8 Nov 99- (Note this was actually 9 Nov, but I forgot about crossing the dateline until a day later)
-got to bed after 2AM Bangkok time. woke up an hour early for the airport. Didn't realize it until I was already in the shower. had breakfast at the Amari Hotel buffet. Combo of scrambled eggs, bacon, shrimp, & egg sushi, croissant, small donut, & banana bread. Very impressive buffet. Got to airport at 830AM. Can't find voltage converter. Stupid me. Should have bought one before I left home. Hope batteries will hold out.
-Practiced purifying water last night. Goodd thing, because the tap water is not potable here. Didn't know that until this morning. Started antibiotics for sinus infection last night. Hope they work soon. Body, sinuses, lips very dry from flights. Trying to put down at least 2 liters of water today.
-Busines/first class was definitely the way to go if only for the lounges in Bangkok and Tokyo. Less crowded; quieter (a little); free drinks and snacks.
-Found out at airport checkin that my gear weighed 37.4Kg, thats 75 lb.s without all the water I would need!
-By the way- it is very hot and humid in Bangkok. Even at night it was in the 80's F.
-Briefly met Judge and D, a young couple from England, at BKK. doing EBC from Phaplu if they can get flight. Noticed Judge had the McGuiness book and I said "Hi". Judge did Annapurna in '92.
-Flew with Bob Stephens, Sterling Heights, MI. Wants to do the Lang Tang Trek. Trying to hook up with a group or guide when he gets to Kathmandu.
-on arrival I met /Jiban Ghimire and Kumar at Tribuhuvan Airport. Not before An interesting occurance: the airport has official porters that help people with their bags, similar to skycaps. I wasn't aware of this. It took forever to find my bag after immigration. Must have have come out first, then taken off the carousel and been put on the the ground. As I found it, one of the skycaps came up and said he would help me carry the bag. I saw the ID tag from a distance, but thought it meant he was a cab driver. He picked up the bag and started to carry it before I had a chance to make a decision. I let him carry it for a few seconds, and thought the better of it. Then I really had to argue with him to put it down. He kept saying, "I help you, I help you." I finally got in his face with a very firm, "NO!", and he released the bag. I heard a Nepali voice well behind me at this point that turned out to be Customs! This guy just carried my bag straight through Customs, and no one batted an eye. I was very confused, but the Customs officer just waved me on, like, "Forget it, Pal. We really don't care what you bring into our country, but we'll shoot you if you try to take anything out." Viva Nepal!
I met Jiban right after this. He introduced Kumar to me and when I asked his name again, Jiban said it was Marty?! Don't know why. I guess they do what they can to kiss ass in Nepal, because most foreigners like it that way. I generally prefer not to have my ass kissed; tickled occasionally, but not kissed. It wasn't until 10 hours later when we were eating dinner in Jiri, that Kumar spoke up and cleared up the confusion about his name.
We hopped in a small Nissan or Toyota at the airport and drove the 8 or 9 hours straight to Jiri, only stopping for a couple pictures, 2 checkpoints (armed guards with machine guns), and one pee break.
 

10 Nov 99-
-Woke up at 530AM. Didn't sleep until probably 11 or 12 the night before. Sleep didn't actually happen. Dog barked outside for the whole night, and a group of drunks showed up around one or two and partied on the front lawn for most of the night. We apparantly arrived in Nepal at the tail end of a national festival.
-Barometric Pressure at 6AM was 23.85 inHg, Temp 66F. Started out of Jiri at 7:50AM, 1/2 hour late.
-Carried about 40 Kg this first morning. Was heavy but doable for a while. Problems were multiple- didn't realize how exhausted I was from all the travel and lack of sleep, skipped breakfast because I was pissed the night before, and still suffered from the sinus infection. Oh yeah, the very strenuous hiking with 80 lb.s on my back was the biggest problem.
-Crossed the Small Pass mentioned in the McGuiness book at about 11 or 11:30AM and set the altimeter there. all reading prior to that are suspect, so I estimated based on the altitude changes recorded:
time alt pressure
1PM 1800m
Noon 2005m 23.70
11AM 2230m
10AM 2185m
9AM 2175m
8AM Jiri
Currently 8PM, temp 64F, pressure24.35, alt 1800m
-We crossed a suspension bridge at about 12:30 and got to some small Tea Shacks. I thought this was Shivalaya, but was wrong. We still had to traverse a hillside, and that seemed to take forever. That is when I started to breakdown. The exhaustion and empty stomach turned to nausea, and when we crossed another suspension bridge and got into Shivalaya, I dropped my pack and could barely move. Couldn't eat lunch, and wanted pass out. Kumar kept suggesting that it was altitude and that I should walk around, definitely not go to sleep. I knew I needed to sleep, though. My body was telling me. We ended up getting a room were we tried to eat lunch, the Good Sherpa Hotel.
Since I was sick, the people there sort of stayed away from not only me, but Kumar, too. He went around trying to find a porter while I was passed out. Whn I woke a few hours later, he explained that the only one willing to do it was a kid working at the the lodge, but Kumar thought his price was too high, 500 rupees per day plus 2 dal bhat meals each day. The dinner dal bhat at a lodge usually includes their room for a night, too. Some time went by and he came back with no further luck. At this point I said I don't care what his fee is in rupees, it's less than ten bucks a day, and it's worth it.
-Went to bed at about 9PM, woke at 3:30AM went to bathroom, burned tp (first and last time on trip), couldn't fall back to sleep, got out of bed at 6AM
 
 
 
 

11 Nov 99
-Started on trail at 7:52AM. Temp in room at 6AM? Could see breath, though. Probably in the 40s or 50s outside. Trail out of Shivalaya crosses a very small stream and heads straight up a vertical hillside. We crisscrossed that hillside on the trail for an hour before the grade relented. Dawa, our new porter carried about 55 lb.s in my pack, but had no idea how to adjust the straps. As much as I tried to help him, I think the pack was just too big, and must have been very very difficult for him to carry. He smiled through it all though.
-Made it to Deorali by 12 or 12:20 for lunch. The day before, We saw an American woman, Nora, returning on the trail. She suggested staying at the Highland Sherpa Guest House and Restaurant. Said the owner was a really nice lady. Her name is Pema Sherpa.
-12:39PM sun very powerful, burn easily. need to put sunblock on
-time alt  pressure
Noon 2690 21.80
11AM 2645 21.90
10AM 2405 22.55
9AM 2190 23.20
8AM 1890 24.05
7AM 1800
6AM 1800 24.30
Pressure at Midnight in Shivalaya was 23.70
-from lunch walked down from Deorali through a few towns to Kinja. McGuiness spells it "Kenja". The walk is mainly downhill with the occasional tough incline until you get to the river. at this point, 3 suspension bridges are crossed to get to Kinja. It seems that whenever we follow a river or traverse a hillside that I get very depressed. This for the reason that Kumar and I guess most Nepalis consider these parts of the trail flat, relatively speaking that is. Flat to them is not flat to me. Even the "easy"parts of the trail were hard for me at first.
-Arrived at Kinja sometime around 5 or 5:30. The sun had just set and it got dark quickly. We stayed at the New Everest Guesthouse, one of the nicest looking lodges in the place. They even offered a hot shower, but I wasn't up to taking a chance on how hot it might be, and so skipped it. Kumar took one, though and said that the water was at first cold, but soon became very warm. they had power, too. I couldn't find an adaptor for the plug, thoug. So I was out of luck with re-charging the email which I found dead upon arrival at Jiri.
-Spoke and taped a lot while waiting for dinner in Kinja. Even got a Nepali child practicing their English homework on tape. Found out that Dawa works at the Good Sherpa Hotel in Shivalaya, and that it is owned by his sister and brother-in-law.
-Woke around three and tried to make calls. I think the phone was working at that point, but wasn't sure. Tried to take a picture of the starry sky, but it didn't come out.
 
 
 
 

12 Nov 99
-Started from Kinja at 8:25AM Stopped in Sete for lunch from 12:30-2PM Arrived at Dagchu around 3 or 4PM and decided to call it a day because of altitude. tomorrow will try for Ringmo.
-Along the way we met up with 4 guys from the Netherlands and 3 girls from Canada. They were in Shivalaya when I collapsed and have followed the same path so far. I spoke with one of the girls at Sete.Her name was Cathie. Even let her play my guitar a little. Nice girl. Listen to tape for more at Dagchu.
-time alt pressure
8PM 2920 21,15
2PM 2740
1PM 2505
Noon 2505 22.30
11AM 2390
10AM 2160
9AM 1835
8AM 1615
-Pressure reading series for previous days:
Date Time Pressure Place
9Nov Noon 23.90  On Plane
9Nov 6PM 30.10  On Road to Jiri
10Nov Midn 23.85  Jiri
10Nov 6AM 23.85  Jiri
10Nov Noon 23.70  Close to Shivalaya
10Nov 6PM 24.30  Shivalaya
11Nov Midn 24.35  "
11Nov 6AM 24.35  "
11Nov Noon 21.80  Deorali
11Nov 6PM 24.80  Kinja
12Nov Midn 24.85  "
12Nov 6AM 24.85  "
 

13 Nov 99
-Started from Dagchu at 7:20AM. Long day if we want to get to Ringmo. Trying to make up for lost time. I am getting a little fed up with Kumar's obsession with his schedule. Its about 32F outside. was 48F in my room.
-Last night, I turned on the satphone and got calls in from Bob and Chas. Made some calls out to OBJH , Magellan, and I think Mom. Felt great to speak to home. Found out later that the lodge owners in Dagchu had no idea about my phone and thought I was talking to myself outside in the dark.
-Up on Lamjura Pass it was below 32F because there was snow and ice on the trail. Pass is on the North hillface. Almost no sun at 8 in the morning. Noticed a lot of lichen and mosses. Plant life growing on the rocks. Must be fragile up here.
-Funny story- We stopped at the beginning of the pass. Took pictures. I told Kumar and Dawa to get started without me, and that I would catch up. As they walked an old man came from the other direction. Obviously he had just crossed the pass from the other side, a none too small accomplishment in my eyes. As he approached me, he tried to bumm a cigarette off me- at 10,000 feet!
I don't get these Nepali's! Probably the pound for pound strongest people in the world.
-Got to Junbesi at about 12:30-1PM. Before you reach the town, the trail comes around a bend and has a great view of the valley. Off in the distance, I could see a snow capped peak. I asked Kumar what the name of that mountain was. He responded in his Nepali inflected/accented English, "That is not mountain. That is hill." What?! Where I come from, if there is snow on it it's definitely a mountain. I guess it's just all so relative here.
-Had lunch until about 2PM at the first Tea House we came to in town. Very nice place. can see it in McGuiness' picture of Junbesi. Reg'd at police checkpost after lunch and caught up to Kumar and Dawa on th trail. Got to Ringmo at about 5:30. Sun had set and it was getting dark.
-Sitting outside right now writing and trying to check vmail. 8:07PM. Watch says it's 50f, but it feels colder. Going to go eat!
-Met a couple girls from Jackson Hole WY here- Chanti and Jolie. Chanti was talkative as Hell, but Jolie didn't say a word. Also ran into a couple guys from Sweden? They were carrying big packs, too. They called me their "rabbit". Wanted to keep the pace that Kumar ws setting. No small feat because today we did a 2 camp walk, and tomorrow when we try for Bupsa, that will be 2 camps, also.
-time alt pressure
9PM 2775 ---
8PM 2775 21.75
7PM 2775 21.75
6PM 2785 21.70
5PM 2715 21.90
4PM 3040 21.05
3PM 2940 21.30
2PM 2735 21.85
1PM 2730 21.35
Noon 2915 21.35
11AM 3190 20.60
10AM 3605 19.75
9AM 3530 19.95
8AM 3155 20.50
7AM 2930 21.10
6AM --- 21.10
Mid --- 21.10
(6PM, 12 Nov-21.15)

                    (To be continued...)