lamuse

On Top Of The World

Okay not really but it sure felt like it. I am having an amazing experience and it is hard to describe in words everything i have seen and done these past few weeks. First and foremost none of this would be have  been possible with out Mingmar Sherpa. Boy has he taken good care of me with my bad knees and all

Photographing the nuns was again one of those experiences that words can not describe.  I brought them socks and swearters. The nuns say thanks so much to all of my friends who gave me socks. I think i brought 28 pairs.  Each nun got to pair of sock, a sweater, and for the older nuns a warm pair of long underwear.  A lot of the nuns were not there. Some were in Tibet, some were in India, some were traveling to other monastaries I photographed 4 of them and they were very nice let me shoot them.  Of course like an idiot... i took a complete digger inside the monastery. And like all good people... they hada  good laugh.  I have trekked all over the place and have not fallen once.  I am trying to be a serious photographer and i over a bench backwards. Nice! I will display photos as soon as i can.

I hiked up to the base of Ama Dablam. Just about 16,000 ft. Quite the accomplishment for me and my knees. I wore 3 knee braces for that trek.  I would like to say that it was the most amazing experience of my life... and it was. This whole trip has been. I can not wait to share my photos. I have made a great friend... Mingmar Sherpa who has led my trek, taken tons of photos with me, and made me laugh, sing, whistle while huffing and puffing and looking up.

TIme to sign off. I am fine.

Love to all my friends and family who are following the blog. I promise photos are on the way.

Namche Day 3

Hello All.

My trek began three days ago. I flew into luka after a harrowing plane ride. we got onto our twin otter 16 seater only to get off again because the brakes did not work. good thing the pilot caught that one. you fly through mountains and there is no margin for error. you land on a tiny air strip and hope for the best. no wonder it is the most dangerous airport in the world. after we landed we had a 4 hour trek to our first destination Phakding. It was beautiful and i was good and tired. Slept 11 hours. In the morning we started our trek to Namche. Mingmar Sherpa is also a photographer (he is amazing) and we stopped many times to take photos. Our 6 hour trek turned into 9... but why hurry. It was an uphill trek and my knees were happy to rest. During the trek we crossed 5 giant suspension bridges over the Dudhkoshi river. If you are afraid of hikes this trek is not for you. We crossed over our check point to the Sagormatha national park. The first mountain i saw was the Thomserku. It is a sacred Buddhist mountain and you are not allowed to climb it.

I ate water buffalo momo's... a dumpling. I am eating a lot of dal..yum. and starting tomorrow i go all veggie as the meat gets scary the further along you trek. i am at 11,284 ft and tomorrow i go to 13+. The highest i will go is around 15,000. 

Today in Namche i went to the Sherpa Museum and the Everest museum.  Sherpa's are increadable. What they do on Everest is just mindboggling. I have tremendous respect for them.  Tomorrow in Namche is market day and i am psyched to see it. It is when the Tibetian's come to trade their goods and when people from Namche and surronding villages come to get food and goods. It will be busy and exciting. After the market we start or trek again. 

I will write again as soon as possible. It is to hard to post photos and i did not bring my computer as it is to heavy to cary. I am taking tons of photos and will make everyone sit througha  slide show and drink milk tea.

 

Namaste and be well.

Dana

 

all is well and i am fine

Hello All.
My trek began three days ago. I flew into luka after a harrowing plane ride. we got onto our twin otter 16 seater only to get off again because the brakes did not work. good thing the pilot caught that one. you fly through mountains and there is no margin for error. you land on a tiny air strip and hope for the best. no wonder it is the most dangerous airport in the world. after we landed we had a 4 hour trek to our first destination Phakding. It was beautiful and i was good and tired. Slept 11 hours. In the morning we started our trek to Namche. Mingmar Sherpa is also a photographer (he is amazing) and we stopped many times to take photos. Our 6 hour trek turned into 9... but why hurry. It was an uphill trek and my knees were happy to rest. During the trek we crossed 5 giant suspension bridges over the Dudhkoshi river. If you are afraid of hikes this trek is not for you. We crossed over our check point to the Sagormatha national park. The first mountain i saw was the Thomserku. It is a sacred Buddhist mountain and you are not allowed to climb it.

I ate water buffalo momo's... a dumpling. I am eating a lot of dal..yum. and starting tomorrow i go all veggie as the meat gets scary the further along you trek. i am at 11,284 ft and tomorrow i go to 13+. all is well and i am fine.

Day Two

I am doing this blog pretty fast. Tomorrow i have a huge day and i want to get to bed. I am nervous about flying to start my trek but i guess that is part of life. You have to do things that make you uncomfortable to get to the good stuff. Trekking will be good. Mingmar Sherpa is an amazing man and i feel safe traveling with him. I could not be in better hands. I just hope i am physically up for the challenge. Two knee braces, a shoulder that dislocates and a bum ankle.  I am not a trekking goddess. I had dinner at Mingmar's bosses home tonight. A man who is very important in Nepal politics and in the world of trekking. He organized the rescue in the real life epic of Into Thin Air. When things went wrong... they called him.

So yes i am nervous. Yes i will be okay. 

Today i did a city tour and it was amazing. I am could write all day but i have to hit the hey. Here are some photos as promised. 

I am in Kathmandu!

Hello 

I am here in Kathmandu and all is well. I am very tired after 30 hours of travel and close to two days of no sleep. Wonky may be the word to describe what i am feeling. Kind of dreamy. I got here with out a hitch. Boston to London was fine. London to Bangkok i moved seats and sat in the emergency exit and had an entire row to myself. The only problem was that the ladies who were sitting behind me talked the entire flight about redecorating their kitchens. I almost jumped over my seat to throttle them. Can you really talk about your kitchen for that long!  I had 4 hours to shop in the Bangkok airport. One of those hours i slept on a couch at Starbucks. Yup... Starbucks is everywhere.  Lucky me... i got an upgrade to first class from Bangkok to Nepal. Not sure how that happened but it was a very nice treat.  I was supposed to be in Bangkok for 12 hours but that changed when i got there and i arrived in Nepal a lot earlier then expected. Mingmar Sherpa who i will be trekking with did not know about this change so there was no one to pick me up at the airport. After awhile i realized it was time to be a lone woman traveler and figure out a way to get to the hotel. When you leave the airport a sea of taxi drivers are ready to whisk you away and you have no idea what you are doing. I got one of the guys to call my Hotel and they called Mingmar and somehow i did not have to pay for the taxi.  My first bargaining success! Whoop Whoop.  I have a stomach ache but i can not blame that on food and water yet. I think it is all in my head because all everyone talked about to me before i left was diarrhea and how terrified you should be of it. 

I unpacked all of my stuff. I know i over packed and i brought enough candy for a trek up Everest. I am going to have Mingmar go over my stuff to see how much i am not bringing with me. I showered and now feel human and i am watching CNN. I could hang out downstairs with all of the other foreigners but i am afraid that i am so tired i will not make sense and they will think i am crazy. So hanging out in my room it is. 

Nap time. 

Off To Nepal

Namaste.

Many of you know that i have left the USA for Nepal today. And i have completed leg one of my journey. I am now in England waiting for my flight to Bangkok and Bangkok to Nepal. It is going to be a long long day. It is 3AM us time and have not slept yet. So this is going to be a short entry and i am going to take a nap. If i have internet in Bangkok... i will write about what i am doing and why.

To my friends and family. I love you all. Keep reading my blog and you will all see that i am safe and sound and you will share my adventure.

For the Ladies at the Park... thanks so much for brunch this AM. It saved me as i did not eat the rest of the day and American Airlines served something that even Radley would not eat.  Denise... thanks for hosting the party. It was delicious. 

Have a beautiful day everyone.

Dana