Nepal Pictures

Three hundred and sixty something days and counting...

Just over a year ago I left New York on a journey that I knew would change my life, however, it was impossible to tell just what I would encounter along the way.

Here I am still travelling down this path with an unknown destination, however it's this very journey that keeps me going.  "The journey is the destination" I used to tell my kids at ALE.

I knew that this experience would change things for me and going to a place that literally couldn't be further away from home definitely did just that.

Signing a 13 month contract was the longest contract I had ever committed to and at first it seemed daunting to me, then I settled in and found the flow of things, then the reality of 6 more months set in, along with (I'm not really sure how to say this...) let me just say that several factors more numerous than I want to list here allowed me to make the decision that...I'm DONE with this company or as they say in the states..."Done like dinner" or in New Zealand..."Done and Dusted"
or multiple choice...
"I'm as done as ______"
1) Conan O'Brien hosting The Tonight Show
2) Eliot Spitzer's political career
3) Healthcare Reform
4) Tiger Woods and golf

OK, maybe some of those things aren't a lock just yet, but I've decided long ago that I am looking for other things.  I like Hong Kong and I'm not ready to live in the US yet; I can't wait to go back and visit though.  Around 60 days and I'll be back in the good ol' US of A and I've also booked 3 shifts at ALE that will bring me into the summer.  Katy's coming to visit me in New York and then I'll return for DrB HK Part 2 sometime in August, who knows what that will involve...

A quick summary of the past year would involve travelling to Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Macau, and Nepal.  Also seeing Mount Everest from the airplane, then Dhaulagiri and Annapurna the 7th and 10th highest peaks in the world from the ground.  Scuba diving, reaching 12,170 feet in altitude, walking on 110+ degree Malaysian beach sand, being in 4 countries in 16 hours, sleeping everywhere from luxury buses and junkboats to local buses' plywood bench seats and cardboard boxes. As well as finding love and getting a place to call my own in Hong Kong among many many more things.

The spring season starts March 1, people are arriving now, although the nor' easter on the East coast is messing up some people's plans.  The confusion and frustration have reawakened, oh March 31 where are you?

The Nepal pictures and journal are coming soon, I'm getting a lot more pictures from Elena soon.

I have some ideas about this blog and some changes I'd like to make, I'm hoping to finally finish my journal from last spring and reorganize it to the correct dates and maybe put in my trail journal from my Long Trail journey in 2008, I'd also like to integrate all my twitter messages into the posts somehow.  This is all in hopes of creating a print version of this blog I think it would be pretty cool to have a hard copy of all my writings and pictures, we'll see how it goes.  I think the Lapsap Stringband and yelling at kids might take up most of my time once things get going...

Pokara Day #2

Went to the Museam here in Pokara today, it is based around the 8000+ meter peaks and the first ascenders of each and a lot of Nepal geology and environmental stuff, we spent about 4 hours wandering around.

Khem booked a short river rafting trip for us tomorrow 3 hours i think then we'll continue on to Kathmandu.

We'll be busy on the 24th, planning on visiting another museam and shopping a little bit then our farewell dinner that evening, hopefully I'll get my Kukri that night.....

Glad we stayed in one place today, we've been moving everyday since the 8th and it's wearing me out a little, getting ready to rest up in Hong Kong in 3 days time.

Posted via email from Doc Bones in Hong Kong

Pokara

Done trekking, and in Pokara one more day here then Kathmandu for a day, then back to HK, so many pictures and stories...I'm a bona fide firefighter now, bucket brigade and all...

Posted via email from Doc Bones in Hong Kong

Untitled

We have internet at 9100 feet! We are in Chame, Manang right now we
turned back after last night in Pisang, we were hit with a lot of rain
on our first day of hiking so it was snowing in the higher elevations
which we walked into two days ago, yesterday was good weather, but it
started snowing today heavily again. Lots of people going back down,
so we decided we should too since there is no way to make Throng La
pass with that amount of snow so we are heading back down and going to
Pokara and the other way around. We will be riding mostly once we get
down, but hiking for another two days to get to the jeep road, then
bus to Pokara, then jeep along up to Muktinath over a couple of days
with some short hikes in there i think.

Khem's making some calls and we stopped our hike at 2:30 and will
press on with better weather tomorrow, fresh chicken tonight, so many
stories to tell, everything is awesome so far though

Posted via email from Doc Bones in Hong Kong

Don't Call My Name Out Your Window When I'm Leavin'

Elana finally arrived, after delays and rebookings, and delays and holdings.  Khem and I picked her up at the airport at about 12:30, but we arrived at 9:45 only to find out she was delayed.  Then the fog prohibited her from landing for a while.

 

We are getting ready to go, we leave early tomorrow for a long day of riding on a bus and then a jeep toward a place called Syange (I think)

Then it's walking all after that, we are finding out more details tonight, Khem, Elana, and I, plus 2 porters and a guide for about 14 days, hopping from tea house to tea house and not camping as much as i thought.   Temps look ok and haven't  seen a drop of rain since arriving a week ago, so hopefully we'll continue to have good luck.  We'll make our way to Manang, and then Throng La pass, and then arround the Annapurna range hiking and jeep riding eventually getting to Poon Hill and finishing at Pokara

 

Khem has a special ceremony for his nephew tonight, we'll have to head back for that soon

 

I'm really excited to get out of Kathmandu and get going on this.

 

My ticket back to HK is on Feb 25th so the clock is ticking...

 

 

Posted via email from Doc Bones in Hong Kong

Back at internet cafe

for a few minutes before the power goes off again at 9am.  Had pizza hut last night with Khem and his twin sons, great to get some Western style food for the first time in a few days, and I realize i miss it but not that much.

 

Had Nepalese tea this morning (and every other morning) it's a really spicy tea boiled in fresh, non-homogenized milk and then strained, mixed with sugar and then a touch of instant coffee if you like.  I'm definitely bringing some back to HK.

 

We are delayed a bit because Elana won't be here until tomorrow because a visa issue, so that pushes back our starting date until Feb 8th, but we should still be OK, and I have an open ended ticket, I just need to be out of here in 30 days because of my visa.....................

........oh yea and that Treasure Island spring season or whatever...

Posted via email from Doc Bones in Hong Kong

in kathmandu nepal now

It's been a busy few days here in nepal, going around with Khem to various meetings, listening to hours of Nepalese that I don't understand, eating rice and curry and rice and curry and chicken and rice and curry and dhal and rice and curry.  Khem and I went out of the city two days ago to scout for places for his company and he found a place to make an abseil.

 

We plan on leaving for our trek on the 8th for about 16 days then some rafting or something.  Back to Hong Kong on the 25th I think, weather is good here 50-60 and sunny, the city is dusty and busy, it reminds me a little of the Philippines, but much different culture here.

 

Khem butchered a chicken in his bathroom here and burned the feathers off with a kerosene burner and made a curry dish out of it for lunch, charred feathers and all...

 

The electricity comes and goes here, on for an hour off for six, then on for 5 then off for 3 that's how it is here is guess.

 

Things are good, wish I could post pictures but I dont have my cable so that will have to wait. 

Posted via email from Doc Bones in Hong Kong