been so long, just not sure where to begin.
i guess an appropriate staring point would be the moment i returned to nepal. got back four days before a festival, february 19th rings a bell. shivaratri, a festival for shiva, the hindu god, the destroyer. celebrated in india and nepal by ingesting/inhaling copious amounts of ganja, i thought would make for an interesting arrival.
but arriving i caught a bad flu from the plane, and bedridden and feverish, i barely managed the call to insurance to point me in a direction of a somewhere to get looked at. fever broke, so on the mend i went to the festival. pashnipati was the location, home of the holiest hindu shrines, uncountable people, a thronging mass of epic size, a haze as cover, of ganja and smoke from the creamations of the folks lucky to have died on such an auspicious occasion. now normally this kind of surreal expereince would have me switch into participant/observer mode, ready to five sense my way through. unfortunately, my post-feverish condition had me claustrophobic and completely unable to enjoy the other-culture-ness of it all. instead, i wanted the hotel bed, SAT TV and an order of room service veggie food in hopes that it would steel me for the beginning bus ride; the start of my longest most difficult trek yet.
day 1: Kathmandu to Shivalaya (bus/1770m/5807ft)
the bus ride was an over-extended jacked up bumpy ride of more-than-necessary legnth. reported time of travel of 6 hours eventually ended up being a near 12 hour affair, tire puncture, people puking and all.
at points the bus a bucking bronco, propelling people out of their seats and into the ceiling. this was a bus ride that i finally felt fear. the bus driver reminicent of those nutters drunk on chicha in ecuador, that rare mix of speed, road conditions and lack of driver concern.
scrounged a room in a nearly shuttered lodge, as the *season* had yet to begin in earnest. early trekker gets no worm. no-love dahl bhat, the food of trek-champions, that i must write up a proper explanation, as what it deserves.
so that began my first day, the next, first day-walking:
day 2: Shivalaya to Bhandar (900m ascent-600m descent: 2180m/7152ft)
i guess an appropriate staring point would be the moment i returned to nepal. got back four days before a festival, february 19th rings a bell. shivaratri, a festival for shiva, the hindu god, the destroyer. celebrated in india and nepal by ingesting/inhaling copious amounts of ganja, i thought would make for an interesting arrival.
but arriving i caught a bad flu from the plane, and bedridden and feverish, i barely managed the call to insurance to point me in a direction of a somewhere to get looked at. fever broke, so on the mend i went to the festival. pashnipati was the location, home of the holiest hindu shrines, uncountable people, a thronging mass of epic size, a haze as cover, of ganja and smoke from the creamations of the folks lucky to have died on such an auspicious occasion. now normally this kind of surreal expereince would have me switch into participant/observer mode, ready to five sense my way through. unfortunately, my post-feverish condition had me claustrophobic and completely unable to enjoy the other-culture-ness of it all. instead, i wanted the hotel bed, SAT TV and an order of room service veggie food in hopes that it would steel me for the beginning bus ride; the start of my longest most difficult trek yet.
day 1: Kathmandu to Shivalaya (bus/1770m/5807ft)
the bus ride was an over-extended jacked up bumpy ride of more-than-necessary legnth. reported time of travel of 6 hours eventually ended up being a near 12 hour affair, tire puncture, people puking and all.
at points the bus a bucking bronco, propelling people out of their seats and into the ceiling. this was a bus ride that i finally felt fear. the bus driver reminicent of those nutters drunk on chicha in ecuador, that rare mix of speed, road conditions and lack of driver concern.
scrounged a room in a nearly shuttered lodge, as the *season* had yet to begin in earnest. early trekker gets no worm. no-love dahl bhat, the food of trek-champions, that i must write up a proper explanation, as what it deserves.
so that began my first day, the next, first day-walking:
day 2: Shivalaya to Bhandar (900m ascent-600m descent: 2180m/7152ft)
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