solo travel | Everest and the Real Girl

Team Annapurna

April 11, 2013 · by Julie

Kiwi Steve, Jake, Ruth, Nancy, Lisa, Bill, Tamy, Julie, Russ, Steve, Barry, Frank, Nort, Lou Anne, Mitch, D.K., Random Cute Kid, Gokul

April 11, 2013
Thursday

So. Everest kicked my ass. I didn’t get there, didn’t even get to try. The closest I got to that mountain was a fly-by on my way to Bhutan. Two months later I came home from Nepal and faced an even higher mountain: a career in shambles. An important client – THE important client – gone. Poof. Like that. Rebuilding my business has been slow and challenging, and may ultimately be impossible. I’m in my office, yet part of me is still sitting in Kathmandu, nowhere near the summit with supplies dwindling fast.

Everest and the Real Girl took a back seat for a while, but I still have a lot to share. After all, we made it to Annapurna Base Camp – not Everest, but not too shabby either! Today, though, I’m not going to tell you what we did on the way up that mountain because that’s not where my mind goes first. I’m going to tell you about Team Annapurna – the best team that I have ever had the honor to travel with, hands down!

My disappointment in being “strongly encouraged” to join the Annapurna team rather than the Everest team, due to the mysterious high pressure in the right side of my heart, began to ease at our welcome dinner in Kathmandu when I first met our Active Himalayas guide, our local guide, and my 15 fellow trekkers. We would meet our fantastic team of super-strong porters later. These guys were always a high point of our day, hauling our gear up the mountain then running back to guide us into the next teahouse, high-fiving us as we crawled up the inevitable last flight of stone steps before collapsing in a heap somewhere near the lemon-ginger tea.

Photo: Barry and Jake

But that first night, it was all shiny and new as we ate dinner on a rooftop in Kathmandu, eyeing each other warily and wondering who we would be tempted to throw off a cliff by the end of the journey. Five minutes in, we knew. Nobody was going off a cliff without the rest of us diving to save them. We clicked. Like Fred and Ginger. Like Gilligan and the Skipper. Like Barry and his Fanta. We were all seasoned travelers, most of us on a repeat trip with Active Adventures. We shared stories about our favorite places on the planet. Jake worried us a bit when he said Disneyland, but when the table went silent and all heads turned, he changed his answer to Switzerland. I’m still not sure if he was really joking. 😉

Then we were off.

Our mascot Trev. He likes beer.

Even though it wasn’t Everest Base Camp, this trek wasn’t easy. In fact, it was quite a challenge. We lived in close quarters in uncomfortable and unfamiliar conditions for days on end. As Lisa noted, we knew each other by smell after a while. Things went wrong: the hot shower we’d been looking forward to for a couple of days was glacier cold, the teahouse gave away our rooms, hiking poles broke, our water froze. We were tired, sore, and at times frustrated. Yet we laughed about it all, supported one another through the rough spots, and lifted our collective spirits by building human pyramids, doing jumping jacks to burn just four more calories to make an even 1000, counting the Chomrong Steps (Tamy says 2037), or dancing around a fire making total fools of ourselves and loving every second. We shared our precious toilet paper and gave up our hand warmers. We drank with Trev, who let Kiwi Steve drag him all the way from New Zealand to be our unofficial mascot. We were blissfully free of negativity. I love these people.

I give credit to each and every one of us for the success of this trek. We were all very different people but it was the perfect mix of personalities. I also give credit to Active Adventures, our guides D.K. and Gokul, and to our team of porters who made it easy to laugh and enjoy the ride. Active Adventures attracts a certain type of traveler, those who want to walk to dinner and become part of the chaos of the streets rather than pile into a van to watch life pass us by. Travelers who don’t want our gear to just magically appear in our teahouse rooms delivered by unseen hands, but who want to have some fun with the people who work so hard to make sure we’re safe, healthy, and as comfortable as possible. We want to be in touch with our experience, to be fully alive in each moment along the way, even when we have to put hot hard-boiled eggs down our shirts to stay warm.

Ultimately, this was the best trip of my life because of Team Annapurna! The Annapurna Range was a breathtaking backdrop, but the real beauty was found in the people I met along the way. To all of you – thank you! I would travel with any of you again, any time. You made the Post-Traumatic Step Disorder worthwhile.

Photo: Barry and Jake

This isn’t the end though, it’s just the beginning of the next adventure. I have a new Everest to climb, one even more challenging than the mountain in Nepal. I’ve always had a strange career – one that made a list of the 20 oddest jobs on the planet a few years back. Now the industry is changing, shifting, adapting, morphing into a patchwork of skills that are barely recognizable as the career path that I chose. I have the opportunity to redefine myself, or to redefine the field in which I work. I’m not entirely certain which path I’ll choose to take.

I am sure of one thing though: The lessons Everest taught me will guide me into the future. Initial disappointment turned into absolute joy. Redefining my goal led to a more rewarding outcome. The relationships I built along the trail lasted much longer than the view from our summit. And the journey…the journey is what still makes me smile. Every day.

I’m going to keep trekking.

Namaste.

The Bhutan Code

October 21, 2012 · by Julie

Halfway up the mountain, I hear trumpets in the distance. The monastery must be close now! Just over an hour later, I finally reach the gate – exhausted but cleansed. Prepared to see the temple.

I have finally figured out The Bhutan Code. If you book a trip here, pay close attention to your itinerary. Chances are it’ll be filled with phrases like, “visit the monastery,” “view the Himalayan peaks,” and “see the stupa.” These all mean the same thing – climb the mountain to the monastery, climb the mountain to view the peaks, climb the mountain to see the stupa. Once in a while you’ll mix it up by climbing six or seven flights of stone stairs instead. And it’s not over when you think it’s over. You’ll take an “easy walk” up the hill to your hotel. Then four or five flights of stairs and/or ladders to your room. Want breakfast? Six sets of stone steps to that building on the hill behind you.

Going to Bhutan? Hit the stair mill at the gym. Now. Seriously.

Luckily, I was training for a trek and even managed to climb to the famous Taktshang (Tiger’s Nest) Monastery, 900m up a cliff, in less than two hours. Your time may vary. 😉

That climb topped off a trip that included:

Yak Day – I saw my first yak, tried yak cheese and yak butter tea, and survived Bhutan’s version of the Death Road, which almost made me yak even though I’ve never been car sick in my life.

An “easy walk” to the Chimi Lhakhang temple, only to learn that it’s a pilgrimage site where the childless come to get blessings of fertility. Um. Yeah. No thanks. I skipped that blessing. The Divine Madman, Lama Drukpa Kunley, to whom this temple is dedicated, is the reason you see penises painted on and hanging from homes all over Bhutan. He’s known for subduing the demons with his phallus. The subtle misogyny underlying his popularity is a topic for another post, for sure.

Overall, Bhutan is like a carousel. No surprises (once you’ve learned the code), just extreme homogeneity and a quiet serenity that’s more than a bit disconcerting to me, since I come from a culture that values diversity – and the chaos that can come with it – so highly. I’ll save that discussion for later though. For now I’m back on the adrenaline rush roller coaster that is Nepal, and I’ll admit to breathing a bit of a sigh of relief at the beautiful unpredictability of it all.

Namaste.

Chaotic Serendipity

October 10, 2012 · by Julie

I sense a colorful rickshaw coming at me from behind as a weaving motorbike barrels straight toward me, and a dusty, white car eases past all of us while laying on the horn as if there was a chance in hell that we could get out of the way. I calmly step to the left, then forward and a bit to my right, confident that I can straddle the smelly water in the gutter without falling in. It’s my second full day in Thamel, and I’m becoming comfortable with the chaos.

I dance with the crowd, anticipating their moves as they anticipate mine. I easily sidestep spit from the shopkeepers hustling their wares or the equally dangerous splash from their occasional halfhearted attempts to wash the spit away. I’ve learned to keep a sixth sense focused on the uneven ground in front of me, while my other senses are fully engaged in keeping me alive. The similarities between walking in Thamel and driving on a Los Angeles freeway are striking. So are the differences. Overwhelmed at first, I soon find myself entering a kind of meditative state in which I move by instinct and trust in those around me. The crowd becomes one. We all move as a single organism – and it works.

Suddenly, the smell of raw meat from a small, open window low to the ground stops me in my tracks. I look around. Meat, fruit, vegetables, used cooking pots, clothes, rice, and live chickens splashing in the mud puddles at my feet have replaced the knock-off trekking gear, singing bowls, and Buddha statuettes of the tourist district. I am fabulously, deliciously lost.

I’ve stumbled on the local market in the part of town where there are homes instead of guesthouses, where the shopkeepers, hotel workers, and their families live, love, and play. I spend a couple of hours “lost” there, taking it all in. I don’t take out my camera, not even once. It feels too invasive here. Instead, I just talk to people. It’s a wonderful day.

Tomorrow I leave for Bhutan. I expect a very different experience from the chaos of Kathmandu, but I know where expectations lead. I’m ready to see how the next 9 days unfold, and to experience whatever chaotic serendipity comes my way. I am comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s just what I do.

Namaste.

Kathmandu!

October 8, 2012 · by Julie

After a very long 2 1/2 day series of flights – Los Angeles to Seoul to Bangkok to Kathmandu – I’m here!

For now, I’ve chosen Thamel Eco Resort as my home base hotel. I leave for 9 days in Bhutan on Thursday.

I always learn from travel, and I’ve already learned a thing or two on this trip:

1. Always book your own hotels, even if it seems more convenient to have the agency book it for you just this one time. They will get you the worst room at the most jacked up tourist price. You can always do better on your own.

2. The Bangkok airport is fascinating at 4am.

3. Solar Oil saves your cuticles from the dry air of airplanes and altitude. Ask your manicurist or get it at a beauty supply store. Don’t accidentally pack it in your checked bag.

4. Solo travel can be lonely. Breakfast was nice, and I met a few other travelers who were alone at the moment, but joining tour groups later today. I had some nice conversations until their tour leader arrived and activities started. Then I ceased to exist as they went about doing what they paid to do, and getting to know one another. It’s very quiet here now.

5. I can blog from my iPhone! This is a total experiment, so I apologize in advance for the inevitable glitches. Pretty cool though.

I’ll be wandering Thamel today, probably camera-less, just soaking it all in. I like to spend my first day (after sleeping 16 hours) just feeling out the vibe of a city. Later, I’ll make plans and See Things. For now, I’ll just Be Here.

Namaste.