[JPM Travel Journals] INDIA and NEPAL 01 Intro to India Holi Holy Vrindaban The Sadhu in Taj's Shadow Pushkar's Respite A Sitar & a Vespa in Udaipur The Clean-Bombing of Mumbai Goa Beach Hippie Sighting Tours Unequal Vision in Benares Everest, Out the Window Into Their Thin Air Anna Purr Now Within You Without You Rishikesh Part 2 Amritsar: Bold, Gold His Holiness of Dangerous Liasons Delhi Visit #5 New Delhi Turns to New York [ PHOTO ARCHIVE ]

Into Their Thin Air 23 April 01 Thamel. Kathmandu, Nepal. If all goes well I should be departing in the morning on a six hour bus journey to Dumre, where I will switch to a local bus (not a tourist bus) and head to the starting point of my five week trek around the Annapurna Himalayan range, probably ending with a trek into the Annapurna Sanctuary and the base camp used for the ascents to the 8000+ metre peaks. I'm armed with Herzog's mid-century book of his near-fatal attempt on Annapurna, when he lost his fingers and toes to frostbite and thought he belonged to death. Sure to be a real clencher, though the translation from French is bound to be a bitch. I've also picked up some other good reads, and expect to be doing plenty of writing (in my much more personal handwritten journal.) (The next day on the way to Khudi, to start the trek, our bus slid half-off the rainy, muddy road-- We were extremely lucky it didn't roll into the ravine. I decided to walk from there.) I was going to leave this morning to go to Pokhara, but decided to stick around Kathmandu for another day to rest and get some preparations and errands done, and save Pokhara for the return leg of the trip. I just got back from a drink at the Rum Doodle 40000 1/2 foot bar, the legendary Kathmandu bar where all the Everest summitters go after they come down. The signatures are framed on the wall, dating back to Hillary's 1953 first ascent (which wasn't penned onto the wall until the bar opened some 20 years ago.) It was intense to see the names of several now-deceased climbers who died in subsequent climbs, most chillingly Rob Hall, famous from the Mountain Madness expedition in May 1996 which Jon Krakauer chronicled in his book 'Into Thin Air.' I briefly spoke with a woman who was there, signing the wall celebrating her summit some time recently. As I sat alone in this famous, strangely spiritual place, I felt an odd warmth, a vicarious enjoyment of such proud, arrogant human achievement (... insanity?) I expect to be off the wires and out of touch for a number of weeks. If all goes well with the trekking I'll be back in Kathmandu on or about this time next month, give or take a few days. I seriously doubt there is much facility for outside-world communication. How positively dreadful. If I miss the keys I will just go count rocks in the stream beds. I haven't shaven in a while, nor had a haircut in weeks. By time I return I expect to proudly look indeed like I've spent a few weeks in the Himalaya. I'm leaving the razor behind, but I've got all the other goods-- my emergency stash of Diamox should Thorung La pass (5416m, 17,769ft) or its approach prove a problem. (Which I don't anticipate given the ample acclimitization time.) And I've got my warm socks, fleece, parka, mittens, the good smarts to know when to be modest in terms of altitude or extreme weather/cold, a satchel full of antibotics and meds to treat the chance infections or gut troubles, sun screen, worn-in boots, and my cute new nepalese knit hat with ear flaps. Now I will return to my room, climb under the crisp covers, and wait for the morning. Anna Purr Now >> ©2001 JPM. All photography and writing copyrighted.