Yes, We are Alive!

Now that we’re back to an Internet signal, it’s hard to believe it’s been so long since I managed to get a post up onto the site.  Hopefully they’ll start rolling out over the next few days (and filling your inbox) while we convalesce in Kathmandu and prepare in Pokhara in between treks.

So while the digital straw that I’m drinking through here in the mountains in the clouds gets our pictures into the digital cloud, here’s a quick synopsis of our last few weeks and the stories you can look forward to:

We had a great adventure out in Western Mongolia, where we figured out how to solve the problem of having a guide: ditch the guide (this will become a theme, repeated in Nepal).  We got within sight of China, climbed around in the mountains, bivouacked for a 20 degree night with nothing but a cow chip fire (and terrible Russian port) to warm us, and spent day after day staying with the Kazakh nomadic families as they prepared to move down valley for the winter.  We saw the local Naadaam festival with wrestling, horse racing, and feasting, and actually had a lot of great food including horse sausage, mutton tail fat, camel cheese, fried bread (they have no ovens), and practically drowned in milk tea.

A moment of action in a Mongolian wrestling match

After the Mongolian pace of life, our return to Japan was a whirlwind.  With nearly three weeks and an unlimited rail pass, every day was racing for a train or two, finding a place to sleep, and staying up late trying to figure out where to go next.  It’s a country that demands advance planning, and we did none.  It’s the ancestral homeland of the Locavore spirit, if not the literal birthplace of the movement: every single little town has its unique culinary specialities, and we tried them all.

The boys getting ready to board yet another bullet train

Aaron undergoing Ninja training in the Japan Alps

The kids trained at being Ninjas in the Japan Alps (their favorite day of the whole trip, by far), and used their stealth training to stay out of the way while we enjoyed the tiny stand-up sake bars and made friends with the outgoing and generous locals.  The weather obscured Mt Fuji; a typhoon raced us up the coast trashing, among other things, our plans to go diving; and an active volcano we’d hoped to see got a little too active, closing the train line we were going to take.  But we got in some fantastic snorkeling in Nagasaki, did a lot of great hiking, and immersed ourselves in the architectural details of dozens of castles, temples, and shrines.  Japan in highest on our list of places to return to – starting with a ski trip next year (come with us!)

Ethan and Aaron walking through a Japanese Forest

A long overnight in the Kuala Lumpur airport brought us to Kathmandu, more accurately Thamel (“the tourist ghetto”), which is a city within a city; a mile square, high density backpacker enclave of $15 hotels, fake North Face gear shops (you choose between the Nepal-made fakes or the more expensive Chinese made fakes), restaurants, and travel agencies, totally devoid of anything that makes a real city run.  My father came out to meet us, and after a few days to sort ourselves out and equip ourselves for the cold we headed for Annapurna and 20-ish days of hiking high in the Himalaya.  We first had to get through a landslide turned 20 hour traffic jam before starting off in sub-tropical jungle for the 12 day climb up to the Throng La pass at nearly 18,000 feet, along the way eating lots of apple pie and enduring warnings that we can’t bring kids that high.

14 days, 125 miles, 18,000 feet, no problem!

On the epic day crossing the pass, Aaron skipped up the trail, chattered on the whole way about all the different kinds of dragons in the books he’s reading, passed everyone else on the trail, and finished by asking, innocently, when that really hard day that I had been warning him about was going to come.

West of the pass we spent a couple of days walking to ethnically Tibetan villages before splitting up.  The Annapurna circuit trek we finished was beautiful and rewarding, encircling the Annapurna Massif and giving us fantastic views of Annapurna II, IV, III, Gangapurna, and others.  But I got greedy, and wanted to be within, not just next to the mountains.  And Annapurna itself can’t really be seen from the circuit trek.  So we sent Suzie, the boys, and the porters to Lakeside Pokhara, and my father and I practically ran up to Annapurna base camp.  Freed from family responsibilities (and porter/guide oversight) we left early, walked fast, and went far, travelling two standard days each day, reaching base camp above the Annapurna glacier at the foot of the south face in two and a half days.  After a lazy morning surrounded in the ring of peaks that forms the “Annapurna Sanctuary” we scrambled back “down” the valley, up and down over thousands (and thousands, and thousands) of rough stone steps, made a poor choice of trails on the map, and finally reached Pokhara and the family in the dark, 36 miles and two days later with screaming knees, nascent blisters, and abused bodies.

The peak of Annapurna South from Annapurna Base Camp — Annapurna I (to the right of the picture) is bigger, but not as dramatic.

In the meantime, Suzie had been enjoying the ubiquity of (real) espresso machines, and the boys made friends with other RTW families reveling in the easy life Lakeside.

Now, after a couple of days to heal – and type – it’s time to head off to Everest, via Lukla, always #1 on any list of scariest/most dangerous airports.