In Chicago. Almost home.

Day 8. Today we fly back to Katmandu from Lukla flying out of "the scariest airport in the world".  The guest house had a bathroom with a toilet and a sink but there was no water at the sink.  We will stay in the '3 star' rathole in Katmandu for 3 nights then will move to a five star on our own dime the last 2 nights so we can easy back into the world.  

Day 7 of hiking was nominal and short.  It only took us about 3 hours to hike back up yo Lukla.  We checked I to the guest house.  We said our good-bye to our porter Kumar with a $120 for his service.  They suggest 10 to 12 per day for the porter.  We were hiking 7 days and so tipped a little over $17 per day.  The guide, Ross, typically gets 15 to 20 per day.  Ross was a good guide despite his deficiency in English but he will be with us about 10 days so will get at least $200.

Nick and I found a 'Scottish Pub' and have spent the afternoon talking.  I shared some of my engineering war stories and we talked about his prospects for law school and such.  

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Scariest airport in the world

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Not sure if this will work but this is a video of the bridge we crossed

Day 6 of hiking was a moderately strenuous 5 hr hike down Namche to Phakding.  This was the reverse of the hike from hell on day two.  That hike took over 7 hrs as it had that relentless climb up to Namche.  My left ankle has rolled on my about 4 times today.  IDK if the muscles are getting weak or I'm just jetting tired and/or careless. 

The rivers here are mostly all the color of concrete. This indicates it is glacier melt. The glaciers grind the rock into a very fine powder that is so light it does not drop out of the water so it looks like concrete.  Today we passed a crystal blue stream indicating a snow melt stream.  I went down to the stream and there was a deep blue hole there. I took off my socks and shoes and soaked my feet in the icy water.  I was putting my shoes back on and thought I should get into the water!  No, i couldn't.  Then I decided I had to do it.  I took my shirt and shorts off and waded out into the water.  I went in to about my waste.....then I went under water!  I came up with a whooooooooohoooooooo!  I took one more plunge and another whoooohooo!  It was so cold and so awesome!  I dried off a little and then got back on the trail for another 3 hrs of hiking feeling totally refreshed.

I took a video of the shy high suspension bridge with my iPad and will try to upload it.  We are at the guest house we stayed at the first night after we left Lukla.  The have wifi here but it is unreliable and slow and I can't connect yet. 

Nick woke us up at 0230 this morning....that is what happens you you crash at 6 pm.  He went to take a nap at 0500....I'm up for the day.

I asked the owner of this guest house where he learned English so well. He said he walked from Namche to a school higher up from here every day for 10 years.  I asked how long it took to walk there and he said 45 minutes one way.  He owns this camp and the one we stayed at last night.  He actually rents that one from the monks.  He used to be a guide for 20 years but bought this place and remodeled it a few seasons ago. I asked him about the porters and he said they get paid based on how heavy the load and how far it has to go.  From Luka to the highest location takes about 4 days.  He said they sleep in tea houses for the porters.  

Ross was able to get out Lukla to Katmandu flight changed.  Still two very tough hikes between us and Lukla.  It rained a little this afternoon so that will help with the dust and grit on the trail tomorrow.  

Went to room after hike to lay down and fell asleep.  I did not feel like eating lunch.  I just wanted to lay still.  Then I started getting really bad chills.  I am very hot natured so chills is something that seldom happens.  I got under the cover but was still just shaking.  I think my body is fighting something off.  I  forced myself to get up and come down to the mess hall form some soup. 

We see about half a dozen medical evac helicopters per day.  Altitude sickness, sprained or broken ankles?  IDK.  Nick and I got shots for hepatitis A and typhoid before we left.  

Plan to eat some soup and go back to bed.

Day 4 of hiking

I actually got a decent night's sleep last night.  Up at 0500 and came down to mess hall for coffee but place was empty and the wifi was not connected so played Spider Solitaire on my iPad mini.

Day 4 of hiking turned out to be a repeat of day 2 and is the second most difficult physically challenging day of my life.  The hike started with a very steep climb out of Namche.  After that we had a relatively easy 3 hours that followed a ridge line without a lot of climbing.  Then we went down, down, down.  We stopped for lunch and I had no appetite but forced myself to eat some boiled potatoes and a yak cheese sandwich on soggy bread.

After lunch came the climb.  For the next 3 hours we climbed.  I would force myself to go 100 steps before having to stop, gasping for breath.  This cycle went on and on and felt like I was being  water boarded.  It was strenuous climbing and that alone would take the wind out of my lungs . . . but add in the thin air and it was killing me.  I got to thinking about my SCUBA diving days and how I was always the first one out of air.  Even when I dove with my brother I sucked down all my air faster than him and would use his spare regulator to share his air so we could stay down longer.  At any rate, the climbing and thin air is killing me.

At lunch I had to go to the bathroom as I've had diarrhea for 2 days.  The outhouse ate the cafe was literally a dung house!  It was a small room with a huge pile of fresh dung on one side, big bags of pine cones on the other side and a hole in the floor to do your business.  I decided I would hold off going.  Nick and I debated the use of the pine cones.  Were they for fuel for the winter or for wiping?  IDK.

We got to the top of the hill which was our destination 7 hours after leaving Namche we found there is monastery with Buddhist monks beside the guest house.  This guest house is the raunchiest hole we've stayed in.  The toilet is kind of an outhouse with a little stool about a foot off the ground.  You are not supposed to put toilet paper in the toilet.  I have absolutely nothing in my digestive track right now.  We were too tired and had no appetite for dinner.  It is odd because we probably burned 10,000+ calories today yet neither of us was hungry.  I figure the loss of appetite is due to the altitude.  I think we are at 12,600' now and I am getting winded walking on flat ground.  

At 4 pm we got to go into the Buddhist temple and observe the monks prayer or meditation time. We had to take our shoes off before going in and then get a rug to sit on.  They did chants and banged on various instruments and hummed and such.  Very strange ritual.

After that we came back to our little cell which is barely big enough for the 2 single beds.  We laid down at 5 pm and fell asleep.  Ross came by at 7 and asked if we were coming to dinner as they were about to shut the kitchen down and we both said we were not hungry and fell back asleep.  I got up a could hours later for another fun trip to the toilet hole and by now I'm just passing almost clear water.

I woke up about midnight with an aching tooth.  I've not had any toothache before so I surmised it was maybe the altitude.  I also have a little upper respiratory congestion and i sure that contributes to the difficulty breathing.  I took a couple of aspirin and went back to sleep.  I woke up at 0300 hrs and am up for the day.

Before we went to bed, Nick and I talked about the trek.  He seems to be doing fine with the altitude and strenuous climbing.  But this is killing me.  The enjoyment of hiking is lost when I am constantly doubled over gasping for breath.  So what to do?  I have concluded there is no way I will make it as high as EBC.  That is just never going to happen.  We are only at 12,600 and EBC is 17,600'.  I can't keep food down (hurled on the trail from pushing myself so hard) or up.  I can't breath and the higher we go it will only get worse.  This is an adventure but is also our vacation and I don't want to just kill myself on my vacation.  We talked about me going to a camp about an hour from here that is a stopping point on the way back from EBC and the Nick could continue on to EBC.  But this trip is more about father/son time that reaching some arbitrary elevation.  Another option would be to turn back now and hike back to Lukla and the fly back to Katmandu.  Then we would spend 4 days exploring Katmandu before our flight home.  Another option would be to hike back down to a lower elevation and do some local hiking to various locations to see what we can see.  Nick and I will talk to Ross this morning and come up with a revised plan.  If we do go back to Katmandu I am gonna try to find a Hilton or Marriott to get a real shower, comfortable bed and maybe a hot tub.

It is 0430 now and I am waiting for sunrise.  We are supposed to have great views of Everest from here with the sun coming up over the mountains.  I hope it is clear.  It rained last night.  That should help with the dust on the trail.  

Went outside at 430 and the sky was bright yet the sun was not yet up.  We are surrounded by huge peaks including Everest and Lhotse.  We had breakfast of soup and a disgusting cheese omelette.  

Nick and I talked again about our plan going forward.  He really wants yo press on to EBC and I've no doubt he would make it with little difficulty.  I cannot send will not try to ho higher.  We talked about splitting up but that would put me in Namche for 4 days waiting on him.  I don't want to do that.  There is nothing to do in Namche and I don't want to just sit around for 4 days doing nothing.  So Nick being the good son that he is said he would ho back down with me and we'd find something to do in Katnandu.  But we still have 3 days of hiking ahead of us to get back to Lukla.  Hopefully we can get a flight from Luka back to Katmandu.  

Day 5 of hiking was pretty tough.  We hiked a little over 5 hours with only breaks long enough yo catch my breath.  The hike down from the monastery was much harder than I thought it would be as the trail is wicked steep (like 45 degrees) and is covered with big rocks.  This was the 5th consecutive day of hiking and my body is feeling it.  I have a little upper respiratory congestion and that just compounds the breathing.  We still have two tough days of hiking ahead of us till we get yo Laklu and fly back to Katmandu.  

Day 3 hiking was relatively easy.  This was an acclimatization day so we did 2 out and back hike.  The first hike was to a hill top that provided our first view of Everest and Lhotse peaks.  It was a 'modest' hike on the Mike Rogillio Hiking Scale (MRHS). 

The second hike was intended to get us exposure to higher elevations.  We hiked up some very rough rock 'steps' about 1,100 feet.  This was is the equivalent of taking the stairs to the top of the Empire State Building.....only it rocky and sandy and lots of loose gravel.  The thin air was hard on me but did not seem to bother Nick too much.  I had to take numerous breaks to catch my breath.  I rate this hike as 'moderately strenuous' on the MRHS.  There is a very short landing field up there that small plans and helicopters use.  Nick was convinced he could a nice view of Everest if he went over the next ridge. I was not so inclined. So Nick and Kumar went up a little further and Ross and I headed back down.  Coming down was pretty easy as you just push in the clutch and coast.....only you had to ride the breaks and chose each step wisely so as not to slip on the sand.  I slipped only once and ended on my backside.  Fortunately I have lots of cushion and was not hurt.  

We have the rest of the day to relax and explore.  I took a shower and we gathered up all our laundry and gave it to the guest house to be laundered.  I don't think any of the higher camps have laundry service available.  They charge 80 cents per item with a pair of socks being an item.  I saw people doing laundry in the village in and open creek and I suspect that is where our laundry will be done.

After lunch I will take a nap and then go explore the village.  Ross said some of the bars show "Into Thin Air Death on Everest" and some other documentaries.  So we will go see what we  can see.

It's nice to have an easy hiking day and time to relax after that hike from hell yesterday!

I ordered a pizza with mixed topping and it has tomatos, cheese and tuna.  Ugh.  Not used to my pizza smelling like cat food!  Hmmmm, well I do like to try different things....

0445 hrs and Ive been up for 2 hrs unable to sleep.  I told and ice cold shower this morning that really woke me up.

Day 2 of hiking turned into a physical nightmare.

The day started with an ice cold shower in the camp and then a light breakfast.  We've been advised not to eat meat after this point as all meet has to be packed in with no refrigeration. 

We left camp about 0730 for what was to be about 6 hrs of hiking.  We hiked down to the river and had to cross suspension bridges a few times.  These thing are scary to me as they bounce and sway and the wind blows and I'm always wondering if the slats are gonna fail.  In the movies they say don't look down and turns out that is sound advice.

We hiked up and down over some of the roughest and rockiest and steepest trail you could imagine.  It was tough hiking but I was enjoying it.  We'd occasionally have to stop for a passing caravan of mules or oxen.

At one point Nick befriended a dog on the trail.  He gave the do some water out of his hand and that was it, Nick had a new friend.  At the next little village we came to Nick bought a can of sardines and gave it to the dog and he really enjoyed those.

We stopped for lunch after 3 hrs of hiking at little camp in the last village before Namche, our destination for the day.  I had Sherpa stew and a potato salad.  The stew was nothing more than boiled potatoes.  We saw potatoes being grown everywhere by the locals.  

After lunch the trail started climbing in elevation.  We were down in the basin between the mountains and could look up and see 2 suspension bridges about 1000 feet above the canyon and Ross said we'd be crossing the bridge.  OMG.  We climbed for about an hour in one of the most exhausting hours of my life.  At times you stepped from rock to rock and other times you climbed rock stairs until you quads were just on fire.  The scenery was of course magnificent and I'd pause often to take some photos.

When we got to the top of the climb at the highest suspension bridge I've ever seen in my life I was exhausted beyond belief.  I've finished 5 marathons and never been this tired.  I was happy to have made the climb to the top.

But we were not at the top.  We still had at least 2 hrs of very steep climbing before Namche.  But first we had to cross that bridge.  It looked scary as all hell and it was.  The wind was really howling at that hight and the bridge bounced with every step.  What made the bouncing bad was the bouncing caused by other people on the bridge. It was like when 3 people are on a trampoline and jumping at different rates.  You never new if the 'bottom' of your step was gonna rise up to meet your foot or drop a few inches.  I tried not to look down but you can't help but see and know you are 1000 feet up in the air on this little foot wide bridge.  Well crossing the bridge was not optional so I sucked up my fear and headed across.  My heart was racing by the time I got across and I wanted to just sit for a while but we still had 2 of the hardest hours of the steepest climbing I could ever imagine ahead of us.  I was spent.

I would would walk about 25 feet and have to stop.  Not only was I getting winded but I'd hit the wall....I bonked.  The first time I ever seriously bonked was when I was training for my first ironman.  I was 103 miles into an 109 mile bike ride and my body literally just shut down.  I had to call Casey to come pick me and my bike up in Belle Mina.  One would think after biking 103 miles, going another 6 miles would be nothing but not when your body shuts down.  So here I was on the trail with no Casey to call to came rescue me.  There was no SAG support or medical people coming to help.  It was then that I realized I'd been hiking a very strenuous hike for over 4 hrs with almost no nutrition. My endurance training had taught to take in about 500 calories per hour when running of biking but I'd had nothing but a few potatoes.  

The Nepalese people are very short and small people and at least half of the Napalese people I passed on the trail would stare at me like I was Yetti.  I guess they don't see many 6'3" 300 lbs me up here.  And of course with Nick at 240 and taller than me we were quite the novelty.

The next 3 hrs were the hardest 3 hrs of my life.  The trail was so steep it was like constantly climbing stairs.  The air was getting thinner and that was taking its toll.  I would walk 30 feet and have to stop.  I was dehydrated and my quads began to cramp.  It was very painful.  But there was nothing to do but keep moving upwards.  I knew eventually I'd have to make it but there were a few times I thought I might pass out.  It was slow going and I felt bad for Nick and Ross who stopped and waited for me every time I'd stop.  

We saw an 11 yo boy carrying a pack that we found was about 75 lbs.  The boy probably weighed less than his pack.  He was really struggling but he pressed on.  I tried to find inspiration in this but at this point it was energy my body needed.  Nick had some gummy bears and I ate the and that seemed to help a little. He also had an orange and I ate a piece of that and nearly hurled so threw the rest away.

We finally made it to Namche and I struggled walking thru town.  Namche is considered the gateway to Everest and the other local peaks.  It is a large village and a huge market place.  Of course everything here had to be carried in from Lukla either on the backs of mules or donkeys or oxen or on the backs of the Nepalee.

I was filthy with black dirt and dust from the trail so we paid five bucks for a shower.  I took about a 2 hr nap and then went down to eat.  I was not hungry. Go figure.  Must be the altitude.  I forced myself to eat some boiled potatoes.

My confidence is shaken and I seriously dont know if I will make it as high as EBC.  I think we at at 12200 feet here and EBC is 17600.  Given how hard today was and how I was gasping for air like fish out of water, I don't know how much higher I can go. I will try to find some Cliff bars or power bars before today's 5 hr hike.  It is 1:45 am but I can't sleep....

Today was the most physically difficult thing I've ever done in my life.  This is not a trek for old fat men!  Hiking 8 hrs today nearly killed me.   I bonked with 2 hrs and 9000' elevation gain in front of me.  What should have taken 2 hrs took 3.5 as I had to stop and catch my breath every 100 feet.  Details to follow.

Woke up in middle of night and can't go back to sleep.  I am a littler concerned about tomorrow's hike.  We have 6 hours of hiking planned it sounds like there will be a lot of up and down.  I tend to walk fast and need to force myself to slow down and take it one step at a time.  We had some really steep climbs today that were down right tough and we are not even at altitude yet.  We will be tomorrow. I think we go up to about 12,300'. Air will be noticeably thinner there....

I appologize for the lack of pictures.  I thought I'd be taking pix with my ipad but it is too big to carry all day and once I stow it in the duffle bag, I don't have it till we stop for the day.  We spend two days at the next camp so maybe I can get some pictures taken and this thing recharged.  I'm down to 16% batter left.  Nick paid the $2.50 to get his iPhone charged.  They tend to nickle and dime ya here.  The shower cost $2.50 not $250 as my pervious typo indicated.  There is a shower hose thing in the bathroom which I assume is cold water.  There is no TP provided either but I took some napkins from the mess hall.

Remembered a few things from today....

We crossed a suspended bridge that was a few hundred feet above a canyon.  We had to wait for the caravan of mules/donkeys to pass before we could cross.  I looked at the donkeys and mules and nocticed they  all had bare spots where the girth rubs and cringed at some of the raw spots on some of the animals from where the girsth had rubbed them raw.  I mentioned this to Nick and he said "I don't think life is easy here for anyone".  Crossing the bridge was a little disconcerting.  It had large cables but the rails and sides look like you could fall through if you stepped wrong.  It stirred my innate and natural fear of heights.  

Several times horses passed us trotting on the trail.  The significance of this is lost until you see how rocky and steep most of the trail is.  

We saw some of the local places with gardens of potatoes, wheat, greens and such.  I was surprised at how good the potato plants looked given the rocky soil.  

Most of the houses are made with motor-less rocks meticulously selected to get a nice wall but we also some many houses were made of cut stone blocks that had an really tight fit.  We actually passed a house under construction and saw a guy with a hammer and chisel cutting a block.   It looked like a very slow and laborious process but the houses made of these cut stones look tight.  

 The first day of hiking is done.  We only hiked 3 hrs but it was a lot tougher than I expected and I am spent.  But let me back up.

The flight from Doha to Katmandu was uneventful.  There were probably only 40 people on the flight so there were 200 empty seats.  We both slept most of the flight.  Turns out it was only a 4.5 hr flight.  It was dark when we landed.  We got out bags and looked at the long line at immigration.  But since I had gotten out tourist visa from the Nepal embassy back in March, we went to a different counter where there was no line at all.

We met out outfitter, Unique Path Treking and got in a cab for a scary ride thru the slum.  The slums seemed to go on forever with people and cars sharing the road in sort of a mutual sycronized swimming display.  If of run over a dozen or so people had I been driving.  I can't begin to describe the slums so I won't try.

When we got to our hotel we were met by our guide, Ross.  We had to give him copies of our travel insurance cards and our passport and paid for the balance of the trek, $2350.  I paid in cash as I don't want to use my credit card in a 3rd world country.  I was glad pay and not be carrying so much cash.  We had a dinner which was included in our trek - all the meals are included but all drinks are paid by us.  We were told to meet in the lobby at 0500 and headed to our room after dinner at about 11 pm.  The room was....hmmm, let's say a clean dump.  It had to hard single beds and a little spit of a pillow and the a/c did not work so we opened the window and listened to dogs howl and horns honk.  I exchanged $300 rupees at the hotel and the rate was about 92 rupees to a dollar.  I don't think they use coins as the smallest bill 5 rupee....which is a nickel.

We got up at 0430 and took cold showers.  Nick said he managed to find a position of the knobs where it was sorta warm but I didn't even try to find the sweet spot and just took a refreshing cold shower.    

We met Ross in the lobby at 0505 hrs.  Ross is a young, 26 yo Nepaleese and speaks English well enough that I can understand about 40% of what he says.  We took a cab to a different airport that looked like a run down bus station.  It made the Majuro RMI airport look like Newark!  It took 2 minutes to go thru security.   The provided breakfast in boxes since we had to leave the hotel so early.  I ate a tiny banana and half a roll and a boiled egg.  The bread and muffin were awful stale and inedible.  

We boarded a small prop plane that seated about 20 people. Very cozy plane.  We had a short flight to Lukla, 2,800 meters and landed at the "scariest airport in the world'.  You can google that phrase to see a video of the airport.  You land uphill on the shortest runway I've ever seen.  I was sitting just 1 seat back from the open cockpit so was looking out the front of the plane as we were quickly running out of runway.  We had to turn to avoid hitting the wall but it really was no scary.  The airport in Lukla made the Katmandu airport look modern!

We went to a little cafe and had a really bad cup of instant coffee and used a disgustingly smelly bathroom.  Our porter showed up.  His name is Kumar and he probably weighs 135 lbs.  He is carrying BOTH our out duffle bags.  I put my backpack and contents in my duffle bag so I'm guessing the 2 bags weigh 80 lbs.  He worked hard today and every time I saw him he was seating and obviously working very hard.  I don't know how much the outfitter pays him but they recommend tipping the porter $10 to $12 per day.  Since I think our bags are on the heavy side of typical I think we can do better than $12/day for the 11 days.  Our guide Ross typically gets $15 - $20/day.  

We left the cafe at 0800 hrs and on what I was told was 'mostly a downhill trek'.  They lied.  It was down for a while and then it was up and down up and down.  O M G.  Ross said this was an 'easy' day.  OMG!!  I've hiked some pretty good hikes on Rainier, Mt St Helens, Rockies, Appellations, and Pikes Peak . . . but they were NOTHING like this!  The trail is very rocky and we shared the trail with ox and donkeys and horses and local and other hikers.  I don't know if my legs will even move tomorrow!  It is just me, Nick and Ross hiking and occasionally Kumar would be with us and I pretty much set that pace.  That is, young Nick and Ross had to wait on the old fat man to sit on a rock and catch his breath.

The culture is unique!  I don't know how else to describe it.  I've been to 30+ different countries and Nepal by far the 'most unique'.  

We got to our first camp about 11 am and had lunch.  All the meals are included in the trek but drinks and wifi are extra.  The wi-fi was $5 and Nick and I both bought the service.  We botyh had the yak steak that was exceptionally good.  

The good news is, I can upload my note.  The bad news is, the 173 pictures I took along the trail are on my digital camera and I have no way to get them uploaded to the blog.  I will try to have Nick upload some pictures from his iPhone to the blog.  If that doesn't work, I will try to take some with my iPad so I can upload them.

The room here at the 'camp' is nice.  It has 2 single beds beds and a bath but no shower.  I shower is available for $250.

First day of hiking done.  O. M. G. Details to follow.  $5 for wifi.

After a 12.5 hrs of flying on a 777-200 LR, we landed in Doha, Qatar.  Our connecting flight is not till 1 pm so we had 7 hrs to explore Qatar.  Normally one needs a visa to travel in Qatar but we found they make an exception if you are in transit thru Doha.  We found a free, government sponsored 3 hr city tour.  So after going thru security and immigration we got on a bus for a tour of the city.

Ironically our tour guide in Napaleese.  He said only about 20% of the people in Qatar are Qatareese with the other 80% being people from other countries who come here to work.  Qatar has the highest per capita income in the world....or so I read somewhere.

We toured the new part of the city and saw some awesome architechiture and we toured a museum and an upscale mall and then we went to the old part of the Doha and toured the markets.  The market looked like that scene from Indiana Jones where they are fighting in the market.  There were many Arabs in the traditional Arab garb.  The men look pretty sharp in their crisp white robes but it just make me a little sick to my stomach and sad to see so many woman black burqas.  It was in the high 90s and I  was in shorts and tee shirt and sweating like a pig.

I took a few pictures with my iPad.  I've been using a little digital camera for most of the pictures but then I have no way to upload them to this blog so I try to take a few with this too.

Its almost time to board out flight from Doha to Katmandu.  I think this flight is only 7 or 8 hrs.  I tired and hope to sleep some on this flight.