Nepal

The In's and Out's of Trekking

This is one of the journal entries I wrote for Love Hope Strength on the Everest Trek, original found here.

In’s:

Water.

Sterilized by SteriPEN. Hoping that the random droplets of water surrounding the mouth of the bottle that haven’t been sterilized aren’t going to give you diarrhea, especially along the trail where there aren’t many places of privacy.)

At some tea houses there are more particles floating in the water than you’d like, and quickly dump the ‘purified water’ into your Camelbak to avoid seeing what you don’t want to know about.  It did just get pulled from the stream after all. You know, that one with the yaks walking through it ( and we all know how hygienic a Himalayan Yak is)

Food.

• The dining options have been as varied as the lichen along the trail, including:
• Rice
• Fried rice
• Fried rice with cabbage and carrots.
• Cabbage and carrots.
• Potatoes (pealed by the same hands of the boy who just loaded the fire with Yak dung)
• Potatoes with cabbage and carrots.
• Fried noodles with cabbage and carrots.
• Momo’s (with cabbage and carrots. And maybe potatoes)
• Pizza! Yes, pizza. With Nak Cheese….and cabbage and carrots.
• Butter vegetables – green beans and carrots.
• Eggs
• Fried eggs
• Hard boiled eggs
• Egg omelets with diced cabbage and carrots
• Toast
• Pancakes
• Fried noodles from the night before.

Outs. If you are a sensitive one, skip to the end.

Mucus. Comes in different forms. Yak Lung (or Dung Lung, or Yak Hack) is a lovely thick mucus that doesn’t come out of your chest no matter how much you cough and can be heard in chorus in the morning during “washing water” time and throughout various times in the day.  Also, one may be fortunate to be lulled to sleep by a neighbor through paper-thin walls, listening to their wheeze and hack and/or snoring.

Peeing. If you are a guy, this is easier as you get to stand in a half-frozen squatter, donned with a 20-gallon barrel of ice water and completely-sanitary jug (or gallon-sized can) floating it in to flush down your pee (or other…..). The process involves cracking the frozen surface, dipping a plastic jug into the frozen water barrel and pouring it, with as much force as possible, into the squatter or toilet (if you’re lucky) to flush its contents.  If you need to squat to pee, you must first roll up your pant legs a good 8-10” so they don’t dip into the frozen pee/water/digestive particles that you really don’t want to recognize but you know it’s probably cabbage and carrots. And rice.

If you aren’t familiar with a “squatter” this is a 6”x18” hole in the floor with ridged places for your feet to grip (completely worthless when coated in frozen urine) that drains down to who knows where. As is in the name, you must squat to pee (like camping, only without a fresh breeze or nice scenic view.) Also, if you have to poo, you must squat, balance as to not fall into the previous users excrement’s, try not to touch any surrounding surfaces and hold your pant legs up at the same time. It is a feat even a Cirque de Soleil performer would find difficult . There’s not a lot of magazine reading going on here, people

For those who have been stricken with high altitude sickness, I can only imagine how much worse this experience is. Actually I can, as I had projectile vomiting in a restaurant squatter in Rishikesh, India after some bad fruit pancakes. But the small bucket rinsing sure comes in handy for cleaning of the room.. Just saying..

Levels of “clean”

Normally, clothes are either ‘clean’ or ‘dirty’. When trekking, there are various levels of clean that directly correlate with the number of days into the trek. When you begin, wearing a pair of socks for a day makes them ‘dirty’. A week in, you bravely smell your socks to see if they make you dizzy, or if you can get away with another day’s wear without risking knocking someone unconscious when taking off your boots. For shirts, I’ve resulted in “pit washing” – merely rinsing out the armpits of a shirt to eliminate (or dissipate) the smell as the short days and cold air don’t allow for a fast dry of anything.

Of course, when you are at a very high altitude and it’s freezing inside and out, you could really care less about how bad you smell, or changing into a different dirty shirt (because if you hadn’t worn it for a day, somehow it’s magically cleaner than the one you are currently wearing). You will wear those dirty pants into your precious sleeping bag and sport them the next day, not giving a $%* because you are WARM, and frankly, everyone else smells just as fresh as you do. And, let’s face it, nothing smells worse than the burning yak dung you have been hovering around for warmth. Up here, everything is relative. I never thought I would find myself hoping that more piles of Yak poo would be brought into the same room I was dining in.

Baby wipes. AKA cleaning your “pits and bits”

The uses for these are unlimited, and their price invaluable. Hand cleaning. Butt cleaning. Face washing. Body washing. (Oh, I forgot to mention there had been no running water for at least five days as the pipes all freeze. Hence the sanitary bucket of frozen water to flush. One jug for pee, three for poo.) You can use a few baby wipes on your pits to reduce the smell, and I discovered that I will only use so many as having another wipe for the next day is more valuable than being completely baby-wipe fresh

It’s a glamorous life being a trekker! we all made a decision to be here and regardless of the frozen squatters and dirty hands, it is worth it for the opportunity to make this trek for the memory and prayers of those who are deep within our hearts.

The In’s and Out’s of trekking have brought us closer together as a family and the humor that surrounds allows for a break in the deep emotions that we’ve all felt as we’ve read messages from home, as we’ve placed flags upon the rocks, watched our friends spread ashes of loved ones, and hugged as we’ve cried over those we’ve loved, and lost and haven’t even known.

Sarah Ewalt (with help from the Henn’s)
December 8, 2012
Pangboche
12,715 feet

by Sarah

From 12,713'- Pangboche

This is the first journal entry I did for Love Hope Strength along the way. Original can be found here.

___________

Today was an emotional day for me. Waking up after a nine-hour sleep and feeling as though I was beating the small cold I had, a hot delicious breakfast and I was ready to take on the day’s trek. Then during breakfast, Lisa learned of the passing of her Aunt, and the waterworks began.

The reasons for being here vary from hiker to hiker – whether it be a thrill-seeking sense of adventure or the need to climb a giant mountain, to bring a prayer to the highest hills for someone fighting cancer or to pay homage to loved ones who have passed, we have our own personal reasons that have drawn us on this physically and emotionally challenging journey. For me it was a little of everything – a chance to climb part of Everest is an opportunity not to be missed. And to be able to carry flags for people to an amazing resting place to provide a small amount of comfort is something I am honored to do.

Around 8:00 a.m. we started on the initial decent down the mountain.

We were in the shade, my knees were aching and it was still pretty cold. The actual temperature unknown, which I’ve decided is better than knowing – a little ignorance can be blissful.  I began talking with Meghan and she brought up her grandfather who is in his 90s, and again the waterworks started as I thought of my own grandfather who passed over 15 years ago. “Hello Beautiful” he would always say to me. We had a special bond. Just thinking of that had me going again and so we had to change the topic to get my head back into the game. The trekking is challenging enough that having a clear mind is a good thing as you really don’t want to trip over a rock, or step in a giant pile of yak shit.

On the docket was a stop at the Tengboche Monastery. This stop wasn’t just a random sight-seeing excursion, but a very special one for the Llama (head monk) of the monastery was to bless the prayer flags we are carrying to Base Camp. These flags, which hold the names of loved ones who have passed, those who are sick, or just those who we carry in our hearts and want extra prayers for.

The Monastery is located atop a small ridge with spectacular views of Mount Everest, Nupse, Lhotse,  Ama Dablam peaks. It’s so beautiful that you almost can’t even fathom what you are viewing at the time. A beauty so great that you don’t even realize you are in awe until you look through the photos on your camera during afternoon tea.

Leading up to the understated monastery is an elaborate gateway of traditional Asian style – wider at the top and stair-stepping down with each layer holding a different pattern with every color imaginable. This gateway – flanked by two large guard dog statues at the bottom and four dragon heads at the top corners – is so ornate and colorful that it almost steals the attention from the natural beauty surrounding.

As we entered the area within the monastery where the Llama was sitting, we piled our prayer flags for the blessing. This moment was even more powerful for Lisa who had just the night before written her Aunt’s name on one of the two remaining flags I am carrying with me. After the group blessing, it was requested to bring these flags to the Llama and as we stood there together, he again blessed my set of 41 flags. It was a powerful, yet peaceful, moment.

So many names, so many stories. Each completely unique and wonderful, but very similar at the same time. As each of us hiking on the mountain, and to all those who we pass along the way, we all become one on the mountain. We are all here, trekking to a goal. We experience the same pains, joys and sights – yet our personal stories are as varied as the clouds above the peaks and they create a wonderful web of life and trials that makes this trek such an amazing experience.

Life is so fragile and fleeting – but not to be thought of in a sad way, but to be celebrated and enjoyed. Live it as if you are standing on the top of Everest and screaming out “I AM ALIVE!!”

Sarah Ewalt

December 1, 2012

Pangboche

12,713 feet

Quote of the day: “Is that Linkin Park?” ~Monk from the Tengboche Monastery as the guys began to play.

by Sarah