A farewell lunch

12/1/19

As things wound down we performed some last minute shopping for trinkets and special items. Tonight we will depart Nepal as our trip comes to an end. It is bitter sweet but returning home is on everyone’s mind. Today’s blog is dedicated to Myla, our guide, who has been wonderful. This 40-something-year-old hiked all the way with us to base camp and beyond. He has an adorable family in Kathmandu, and his life story is quite interesting. He started out in the mountains with his village close to Lukla. He worked as a porter since the age of 14 and has slowly moved up the ranks to become a well known and well connected guide. He married his lovely wife and had one daughter then moved to Kathmandu. The reason I am telling you about him is because on our last day he invited us to his home for lunch with his family. 

This was a truly unique experience. He met us at our guesthouse and we drove through the gnarly streets of Kathmandu towards his neighborhood.

The scenery changed dramatically with tourism and trinket shops giving way to tailors and shops filled with house goods. No more tall and white pedestrians but now Nepalese of all ages and casts. We turned down a dirt road in the middle of the city towards what appeared to be a residential area with a cacophony poorer brick and mud huts mixed between concrete apartment buildings. We arrive outside one such building and our humble guide began apologizing about the size of his home before with arrived. Climbing out of the car we were the spectacle of the neighborhood.

Elderly women looking on with interest and children stopped in their tracks to stare. We climbed the stairs to his apartment which was a 10x10’ room laid out in pure utilitarian fashion. Against one wall was the “kitchen”, a dual propane burners with two pots cooking and. being balanced on the burners with pieces of brick. There were two propane columns serving as supports for a single shelf/counter/cutting board. Against another two walls were two twin sized beds set at right angles, and on the final wall, a spartan shelf with some personal items such as soap etc. We met some of our porters here and the 11 of us crammed into the small space made up just for us. They brought together two surfaces for use to use as tables while we sat on the beds. Myla’s 10 year old daughter and a much younger cousin were cute and entertaining as we made small talk. Myla’s beautiful wife set to work right away cooking on her two burners while we chatted and laughed. Then the girls surprised us all by carrying in large bottles of our favorite beer. Our hosts were just as elated to see our surprise as we were to have the cold drinks. I don’t quite know how this woman did it but on two burners she managed to create an epic feast of Dal Bhat; a traditional dish comprised of multiple heavily seasoned components such as rice, lentil soup, curry potato’s, curry chicken, a special slaw, and tendori cooked chicken arranged amongst various brass plates and sauce bowels. The food was exquisite and filling. What she did in two to three pots and pans it would have taken my entire kitchen. We stuffed ourselves to the glee of our hosts then continued with origami and English lessons. After wrapping up Myla, his wife, and one of the porters presented each of us with a colorful Khata (holy scarf) donned by his daughter. We each received a blue, green, and gold Khatas.

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With a bow and a ‘nameste’ per presentation. It was very moving. We said our goodbyes, hugged, and profusely thanked Myla’s family for the feast and we were transported back to our guesthouse to pack for our final flight out. What a trip!!!

Epiblogue

11/29-30/19

Well I just couldn’t stay away. After a restful night in Lukla we met our guide at the chaotic airport where all the trekkers were attempting to ‘hitch a ride” on one of the flights out. Luckily we had tickets, but unluckily it was to a city which was a 4 hour drive from Kathmandu. Again, we boarded a rickety aircraft and were aimed DOWNHILL along a SHORT runway ending precipitously in a 1000m cliff. I don’t think I was the only one who held his breath for that nerve racking takeoff.

We landed in a dusty field and found our driver to Kathmandu. Those roads put Montana’s winding, mountain hugging roads to shame. As our driver darted and weaving through mountain traffic with the precision of a surgeon leaving his fares in a perpetual sphincter puckering state, we did enjoy the countryside of Nepal. It felt like a National Geographic moment with my hat on backwards hanging out of a car window with warm Napoli air blowing in my face as villages, farms, and people passed  this was an adventure. We stopped a few times on the way to sample exotic fruits and stretch. Then we hit the dense traffic and mayhem of the big city. The smog was everywhere, the streets were saturated with motos and cars, and the heat was oppressive. We arrived just in time, for our patience was thinning.  

Ah, a warm shower to wash away weeks of cold weather hiking grime. May have been my highlight of the trip. Ben and I set off for massages and bough the trekkers package which involves stretching and walking along our backs. It was heaven. That night we rejoined the parents for a wonderful dinner and drank and laughed all the way back to our hotel. Tomorrow Ben and I are going white water rafting!

We awoke early for some coffee before our rafting trip. We had been egging in our guide (all 5 foot nothing of him) to come rafting with us. It wasn’t until we were on our way that he mentioned he could not swim. We met up with our hodgepodge rafting company and were joined by some polish and Australian tourists. It started out as a simple trip. Ben and I were the only ones with some experience so we sat in front and took the brunt of the waves. Then the rapids grew more intense.

On our last rapid our guide told us, “when the raft flips over swim to the right, cause if you go left, you die.” He did not disappoint we raced down a tumultuous narrow span of ferocious water. A literal wall of water slammed I to our boat soaking everyone and Myla said it was the scariest moment of his life as he sat shaking like a leaf. But we made it through laughing and whooping. We then had a Nepali lunch by the side of the river and took our 3 hour terrifying ride back to Kathmandu. Meanwhile mom, Viv, and dad took a guided tour through the city visiting beautiful and tranquil Hindu holy sites and sampling the local cuisine. One more day of shopping then we head back! Can’t wait!!!

Jamais-vu

11/28/19

Some may call me quixotic but my caruncles began to tear up as we approached the final uphill of the last day of our Everest trek. We made it!! 100 miles of trail and 15,000’ of total elevation change later we finished! This adventure was a pure metanoia; from battling dysania to the aching muscles and effects of high altitude and low oxygen. I am happy to finally don some non-mephitic clothes and have a hot shower when we return to Kathmandu. I can vaticinate that family and friends will be gathered around tables overflowing with delicious foods and sharing tales for thanksgiving but the Rosenfeld’s will be a group of osculators huddled together around an iron stove swapping trail stories over tea at 10,000’ in the Himalayas. We miss you all! I believe I can speak for Ben when I say that we are limerance with our beautiful, intelligent, caring, and understanding wives for letting us abandon them on this auspicious holiday. I know that may sound bombastic but I mean every word, without malarkey. 

This trial of a hike has been and eye opening experience. The sheer vistas are without zoilism or comparison. If you ever look at a screen saver photo and think, “wow, that is beautiful” imagine standing there in real life and being completely awestruck. The sheer power and beauty of the Himalayas would move even the most laodicean person to an emotional state. 

Done. We are done. Now we rest in a lodge next to that crazy airport in Lukla with the SHORT slanted runway listening to the treasure trove of planes and rescue helicopters buzzing in and out every few minutes. We will spend the next two days in Kathmandu then make the epic journey back to the states. If anyone desires something from Nepal please request in the comments section. This will be my last blog of the trip. 

On a side note, Yak meant and cheese is delicious. 

To my callipygian wife of 2 spectacular years: I love you so much! I cannot wait to get back to you and even more I cannot wait for you to finish residency so we can galavant across the world together. There are amazing sights to be seen, foods to be sampled, and experiences to be shared. You are my rock! 

Down, down, down

11/27/19

Sorry about last night but no internet. 

Today’s breakfast was a buzz with stories and anticipation of the end of the hike. Mom and Viv are taking a helicopter to Lukla airport as mom has been having some troubles with the altitude. It will be Viv’s first chopper ride and they landed at our hotel which was one of the production sites for the movie Everest. Anyways, it was interesting as the helicopter came in for a landing on the cliff edge of our hotel between the trees as the porters were shooing cattle off the landing space.

The pilot’s landing was like threading a needle and was a true work of art. Not my cup of tea, for a first flight without terror, but I’m sure Viv and mom will be fine. We watched their action-movie takeoff as my mother waved emphatically from the front window.  Then they were off and we would see them in 2 days time for our dramatic cliff diving flight. We set off for the reverse of one of our hardest uphill days and now it will be a challenge on our reverse muscles. I was as encouraging as I could be to those poor unfortunate souls making the brutal trek upwards. With each person I could see the familiar tortured determination and imminent breaking point stare stamped upon their faces. We meandered down and down and down with disbelief as to how we ever accomplished the reverse direction.  

I did remember a story from yesterday. As we were trekking on a winding, mountain hugging trail I heard a lot of rustling coming from above us. I was looking for some cows when all of a sudden a giant (cow sized) hairy mountain goat leaped a mere 3 feet in front of dad and bounded again off the trail down the mountain to be followed by a male goat twice the size of the first. We were in awe at how fast the goats descended 200-400m in a matter of seconds. We were all feeling in awe, as I said, until our guide came running up to us exclaiming, “I thought that sound was a rockslide headed for you all”.  I, not-so-calmly replied, “WHAT?! There are rockslides here!?!” To which he calming stated, “not to worry, you’re still alive aren’t you?”  

 We finished our second to last day of hiking and sampled some local beer and Yak cheese and steak. One. More. Day. 

Culling the hikers

11/26/19

Last night we slept like babies. My limbs were still screaming today but in a good way.  It feels so good not to have that altitude sickness feeling. Today we decided to do a combo hike to get to Namche (where mom and Viv are) a day earlier. This meant an 8 hour hike mostly downhill with one more devastating uphill towards the end. The sky was blue, the birds were chirping, and we were again below the alpine zone.  Looking out we were able to view our destinations over the massive rolling hills and valleys. We set out at a great pace and had a great hike. I wanted to discuss the multitud of flown out hikers. I had not mentioned this before for fear of jinxing our own progress but we did extremely well. At each stop on the way up we lost hikers to illness, injury, fatigue, or just plain poor alti-tudes...(chuckling to self over that one). For example, at our last stop an entire group decided they’d had enough and required 6 helicopters to pick them up. Some hikers broke down crying in the trail itself and turned around. An interesting theme Ben and I noted were the couples.  The men would be determined and pacing forward while their female counterparts carried looks of dread and quiet contemplation of a soon ending relationship. Now, before all you feminists attack, the single women and groups of women looked ecstatic and  preformed admirably.  

We arrived at our destination and were greeted with enthusiastic hugs and dreams from my mom. We they promptly all took showers. Warm, steaming, soap filled showers. I realized I hadn’t washed my face in a week and scrubbed every single inch with glee. Refreshed  and hydrated we congregated again in the dining hall to share pictures and regale stories of our adventures. Yet, again after a monster hike I turned in early to bed. Sorry for the late post. Only two more days of hiking then we are back in Kathmandu. 

Death march and the great decent

11/25/19

It was pitch black, both Ben and I were snuggly wrapped in our warm and soft sleeping bags when out of the darkness rang my alarm. 5 am, we were set to start our death march to this mysterious viewpoint. In the darkness and bone chilling cold we arose to prepare, each small sound echoing like a trumpet in our little plywood room. We fashioned on our head lamps, donned our winter jackets and multiple layers while trying to push the invasive cold from our bodies. The inn was silent except for every movement we made amplified by thin walls and creaking doors. The bathroom floors and our waters had frozen overnight. We met dad who looked equally enthused to be awake and out of bed at this hour. We swallowed some Luke warm coffee then turned on our head lamps and headed out. Let me just say now, I may get negative for a bit but in the history of me, this was the most challenging/worst/god awful/kill-me-now hike I have ever attempted. It was two hours of straight uphill in the dark and cold. It was also at the highest elevation of our trip a whopping >18,000’. Imagine sprinting a marathon while breathing through one of those coffee mixing straws. I finally found my physical limit about .25 miles from the top as I started to become lightheaded and I was seeing spots. I was sure I had a 70% chance of just passing out.  Luckily I had Ben who was super supportive and coaxed me toward the finish line. We made it to the top and low and behold, Everest was covered in clouds. This would be interesting as it started to snow just as we left signaling the end of the season. But we were now on our way back down. The sphincter tightening decent was also a pure joy as part of this early morning jaunt. Once down we were too fatigued to eat but set off back from whence we came. It was a huge net down hill today -1400’ and with each step it became easier to breath that sweet, succulent, and tantalizing oxygen. Gone were the days of gasping for air. It was also warming up slightly though behind us we witnessed the mountains being blanketed with snow. The rest of the trek was reminiscent of Game of Thrones and walking behind the wall. Ben didn’t understand why, at random, I would whisper, ”you know nothing Ben Snow”. Today was long and at times it felt as if our bodies would revolt because we were using all new muscles for going down hill. It is like going to the gym doing a ton of squats and not being able to walk the next day except here it was all in one day.  With our bodies screaming, “what the hell are we doing?!” we trudged onward. The final portion of the journey took us through a glacier cut valley with 100’ walls and flattened land in the center. We arrived and as usual I collapsed in bed sore, but relieved we made it. For all you sea-levelers take a deep breath... don’t ever forget that sensation.  Shortness of breath secondary to low oxygen is a very unsettling feeling. That’s it for now.

Stay tuned.

Lifetime Bucket list: hike to Everest Base Camp... FUCKING CHECK!

11/23/19

The day started slow. As you could read from my last post, spirits were low as this interminable altitude reeked havoc on our bodies. However as we set out we found our stride and spirits once again rose. We even conquered a hill without stopping. Mt. Everest was within spitting distance to our right the entire way towards base camp. Unfortunately we could also see off in the distance the dreaded lookout hike which we have awaiting us tomorrow. From a far it appear like a serpent snaking up a vertical mountainside. We joked and chatted along the route feeling our legs gaining strength with each step, for after all we would reach Base Camp today! The weather was sunny and warm when not in the frigid shade. Oh! Did I mention that we were hiking along one of the world’s oldest glaciers. You could hear the ice cracking and grinding as it echoed off the world’s tallest mountains. There were ups and downs and even some significant boldering. We arrived at our final lodgings early morning and had a nice cup of hot black tea to stave off the morning chill. Everyone has a hacking cough, I think cold induced asthma. Then we set out towards our primary objective.  We crossed ridge lines, and sauntered through sandy valleys until we saw it! A vast rocky valley on top of a rock covered glacier only marked by some prayer flags and a spray painted rock held aloft by glacial ice. Our guide informed us that in the high season this entire valley is a giant tent city.  But now, not a tent to be seen. He also pointed out the route they take up Everest and through the glaciers. We high fived and dad gave Myla one of the most genuine hugs I have ever witnessed him give another male. Pictures were taken, I expanded on the glory that is our life and then we begrudgingly trodden back. We reached the lodge too tired to eat or think and went straight to our rooms.  Outside the plywood walls you could hear the wind ripping at the small building. But we were safe, warm, and comfortable in our beds preparing for tomorrow’s death march. 

But as I leave you today, my tiny audience, I have to thank my parents for the opportunity to have this incredible life, our wives for letting us go for 3 weeks, and Lady Luck for the great weather. We fucking hiked to Everest Base Camp today!!!!!