Heading to Langtang

Just wanted to give a quick update on our whereabouts and plans so people know where we are. We're back in Kathmandu at the moment. Took a brutal 8-hour bus ride from Pokhara today. Tomorrow we face an even more brutal 9-hour bus ride to Dhunche/Syabresi - half of it on unpaved roads. Not psyched. These are the tougher days of travel; it is not all easy.

So we had a few days to relax and take care of errands after our first trek. Tomorrow we leave for the next one. We will be taking this next trek on our own, sans guide. We're confident it should be pretty straightforward. The area we are headed to is the Langtang Valley. It's a valley north of Kathmandu and only about 5 miles south of the Tibetan border. The people there are Tibetan in origin and ethnicity. There will be big peaks lining the valley - some over 7000 meters. We'll be pretty close to Shishapangma, an 8000 meter peak in China/Tibet but won't be able to see it. We may get a chance to scramble up a 'small Himalayan peak' if weather and conditions are OK. That will be a thrill if it happens but no big deal if it doesn't. We should be back in about 10-12 days before we fly to Malaysia on Dec 12th.

Take care and please give us a shout if you're reading this.

Drew

Trekking in the Annapurna Sanctuary

Poon Hill (Bishnu-porter, us, and Ganesh-guide)


We just recently returned from a 12 day trek into Annapurna Sanctuary. It sounds like a long time in terms of backpacking, but for Nepal, it is quite a short time. First of all, trekking in Nepal is not a wilderness experience. Although the scenery is amazing of the Himalaya, you are never far away from a village. In fact, you walk from village to village, usually no more than 2 hours apart, and you can stop and have lunch or stay the night where you please. The trails are pretty busy, both with ther trekkers and with people that are carrying goods from other villages. They usually have a basket that they carry with a band around their forehead, and they can haul an incredible amount of weight. So, although we were away from cars and walked everywhere, we were never away from other people.

We were blessed with great weather. Everyday it is clear in the morning and for sunset, but when we were in the sanctuary, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The temps got cold as soon as the sun went down, but while it was shining, we could hike in shorts (a skirt for me). The views were incredible each day, and one of the highlights was waking up before dawn one day (a major feat for both Drew and me) and walking up a place called Poon Hill, and watching the sun rise on the Himalaya. First the mountains turned pink in alpenglow, then golden, then whitish blue as the sun rose completely. It was magnificent!

Sunrise from Poon Hill

We also saw some cool animals along the trek. There are forests of rhodadendron in Nepal. I grew up with bushes in Seattle, but these are huge trees! I'm sure it is beautiful in the spring when they bloom. In the trees, we spotted langurs, which are white monkeys with black faces. We watched them for a long time as our guide, Ganesh waited patiently. In Nepal, they aren't very excited about monkeys, since they see them all of the time. We also saw a strange animal called a tahr, which is like a mountain goat.

When we got into the Sanctuary it was picture perfect. Annapurna Base Camp is in a natural amphitheatre surrounded by huge 7,000 and 8,000 meter peaks. The actually mountains almost seem stunted by the immense size of everything. Drew and I both read a book about Chris Bonnington's expedition up the south face of Annapurna, and it seems so crazy. It's incredibly steep and you can constantly hear rockfall and avalanches coming down. Plus there are huge glaciers to cross, and unbearably cold weather. I think I'll just stick to looking up at the mountains!

Machhepuchhare ("Fish Tail") from the Sanctuary

Besides the obvious glory of the Himalaya, we both very much enjoyed the cultural experience of the trek. We learned a lot about the country and the people. In some ways, it makes me feel very lucky to be American, because we have opportunities that many people in the world don't. The people who live in the countryside of Nepal are quite poor, living mostly by farming for themselves, selling what they can to buy a few things that they can't grow. There is something beautiful about the simplicity of their lives, living hand to mouth, and a happiness that shines through sometimes bleak conditions. The people who are doing the best make money from the tourists, which makes us a target. Sometimes I am bothered by this, and yet I understand that everyone wants to make a living. I think I can learn a lot about simplifying my own life from these people, and to remember that happiness can exist with very little.

The highlight of the trip for me was working in two local schools in small villages, writing ebooks with the students. It felt like a truly authentic experience, where we weren't simply tourists, but teachers. Drew was so helpful, taking pictures and was just as involved as I was with the students. He also set up the project with the second school on his own, which I feel so grateful for. The schools were both quite poor. The kids wore torn clothes, and some had strange cuts that weren't healing properly. But they seemed happy, all the same. The schools were both chaotic in nature, with kids of all sizes coming in and out of the classroom, totally curious of what we were doing. But, we learned so much from the experience, and how different things can be in Nepal on so many levels. In the end, both sides won, and while we learned about the people in more depth, the students will each get a copy of a book they wrote about their village. They are trying to learn english, and so it was also an opportunity for them to practice, and for them to teach their parents. It was the beginning of a bigger project that Kelly Keena (in Colorado) and I am trying to do, where we write books with students from around the world about their communities, called the Global Library. It went fantastically well, and I will post a link to the books when they are finished.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving on the trek, and while we were dreaming of turkey and mashed potatoes, we instead ate dal bhat.... again. It is actually quite delicious, lentils over rice with a veggie curry, but not like homecooked turkey. We've become vegetarians in Nepal, after our stomach bugs, and I can eat an incredible amount of food these days. But anyways, we still talked about all of the things we are thankful for and I wrote in my journal.... "I am thankful for my family, and when family is doing well, life is good. I'm thankful for Drew's family, and the two new members, Braeden and Bridget. I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for this opportunity to travel and for having Drew to share it with. I am thankful for my health and happiness...." I feel like there is a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! We celebrated the next day with a dessert called a snickers/mars roll. It's a candybar rolled in dough (like a springroll), and deep fried! It's dangerous, gooey, goodness.

I feel I hardly expressed my thoughts and emotions that I felt on this trek, but hopefully it scratches the surface of the incredible journey we are having. We are always thinking and loving

our friends and family, so even though we are far away, you are always with us.

Annapurna Sanctuary

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey 'all,

A few days late but Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. This is a holiday that Erin and I really missed. My bro emailed me a picture of his holiday feast with his family, and Erin and I were drooling at the sight of the food spread on the table. We would give anything for some turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie... (not to mention friends and family which, of course, is more important). But we've been eating primarily porridge (oatmeal) for breakfast, vegetable curry with rice for lunch, and daal baht for dinner every day. Ben and Casey - if you are reading - we are going to have a fat, fat meal for Christmas. Please tell me those ingredients are available in Malaysia!

We just returned today from our 2-week trek into Annapurna Sanctuary. It was a fascinating trip and went well. We'll give more details and pic's soon. Just wanted to say hello and let everyone know we're alive and well.

By the way, I noticed the Dallas Cowboys and Boston Celtics are both 10-1. We're back, baby!

Cheers,
Drew

Hawaiian Reflections

Erin's feeling a little under the weather today with a stomach bug - which is all too common here - so we've pushed back the start of our trek for a day. Hopefully she'll be feeling better by tomorrow and is resting and recovering in our room. We knew there would be days like this so we're prepared for it. After spending most of the day reading and playing nurse and launderer (the legal kind), I'm now passing some time in a cyber cafe while she sleeps and gets well. It's a good opportunity to recap my thoughts on Kaua'i which I haven't had a chance to do.

So the first part of our trip was work, not play. We're trying to contribute in some way to the places we go and not just play tourist. It allows us to get "closer to the ground" and have a more rich experience than just passing through and seeing the sights. It lets you meet the people and have experiences and relationships and conversations that you wouldn't otherwise have.

We worked in Koke'e Forest on the mountainous west side of the island. It's significantly higher and cooler than the Hawaii I pictured (beaches, sand, palm trees, bikinis, surfers...) It's about 15 to 20 degrees cooler up in the forest than down below. We had very simple, cabin like accommodations and worked real hard. The work of removing/killing non-native species (aka weeding) plants sometimes as big as trees is not easy. It consists of being hunched over all day ripping plants out of the ground if they are small or slashing them with machetes and then treating them with herbicides if they are big. We were spent after every workday.

The goal of the program (Kauai Resource Conservation Program, www.krcp.org) is to eliminate non-native plants in certain areas of Kokee forest. What happens is these plants come in and outcompete the native plants and take over the forest, eliminating the biodiversity and threatening the survival of the native plants. The plants we targeted were kahili ginger (from Nepal ironically) and strawberry guava (from Brazil). Unfortunately, these plants already have a stronghold on the island and dominate large tracts of the forest. It was frustrating and somewhat disconcerting after having spent a full day working to remove and kill these plants and getting into a van for the 10-mile drive on a dirt access road back to the lodge and seeing ginger lining the road on both sides the entire way. So the program has it challenges set out for it. To be frank,I'm not sure what to make of our efforts and those of the program. I understand the goal at this point is not to eliminate the plants altogether but to prevent them from spreading into select tracts where native plants are flourishing - or to postpone the spread of the non-native species until a better and more effects deterrent to their spread is figured out (like a biocontrol or fungus which may create issues of its own). In any event, it's a challenging and complex issue to address and I'm not totally sure what to think about it. I do commend the folks at KRCP for fighting the fight.

In addition to giving back to the local scene, volunteering at KRCP also afforded us with some opportunities to connect with some permanent Kaua'i residents and get a glimpse into their lives. Thanks especially to Katie and Jim for their over-the-top hospitality and generosity. We greatly enjoyed both the local housewarming party and beach bonfire to which you guys invited us.

After the first week of working, we were free to explore Kaua'i on our own accord. We took the local bus and hitched around the island to get to the start of the Kalalau Trail. Kalalau is an epic backpacking trip along the Na Pali coast that is regarded as one of the classic hikes in the world. "Pali" means "cliff" in Hawaiian, and this hike merits the description. I've done a decent amount of rock climbing and some mountaineering in my day and even I was spooked on this hike. Picture yourself on a thin (perhaps a foot or less wide in places), loose, small rock and gravel trail that is in disrepair at times and is perched precariously above a steep drop-off of hundreds of feet (think pali) into the raging and notorious north shore of Hawaii. The high surf was incessantly pounding the rocks below in a loud torrent. Add to this a strong and menacing gusty wind that threatened to throw you and your 35-pound pack off balance and also intermittent rain showers. It makes for a dramatic walk.

But eleven hard-earned miles later you get to a special place. There's a large secluded beach with a two-tiered waterfall that's a hundred feet high and provides fresh water to drink and a shower to bathe in. Kalalau is held to be a sacred place by the Hawaiians who used to have a village here and this is the place that I half-joked to Erin that is perhaps protected by the spirits of the gods they worship.

Above the beach is a lush and fruitful valley this is inhabited by an interesting, eclectic, and free-spirited group of hippies who squat and live there. As every good Easy Rider fan knows, "these people should be proud. They're doing there own thing in their own time. It's not every man who can live off the land." But that's just what these people are trying to do. Some have spent most of their lives there (30 years in some cases) with just brief trips out to the real world. They gather greens and fruits (mangoes, oranges, bananas, lemons, limes, breadfruit) and grow vegetables to sustain themselves. They have a gathering place called "the sanctuary" where they meet in the evenings to share communal meals. One night we attended and were offered bread freshly baked over a campfire and fish and a salad that had been picked that afternoon. They were quite gracious hosts. As Erin mentioned, they need to clean up their act in terms of dealing with their waste and garbage, but if they do that they will be a long way towards sustainable living which is no small feat. There's also the minor detail that living there is illegal so that's a hitch. But it was a cool and unique experience for us to enjoy and observe.

After a few relaxing days at Kalalau and a speedier and less treacherous hike out, we mostly relaxed and toured the beaches and waterfalls of the island. I really enjoyed camping at Polihale State park which is a remote beach park on the west side with lots of sand but few people. (Surprisingly enough, there were traffic jams and bumper-to-bumper traffic at times around the main towns of Kauai, a real bummer.) I also really liked the north side of the island that had cool, hip towns and gorgeous beaches, including Erin's favorite Secret Beach. Another chill spot was the Queen's Bath, as shown among the pic's below. Erin uploaded some more HI pic's by the way so check back to the older posts for more shots.

While in Hawaii, I read the book Hawaii by James Michener. I highly recommend it for insights into the people and history that shaped this island. It's historical fiction so readable with lots of action, personalities, and steamy drama thrown in. It covers everything about Hawaii from geological formation to arrival of Polynesians to arrival of white men (mostly whalers and missionaries at first) to the ensuing plight of native Hawaiians to the blending of Asian peoples (Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos) into the population (at first as cheap labor and later as citizens) to Pearl Harbor and WWII to Hawaii's annexation to the U.S. Lots to understand. Hawaii is no ordinary U.S. state.

Here are some other random "points of interest" about Hawaii. They're all more or less true, exact details not withstanding.
- Hawaii was likely first inhabited by man when Polynesians sailed thousands of miles in a two-hulled canoe from Tahiti or Bora Bora or some far-off Pacific island at a time when no other civilization in the world was even sailing hundreds of miles on the open ocean - an amazing feat.
- The Hawaiian islands are part of a chain of mountains, mostly underwater, that stretch across the Pacific all the way up to Siberia.
- There's actually another underwater "island" in the Hawaii chain that is currently forming off the coast of the Big Island. Check back in a few million years and there may be some more real estate in HI.
- The native Hawaiian people are a small minority of the people on Hawaii. I read somewhere that the population by nationality goes something like 1) Caucasians 2) Filipinos 3) Japanese 4) Hawaiians. For some reason I was surprised by that. There are tons of white people (called haoloes - "howlies") and tons of Asian people but surprisingly fewer Hawaiians than I expected. When white men arrived, they brought with them lots of diseases like measles and changes that the Hawaiians were not adapted to survive. Their population dropped from 400,000 to 40,000 in half a century (or something like that). These people and their culture (which is a very cool one) seem like they are all struggling a bit to find their way. But in the meantime, Hawaii is an amazingly diverse place.
- The original native Hawaiians could recite their family's oral history back over a hundred generations by memory. That's 1000's of years! Totally amazing. In contrast, my siblings and I are struggling to research our family history back 5, 6 generations.
- There's actually a small island off the SW coast of Kauai called Ni'ihau that is forbidden to visitors and populated solely by native Hawaiians. I guess it's a little contrived because the island is owned by a rich white family that has decided to do this but it's an interesting situation.
- The only mammals native to Hawaii are a bat and a seal, owing to the extreme isolation of the place.
- To let you all know how budget Erin and I are, the cost of all our accommodations on Kauai for 3 weeks amounted to roughly a 100 bucks. That's what I fondly call "ghetto living." It consisted mainly of staying at the lodge in Kokee for free because we were volunteering and then small camping fees. But I must say, it was awesome waking up close to the ground every day whether that be in the forests of Kokee, on the lush farm of our friends' family, or looking out over the beach and the Pacific Ocean.

Well, those are my rambling thoughts about Kauai. Perhaps longwinded and scattered but I'm glad to get those things into writing. In each place we go, I'm trying as much as possible to immerse myself in the nature of the place and its people and history by reading, talking to people, asking questions, and observing so as to better understand. I figure I'll share a boiled-down version of what I've learned via the blog to drop some of the knowledge. Hopefully it's well-received.

Now being in Nepal for just a few days brings up a huge array of new thoughts and perspectives and issues related to peoples, races, nations, religions, wealth vs poverty, materialism vs simplicity, and so much more. It's like the wheels in my brain can't stop turning. Check out the blog of a friend of a friend from Colorado who's volunteering at a school in the town of Pokhara that we're currently visiting. www.blogspot.wandertheeast.com He's a skilled and entertaining writer and describes well the issues at hand here. Also, check out the book Annapurna Circuit by Andrew Stevenson for a great read by a man who treks through the same general area we're heading out to see tomorrow and describes vividly the landscape and people and contrasts what he sees to his own Western life back home.

Finally, last thought. Our view every morning includes Dhaulagiri (the 7th highest mountain in the world), Machupachare (the striking mountain in the photo below), the Annapurna massif, and Manaslu. I don't care what anyone says, the Nepalis are lucky!

Off to see the patient. Ciao.

Drew

Namaste from Nepal

We made it to Pokhara after 8 hours in a bus. The sad part is that the distance between Kathmandu and Pokhara is only about 100 miles, but it's a days journey. Pokhara is much more our speed of city- it's smaller, quieter, and the air is clean. The city sits on a large lake and has the backdrop of the Annapurna range of the Himalaya. Today we woke up to our first full glimpse of the mountains, which were pink with alpenglow and absolutely stunning! We are getting more and more excited for our trek into the mountains which begins in two days! View from our room in Pokhara of Macchepuchare

Today we walked up to a stupa, or Buddhist temple, above the lake. We were greeted by many people, but one group of kids linked arms and blocked our way. Then they sang and danced for us because it is the middle of a five day festival here and that is part what they do. The kids go from house to house, store to store, singing and dancing for money. They recieve a small token for their efforts. It's similar to Halloween, in a way. So, every day the streets are filled with the sounds of children singing and fireworks exploding (which scares me every time!) Also, each day they honor a certain animal, first the crow, then the dog, today it's the cow. The animals that are normally a ferrel creature, have their day of glory, in which they are decorated with flower necklaces and red paint on the forehead. It's funny to see the animals roaming the streets all decorated.

So, soon we'll be off to explore the mountains and I'm sure we'll come back with many stories and pictures, so stay tuned for that....
Erin

Hotel Karma

Namaste!

We've arrived safely in Kathmandu. We're staying at Hotel Karma so hopefully that bodes well for us. It's been quite an eye-opening experience just walking around and checking out the city. Lots of local crafts and traffic and people. I read somewhere that the local drivers use their horns more than their brakes. Now I know that to be true. It's chaos out in the narrow streets but a very vibrant place. We're here one more night, then take a bus to Pokhara - another main city, then off to start our first trek a few days later. Our guide, Ganesh Adhikari, seems great so we're psyched about that. Thanks, Erin Sovick of BCM, for the hook up. The website and contact info for our guide service can be found at http://www.asahitreks.com/. I feel we're in good hands with them. Off to explore Kathmandu.

Peace.
Drew

From Na Pali to Nepal

Hey y'all. Hope everyone is enjoying autumn and doing well, even the gloating Sox fans of which I seem to have many among my friends and family.

Just wanted to drop a brief line and let you know that we've safely arrived in Bangkok so the greater part of our journey to Nepal is complete. We spent last night here and will fly to Kathmandu shortly. Our 3-night run has been Waikiki to Bangkok to Kathmandu. Such exotic names and places, sounds so exciting. Our travel has been smooth thus far so we're thankful for that.

As Erin mentioned, we had a stellar time in Kauai. It's a very chill and unique and beautiful island. I felt we had a great and rewarding close-to-the-ground experience there. When I have more time, I hope to share more thoughts, sentiments, and reflections on Hawaii and Kauai. We did manage to post a few pic's below and will fill in more when we have a speedier connection and more time.

But now on to Nepal. This is the part of the journey that I have been anticipating and looking forward to the most. I'm prepared to see the biggest, baddest mountains in the world and the friendly, ancient, and unique culture of the Nepalese people. We'll be hooking up with a guide in Kathmandu, then heading out on a 12-day trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary/Base Camp where we'll be surrounded by 7- and 8000 meter peaks. I think it will be a highlight of all my travels anywhere, anytime. We shall see. Can't wait.

All our best to everyone,
Drew

Hang'n Loose in Hawaii

Today marks the last day of our adventures in Hawaii, so here is a quick explanation of our adventures here....














Looking west on Na Pali Coast with Kalalau beach near foreground

After our week in Koke'e, we finally got down the mountain to the beaches of Kauai. We headed straight to the Napali Coast, where we backpacked 11 rather treacherous miles into the Kalalau Valley.
When I say treacherous, I mean it's pretty dang hard. You hike over 5 main headlands, which equals to about 5,000 ft of elevation gain. At about the 7th mile (mom's, maybe you should skip this part) you hike along a hair-raising stretch of the trail which is loose, very narrow, and with about 100 foot cliff dropping into the ocean. On top of that, it was so windy, it would push you around, just to make things tricky. More than anything, I think it's a mind over matter thing, and I kept the mantra in my head "I will not fall, I will not fall..." and we didn't!

It was all worth it because when you reach the Kalalau Valley, it's a stunning sight. Kalalau means "Wandering" which seems so fitting for our own travels! The setting is a golden stretch of beach, with it's own waterfall pouring down over a cliff, perfect for a shower after the long hike in. The waves on the north shore are huge and powerful, so much that they don't advise swimming, but the sound of the waves thundering down eases your soul anyways. The beach also has a couple of natural caves to explore and swim in. The next day, we went into the valley and found more swimming holes along the stream to swim in and cool off, and there is plenty of edible fruit trees when you get hungry. To me, it's a place almost too good to be true, like the garden of eden. Drew said, "It's almost like the place is naturally protected though, because it is so hard to get in and out." It has a natural protection from the swarms of tourists that would be there if it wasn't so tucked away, which is lucky for us.

It's such a cool place that people have chosen it as a home. There is a group of people living in the valley, hiding from the rangers (which we never saw), and trying to find, as one of them said, "enlightenment". One man named "mayor" Ronnie has been in there for 28 years! When we visited with them in their hangout spot called "the sanctuary" Ronnie began with "welcome to the wildlife perserve for humans!" They try to live mostly off the land, share everything, and they were very welcoming to us. The downfall is that these people create alot of trash that there aren't systems in place to get rid of. So, in this beautiful setting, there are piles of trash bags as a constant eye-sore to what humans can do to a place. It really got me thinking about how much waste we all produce (we just don't see it so clearly) and how I hope to really work on my own waste footprint in my life. I'm thinking alot about how many resources I use, how much waste I produce, how much energy goes into each thing I buy, where my food comes from, and how I can simplify my life. I am already learning so much from other people how to do this, and how not to do it. These are all things I've thought about in the past, but they are becoming more imprinted into who I am through this journey.

The Queen's Bath with start of Na Pali coast in background. Note the waves filling up the bath.

We spent the next fews days exploring the rest of the island, going to different beaches and natural gems like "Queen's bath" which is a a big tidepool that you can swim in. We only had one mishap where we got our SUV stuck in the sand at a remote beach called Polihale. We've met some locals, read more than I ever have in my life, and I even touched a sea turtle during our last day in Kauai, snorkeling! We've had a great relaxing time in Kauai and have had lots of time to talk and think, reflect and look forward. We're leaving for Nepal tommorrow morning, and after a grueling flight we'll get there on the 6th of November.

Thanks for all of your thoughts! Your comments make our day, and crack us up. Keep 'em, coming!

Erin