Manang to Letdar to Thorung Phedi

October 30, 2010

I've begun to wake up with the sun. For an hour after the sky has begun to lighten, I lay in bed, registering my cold nose and legs, waiting for Joshua to wake up. At 6:30, we grumble about getting out of our sleeping bags, but then we do, and we pack everything up before breakfast, packing our warmest layers last.

In the restaurant in Churi Lettar, we sat in the dining room. We had put in our order the night before, and as usual, we had asked for our food to be ready by 7. That's how it's done in most of these lodges, and although our breakfast has been ten or fifteen minutes late a couple of times, it's not usually a problem. It's a system that seems to work.

We waited for fifteen minutes. Other trekkers came. A group of older Australians sat next to us, and their guide came around with a bowl of warm, soapy water for them to wash their hands. Their breakfast came soon after. Another couple of trekkers came in, and their guide came out with their plates moments later. At 7:30, we walked over to the kitchen to make sure that they hadn't forgotten about us; they hadn't. The kitchen was bustling with porters and guides, helping out. We went back to waiting.

At 7:45, Ankit went back to check. He came back empty handed. The other trekker's plates were cleared. They got ready to go. Just before 8, our food finally came. The food was cold.

We ate quickly and then went to fill up our water and pay. There was no water at the ACAP clean water station, and instead, I filled up our bottles from the big basin in the kitchen. Lonely Planet says that giardia is rampant up here in the higher lodges, and our chlorine pills needed an additional hour and a half to take full effect with the increased risk of parasites. No water for our hike today.

I wanted to get out of Letdar. After our dinner last night, the crowded conditions, and the slow, preferential service, Letdar had left a bad taste in my mouth. It was freezing outside, I burned off the frustration and the cold by walking fast. Joshua and Ankit followed behind.

It took only two hours to get to Thorung Phedi, and the ascent is only 280 meters. Nevertheless, with the elevation, we were walking more slowly than usual, and we found ourselves short of breath. Joshua and I tried to remember all the songs that we know the lyrics to, and the only non-religious song I could recall word-for-word is 'Goodbye Earl.' God bless the Dixie Chicks.

We climbed up the valley, crossing a mountain stream and then climbing up the other side. From the top, we could see Thorung Phedi. Passing a large group of French and an even larger group of Russians, we made our way along the hillside, and soon, we reached the lodges of Thorung Phedi.

Thankfully, there beds available in the New Hotel, and we were taken to a room for three. It was cramped, but the blankets are thicker. We sat in the room for a while, looking at the map, how far we've come, and how far we have yet to go. We've been hiking for nine days. We have 16 left. Tomorrow, we summit Thorung La.

In the sunlit dining room, we enjoyed the warmth and ordered plates of Veg Fried Rice. While we waited and then ate, we met a couple from Switzerland who have been traveling since August. They spent three weeks in Ladakh, trekking part of the way to Manali. Since then, they've been trekking in Nepal, starting with Manaslu and then tacking on the Annapurna Circuit.

Next, they plan to tour Southeast Asia, and upon hearing their plans, we consulted the pro-travellers, Eric (of Eric and Nora from Mexico City) and Ankit. They told us that a hotel in Myanmar will set you back 7 dollars. Food will cost about the same. You can live on a budget for about 20 dollars a day. In Thailand, it's the same, maybe a little less. By now, I'm sold. I want to go to Southeast Asia.

Nigel from Cork came to join us at our table, and we talked about culture shock. Kathmandu was Nigel's first developing country experience, and he told us about the malfunctioning (read: non-functioning) metal detectors in the airport, the cows in the street, the squatting toilets. Eric and Nora told us that they had planned this trip, in part, to transition themselves back to Mexico City. They've been living in Washington D.C., and now, they're traveling for four months in developing countries. When they get back to Mexico City, they'll say, 'wow! Look how clean! How well functioning!'

We asked Eric and Nora a little bit more about their history, and they told us that their families were both Jewish and had moved to escape the war. Nora told us an incredible story about her grandfather, and the two of them shared how they met (on a blind date). Nora is about to take a month-long cooking class in Thailand, and we bonded over a shared love of cooking classes and cooking. Nora knows how to cook all the Mexican classics, and after working for the farmer's market in Washington D.C., she has a lot of experience with fresh, seasonal produce. Since her family is from Poland, her family's culinary history is international. Eric approved of her phenomenal, multi-national cooking.

After lunch, Ankit went for a nap, and Eric, Nora, Joshua, and I went for a little hike up towards High Camp. On our way, we chatted more and saw wild deer. The sun set behind the mountains, and it got even colder outside.

Back at the lodge, we're sitting in the less sunny, albeit heater-warmed dining room, awaiting food. We're so hungry!

October 29, 2010

We left Manang a little before 8:30. For breakfast, we ate eggs, potatoes, and toast, and then we settled the bill. Outside, the air was very cold, and envious of our new mittens, Ankit broke down and purchased a pair of his own. They were the colors of the Jamaican flag, and we teased him with Bob Marley lines on our way out of town.

Before we left the last bhattis, a little boy ran up to us and gripped onto Joshua's hiking stick. He walked with us, shouting to his march and the punch of Joshua's hiking stick. On the other side of town, we crossed a frozen stream and began to climb.

The hike from Manang to Yakarta takes about three hours, and as we hiked, we passed many trekkers. Joshua gave Ankit a series of riddles, and Ankit solved none of them, although he tried very hard. Next, we played two truths and a lie. Of course, this works much better when two of the people involved are not married, but it's still a fun game :)

In Yakarta, we stopped for an apple break. A guide told us that they were the best apples in Nepal. They're apples from Mustang. Eric and Nora, the Mexican couple we had met in Temang, caught up with us, and worried that they wouldn't make it to Letdar before the masses, requested that we reserve them a room.

The hike from Yakarta to Letdar was about 45 minutes. On our way up, we passed the Israeli couple we had met on our first day, and neither seemed very pleased. The honeymoon was not going well. Across a suspension bridge, we reached the first lodge of Letdar. There were no rooms.

In the next lodge, Churri Lattar, we asked for two doubles and a single. They shook their heads. Desperate, we asked if they had anything at all. They told us they had a four-person dorm room and one double left. These were the last rooms in Letdar. We took them.

Depositing my pack, I ran back to tell Eric and Nora that we had a room for them. On the way back to the lodge, I passed a number of trekkers, and I didn't have the heart to tell them that they were out of luck. Maybe their porters had gone up ahead to reserve a room?

At the lodge, Joshua was perplexed. How could it be that there were no rooms in Letdar, and yet there were hardly any other trekkers? Looking over at a table filled with porters, we figured that they had been sent ahead. Joshua was irritated. This should be survival of the fittest, not the richest!

In the warm, sunny dining room, Joshua and I ordered some veg fried rice. Ankit stayed in the room, resting. After a bit, he came in and told us he wasn't feeling quite right. He decided to walk back down to Yakarta, but he left his stuff in our room, hoping that he would feel well enough to return later in the afternoon.

After we ate, we read in the sunshine. Across the room, three middle-aged men were sitting and talking. While I kept my eyes on the page, I left one ear open. One was complaining about Kathmandu. 'What a trash pit!' he said. 'Kathmandu is disgusting!' One by one, the men around the table agreed. Across the room, I disagreed. It irritated me to listen to these men deride such a beautiful city. 'There's nothing to do, to see!' they said. Are you kidding? This has been one of my favorite cities so far. In between their privileged, derisive sentences, their porters waited on them hand and foot. They delivered tea, asked them how their lunches were, ordered their dinners... They would nod, continuing their conversations and never making eye contact. There's something that makes me really uncomfortable with the trekker-porter-guide relationship. This is their country, and yet there seems to be an expectation that they wait on us.

Back in the room, we burrowed into our sleeping bags to keep warm. I worked my way through the end of America Unchained by Dave Gorman, and Joshua began his new book, having eschewed Alice Waters' biography.

After a while, we grew worried about Ankit. Taking his backpack, we headed for Yakarta, but we didn't have to go far. He was already near the first lodge in Letdar, and he told us that he was feeling better. We walked with him back to the lodge and ordered dinner together. Three Dal Bhaat for room 9.

While we waited for dinner at 6, we wandered around outside, venturing as close to the big, furry yaks as we dared. A couple of the young ones seemed both curious and brave, but the mothers grunted aggressively, and we gave them a wide berth.

In the dining room, we sat at the big table with the men who hated Kathmandu and Eric and Nora. While we waited for the meal to come, one of the men, an Australian, told us about his 20,000 acre sheep ranch. When we 'ahh!'ed in surprise, he was quick to explain that it's very, very hard work. He never has vacations, and he's always worried about making ends meet. In the very next sentence, he explained his year-long world-wide venture, where he's had a guide the whole way. Next, when he discovered that Nora and Eric were from Mexico, he asked them if they worked in pharmeceuticals. They screwed up their faces and said, 'what?'

After that, he asked them if there are tequila farms all over Mexico. Then he said, 'it must be so nice to have so many holidays! You must hardly work!'

Another man told us that he had lived in Kathmandu for four years. He joked, saying 'I'm an army wife.' He was very friendly, and when he told us he was interested in teaching, we told him a little bit about New Orleans. The Australian, listening in, summed up, 'so you had an incredible experience!' Hmmmm....

Finally, finally, the Dal Bhaat came. There was hardly any food left for refills (customary for Dal Bhaat, and the reason it costs more than anything else on the menu), and it was very, very gross. The whole time I was eating, I was thinking about what sort of parasites I might be contracting. After dinner, my tea didn't come, and when I went to go get it from the kitchen, they gave me a cup barely half full. When I objected, they ignored me.

Back at the table, I felt bad. I felt like the girls I had overheard (and yes, made fun of) in Manang, complaining about the cold water, the doors that hardly shut, and the bathrooms that smelled. We laughed amongst ourselves and snidely suggested (so they couldn't hear) that they go back to Tel Aviv where the bathrooms are clean, the water is hot, and the doors shut all the way. Now, here I was, objecting to no refills on suspect Dal Bhaat and a half-full tea cup. Am I really so inflexible?

Restless and irritated, we headed off to bed. I finished my book and then burrowed all the way down into my sleeping bag, hoping to get warm. It was a cold night.

October 28, 2010

To load my posts onto the blog, I had to sell my soul. Well, not really, but it did cost 7 dollars for half an hour of some of the slowest internet in the world. They charged by the minute.

Back at the lodge, I looked around for Joshua and Ankit. They weren't back from the movie yet, so I wandered over to the theater to ask just how long Seven Years in Tibet really is. Long. I guess.

Not too long after, they joined me in the dining room, and we all ordered Dal Bhaat. An Australian man with a guide joined us at our table and then proceeded to tell us all about his trip. His stories were interesting and funny, but it was distinctly a one-sided conversation. He generously told Ankit all about India (Ankit's family is from India, and he's been there many times).

There were no refills on the Dal Bhaat, and we all went to bed a little hungry. After our long hike, I was exhausted. Tomorrow, we leave Manang.