Everest base camp trek

                             EVEREST BASE CAMP AND KALA PATTHAR
the last two weeks I have been trekking to base camp and I got to climb kala patthar mountain. This was an awesome journey! It was 8 days up (with rest days) and 4 back. This is my journal and pictures from the trip.
Today is the second day. The first day of actual hiking. We've come a few miles and gained three thousand feet of elevation. We're in namche bazaar. Over 11,000 feet.

   I got my first view of Mount Everest today! Today is the day that I will never be able to say I've seen a higher mountain.

     We took an extra day in namche bazaar. Brandon, Mark, Chris, and I went on an extra little day hike for fun. This is the most beautiful area of the world. I love it. Today we left namche and went downhill for a while. We ate lunch at a restaurant by the river and then we went up for quite a while. Sham and Brandon and I cruised to the top. The others followed shortly. My pack is about six or seven kilos. Which is a nice easy weight. I wouldn't want to carry more than that though. Some young Sherpas were carrying seventy kilos of plywood up the face of the mountain in the sun. At elevation. Wow. That about 150 POUNDS! Crazy. We're in tengboche at 3,860 me. We can see Ama Dablam, nuptse, and Everest very well. It's a beautiful town. I am lying in my bed.

Oh and we saw a daphe, Nepals national bird which is very illusive.




I didn't journal for a few days. After tengboche we started walking. We went down and then up to a place with a bakery. I ate a delicious slice of cake. Everyone oohed and awed. Haha. We went to pherreche which is just shy of 14,000 feet. It was a beautiful valley with a semi marshy floor. The mountains towered all around. The lodge was nice and the food was food. We stayed there an extra day for acclimatization. We listened to the Buddhist mantras for HOURS. Those songs are torture devices. The same verse for 30 minutes or more. Wow. Haha. We played a lot of cards and generally had a great time.

   The  next morning breakfast was at 8:00 but Jason and ken weren't up yet. Ken came out later and informed us that Jason was sick. He'd puked and had the runs all night. Jason pulled me aside and said that he needed to leave by eleven. If he couldn't he would have to stay behind. He had me stay with him because if he had to turn back, I am fast enough I could probably catch the group before dark. Eleven came and he decided to make a go of it. We walked up the valley. Halfway up the first
incline he had to give me his backpack. He made it to the break point in duglha. After failing to eat he gave me instructions to get to loubeche. I climbed up the hill and topped 15,000 feet. I passed ken on the way up. We took group photos and the top and continued a slow steady incline to loubeche, 16,100 feet.

  Today we gained about 800 feet over a couple miles to ghorakshep. It was so much up and down. At this altitude that was exhausting. I ended up being the first (other that sham) to ghorakshep. We had lunch and then divided into the fast group (sham, Mark, Brandon, and myself) and the "good looking group" (Chris, Jen and Ken).
 Hahaha.Sham beat me to the top of kala patthar by a couple minutes. It's 18,100 feet.
It's really hard to breathe when it's 18,100 feat. Gaha. I took selfies with all kinds of Himalayan mountains, including Mount Everest itself. We went back down and hung out. We're currently waiting for dinner. Tomorrow will be base camp and all the way back to pherreche. :D

Yesterday we went to base camp. Dil Dai and I got there at 8:50ish. Brandon and Mark were a couple minutes behind. We got to take pictures and play around in the icefall. It's dangerous but sooo worth it! It was awesome! There were chunks of ice with boulders growing on top of them. They look like mushrooms .Ken came at 10:20 about a half hour after Chris. We took pictures and headed back. Jen got sick and made it to the ridge above basecamp. We walked back to ghorakshep. It was noon. We headed back down the valley to loubeche. I waited for a while for Brandon and Mark before we ordered food. About half an hour later Chris came. We decided we were gonna go without stopping all the way back to pherreche. I made it by 4:20. Mark and Brandon and Chris came about an hour
later. We thought for sure ken and Jen would have to stay in loubeche with our guide Sham and lead porter Dil Dai. But we got a message from ken at 6:00 saying they were coming down. Jen rolled in about 6:15 and ken an hour later. We played a few hands of scat and then went to bed.
     Today we just walked from pherreche to pengboche, where I had the cake. We are relaxing for the rest of the day.
     It's been a few hours and I realized I am probably getting sick. Bummer! I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones! So far Mark and I haven't been too sick. My bedroom is yellow. Hahaa. I told everyone I have an 89 percent chance I'll wake up sick tomorrow. :( oh well. We have a long walk to namche tomorrow and I want to be healthy.
I ended being okayish. I was able to get to namche quickly. The next day we walked from namche all the way back to Lukla. I had an AMAZING yak burger and mild yak butter tea. The next morning we got up at six, ate breakfast and flew back to Kathmandu. It has been such a fun adventure!

I 

Second trek

This trip was definitely an adventure!

DAY 1: the first day we drove to the sleepy town of Chainpur. We stayed the night in a hotel for less than 5 dollars.

chainpur

The next day we hiked to a village called Talkot. It was over their version of Christmas so there were many drunk people and sketchy Hindu activities. While there we stayed in a free hotel and explored the town, including the temple

Walking 

to Talkot

The temple

When we were at the temple we watched a scary ceremony of sacrificing a water buffalo.

The priests invited me to stand with them, but I was already close enough to this satanic ceremony. The next video is a little graphic, VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED

We went to surrounding villages the next day. We got a good view of Saipal Mountain, which is around 23,000 ft.  

We rode in a jeep through the mountains back to chainpur. There were nine humans and a large backpack in a five passenger vehicle. When we got back to chainpur we got to explore the area better. One of our times spent wondering the streets, we were stopped by a police. They politely arrested me and interrogated me and carefully examined the photocopy of my passport and visa. They were suspicious of drug related activity near the border of Tibet. At first I wasn't worried. My Nepali trekking buddy helped me tremendously. It was not long at all before we were back to exploring the area. I snuck this video of the police. 

The next three days I spent in chainpur and later in Baitidi. I met some amazing people. I had so much fun. I'm excited for my next trek to start tomorrow! 

First Trek

We went on a trek this week! We went into some villages that had very little attention from the outside world. I got to see some beautiful views, and amazing people. The villagers are very culturally similar to how they've been for hundreds of years. We went 26 miles in two days. It was hot and humid and a lot of fun. 

  

We saw this adorable little kid in a river bottom village. I snuck a video and took this picture from the video. You have to be sneaky when photographing these people, it can be perceived as rude.

Some of my favorite moments from the first week. 

                                         

This is an adorable old old lady from bajhang. She lives by her self in the house behind her. She has a dog for company and a daughter in law who visits occasionally. This is a typical old Nepali woman. This is what life looks like. This is the kind of thing that should break your heart. These people live in complete isolation and are absolutely destitute. Americans are so oblivious. Christians are so oblivious. These people need hope. 

This is four seconds of glory. This little video does the Himalayan sunset no justice. To be there was so amazing. This was driving back from a church leaders conference in another village. The white mountains are well over 20,000 feet. They look so small in the video but they were majestic in real life.

Arachnids and revenge

Hahahaha, it wasn't even that big of a spider, I just thought this video might be funny. :)

Mela

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This is a super  short video of a mela. Two teams link arms in a circle and one sings a question, and the other team sings a witty response. The leader of the team shouts the words they're going to sing, then everyone on the team sings it together. They have to think of a response that rhymes and has the same pentamic diameter and length. If they fail to do so quickly, they lose. It's an ancient Nepali tradition. Amazing to watch. 

Arrive Alive

After changing 12 hours in time zones and being completely awake for 27 hours, if you asked me how long I travelled, when I left, or what day it is; I wouldn't know how to answer you. But I made it! I am in Nepal. I had a great time traveling over the North Pole to the eastern hemisphere, landing in Dubai, spending the night in Kathmandu, and driving across the craziest, winding mountain pass into the city I'm staying in! I am enjoying the tastes of culture I've already gotten, and I'm looking forward to more exciting events!

The first step

I leave for Nepal this week. I am so thankful for the opportunities that God has given to me. Really, I don't think there are many opportunities He hasn't given. Not just to me, but to everyone. The first step is to say, "I will go". Then, you start moving. Don't overcomplicate it. No excuses, just do it. Adventure will inevitably present itself. Don't be afraid. If it is in the will of God that you are moving, what do you have to fear? Even death itself loses it's sting. Run towards the goals He has given you, and they will happen. Just take the first step; just say "I will go" and do it.