To Civilisation, Old and New

The flight from Kathmandu to Xian, China transported us between radically different worlds. One day it was a taxi ride through the chaos of dark and narrow lane ways on a street, more pot hole than road to the dingy little airport. The next it was a plush coach down an immaculate new highway from a huge shiny airport. Being so used to the aged , crumbling or non existent infrastructure of India and Nepal, arriving in China was somewhat of a shock. The streets were so clean!

China's development however isn't all shiny and wonderful. There was the endless sea of drab, depressing apartment blocks and the coal power plants and factories belching pollution into the atmosphere. Then there was the apartment development going up around the coal fired power plant. Yes they were building apartments within meters of the thing. With urban planning like that no wonder cancer is the leading cause of death.

The modern metropolis of Xian is located on what was once the Capitol of the Chinese Empire. We had come here to see one of it's greatest relics: The Army of Terracotta warriors. And they were an impressive sight, once we had dodged the tourist trap village of trinket hawkers. Rows upon rows of life sized warriors, standing ready for battle. Each one a unique work of art, detailed down to the pattern on the soles of their shoes. They are an intriguing and beautiful sight, a monument to the god like status of China's first emperor. Such a huge investment of resources to ensure one man's safe passage into the afterlife. Yet it has left us with an awe inspiring sight.

No photos for a few weeks, the great Fire Wall of China restricts access to such things.

UPDATE: (Unless you use a proxy (: ) 

CCP Says No

The downside to organising a trip to a country under occupation by a foreign, authoritarian one party state is that that state from time to time changes it's mind on wether it wants foreigners visiting it's controversially held territory.

People travel to Tibet all the time. The only way in is a tightly controlled tour, but we were willing to take it to see this mysterious and beautiful land beyond the mountains. We booked months ago and were all set to go when last week, the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) decided it would shake things up a little and rewrite the entry requirements. Apparantly they do this periodically every so often, or whenever there are signs of decent within Tibet. The new rules stated that to enter, four people with passports of the same country of issuing must travel together in and out of China. Unless Emme and I multiplied this wasn't going to happen.

Our tour cancelled and with no way of entering Tibet our plans were now in upheaval. It was stressful, but we scrambled together a new plan of action and rushed to get last minute tickets and visas. Tonight we fly to Xi'an.

And not a minute too soon either. In Kathmandu a political storm of it's own is brewing. At midnight tonight the deadline for an agreement on the New constitution is due. And with the parties currently in political deadlock, it's likely Kathmandu will be plunged into yet another round of strikes and protests and confusion over just who is running the country after the Constituent Asemmblies's mandate runs out. Thankfully we leave 45 minutes before this happens.

Off to a nice, stable one party state where power has been in the same hands for over 60 years. No protests will stop our busses or planes in China. In China, they have a way of 'dealing' with such inconvenient voices of opinion.

Here are some photos of our time in Kathmandu.

Prayer Wheels

Pigeons in Durbar Square 

Emme Relaxes in The Garden of Dreams 

Mountain Flight

Everest Trek Day: 22

With Gathering speed the tiny 14 seater plane hurtled down the hill towards the cliff. With just meters to go we took flight from the worlds shortest runway and what I'm sure is the only one on a hill. The plane banked left, flying down the valley we walked up two weeks ago. I could see the trail out my window, not far below us, but at eye level. The mountains reached up arround us. It was so strange to look out of the plane window and see land up above us. The high Himalayas were glistening with snow and ice in the early morning light.

Lukla Airport 

The trip down took far less time. In one day (a long day) we walked down the equivalent of five days up. With every step more oxygen filled our lungs. It was great to get down from high altitude. We spent two days in Namche Bazaar, enjoying not walking, before the final push to Lukla. After a relatively incident free three weeks on the last day I managed to fall through a suspension bridge. In stepping to the side to let two people pass, my left leg slipped through a small gap where the steel walkway meets the wire mesh of the side. I caused a kerfuffel with my leg dangling off the side. I was soon free and escaped with only a small graze. And I thought suspension walkways dangled over raging mountain rivers were completely safe.

But we were leaving such adventures behind. Soon the scars of roads were appearing upon the landscape. Back to civilisation. That's when I noticed a pair of doleful eyes peering from the backpack of the woman in front of me. She was carrying a puppy. Apparently it had been brought to her as she was working in a medical clinic after being found half frozen in the ice. The lucky puppy was lucky enough to be heading to a new life in America.

The sprawling mess of Kathmandu came into view in less than 20minutes. Touchdown. Back to the smog, the chaos and hubbub of Nepal's unrelentingly ugly capitol. An amazing three weeks in the mountains, definitely one of the greatest experiences of this year.

The Highest Day

Everest Trek Day: 17

We made it! After two weeks of trekking through the Himalayas we finally reached our goal, 5364m above sea level, a little camp of yellow tents.

The walk from Gorak Shep took us over a steep and rocky moraine, mounds of rubble thrown up by the moving glacier. At every bend our goal moved into sight, a field of little yellow dots on the edge of a perilous looking ice flow. High above us Everest could be seen, peaking from behind other peaks. As we descended from the ridge it disappeared from view, you can't see Mount Everest from Everest Base Camp. A short meander through melting ice fields and we were there, in the town of Mountaineers, perched atop a glacier.

Two weeks of exertion, determination and endurance had led to this moment. It was a great feeling, knowing we had arrived at this place on our own two feet, unguided and unassisted, carrying all our needs in the packs on our backs. We had survived hail storms, impossible slopes, snakes, squat toilets, the cold and the altitude. What an adventure it has been. As the group tours rolled in with their guides (each had a western and two Nepali guides) and their dedicated yak teams carrying all their needs, I felt proud that we had gone it alone. In fact relatively few people we met were unassisted, and even fewer came all the way from Jiri.

We spent arround half an hour at Base Camp, taking photos and reflecting on how far we had come. We didn't want to stay up here two long, I had already suffered a violent altitude attack the day before. On the walk up to Gorak Shep I felt fine, we found a nice lodge and sat down to order a plate of momos. 20 minutes later I was hunched over a toilet, my head spinning, groaning for Diamox (a drug that assists acclimatisation.) Despite our very cautious acclimatisation plan, my body just did not appreciate being starved of oxygen at 5000m. I spent the rest of the afternoon in bed, as did half the people in our lodge.

Everest (Center)

We left EBC, feeling slightly dizzy and so descended to below 5000m that night. The extra oxygen provided instant relief, and it's all downhill from here.

Ascent to Everest Base Camp

Everest Trek Day: 15

From Namche our strategy changed. altitude gain, now the primary concern, constrained the distance we could travel each day. Whereas prior to Namche we were walking 7-9 hours a day, now we were down to leisurely strolls rof about two hours. At first this new speed laboriously slow, but as the air thinned even small slopes left us breathless.

The walk from Namche

With every passing day the scenery became more dramatic as high snowy peaks closed in around us. Unlike the punishing trail from Jiri, the route from Namche gently climbed up the Khumbu valley, following the icy blue river that flowed down from the Khumbu glacier at Everest. The forests thinned, giving way to stunted alpine shrubbery and then to open tundra. Instead of donkeys we were now passed by caravans of yaks. Everywhere colourful prayer flags fluttered in the wind. The trail, winding past sacred rock carvings and cairns of religiously piled stones. Every now and then we would pass a Sherpa carrying a massive load on their back, a cabinet perhaps, wooden beams, gas bottles, fuel. An amazing feat of strength but a telling sign of the state of Nepal's economy. There must be few places in the world where using humans for transportation is still cheaper than animal labour.

Prayer Flags Flutter in the wind

 

It's hard to describe the Himalayas. In Australia we have only hills, gently sculpted by the millennia. Here the mountains thrust into the sky as pointed, jagged walls of snowy rock. They were so close and yet so high above us. Here the forces of nature oppose to carve a dramatic landscape. Tectonic plates push upwards and ice grinds downwards. Every now and then we would spot Everest, there in the distance, an unassuming peak really. It's easy to see why it was not known to be the highest for so long, as it is surrounded by many other seemingly higher (perspective wise) and more dramatic mountains.

As I mentioned, altitude was the enemy. Taking it slow minimised the symptoms of oxygen deprivation to a few minor headaches. The human body has to pull off a feat of adjustment to survive up here. Part of acclimatisation involves the body expelling excess carbon dioxide (building up due to the lack of oxygen) as bicarbonate ions in urine. This leads to an increase in urination, and I mean litres and litres every day. I felt my kidneys pulled off quite a hydrological feat. Then there were the wild and vivid dreams, often dark and nightmarish. All part of normal acclimatisation. At our highest point the atmosphere was only 50% the pressure of sea level.
 
As before we stayed each night, and now some of our days in lodges. Most were nice, with warm dining rooms. One was cold and smelt of urine. After a mornings trek we could spend the afternoon reading, eating, writing, playing cards or wandering about the mountains. It was such a contrast to the first week in which days consisted of walk, eat, bed. As we climbed so did the prices. It was something of a shock for someone who is accustomed to spending $2 on his dinner. $5 shower anyone? I can imagine I smell quite bad.

The Middle Hills

Everest Trek Day: 08

After seven days in the wilderness (well rural wilderness) we have arrived in Namche Bazar, 3400m up, a land of flushing toilets and other worldly delights.

The journey from Kathmandu began with a bus ride, the crazy kind of bus ride with people sitting on the roof and standing in the aisle as we rounded perilous mountain bends. We were thankful for our seats, for it were a long ten hours to Jiri where the trail began. On day two the hike began. We strapped on our packs and begun to climb up into the mountains. Over the next seven days we trekked through challenging terrain, up and over what would be called mountains in Australia but these are mealy the 'middle hills,' the prelude to the real mountains beyond. A typical day may have included a thousand meter ascent after breakfast followed by a six hundred meter descent after lunch. It was tough, but so very enjoyable.

Beginning the Trek: Fresh and Clean

A short time later....

The scenery was breathtaking, ranging through terraced rice fields to dense mossy forests with high snow capped mountains ever rising high above us. Cold, ice blue rivers crashed far below, crossed by wobbly steel suspension bridges. Thankfully they are all well maintained.

It is spring here and baby animals abound, watching us strange humped (our backpacks) creatures with doleful eyes. Delicate wildflowers are blooming, as are the rhododendrons. One day I saw a mongoose and on another a rainbow coloured ground bird. Then there was the encounter with the giant python on the trail, it must have been over 3m long with a diameter of at least 15cm. It sent me running in a panic back to Emme.


Each morning the weather would start out clear, the sun peaking over the mountains to warm the valleys. We would set out at 7am into the fine morning, but at midday, as we ate Dahl bhat or fried noodles the clouds would roll up the valley. In the afternoon there would be a storm, turning the trail into a slippery mix of mud and donkey dung. We were caught once in hail, once in snow. It is true that the weather has been abnormal, in one village we stayed in their entire crop was wiped out by a massive hailstorm the day before. As there is only one growing season a year there will be no food in that village. Our lodge owner showed us pictures of his kids building snowmen from it, in forty years he has never seen it happen.

The landscape

Our days have been long, normally ending at two or four in the afternoon. Each night we slept in basic lodges owned by local families. The rooms are cheap, the toilets holes in the ground and the food usually pretty good. After a long day trekking I am ravenous. Each night, and sometimes at lunch and along the trail we would meet up with the friends we met along the way from jiri, a man from Gosford, a woman from Spain and a couple from England. Together we shared an experience missed out on by most who simply fly in.

In fact only 5% of Trekkers now chose to walk in from Jiri. This is a great shame as they miss out on so many beautiful and varied landscapes. All the more for us to savour alone, our trail shared only with the odd caravan of donkeys.

Today we joined the 'trekkers highway' from Lukla. Suddenly 'mountain resorts' were springing up and we were passed by group tours of old folk trailed by porters carrying their unimaginably heavy loads. We're not going to complain however, we checked into a nice hotel and plan to spend a day relaxing and acclimatising. It even has a flushing, sit down toilet!

Next stop: Everest!

Everest Trek Eve

Everest Trek Day: 00

Tomorrow I embark upon the greatest challenge of the trip thus far; a 20 day trek through the Himalayas to the base camp of Mount Everest. I'm excited and yet slightly nervous. After five months of mostly urban (dusty and polluted) settings a stint in the high mountains will be great.

My trekking buddy, Emme arrived from Sydney, jet lagged but looking forward to the journey ahead. She was met by myself and Emily, who has been in Nepal a month. For two days there were three high school friends across the world in Kathmandu together. Our time at school seems worlds away.

Today was spent madly preparing, buying permits and flights and the like. Huge protests, an army of riot police and closed banks didn't stop us. Nepal is a country with a political system in complete disarray. Protests, strikes and the like are a common occurrence as people vent their frustration at the broken system. Their political history is long and fraught. Today the rally was by the Maoists, hammer and sickle flags flying.

Tomorrow isn't actually a walking day, it involves a long bus ride to Jiri from Kathmandu. From there the mountains await.