We are now in Namche Bazaar. We arrived today and plan to head to Dobuche tomorrow morning. Those of you who have read any books about the Himalayas would have definitely heard of Namche Bazaar. It seems like we are two days behind Rahila and plan to pick up the pace a bit tomorrow if we don't wake up with any altitude issues to try and catch up with her. We are at 3840 m here and have already previously crossed a 3850 m pass. Tomorrow we spend the night at 3710 m and have the option of going down to 3340 m in a couple of hours if there are any altitude symptoms at all.
We are holding up well. I feel muscle fatigue today after so many days of constant trekking on paths that are not so maintained. Vadim is going strong and makes it hard for me to keep up. We are very careful with sunscreen and wear hats during the day. Still my forearms and the back of my neck are very dark from being in the sun everyday.
We are able to find filtered water along the way or very expensive bottled water or ask the tea house to boil some for us.
Let see if we ever catch up with Rahila's Exodus group or if they remain as elusive as the Himalayan Yeti.
nadia & vadim
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Junbesi...
A very quick note to let you guys know that we survived the 7 hour bus
ride to Jiri. So far we have trekked from:
Jiri to Shivalaya - Day 1
Shivalaya to Bhondara - Day 2
Bhondara to Kenja - Day 3
Kenja to Junbesi - Day 4
Today in Junbesi - Rest Day
It seems that we are at least a day or two behind our planned meeting time with Rahila in Lukla. The trek is very long every day and tiring especially for Lily so we are trying to take it slower. We went up 2000m in elevation and another 700m down. It was a 11 hour trek and we arrived wet at 9 pm after it started
raining at 3.30. We passed out and had no choice but to rest all day.
Tomorrow we head to Thakshindu or if we are up for it, all the way to
Nunthala.
Hope all is well for everyone. We are doing great and being very
careful. No issues with altitude sickness so far except for one slight
headache that Vadim experienced when we are at Lam Jora Pass at 3530 m
but it went away when we descended to 2705 m.
More to come when we have internet again! We still hope to meet up
with Rahila somewhere along the trek.
nadia & vadim
ride to Jiri. So far we have trekked from:
Jiri to Shivalaya - Day 1
Shivalaya to Bhondara - Day 2
Bhondara to Kenja - Day 3
Kenja to Junbesi - Day 4
Today in Junbesi - Rest Day
It seems that we are at least a day or two behind our planned meeting time with Rahila in Lukla. The trek is very long every day and tiring especially for Lily so we are trying to take it slower. We went up 2000m in elevation and another 700m down. It was a 11 hour trek and we arrived wet at 9 pm after it started
raining at 3.30. We passed out and had no choice but to rest all day.
Tomorrow we head to Thakshindu or if we are up for it, all the way to
Nunthala.
Hope all is well for everyone. We are doing great and being very
careful. No issues with altitude sickness so far except for one slight
headache that Vadim experienced when we are at Lam Jora Pass at 3530 m
but it went away when we descended to 2705 m.
More to come when we have internet again! We still hope to meet up
with Rahila somewhere along the trek.
nadia & vadim
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Off to Jiri....
We wanted to send out a quick note to let everyone know that we are off to Jiri by bus tomorrow morning (April 2nd). We have booked a 6 am bus in hopes of beating any traffic out of Kathmandu. The 188 Km trip is supposed to take anywhere from 8 to 12 hours on a narrow, windy and hilly road. Hope all goes well. Vadim has a local SIM card on his phone and incoming calls are supposed to be free. The number is: 011-977-1-980-808-2688. I am not sure how far there will be a signal into the mountains but since I was unable to make a Skype call today before the load shedding, I am sending the number.
We have done all our due diligence to be safe for this trek. We are starting 8 days earlier than Rahila Baji to get better acclimatized. We have hired a guide who has been to Base Camp many times. We will also have two porters helping us carry our bags. We have registered with Himalayan Rescue Association and they have in turn sent out our registration forms to both the Canadian and US Consulates here in Kathmandu. We have evacuation coverage as well as travel medical insurance, plus altitude sickness medication, all of which we hope to not ever have to rely on.
It is getting very late and we should head to bed. We spent the last four hours packing in candlelight and then just as we finished, the light came back on :) And I want to post this before the light goes out again. We hope to send updates along our trek if and when we find an internet cafe.
Thanks,
nadia
We have done all our due diligence to be safe for this trek. We are starting 8 days earlier than Rahila Baji to get better acclimatized. We have hired a guide who has been to Base Camp many times. We will also have two porters helping us carry our bags. We have registered with Himalayan Rescue Association and they have in turn sent out our registration forms to both the Canadian and US Consulates here in Kathmandu. We have evacuation coverage as well as travel medical insurance, plus altitude sickness medication, all of which we hope to not ever have to rely on.
It is getting very late and we should head to bed. We spent the last four hours packing in candlelight and then just as we finished, the light came back on :) And I want to post this before the light goes out again. We hope to send updates along our trek if and when we find an internet cafe.
Thanks,
nadia
Checking in from Kathmandu
This is our first check in on the trip. We arrived safely in Kathmandu as scheduled. It has been hard to send a note earlier because there is heavy load shedding here so the light is actually only on for 4-8 hours of the day and we were very tired yesterday and missed the oppertunity to send a note. So far, we are holding up well. Kathmandu is very dusty with hardly a single paved road and lots of pollution from traffic.
Our hotel is clean but very basic and the phone doesn't always work so calling is going to be hard. We will try to turn on our tracking device but I am not sure if it will update our location here.
Our overnight stay in New Delhi was way better than we could have anticipated. The KLM land crew got our passport numbers and luggage tags and passed it to the Jet Airways crew. The three of us walked into a lounge and stayed the whole night there although we were told we could only be there for three hours. Two ours before our flight, a Jet Airways representative brought us our boarding passes and new luggage tags. We had checked in 5 bags and total weight was definitely more than 20 kg but they didn't ask us anything at all. We picked up our bags in Kathmandu and there were no issues at all. So we didn't have to go through customs or immigration in India and didn't have to have my visa stamped. The airlines went our of their way to be accomodating and it was much nicer service than we get during most visits to JFK. Although, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the JFK staff was to us as well.
Will send a longer note later when we have some time. The load shedding is supposed to start any minute now.
nadia
Our hotel is clean but very basic and the phone doesn't always work so calling is going to be hard. We will try to turn on our tracking device but I am not sure if it will update our location here.
Our overnight stay in New Delhi was way better than we could have anticipated. The KLM land crew got our passport numbers and luggage tags and passed it to the Jet Airways crew. The three of us walked into a lounge and stayed the whole night there although we were told we could only be there for three hours. Two ours before our flight, a Jet Airways representative brought us our boarding passes and new luggage tags. We had checked in 5 bags and total weight was definitely more than 20 kg but they didn't ask us anything at all. We picked up our bags in Kathmandu and there were no issues at all. So we didn't have to go through customs or immigration in India and didn't have to have my visa stamped. The airlines went our of their way to be accomodating and it was much nicer service than we get during most visits to JFK. Although, I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the JFK staff was to us as well.
Will send a longer note later when we have some time. The load shedding is supposed to start any minute now.
nadia
Monday, March 2, 2009
Recovering Islam's undervalued Intellectual Tradition
Some mythical part of the whole travel experience involves absorbing the wisdom of enduring cultures. In this regard, I found the following passage in a blog that speaks to these aspirations and also compliments our own personal views:
<< The first step in curing ignorance is to recognize that one does not know. Once people recognize their own ignorance, they can go off in "search of knowledge" (Çalab al-‘ilm)— which, as everyone knows, "is incumbent on every Muslim," and indeed, one would think, on every human being. No recovery of the intellectual tradition is possible until individuals take this step for themselves. The tradition will never be recovered through taqlâd or by community action, only by the dedication of individuals, through their own, personal taÁqâq. Governments and committees cannot begin to solve the problem, because they start from the wrong end. Understanding cannot be imposed or legislated, it can only grow up from the heart. >>
-Vadim
<< The first step in curing ignorance is to recognize that one does not know. Once people recognize their own ignorance, they can go off in "search of knowledge" (Çalab al-‘ilm)— which, as everyone knows, "is incumbent on every Muslim," and indeed, one would think, on every human being. No recovery of the intellectual tradition is possible until individuals take this step for themselves. The tradition will never be recovered through taqlâd or by community action, only by the dedication of individuals, through their own, personal taÁqâq. Governments and committees cannot begin to solve the problem, because they start from the wrong end. Understanding cannot be imposed or legislated, it can only grow up from the heart. >>
-Vadim
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Great article from National Geographic Adventure Magazine:
How to Survive (Almost) Anything: 14 Survival Skills
#8: Every new challenge you face actually causes your brain to rewire itself and to become more adaptable. A study at University College London showed that the city’s cab drivers possessed unusually large hippocampi, the part of the brain that makes mental maps of our surroundings. The fact that London has very strict requirements for cab drivers forced them to create good mental maps, which caused their hippocampi to grow. For most of us, a normal routine at work, home, and play will provide plenty of opportunities for simple mind-expanding exercises. For example, if you’re right-handed, use your left hand. Learning to write with your nondominant hand can be extremely challenging and builds a part of your brain that you don’t use much. Learn a new mental skill, such as chess or counting cards for blackjack. Learn a musical instrument or a foreign language. A recent study suggests that Chinese uses entirely different parts of the brain than Western languages. Take tasks that require no thought and re-invent them so that you have to think. This bears repeating: Survival is not about equipment and training alone. It’s about what’s in your mind and your emotional system. Living in a low-risk environment dulls our abilities. We must make a conscious effort to learn new things, to force ourselves out of our comfort zones.
http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/everyday-survival/laurence-gonzales-text
-Vadim
How to Survive (Almost) Anything: 14 Survival Skills
#8: Every new challenge you face actually causes your brain to rewire itself and to become more adaptable. A study at University College London showed that the city’s cab drivers possessed unusually large hippocampi, the part of the brain that makes mental maps of our surroundings. The fact that London has very strict requirements for cab drivers forced them to create good mental maps, which caused their hippocampi to grow. For most of us, a normal routine at work, home, and play will provide plenty of opportunities for simple mind-expanding exercises. For example, if you’re right-handed, use your left hand. Learning to write with your nondominant hand can be extremely challenging and builds a part of your brain that you don’t use much. Learn a new mental skill, such as chess or counting cards for blackjack. Learn a musical instrument or a foreign language. A recent study suggests that Chinese uses entirely different parts of the brain than Western languages. Take tasks that require no thought and re-invent them so that you have to think. This bears repeating: Survival is not about equipment and training alone. It’s about what’s in your mind and your emotional system. Living in a low-risk environment dulls our abilities. We must make a conscious effort to learn new things, to force ourselves out of our comfort zones.
http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/2008/08/everyday-survival/laurence-gonzales-text
-Vadim
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Leaving it all behind...
I found this article about a Brooklyn couple that chose to step outside the box. This inspiring story reminds us that all things are possible. We've been programmed in linear thinking and that can be very limiting. Moving beyond our comfort zone can liberate us from mundane routines and add some excitment back to everyday living.
Click here for the story.
-Vadim
Click here for the story.
-Vadim
Our Neighborhood in Time Out NY
The hipster rags have always appreciated the counter culture qualities of our campy neighborhood. Mainstream it is not. And for that matter, neither are we. But the biggest reminder to appreciate was to myself. While famous rockers have been known to party off the grid in Coney Island, Brighton Beach has remained a planet all its own. I guess that's as close to being original as you can get. This is where we're coming from...
Brighton Beach: click here
-Vadim
Brighton Beach: click here
-Vadim
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Adventure travel vs. buying a new car or a new home... what's your ROI ?
This is a great question and it may be on the minds of our family and friends.
The answer depends on your perspective. The major difference between saving up for an extensive trip or purchasing something tangible boils down to your mode of thinking.
Objects are material, but travel is ephemeral -- and this might be the most challenging idea for people to accept. They might feel that at the end of the tour, you have nothing to show for it, but this is not true. The value is in your knowledge and in your experience. To me, the value of life experience pales in comparison to any object you can possess.
-Vadim
"Breathe, breathe in the air, don't be afraid to care; leave but don't leave me. Look around and choose your own ground, for long you live and high you fly, and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry. And all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be."
Roger Waters & David Glimour
The answer depends on your perspective. The major difference between saving up for an extensive trip or purchasing something tangible boils down to your mode of thinking.
Objects are material, but travel is ephemeral -- and this might be the most challenging idea for people to accept. They might feel that at the end of the tour, you have nothing to show for it, but this is not true. The value is in your knowledge and in your experience. To me, the value of life experience pales in comparison to any object you can possess.
-Vadim
"Breathe, breathe in the air, don't be afraid to care; leave but don't leave me. Look around and choose your own ground, for long you live and high you fly, and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry. And all you touch and all you see, is all your life will ever be."
Roger Waters & David Glimour
GAP Year - a concept in multiculturalism
Diverse thinkers such as Albert Camus, Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, Kurt Vonnegut, John Lennon, Ibn Warraq, Salman Rushdie, and Gene Roddenberry (that guy who invented Start Trek) are all connected through the philosophy of Secular Humanism.
Along this set of ideas a movement called GAP Year began in the 1960s - "the origination of the 'Gap Year' concept came in the decade following the Second World War when youth travel and cultural exchange was discussed amongst governments as a useful tool to create more of a global understanding to prevent future global wars." Still relevant today? Sounds like it.
Definition of GAP year: click here
We have modeled our travel goals in the spirit of this gentle philosophy. Our journey may manifest itself into traveling to very remote places or to those considered highly developed. The goal is to learn from the differences and similarities amongst all of them.
How do you know where you're going if you haven't been anywhere?
Tips for GAP year travelers: click here
-Vadim
Along this set of ideas a movement called GAP Year began in the 1960s - "the origination of the 'Gap Year' concept came in the decade following the Second World War when youth travel and cultural exchange was discussed amongst governments as a useful tool to create more of a global understanding to prevent future global wars." Still relevant today? Sounds like it.
Definition of GAP year: click here
We have modeled our travel goals in the spirit of this gentle philosophy. Our journey may manifest itself into traveling to very remote places or to those considered highly developed. The goal is to learn from the differences and similarities amongst all of them.
How do you know where you're going if you haven't been anywhere?
Tips for GAP year travelers: click here
-Vadim
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