Hello Everyone,

1. This is part 8 of 10 of my year's update. This will be the last installment for about 5 months, due to the last leg of my Ladakh teaching, followed by my Rupshu Trek lasting that long. Part 9 will come out in early August, and Part 10 when I'm back in America sometime in September. BUT, I will still be able to answer individual letters and email easily, even if I don't do a mass-mailing. Please write or email. Anyone who does will get a postcard from me.

2. My trek for July is shaping up to be a good one. As I said before, I have 2 ponymen and 7 horses on reserve so far for July 16 to August 4. And, I have a lead on a cook, as well. A couple of you who are interested asked about maps or information, and that will now come quicker from me, as  my traveling is now finished. If you are considering coming out for the trek, let me know if you haven't yet told me. And, if you are a person who mentioned an interest, get your name on the computer for a Jet Airways flight between Delhi and Leh. Arriving here July 14 or before and returning to Delhi (unless you want to do the bus) August 6 or 7. I'll do everything for you on this end.

3. I still want visitors for May and June! Let me know if you want to come, or if you want information. I can EASILY find you a cheap place to stay, good food, and good sightseeing places for when I am teaching.

4. Souvenirs. I detailed this last time, so will skip detail now. But, if you are interested in anything from over here, let me know. I want to have all purchases made by about June 20th, and have already made 3 as per your requests.

Now on to the fun part! I got in to Everest Base Camp! Along with the Annapurna Trek that I did in October, this is one that I wanted to do. To be able to see the Base Camp, to see the mountain, to see all the places mentioned in climbing novels. I've now read 5 books about climbing Everest, including 3 from the disaster year 1996. Now that I've seen these places, I know some of the background. Kathmandu is an interesting place. Like cities in India, they cater to tourists to the point of being pests. But, unlike India, they don't take "no" for an answer ever. The worst, sad to say, were the musicians. They are selling these serrenge string instruments all over the streets of the tourist area Thamel. And, they will follow you and play in your ear. I had a brochure for a "free concert" in the music studio. I went (alone) and they played 2 or 3 songs for me. In between, they were constantly after me to buy a CD or serrenge or drum. As I met their instructor last October and have his card, I am considering writing him a letter stating my opinions of his "musical brothel." It is one thing to hire out their skills as musicians to people who need entertainment or a group for a wedding. But, it is a different thing to lure people to their studio under the pretense of a concert in order to put high-pressure sales tactics on the concert-goer. Also bad were the fruit vendors, of all people. I like fruit, and never thought I'd see the day when guys with fruit carts would use high-pressure tactics. And the bicycle rickshaw drivers were bad. I would try to ignore them. But then, they'd pull right in front of me cutting me off from my route. I got so sick of hearing "Yes, friend?" from somebody I didn't even speak to. I finally started answering their "Yes, friend?" with "No, I didn't say anything, and I don't see any of my friends around." At the end of my trip, I was having my shoes and boots stitched up, so was at the mercy of beggars and vendors trying to get me to give or buy while I was in stocking feet! And the guys selling hash (drugs) were also bad.

After my trek, I was approached about every 10 yards or so by someone with that stuff.  So, moved quickly to the top of my "to do" list was a haircut, shave and beard-trim. That helped immensely! After that, there were few enough of these guys that a threat to go to the police was enough. I used a porter again, although I didn't need to.  My pack was very light, and I could have carried it myself. And, I like to plan my own itinerary and not be stuck with an agency's itinerary. The set itinerary is great for someone who doesn't like to worry about planning, unlike me. But, unlike most independent trekkers, I feel that anyone who can afford a plane ticket over here can afford to give a guy a job for a couple of weeks. So, this was my dilemma; how to get a porter without paying an agency commission, how to be able to do MY planned itinerary with a guy willing to accept it (for a good price), and have it be a good deal for both. The answer was Sipu Lama. I had met him in October when the bus back to Kathmandu from Pokhara had dropped me at a place other than the bus stands or Thamel. He met me and showed me the way back to where I was staying. Then, when I was back in Kathmandu, I ran into him. We recognized each other, but it took an hour before we made that connection. Sipu Lama took me to his agency, which tried to get me to do a package deal for $450 for 14 days including guide, porter, meals (but not sodas!) and lodging. I stalled, and he brought the price down a hundred dollars. I then walked out to "think about it." While outside, I showed Sipu Lama my map and proposed schedule (doing in 2 weeks, what is usually done in 3 so I could get back to Leh to teach when I said I'd be back). Going back into his agency, I said I didn't want a package deal, but just the porter. The price came down to $165. This included $10 per day for porter, plus $25 for his  flight back to Kathmandu. But I pay my own meals and lodging (much cheaper anyway). But, I still had the problem of the "set" itinerary and they wanted the total money upfront. I again walked out for awhile.

Upon returning, I said okay, if Sipu Lama would be my porter (I wanted to give work to someone locally in the Everest area, had I not met him), and if I could call the day to day mileages and villages staying at.  He was agreeable to the latter, but said that Sipu Lama was up in the rotation for the Langtang Trek (8 days). I walked out for good. Sipu Lama followed, and over tea and bakery, I easily talked him into skipping out on his agency (he assured me he wouldn't get into trouble) to walk with me. For him, it was a good deal: 14 days at $10 or 8 days at $8. All I asked was to determine the walking distance and time each day.

After an interesting bus trip to Jiri in a rain storm, the weather got better and remained good for the rest of my trek. I'm glad I hiked in the "real" way this first time, although I'll probably fly in and out next time over here. The trek in goes AGAINST the grain of the land heading east, with huge and steep uphills and downhills in and out of north-south river valleys. Here is a day to day update on my trek:

February 19. Interesting bus trip from Kathmandu to Jiri in the rain. Stayed at the Sagarmatha Lodge.

February 20. Started walking at a moderate pace according to the guidebook. Saw village of Chitre, and ate lunch at Shivalaya. After lunch, ascended 4000 feet to a nak (female yak) cheese factory, which was closed. Descended to Deorali, and stayed at the Highland Sherpa Lodge.

February 21. Descended to Bhandar, and then Kenja, where we had lunch. Climbed 3,000 feet to Sete and stay at the Sherpa Guide Lodge. Half of the climb only is finished at this point! Today, we started seeing porters with T-shaped short walking sticks. These porters are carrying huge (as much as 200 pounds) loads via wide straps across the forehead. They use the walking sticks to balance, as well as to sit on when they rest. Most of the villages and tea houses have ledges at a convenient height for these guys to rest their load on. These loads include everything from tea to coca cola to beer to other things for lodges up higher. At Lukla, these loads are generally shifted to yak transport.

February 22. Finish the remaining 3,000 feet to Lamjura La. A "La" is a pass. Along the way, we pass through Dogchu, and a school in the most scenic setting I've ever seen. Lamjura La is 11,500 feet high, and had 3 feet of snow on it from the storm 3 days earlier. But, the trail was packed down from all the porters using it. So much, that it was like ice. On the descent, we often went through the fresh snow for traction rather than go down the ice! We had lunch at Tragobuk (horrible). While there, a group of 7 drunk people came in for chang (local alcohol).  They were on their way home after a 5-day wedding celebration someplace. It was funny to see these little old ladies drunk and singing and dancing.  Finished descending to Junbesi. Instead of staying here, like most people (set agency itinerary), we continued another 2 hours to the Everest View Guesthouse (fogged in) and nak cheese factory. I bought a kilo of cheese.

February 23. I'm getting in shape, and am now walking at near the fast end of the range given between 2 points in the guidebook. This was also our longest and most difficult day. But, we have a routine established. Start walking about 7:30, lunch between 11:00 and 1:00 sometime. Just before the biggest climb of the day, I pull out some cheese, a candy bar, and a bag of peanuts for myself, and for my porter. We had a box of 30 candy bars, and 20 bags of peanuts left after our ice trek on the Zanskar River. We then find a hotel between 4:00 and 5:00 PM. Today, we descended to Ringmo, where there are apple orchards. After a short climb to Trakshindo La, we descended a LONG ways through Trakshindo Village and Nuntala to the Dudh Kosi. The Dudh Kosi is the large river that  drains the entire Khumbu (Everest) area on the south. After crossing this, we climbed up through Jubing to Kharikhola where we stayed at the first place we came to. Had an outside hot shower, heated by the fireplace inside. But, I couldn't get the shower on, and then off, and caught a cold.

February 24. Big climbs are done now, so mostly contouring. We went through villages Bupsa, Puiyan and Surke and up to Lukla. I changed my plane ticket from March 6 to March 7 to give an extra day to trek. An agency itinerary wouldn't give me that flexibility! We stayed at the Karma Inn.

February 25. Namche Bazar! The last of the big villages, and the launching place for treks in this region, and climbs of Everest and other peaks. Most trekkers get here in 8 or 9 days, but I did it in 6. This is so I'd have time to hike up high. Villages too many to name today, but interesting mani stones. These have the Tibetan/Sherpa prayer mantra on raised portion on rocks that are painted white. In Namche Bazar, I have my last coke (before price went over $1) for a week, and a yak steak. Also checked email for a half hour, which cost me $8. And, I had some laundry done at interesting prices. At night, the cold went into an ear infection. That ear then clogged with wax!!! Stupid to continue up, but I did.

February 26. Picked up trail snacks and saw a nurse who gave me something for my ear. That stuff never did work, so I did the rest of the hike with hearing in only one ear. Went over a ridge and saw Everest for the first time! Just like the descriptions in the books I read (read 3 on this trek), the top is in the jet stream and blows a plume of snow for about 20 miles to the east like a volcano or a scarf or a comet. Today was a short walking day, due to not wanting to get too high too fast. I'm acclimatized, but I have to be careful for Sipu Lama. We end up staying at Tengboche, the site of the most sacred monastery in Sherpa country. We stay at the Gomba Lodge.

February 27. Another short day, and we are at Dingboche at 14,500 feet by lunch. This hotel, the Sonam Friendship Lodge, is as high as anything in the continental U.S. After lunch, Sipu Lama and I start up a side trip up Nangkartshang, a high point  2,300 feet above Dingboche. 2 Japanese friends start up with us, but continually stop and sit down. Finally after an hour, they tell us to go on. But, by the time we get up there, it is foggy with cliffs on both side of the ridge. This is where the prayer flags marking the high point are! I made a mistake, though, and forgot to drink water until the top. I pay for it with a headache all night at the lodge.

February 28. Stayed another day at Dingboche. As a sidetrip, we went to Chukhung, and then up Chukhung Ri Peak. That was a great side-trip, and probably the best views I had on the entire trek. We could see Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Island Peak, and even Makalu Peak. This is the only sidetrip where Makalu can be seen in the area.

March 1. We contoured above Pheriche on a bench over to Tughla Village, which was just 2 buildings. We then went over a small pass and over to Lobuche, where we had lunch. The Japanese and Korean groups we were hiking with stayed here for the night. Sipu Lama and I continued after lunch up to Gorak Shep, which involved a glacier crossing. At 17,000 feet, this is the highest I've ever camped. We are at Snowland Hotel.

March 2. I shouldn't have done 2 sidetrips in the same day, but did. It cost me another night of a bad headache. In the morning, I climbed up to 18,373 feet on Kala Pattar, which has a great view of Everest and the surrounding area. I opted for this first, as the Japanese and Korean trekkers were also going up there from Lobuche. After lunch, they went back down, and Sipu Lama and I went in to Base Camp for Everest. But, that route is poorly marked yet, and the better marked trail was the wrong one. I ended up going down a thousand feet of steep scree and  snow to get to where I needed to be. Nothing was at base camp yet, except for a couple of flags marking off territory for upcoming expeditions. I got back to Gorak Shep after sunset about a half hour, and Sipu Lama was just starting back to look for me. He didn't want that scree descent, so I had sent him back to the hotel.

 March 3. Bad headache again last night. So, I decided to descend as quickly as I could today. I went down past Lobuche and Tughcha and had lunch at Pheriche before continuing to Pangboche for the evening. We stayed at the Gomba Lodge 4,000 feet lower, and my head is much better.

March 4. This is my extra day. Having changed the airline ticket a day later, in case of bad weather, I had today to play. From Pangboche, we contoured on easy trail to Phortse. Instead of heading directly back to Namche Bazar, we turned right and headed 4 1/2 hours up the Gokyo Valley on the trail on the east side of that valley to the village Na, and than back south on the west side to the village of Luza where we stayed at Paradise Lodge.

March 5. Back to Namche Bazar, where we stayed in the hotel with that same name. We had stayed at the Sun Site Hotel last time, and wanted to try a different place. First, though, we had to get out of that Gokyo Valley. The trail on the west side was more sheltered than the east side, so had more snow and ice and mud.  And, it was steep on the descents. So, it was very slippery and slow. Still, we were back to Namche before 3:00. Time for laundry, another yak steak, and cards!

March 6. Last day of the trek. We got up early and returned to Lukla, where we reconfirmed our plane tickets. We again stayed at the Karma Inn. This place has a pool table, and Sipu Lama and I played pool for quite some time. Neither of us are any good at it, though. As it turns out, the owner of this hotel worked in Crested Butte in construction before 9/11 in 2001. He had been to Gunnison, and even remembers seeing my school, and knew what it looked like! It was funny to know a Sherpa who has seen my American school. I have his son's address in Denver.

 March 7. Back to Kathmandu. The airport was fogged in for 2 hours, but then planes came in and out (quickly). That take-off was interesting. They gun the propellers until the locked wheels start to slide. THEN they release the breaks and the plane takes off before the end of the short runway and the cliff. In Kathmandu, I take care of getting my film developed and buying souvenirs and books and cassettes and other things. I got my ear flushed out so that I can hear again, a haircut, and had pizza for dinner! Now, I am back in Delhi. Tomorrow, I fly early back to Leh. I am told that the school is getting internet now. But, with questionable power supply and slow connections, I will be able to answer emails, but probably not do another one of these long ones to everyone. So, I want to hear from you. If you want mail or email, you will have to write first, and I will answer. And, please, ask questions if you have any. I'll be having 2 more music programs at the school, and will be finishing my research on folk songs in Ladakh in April. I also hope to be able to write a few new church songs in the Tibetan style, as it seems like that is what people are interested in.  But, in this area, I am getting conflicting stories as to what is needed. I hope everything goes well for you this spring.

And, I hope there is no war. Over here, I am now travelling as a Canadian, due to anti-American sentiment. No one (myself included) has seen any quantitative evidence to support a war. Only that Saddam is a bad person and needs to be stopped. Everyone knows that. But, that doesn't cut it over here. What Bush needs is to do is say they have X number of chemical weapons, Y number of biological weapons and Z amount of nuclear material located in locations A, B, and C. THEN, he will have support of people (including Muslims) over here in a war effort.  I heard the weapons inspectors speak to the U.N. while in Kathmandu, and nothing in those 2 speeches sounded like any justification for a war. Especially if civilians are probably going to be at risk. Enough preaching! Take care,

Keith