jhubbel

I forgot to acknowledge Bokhara2-you are quite right on the yaks. I didn't know their names, but there are distinct breeds. I particularly loved the high mountain yaks with the huge bushy white tails, the occasional painted eye, the great bulky body and massive hair growth. Our guide pointed out the difference as we hiked higher. I've got tons of photos but didn't write down the names as he didn't offer them up and I forgot to ask.

I see I did report on Namche. Told you it was the drugs.

jhubbel

I just have to share this morning- this is after all a trip report. I was able to drag my aching carcass out of bed around 5:30 am when the sun started to creep inside the drapes so by 7:30 hunger got the better of me, especially after three days of not much food due to the buglets. Breakfast is free in this nice hotel so I went to the fifth floor, met the pleasant waiter, and heard a couple of words that I have not heard for weeks on end: yogurt and honey.
Now I don’t know about you but when that big bowl of pure white yogurt landed on my table with the big spoon of honey next to it I nearly planted my face in it. Yogurt is one of the staples of my diet and yogurt this good just is hard to find, and I had a really hard time finding that elusive dairy (never did) on the streets of Thamel. Suffice it to say that the first bowl was inhaled, a second ordered and enjoyed more slowly, along with a big bowl of fruit, and then I suffered the consequences of a very tiny stomach shrieking I DON’T HAVE ROOM FOR ALL THIS DOWN HERE. Well I had to quietly walk off the urge to you know what and go lie down to convince the body that yes it really did need all those calories and kindly don’t do anything stupid, so everything calmed down and the resultant energy has been a gift. It’s very nice to know that another bowl of yogurt will be there tomorrow, the next day and the next. With honey. Heavenly.
After the monastery we headed to Dingbuche, which is where we did that hike up the valley that was in the ice. This particular hotel, the Family Hotel, had a sign on the room door that tickled me pink. Along with a variety of other kind thoughts it asked for suggestions on how to make the hotel better. Well, I have one. Take the sewer pipes out of the hotel rooms. I mean really. I get convenience. But on any given day I would vastly prefer to wave my naked patootie out in the icy wind than try to sleep with an open sewage pipe right in my bedroom. Come ON man, whose idea was this? Now Raj teased me back that yes this is the mountain. Hey I get that. But there were plenty of outdoor toilets that used very effective composting techniques. There were all kinds of places we stayed that did not have that particular feature RIGHT IN THE ROOM. It so happened that I asked right away to be moved- since I can’t sleep with crap up my nose, parm my language- and they had a room in another building that had a bathroom down the hall. Did I mind? Was I bothered by a walk down the hall? Are you kidding me? I felt so sorry for everyone else, whose stories about putting plastic and rocks over the sewage pipes to assuage the smell actually had me feeling a little guilty. That was appalling. It’s a construction issue and totally, wholly unnecessary. Yes I get outhouses, yes I get that this is the mountain. And when you’ve got a stream of guests night after night, well, had we stayed there again, I’d have slept outside, no questions asked. It was just that bad.

jhubbel

I have to also be fair and report on our guides, Raj and Deepak, Raj being senior. They both of course started out as porters. Raj is in his thirties and is terminally cheerful, an absolute delight. Deepak, his English not quite as good, was at the head of our group, often on the phone with either his girlfriend or his 95-year old grandfather. Our porters, who laid our bags outside our rooms each night and picked them up in the mornings, would often gather early and get going before us. Kopal, my porter, was a compact man in his mid-twenties with aspirations to be a guide, so he was working on his English, which was pretty good. I snuck him a Justin's Almond butter which was- ah how can you say this nicely?- not well received- after which I kept him in those wonderful sweet and salty Clif bars that I found so addictive. I also had a pound of Blue Diamond Almonds and some other supplies that came out at various times either when I caught the porters up early or when Raj looked like he needed a sweet break. My backpack- I replaced the one I took up Kili with one with fewer pockets and more room- had lots of zippered compartments to hold dried pineapple and other fruits which came in handy when people flagged on the trail. I found that eating a big lunch midday left me nauseous and feeling like a lead weight was in my stomach. Similarly, going to bed very early- like between 7 and 8- allowed me to sleep extra hours, wake up early, write and head to breakfast very hungry. That terribly important meal started in the room with a supplement drink and peanut butter. I frankly don't ever want to drink that supplement drink again. Yechh. It's the one used by Olympic athletes! Okay so fine. That doesn't make it taste any better. People my age may remember paregoric? It almost got that bad. Very useful for energy but Ugh. What I did love were the big high fluffy three egg omelettes which showed up on my plate every morning, sometimes with porridge with apples and cinnamon. Best meal of the day for sure.

jhubbel

We fell into an easy rhythm of walking, as we passed flats where there were a riot of rhododendron trees with their white blossoms (Raj said the pink is the national flower). Lavender and yellow and all manner of spring blooms were everywhere as promised by the guide books but of course as we climbed the trees started to give way. Our party got much better at managing the suspension bridges, the very narrow walkways with the steep drop-offs, and hugging the mountain when the animal trains came by. Porters with the big loads also had right of way, something that it can sometimes be hard to be aware of if you’ve got ear buds in. There’s something about being able to hear the winds, the noise in the trees, the snippets of conversation, the birdsong that is part of the whole experience, but then that’s just an opinion. I had brought an iPod for the trip down but it was more trouble than it was worth.
The various restaurants where we stopped often had outside patios where we could sit in the brilliant sunshine and watch the traffic pass. Animals would lumber over the bridge, give us the eye and continue pass us, and eventually their minder would come along at the end with some kind of whip or stick. It seemed that his voice was the most important motivation tool. Occasionally we saw horses, small and compact ponies, often for rent, sometimes ridden hard up or down the trail. Both the German sisters were equestrians as am I and we were attracted to the saddle pads and of course the animals. I saw one being manhandled badly by one rider, others treated with kindness, as they are everywhere. The saddlepads are richly colored and if I’m lucky I’ll find one to use at home. We all got accustomed to the light bright jingle of the bells around their necks signaling their approach, as we also heard the bells on the yaks and their lighterweight cousins. I came to like the sound so much I made a mental commitment to find one of each which now sit on a chair in my hotel living room.

jhubbel

We were surrounded by snow and clouds as we climbed into Loubouche (sp again my bad) which was our final stopoff point before heading up to Gorek Shep and then EBC. By this time we’d been in snow for some time. Our boots were wet, our gloves were soaked, and we hadn’t seen sun or scenery for quite some time. I can’t speak for anyone else but I had a bit of a foreboding about going further and I know there had been some discussion in the group. The snow had continued to fall and as we gathered in the lobby of the Mother Earth hotel, I wondered whether we’d see snow or sun in the morning, and whether or not we’d actually be able to complete the trip up the mountain at all.
As you’d expect, the hotels are not heated. Ace the Himalaya provided sleeping bags and down jackets to those who needed them, and in these hotel rooms you needed them indeed. The higher we got the colder the rooms of course, and getting to bed at night and up in the morning involved quite the dance. Since you did want to change certain pieces of clothing like underwear, and I changed into thermals to sleep in, that means peeling everything off. This while standing in a room where your breath frosts. I also use a terrific muscle cream called EFAC which of course has been going up the mountain on Kopal’s back being refrigerated, so when I open it, it’s as cold as the outside. So here you are standing in an ice cold room, having taken off what were rather warm bits of clothing, you’re about to rub down with ice cold cream and put on ice cold pieces of clothing, and you will do this faster than you think humanly possible. Night after night. You think this is funny.
The real fun starts at about 5:30 am or 4:30 if you happen to possess my bladder, and last night’s three cups of lemon tea come knocking and you’re facing a run down an icy hallway to sit on an equally icy toilet seat- which requires leaving a zero rated down bag and a nice sweet liner which is keeping you very very very warm. We’re talking executive decision here. Indecision lasts perhaps fifteen minutes because the alternative is unacceptable, you haul your down bootied feet out of the liner and sprint down the hall, go sit down, shriek, realize you’ve forgotten toilet paper, repeat the sprint down the hall, get toilet paper, sprint back down the hall, sit back down, whimper, take care of business and limp back. And leave several layers of epidermis on the ice cold toilet seat.
Of course you can also do air delivery which is fine if you have good aim. It requires strong legs, which by the time you’ve reached 5000m, might be a little wobbly.
So the morning routine is just as bad. You now have to strip down your nice warm thermals, take off your nice warm booties, put on ice cold socks, ice cold pants, ice cold boots unless you’re wearing warmers (let them warm up at least ten minutes first) and either move around or stomp around until the blood flow generates enough heat. My big expedition Bergen jacket was so heat efficient that it warmed things up very quickly and that was a gift especially on the very cold mornings. The other thing was that at high altitude I traded the trusty, dependable Oregon Research hat with the wide brim that you could flip up or down for sunshine for the very thick Peruvian double woven hat that was a lifesaver at night.
Deepak had most kindly taken my expedition gloves and dried them as best he could the night before and he delivered them first thing in the morning (just one of the many, many, many things that he and Raj did for all of us). What I had not done, and should have done, was put my wet Keens next to the cook stove to dry them out. I had thought- quite wrongly on my part- that they might dry a bit overnight on their own. Not a bit. They were cold and wet and soaked through, and we were about to head up the mountain in what would turn out to be pretty bad conditions. I had chosen not to bring my mountaineering boots, my LaSportivas, on the advice of a great many people, and this was where I realized that you simply cannot plan for all contingencies.
I heated up hand, boot and toe liners, put on my thermals and the brand new Arcteryx pants, we all had a big healthy breakfast and Raj led us out the door.
Into about two plus feet of snow and it was still snowing.
You couldn’t see much of anything- for my part, and I had very high end glacier glasses on, I was nearly blinded. Raj took us up the mountain trail towards Gorek Shep and was breaking the trail- hard damned work. Deepak was with him near the front, and I trailed in back. This is absolutely not my element, no way shape or form. I had put on my gaiters thinking they would help keep the snow out of my boots- that didn’t work either. About an hour into this hike I had ice and water running down my socks into my shoes from the packed snow that had been forced up into my legs.
People ahead of me were falling, the trail being obscured by the snow, and one step to a side or the other meant a good slip of several feet up to the hip. We had a conga line of people behind us as well, including porters, our porters and others, other groups heading up. We were leading the way, and we were making very slow progress.
At one point some group or someone coming down the mountain delivered either news or a rumor that made it down the line that the owner of the hotel in Gorek Shep was closing up and coming down the mountain because there was so much snow on his roof. Having played telephone so many times in elementary school, who knows what was really said at the front of the line- but we were halfway there and we had stopped cold. A knot of people had formed around Raj and Deepak and clearly there was a conflict going on.
As far back as I was, what seemed clear was that there were two schools of thought- very simple. Some folks wanted to go ahead, some wanted to back because of the safety issue. Jan and his daughter were right ahead of me in line. About an hour before, Jan had had to pull me out of the snow drift I’d fallen into because my glacier glasses were so badly fogged that I was blind, and I was falling down, and I was pissed off. He was kind enough to let me rant for my alloted minute until I recaptured my funny bone, and we agreed that it was not looking good. And as we stood in line, and Cathy, his sweet faced blond daughter started snow angels, we decided to go back.
At this juncture we’d been out on the snow and the trail for about two hours plus, and the trek to Gorek Shep was about three hours total. The effort to break through the snow and to make EBC that day was looking more epic than most of us wanted to do and the real issue was one of safety, with the second issue that of what’s the point if you can’t see anything anyway? Kalapattar might not be climbable, but five of our group- those with no experience- wanted to do it.
On the other hand, being on Diomox and diligently drinking my Octane, and having not had a pee break for a VERY LONG TIME, and there not being facilities around nor a rock nor a bush nor a porta potty, I had an emergency brewing. Everyone to my left was facing forward and focused on the drama at the front of the line. Right. This I can do. I got between Cathy and Jan and started stamping out a semi circle in the snow. Cathy, a newly graduated nurse, knew precisely what I was doing. Soon as I had my little pot stamped out she stood on my right as my guard, and we asked the three closest curious porters to kindly turn around. Whereupon I dropped trou and waited.
And waited. And waited. Now I don’t know about you but it’s not easy to pee in such a public place with people constantly marching by and eyeballing you. I finally resorted to my best system- George Carlin routines, and I got yellow snow. Ahhh.
Okay so now I stand up and pull all the layers up but suddenly realize that in doing so I’ve also somehow captured a good handful of ice cold snow in my underwear which is now plastered to my left butt cheek and is quite literally freezing my butt off. This elicits a horse laugh out of me, Cathy now has to turn to inspect, so do the porters, and so natch all semblance of privacy is lost as I have to drop trou and shake my naked patootie to get rid of the ice on my butt.
Well at least we’ve induced a little hilarity into the group, and at last a decision comes down- six of us head back to the hotel, Kopal is going to take over as assistant guide, and Deepak and Raj will take the five up the mountain to see what they can accomplish. I am very happy to take my increasingly wet feet and foggy glasses back down the mountain, and sit and write and shower and rest.

jhubbel

By the time we got back to the hotel, natch, the skies were threatening to clear, which made one of the German sisters truly unhappy as the EBC had apparently been a dream of hers for a long time. However her boyfriend had been having wet boot and shoe issues (I’d donated some boot warmers but they weren’t adequate). Their argument about go/no go spilled over to our lunch table, and the other sister, a great deal more cautious, was very concerned about a second, solo attempt up the mountain.
The situation eventually righted itself, I got to room with the more cautious sister, and in fact we were probably pretty lucky to even score rooms since it was the end of the season. The sun did indeed come out which was like putting salt into the wound for the one climber, and the local peaks revealed themselves in all their insane glory for those of us with our cameras to clamber outside and fire away. By this time I’d cleared out all the gunk in my glacier glasses- in fact I’d brought three pairs and simply took out a different one. I made the mistake of walking outside without a pair- just once- which I would never, ever do again and wouldn’t recommend to anyone who cares about preserving his eyesight.
The sun at 5000m is so intense and the snow is so white that the combination of the two is quite difficult to describe. Those of us who live in or near the Rockies and have spent time at altitude are familiar with the effects of snow blindness at say, 13-14k’. However this is of another magnitude entirely. I made it a couple of feet out the door and quite literally was blinded. I had to feel my way back inside and pretty much walked right into the snowbank right by the front door. Serves me right, too. It is beautiful, but you absolutely must invest in top quality protection for your peepers.
This high up and with the sun blasting away at one end of the hotel, I thought that it would be superb to catch lots of sun for my panels, which had been hiding away during the snowy days on the mountain. I put the panels in a window in our hallway, along with my boots, in the direct sun. And left them both there for a number of hours. The results were interesting. The boots dried right out, which is an indication of how hot it was at that window. And I didn’t get a charge, because I overheated the battery, which had I read the directions that came with my unit it states very clearly to not put the unit where it would likely be overheated. You could probably have cooked crepes on the damned thing by 4 pm. Happily it didn’t die, it just was annoyed, and gave me less than 15 minutes of work time, which is better than a poke in the eye.
Kopal, who as I had indicated before was working on his English, was now in charge, and managing our food orders and the accounting, and all the details of our needs, with his good humor and smiling face. We all took our time to relax, sleep in, and rest. The hotel warmed right up during the day. The next day, there was a marathon planned- and a great many people had been camping up at EBC getting ready to run it-in those same awful conditions that I’ve been describing. Those folks with their running shorts and sneakers were coming down the mountain in the morning. And so was Raj, by himself, a three hour trek to meet up with us, to begin the very long trek back to Lukla.

jhubbel

Our rest day didn’t go wasted. At one point one of the sisters walked by my door with wet hair, a sure sign that she’d had a shower, which I’d been thinking about. She was kind enough to give me some pointers on the pressure system which is much like elsewhere in the world- the lower the pressure the higher the heat. For five bucks, this is definitely on the menu. I grabbed my little kit and headed downstairs.
The cheerful proprietor took me around a few corners and opened a door to the shower. I’m always hugely amused by the tricks the mind plays. I’m looking at white stuff on the floor, piles of it, and I’m thinking: soap bubbles. It’s a shower, so of course it’s soap bubbles. No you idiot, it’s SNOW, and a great deal of it, we’re at 5000 m and in the middle of a snowstorm. This is the Himalayas. So I’m standing on the wooden slats amidst the snow trying very hard not to stand in or on it, taking everything off, putting it all on the pegs, and then turning on the water as per the sister’s instructions. As the water heats up I do my best not to touch the walls which are wet, mouldy and a bit slimy. Ah- hot water. I mean HOT water. Heavenly heavens.
I grab my soap and begin the ablutions and promptly lose my soap down the slats, not fifteen seconds into my shower, and I haven’t even gotten to the really dirty bits yet. Drat. So I feel around and discover that someone else has done the same thing possibly months ago and I pry up this slab of soap with my fingernails (you do what you must) and this will suffice. Hot water. Soap. Man oh man. Life is good. No shampoo yet. That has to wait.
So then you have to turn off that nice hot water and step back into the midst of the snow which kinda defeats the purpose of the whole exercise, and put on all those clothes which have been steadily cooling off in the icy room (remember there is snow on the floor) and you make all kinds of squeaking noises as you dry off with that fast drying towel that’s the size of a napkin and then start putting your ice cold clothing back on. Yes, but CLEAN. That’s what matters. Your fingernails are white again. What small things that matter so much. What I wouldn’t do for a Q-tip right now.

jhubbel

So to an extent we are all sleeping the sleep of the dead and assuming that our companions are all fine and well, they are most certainly in expert hands (although Deepak with his sneakers- how he does this is a mystery to me). We take our time getting up the next morning since Kopal tells us we don’t have to gather until 8 am which is half the day gone compared to some of our mornings. Raj comes bounding in at 8:30 as we are finishing up breakfast and we give him a rousing ovation, very happy to see him, and he reports that a few had gone up Kalapattar partway with Deepak and the rest are on their way down and one of them isn’t feeling so well.
Oh and by the way, the marathoners are headed down, and they are actually rounding the bend right about then, where the hotel has a station for water, music, and general cheering set up for these brave souls.
I sprint outside to get a few shots of the elite runners – who have no glacier glasses holy cow- and they go flying by in their shorts and sneakers. They’ve already put in several hours of running down from EBC mind you, so this is gaining air for them. As we get ready to go and our porters pack up we all realize that we’re going to be dodging runners for much of the morning. The sun is high and very bright and that’s the kind of Colorado spring snow condition that people flock to my state for. You ski in your t-shirt and sunglasses and shorts, because it’s too hot to wear anything else.
Interestingly the day before as we had headed back to the hotel and the sun had started to come out, several of us got overheated. I had to take off my Bergen jacket, which is uber efficient in keeping heat in, and those Arcteryx knockoff pants were like stovepipes. No complaints- they did what they were supposed to do. However I was peeling off layers right and left to allow some of the heat buildup out. That meant different planning for downhill.
Raj loaded up and before we knew it he had joined the marathon, fully loaded with his backpack, and caught up to several runners. He was irrepressible. This after hiking down the mountain starting at some ungodly hour, and he is still full of energy. Who doesn’t love such a guy. The rest of us were slightly less energetic but we happily headed downhill.
Now mind you, with that intense sun and all those runners, the trail down ain’t the trail we came up. And nobody knows that better than I do, with my proclivity to slip and slide going downhill, the added elements of ice and slush did not make me look forward to hours and hours of steep descent. But descend we did. And I went to the butt end of the line, walking as carefully as I could, while the skiers ( oh so reminiscent of Kili) scooted past me on the slush having a hell of a good time. I managed to make a few hundred feet before my first butt over beauty but after that it was not pretty. The trail was nothing but ice slush and mud in most places, and lots of rocks. One of the German sisters suggested- and this was a good one as long as there was a “there” under the snow- to walk at least partially in the snow bank. This was hugely helpful- again as long as there was something to step onto. Where there wasn’t I did another faceplant in the snowbank. Raj had been warned in advance that this might be the case so he was kind enough to lend a hand here and there. I fell anyway, and after a while the group disappeared in front of me and I just kept landing on my buttsky and making my best way down. Not my element. Never will be. And I also knew that coming down, I’d be at the back of the bus, being very careful, but hey, snow wasn’t in the plan. But that’s an uncontrollable.

We all meet up at the monument site which is right about where two Irish runners-classic redheaded sweethearts- asked me to take their photos against the backdrop of the bright blue sky and gorgeous peaks. Who wouldn't? We had been dodging them and cheering them on with Zum Zum all morning. The runners ranged from the predictable twenties to the unpredictable sixties and possibly older, all countries, and all shapes and sizes. This was clearly an EVENT, and there was a fair amount of walking involved. It was on this part of the trail that I had made an aborted attempt to use my music, Figured if I was going to do some suffering I might as well do it to Beethoven or George Carlin or whoever else I'd recorded. Problem was that none of my gear had an appropriate pocket close to where it needed to be and that resulted in the unit being slopped around a pocket, jumping from Schumann to Michael Jackson to Vivaldi in mid song or mid sentence which was not only jarring but very annoying. Then it just fell out of my pocket and exploded in my ear, and I had to go back and find it. Fine. It went back in the pack where it belongs. At least it didn't land in the snow again.

So we finally made our way down to relative mud, and I skidded on some icy gravel which caused one knee to file a complaint with the brain, and that slowed Raj and me way down. We were still in steep territory and I had to negotiate the rocks and gravel very carefully so as not to further damage anything. The other bad news was that somewhere in the teahouse in Loubouche I had picked up…Something. I had been sneezing that kind of sneeze that tells you that something is comin’ ‘round the mountain here she comes, and that tickle in the throat, and part of me was thinking you’d better get your tush down to Lukla before this thing hits or you’re going to be seriously ill on the mountain rather than in a nice hotel. So I was feeling some urgency along with an unhappy peglet. Not a good combination.

The morning walk afforded us new views, and lots of fabulous photographs in all directions. We were all peeling off layers as we hiked. I was wearing three layers of icebreaker t-shirts, with a Marmot Precip jacket on top for rain and also heat retention. At nearly every stop we were all removing something, as the work and warmth took care of us.

We found ourselves at one point hiking across fields which featured large stones, a lot of water (standing and running)a number of yaks with calves, and the surrounding mountains. The town we were headed to was Periche, and our hike hadn't taken us more than about three hours. The decision to continue rested with the climber who was feeling the worst, and it was his call that we respected to stay the night and give him a chance to recover.

I recall crossing this particular area and being reminded a great deal of central South Island New Zealand. Hobbit Country I suppose now. But the bright green grass of spring on the tufts, the large, strange animals, the imposing scenery, all gave it that feel. We crossed a good bit of it balancing on the rocks to avoid getting our boots wet. And then, as we came into town, the snow started again.

jhubbel

On the day we head to Namche Bazaar I woke up very early as was my habit but with a headache and a cough, and the realization that yep I got the bug that some article somewhere said every visitor to Nepal eventually got. Well you buy extra toilet paper and you step lively. For some reason this night was colder than any of the others- even my luscious bag was cold in spots (right butt cheek in particular, the high point on one side ). I had to pull the bag over my head and really cocoon up, and the trip down the hall was particularly challenging because none of the toilets had any seats to them.

I joined the porters who were gathered around the stove, which was not usually heated up in the mornings. It was about half an hour before we were required to be up and everyone had warmed and heated their boots and socks the night before, a sight that you figure to be pretty common during snow days. The stove radiated gorgeous heat. Pretty soon we were all gathered and ordering breakfast, and we started off for another day of downhill, this time to Namche Bazaar. It would turn out to be one very long day of hiking. One of the jokes of the day was that the number of hours listed on Ace the Himalaya’s website that we’d be hiking that day was not exactly what we ended up hiking. I might not have the numbers quite right but I think we expected around eight hours of hiking and ended up doing closer to ten. Whatever the accurate number was, we all felt it. But we started off cheerfully enough, layered smart for the day’s sun and effort, and headed off again.

I skidded on some icy gravel which caused one knee to file a complaint with the brain, and that slowed Raj and me way down. We were still in steep territory and I had to negotiate the rocks and gravel very carefully so as not to further damage anything. Sometimes it helps just to keep going and soreness will right itself, and besides, there's no choice, you just keep walking. I had been sneezing that kind of sneeze that tells you that something is comin’ ‘round the mountain here she comes, and that tickle in the throat, and part of me was thinking you’d better get your tush down to Lukla before this thing hits or you’re going to be seriously ill on the mountain rather than in a nice hotel. So I was feeling some urgency along with an unhappy peglet. Not a good combination.

Raj and I caught up with our crew at one of our previous lunch locations where a little white dog was installed to protect the Fanta and Coke supplies (and the Snickers bars, gotta protect the Snickers bars). A few folks had their heads on the table, and people were looking a bit gassed. This was one of the stops that had the outhouse where they were using wood chips for compost- and it worked really well.

The sun was bright, the snow was largely gone, and everyone had ordered lunch. At this point Raj suggested that I might want to head down the mountain with Deepak early to get a head start if I was going to be slow, and I agreed. I skipped lunch- food wasn't very welcomed- and we headed down the mountain together.

So now it was a race against bugs. We were headed to Namche Bazaar, and my purpose has several aspects. I don't want to give anyone in my group whatever it is that I have and right now I'm probably a carrier. Second, it would be very smart to make sure I get to Namche Bazaar as quickly as possible, rest as much as possible and get another early start for the same reason. You can just feel this thing coming on, the cough and the cramps and the rest. And Kopal has all my meds, far ahead of me down the mountain. Thank heaven for Deepak and his swift pace.

thursdaysd

Sorry about the bugs, but thanks for a super TR! However, although I'm not an especially pampered traveler, it totally validates my decision to see Everest from a plane. Did any of your group actually get to EBC?

BTW, tip for getting dressed in cold bedrooms (I grew up in England, sleeping an unheated bedroom). <i>Take your clothes into bed with you.</i> Ditto your muscle cream, in your case. Not all night, but for a few minutes before you get up. Even if you'd just put your clothes into your sleeping bag while you put the cream on it should have taken the worst of the chill off.

jhubbel

As we set out, Deepak in that gentle way of his reminded me that much of the next day and a half was going to be uphill, which is an idiosyncrasy of the geography on this trip, and this made things far easier. Uphill is doable. Downhill on much of the twisty trail and many of the rocky steps is just no fun, and it’s slow. And just nobody wants to slow everyone down. What I didn’t know was that the group had split into two once again, one moving fairly swiftly and the second half about an hour or so behind.

We found a pace which allowed me to move swiftly uphill and gain time which I lost on the periodic long steps and rocky trails elsewhere. Looking backwards we could see amazing views and that’s when many of us got some of our best shots, and as we headed back down into greener territory, the blooming rhododendrons formed a perfect frame for a number of our peak photos.

We also took a nice break at Tengboche again, this time with the sun in a totally different place in the sky which allowed us to photograph Everest and her sisters in all their glory with the green valley in front of her. It was with a deeply pleasant familiarity that I passed these places, so strange the first time, but place markers now, letting us know our steady progress towards Namche. Often we could stand and see our trail far across a valley, see the suspension bridges coming up, see a town come into view.

The benefit of slowing down, which is nice to do anyway even when you are trying to outwalk a virus, is that you notice so much more. I find that when I am heading up, I focus on the footing, the shoes of the person I’m following, and pay extremely close attention to where the next step is especially if the trail is iffy. Deepak found out just how focused I got with his feet when I continually speared his sneakers with my poles, something that had me constantly apologizing for and after a while we both were laughing about it- good for him for having a sense of humor about it- and I backed off a few feet and stopped nailing him in the Achilles’ heel. Raj got clipped a couple of times and got even with me later by playing soccer with me with some fresh cow flop, a skill he is far better at than I.

Sometimes momentum really helps on questionable surfaces like rocks over a river crossing, or a rock fall. Stopping to decide where to put your foot puts everyone behind you at risk of falling if they are moving quickly, and someone may end up in the drink. Descending by its very nature more challenging at least for me as requires that I become far more measured in stepping, and on the EBC there were many stretches of trail where there was slippery gravel over clay, for example, or loose rock, perfect territory for a fall.

Some of the steps heading downhill were very narrow for larger (Western) feet and took more time to negotiate. That meant using poles up and down the mountain, for balance and especially when things got sore, for taking some of the load off.

As Deepak and I made our way towards Namche I would periodically fly upwards and go at snail’s pace downwards, with Deepak always keeping an eye out for particularly nasty spots that spelled spill for me. People would fly past us heading downhill, women with huge loads wearing flipflops, other hikers happily headed home towards that Namche Bakery or elsewhere. Periodically I could notice such a difference in the air quality – that increasing richness of oxygen that made the effort so much easier, the climbs a joy.

There was a great deal of climbing involved, and so often it would culminate in a lovely white small temple with those serene eyes on all sides looking out over Creation. Deepak and I would curve around the corner and the breezes would hit us full in the face and we would both shout out in pleasure. The long hikes would be hard work and the breeze at the top our reward, along with a grand view of a valley, a river, the rooftops of our goal ahead.

Part of what I loved about this hike- both coming and going- was that so often we could sometimes see the village or small city in the distance, carved out of a mountainside or nestled in the valley. On one hand it seemed so far away but the steady progress we made hour by hour was remarkable. The lines of the track were clear against the mountainside, sometimes it seemed impossibly long, but in truth the time melted away due to the beauty of the scenery and the simple pleasure of the company.

jhubbel

There was another thread on Fodors where some sixty-somethings had inquired about doing the EBC without mountaineering experience, and someone had told a story about people who’d had a terrible experience, by way of dissuading. I still heartily disagree, for as I’ve now done this trail- although not all the way up due to the snows- I’ve done the bulk of it and most certainly have climbed to 5500 m elsewhere- elders can do it with proper training. And the key words are proper training. The couple in question was looking at a late summer departure which would have given them months to get ready, and that’s probably what it would have taken given the lack of experience as described.

We watched a steady stream of helicopters move people down the mountain- now mind you a good many of them were on marathon day in those awful snows so you have to take that into account-so the business of altitude sickness is very serious, so are potential injuries. But what I saw of the group that I was with, the care that was taken by our guides and the nature of the trail for the most part was that compared to some of the other epic climbs I’ve done EBC is actually a little kinder since there is more time to rest, there are longer flat stretches, and you do get plenty of opportunity to recover. But this is no walk in the park. It’s a major achievement to do this hike and it does indeed make significant demands, and the less fit you are the more likely you are to be miserable along the way. So much of making the EBC an enjoyable experience is working within the body’s limitations- at what pace do I walk that works best for me? Is this about the journey or the goal? If the goal is to be amazed by the scenery, people, views, experiences, then slowing down and taking photos, and breathing it all in, then it’s worth putting in the sweat equity to build the endurance and be able to stand at those viewpoints and look at one of the most beautiful places on earth.


Since I deal with cranky knees, I know that taking on a hike of this sort is going to be challenging on the way down- and I allow for it. In cases like that you inform the guides, you bring the gear and you plan to be at the butt end of the group coming back OR as in our case, the guide sends you down a couple hours early (be prepared to get up well ahead of the group) so that you don’t slow down everyone else. Being a very early riser, for me this is just perfect. All this says is be aware of your limitations, keep a smile on your face when a body part barks at you and remember that it was your choice to do this. So when you’re doing an acclimatization climb and parts of you say “I’m done here” or it’s too icy and I’m scared I’m going to fall, listen- and tell the guide- and if you need to, get off the trail, take a break.

I found it hugely amusing that one of the most common items for sale in Namche Bazaar was a knee brace- boxes and boxes of them- often hanging from the ceilings of the shops I wandered about. These were neither the size nor type I could use for I certainly considered the option. For a chunk of time my left knee was annoyed but ultimately what got the most sore during the trip down were my shins. I brought two full rolls of Rock Tape, the kind that professional cyclists use (I also ride) and I strapped my knees going uphill. Going downhill, I strapped thighs, knees, ankles, shins, just about everything. My legs were festooned with tape- and despite all this extra support, my shins were shrieking on the way down. There is no way to protect against the constant bombardment of weight and impact. The other place you are likely to really feel this hike is in your hip flexers, from the constant lifting and pushing off. I used EFAC cream, available on ebay for about $25, which has the most menthol I’ve ever found in a treatment cream and tiger balm, every night and morning. Both were enormously helpful in dealing with the inevitable leg aches and the lower back pain associated with a pack carrying three litres of water and your extra layers.

Another thought on gear to bring. The higher you go the less power sources there are, and often the lights in the hotels depend on solar. When it snows, well. Some of us had headlamps. There are headlamps and there are headlamps. While it is sometimes a royal pain to sort out and put on – especially in the dark, the platinum choice of those of us who insist on going high is the high-end Black Diamond with the external battery back. The pack sits next to your body for warmth, hence no need for special batteries, you use AAs I believe, and the lights are brilliant and there are multiple settings. In the black of night when you want to read in your room, the overhead light is either wimpy or nonexistent (both likely) then this is the guy to have. Especially when it’s about 30 degrees or less in there and you can’t sleep.

About a year ago while shopping for gear for Kilimanjaro I was wandering around the aisles at REI (something we all do at some point if we hike) and I picked up a pair of calf compression socks. They were pricey at $25, but I thought about them, and what they did, and how cyclists and triathletes use compression gear for performance. On a whim, I bought them, took them to Kilimanjaro. And used them every single day. As I did on this trip as well. One of our other climbers, a girl from Alaska, was also using compression socks, and had compliments for them. These are not to be confused with support stockings, please. This is high performance gear intended to increase circulation- and I found them very helpful on those 8 hour hiking days. They reduced fatigue, and were hugely helpful. Another item she had, and that I bought at REI and many of the rest of us used at some point were some kind of buff or face mask. The one I bought in Vietnam served me best in Kathmandu, then I used the buff at altitude. The dust really is an issue, and by watching when the guides used their buffs it was a good indicator of when to use yours. This time of year in particular there is a lot of dust on the trail.

One of our other group members had brought a small device which indicated blood oxygen content and pulse when you place a fingertip in it. My guides on Kili had one of these, which is instructive as you head up and is a good way of understanding your condition relative to the altitude. You want your oxy content to stay above the eighties and you don’t want your pulse in high flight. The device made it around the table as we all greedily sought feedback about how close we were to expiring or thriving – a good thing to have on such a trip. We had three people in the medical profession which is also a fine thing to have on the trip.

I did bring a pair of Oregon Research glove liners, which had a habit of getting damp from sweat or just general use. I found a way to get them dry but at a cost. Considering that at altitude anything wet is COLD. Very COLD. I slipped the two glove liners into my thermals next to my thighs. COLD. It did, however, result in dry liners in the morning. But I did walk funny for while until the dampness warmed up. I had both Under Armour and SmartWool Thermals, both were fantastic for both being ultra light and ultra warm.

Bokhara2

JH : those prayer carved stones forming a wall = mani stones, mani walls. Always walk on the left (clockwise ) around or past them.

On reflection, would you prefer group trekking - or would you prefer to go with just a guide & a porter, so your pace would be your own?

jhubbel

Hey thursdaysd thanks for the advice, and I will take it! I did sleep with much of my clothing on at least on top and that helped. I found that my deodorant worked just fine being layered- I didn't stink anyone out. Thank heaven! Your suggestion is so obvious it's a flat forehead slapper. I will remember it. And yes, five did make it to EBC, one young man got wickedly ill with ALS, he never took any meds and perhaps the extreme push to get there just cost too much. But he did get better eventually to everyone's relief. He left for India with a friend from Norway today.

Others also made it partway up Kalapattar, which is amazing, and while the rest of us probably secretly envied them to a point (and I know at least one who really wanted to be there) I suspect that perhaps the larger number were glad to not have done what one young man said "was the hardest thing he ever did."

My guess is that Everest from a plane would be quite enough. So glad I did this. And it doesn't need doing again although there is one in our group who is determinedly coming back to made a heroic nearby climb with her boyfriend and all I can say is go for it girl!

Bokhara, it's hard decision. In part because I trust a group more than a private guide, in part because I love the group dynamics, in part because the group teaches you such wonderful lessons about community and support and sharing, there are so many reasons. The pace varied for everyone. Each day some folks roared to the front and some times there were folks way in the back. So while on one hand it makes sense and you make an excellent point, on the other hand there are great lessons to be learned. I often go alone, and on this trip I joined a group. And given the emotional bonding that we gained I am extremely glad we did. I came to care a lot about everyone and will miss their company. You can't put a value on that, or the many deep conversations we had, or the shared challenges. The pace is secondary. The quality of our time together was exquisite. And perhaps that in a nutshell is what decides it.

Because of my previous experiences when I had knee problems, when Raj offered me the opportunity to head down early I took it. There were multiple reasons for doing this. As it turned out I didn't need that time - Deepak and I moved quickly and swiftly and reached Lukla ahead of the group which said that had I stayed with them, it would have been fine. Despite what one writer has to say about not being able to keep up it wasn't an issue of capabilities. There is a serious misquote in that post from someone who misquoted and exaggerated something I said, and used it out of context, and so now it's being used as gospel, and it comes from a person who was quite willing to leave a group member with an injury behind without a ride- along with a guide and two porters- in the middle of nowhere. So this person doesn't rate a great deal of standing, especially given that by comparison, our group gathered around to support the young man who got ALS, slowed our pace to spend a night after only 3 hours of hiking, and chose to accommodate him instead of complain that he couldn't keep up. One has to consider the source.

Marija wasn't on this trip, and is reading my posts through a canted filter which is her choice. She seems to have missed the part where I pointed out that part of my very real concern was that I had a bug that I very much didn't want to give to anyone else on the hike and getting out away from the group seemed like a damned good idea. It's also ancient history given that I had a fabulous trip on the Inca Trail and a very successful second trip with the same outfit in Vietnam, and none of this is being taken into account. It is unfortunate that language such as "I know I'm supposed to be in awe" has to be used in this forum, since it seems sarcastic and unnecessary, and for my part, this stuff isn't written to impress anyone. It's a trip report. I'm having fun out here. And I value useful intelligent input where I get to learn. Most folks get that I enjoy taking shots at my own idiosyncrasies, limitations and personality traits and am the very first to make fun of my flawed humanity. There is absolutely no need to troll the forums looking for ways to take potshots at people who in some way offended or annoyed you. If that is the case then for heaven's sake, don't read their posts. The internet is a very big place to go play.


When we got back to our lovely hotel in Kathmandu I isolated myself for three days due to the bug, which was just nasty. This is not something you want others to get. So I just slept it off, and stayed very close to facilities. We had two celebratory dinners the last two nights and we all had a grand time, and saying goodbye in the hotel lobby was hard for everyone. When people combined and coalesce, whether someone gets ill like our friend Craig, or someone goes ahead for whatever reason, it simply doesn't matter. We're all okay with it. I was so happy when our group was all together again after we split up top- everyone was- it was draining to worry about them in that storm. So you get a bug or have a cranky knee? Come on man. It is so minor. We all got down within about an hour of each other, we all celebrated, we were all very happy to have done this with each other. I love these guys. Nobody cares about the small stuff, and it is all small stuff.

jhubbel

Bokhara2, one last note, thanks for the information about the walls. Both Deepak and Raj were good enough to point this out and make sure we respected the religious monuments. There is so very much to learn, and there are so many significant points along the way that it was really helpful to get that education.

jhubbel

Today the cough that has been raking my lungs is almost under control and that meant that, with me armed with a buff, Raj was willing to drag me out to the local market in search of a horse blanket. He and I both thought they'd be pretty straightforward to find, find a tack shop and there you are. Well, not so. Raj went to homewares shops looking for blankets first until I suggested otherwise, then we asked everywhere until it was clear that no one had ever heard of a shop selling horse gear in Kathmandu. Ah. Well, we headed back, and I spent the next hour on the internet, which scared up- on ebay mind you- one old Tibetan horse blanket for $77.00, not even close. I was hoping to buy one of those colorful jobbies that I had seen under the saddle of the many ponies being ridden or offered for sale up and down the mountain. What I realized was that my best chance to get one was probably to buy one used which is a really good way to get yourself disinfected coming through customs. It would have been worth it, too. I couldn't find a thing and it may be because I am not using the right key words. I think the source is Mustang, but every website that looks promising on Google doesn't load. So if anyone out there has a suggestion I sure would appreciate it. This was one of the few things that I really found appealing to bring home and put to use.

What has been extremely pleasant has been the quiet cycle of getting up later, enjoying that fresh milk curd (yogurt) breakfast, getting to know the wait staff and the ladies who come to clean every day (they have a great appetite for Snickers and Oreos, I found) and taking the time to slow down and relax. When I get home I won't have access to great big fat ripe papayas, so the piles of mangoes and papayas on my table are being enjoyed to the fullest. Along with the big boxes of fruit juice that I can get for a song at the local market.

Walking with Raj today was a trip as we ventured well outside Thamel and its dense collection of tourist shops. We passed many different stores where a new variety of offerings looked interesting and it's tempting to go back. The people on the street were different, differently dressed, I saw far more saris which looked like brilliant butterflies. Against the drab of the dusty buildings these lovely pieces of silk and the beautiful women who wear them truly stand out.

Next door to our hotel is an apartment complex, and every morning at about seven, about the time I wake up and pull the drapes, a young women comes to the roof and does her exercises. She wears what we were advised not to wear on the streets- Lycra pants- which many in our group commented that they'd wanted to bring but didn't out of respect for the culture. This particular clothing choice is actually more common than I would have expected given the conservative nature of the country but I see it everywhere.

As is nearly always the case, I found myself backtracking on this trip- I'd told someone earlier that I like to stay cheap and spend my money on adventures. Well that was before I came down the mountain sick as a sonofagun. I swear that right about the time you make a pronouncement like that the Universe conspires to make you chomp on your words, so rather than move to a cheap little hostel, thursdaysd, I am staying at the Gaju Suites Hotel in Thamel, where the a/c, big bed, nice shower facilities, fan in the living room, and full kitchen have made getting well a lot easier. That big fat healthy free breakfast every morning doesn't hurt either. So while it might be the norm to hostel, when sick, hotel. There's something about not being cooped up with all the other trekkers who might be bringing something down the mountain while I'm just getting over it, too. So yeah. I do not mind eating crow, which in this case is right tasty. I got such a bang out of the reports from some of our group members who went out on some local tours and came back soaked with sweat from the heat, after being nearly frozen at altitude. We all laughed at the contrast. And of course, here at the suites, the power does occasionally go off, but it is off for a matter of seconds, not for hours at a time, and to have cool air or a fan blowing while working is such a luxury.

crellston

Hi Julia saw your post on my other thread. Still following along on your journey with interest. Planning on spending next year in Asia probably using Kuala Lumpur as hub and visiting various countries from there Nepal included so all this is v.useful.

jhubbel

Good morning Crellston, good to see you again. I can't recommend KTM as a hub, it's just too polluted and chaotic. I agree with several other posters on here who say it left them cold. I wholeheartedly agree. The only reason I am in the city right now is to fully recover from the cruds which turned out to be pretty serious and I am taking full recovery seriously. Ace the Himalaya put us up in the hotel that is in the same building they're housed in and it's a very nice one in Thamel but given the option I'd also choose elsewhere in Asia.

After having done most, if not all, of the EBC now I would also argue that I'm not sure why others commented on another thread that it isn't that scenic. I've not done other hikes so I can't speak to comparison hikes, which is only fair, but I found the EBC to have lovely views often. As a first timer to the area my expectations were wide open and I was totally charmed. We did eventually come to places where people had dumped trash over the mountain and that was deeply disappointing. Otherwise, the various routes we took gave us the kinds of vistas that you only get to see on someone's wall posters as I mentioned earlier. Someone said that the Annapurna hike is prettier, and if so, it must be astounding, because I thought the EBC was gorgeous. This whole area has so many options. When the Clymb offered the EBC hike of course I wasn't familiar with much of anything else, and it was a great deal- and it turned out to be a fun adventure. What I did learn was that this time of year- especially based on the guide's comments- works out to be one of the best times, this mid to late May time frame- as it affords higher temps for hiking (with the requisite dust). We were all in shorts or light zip off pants for most of the way up to the higher levels when it began snowing.

I found- and this to your earlier response- that two layers or Icebreakers and a Marmot Precip jacket were more than enough warmth in the spring snow temperatures, given the effort used in hiking. The big Bergen expedition jacket ended up being most useful inside the lodges where it got very cold at night in the rooms.

When I read the label closely on my North Face expedition gloves there was an admonition to resurface them regularly for waterproofing, which I had not done in a long time, which was why they were soaking wet after a day in the very wet spring snow. These were older gloves, the newer versions probably don't need that kind of care.

The only real complaint I had- and this is tempered by the fact that there really isn't a whole lot that can be done about them- is the toilet facilities as you head up the mountain. The higher you go the worse they get, but that may also be a factor in the less expensive hotels. Facilities are very, very basic, you're lucky to have plumbing at all up that high. You really must carry your own TP

jhubbel

Continuing, Crellston, but then you're a very experienced traveler and know all this already. My comments are more for anyone else who is considering doing the EBC and wondering what to pack. Especially if you catch something, and not everyone does, you just have to have a roll with you at all times. But then I suspect that like you, I've never gone to a new country without a big roll in my backpack.

Another note I found interesting and this has to do with conditioning. I use Diamond Back carbon ultralight distance poles which are their super super light version, they weigh only a few ounces. This is in part for the sake of weight, and in part because when you're using poles for up and down they can be fatiguing over hours and hours of use. Especially if you're using them for support on the way down tricky staircases or twisty turney trails, this is where your upper body strength- and here I'm talking about your triceps- come into play. It's easy to assume that hiking is mostly about legs, and for the most part it is. But if you look at many of the workouts suggested in preparation for EBC and Kili, upper body workouts are strongly recommended as well. As your legs get fatigued, or your knees bark at you, you'll be using the poles more, and your upper body strength to support yourself. It's essential to put the time in to do pushups, tricep work, upper body weight work to make sure that your arms can also handle the demand that you're going to ask of them as you are hiking. It's surprising how much they come into play when you're using poles, and it's wonderful to have those reserves there when you need them.

Since I have a challenge with food when I travel - primarily because I am a fruit and veggie eater rather than a bread/meat/potato eater- I brought a couple of supplements that were particularly helpful this time around. SuperGreen SuperFoods makes a vitamin supplement which is plant based, and so does GMC, which provides a wealth of goodies from plant and fruit sources. For someone like me this is hugely helpful when you can't get your fruit sources in the high country. I also took an iron supplement which helps with getting oxygen to the blood at altitude. Again these were things I have learned over the various trips to very high country to help maintain energy and a good blood flow. I also pack up almonds, dried cherries, Sweet n Salty Clif bars. And while I love a Snickers like anyone else, the Clif and other energy snacks are usually a better choice if you read the labels. And while this is up to the individual, I always pack more than I can eat because there is nothing like a happy porter crew when you provide goodies every day or even every so often, stuff they wouldn't normally get, chocolate or treats that show your appreciation for the extraordinary work they're doing for you. And by the way if anyone wonders did I pay Deepak extra for his company down the mountain you're darn right I did, double in fact what he would normally get, Raj too, they both did superb jobs.

jhubbel

I do recommend Ace the Himalaya as a trekking company. What I appreciated was that they were deep on the bench in terms of having multiple people ready to step in when the guides were pulled in various directions. By this I mean that when Raj and Deepak went up the mountain with our more intrepid climbers, Kopal, my porter, spoke perfectly adequate English and was quite able to take over assistant guide duties for Deepak. When the group split, as it did on multiple occasions for various reasons as groups will do due to ability and preference, there are enough guides to accommodate. I like that the guides were so pleasant and cheerful and especially in Raj's case completely irrepressible, so that when the hike became a bit of a slog, his good humor was hugely uplifting. And that is a key factor when endurance is required. I felt that their pricing was more than fair, and I liked that we were able to pick and choose our own meals along the way, and pay the porters as we chose. There was a base fee that we were expected to pay and then we also added tips as we felt we were served. Ace offered additional tours as options when we got back and airport pick up and drop off were included.

It's fair to stay that when you've only used one operator and it's a good experience you're likely to say they're terrific since you have no comparison, and that's an honest observation. But suffice it to say I've gone up three difficult treks with three various tour companies and Ace compares very favorably with all of them in all aspects of customer service, care and competence. According to Prem, the owner, there are about 800 competitors, and they're all vying for the same tourist dollars, and finding a way to differentiate is tough. All anyone can say this was an excellent experience- and it was- and chances are I'd use them again because of it. They actively give back to the community, which is what I like about my other tour companies in other parts of the world. That's a good differentiator. For example, for everyone who signed up on their latest trip on the Clymb, $100 went to porters, which is the kind of support that I really like to see especially after what I researched on trekking companies in Africa/Kili. For those who are curious- and I apologize for not knowing the name of it- there is a porter's union started by and run by a Boulder, Co- based woman which supports porters' rights to living wages, proper clothing and footwear and all kinds of basic needs. I note here that Zara, one of the biggest companies out of Tanzania, the last I heard still refused to join. I do not know if she operates in the Himalayas, someone else might know this. It's a really good idea and the better companies join.

Today on my fifth lovely day of R&R the waitstaff upstairs whom I've come to know, and who've come to know my appetite, anticipated me and bet that I'd still like the double yogurt bowl/fruit bowl/tea/mango juice/two fried eggs (yes I did go back) breakfast. I told the kind man that I might not make the second yogurt bowl but given fifteen minutes....ummm, is that yogurt and honey still available? He grinned. Some of my very best conversations here have been with the cleaning supervisor who clucks over her ladies like a mother hen, and who speaks with me about women's work issues as her women fuss over my room, and we raid my candy supply (well, I bought it for them) and they finish off all my dried cherries. They love them. And the wait staff at breakfast and I have had lively discussions about religion and travel and ideas and mountains and gardens and just about everything under the sun. It's always a reminder of how perfect solo travel can be, like that four top table at the Istanbul Airport. You just never know who's going to sit down and teach you something.