Cairo

After a grueling set of plane rides I finally am in Cairo. For some reason, flights are hard to come by from Kathmandu to Cairo, so I had to endure a flight back to Bangkok, an extremely long layover, then a flight to Cairo. So here I am in Cairo, extremely jet-lagged and all alone for the first time in a month in the craziest place I have been to so far on my travels. The last US State Department warning for travelers to Egypt was on March 29, so I thought that this would be an alright time to go. Less travelers and people are happier to see you and more desperate to sell so bargaining is easier. We will see if I was right. Luckily, I agreed to have someone from my hostel pick me up from the airport for a fee or I would have been a little overwhelmed at the Cairo airport. Taxi drivers swarm you as you exit the building and do not leave you alone until you either give in to one of their demands or you find someone holding a sign with your name on it (the latter luckily for me). The first thing I noticed on my drive in to Cairo was that the city is nothing like I expected. The route that the driver took wove its way through some rather nice areas with pretty houses and nice retail shops and little squalor, a lot of traffic though, a problem in much of Cairo. Upon arriving early at my hostel, I slept for a few hours and then decided to walk twenty minutes to the National Museum. What I did not realize was that to get to the Museum, I had to walk through the square where most of the killings and riots took place back in January. My walk started out innocently enough. The strangest thing about Cairo is that almost everyone speaks English and they all want to know where you are from when they see a white person in their midst. I got asked almost every minute by someone that question on the streets, and when I say "American" they look as though they are either surprised that I am ballsy enough to be there right now as an American, or I am stupid enough that I was there at that time, not sure which one. From what I can see and what people have told me, there are a fraction of the usual number of tourists for this time of year in Egypt. I did not see one other white person on my walk to the museum, and only Europeans in the museum. It is unclear why Egyptians like to talk to me. Sometimes it is clearly because they are looking to scam me in some way (Egypt is notorious for this and I will explain in more detail later) or sometimes it seems they just enjoy talking to one of the few American tourists here. An example of this was a man came up to me and simply said "you look like a tourist" which caught me off guard. I proceeded to smile, to which the man remarked "you have a great smile though" and proceeded to walk away. Another man came up to me as I walked and once I told him I was American he became ecstatic. He began to tell me how just the day before I arrived there had been another altercation in Tahrir Square where the police and military had to come and stop the violence. Not a good thing to tell me as I walk through the square as the only American person in Cairo. Finally, I made it into the museum and was swarmed by men that said they were guides. I began walking through the museum but realized that I really did need a guide, so I bargained with one to take me through for what I thought was a fair price. He seemed smart and knew his stuff. It took three hours to get through the large museum, which houses  many Egyptian artifacts, most notably various items found in King Tut's tomb (just not the mummy itself which is in Luxor). After my tour I got my first taste of Egyptians and their scams. I had noticed that my guide during my tour was bribing many of the guards and other museum workers with small bills and at the end he told me that the price was actually twice the agreed upon amount. I argued with the guy but he said that we had agreed on 200 Egyptian pounds instead of 100 (200 is almost 35 US dollars). When I began to cause a scene, it was clear this was a battle that would not end well in my favor, so I paid the guy and left as fast as I could. My walk was very similar to my walk before, with every other person trying to talk to me and ask me where I was from and talk to me about Obama or what is going on Egypt. One man even invited me to a protest rally for something in a few days. I told him I would attend and got away from him as soon as possible. I also noticed that the streets were getting more and more packed with people as the day wore on. Sellers had begun setting up their stalls on the street selling t-shirts commemorating January 25th or ones that said "Egyptian Revolution" and other similar sayings. I got back to the hostel as soon as possible because I was tired of being harassed. When I left to get dinner later that night, the streets were absolutely packed with people, meaning I got harassed even more than before. I decided that this was not a good situation to be in alone, so I grabbed two swarmas (sandwiches) to-go and got back to my hostel. I decided that I would have to do something different and this walking around by myself at all times would not be safe. I booked a tour through my hostel where I would have either a driver or tour guide for most of my days and decided to spend two more days in Cairo and then take a train south to the cities of Luxor and Aswan. This alleviated some stress off my shoulders. The next day I woke up early and was driven to the Great Pyramids and Sphinx, located just outside of Cairo at Giza. Another thing that is inevitable about Egyptian travel is that drivers and guides will always take you to places that you do not want to go as well as your agreed upon destinations. For example, I was taken to a shop that sold papyrus paintings before the pyramids. After enduring a thirty minute presentation and then politely declining to buy something (the men were not happy), I finally made it to the pyramids. I voiced my displeasure to my driver about the detour but he seemed to not care. The pyramids  sit in a desert located just outside the bustling city of Giza. There are three large ones, and an old run down small one all in a row on a steep hill. They get larger from left to right. The two bigger ones are extremely immense. Each block that was used to make the pyramids must have been at least 6'x6'x6', amazing when you think these massive structures were built by man. For very hefty fee you can go inside the largest pyramid, something that I declined to do and was lucky because I found a spot where you could enter the back for free. But, once again I saw how Egyptians exploit tourists. I went crawling into the small opening and tunnels of the cave, and snapped a few pics, and upon leaving a guard told me that cameras were not allowed. I was forced to pay him 5 US dollars to not confiscate my camera. Many people ride camels or horses in between the four pyramids because it is quite a distance to walk. Because of this, men are constantly asking you to ride their animals for a fee or take a picture on their back. I was also warned about the guides that prey on tourists because they are not actually guides at all, and simply take your money and leave you. Egypt sounds like a great place huh? The sphinx is also quite magnificent, and sits at the foot of the hill leading up to the pyramids. The funniest thing for me was that everywhere I went, all the Egyptians I ran in to that were sellers, guards, camel riders, etc. all told me I looked Egyptian (my beard is getting very long and I am very tan) which I got a kick out of. While the pyramids were interesting and quite impressive, I guess they should be as the only surviving Wonder of the World, but again, I was a little overwhelmed being alone and aggressively targeted by all the various Egyptians selling me trinkets, camel rides, and all the other crap they threw at me. It gets to the point of where it is a total annoyance and makes you want to leave. After leaving and eating a delicious traditional meal consisting of various meats, breads, and various sauces I could not decipher, my driver began taking me to places that I did not wish to go again. I told him bluntly that I would not go in to the carpet store or flower shop that we were scheduled to go to (the driver gets commission for taking me there), and after seeing how pissed off I was, the driver obliged. I finally am back to my hostel and laying low because Cairo at night is a place I want no part of at the moment. It is a shame and I feel as though I am missing out on a huge part of the city, but I just do not think that after what I have seen so far that it is a smart idea to be roaming the streets alone at night. So far, Cairo is not exactly my favorite stop so far. At least it is near the end of my trip, I am not sure what I would have thought coming here early on in my travels.

Chitwan National Park

After the trekking, I was definitely in need of some R&R and a little down time, what better place than the jungles of Nepal surrounded by deadly tigers and angry rhinos. As part of the package deal with our trekking company, we booked a three day stay at a "resort" (it is called a resort but it was not very luxurious) located on an island in the middle of this National Park. I am going to skip the getting there part and just get right into the resort itself because having just typed that last blog I am getting a little bit tired of typing. Sorry. To get to the resort we had to take a canoe across a river onto this small island that was owned entirely by our resort. There were somewhere around thirty other guests there at the same time, and everyone was divided into groups based on your arrival date. As soon as we arrived, we were given our rooms and told that we would be going on an elephant safari in an hour. Sweet. This was the first time I had ever gotten to ride an elephant, and lets just say that it is a strange experience. Just the motion of the beast lumbering through the jungle was very funny to me. Elephants are truly ancient beasts. The handler road on the elephants neck and head, while myself, Dave, and one other guy road on a wooden box that was attached to the elephants back. The only thing that annoyed me about the ride was the treatment of the elephant by the handler. The guy was constantly beating the elephant over the head with a metal hook or bamboo stick with such force that it made us cringe. But, it is what it is and we could not stop him. The safari itself lasted a few hours and took us through a few areas that they thought would contain various wild animals. We ended up seeing a few monkeys, peacocks, and deer, but the coolest thing was the sighting of a rhino in a watering hole. We were able to get very close to this crazy looking animal, which was like nothing I imagined. The armor and body structure of the thing was incredible. The rhino seemed almost indifferent to us on our elephants and allowed us to get quite close. Slowly though, he got up from his bathing and lumbered through the tall grass with us on its heels. After the trip was over, I tipped the handler a few rupees and he let us play around with the elephant for a bit. The strangest thing was when I mounted the head of the elephant. The way to do this is by grabbing its massive ears and letting the beast lift you up by his trunk (the trunk is incredibly strong). The head is covered in these long, coarse hairs that are very strange to the touch. The next day we woke very early and were taken out in a jeep far into the jungle in hopes of seeing a tiger. This trip was largely a bust and we only saw deer, monkeys, and peacock again. That afternoon we took a walk through the jungle on foot and were fortunate to see a crocodile which was very cool. Besides that, the walk was largely a bust, just like the morning's jeep ride. My favorite part of the whole experience occurred that afternoon. After the morning's activities, the elephants were brought down to the river to bath. We were able to get in to the water with the animals which was amazing. They had commands to do things such as what Dave and I referred to as "the mechanical bull", where you held on to the elephants ears for dear life while it tried to throw you off, and getting showers from the elephants trunk. Finally, that night we went on a birdwatching adventure. Dave is in to birdwatching, but I on the other hand had no real desire to crane my neck upward for the next two hours of my life, so after jut thirty minutes I high-tailed it back to the resort and had a beer and watched the sunset. The next morning we only had time to do one activity before we departed back to Kathmandu, so we elected to go back out to the watering hole that we had seen the rhino the first day on the elephant, this time on foot. This was a good call because we saw the animal again, but because we were on foot, the guide would not let us get very close. Overall, the experience in Chitwan was relaxing and a nice way to wind down from trekking. Riding elephants was a trip, as was was seeing a rhino up close and personal. Now I am back in Kathmandu for the next two days, and then off to Cairo on the 26th. I am starting to get a little tired of all things Nepal, so I am ready to get out of here. I am going to post up pics on facebook most likely tomorrow, so check them out there.

Trekking the Annapurna

Hey there boys and girls, long time no blog. Sorry about that. The boonies of Nepal are not the most conducive area for blogging, or the internet in general for that matter. But, after seventeen days of trekking and three days hanging out in the jungle, I am finally back in the world's most electrically challenged capital city, Kathmandu. I am going to do two separate blogs, one on trekking and then one on Chitwan National Park (the jungle). So, with out further ado, here is my blog on the past twenty days of my life. Trekking the Annapurna was the trip of a lifetime. One of the world's most famous trekking routes, surrounded by the tallest mountain range in the world, in an area in which the only thing that matches the beauty that surrounds you is the remoteness of the place itself, the Annapurna far exceeded my expectations. Although, I did have a blast on the trail, there were some things that bothered me, some things made me mad, and I saw some things that were not anything what I expected prior to my departure. Even so, I would not change this experience for anything in the world. I am going to break my trek into three parts, the first six days (the start), the middle four days (the days that lead up to the summit), and the last seven days (the end). This will make it easier for me to write , as well as easier for you all to follow. Upon leaving Kathmandu we took a eight hour bus ride that rivaled any bus trip I have taken yet so far in terms of comfort level. It was a local bus with people getting on and off every few minutes. The roads of Nepal are extremely bumpy and steep, and they pack the bus beyond capacity, with people sitting in the aisle and on the roof. At different points I had people resting their asses on my shoulders and kids with dirty feet in my lap. Once we finally were off the bus and on the trail I was much happier. My day as a trekker went as follows: at 6:30 AM I would wake up and begin to get ready for the day by packing and "freshening up". Breakfast at 7 (I will get into the food later on in the blog), followed by around four hours of trekking, lunch at 11:30 AM until around 12:30 PM, another two to three hours of trekking, then arrival at our daily destination, followed by some down time (nap time), dinner at 6:30 PM and then usually in bed sometime around 9 PM depending on if that place had electricity or not. Rinse and repeat. Sounds exciting right? So, the first day on the trail I was amazed to find that, despite not training at all and being in less than perfect shape, I was able to still hike around fifteen kilometers a day with ease. I attribute this to the fact that we did have a porter. At first I was a little bit ashamed of the fact that we had a Nepalese guy with us that carried our two twenty kilometer backpacks, but for reasons I will get in to later on, he was very handy for different situations. Besides, I definitely do not think Dave could have done certain parts of the trek carrying his own bag, so he would have been there regardless, whether I needed him or not. He also added a nice dimension to our group. Dave was much slower than I, and our guide (his name was Jaya and he was extremely nice and funny) stayed at Dave's pace and kept him company, while I ran forward with this little Nepalese porter named Sanka. The guy was absolutely hilarious. He spoke no English, walked every day except for the summit day (it was all snow) in flip flops, and carried the entire weight of our two bags and his own bag by a strap on his forehead. I tried using this technique for a few steps, and lets just say it is not easy. If I was to do it over again, I would not have had a guide or porter, but I was not complaining during the trek and it was nice to have a translator and someone who knew all the large mountains and animals we were looking at on the trail. I guess you could say that throughout the entire trip I had an easy time with the trail and, for the most part, did not find any part difficult. The two exceptions were the food and altitude. I found out the hard way the truth about food on the Annapurna the very first day. I had told myself that I would eat nothing but the traditional Nepalese dish, eaten by Sherpas in the mountains at every meal, called Dal Baht. I described it in the last blog, but now I am an expert on the dish. It consists of rice, lentils, some form of vegetable curry, and curry. No meat. The Nepalese also eat with their hands, so I decided that I would be doing that for the next month as well. This lasted a total of three days before the trek, and one on the trek. The very first night, I got so sick from the food that I had to spend the night in the dirt outside in my sleeping bag because I could not make it to the outhouses located downstairs and outside. A quick side note, the lodgings were very different from what I had imagined. Every small town that we walked through (there were a lot of them along the route) had at least one, sometimes as many as ten to twenty small "hotels" that were set up for trekkers. Some had more amenities than others, but all were very barren in terms of comforts. All had two single beds, some had electricity, only a few had bathrooms in the rooms, even fewer had western toilets, and most had solar hot showers that hardly ever worked. But, back to my first night. Even though I had not slept and was incredibly ill the next morning still, I had to go on and do a full day of trekking. I managed to stumble my way around the trails for the next couple hours on no food, stopping to vomit frequently and just overall a terrible mess. That was the end of my foray into the world of Nepalese food. From there on out I ate various western options that were available at the hotel restaurants we stayed at. The menus located on the trail were all very interesting. The government over the last decade or so has regulated the prices and menu options available in hopes that by offering more western options, more westerners will trek there. A good idea on paper, all it created was a bunch of disgusting creations where Nepalese made dishes that they thought were "Western". Examples include pizza made with ketchup and yak cheese, whole garlic cloves with a side of macaroni, and various other abominations I had the unfortunate privileged of consuming. The trick with the food was to eat things that were hard to screw up and had the least chance of making you sick, a tall order. Dave and I were essentially continually ill for the first nine days straight. Oh and one other thing on food before I go on, all ingredients aside from those grown had to be brought up the same trail we were hiking every day. This meant that the higher that we went, the more expensive things got. For example, bottled water was around fifty cents when we started, and at the summit had risen to almost four dollars. Same goes for things like snickers, cokes, chips, and any other comfort you could want after a long day of hiking. But back to the trekking. So the first two or three days were less than enjoyable for me. There is nothing like being sick in a foreign country, especially sick when you have to still hike all day and have no real food options that sit well with your stomach. Eventually though, I got over the bug and was running around the mountains of Nepal in no time. The major theme of the first six days of trekking was development and construction. Every town we went to seemed as though men were working to build a new hotel, restaurant, or some other thing that would bring in tourist dollars (Nepal's only money maker). Many of the towns we went to, we were told, had just gotten electricity over the last five years. We even saw an internet cafe that looked brand new. We used the brand new Dell computers for twenty minutes, promptly racked up a seven US dollar charge, and left. Before leaving though we asked the owner how long the cafe had been there. His response: "six days". Everywhere around us seemed like it was coming out of the stone age right before our eyes. From a trekkers point of view, that was sad to see. The classic trek in perhaps all of the world was turning into a giant commercial mess. On the other hand, it means that people are going to benefit from increased tourism and money coming in to the region. The most interesting part was the construction of a road during the first six days. The first six days consisted of us hiking on a trail that ran along side a river, constantly criss crossing over bridges and going up and down multiple times a day. While we would be on one side, men would be using tools to cut through sheer rock faces to make way for a ride to reach some of the towns higher up that are cut off from the rest of Nepal except by walking. We would constantly hear explosives going off that rocked the valley and made for an interesting background music to our hiking. The first six days were mostly about getting our bearings and getting used to the trail. Some of my fondest memories from those days are children, upon seeing us walk into their small town of three or four farming families, running out to meet us and asking for chocolates or sweets. The funniest thing to me was that throughout the first few days I was wearing my Barcelona jersey. Kids would constantly yell from their windows and front stoops the name "Barcelona" and "Messi, Messi, Messi". I got a kick out of that. But, after the first six days, we got into the serious trekking at high altitudes which was a totally different animal. On the seventh day we arrived at the town of Manang, something of a major city of the region (probably around 500 inhabitants). Many people wait around in this town for a few days because its elevation clocks in around 11,500 feet. When you begin to arrive at elevations over 10,000 feet some people start to show signs of elevation sickness (dizziness, nausea, headache, vomiting, etc.) From what I have heard from Dave who is more experienced than I with higher altitudes, it is not pleasant. When we arrived though, neither of us was feeling too bad and Dave even got his blood oxygen saturation tested, and he was well over the average for that area, so the next day we continued on without resting. Anything over a 90 is considered good, and Dave registered a 97, while the guy in front of him in line got something around a 70. The next three days leading up to the summit day the weather got progressively more cold and the areas more remote. Large towns gave way to tiny villages set up solely for the purpose of serving the needs of trekkers going to the Thorlong Pass (the summit). While the first week we were trekking in shorts and short sleeves, suddenly we were forced to wear more layers. The scenery also changed from farms and greenery to a barren mountainous area. We were surrounded by snow capped mountains and snow on the ground at all times. The trails became much smaller because of less traffic and steeper. On the ninth day we finally arrived at high camp, a jumping off point for the next morning where we would be summiting the Thorlong Pass (altitude 5,614 meters, around 17,000 feet). High camp was quite the bitch to get to and very cold with little amenities to be had. The worst part for me was the second coming of my stomach problems and because of the temperature, somewhere in the 15-20 degree range, the bathroom floor became frozen making it extremely difficult to navigate the toilets that were merely holes in the ground. Be that as it may, everyone seemed to be in high spirits for the summit. After a cold, sleepless night, we awoke at 4:30 AM and began our ascent of a few thousand feet up to the summit of our journey. This was my first taste of what altitude sickness was like. Immediately when we started hiking with the sun just cresting the mountains over our shoulders, I began to feel lightheaded and had trouble breathing. My feet felt like lead and traversing the vast snow banks was quite difficult. After just two hours of slowly making my way up this steep, ice cover slopes, I felt as though I could not go on. Miraculously though, Dave saw me struggling and let me in on his little secret. Ibuprofen. Dave claims that Ibuprofen thins out the blood and makes it easier to acclimatize. I popped two of those little babies and within minutes was back to my old self. I breezed through the next few hours and we summited the pass sometime around 10:30 AM. 17,000 feet is much higher than anything I had ever been to, and you will be hard pressed to find many higher areas in the world to get to without mountaineering or climbing skills. It was definitely a cool achievement until we heard that a twelve year old kid had done the same thing a few minutes prior. Granted, he was extremely sick and puking on the summit, but still, we were shown up by some little British kid. Wanker. The last six or seven days of trekking where much different from all the other days we had been on the trail. Now, we began to spend most of our days going downhill. This was a nice change because of the different muscles used, but became quite the pain for us after a while. Also, the trail changed and became a fully functioning road, where buses constantly passed kicking up dirt and making the journey less than spectacular. We found this out the hard way, and were envious of the people that we talked to that did the summit and then proceeded to hop on a small plane back to Kathmandu from an airport in the town of Jomsom. We wished we were doing that. Our moods also changed after the summit. It seemed as though Dave and I became less about the trek, and more about getting to the end of the trek. I attribute this to the undesirable hiking conditions, as well as our being tired of the food and various other aspects of the trekking lifestyle. I still greatly enjoyed the last few days, we got to see Annapurna I which I described in my last post, and had some of the best views yet, but I was ready to get off the trail. It would be one thing if I was just doing the trek and then going home to the States, but I still have to go on traveling for another month. Whatever the case was, we soldiered on and after a few short days we were back on the bus again going to Chitwan National Park in the southern part of Nepal. Overall, I greatly enjoyed my trek. It was great to do it at the time we did because I am guessing a few years from now, with the advent of the road and even more construction, it will be changed forever. I wish that I had been privileged to do the trek twenty years ago, as many on the trail had done and were doing a second time. They were constantly remarking about how different the trail was and how the remote feel and bare bones trekking lifestyle had been lost. After some of the troubles I had on the trail, I cannot even imagine having any less comforts than I did, so on that note I guess I was a little bit glad I did it when I did. Whatever. The trek of a lifetime was definitely worth it.

Nepal

Nothing like flying into a country and seeing the tallest mountain in the world out your window, hovering above the clouds as high as you are when you are cruising at 20,000 ft. Great start to my trip in Nepal. Not only did I see Everest peeking above the clouds, but a few other of the world's tallest mountains as well. Pretty amazing stuff. Everest sticks out though because the mountain is almost black in color, and truly looks different from all the other snow covered peaks. The excitement did not stop there though. Upon landing, I realized that I had forgotten to get out USD to pay for my Nepal visa. The only ATMs at the airport were outside, so I had to leave my passport at the border security and walk out of all the customs stops, through armed guards, outside to where thousands of taxi drivers and scammers waited to pounce on their prey. The sketchiest part was that I walked past an exchange counter and the guy motioned me over. He said that the ATM outside usually does not work, and if I need money that I can borrow it from him and pay him back later. That is a new one. Never heard of that scam before. Immediately outside I was swarmed by tiny Nepalese men (they are all very small) and escorted personally to an ATM, I guess they all wanted a tip for walking me 100 meters to an ATM I could see from the exit. When I arrived at the ATM I put my card in, entered my pin, and then when I asked for a withdrawal the machine went out of order. This freaked me out a little. Suddenly, a guy who claimed to be a bank employee was over my shoulder. He told me to do the transaction again, and was a little too close to me while I was entering my information. It worked this time, but I felt as though I was definitely getting scammed. I then had to walk all the way back through all the various security checkpoints and then had to exchange the rupees I had just withdrawn for USD at a counter. The guy ripped me off (I lost a few dollars) but I had to get out USD somehow or I would be stranded. After waiting in the now extremely long line, I finally got through the checkpoint and walked outside to the curb. Once again, I was swarmed by cab drivers and other tiny men wanting money from me. Luckily, my Uncle had arranged for a car to pick me up, so a tiny man with a sign that said "Mr. Daniel" scooped me up and took me in to Kathmandu. The car was a 1980s Mercedes and  the driver claimed that it was one of few in Nepal, so I was looked at as a VIP. Driving through Kathmandu was a trip. Definitely the poorest place in terms of a major city I have ever been. Nepal is one of the poorer countries in the world. The average annual income for the Nepalese is around 500 USD. (for perspective, India is twice that) The streets were filthy, covered in dirt. The people were everywhere, cutting in front of the car, selling trinkets and other touristy items. This is the first time on my trip I really felt like I was in a third world country. The people look a lot like Indians. Dark skin and many have the dot on their forehead, signaling that most of the people were Hindu. I finally got to the hotel and met up with Dave, who was asleep in the lobby, jet-lagged. The area of Kathmandu we are staying in is much nicer compared to the rest of the city I saw. It is definitely a touristy area. We set off in search of a trekking company to take us on our journey, and on our second stop (there are trekking companies everywhere where we are staying along with stores selling fake North Face gear) we found the right one for us, and after some bargaining we got the price we wanted as well. The best part of this excursion was that the company that had picked myself and Dave up from the airport had assumed that we were going trekking with them. They wanted more money than we wanted to spend and were not as experienced. We had to keep avoiding them throughout the day in hopes that we could just book with someone else and they would never even realize we were gone. The only problem was that the company we actually booked with followed us back to the hotel to wait for me to pay, and when we arrived in the lobby, the other guide was waiting for us. He shook hands with our new guide and you could tell he knew something was up. David had to leave and go with him to give them the bad news that we had switched companies, and in Dave's words they "acted like their best friend just died." That night we had an authentic Nepalese meal consisting of a few dishes and rice that I cannot even really explain. I think there was some spinach, chicken, curry, lentils, and some other odds and ends. I enjoyed it, but it was nothing remarkable. Looks like I have a lot to look forward to in the next 21 days. I spent all day today exploring the older area of Kathmandu which is packed with temples and pretty cool sites, but is overpopulated with tourists, sellers, and beggars. Still cool to see though. This blog has actually taken me two days to write. Yesterday when I was writing, I got half of the way through when the power suddenly went out. Kathmandu is the only capital city in the world, from what I understand, that has mandatory power outages everyday for upwards of eight hours. Most places have backup generators that work to power small lights throughout your hotel, but anything else, such as your outlets in your room, or anything else electric powered, is useless. For example, today the power went out at around 9 AM and came back on at 3:30 PM and will most likely go off again later on in the night for a few hours. Pretty incredible stuff. In terms of the next few weeks of my trip, I will be trekking the Annapurna Trail, which is a few bus rides to the northwest. It skirts along the border of Nepal and Tibet, in the foothills of the Himalayas (even up into them at some points). We booked a knowledgeable guide and porter to carry our supplies along the way. We decided to book a trek that stays in guesthouses along the way, because if we stayed in tents and packed in our own food and supplies, it would have almost doubled the price because we would require four porters instead of one. No way I can afford that. In the long run though, I am sure we will be happy to have a bed to sleep in after trekking everyday for seven hours in elevation that makes you want to vomit every step you take. I am not in the best shape anyway so I will not be complaining. Apparently, some stops along the way even have shoddy internet access, so hopefully I can make a few updates to the blog along the way. Next time I post I will be hiking the tallest mountain range in the world, not too shabby.

Oh yeah and one final note. So the major mountain in the range we are going to is Annapurna I. 10th highest in the world and one of 14 of the world's "Eight Thousanders" (meters). Its distinction though is that it is the deadliest mountain in the world to climb. Since 2007, 138 have tried and 50 have died. It has something like an overall fatality rate of 38%. Crazy. Luckily I will not be attempting to summit this beast.