six months west: sleeping on the river bank in a lightening storm

after two weeks in Panauti, teaching and living at the children's home i took a long weekend to get away and go river rafting. the trip was included in my volunteer program and was all organized for me, all i had to do was pack a pair of clothes and any comfort items i needed (sunscreen, toothbrush, water bottle, etc.). the original plan was one day of rafting the Trisuli River which is West of Kathmandu. it's one of the few rivers you can raft almost year around. when i talked to Rajesh the night before though, plans changed a bit. there was an option to go for two days. what ensued will be one of my most memorable experiences of Nepal so far.

we caught an early 7am bus out of Kathmandu due for Pokhara and Chitwan. after about 4 hours, the bus stopped on the side of the road and the driver said we had to get off. standing on the side of the road was a little 5'4 Nepali guy wearing an old school NIKE hat, board shorts and a pair of flip down sunglasses like Ken Griffey Jr. used to rock in the outfield for the M's. his name was Jamal and he was going to be our guide for the trip.

the other people in our group consisted of Linda, the girl that has been volunteering with me since day one, Sebastian, a 19 year old Justin Bieber look alike from the Netherlands that's been volunteering in Kathmandu and a young Israeli couple traveling SE Asia after getting out of the military, Ayson and Shelly.

Linda is a comfort for me now because we can shoot each other glances in situations and bail each other out of trouble. Sebastian could have told me he was 15 and i would have believed him. Ayson and Shelly were both welcome friends, we hit it off easily.

we were on the water after a brief introduction and tutorial on rafting in which i acted as the interpreter for the group because Jamal's English was pretty rough but his instructions were similar to what I'd heard before when rafting in the States. my only hesitations came when he explained what to do when you get trapped under the raft, when he told us to leave our bags on the side of the highway because "they would be waiting for us at the campsite" and Sebastian asked if he'd get a shower after we were done for the day.

the water looked exactly like a freshly poored Guinness as all the shades of brown tumble down and settle in the glass. i'm glad i didn't wear a white shirt.

it was easily pushing 100 on the river at times and a Guinness bath never felt better.

over the two days of rafting, we saw maybe 30 suspension bridges and 20 pulley cart lines that locals would use to get people and supplies across the river. two days after i got back to Panauti, the newspaper reported one of the lines snapped and 5 people were killed.

after rafting for 2-3 hours we passed a couple riverside camps that looked really nice, one even had individual cabanas. the hopes of the group got way out of control because what we stopped at for the night was a barren beach with three dodgy tents on the shores behind a convenience store that doubled as somebody's home in a little town (population maybe 30 people) on the side of the highway.

we dropped our stuff, Sebastian found a shower and the rest of us had beers. after a couple hours of casual beers, cards and dinner, we called it a night around 8:30 as the rain moved in for the night (welcome to monsoon season).

i hadn't stepped foot in my tent until then but quickly realized it was well over 100 inside. within 5 mins of the rain kicking in, the tent started leaking heavily. after getting the guides to drag out a tarp to put over the top, i went back to them and said i won't be sleeping there tonight because it was so insanely hot and they invited me to stay with them...

they had taken the raft, turned it up on it's side, attached a tarp to the top and ran it out to the ground and raised the roof height in the middle of the tarp with two paddles. the sides/walls on each side were completely open to the environment and you could practically walk in standing straight up. everyone was sleeping in just shorts on the rock beach, on a thin sleeping pad, using the sleeping bag as a pillow. for reference, the rocks varied in size between nectarine and grapefruit.

i settled in for the experience between the old guy that made the food and Jamal.

the rain picked up and the approaching night sky fluttered with flashes. within 30 mins it was a relentless torrential downpour with lightening strikes so long and powerful your eyes adjusted and you could fully recognize everything in sight followed by a stampede of thunder that swallowed you up and erased any train of thought or inclination for sleep. for hours i laid there, half asleep, half in awe of what i was a part and how i had gotten there. it was absolutely amazing.

at one point in the night, i woke up to the old man, yelling in Nepali and throwing rocks out the side of the tent. my first thought was, what animal is out there right now? then i realized he wanted me to scoot over, closer to Jamal because he was getting rained on. the end result of the scoot was essentially a 3-man spoon. i don't think the old man brushed he teeth before bed.

it wasn't until after 1am that i realized i was starting to log sleep sessions longer than 30 mins.

i awoke just after 5am with the rest of the guides to the sensation of wet toes. the river level was on the rise from the start of the monsoon season over the last couple days. the river had come up almost 6ft since we'd gone to bed. we scrambled up, the guides tearing down the shelter and i went to wake up the rest of our group in their tents. within an hour, the whole area we were sleeping in was under water. by the time we left in the morning, the water level had gone up 10ft.

after another 1/2 day of rafting, we headed back to Kathmandu.

note: buses in Nepal, like doorways, are built for the average Nepali male at 5'5. this translates to my femurs being approximately 6-9 inches too long. and i thought Frontier Airlines had put their seats impossibly close together.

back in Kathmandu for the night, the next day i ran some errands and met up with Himal and the kids at a local temple. they came out for the day. we spent the day seeing different places in Kathmandu before heading back to Panauti. of the 8 kids, 4 ralphed on the car ride home.

the memory from the day with them was the last stop of the trip. i asked where we're going and they said, what sounded like, "the jew!" i asked, "what's the jew?" they looked blankly at me. i asked, "what is a jew?" and got the same result again. i conceded i would have to wait to find out. turns out, they have troubles pronouncing the letter z. we went to the zoo.

i've always liked the zoo. i haven't ever really felt bad for the animals as they always seem to be having a pretty good time there. this was a different story though. 1/2 the exhibits were forms of deer. the other 1/2 varied. all of them were in the worst living conditions i've ever seen. it was terrible. most were visibly depressed in their 8ft x 8ft cages consisting of a brick or concrete floor and a couple dead tree limbs. as we continued i separated myself from the group to avoid my displeasure being noticed. that place should be shut down.

change in plans (again)
when i originally planned for Nepal, i was going to do Annapurna Circuit, a nearly 200 mile trek around a big section of Himalayas. i later canceled that plan because it was going to be monsoon season and everything i was reading talked about how miserable and dangerous it would be. the last 2 weeks i've changed my mind again because if i make it 1/2 way around the world to one of the best trekking places in the whole world, to the biggest mountains in the whole world and don't do some trekking, i'm an idiot. let the record show, i'm more of an idiot if i do this and die but Rajesh has reassured me it's not dangerous or bad. it's just not ideal weather. so i'm leaving Panauti early to go on a 10-day trek up to Annapurna Base Camp. The Annapurna mountains are the most dangerous 8,000 meter + mountains to climb in the entire world with a fatality rate of nearly 40%. it's in a basin, surrounded by mountains. base camp is at 4,130 meters, that's about 13,500 ft. that means base camp is about 1,000 feet shy of the top of Mt. Rainier. it'll be insane if i can make it. if there are any hiccups along the way, i might not be able to make it all the way up to base camp because i won't have enough time. as it stands right now, 10 days is really fast and i don't have a single extra day to work with. i start July 3 and my flight to Kenya leaves on July 13 at noon. i'll have a guide the entire time so i'll be counting on him to keep us on track and out of trouble.

other note:
i finally got a pick-up game of basketball going at school the other day. full court 5 on 2. me and one other teacher vs. some grade 10 students. it felt really good to throw down some dunks on kids. as one kid said after, "you don't play basketball like a Nepali." i felt a little like Kevin Bacon in, "The Air Up There."

for those of you unlucky enough to remember Mr. Bacon's greatest work of the mid-90's, here is a quick youtube link to refresh your memory:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SAsIpkF5Ig&feature=related

otherwise, here are some pictures

some kids from school took me for a hike up a hill nearby. here's the view.

my three guides

on the way back, we visited one of their houses for a snack. this is his family.

trucks and buses get interesting decorations here

Ayon and Jamal waiting to get started in the morning

standard Nepal, big river, beautiful place, garbage

1/2 way out on a suspension bridge over the river

bus ride back to KTM

zoo

the Asian Elephant exhibit consisted of the elephant, short leashed back in a corner and us poking our heads around the side to see. we could have just stepped over the wooden pole and walked up to it.