Travel

Chame-Manang

Posted on by J. R. Patee

We arrived Chame somewhat early about 2 pm. Was 17 kilometer but 840 meters of hard climbing. My GPS showed only 13 kilometer for the day. Today though, I found the setting for pause when stopped. It was set at 5.4 kilometers an hour, a normal walking pace. Hence anything less did not register. We walked a lot and it was definitely slow walking. I changed it to 1 km/ hr today and will drop it further. 

Kami our lead guide was unable to find a camping place so we had to stay in hotel. It filled up but our rooms were on the street away from hotel commons and restaurant so somewhat quiet. 

Inns in Nepal have progressed from sleeping in a big communal room with smoke stack stopping before exiting roof. Now own room or shared with one other. Still no heat but a sheet and comforter. 1 light and 1 plug in room. Rein and I both worried about the cleanliness of sheets and decided on our sleeping bags. But by morn I only had my sleeping bag over me and I was all over the bed. 

Paul and I went with one of Sherpas to public free hot spring and had a great bath with some of locals. We went almost as soon as arrival because it would take a while for porters to make it with our gear. Just went in water with bike pants, but it was still warm and although deep in canyon sun still up. 

Others wanted to wait for gear and clothes and when they went a local family had taken over and refused them entry. 

Wifi available for 150 rupees (about$1.50) and for duration of stay. Most place are only for an hour. And the owner said he paid extra for good wifi his wifi is better than most which often does not work, especially when numerous people sign on. And this was 150 rupees for the duration of stay, usually only an hour. So I signed on and gushed out that last missive.

But a bit chilled later as cooling off now that we are gaining elevation. Chame at 2745 (9000 ft). My gear finally arrived and we had  a great dinner. Momo’s, green beans, peeled vegetable salad, sardines in a tomato sauce, fried potatoes, and boiled potatoes. Seems I am only one who likes sardines but all thought the meal great and finished off with a banana pie. 

Kami found a jeep to take kitchen staff and our gear to Manang, a distance of 29 kilometer. That way we would have our gear otherwise we would have to stop part way and cut into our rest day. 

They left in the jeep, the remaining porters began trekking with 10-15 kilogram loads. And we cyclists began ascending. View of Annapurna II above us and the Marshyangdi below us. The road continues as a jeep track with some big drop offs. 

But entered pine tree forest and I remembered bits and pieces of the trip in 1988. The  venders along road with Nepal stuff. And topped out a steep hill with road cut in side of Clif and a long valley. We got almost 10 kilometers of rideable road. 

marsgyandi valley. annapurna II above

Arrived Manang and all excited about a rest day. Acclimate to the 3540 meter altitude (11700 feet) before the two day push to pass at 5460 meter. (17600). 

Rest day yahoo. All tired dirty. Showers or porters brought us all pans of hot water for cleaning, some washed their own laundry, I gave mine to hotel  got 700 rupees ($7.00) 

And we are camping in the cabbage patch behind a restaurant.  Our cooks cook our meals in shed or on ground outside. 

Rained hard this morning and was very humid. Expected it to be cooler but warm 15-25 (55-75f). 

And bring a rest day one does not want to lose what one has gained so Kami took us on a short trek this morn up to gangapurna glacier overlook, about 5 k. 

Worked on bikes I think I have generator fixed. And derailleur cleaned as it has been giving me grief. Paul bled his brakes as the tiny air bubbles will expand at altitude. Mine seem ok. It is the engine which is problem. 

Wifi is a bit slow here and may be for some time. One is always surprisedsuffice it to say Nepal is incredible as ever. Manang a gorgeous village sitting below Annapurna III and IV, and Ganggapurna, Tulicho further up the valley. The locals say Nepal mountain do not start until 7000 meters the rest are foothills. I will leave it at this for now as more things to do. 

break and rest time
locals bringing in the fields

Kathmandu, Nepal holy ****

Posted on by J. R. Patee

If you dream of a toilet, do not use it. 

Seen on a shop sign in Kathmandu

Holy shit ! Yesterday our first full day I the city and beginning the trip we (8 of us) went to the Buddhist stupa, a world heritage site. A spectacular “temple” for buddhists. 

Unfortunately it was destroyed in the earthquake but is being rebuilt. Spectacular and sad and inspiring and amazing.

But for its awesomeness the bus ride there and back was the kicker. We all were amazed at the traffic and the driver ability to navigate, and the navigation was not which street but survival amongst the traffic. I was in New York City a few years ago and was scared to death to just contemplate driving there. One had to have an exquisite sense of exactly where all points of your vehicle were. That was nothing compared to Kathmandu if it were not so filthy we wanted to get down and kiss the ground on arrival back at hotel. (One considers the ground totally filthy here) 

We’ll progress to today and our first ride about the valley. We thought maybe  a bus out of town but no we ride from hotel. Holy shit. 

Basically we were all scared but when we got on the bikes the beauty of biking returned. This was very technical riding and requires 100% concentration with a high degree of situational awareness. There are no bike lanes, you are part of the traffic: buses, autos, motorbikes, hand carts, push bikes, pedestrians crossing, and bikes totally loaded with 100-200 pounds (100 kg) hanging off aides and sticking out. And they drive on left here which one best remember because instinct will take you to the right of whatever comes at you and they can kill you. 

One has to be aggressive and as Rein says “brutal” it is like a giant game of chicken sometimes you have to give and sometimes you just move out and hope they stop or maneuver around. There is no one meter rule and if you allow a meter between you and the bus a motorbike will come rushing through hoping its handlebars will fit under yours. As noted earlier traffic rules seem to be general guidelines. But it seems to work. 

Then there are the cross streets or just crossing a street. You just start working your way out into traffic. Be brave be strong and if not you will be there all day. And none of this bike to side of road. You go where there is room which is sometimes in opposing lane squeezing between incoming traffic. Buses are scary because they seem to randomly pull over, stop allowing passengers on off, taxis will just do a u-turn in mid street. 

And also keep a careful eye on road  as this is third world and manhole covers are often not there which means a huge hole without barrier.  As in la Paz, Bolivia.  

I did not wear my buff today. Always wear a buff even if it is in the high 90s temp. Which it was today 36 degeees c. And humid. The buff one could cover ones nose and mouth and not breath in the dust, diesel and whatever else. Would have been nice even in the sweat I was pouring off. 

navigating road construction
keep in minds these pictures were taken in the quiet times when i could get camera out

And when we got back to the hotel we were all excited- we survived and had a great time. It was technical, exhilarating, exciting, and it felt good to be an equal out on the road. 

And tomorrow we depart by bus for 6-7 hour ride to besi sahar. For the trip the porters will carry 35 kg per porter which is two people’s gear. This afternoon after coming back changes money getting 52000  rupees for next weeks. ( $500). And deciding what gear to leave and what to take. I have my bag to 16.2 kg. Rein noted how some people have it all (me) and some have none..  I loaned my tool kit today to do adjustments to others bikes. Ok. 

Now sitting in restaurant with wifi drinking beer and thinking of tomorrow. 

Dubai

Posted on by J. R. Patee

The question is not what you look at, but what you see

Henry David Thoreau

Well now I remember travelling is a kick but oh my gosh is it tiring.  Left house in Seattle  at 6:30 am Thursday catching train to airport carrying the two bags with bike in it. Whew and emirates airline is of. course at far end of terminal.  I needed some exercise so walked it carrying bags forgoing a cart 

Onto the plane at 9:15 and sat in that seat for the next 15 hours except to get up for bathroom. But a great flight. Was able to sleep a bit, had room to move, emirates airline fed us good, two fine meals, dinner and breakfast, lots of snacks( crackers, cheese, pizza, beer, wine. International flights are great.   

Was fun as always nice when they have a displayed map or flight info and where we are. Flew pretty much straight north until we were going straight south. And the best part is seeing parts of the world I had not seen: canadian rockies and Canadian Shield, Arctic Ocean north of Greenland, then down over central Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan,  and Iran. All looked like incredible country. Could have been many places. Fields, farms, cities, roads. Mountains looked amazing and we weren’t even over big ranges.  Reminded me very much of Utah and eastern Montana. Interesting how biased we can become reading the news. 

somewhere over notthern canada

Then Dubai and off the plane. I thought the airport ( bigger (it is)  than Las Vegas and more plush with far better air conditioning.  I did not realize how hot it was until finally got off the metro train a hundred yards from hotel. Then when you stepped outside the building and walkways it hit. 
Room was not ready as arrived at noon so sat in lobby but decided to ride the train about as I had a day pass. Was going to get off and explore side streets but was noticing my exhaustuon and went back and slept. 

Awake and it was dark as in no lights in room. Realized I had not put key card in slot by door for power but it did not work. Tried figuring it out myself but ended up going downstairs and maintenance  guy came up removed a cover off one of light switches, played with wiring and viola all worked. Just be careful of hitting the button which is magnetized to do something with the electricity. Whatever. Sort of like the main bathroom light switch in Delhi which was in the shower. Sometimes they do things differently. 

But room is great 900 square feet (84 meters square) big bedroom, sitting room, dining area, kitchen with laundry 2 bathrooms.  One could get lost In the king bed: all for $200 for two nights including taxes, and a full breakfast. Wifi is slow though. 

Out to eat finding a hole in the wall place which was Indian Chinese food. But my Hindi and or Arabic language skills are non existent, and ended up pointing at pictures. I thought the waiter signaled they were small but was two meals which I ate. Very good lamb and chicken masala with  fried rice. 

Enroute home found a pharmacy and got some cipro for potential problems. No wonder there is antibiotic resistance in the world. Antibiotics require no prescription and cost about $8. In the states that is at least $50 unless they have jacked the price again.   

Ok a full day in Dubai started with a great breakfast here at hotel, then off for the 160 meter walk in the blast furnace to train station. To the Burj Khalifa- the worlds tallest building at 828 meters (2717 feet).  The observation deck is only at floor 143 as I remember some 600 meters up. Not bad for a building which houses 15,000 people. 

It did surprise me the cost of going up there 500 dirhams $(190). Turns out though for that I got to go to highest floor (143) have all the orange juice I wanted a all the dates I could eat, plus there is more I got a explanation of the building. Sometimes the extra money is worth it. 

looking up
looking down

I did ask if I could walk down but the answer was no. 

Then on to mall of the emirates in hopes of checking out the local ski scene.  Made it  to discover entry (lift ticket was 500 dirhans (about $200). A bit steep for a lift ticket although it seemed to include the 400 meters of skiing with Poma lift and ultra slow quad chairlift, access to sleds ; on the flats, sledding (with 2 turns), penguins. I chose to have a cup of coffee overlooking the sleds and penguins. 

watching the ski area
ski area floor
penguin show (i found it sad)

The mall was huge as in ginormous. One can easily get lost and when I finished walking I had done 8 miles. Back via train only feeling the heat when getting on or off train for the seconds while train doors and building doors are both open. No open platforms and walkways to the mall. Everyone I talked with said it was nicer now than a month ago when it was near near 50 degrees (122F). 

All in all it reminds me of Las Vegas strip on steroids, but without the tourists. I am ready to get back on the bike. ​​

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train station (noor bank)
And I fully expect a decrease in these ramblings due to a shortage of electricity and secondary a decrease in internet availability. Especially with pictures. The spot tracker shows recording locations but not showing up. And I just changed batteries. 

J. R.’s Spot location
And also finding this using only the phone much more difficult. My fingers seem to never fit only one key and autocorrect is my own worst enema (enemy)

On to Kathmandu 

Traveling 

Posted on by J. R. Patee

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover

Mark Twain

Well off again, that was a short stay at home. But then that was the plan. 

Last fall I was working on the ski jumps preparing them for winter, when my friend Buck called having just returned from a trekking trip in Nepal. He was excited about a potential bicycle trip there, and was inquiring about interest. He mentioned the devastation from the earthquake in April of 2015. It seems much of the aid is often misused and is short term. The only real way to help, is get their tourism industry back on track. Buck was contacting a few people whom we had ridden the Andes trail with and it looked like a great group of people and a great trip. Sign me up!

In 1988 I trekked the Annapurna circuit. At that time it was very much a trek without vehicle support. 4 of us took about 4 weeks with 2 porters and a guide. We did not understand the inns and such and camped out the entire trip, cooking our own meals, carrying our tents, and setting our own camps. ( often paying an inn 50 cents or so to stay in their yard). 

Then in 1992 Jeanne and I spent 2 1/2 months trekking, including 2 weeks on the western side of Annapurna circuit, skipping the 17650foot (5600 meter) thorong la pass. This time we got a vehicle ride for the first part as the Chinese were building a road to Tibet and it was partially completed. 

Nepal was very different in those 4 years. In 1988 the black market was alive and well, in 92 the government had begun to figure out money. Also the tourist industry was more developed. Jeanne and I stayed in inns and ate there although we had camping gear, but did not use. And a lot more people were there. Nepal had been discovered. 

And so I am returning to the Annapurna circuit, this time to ride on a bicycle. Apparently it is 75% rideable with the rest being hike-a-bike. Exciting. Back to biking at altitude. Thinking the trip to the great divide will help acclimate but we were only at 9500 feet which we will be at on day two or three. Also going to the mustang area which was still closed to tourists in 88 and 92. A friend of Nancy Brady, braught coughtburn (sp.) in Jackson Wyoming, said the road was in, but we would be riding faster than the buses due to rough conditions. Yahoo. 

Anyway arrangements made and here I go again. It is a bit too busy for me, but sometimes when an opportunity hits one has to take it. Only a week from getting off the divide which was awesome and feeling bad we did not get to finish. Spent the past week giving the bike some much needed loving care. Replaced bottom bracket, new chain, replace tires with something hopefully more appropriate for the terrain, cleanse thoroughly, and take apart again for packing. This the same bike used in South America which I love. It is a 26″ wheels, a front suspension fork and pulls apart to carry in a duffle bag and the wheels are in a wheel bag. Gear gets packed into the bags for padding and two bags are 16 and 22 kilograms. No extra charge or hassle for flying. 

Have been thinking of traveling recently. Why is it some people go and others just like to stay at home. Nothing wrong with either. Sometimes it is nice to develop an understanding of ones home. Jeanne’s mom was one. She had an adventurous spirit, but it was sometimes difficult to leave St. Louis because, well this week is this and that week has this other thing going on. She loved St. Louis although understood there ere other places in the world. 

Inertia is another thing. Sometimes one gets settled into a routine and it is hard to break.  Sometimes I think though people are afraid of something new and or different. My dad used to tell me before I left on a trip “you be careful out there!  They do things different there, not better or worse, just different”. 

I remember the first Asian toilet I saw in Thailand. Wow one sometimes thinks we have it figured out and then there was this hole in the floor one squats over. Hmmm 

That is part of the adventure,  seeing different ways of doing things. Live and learn. Maybe it works better if you allow yourself to realize there are differences and those can be good. 

I grew up traveling, maybe not exotic places, but going to relatives in different parts of the country. Seeing new sights, new landscsapes. We moved a lot which meant learning to meet new friends. 

In 1962 I got to travel cross country with my cousin and uncle taking three weeks. Chicago, Florida, and across the southern United States to California. Whew they had different attitudes in the south. I am still jaded. 

Then in 1964 on an afternoon jaunt to Yellowstone (we lived nearby) I saw a group of bikers riding across the United States. Wow. In 1965 I took off on a train alone to philadelphia where I joined 10 other 16 and 17 year olds. The trip leader was 22 years old. We biked for a month in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, and washington D. C.   Not sure one could do that now as a teenager but I was hooked. 

Over the years I did numerous trips by bicycle. Always interesting, sometimes difficult, sometimes I quit, sometimes just a chance to connect with myself. I was reading John Steinbeck “travels with Charlie” one mid November and just got the urge to go, so took off across Colorado in November. A week later I wrote a philosophy paper about the trip for a college class. Good results as a remember, although later flunked as a philosophy major. The point was to just go. 

Sometimes it is good to break ones routine. Get out of the rut. Stop being comfortable. Scare oneself. Life is not easy and we as a species are not designed for easy. We are designed to work, figure it out and perhaps that way we can survive. If we sit and just watch the world, soon enough it will just pass us by and sooner than we expect we will be left behind. 

It is scary, what happens if something goes wrong. I worry on this trip of a multitude of potential issues. What happens if I get sick, what happens if the bike breaks, what happens if I embarrass myself, what happens, what do I do?  On and on. Ok just deal with it, enjoy the journey, there will be problems, enjoy them. There is good and bad in the world and eliminating the bad just removes the ability to see the good. Diversity is good as sometimes memories are created by hardships. 

This time around not only do I get to see new things but establish new connections and restablish old connections. One never knows what will happen but we have a group of 8 from USA, Australia, South Africa, Netherlands. That should provide different viewpoints. 

And for those who want to follow locations here is the spot address

J. R. Spot location
This site may or may not be useful. I am expecting internet to be very sporadic, intermittant, slow, and weak. 

So I still have not answered why some travel and some do not.  I guess there is no answer, we are all different. The diversity of life on earth. One does not have to travel. I seem to remember a story of Jules Verne who felt he did not need to travel because he accomplished it in his writings.   Sometimes traveling in your own mind is the best. 

I just like the experience. Enjoy!