Weather – Beyond our control

 

David and Julian had 3 days delay in their flight to the mountain village of Simikot due to weather. This is near the end of the monsoon season so weather is unpredictable. With no room for error in the small landing strip of the mountain village, caution prevails. They were waiting in a small, very hot town in southwestern Nepal and finally yesterday they were able to helicopter to the village. Hopefully they will begin their trek to the Tibet border today. They will then cross the border and begin the Mt. Kaikash pilgrimge.  Due to the delay, they will have to trek the Nepali portion faster than planned as the Tibet visa is for a very limited time. I am fortunate to be staying with Deepak. Though David and I have no means of connecting directly, Deepak is able to get reports and lets me know how things are going. We may not hear anything now until they reach the border.

 

In the meantime, I remain happily here in Kathmandu.  I will start volunteering this week and I have begun studying Nepali with my hostess, Lalu. Already I begin to imagine myself returning to Nepal in the future.

September 1

I said farewell to David and Julian this morning as they left Kathmandu to begin thier Mt. Kailash adventure. I am very excited for them as they have a wonderful guide and thorough preparations have been made.  They both seem well prepared, physically and mentally. Each time I read anything about this pilgrimage I felt ready mentally, but unfortunately, my knees have a way of reminding me that I may need more new body parts before attempting something of this magnitude.

 

I will move to the home of Deepak Mohat, the director of Third Pole Treking.  We met him 14 years ago when we treked in the Langtang region here and he has arranged this trek for David.  He and his family have invited me to spend this time in their home. We had dinner with them the other evening and they were all so warm and welcoming. I am sure this will be a very interesting time.

 

September 4

We are reminded that we have no control over weather. The mountain village David and Julian were to fly to has had bad weather so they have been stuck in Nepalgunge in southwesteern Nepal. They are hoping a helicopter can get them there today. Deepak has been trying hard to figure and refigure things out for them.

 

In the meantime I am comfortably settled in the the Mohat home with a delightful 10 year old girl to introduce me to the neighborhood and the location of each and every chocolate shop. Anuj is their 19 year old son who is in the process of applying to college in the USA. He is suffering writer’s block in his essay, so I am trying to offer encouragement. Lalu is a delightful women who thinks and feels deeply. A former Nepali teacher for the Peace Corp, she teaches private English and Nepali classes.

 

Adita, the 10 year old, is trying to convince me that anyone over 55 should not do any work around the house. I almost sneak around to do some dishes just to feel a bit useful.

 

Kathmandu seems to have deteriorated. With the government in a stalemate, there has been little work on badly needed infrasructure projects. The population has exploded with people moving in from the countryside. There are countless motor bikes and scooters as well as cars (far fewer rickshaws), but the air is clearer than in 1995 as they have banned the most polluting vehicles.

 

It is heartwarming for me to be here after an absense of 14 years.

 

 

Julian and I are packed up for our trip to Mt Kailash. Cynthia will be staying with the family of Deepak Mohat, owner of Adventure Thirdpole Trekking. His wife, Lalu was a former Peace Corps language instructor before the Peace Corps pulled out of Nepal in 2004. They have two children, a girl 8 and a boy 19. Cynthia is looking forward to living with the family and learning some Nepali.

Julian and I fly to Nepalgunj tomorrow, then Simikot the next day, where we begin our trek to the Tibet border, then on to Lake Manasarovar and Mt. Kailash.

When we arrived in Nepal, my Blackberry was unable to connect to Nepal Telecom, so I called AT&T. They had me remove the SIM card and reinsert it, which I did. Now, I am unable to use the Blackberry for communication at all. I get messages about “Iniialization Failed”. I suspect I will have to reinstall the operating system on the Blackberry. But no time for that now.

So for the next three weeks, there will be a lull in our blog postings — Cynthia may post some entries, but there won’t be any photos until Julian and I have returned to Kathmandu on about September 19.

Thank you to all you readers who motivate us to keep in touch.

David