming agitated

The constant sound in villages of a piquing thud of chisel on stone- this starts at 5 am every morning- wherever you are

Beautiful angelic faces of snotty children
Stunningl carpentry and stone work in the villages
Wreckage of helicoptors that had crashed ( we saw two wrecks)
The ultimate question – how does a full sized snooker table( slate ) find its way to a small bar in Namache? Who carried it and how?

Fantastic

Then it was back to Katmandu – a party night in a local bar – a couple of days sending parcels that got rifled before they reached home and then on to THAILAND

This entry was posted on Sunday, June 10th, 2007 at 7:28 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.