Nepal by Isaac

Well, I know it's been a while, but between other deadlines and a busy schedule, the blog has been put off. Finally, after two months, I've finished it. Here it is. Nepal, by Isaac.

Pre Trip

The first preparation began Monday evening, when I started the long process of deciding what to, and what not to bring with me to Nepal.  I tried to pack with a few things in mind:  Firstly, the airports I would be flying through would probably be less tolerable than those I had gotten used to in the States and in Europe.  Secondly, I had a few weight restrictions to pay attention to; I could only carry 10kg with me on board the flight, and only 20 kg could checked in.  Thirdly, aboard the raft I was only allowed 10 kilograms of personal, individual baggage.  This meant that I couldn’t base my packing off the flight restrictions alone.  Lastly, I could leave some baggage at the hotel in Nepal.  Because of this, I could include means of entertaining myself just for before and after the actual riverside portion of the trip, without worrying about the 10 kilogram rafting limit. I referred to a list of materials compiled by the leader in charge of the trip to effectively pack for the upcoming expedition. This list included things such as a flashlight, a sleeping bag, clothes, etc.; it contained nothing but the bare essentials.  

It took several tries spanning three days to officially pass the “Mom” inspection.   I could tell that after try two, she was becoming periodically more exasperated, “Come on Isaac, you know the list only asks for one flashlight, not three.  Seriously Isaac, why would you need two first aid kits? AAARRRRGGGHHH, Isaac!  There is no way that you would need a hatchet, a saw, a fishing kit, or a poncho on the river! Are you planning on getting marooned on a desert island?  You do not need a compass.  Why on earth did you pack six water bottles? ISAAC!!!!!......”  She effectively elliminated nearly five kilograms of what I called ‘essential scout gear,’ including two first aid kits, two switchblades, two multipurpose tools, five yards of nylon rope, over 100 yards of thin rope, a wilderness survival kit, a survival first aid kit, a compass, a firestarter kit, several food seasonings, a compass, a poncho, a dry pack, and a few other things.  I ended up packing only clothes, an extra pair of shoes for the night, a sleeping bag, toiletries, an inflatable mattress, and a single flashlight.  Mom bought the mattress and some water shoes at HQ Adventure.  Jessica tried to come as part of the luggage, but she didn’t make the 10 kilogram cut, but she did fit in the duffle bag.  I went to bed feeling fine, knowing that it was important to gain lots of rest, for I would have to get up at 3:30 on Thursday to make the bus.  This was Tuesday night.

The next morning was not fun. I had come down with extreme stomach issues. I think I got it from Dad. Anyway, it was bad enough that I started to question my ability to attend the Nepal trip. It was annoying when Dad decided to turn up the music in the living room, which is right by my room, and picked a some with lots of bass, which resonated through the concrete walls. I couldn't even hear the rest of the song, just the stupid bass. I spent the rest of the day at home, except when I went up to Motor City to get my hair cut. That night, I did try to figure out the Go Pro camera I was taking.

Day 1 

I was awoken by my 3:30 alarm clock on October 25th. I knew I couldn't hit the snooze button, and so struggle half heartedly out of bed. In a trance, eyes half shut, and not without effort, I got dressed. It took a while: I put both legs through the same pant leg and started breakfast before realizing my shirt was on backwards. Mom was more alert than I, for which I was grateful, as she was driving me to the rendezvous with the other scouts.

With Adam Rampton Junior, the only boy from church also doing scouts, and his father, Adam Rampton Senior, we came to a stop at the fifth parking lot of ASD, American School Dubai, after a 15 minute drive.  When we parked, we were surprised to see only one other car.  Apparently we were early for the bus.  I stood in silence, chin on my chest, snoozing upright.  Soon, more cars started to filter into the parking lot, and finally, a large white bus pulled up.  The new arrivals gathered in a loose circle around the bus.  The driver immediately got out and Mazan Omair, the adult leader of the trip, introduced himself with a firm handshake.  After learning that Mazan Omair was the one in charge, the driver began taking bags from those in the circle around him and throwing them up onto the roof of the bus.  A few people surged forward to help, but the driver scolded them and told them he could handle the luggage on his own.  I was jolted awake from my upright snooze as the driver yanked my duffle bag from my grasp and loaded it into the back of the bus.  

I was one of the last to climb aboard, and realized my stroke of good fortune as soon as I looked behind me at all those crammed into the back sitting on the luggage that hadn’t fit on the roof of the bus.  Mazan, who I was surprised to see not wearing his usual dish dash, but a T-Shirt and khaki shorts, stood up at the front of the bus and gave us our first daily debriefing as the bus started out of the ASD parking lot.  I barely stayed awake to hear.  I registered that we were taking a bus to the Sharjah airport.  (Sharjah is another Emirate of the UAE.)  From Sharjah we would fly to Kathmandu, (pronounced cat-man-DOO) the capital of Nepal. There, we would hop on a second flight.  This one would take us to Pokhara, where we would spend the night in a lakeside hotel.  It was then that I dozed off.  

When I started awake, we were pulling up to Sharjah airport.  I was surprised at how small of a building it was, because I had gotten used to the splendor of Dubai.  Compared to the Dubai airport, Sharjah was like a hut out of mud bricks.  This isn't to say it wasn't nice, I had just gotten used to Dubai.  I realize now, looking back, that Sharjah is developing more slowly than Dubai, and their airport is older. 

We watched the bus drive away after the driver had taken all our bags off, and we then held an important, if brief, meeting on the curb.  Mazan called for everyone's attention, and then started to tell us that our group of twenty-two would make it hard to board, keep track of passports, etc.  He told us that we would split into three groups, red, yellow, and blue.  I was sorted into yellow, with six other people, including Adam Senior and Junior.  We ended up using these groups throughout the whole trip.

After that meeting, we all followed each other into the airport.  I lugged my duffle bag and back pack with me.  At the check in, I saw an early rising worker saying the morning prayer, crouching, standing, crouching, standing and bowing his head with his hands together.  

Having ditched the duffle bag, I now only carried my backpack.  After hopping on an escalator, we reached the security.  They made no fuss whatsoever  and were totally lax.  I was actually kind of disappointed, having already considered several exciting stories.  I grabbed some McDonalds before boarding our plane, where I spent most of my time sleeping and playing cards.    

I took this picture within half an hour of landing.  These are some of the mountains in the Himalayan Mountain range up above the clouds.  

When we landed in Katmandu, I saw the airport was made of old, red bricks. I had Bro. Rampton take this picture for me outside the airport.  I was feeling very photogenic after a four-and-a-half hour plane ride and starting the day at 3:30 am. 



I remember walking through a long hallway to get from the runway to customs, and from the ceiling hung banners displaying various fun facts/accomplishments of Nepal.  The one I remember most said something like, "Nepal is the world's second highest producer of clean reliable, fresh water."  I'll talk more about this in a bit.  

Back in Dubai, a few days before I had to get a visitor's visa in order to visit Nepal.  I saw why as soon as I entered the building.  These were the two different custom lines:

I felt sorry for the few who hadn't time back in Dubai to file for visas.  My pity vanished after half an hour of waiting on the other side of customs for them.  We retrieved our baggage for ourselves and for the slackers while we waited.  

When we had met back up with those who hadn't used pre-arranged visas, we pushed our luggage trolleys outside and met up with Shree, who worked for Trek Nepal, the company that Troop 813 had hired in February for hiking in the Himalayan foothills, and who we were using for our rafting trip.  Shree had been on the previous trip with the scouts, and we all got to know him very well.  He stayed with us the entire time in Nepal, even on the airplanes flying within the country.  

We had to walk with our battered trolleys over dirt roads up to the second part of the airport.  

Here is where I first saw a monkey.  Nearing the designated building was a mediam in the road, elevated about 2 1/2 feet off the ground.  In the middle sat a monkey, and nearby on the ground, a dog, who was obviously trying to catch the monkey. 



Suddenly, the monkey bolted for the building you can see on the left, jumped up one of the blue poles and, in a flash, lept over the sunshades and out of sight. 

One minute later, the energy the incident had given me was wearing off, and I trudged into the line you can see above.  Just then, I noticed the escaped monkey poke his head up over a brick wall behind this building.  The dog had seen him too.  Suddenly, the monkey lept over the wall and, immediately after, two smaller monkeys hopped over, then a group of three, then a monkey with a baby monkey on its underbelly and more.  The dog, suddenly indecisive, stopped in his rush forward.  I estimate that over twenty monkeys, not including the larger one I had seen before, jumped over the wal before scattering in all directions, with no interest at all in the dog.  I couldn't grab the camera, which I had replaced in my backpack, quick enough, my tired fingers more clumsy than usual.  These are the only shots I got, displaying only the aftermath.  

You can see a few monkeys jumping down from the wall.

They didn't really mind the barbed wire fence, climbing right over. 

Now inside the departure section of the airport, I took this shot, which really does not do it justice.  From where I was standing, the building looked like the future birthplace of the world's next major epidemic.  I heard from others who tried to use the restrooms there that the water running from the faucets was orange.  Not a great outlook on the world's second major provider of clean water.  

Security was a man with a club and, thankfully, an airport security machine, though I couldn't see a monitor connected.  We got on a propellor powered plane belonging to Yeti Airlines.  It had three seats per row, easily the smallest plane I've ever ridden on.  

I took a bunch of pictures on the half-hour flight, though this is the only blog worthy one, taken on the descent to Pokahara Airport.  

After landing, I took these:

 In the few minutes we were on the runway, lots of these little plane-car things took off.  Apparently you don't need a pilot's license to fly one, at least in Pokahara.

The airport looked like one of the larger houses in Utah with a control tower stuck on the roof.  We actually never had to go in.  When we landed we just grabbed our luggage right off the plane and left in two huge vans.  

-Here I lost the equivalent of eight pages of text and pictures.  This was entirely my fault, and contributed to the delay  in posting.-

We sat on wooden seats covered with fabric.  We passed a few small villages on the way to the hotel, driving on dirt roads most of the time.  Seeing the people moving about was a really humbling experience.  People were cooking in the streets and running to fetch water.  The buildings were rarely over ten feet high, with flat roofs made of sheet metal.  A few had gaps in the walls providing a view of the interiors.  

We also passed through "down town", which is made up of a paved road and many small shops, most with a second story for accommodation   We came back here later to do some serious shopping.  

When we arrived at the hotel, I though there had been a mistake.  The dense forest path we had been driving on since leaving downtown Pokahara suddenly changed into a black tarmac road with nearly pruned, evenly spaced shrubs on the roadside.  Past two iron gates were two manicured lawns edged with flower pots, spanning the grounds of a while, four story building.  This retreat was built in a beautiful place.  I experienced some of the greatest sunsets of my life in Nepal.  Here are some pictures taken by various camera depicting the scenes around the hotel.  

 A view of the mountain and the lake at the base.  

The sun behind a lonely mountain.

A bunch of hotel employees sporting tan uniforms came out to help bring all the luggage inside the double glass door leading to the lobby.  The driver is tossing the bagge down fro the van to an unseen employee.  

Right when I walked into the hotel, I was offered a DELICIOUS  combination of different fruit juices by a waiter holding a glass tray.  I was very  impressed, and couldn't help wondering if there would be a huge bill to be paid at the end of our stay.

(I'm concentrating on aiming the camera in this shot.)

The first thing I did when I arrived at the hotel was talk to Mazan about my sleeping arrangement.  My roommate was a 15-year=old named Rory from Mississippi.  He was one of the two other boys who had come without a parent.  I then retrieved my bag from a pile made on the lobby floor.  Mazan told everyone that we had fifteen minutes to unpack and get situated before a briefing outside on one of the lawns.  Carrying a duffle bag and my backpack, I walked with Rory to room 106, right across the hall from the lobby.

Fifteen minutes later, I was out on the lawn with the scouts, Shree, and the rafting guys who had just shown up.  We met Puna, the captain and guide of the expedition.  We also met "The Aussie," an Australian with long hair, a taped up elbow and an awesome accent.  He spoke Japanese.  After introducing ourselves and meeting the crew, Puna proceeded to brief us on the basics of the trip.  He told us about the food we would eat, that we had several hours of bus rides to look forward to, and that we would be rafting on extreme rapids.  We then made arrangements for that night's dinner and shopping.  We were going to eat in a Lakeside restaurant.  We established that we would go into town in order for those who had under packed to purchase some warm clothes.  We all piled back into the vans and drove out of the gates towards the town I mentioned earlier.  On the way to town and back I sat next to a kid named Trevor.  

In town, I discovered that the Nepal Rupee is not worth a whole lot.  The exchange rates are 1 USD ≈ 86 Rupees or 1 UAE Dirham ≈ 21 Rupees.  Everything in Nepal was cheap, but you can make it cheaper through crafty bargaining.  I tagged along with Adam and Adam, (having split up with the rest of the group after arriving in town) and happened to hear Mazan cut a few thousand Rupees off a couple of jackets.  You have to be careful which shop you walk into in Nepal, because negotiations can sometime lead to a disadvantage when an exit is desired.  We got stuck in a shop after Adam Sr. picked up a shawl to examine.  Every time we tried to leave, the shopkeeper found a way to jure us back in.  Finally, after cutting 2,000 off his original price, Adam bought the shawl.  If he hadn't, we would still be in Nepal.

We ended up eating back at the hotel to keep things simple and cheap, and I made an effort to try some of the local dishes.  After dinner Adam, Trevor, Rory and I played blackjack and bet using Skittles.  I tried to enjoy the bathroom, knowing it was the last I would see for two and a half days.  But the water was gritty, and there was a big spider that creeped me out.  

Here in the last shot of the first day.     

In Katmandu airport, on our way back to the UAE, Salman Chaudhry, another leader, asked for everyone's memory cards.  He took all the pictures off every single one and put them on Dropbox, which is where I got this one.  It was taken by Frank Schröder, and it was the best I could find of the lake, mountains and many paragliders that were constantly flying around.

Day 2

We had to give ourselves enough time the next morning to get ready, eat breakfast and be in a bus by 7:00 a.m.  Rory called the front dest asking the to give us a wake up call at 6:00.  Either they forgot, or we slept through it.  All I know is that it was Trevor pounding on the door that woke us up.  As soon as Rory realized we had half an hour before getting on the bus, he grabbed his duffle bag and went downstairs to eat, leaving me to figure out what to do with the room.  When I tried to hand over the keys to the front desk, they said they also needed the card.  I ran back to the room and spent five precious minutes looking for the stupid card, which Rory had actually put on the top of the shrunk, the one place I couldn't see.  I handed over the card and my backpack, which they would keep until we got back.  I threw my duffle bag into a pile on the floor with the rest of the troop's stuff and walked into the hotel buffet to eat breakfast.  

Afterwards, the troop gathered outside and began walking to where we would meet our bus.  Some hotel employees helped us carry the luggae with two giant trolleys.  Here we are loading on and preparing for a two hour drive.  Shree called it the "bumpy bus." and after trying to sleep while riding in it, I came to know why.  There were no seat belts, hand holds or any other kind of stability device.  It had terrible suspension and traversed REALLY rough terrain.  

Here we are boarding. 

This looked like a really old tree. Usually there were tons of people gathered around it.  It's probably a gift from Vishnu to Ta Ta for saving his holy cow or something. 

I tried to find a picture of the bumpy bus from the inside on dropbox, but I couldn't find it. I failed drastically when I tried to sleep, but somehow Trevor managed it. It felt like constantly being in an earthquake. Riding in it gave me a headache. We went up and down mountains, through woods, and over paths made entirely of large stones.  
  

This is the more desolate side of Nepal.  I took it when we stopped for, (I quote Puna,) a "pee-pee break".  We had another hour of driving left.  

We stopped in a nicer area of town to make a pitstop.  I honestly don't know the purpose of the break, and we mostly just stood around and watched the occasional tractor go by.  After a few minutes we all piled back into the bus and drove off.  

After another few minutes and we parked on a dirt lot.  

The bus is right behind me.  This is my first view of the river, looking upstream.

After we parked, a bunch of the rafting crew came out, unloaded everyone's duffle bags from the roof of the bus and laid them all out on a blue tarp.  We were instructed to put our cameras, glasses, and any other fragile items in one of three padded, waterproof safe boxes.  Our duffle bags went into waterproof Dry Packs, which we could identify later by a number on the side.  Afterwards, the crew all hid behind the bus.  When I went over to look, I saw them making lunch.  They were using a set of oars to prop up a shade tied to the top of the bus.  I soon learned that oars had other uses besides paddles.

While lunch was being prepared, I met these local kids.  I tried to remember all of their names, but failed drastically.  They liked soccer.  At one point they offered the scouts and I these berry/nut things.  After showing them to the rafting crew they said that they were poisonous, but that the locals had built immunities to them.  Indeed, they had bags and backpacks stashed full of them.

While we were packing duffle bags into Dry Packs, the crew were busy inflating and carrying the rafts down to the shore.  It looked tricky navigating the huge stones, and there was a small ledge they had to climb down.



Everyone helped with the supplies raft.  You can see me on the far side, with no place to put the GO Pro.



Throughout the rafting segment of the trip, four canoers kept a watchful eye on the rafts, ready to help someone back on a raft or to the shore.  Here they are  getting ready.  Luckily, they mostly served as scouts.

Lunch was surprisingly good, although not until after the trip was I able to identify everything on my plate.  I had sardine salad, coleslaw, plain yak cheese, and coconut cookies.  I had sardines a few other times, and yak cheese nearly every meal.  Everything was surprisingly good, even sardine salad.  Some of the best Asian food I have tasted over the course of my life came from Nepal.




After lunch we were called into a huddle around Puna and a pile of rafting equipment.  He told us all about life vests and helmets.  Afterwards he told us to outfit ourselves and get ready for the water.  

Here's a picture of everyone hopping into the boats.  There were three red, eight-seater rafts for the scouts/families, another smaller six seater for some of the trainee crew members, and the blue raft seen above for food, supplies and camping equipment.  

After we had sorted into rafts according to group, (yellow, blue, and red), our individual raft captains taught us some basic commands: all forward, back paddle, GET DOWN, left forward, and right forward.  We practiced in a shallower, calmer part of the river before going on the first rapid.  

That first day we only ever went on level 3 rapids.  There was one rapid that they didn't want the newbies traversing, and made us hike past it on the shore.  It was swollen after the rainy season, and was a low level 5.  

Here we are going past the rapids, which you can't see in this pic.  

After a fair amount of uneventful rafting, we arrived at the campsite.  We all lent a hand in carrying the duffle bags, and then in carrying the supplies over the rocky shore.

Carrying bagage up to the campsite.  The first thing we did, after unloading the rafts, was unpacking our bags.  

Immediately after bringing everything up to the campsite, the crew started to make preparations.  They started sticking oars in the ground, broad end down, in every direction.   They laid a tarp on the ground for the baggage, an effective barrier keeping the sand at bay.  Everyone picked out their bag and prepared to set up camp.  I opted to sleep in a shelter vs. a  humid tent.  The shelter was configured out of a raft propped up by two oars.  A tarp was spread as the roof.  

After setting up tents, everyone relaxed while diner was being prepared.  There were  these little statue/idol things all over the place.  They were kind of creepy.

Can you see one under the rock, and the face on the stone?

Really quickly, this is our second campsite, but its the only pic I have of the two tents you can see at the bottom of the photo.  The green one was the ladies, the near invisible gray one for the men.  The crew dug two holes in the ground (using oars) and pitched two tents over them.  They stuck two oars in the ground a ways from the toilets and placed helmets on the end.  You were supposed to wear the helmet to the bathroom, then return it to its original position.  If you saw the helmet was not in its rightful place, you knew the tent was occupied.  

After dinner, me and four other people played round after round of blackjack.

It got really cold in the night, and I had an episode involving the men's restroom. I won't get into that right now.  Here is the last pic of the day:

The raft I was in, the captain in the center sporting a red helmet.

Day 3

Oh, how lovely was the morning, radiant beamed the sun above!  Curse those lines.  On the third day all I wanted to do was sleep.  Alas, the sun had other plans.  It illuminated the sky, even before fully rising, at 5:30, without bothering to warm the air around the campsite.  I got up, froze, and jumped back into bed.  It was freezing!  I can't believe there weren't pine trees sprouting around the tents, and snowmen surrounding our snow covered shelter.  It was so cold that I could see my breath.  After donning my warmest outfit inside the warm confines of my bag, I sprinted drunkenly to the campfire.  Breakfast was already being made off to the side.

I can't really remember what I did before breakfast, because the morning passed in the blur of serving after serving.  Afterwards I still wanted more.  It seems that when you are running on adrenaline and little sleep, you consume enormous quantities of food.  Trevor and Adam agreed that breakfast was WONDERFUL.  I had eggs, french toast, fruit, rice/porridge dish with little apple bits, and yak cheese.  The best was the rice stuff, which was warm, sustaining, and eaten with a spoon from a tin cup.  I kept going back for more.  I woke up before most people, and after some people.  Anyway, all but two of us were awake and had eaten by the time the sun had risen.  The last to awaken were Mazan and his son.  Everyone gathered around their tent, some with video cameras, and began to sing, "You are my Sunshine".  It was pretty funny to see the leader, bleary eyed and sleepy, stick his face out the tent for the cameras.

After breakfast, we all packed our duffle bags into waterproof containers, just as we had the day before, and carried them down to the rafts.  The shelters were taken down and the tents put away.  The rafts, which had served as shelters the night before, were returned to the water.  The rafters work quickly.  Soon, not a paddle was left on the former campsite.  We  all donned helmets and waterproof jackets and prepared for the first rapid, the "Good Morning".

I soon was to discovered that whoever named the rapids had a sense of humor.  It was certainly NOT a good morning riding that water, which felt like it would turn to ice on our bodies.  It was then that I was first truly grateful for the blue waterproof jacket I was wearing.  It effectively kept the water off my upper body.  However, my trunks got soaked, and my legs froze.  Adam Jr. had it the worst, and was shivering uncontrollably for the first half of the day.  Paddling helped to warm everyone up, and our captain made sure to give us plenty of work through the calm areas.  It was especially cold when we were in the shade of one side of the valley.

Eventually we came to a waterfall which ran down to a mound of rocks.  We pulled, or should I say paddled, up to the rock pile and dismounted.  Our captain told us, "You walk through water!"  It certainly was a beautiful waterfall against a lovely valley side, but I knew the water would probably be even more chilled than the water in the river.  Besides, moving forced cold air into my trunks.  

We parked against the rocks and one by one climbed over the raft to the shore.  The other rafts were doing the same.  The waterfall was actually warmer than the river, but it was still chilly.  It was like going from a 0 degree (Centigrade) room into a 15 degree room; it was still cold, just not freezing.   

Here it is.



Here's Adam in the waterfall.



Turns out there were plenty of other waterfalls as well, though most were either less accessible or smaller in size.

We continued rafting for a while.  Eventually, we pulled over on a sandy bank to quickly eat lunch.  Lunch took about 45 minutes to prepare and eat, a very astounding feat for the rafting crew.  They set up the dishwashing system, prepared the food and cleaned up in less than an hour.  Lunch was potato salad, sardines, and fried rice which hadn't been fried.  Oh yeah, we also had yak cheese.  You can see it looks normal, but it tasted different, and it was stiffer than most other cheese I have tasted.  Could be that it was just old.  

While waiting for the food, some of us tried out the canoes. 

We also saw a few adventurous, domesticated goats who had found us from up the slope rising above our heads.  We could hear the shepherd calling for them.  

The water became steadily warmer as we continued our post-lunch journey.  Here are a few shots taken on the river. 

You can see a few of the locals if you look closely.  The majority were very friendly; I felt like I was spending more time waving to the people on shore and on many bridges than paddling.  

Here's one such bridge,

and a background shot of the same one.  If you look closely, you'll see a guy carrying the top of a suit.  He's dressed in a white shirt and a suit bottom.  We saw him appear out of the jungle, walk across the bridge and disappear in the foliage behind on the other side.  I don't know how he keeps his clothes clean after walking home from work.

Soon after lunch, we came upon a particularly rough rapid.  We hit one wave that nearly tipped the raft over.  I was lifted up into the air as the left side of the raft nearly went over the right.  I saw Adam Jr. hanging on with his feet in the water.  Just as we were about to fall in, another wave hit us and knocked us back over, and we were able to continue on.  Unfortunately, the incident sent us in an unintended direction, and we got stuck against a large rock protruding from the water and the rock face.  It took a minute or two to get out, and afterwards we had to do lots of paddling to make up for the distance between us and the other rafts.   I got that moment on camera, and many others, on the head cam.  I filled up the 16 GB memory card on the 3rd day.  

After a while more we landed at our second campsite.  I couldn't find any shots taken immediately after landing, so didn't capture the action caused by the unloading of the rafts.  Everyone was walking up and down the small incline that led to our elevated, flat campsite.  It was the first place, besides Grandpa Don and Grandma Chris's backyard, that I have ever camped on grass.  We unintentionally chased some of the locals away, who carried all the good firewood away on their backs. I took this after a fire had been started and everyone had changed into warm clothes.  The tents have been erected on the left.

Here are a few more of the campsite:

While it was still light out, we used a tin plate like a frisbee.  We also went on firewood hunts, which were frustratingly unyielding.   The locals had already claimed the big stuff.  Before dinner, we were presented a big bowl of popcorn.  I have no idea how they made it.  

Dinner was great, and I had potatoes with lamb bits.  I say "bits," because the lamb was served in little parts, some with bones, some with different textures.  I didn't know what it was, and therefore liked it very much.  

That night I elected to sleep in a shelter again, as it would be much less crowded.  

After dinner, Puna brought out a two-sided bongo, and Boss, who, solo, ran the huge blue equipment raft, played the tambourines.  Another rafter sung a song that I couldn't understand, as it was in Hindi, but I repeatedly heard a phrase that sounded like "Pongco Pop."

I tried one shot with the flash, but it kind of ruined the whole effect.  

I accidentally left the flash on when I tried to capture the beautifully bright moon.  I could clearly navigate around the campsite by its light.  Unfortunately, I never really saw any stars, but that might have been because I took my contacts out before looking up at the sky.  It could also have been that the moon simply drowned them in its light, for it was very bright both nights.  After that picture I switched the Lumix camera's memory card with the GO Pro's, so as to have a bit of room for the next day's events.




Day 4

The next day started out sluggishly, and rather chilly.  No, that morning was absolutely frigid.  The previous day had been nothing compared to Day 4.  All anyone wanted to do was stand around the dying, soon-to-be-dead campfire, which I was solely responsible for restarting.  I used the few embers of the previous night's fire to light a clump of grass.  I then used the wood-chips that were the only product of the wood hunts of the previous day to make a longer lasting flame.  I then immediately went down the hill, past the tents, which ran perpendicular to the shoreline, but elevated far above it, and down to the rocky coast.  In a stroke of inspiration I realized that it was the only area I had not combed the area for wood the previous day.  I struck gold.  I found lots of golden brown driftwood, ranging in size from small twigs to thick branches.  On that first trip I didn't try very hard, and brought only a few small branches back, for I expected the fire would probably be dying by the time I got back to it.  I still saw the same group of people standing around it when I got back, who had all been there before a flame had been started again.  Wienies.  They still hadn't said a word.  I stuck the wood I carried into the fire and departed a second time.  I repeated the process several times, each trip yielding more and more wood.  Eventually, after over an hour of labour, I had enough piled up to actually enjoy it myself.  I got a few others to help in the gathering, after I proved that there actually was wood in the area.  Right when I squatted down to feel the fire, the raft men called for breakfast.  I never actually felt the fire that day, and only ever warmed up in the search for the wood.  I'm still rather annoyed by the fact I never enjoyed that fire.

Breakfast was good, however.  I had pancakes, and a few other things.  There was nothing left of the rice dish.  I think I did have yak cheese however.

Immediately after breakfast everyone went to pack up.  I stuck the camera into a waterproof, fragile box like I had the 2nd day, rolled up my sleeping bag and pad, shoved both into my duffle bag and stuck the duffle bag in its waterproof case.  As soon as I was finished, and no trace of my previous night's slumber remained in the area, I walked over to the fire, hoping to enjoy a bit of warmth before departing into the frigid rapids.  Alas, as I was walking over to it, Puna called for everyone to suit up and head out.  We all helped carry supplies down the hill and rocky shore, then piled into our rafts according to group.  I realized that a few of the paddles were still up the hill, and returned for them.  With paddle in hand, my group's raft set out into the rapids once again.

A random pic of the campsite



In the process of packing up


Putting the fire out

That morning I was lucky enough not to get soaked.  The rapids we went through were mostly out in the sunshine anyway, so we warmed up quickly.  There was one that looked bad, but ended up being fine.  We had just gone past one rapid, and there was rocky shore on our immediate left, right, and ahead.  The river made an "S" curve at the right, and turned to avoid the sedimentary rock face one the left.  It looked like our raft would go straight in the curve and high center on the one of the boulder tips sticking out of the water near the rock face.  We luckily missed them, and went through the turn without difficulty or casualty.

It turned out that that was our last rapid.  We spent the next two hours paddling, resting, and paddling again.  Most of us got in the water, and we went through beautiful parts of the river.  The GO PRO camera that Dad was letting me borrow was strapped to my head.  I haven't included any videos here.  Mr. Schroeder, a German, was messing with the camera, trying to help me get it to do something I already knew how to do.  He, um... accidentally set it to a mode where, once it is turned on, the camera will take a picture every two seconds.  Soon I had filled the second memory card with over 250 pictures.   Here are a few.

Most of us got into the water, and I feel obliged to prove that I did as well.  My raft is identifiable only by its nose, seen on the left.

Here we are in a shady area.  

In the middle of a splash fight with the other boat.  These were very frequent, and when another boat was not reachable, we splashed each other in a civil war.

We saw many locals being transported across the river in boats of all shapes and sizes.  There was one that seemed to be powered by a fan stuck to the back.  Many were jam packed with people.  Our guide told us that a dam had been built on the river, allowing people to travel upstream.  That was why we no longer had to navigate rapids.

The memory card filled before the end of the journey, so after we landed our final time, I had to delete a picture for every single one I took.  Our boat was the first to dock, and the first to unload its luggage.  I carried a very heavy duffle-bag-filled, waterproof pack on my back.  It wasn't mine; I could tell because I had strictly adhered to the 10 kg max rule to the hundredth of a kilo.  The pack I carried the 200m to the buses was over 30 kg.  It probably had several people's backpacks/duffle bags in them. It may have been made heavier by the steep, unpaved incline I was hiking up.  The trail had no railings, and at one point there was only room for one man to walk abreast without falling down to his death.  It was a fall that eventually led to the water, but included a bit of a slope down, where the victim would roll over many sharp rocks and several boulders.  No one fell.

When I made it to the top of the hill, I found a bumpy bus waiting for us.  I changed into normal clothes inside, then went back outside to eat lunch.  We chatted with the local boys who lived nearby who knew a bit of English.  There was a water weel and collection point nearby.

Here's me by the end of the journey.  My face is broken, my hair tangled, and I don't can't really remember how to smile for the camera in this picture.  I'm holding the GO Pro.  The sun was bright.

This is kind of random, but I need to include it.  After removing my duffle bag from its waterproof housing and retrieving the Lumix from the fragile case, I was approached by one of the rafting crew.  I recognized him as the dude with a solid, linebacker frame with long, black, curly hair.  He tried to hand me something.  When I looked to see what it was, I saw a dead crab staring back up at me.  I freaked and threw it to the ground.  The dude, smiling, picked it up and started walking towards his next victim.

Here are a few shots:



All the boyscouts posing for a shot



The view from the beginning of the end.



A beautiful shot with one of the local boys.

We all ate a pronto lunch.  I had a peanut butter sandwich, coleslaw and yak cheese.  We all piled into the bumpy bus and prepared for the five hour drive that awaited us.  Again, we drove on switchbacks within feet of sheer drops.  One false move by the driver would send us plummeting down the side of the mountain.  Besides that it was really boring, and impossible to sleep.  Here are some pictures taken while riding it.

Eventually we stopped for snacks in a village.  I didn't have any money, so I walked around with the Ramptons.  

Here are the shots I took:

The crowded main street.  To the left is the main market.  

This van got in the way of my picture.  We saw several other bumpy buses (this is not one of them) packed full with people.  They were hanging on the back, laying on the roof, stuck in the overhead racks, and crammed, ten people to a row, in the bus itself.  Some were sitting, though most were standing.  I guess there are very few buses that pass through the area.   

 The shot I wanted without the van in the way. 

These safety standards would never be allowed in the States.  Sometimes I think they are too cautious on the other side of the Atlantic.  There were plenty of people walking below this ledge, seemingly oblivious to the vehicles parked precariously above their heads.    

One last shot before getting back into the van.

After that stop, we drove another one-and-a-half-hours to the hotel.  We stopped for a "pee-pee" break, where almost everyone was stung by stinging nettle.  

Once back at the hotel, I grabbed my backpack and found out I was with Rory again, this time on the second level.  Here's the last shot of the day, taken from the balcony:

We ate in town that night.  Dinner was spent playing cards.  I ordered a lamb dish with rice.  I didn't eat yak cheese.

After dinner we all left to do some souvenir shopping.  I bought hat pins, a shawl for Makenna, yak-wool socks for Mom, and a stitched batman shirt for Jess.  I was able to cut lots of money off everything.  After getting back to the hotel, Rory showed me the Nepali dagger he had bought, complete with sheath and throwing knives.  I have no idea how he got it past airport security.

That night I enjoyed a shower.  The water no longer felt gritty.  I had brushed my teeth every night on the river, but enjoyed the feeling all the same.  I most enjoyed the toilet.  The men's tent had been rendered unusable by someone on the first night of camping, so every time I needed it I had to take a small hike.

While I was showering, the electricity was cut.  It happened on and off all night.

I called the front desk asking them to wake us up in the morning, for again, we needed to leave early to catch our flight.

Day 5

Man, the front desk must hate us or something.  Again, we were awoken by Trevor.  It was a rush to get out the door in time with breakfast in our stomaches.  It was sort of de ja voo; I had issues with the key card, packed in a rush, etc.  After breakfast, we bade farewell to the rafting crew and Puna.  Shree was gonna come with us back to Katmandu.  We left the hotel in the same sort of van as before, and soon were at the airport check in counter.  From the check in counter, security was visible.  People were invited in one at a time into a small compartment shielded by a curtain.  You put your bag on a bench and stuck out your arms while an employee ran his hands up and down your sides.  It was the easiest security I have ever gone through.  On the small plane I mostly read The Thief Lord.  By that time I was sick of playing Black Jack

Here's one picture I took aboard the small plane.

In Katmandu airport we saw several more monkeys.  We loaded our bags onto trolleys and rolled down the rocky path to the local customs.  Once through we parked our trolleys outside.  Shree informed us that, as we had five hours till our next flight, we might as well see some of the city.  It turns out that we were about half a mile away from a very holy Hindu temple, and that Shree would take us to it.  We were helped along with an old American couple who happened to be staying in the area.  They often helped out tourists in the area, and were very nice people.  They lived right next to Shree.  We walked past many beautiful paintings, which I know I took a picture of, but can't seem to find.  I'll post it later if I find it.  Shree served as our tour guide.  He showed us the a holy river where many of the dead are cremated.  We saw several fires along the river, and could smell them too.  Burning bodies smell gross.

As you can see, the holy water is rather nasty.






Here is a cremation ceremony.  Apparently, if your ashes are thrown directly into the holy river, you become reincarnated as a human.  It looks to me more like you become reincarnated as a plague rat to me.  No offense to the Hindu reader.  Hindus worship rats as well as the cow, which is like the pig in Islam; you are strictly forbidden from eating beef if you are Hindu.

Shree then took us up stone steps for an ariel view of the buildings of the temple.  Here is my picture:

The big building with the golden thing on the roof was built in the time of the Mughal Empire.

 The Mughal Empire, one of the three great Muslim Empires of the early millenium, came after the fall of the Mongols.  Its third emperor, Akbar, was very fair to the Hindus he ruled.  He was a very wise man, and respected the Hindu religion very much.  he allowed its practice and even took a Hindu wife.  The Taj Mahal was built during the rein of the Mughal Empire.

After seeing the building, we took a hike up another stone staircase, this one much steeper.  We entered into an animal refuge, where the Hindus kept a bunch of sacred animals.  We saw more filthy water, this time held in huge stone basins.  We also saw deer and monkeys.

Baby Monkey



I think this guy has a face like the Alienware logo.

That was the end of the tour.  We all walked back to the airport and bade farewell to Shree and the old American couple.  After waiting in a few lines and going through security, we finally boarded the bus that would take us to the plane back to Sharjah.  When planning a trip to Nepal, never use the restrooms in the airport.  They are absolutely filthy.  The water I tried to use to wash my hands was orange.

My last look at Nepal
....

After the five hour flight, we landed in Sharjah.  It was rather odd, I felt a sense of home and familiarity when I was greeted by a Muslim Lady in an abiah.  We rode a bus to ASD, by which time it was getting dark.  I was surprised, I saw clouds in the sky.  After everyone but the Ramptons and I had left, I felt a few drops on my head.  By the time Mom finally showed up, I had felt exactly four drops, a very rare occurrence in Dubai.  The first thing I thought the next day, when I began to unpack, (I had eaten and gone to bed as soon as I got back the day before) was that all my stuff smelled like decay and mold.  My water shoes were the worst.

THIS IS THE END OF NEPAL BY ISAAC
...