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Trekking in the Himalayan Mountains, India.                                 June 20 - July 16, 2004

June 26, 2004 So there I was weeping- 4000 meters up in the Himalayan mountains, so close to our last highest point before we venture over the Pin Pavarti Pass, separated from the rest of the group in a small tent due to altitude sickness (and the crummy feeling that I couldn’t make the last 200m to join everyone else who had already arrived at base camp). It was the hardest day since the start of our trekking 6 days ago, miserably cold with snow and sleet hitting your face.    I remember trudging along with a wooden stick over the vast Himalayan plains thinking ‘who put me as the lead in Doctor Zhivago?’ My body had been retaining water which is why my face and eyes were so god damn puffy (I was joking that morning to others ‘hey look at me, I can’t open my eyes!’) and the throbbing in my sinus and head due to pressure change was getting unbearable. I should have stopped the whole group of 25. (But that’s kinda hard and embarrassing at the same time when you are the ONLY one having problems. OK, so I won’t even compare ... New kid on the plain myself to the Indian local porters who some were trekking the snowy mountains in sandal type shoes but when two 60 year old German ladies are kicking your ass as well it’s a little hard to admit that you, the fit young but un-experienced trekker needs a break.)    An older gentleman named Payson in our group who was lagging behind with me strongly asserted that I must stay right where I was and not to go up one more step. As he performed Reiki on me he instructed our Indian tour guide Ankit to have tent and food sent down over to us so we could set up camp here. Ankit disappeared for too long a time leaving us in the cold for what felt like forever. I later found out that 3 of our porters, who were these young Nepalese punks who I’d see smoking a joint and who used to be ‘freedom fighters’ in the Nepalese mountains, had disappeared with our backpacks. Ankit had to go track them down and convince/bribe them to stay on. Eventually the tent, food, warm clothes and sleeping bags arrived from base camp. With 3 bowls of amazing ginger vegetable soup, much fatigue not only from that day but also accumulated un-rest from the past 3 nights (which is also a symptom of altitude sickness that I didn’t know at the time), all my winter clothes on and with Ankit on my left and Payson on my right - I passed out. June 27, 2004 I woke up the next morning feeling much better. Every morning, however beaten down you would be, one couldn’t help but beam with joy with the majesty and beauty of the surrounding glory. Truly. The snow capped Mt. Shiva was in view. We traveled up a pretty strenuous hike up to a small but significant outdoor Shiva temple where I gave much thanks to the gods for looking out for me. We finally arrived at base camp where everyone had been waiting for me. Whew… Prayer at the Shiva Temple, day after altitude sickness. You have to be barefoot on the temple grounds - Ankit and Payson started laughing that my toe nails were painted red….     So even though the whole group consisted of 25 people the actual ‘guests from abroad’ who paid for this trekking expedition were 6 of us- my friend Simone and I from the US, 3 Germans who were these mountaineering ladies and the ex-professor Payson, an American married to an Indian woman now both living in Himachal Pradesh, the Northern State of India. The rest were our Indian guide Ankit, his brother Punki, dozens of porters, helpers to Ankit and the kitchen crew that would cook us fresh meals everyday. I would go over to the kitchen tent and talk with the young Indian cook, taping him making dinner with my digital camera. Then, unfortunately, at some point he fell in love with me. The courageous jeep trekking group with the glacier Moon Lake Chandrataal in the back.    That morning we had an ‘emergency breakfast’ meeting where it was decided that I would have to return back down and the group would continue forward passing the snow and glacier ridden Pin Parvarti Pass. This was a dangerous pass even for the locals and only one other guide with us, Durba, had accomplished this feat. At that point, as disappointed as I was while eating my chapatti bread with peanut butter, I was also some what relieved to be going back down. I realized that my body, mind and spirit could fail me like it did yesterday. And Shiva forbid that happen with a rope around my waist in the middle of crossing a snow covered crevice. The others were to rest up for the next day ahead while Ankit, Punki and Durba set out that evening to double check the condition of the mountains before sunrise. So the three leaders of our group, who were the only ones who spoke both Hindi and English, had left us for the evening.    Since I was still a bit foggy in the head due to altitude sickness, I didn’t really notice that one particular porters’ tent was way too close to me and Simone’s tent for that evening until I had to go to the bathroom late that night. Usually the “guests” tents were clumped together in one area with the bathroom tent somewhere not to far. The young Indian cook, who I will refer to now as Pepe le Pew, was waiting for me as I walked back from the bathroom. I thought Pepe was worried since I had been sick and thought it very kind of him to escort me back to my tent. As I bid him good night Pepe grabbed my hand and started kissing it profusely while telling me how much he liked me. I yanked my hand away from him and tried to get into my tent as soon as possible. Pepe stuck his hand inside the tent groping for me, and like some bad sitcom scene, I was trying to zipper up the tent while swatting and pushing his hand out. I didn’t sleep well that night worried that none of our group male leaders were back and due to the continuous chatter from the tent too close to my side with Pepe and his friends, who of course turned out to be the 3 Nepalese toke smoking punks who were trying to take off with our backpacks. They were all now on my shit list. Don’t mess with the Esth(er). She will whip out some kimchee spice on you, that she will. June 28, 2004     Apparently Ankit, Punki and Durba came back sometime between 3 or 4 am in the morning. The passage was deemed too dangerous- due to the newly fallen snow 2 days ago there were too many landslides and the executive decision was that the whole group were go back down with me…YEAH!!! There is an Indian saying “Naksha Badal gaya - The map has changed.” This is a figurative and literal expression. We would encounter many many incidents of the map changing. Mostly literal. On our way to Dankar Monastery, can you believe this sight? The trip down was even better than when going up. Not only was the weather just amazingly gorgeous (instead of sleet and hail) but also I was released of my overwhelming excitement and focus to reach base camp which helped me appreciate even more the scenery, smell, sound, light and pure existence of myself in the mountains during our ‘walking meditation.’ Little Monk Dude at Ki Monastery.   I can’t even begin to justly describe the things I encountered; the fields of Edelweiss flowers that were strewn across Chandrataal (Moonlake)- one of my favorite places on this planet, the 6 shooting stars that no one witnessed but me while I was blissful on Indian Monk Rum lying on my back (and no, it was not because I was drunk), the full moon that lit up the sky TWICE this July (my b-day month which means I’m a moon sign Cancer…ouuuuuu~ auspicious), the amazing Tibetan monks who welcomed us into their personal living quarters and gave us chai and Pepsi on the Dalia Lama’s birthday (he too is a Cancer…ouuuuuu~ auspicious again), Kungri natural hot spring, wild monkeys, wild water buffalos, wild marihuana plants (yes I did pick some and…), mountain shepherds needing aspirin, wild stories and laughter with my travel mates while high on life. At the end of the trip when we were leaving the mountains my eyes started to swell and there I was weeping again. But this time it was for a very different reason. I will have to continue and update this personal page but in the meanwhile I hope this gives you enough impetus to go to the Himalayan mountains. Namaste!!! Thank you for visiting my website!