Nepali Trek
This is for my friends and family to communicate and follow me on this great adventure of mine! It is also a way for all of you to communicate with each other also so post away!!!!!!!!Holi, Weddings and a film shoot
Hello my crazy but loyal followers!!!
O.k. so I have gone to about 6 Nepali weddings in the last month and 2 in the last 3 days. After the coupl.e goes through the ceremony the car is decorated and everyone from the wedding walks or rides motorcycles behind them dancing wildly. To top things off in front of the car there is a marching band fitted to the gill in read and white marching band outfits. It sounds more like a really horrible highschool marching band. When I first heard the sound I thought there may be some sort of high school football game going on but then I remembered I was in Nepal and then I saw it with my own eyes. The receptions are great with drums and lots of dancing and of course alcohol. I have been straight booging down with the Nepalese. Great food also.
Last week I was introduced to the very best festival/holiday on earth called Holi. The whole city of over a million rub paint/color and throw water baloons with color and paint inside. I was under fire all day. From roof tops to huge masses of people sometimes 50 crowding around me and absolutely covering me from head to foot in color and water. All you could see were the white of my teeth and the blue in my eyes. God it was great. I packed a whole arsenal of water, baloons and color in a backpack that could take out 1/2 of Kathmandu and faught back with as just as much vigor. Its all in fun with lots of hugs but it can turn into war. It was really fun. Because I was the only white guy walking the streets I especially got super hammered. At the end of the day I could not take anymore holi but my merciful crys had no affect on my continued punishment of Lola!! My hair and shoes are still dyed red right now.
3 days ago I sat on a Nepalese film shoot with my friend Prawin in a Nepalese park. He is a screen writer. They had a really expensive camera (same type of camera that was used to shoot slum dog) but the rest was super hilarious. It was an action film and the main Hero would do round house kicks into huge piles of leaves and a big bed so he would not get hurt. They had one little trampolin rigged up with some bungees and a steel plate in the middle. The actual martial artists though were really good and seriously took a beating during the shoot and got paid nothing. It was a good time. I talked the catering crew to hook me up with some tea. The hero would also do takes where all he does is flip is hair back and growl at the camera ha ha ha god it was funny.
Besides that I am currently working on trying to get into colleges to go back and study and am also looking into teaching in South Korea if the pay is good enough. Oh yeah and always chasing women. Even in a conservative society like this. The women here are very beautiful and very friendly. They cannot always leave there homes after 6 p.m. but there are ways around that. What can I say? doing it while I can!!
My visa expires on April 1st and my plan is to still go down through India and fly out from Dehli hopefully still having the funds to get to Egypt and hang out with my friend Tako. If that falls through…….who knows?!!! Take care readers, family and friends I will be seeing you soon!!!!!!!!!!
Love you
Camen
The Dhamma and Trisuli
Before I went on this meditation retreat I was teaching kids ages 4-12 Yoga at the Gym I have been going to. The Guru there just asked me to do it one day so I agreed and started. It is a good way for me to keep the stuff fresh. It’s a lot of fun and the kids really dig it. They are so respectful………..it’s really fun!!
I did make it through silent meditation prison to be established in the Dhamma (seeing things how they really are). At first all I could think about was that Buddha had way too much time on his hands. “What the hell am I doing here!” We all thought that but obviously could not express that let alone discuss what the technique was doing to us at the individual level. There were 9 guys and 6 girls from all over. Everyone from a stock broker from Cairo, Egypt who flew in just to be at this course, a french/swiss snowboarder/cook who spends 7 months out of the year in the Alps and a retired English PHD from Berkeley (he was very interesting). I did not find any of this out until the 10th day. We all just got to know each other from each others habits. I had 2 roomates an old Nepalese guy that let huge rippers in his bed before passing out and snoring himself to death and the French snowboarder. The silent part was not even the hardest. It was the 10 hours a day of meditation inside the hall (4:30 a.m.-9:00 p.m. For 3 one hour periods a day you could not move at all. The 2 1/2 hour sittings you could move a little. Only 5 minute breaks. Yeah my max time towards the end was 35 minutes straight. It’s tough if you are not used to sitting cross legged. Calming the mind is the one of the most difficult things in the begginning for sure. It takes around 2-3 days just to stop it from racing using a simple part of the technique to sharpen your mind. I thought I was going to be relaxing by the lake all serene like getting enlightened. It’s exactly the opposite. I had my shit packed and was ready to get the hell out there on day 2 and day 6. It ended up being work and took a hell of a lot of diligence. I am sure glad I did not leave though. Very, very eye opening in a totally different spiritual way I definitely have not felt before. I recommend anyone that is still searching for something to look into this meditation technique. It is absolutely liberating and it works. The technique of Vipassana works at the mental and physical level. All you have to do is try one course and you will see how it works for your own self from inside you. It is a tool to live a better life if practiced and it is not just at the intellectual level, it works from the deepest part of your mind. I am not here to promote it you will see if you try it………that is why it is free. I would like to do another session one day. There are centers in the U.S. if anyone is interested. Intense but fully worth it.
After that the whole silent crew of use including a Israel , Thai, French, Egyptian etc. all had dinner talked. I went back to Kathmandu and took my Egyptian friend to a temple in as he had not been to Kathmandu before. He is a really cool guy and is also a Scuba Diving Guide and he said if I can make it there he can show me around and get me qualified to dive by myself. God I would love to Scuba Dive………I am going to get to Egypt at whatever cost to take advantage of this. I guess the Red Sea is great diving.
After Kathmandu I went to a place called Trisuli about 3 hours from here with 8 other guys on motorcycles. It was fun!! We went there to celebrate Shiva Ratri for 3 days. It is on a huge river on the beach. We slept permanent tents with beds built in side. All the meals were prepared and we had a big fire. I kayaked for the first time which was really fun and challenging! We played soccer and volley ball. We just enjoyed. It was nice to get out of the city.
I am planning on leaving soon. Soon could mean 2 weeks or April who knows……but certainly soon. As soon as I find someone to travel through India with me (a beautiful woman will do). I am on the case. There are some certain places I want to visit and then I am thinking Egypt and then Israel as I have met people from these countries that will let me stay for free and show me around being locals. Would love to go to Jerusalem. I am now working my whole trip around locals from other countries I meet. It is way more fun that way!!! =-)
I will keep everyone updated and I love you Friends and Family!!!
Camen
I am really going this time
I am going to Vipassana tommorrow for reals this time. I found another place though. I think it will be a lot better. It is really close to the Annapurna Mountain range of the Himalayas where I first went trekking. I think it is right on a lake. It will be better because the air will be clean, it is absolutely gorgeous in the Pokhara area and it will be really quiet. The first one I was going to ended up being just right out of the city limits. Not the ideal place to be silent for 10 days. It should be really, really good. I am looking forward to it. It takes about 6 hours to get there on a local bus so I am taking off Jan. 31st. The silent prison starts the 1st and lasts until the 12th. I may stay in Pohkara for a few days afterwards as I know a kid going to college there. We will see? I also have some other things cooking when I get done, but nothing is set yet so I will let you know when things materialize. So wish me luck and hopefully I have the balls to complete it. It’s exciting though because it is so different. If I do decide to become a Jogi after that, grow a huge beard, (even though my beard would consist of a lot of blond long patchy spots) leave all my worldly possessions behind, make a little hut up in the Himalayas somewhere with the Yaks and the temples I’ll send an email first and give my location :-).
I’ll give the Monks a big shout out from Montana!!
Camen
Just a quick update
So, because of festivals this month the date for meditation has moved to Feb. 1st. At that time I will have been here 5 months. I cannot believe it. Also I came down with some pretty bad sickness yesterday, through the night and all day today. Should be better tommorrow. I thought I was over getting sick. Still gotta be careful what I eat. I hope everyone is well and if plans change, which they always do I will keep you updated. I have probably lost some followers because of the excitement level going down and the absence of pictures but hang in there you hard core fans things are a comin!!!!
Camen
Vipassana Meditation
O.k so the power is out 16 hours a day now and I have exactly 28 minutes…Here we go. So my Yoga/meditation training is finished tommorrow and has been a very eye opening experience with only one step of 8 steps being the actual Aasana Yoga itself (stretching the body). The rest is breathing, meditation, social and self responsibilites……. etc. etc. etc. Through the class I met a kid about 7 years younger than me and he told me of a type of meditation a lot of locals use and he said it was free. I told him to take me there. He did and I applied. I passed the screening process and was accepted. They take 50 people per 10 day session. Here it is. I will be completely cut of from the rest of the world from the 16th to the 27th with complete silence the whole time and meditation for 10 hours a day with one hour everyday for instruction by a monk/teacher and also a group question answer session in the hall. I hope my teacher speaks english….if not who cares I mean it’s not like I can talk so Nepalese/English…..what’s the difference right…. I do not know exactly where it is but is in the hills outside Kathmandu in a completely quiet serene place with no interruptions. Vipassana means “to see things as they really are”. It is a logical process of mental purification through self observation. It is one of the most ancient meditation techniques of the Indian subcontinent. It was rediscovered 2500 years ago by Sidhartha Gautam (Buddha) and is the essence of what he practiced and taught during his forty five year ministry. I will supposedly practicing 3 steps of meditation. 1 is abstinence from actions, which cause harm. Second for the first three and a half days we will pratice Anapana meditation, focusing attention on breath. The third is: purifying the mind of underlying negativities. The last six in a half days is the practice of Vipassana, One penetrates one’s entire physical and mental structure witht he clarity of insight. Complete silence is observed for the first nine days. 10th day we resume speaking.
I do not know exactly what they do to you when you fart but I hope it does not involve some sort or caning, stoning or tar/chicken feather treatmentO.k. You have an idea of what I may be going through. I have heard of a lot of peole running off and I can see why with only one meal a day and silent for that long……..holy shit right!!!! I cannot sit and meditate for longer then 20 seconds without squirming around or my mind racing so I may be running real fast with monks galore running after me with brooms (do monks use brooms?) because I broke the code of silence !!!!
Anyway just another experience that is for all religions and no religion is taught there……It will be one helluva time………..damn I kind of want to bale but I am not going to…..I am sticking this one out. I guess if you can get past the first 2 days it gets better and by the end supposedly you are supposed to be able to see a flower bloom……..ha ha ha I know right……..God it’s gonna be good.
I love you all and oh yeah I started taking guitar lessons 2-3 weeks ago 3 days a week and it is going well. Real begginner stuff with 3 other Nepalese kids that keep trying to show me up every classs………especially this one know it all suck up kid named Bishnu……Man I cannot stand that Bishnu!!! but I’ll get em……… Will have to get caught up on the missed lessons when I get back!!! That and when I get back it’s go time I got a lot of work to do over here.
times a runnin out
Blessings and Namascar,
Camen
Packing a ruck is an art.
O.k. so just a quick update. I figure if I can manage this then I will not be writing a 300 page book every time. So the load shedding (the amount of electricity being taken away from these people) instructed by the government is up to 10 hours a day. That means no one can study, work, no surgeries, baby deliveries, internet etc. It’s making people angry. This is the most load shedding they have had in many, many years. Most think it is another scam for from the maoists party (prime minister is a maoist) because of the new government that many, many parties are struggling for trying to be constructed. The reason in the paper says it’s because of no rain fall……everything is powered by water. The thing is Nepal is the 2nd largest country of this resource. So Pretty much just living in the dark. Another interesting thing is Nepal is the poorest country in Asia….it sure does not feel like it. It looks like it but does not feel like it.
I have moved to a village outside of Kathmandu about 45 min away. I am living with Yagya and his 4 cousins. Two are twins (I would say 20-21 years of age) a younger brother 17 and a female cousin who is sick right now at 36 years old who has 4 kids the oldest is 14 years old. It is a good change and quiet out there.
Do not think I gave up on my Guru though!!!! Ha ha ha ha. Seriously though I checked into many meditation yoga places and almost all of them only wanted to give me a few sessions to just make money…I just felt like I was getting robbed. So I met this Guru through a Guru at the gym I am working out at. He is very, very serious about what he is doing. Last week was my first week and almost quit because of how intense it was and honestly I still thought it was a bunch of bull shit, a a waste of my time………..It’s not. What he is teaching me is a lot more than just stretching….really. but I had to go in with an empty heart and mind. Actually he said I should just leave if I did not want to really learn because then it would just be useless for him and I……he had a point. So I stayed. Only now am I actually learning something from him about the yog. Also because I chose him as my Guru I cannot truly know what yog is about until he thinks I am knowledgable enough and ready……..ready to teach and truly practice it that is. I am hoping it is not more than 2 months cause damn do I want to get to the beaches of Thailand!! I am practicing and studying 6 days a week and it has been roughly from 7-10 in the morning…but no set time. I know it sounds fishy and it is definitley not a job with no pay and actually vice versa I am donating to him, but you know I don’t care…..Also you are probably thinking has Camen gone of the deep end??!!!…..still on the shallow end!!!
This is probably the last time I will talk about the yog b/c it’s a little to heavy I know. It’s too much for me too……..but I cannot just quit. I have not quit anything thus far, why start now?
For christmas I heard of one hell of a christmas eve party at a 5 star hotel in Thamel……..lights, trees the whole works!! so I am gonna party down for christmas and celebrate Jesus. Not too much of course. I mean the partying….As far as Jesus…He deserves a huge celebration in his name!! Also there might be some cute tourists there.
Merry Christmas and Happy holidays!!!!!!
Love
Camen
Yoga Cert., Orphanage and Ama
My Personal Peace Corp
Hello Everyone!!! I first and foremost want to say, from my heart, that I hope all of my familyand friends reading this are completely and utterly healthy, happy and safe.
Returning from Everest base camp I made my new and temporary residence back at Rajendra with him and his family. I did go and volunteer at an orphanage out of Kathmandu in a town by the name of
Godhowri. The kids were so great!! There are 11 boys and 21 girls. I found this place because of a girl I met here in Kathmandu. I am currently back in Kathmandu and go out there on weekends when
I can.
Rajendra’s mother moved in about 2 weeks ago. Let me tell you, I have by all means met my match. It’s in the form of very strict Hindu woman with a much focused discipline. I thought the Army was tough. She is the senior of the family and on her son Rajendra’s side. Since she has been here I would say no less then 100 people have been through the house to visit her. It has been pretty chaotic. Anyway we get up at 6:30 for tea but before that she is already up at 4:30 to worship and take a brisk morning walk. After tea we all eat but the kitchen rules are very strict and no one can enter the kitchen
except Salena and she has to wear a special dress just to cook along with Ama (grandmother). There are so many rules
according to who eats first, who can serve the rice while eating etc. etc. It’s a trip….another exampleI was going to go out the other night and possibly stay at a friend’s house. I could not because she had left the house and 3 people from the same household cannot be separated at the same time. It’s a bad omen.
She held a Pooza five days ago at the house. It is a full day of worship in a very ceremonial manner and everything was set perfectly out
up on the second story flat outside balcony area. I would say about 20 people showed up including her Guru. He read from one of
the books while she went through many different methods of worshipping God. All the brass pots, bowls and ceremonial dishes
were polished to perfection. There was horn blowing, bells jingling and chanting. I will have to show pictures when I get home but the main point I want to make is how engaged, disciplined and
their attention to detail that goes into just praying…..It’s real devotion. Every morning and night the head of the household
goes to a special room in the house and worships similarly in this way. She is a neat woman. Since I have been at the house I have been
helping here as much as possible doing whatever she needs (I run a lot of errands).
The power is out here now 50 hours per week and it is starting to get cold. The coldest it has gotten is around 40 degrees at night time. It willcontinue to get colder through December and January. Down to 30 degrees. What makes it so cold is the humidity. It is a wet cold. Also the fact that there is no source of heat but blankets makes it a little chilly.
I have gotten the local transportation figured out pretty well. I either take a tempo (also known as a took took) which is a three wheeled little vehicle that fits about 8 maybe. But they fit about 12 plus a goat and spare tire. It is battery powered and fits 2 batteries one on each side. It takes 24 hours to charge so they use one battery at a time while the other charges. The other transport I use is a micro bus. It’s a little more comfortable…just like a small van. I can get to a lot of places just by listening to the conductor yelling out the area of destination. It was difficult at first because the way I say Nepalis words does not always come out right……some words are used with the front of your tongue touching the upper pallet of your mouth and some on the front of your teeth etc. All of this including the Collective Joint Family life is all a very, very new school of thought to me. It has taken some adjustment but it is so interesting. You know it is really great to be an outsider because I get to just observe a lot. How they interact, eating style, listening to them talk etc. It’s neat.
So at one of the get togethers I started talking to a professor at one of the Universities here in Kathmandu. He ended up being very interesting. He had studied in Russia for 2 years and also then PHD in Tokyo. Before he was about to leave he asked me if I take a look at a woman’s PHD thesis to correct. I told him who he was dealing with, but he still insisted. The title was Beyond Patriarchy: Interface between East and West.
He gave me exactly one week to proof read take notes for myself and correct. From Sat. to Sat. of last week. It was over 300 pages long. The thesis really tied into the family environment that I was in. A big chunk was the relationship between the Mother and
Daughter in law (plus a look at how Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism dealt with this issue.) The reason I brought this up is because I got some useful information, history and background to apply to what had recently happened to the household when Ama moved in. It’s interesting. I do not think I will correct another thesis if I am offered though. Not unless I get paid. It was pretty time consuming.
So, now what am I doing? Well my plan was to already be in Thailand by now or at least India (good thing I did not go b/c of the attacks) but instead I am still unexpectedly still here. I have bought a whole stack of books I am reading and studying from the Nepalese language and the Orient to playing a guitar I purchased made in Korea. It has really nice sound. I hope they let me take it on the plane. Oh yeah and this morning was my first day of Yoga/meditation. I met this Guru at a gym I found that introduced me to another Guru at an Ashram close to here. My teacher has been doing this for over 20 years. It is a very traditional style of yoga. My long un-flexible ass is not fit for this type of yoga but maybe in a couple weeks I’ll be a pretzel. It is just
another experience for me I thought would be neat. It is about a 15 minute walk. It will take about 2 months to complete but if I stick with it I will have my Yoga Certificate and be able to teach it. THat is if I put in enough hours per day. Maybe a part time job huh!?! If not I will be one flexible guy. So that is at 6:30 to about 8:30 every morning and I have been going to this gym between 4-6 p.m., studying during the day/running Ama errands and thus is my life right now. How long this will be I do not know? I am planning on still going to India and at least want to still see the Taj Mahal before it may disappear. This I am planning to do around the end of December.
I cannot teach until the new Semester which starts in February…If I get a chance to volunteer I will if not I will just keep continuing to find my center………ha ha ha ha do not worry I am not turning into hippy!!!
O.k. Merry Merry Merry Merry Christmas. I get a little nostalgic at times and miss home very much. I will miss all of you over the holidays and will be thinking of
you often!!!!!!!!!
Camen
Everest and the Sherpa Pancake
Well, I made it back…….whew! Man, what an adventure that was. I was gone a total of 16 days up in the mighty Himalayas. I have been so absolutely exhausted and weak since I got back this last Saturday I honestly did not have the energy to walk my ass down to a cyber shop and write. I am getting stronger now. This has to do with trekking 9-10 hour days every day, altitude and in the end one lonely Sherpa Pancake rocked my world!!!!!!
So Yagya and I took off for Jiri Oct. 20 something with packs and a guide book. I packed my ruck with the bare minimum and it still came out at 16 kgs (35 pounds) Of course more GREAT bus rides for one full day and we were there. We got to Jiri late at night and found a hotel owned by a very nice Nepalese woman that gave me her seat as I was hunched over standing in the bus getting ready for the second 2 hour bus ride. When I say hotel it’s nothing to a hotel you may be thinking of. It is no motel six if you know what I mean. A really really basic room usually with a bed and an out house out back. It usually has a small dining room and very thin plywood walls at times. We left early in the morning and hit the trail. It was a nice trek seeing more country and not seeing hardly any tourists. For six days we primarily stayed at the same hotels as a few other trekkers making their way up to Namche Bazaar and on to Everest. There was a French group of 3 men. One father/son and the son’s friend. The father was 65 years old just divorced and hanging in the back bitching the whole time about how his son did not love or care about him because he was going so fast; his son yelling “Go Papa Go!!”. The old man just kept talking shit and threatened to not follow any longer and stop in the next town to rest for a few days. Ha ha ha ha, he was a great old man. This was good for me because I ended up messing up the tendons in left knee and walked like a little 2 year learning how to walk down stairs for the first time. I did this for 6 days. Very brutal and slow (especially down hills) but still managed to make good time just real long days doing so. The Old man and I bitched and talked together since we were by far the slowest of anyone trekking up. Good company. There was another couple that had just got married in the Annapurna circuit (b/c that is where they met) and they were on a honeymoon trek up to Lukla and then back down on another trail east. So it was great seeing all these little towns as we gained elevation going over 2 passes the highest being 13,500 feet and then back down. One of the passes we were actually above the planes flying up to Lukla. That was pretty cool. 3-400 people fly in and out of Lukla everyday. These planes are 16 seaters and this is only for about a month to two months this many people fly in and out. Just during peak season when the weather is soo good up there. Fall and then spring again for about 1-2 months people flood this area. A plane probably every 15-20 minutes flying overhead. It was a very brutal hike but got me strong and acclimatized to reach Everest. A festival called Tehar was also underway as we trekked so the festivities made the towns that much more fun. We actually saw Everest and the mountain range from down in the valley for the first time passed a really cute little town named Junbesi. We had great weather all the way up. When we passed Lukla all ragged and beat up from the passed 5 days we started to see tons of tourists just getting off of planes. You could tell because of their brand new clean trekking outfits and boots…..they all had porters and guides and were usually in pretty large groups. Oh yeah and everyone had trekking poles. Ski poles for hiking, I have never seen this. I mean everyone. Whoever created these and decided they were mandatory for trekking is a millionaire right now. I think they just get in the way personally. So we got to Namche Bazaar (13,600) which is like a small city of hotels and fake Tibetan jewelry among many other things just sitting up in the Everest Himalaya region. It is surrounded by the first sighting of a couple pretty large 20,000 plus foot peaks. It’s pretty impressive really. It got cloudy and nasty for the hike in and the following day. We stayed and rested and acclimatized here ( one of two mandatory acclimitization days) for one day which was sooo great because that is all I needed. One day of rest to shake the bad knee. We hung out played cards and drank Roxy (local wine/whiskey). It’s not too great but cheap and it gets you drunk. I also washed clothes and took a cold shower (13,400 ft) and will never do that again. This was the last day I took a shower until Kathmandu. The ATM was broken in Namche and I had no US dollars to exchange as they were spent some time ago. This left me with 6,000 rupees (about 80 bucks). Putting myself on a budget on this leg of the trip was not the greatest thing that could have happened to me because of how high the food prices were and just kept going up as elevation went up. I was cutting it close but was not going to stop just b/c of the fear of not having enough money!!!!! It was a tourist thing and the fact that Sherpas and Yaks had to pack things farther and higher. The next morning (day 8) Yagya headed back for Lukla to catch a flight to Kathmandu.
That morning I headed out around 6:30 and it was super cold!! The clouds lifted and it was very very clear. It ascended the whole way from here to Kalla Pattar (the closest you can get to Everest without climbing it). As I got out of Namche and around the corner on my way up I immediately started seeing massive mountains. It was soooooo beautiful as the sun was coming up…….. I ascended 1200 meters to Pheriche at 4,240 m (14,600 ft). I got lost on the way. The first of two times I got lost. The first was my fault and the second was not. I’ll explain soon. I figured out quick to look for Yak shit. Yak shit ended up being my best friend!!!!! If I found it I knew I was on the right trail. So my first encounter of altitude sickness was on the eve of this day as I dropped into Pheriche. It was only a headache though, a little hard to sleep and my pulse seemed to be fine so? Two guys stumbled in right before me and one guy had an oxygen level of 43!! 43! That is damn near dead. I know this b/c I volunteered to take an Ibuprofen test up to Lobuche through some medical students set up there from the states. You know I probably counted 5-6 helicopters a day bringing people back down the mountain. That is 6,500 dollars a pop. This town ended up being kind of a God sent for me. When I entered it was very dead. A hotel owner yelled at me “where are you going!?”. I told him I was going farther into town and that I only had 6,000 rupees. He told me he had no guests and gave me a room for free. Hell yeah!!!!! He said he had also been in this situation before and sympathized with me. He charged me minimal for food and even let me unload some of my things for a lighter ruck on the hard ascent left to come. Man I thanked him so much. His name is Kul. He has a Sherpa wife and a 2 year old daughter. All Sherpa women have very red Rosy cheeks. So I got up early the next morning and headed out knowing that I needed to get to Lobuche early to get a room indoors to sleep. You see almost everyone else already had reservations by going through an agency with guides and porters etc. etc. (which I recommend because it makes it sooo much simpler and easier…..even though winging it does kick ass!). So I had to race the groups of tourist and more importantly the runners up the mountain to get shelter. Each guide sent a runner to reserve rooms for the following groups because of no phones up in these areas. Plus the guides always had a cousin running a hotel. It was not too bad though because I was in kick ass shape by this time. This is the second time I got lost. I was making really good time and and was descending down to a town I thought was Duglha. A young porter stopped me and asked for Pani (water). I immediately stopped to get it out of my pack. As he drank my water I asked him if this was the way to Lobuche and how much longer it would be, knowing I was on the right track and would be in a room in no time! He told me that no it was the wrong direction and that the town was Jhula not Duglha. So everyone up to this point had never steered me wrong and I joyfully headed straight up the mountain looking for a different bridge to cross. Well I went for about 45 minutes and realized again I was lost and there were no tourists, no more trails and definitely no yak shit up here. I was sooooo Pissssed offff!!!!! I practically ran down this steep ass hill back towards the bridge knowing I had wasted very valuable time and had been passed by tons of tourists. I got to Dughla and searched everywhere for that little son of a bitch! I came up empty handed. I had lost a lot of time. I thought I had lost him and sat down to eat some biscuits and water from my pack for a real nice lunch!! mmmmmm!!! I went up by far the steepest part of the trek to Lobuche from Duglha. If you wouldn’t know it I saw him sitting against a rock resting his little ass. I made a B line straight for him in complete rage (who the hell would take someone Else’s water and then pretty much tell them to piss off by sending them in the complete wrong direction!). It was my fault for listening to him and not just trusting what I knew but still!! It’s the principle. So I walked up to him while he was mocking me huffing and puffing like he was spent. I looked at him straight in his eyes and said “you want some pani!!?”. He said “hajure, hajure!” (yes yes) like he was dying of thirst. The little bastard spoke English too, broken but still English. I pointed and got real close to his face and said “fuck you man!!!!” in a loud voice and stormed off. Ha ha ha ha ha ha tourists mouths all around me dropped open at the same time like oh my God how could this American be so mean to this poor little porter boy working so hard……..ha ha ha it felt so good. It was better then kicking his ass right!!!!
O.k. so I had to tell that story…………wait if you are still reading this there is even more drama to come. I got to Lobuche after a 700 meter climb now at 16,900 ft. and there were absolutely no rooms in all 4-5 lodges that were there. Yeah, I slept in the dining room. Got my oxygen level and pulse taken for the research project and I was fine (84 Oxygen, 77 pulse). Met some cute girls from South Africa and England and a garbage man of 21 years from the Bronx of NY. I slept by this guy just sawing logs all night long beside me. I could not take it anymore and got up at five in the morning packed my shit and got the hell out of there. I pulled into Gorak Shep another 250 meters ascend at 17, 200 feet. I got to a hotel by 7:30-8:00 that morning……..another great clear day with the sunrise. I saw Ama Dablam very clear down below, Nupste to the right and Everest towering above the camp as I dropped down into it. I was for the first time completely engulfed in peaks all around me. It was soooo neat. I burst into the hotel without looking around and put my stuff down behind the curtain leading out of the dining room to the rooms and when I came out I noticed a big bundle of blankets and there was a woman wrapped up in it on oxygen. I started asking around. Well her and a team of climbers were rope climbing the south face of Everest and she got crushed by a huge block of ice. She broke the side of her face, her arm and leg were busted and she had internal abdominal bleeding. The guys she was with did not think that she would be able to be air lifted out by a helicopter and asked for anyone wanting to help carry her down to Namche if they could not get one. I said I would help and there was also a bunch of English high school kids on a trip that were also going to help. They got word a helicopter was going to be able to land. Four hours later a tiny helicopter came in to pick her up and get her out of there; she was still breathing.
I hung out there all day soaking up the views and just enjoying it. I decided to go up to Kalla Pattar that afternoon and catch the sunset. It took me about two hours to get to the top and along the way I followed this great big rock ledge able to get a great look at the Khumbu glacier that leads to the base camp and big glacier lakes. I stacked some rocks on a point and continued up. I was expecting some sort of set up look out point but it was just one giant steep cliff reaching out to a very sharp point that had just enough room to stand on. I squeezed myself through and passed some people to the very very tip. It was kind of an adrenaline rush just hanging of this little point. I was now at 18,500 feet right directly in front of Everest above the clouds and above or what seemed like eye level with peaks all around me . I felt like I could touch Everest. I stayed up there at that point until the sun was completely gone and until my ass was about frozen off. I cannot explain how beautiful that sunset was.
In my room that night it was -2 and outside was -6. I did not sleep at all because of a pounding headache. I got up at 6:30 and headed down to Pheriche. I got to the same hotel feeling much better after the descent. Kul had some rice frying up when I got there. I spent the day talking to a couple, the guy from Australia and the woman from Holland. I stayed there to go on a side trip the next day. I went to Chukkung to see Island Peak past a town called Dingboche. These were such outstanding views and a great shot of Ama Dablam!!!!! I got back that night and Kul asked me if I wanted special Sherpa dish he only makes when there are not a lot of guests. He said it was a type of Sherpa pancake with potatoa, wheat and butter spread on top with chile sauce. It sounded harmless to me. He said “now it might give you a little diahrea?”. I told him I had had the shits for 2 months so bring it on. I felt priveleged and agreed. It came out and I put butter on it and some sort of white chile sauce that his wife said was a kind of sherpa butter but did not know the english name. I ate it and it was o.k. and then went to bed. Ever since then until today my life has been one living hell. I trekked 2 days down the mountain to Lukla to get a flight shitting my brains out running off the trail constantly…..puking at night and extreme stomach pain. I laid by the trail praying to God just to let me make it there. It has taken 7 days to get over the weakness and gain a little strength back. I lost another 3-4 pounds I know it. Just skinny. Honestly no joke it took everything I had to get to Lukla. On my way down a guide walked with me for encouragement and told me a story……..I did not feel so crappy after this story. He was the guide for a Swedish woman and her husband. They were on a pass coming back down to Namche and she died from cold and altitude sickness. He had to carry her dead body for a day and a night back to Namche to be helicoptered out. He was exhausted. he had two kids a 5 year old and a 2 year old and smelled of a very strong garlic. The garlic supposedly helps Acute mountain sickness. After paying for the plane ticket I got to the airport and they wanted an airport tax of 170 rupees. I pulled money out of my pocket and I shit you not I had exactly 170 left in my pocket from the 6,000 rupees 9 days before. Wierd huh? You know it takes people a minimum of $1,500 U.S. to get to Kalla Pattar without any extra days for side treks, round trip airfare, guides, porters, all meals and rooms payed for. I did it with one flight back and starting 6 days trekking from the low lands for $311 U.S. dollars. This is not bragging at all I just think it is interesting what you can do on your own when you just rough it and wing it!!!! I got a plane ticket the next day and here I am. Now making another plan. I am going to an orphanage out of the city for the weekend with a friend staying overnight. I am going to help the kids study and just to play around with them……..should be awesome.
I may one day forget the sight of Mt. Everest but I guarantee I will never forget………Sherpa Pancake!!!!!!! shew
Love,
Camen
“They Call me Chow……..Chowmein”
Hello!!!!!!
Some children in one of the villages I was trekking through in the far west of Nepal, on the way to Yagya’s home, were calling me chowmein b/c of my curly long hair……….hence chowmein!!!!!!!
Brian, I will totally post some pucker factor for you when I jump……..I have not yet but will, after this next trek of mine I am going to do it. I have taken around 1500 pictures already and would love to post them but when I tried it took sooooo long I gave up but when I have a completely free day I will get you some action shots Cuz!!!! Thank you all for your comments!!!!! It means a lot to know that you are interested and keeping track of me. I miss you all!!!!!
I am closing in on another month here in Nepal. It is going sooooo fast. I really love being here and am very happy. I am thinking right now about maybe staying longer to teach English and work at an Orphanage (all volunteer of course). It is all lined up I just need to decide if I want to travel on on stay? We will see.
In the last month I have been at Yagya’s home in a very rural village way out in Western Nepal……..Oh may God, it was soooooo great to get off of the tourist beaten track to witness and experience how real nepalese people in Nepal live. Kathmandu is definetly not Nepal…….the country side is where it is at. Especially the west because everything is done exactly like it was 100’s and 100’s of years ago………it’s crazy. The first people to ever settle in Nepal started it all around this area and district (Ascham). The thing is they just never changed the old tradition and ways as others kept developing toward eastern of Nepal. It is like that today. The East is far more developed now and old tradition are no longer practiced. There are no roads to his and surrounding villages so everything must be packed in that cannot be grown in the field or gotten from the animals.
The first bus I took was supposed to take 12 hours. It took20. It was also supposed to seat 32 passengers. It seated 60 including the people riding on top of the bus. We stayed the night in his Uncles home and took a bus the next day that took 17 hours. This is the closest we could get and then trekked in for 10 hours. The same thing happened on the way back but the 20 hour bus ride went down to 15 and I had my own seat. On the way up I was crammed in the back of the bus b/c of not enough seating between six people and 2 kids sleeping, sweating and drooling all over me……….oh yeah we were real close……….I have made many many friends this way……that and just by being the only white guy around??? Everyone is my best friend forever. We could not be there before dusk because of a tradition or superstition or something……always some sort of tradition or wierd superstitious rule. I went there for the reason of Dasain……a 15 day long festival. I will have to show pictures for sure but I went through may different ceremonies of Tika at many different homes over the span of 3 days! Tika is a ceremony where an elder chants and sits on a special carpet with red dyed rice that he places and sticks on your fore head for prosperity, health, good ,luck etc. etc. (and for the God being worshipped for this 15 days) puts mala (rice grown on day one a pick on day 10, it is also used as a kind of necklace) in a traditional hat called the Topi (most elders where this all the time). Then after the elder has done this for everyone younger then him the next one down the line does this for everyone in age under himself and on and on……… Everyone is related there somehow but not necessarily all by blood. Everyone is considered to have originally come from 1 of 7 saints. So b/c blood lines are followed from these saints down to today the relationships between these people and families gets very confusing and very large. I have video and pictures of the ceremonies in action and participated in every single one so after day three I was completely Tika’d out!!!!!!!
There are people that have never ever left that village (Mongalsen). Some are very innocent and naive even in older age 40’s and 50’s…….like little kids in how they think and act sometimes…… It is sooooo amazing and interesting. It was soooo quiet and a much need rest for me to get out into the country………I did not want to leave but had to keep moving for this next trek before it gets too cold or I would not be able to do it. I did get bored and began to work in the fields plowing with a neighbor boy and also helping other family workers harvest rice……..that was the very best part for me because I got to work. The plowing was with 2 bulls dragging along a like medieval giant wooden angled how looking thing with a piece of steel sticking out of the end. A big spade is also used by one man to get spots missed. Yeah I missed a lot of spots trying to control those bulls so I was spading quite a bit but got better and learned. The 12 year old kid I was helping found this quite amusing……….he could control these animals with ease and my goofy gangly ass was all over the place……..I have video i will have to show you. The action of work, even though it was totally new work was the only thing that kind of felt familiar and something I could relate to in this village. No one spoke english and every time I attempted to talk anything even a phrase or a couple of words they really, really appreciated it, got very excited and I helped us be connected even if only for a little while.
Before we hiked back out we stopped in a village directly on a hill top across the valley from Mongalsen. It took about 8-10 hours trekking down into the valley and back up again with a swim in the valley bottom. We found a really, really huge swimming hole in the river. I jumped off some cliffs and just barely hit bottom so it may have been even 10 feet deep. Afterwards we had lunch at a relatives home in the valley and headed on. It was the last day of festival and thousands of people hiked in from towns and villages everywhere in the area. When the sun was behind the hills Buffalo were let loose one by one, ran down by hundreds of people and sacrificed to the God….I know it is very brutal but also just different. They give all of there well being to the buffalo, that if was not around these people would not be able to survive. It is used for everything. Also many, many goats were sacrifed in a temple at Yagya’s home. I do not mention this to gross people out or to feel sorry for these animals I just wanted to share to share. I have to do everything so I also ran after the buffalo but only to get video not to actually sacrifice……….I do not like this and is very sad but I just wanted proof to show someone this crazy old barbaric way of life that is still somehow practiced today. These sacrificial things are only done in this part of the country and no where else east onward from there toward the capital city. His town was also a dry town so no drinking. Damn it. although people still got hammered!!!!! When I say hill I mean mountain. These huge green hills are big or bigger then a lot of our mountains. Above them are 20 plus thousand feet peaks…………it really is beautiful. We waited about 5-6 hours for our bus out so I body floated the river with some kids and actually bathed in it………..probably not the best thing but I had not showered for awhile and one of the kids had some soap…………..I felt so much better after the long hike and relaxed on a warm rock in the sun until the bus came………..it was much needed as I was pretty over loaded and exhausted at that time. Yagya and his family were soooooo great to me. Thank you Yagya……….for everything.
One more thing in Yagya’s uncles town he let me drive his old probably 1992 yamaha motorcycle around the town and country………that is the way to see the country side………it was fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have to end this for I am leaving tommorrow morning to hike from the bottom of the Everest trail up to the base camp at 17 plus thousand feet. Most people do not do the whole thing only b/c of time issues. It is quicker to fly into an air port (Lukla) and then hike up to the base camp but that costs 110 dollars one way and I have nothing but time!!!! Also this hike is supposed to acclimatize people better b/c of a more gradual descent instead of flying straight to 13,000 feet and getting AMS.
I apologize for mispelling and grammar etc but I gotta role………….I should be a english teacher for my own benefit huh!!!? I will write another one of these when I get back from Everest………..until then!!!!!
I love you family and friends
Namaste
Camen
Nepal
O.K. so I finally have a chance to sit down and make an initial entry. It is hard b/c the electricity keeps going off plus it’s hard to find a decent connection. I will try my best to get you updated. I arrived in Nepal at Kathmandu on September 4th with a one way ticket in my pocket. I met up with a couple of Israeli guys and we got a room for the night. The hard thing is the pollution in Kathmandu and traffic…….supposedly it is compared to Mexico City but either way I got super plugged up. There are no traffic rules here and tons of motorcycles. Now that I think of there are no rules for anything. I contacted my friend Rajendra Acharya and he picked me up the next day. He is the Head Director of Nepalese Television. That afternoon he took me to his office building and not even locals can go to this complex……..this is the same place that the Prime Minister is located. It was in good shape. He introduced me to all of his co-workers including editors, reporters etc. etc. I got a chance watch a live news cast and it was pretty neat……it helped that the News anchor was very beautiful!!!!
I met up with Yagya a couple days later (we got seperated but I will have to tell that story in person) and he stayed with me at Raj’s home. They have Saturdays off in Nepal so myself, Raj, his daughter Sanskriti (Nanu), his wife Salena (De De) and Yagya went Boca (goat) hunting!!! I will also have to tell this story in person but Raj is one crazy man and also very hilarious. We went from small farm to small farm and everywhere in between bartering and getting kicked out of homes for trying to get a Boca for absolutely next to nothing……These locals would get very angry and run us off of their property!!!! ha ha ha it was funny!! So we finally found one at the Temple we were traveling too deep down in the jungle outside of town with a river running underneath. It is for the God Cali. Everyone was worshipping and we had the goat sacrificed by a priest…..very interesting experience. I of course watched b/c I want the whole experience right?!!! We had it completely cleaned out and skinned. We ate every part of that goat including the Capaar (the skull) over about a week in half. I mean everything….. This is including him giving a lot of it away to neighbours and others living in his flat. I helped Selena in the kitchen prepare and cook Momo ( a type of chicken and vegetables rapped in home ade doe and steam…..like pot sticker….very difficult to wrap but I managed. I love his family very much and they have been sooooo hospitable and friendly……I am trying to learn as much Nepalese as possible to communicate with them. I also went to a school festival of Sanskriti’s with dancing and food. Salena works there as a teacher.
Sooooo the days following I went to many great Temples all over the valley and hung out with Yagya and met all his friends. They are all very very interesting, very old and beautiful. I’ll post pictures here or maybe on web shots or something.
After that Yagya I and another American Luke headed out on a trekking trip around the Annapurna Circuit!!!! The mountains were soooo huge. It was more beautiful then I could have imagined. It rained so hard the first couple of days that some pretty intense landslides had come down and we had to navigate around them so it took longer then expected!! I also had about a 30 pound pack………don’t ask me why and it got very, very heavy!!! What the hell was I doing caring books?!!!!! I mean books?!!! come on!!! I also got sick on this hike but the view and experience through all the little Nepalese towns and villages were all worth it!! We trekked from an elevation of about 1-2,000 feet all the way up to 17,000 feet so saw everything from rice paddies to jungle to Tundra and then just huge mountain peaks!!!! We Trekked for about 12 days I came down out of the Himalayas and stayed in Pohkara again for 2 more nights. This town is sooo layed back and just a very neat place. At the base of the mountains with a awesome view and a huge lake for canoeing a boating…..very relaxing place. I have been meeting many other Trekkers. I have only ran into 2 Americans since I have been here. I have met French, Dutch, Spanish, Israeli, Chinese, etc. etc. but just not many Americans in this part of the world. So after that (let me remind you I am probably missing a lot but this will give you a good idea) I met up with 2 very pretty girls from Holland that were travelling to a National Park in Chitwan. They were both medical students that have an internship in Eastern Nepal. They were very great!! I had a really good time if you are reading this!!! There I rode an elephant and saw rhinos, crocodiles, monkeys etc. Went on a jungle walk. Oh yeah I have fought 100’s and 100’s of Leeches in different hikes into the jungle….freaks me out!!!! Also went to an Elephant breeding ground and took in a culutural show where I actually danced with the locals as they pulled me on stage!!!! I got moves……. After that we went to Lumbini (Buddhas birthplace) travelling all day and even abandoning our bus to hike into another town b/c of a protest in the middle of the road blocking both sides of traffic……………protests and strikes happen all the time and everything stops…its frustrating but you just have to laugh and be patient. We rented bicycles in Lumbini and visited the birthplace of Buddha, the tree his mother held on to to give birth and the exact spot and rock of his birth among many other historical things including the Pagoda Peace Temple (impressive) etc. I travelled all day yesterday from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. b/c of a strike on the end of Kathmandu b/c of a child that got ran over and then accident. In this country if that happens the driver must run for his life or be lynched and killed by the family and friends of the child. We were stuck in traffic for like 4-6 hours. should have only been about 6 hours of travel. Now I am back in Kathmandu and am going to Yagys’ village Atcham in a very, very remote and rural village in Western Nepal. It will be the most cultural experience of my life. I will be there for about a month……….maybe I’ll teach english?!!!! I may need to brush up on it anyway. Also when we are there we are going to some more national parks, random hikes in the mountains and planning a trip down to the Taj Mahal and maybe to Dehli if I can talk him into………..should be really great.
O.k. so I know I missed a lot b/c that is almost a month of stuff in a couple of paragraphs but here it is my peeeeeeeps!!!
Love you and hope all is well in your life!!!
p.s. After that the plan right now is to hike to Mt. Everest and after that to India again………..we will see just planning it by year…………day by day. Oh yeah and bungee jumping!! I will travel until I am tired, have it out of my system or go broke!!! ha ha don’t worry Dad I am fine.
Nepali Trek 