Easy as ABC...

I am finally back from my trek to ABC (that's Annapurna Base Camp, for those of you who dont know). But how do I even begin to describe it? I struggled with this for the entire winding, seven hour taxi ride from Pokhara to Kathmanu. Nothing I can think of is adequate. They say "a picture is worth a thousand words," so you are going to get an earful once upload my pictures to the link on the right. In the mean time, I have tried my best to describe my experince with 26 leters (more or less): the ABCs of ABC. Perhaps these few memories can help piece together a larger picture of my past two weeks...

A is for Annapurna Base Camp. Annapurna is the 10th highest mountain in the world. Its base camp, at an elevation of over 13,5000 feet, was the destinatin and highlight of the trek.

B is for Black Tea. Or "khalo chia" in Nepali. This is the beverage of choice in Nepal and I probably drank five cups a day or more. Massala (spice) chia is a popular drink, but my favorite was tea with hot lemon and ginger.

C is for Clouds. There were a LOT of clouds on our trek. It rained every single day, sometimes all day. And it was the fourth day before we even saw a glimpse of blue sky. ("Nilo aca cushi bhoye" becme a favorite rare phrase, meaning "Yay blue sky!") But we were lucky to have several hours of clear sky at a few locations with spectacular views. My boots may have been wet for the whole two weeks, but at least I got to see some mountains!

D is for Dal Baht. Dal baht, the national dish of Nepal, consists of rice, lentil soup, vegetable curry, and spicy pickle. We at dal baht twice a day, almost everyday. It is delicious, and the best part is you get to eat with your hands! On our last day in Pokhara, a Nepali sister invited us to her home for a lesson on how to make dal baht. If you are nice to me, and I ever have 15 cups of green beans, nine hours of free time, and seven different woks, I MIGHT cook some for you..

E is for Environmentalism. In the mountains, there are no plastic water bottles, no chemical pesticides, no imported produce. Locals wont burn wood for fear f depleating the forests. These things are not done to "be green" but rather they are done out of necessity. It saves time and money to be self sufficient and local, rather than rely on slow, expensive porter services to bring foreign food, chemicals, and goods up and down the mountain. I learned a lot about how the locals interact with their environment.
[E is also for EPU-triangle-RU]

F is for Feminism. We hired our female guide through a women's empowerment organization, and Cora and I even hiked in -are you ready for this?- skirts! Skirts, or "lunghi" are the traditional dress for Nepali women and the locals got a kick out of seeing Cora and I hiking in them. A few days into the trip, we joined up with another all-women group of trekkers, guides, and porters. It was pretty cool to watch our mule-train of 15 women proceed up the mountain. Talk about "Girl Power."

G is for Goats. One day, Cora and I spent nearly half an hour scratching a wild goat's ears, and when we finally continued on the trail it stood there watching us with its sad eyes until we were out of sight. Who knew wild goats were so friendly? And dont get me started on baby goats. After holding a baby goat, less than a day old, it is undisputable that they are cuter than any puppy you will ever see.

H is for Hotels. Technically they are called "guesthouses," and they are quite a step up from camping in tents! Guesthouses are equipt with beds, electricity, running (often hot) water, and communal dinning halls where trekkers gather together. They also have:

I is for Internet, International Calls, and Imported Goods. Yep, all of these luxuries and more can be found at many guesthouses. Just because you are in a remote village at 10,000 feet doesnt mean you have to live without Snickers, Pringles, and Danish Beer.

J is for Jhinu Danda. In the village of Jhinu Danda, there is a hot sprin that will melt your heart. I spent hours in the hot pool, feeling the cool sprinkle of rain fall from the sky, and watchig the cold white water of the river rush by within arms reach. I bathed in a stream of hot water that poured from the rock, and it was the best shower I have ever had

K is for Koreans. There was a group of 245 Koreans hiking the ABC trail. That is not an exaggeration; it is a verified number from one of their guides. They hiked it in six days (it took us 11, and it wasn't eas). The women wore lipstik as they hiked. And then there is the time when I accidentally stuck my hand through the wall into a Korean's room, but that is one of those "you have to be there" stories. An anonymous man at one guesthouse correctly asserted, "If I was North Korea, I would invade South Korea today because there would be no one left in the country to put up a defense; they are all here."

L is for Leeches. Sure, ice climbing up the peak of Annapurna may have it's risks, but I think the leeches on the way to the base camp were a greater danger. The first night I made the mistake of identifying the creature on our floor as "a black inchworm! I've never seen a black inchworm!" I paid for that mistake the next morning when I found the bastard sucking on my nkle. Thanks to the nonstop rain, leeches were everywhere. Fun fact: the Nepali word for leech is nearly the same as the Nepali word for mustache.

M is for ...something special. So for the time being, I am putting the letter "M" at the end of the alphabet.

N is for Nepali Card Games. One of my favorite nights on the trail was spent crowded around a heater in the guesthouse dining hall with six Nepali men, playing a Nepali card game. Learning it was tough because the men didn't speak English, and I don't speak Nepali, but once I got the hang of it, I beat all of them! I felt pretty legit smacking my cards down on the table with all the locals. Cora and I played with other Nepali guides throughout the trek and I learned a few more games, too.

O is for Old Men with Oversized Loads. The local men who work as porters must be super human. Grandpas charge up the mountain in their plastic slip-on sandals, carrying bamboo baskets on their backs filled with 10 gallon kerosene tanks and all that importe beer I mentioned earlier. One day we saw, no, we were passed up the mountain by a man carrying three mattresses on his back. Mattresses! We even came across one porter who was carrying an actual person (a Korean, kid you not) up the mountain in his bamboo basket. All of us young, fit trekkers with our durable hiking boots and lightweight backpacks have to et their dust.

P is for Pancakes with Lemon and Sugar. Breakfast, 'nough said.

Q is for Quebecers. And all the other foreigners we met. We met friends from Canada, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Denmark, Australia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Dubai, and of course, Korea. I even met someone else from North Carolina! Everyone was so different and so interesting in their own way, and everyone is willing to strike up an interesting conversation or join in a game of Uno.

R is for "Resam Filili." Our guide, Bhagwati, taught us the words to this song and it has been stuck in my head ever since then. This is also the song we danced to when Bhagwati a the other 3-Sisters Co. guides taught us how to Nepali dance; a night which was long, loud, and very, very fun.

S is for Steep Slippery Stone Steps. When ever I mention "trail," I actually mean stone stairway, because that is what the trail was the majority of the time. The trail was always wide and properly paved with large stones. But don't be fooled into thinking this made things easy; I would take bushwhacking up a ridgeline over descending tall, irregular, wet, and treacherusly slick steps any day (remember: it was raining every day). And for all of you who think the seven flights of stairs up to your dorm room are tough, consider this: from the bottom of the river to the village Chommrong, one must climb over 4,000 steps!

T is for Three-Sisters Adventure Trekking Company. I could praise 3-Sisters for days. I reccomend them as highly as I possibly can and then some. Our own guide, Bhagwati, was fantastic. She called us "bahini" (younger sister) and she truly was like our "didi" (older sister). A few days into the trek, we met up with another group of women trekking with 3-Sisters. All the female guides were so sweet; always cuddling, giggling, and showing affecton. By the end of the trek, we were all like one family. I was sad when the trek ended because I was sad to leave those amazing Nepali women.

U is for Universal Things. Even the undeveloped mountain villages are suprisngly modern. Here is an illustration: I looked ahead and saw a Nepali man, carrying a bamboo basket on his head, standing on a rock beside the trail overlooking the cloud-filled valley. I thought to myself, 'what a beautiful picture of this rural man enjoying the sacredness of the Himalayas.' When I walked by him I discovered that he did not pause to soak in nature's beauty as I had guessed, but rather to answer his cell phone. Even in a country which doesn't even have a single McDonalds, you cannot escape cellular service!

V is for Vegan Cake and Venerable Monks. This memory occured on my first day in Kathmandu, not on the trek itself. But it is one of my favorites so I couldn't leave it out: I was sitting with Cora in a little organic cafe, eating vegan chocolate cake. Yes,they actually had vegan chocolate cake, but it gets even better. As we were talking, an old monk came over and sat down at our table. He said he had been listening in on our conversaton and he wondered if he could sit ith us and practice his English. Duh. We were soon joined by his friend and the four of us sat, drank tea, and talked for hours. We did not only talk, but we laughed. And we laughed hard. I never thought I would laugh so hard with a monk, and it was awesome. At the end of the afternoon, the monk gave us his phone number and asked us to call if we ever visted his monastery!

W is for Water Buffalo. "Ohhhhh everybody's got a water buffalo. Mine is fat and yours is slow. Where'd we get them? I don't know! But everybody's got a water buffalooooo!" Larry the Cucumber was right for once; everyone here really does have a water buffalo, and they roam the streets like they own them. [And sorry to anyone who doesn't get the Veggie Tales reference.]

X is for Xmas. The night we spent at the base camp felt like the night before Christmas. We went to sleep filled with anticipation that we might wake up to find something amazing. You may think I'm making it up, but I'm not. Cora and I even recited the entire "Twas the Night Before Christmas" book before we got into bed.

Y is for Yaks. Yak milk. Yak wool. Yak cheese on everything. Everything. Yak cheese pizza yak cheese enchiladas, Gurung bread with yak cheese. And yet we never saw a single yak. Seriously, where are all the yaks?!
AND
Y is for Yahtzee. We played wth game almost every night at the guesthos. We even had a 'World Championship' with players from all corners of the earth. It got pretty competitive. And I got Yahtzee Bonus, no biggie.

Z is for Zion. "Zion: an imaginary place considered to be perfect or ideal." But Zion is not an imaginary place, it is the Annapurna Sanctuary.

And finally... M is for Mountains (and Moonbows). We spent our first six days hiking in clouds. A few lucky moments we would see glimpses of the snow-topped mountains between the clouds, but it was rare. We had our fingers crossed for a clear morning view at the base camp, but things didn't look too promising. As Cora and I got into bed at ABC, Bhagwati knocked on our door calling, "Bahini, are you asleep? The sky is clear!" And in a moment we were wrapped in our coats, standing outside, looking at the most magnificent thing I have ever seen in my life. It was too dark for pictures and words fail to describe the experience. The mountains were...perfect. Perfect is the only word I can think of that even comes close. They rose up out of nothingness, shining bright against the dark sky in the light of the almost-full moon. 360 degrees of huge, snowy, magical, perfect mountains surrounding the base camp. To top it all off, there was a perfect ROYGBV moonbow surrounding the moon (no lie). My face hurt from smilig but I couldnt stop. After about 30 minutes, the clouds began to rise up from the valley. In less than 60 seconds, I watched the giant Annapurna South disappear behind a veil, right before my eyes. It just vanished as though it didn't exist. I couldn't sleep that night; I was too excited and full of love. In the morning we had another clear view. We watched the sun rise above the range and shed light onto the peaks. It was beautiful, but it was nothing like seeing the Holy mountains for the first time. That was an experience I will never forget.

PICTURES.PICTURES.PICTURES.

I have FINALLY finshed uploading my pictures from Sri Lanka. Check them out on the link in my sidebar! Pictures from my hiking trip should be coming soon (hopefully).

Nepal. Finally.

I am finally here in Nepal! Just over a day late.
In brief: I wasnt allowed on my initial flight and went through a lot of pain to book a new flight, a hotel for the night, etc, etc. Being stranded alone in a country isn't fun, trust me. In fact Im not sure I remember a time I have ever felt so scared.
But on a positive note, it made me not so sad to leave Sri Lanka!

So far, I love Nepal. Looking out the airport window, I literally felt like I was watching a National Geographic special. I cant wait to experience more.

Now I am off to meet Cora for our 2 weeks of hiking. I hope she doesnt hate me for leaving her here alone for a day!

Namaste!

Eat (curry). Pray (to buddha). Love (elephants).

(thank you to Annie Holmes for the clever title!)

Here is a continued list of the things I love about Sri Lanka:

-cows roaming the street
-elephant poo on the sidewalk
-little girls with short hair
-monks on motorcycles
-curry, three meals a day
-string hoppers with dahl and spicy coconut
-15 people crammed into a three-wheeled tuk-tuk
-an entire family packed onto one motorbike
-traffic 5 cars wide on a two lane road
-children shouting "hello"
-being called "madam"
-locals trying to speak english
-baby lizards and frogs in the bathroom
-my host: bringing watermellon to my room
-my blue, lace-trimmed mosquito net
-all the dogs look the exact same
-monks at the train station
-road-side buddha shrines every half mile
-men with Disney Princess briefcases
-grown men holding hands in public
-umbrellas in rain and sun
-tourist wearing saris
-the jingle of elephant chains on the street
-little baby bananas
-tree frogs (plural) in a hotel bathroom
-giant, dog-sized bats (called "flying foxes")
-komodo dragons
-monkeys, as abundant (and obnoxious) as squirrels in the US
-the snake man in Pinnawala and his big snake, Barbara
-black tea with lots of sugar
-hearing Akon "I wanna make love" on Sri Lankan TV
-getting into deep conversations with locals about caste
-buddha posters with flashing colored lights
-tacky plastic posters with babys on them (I still dont understand...)

This will be my last post in Sri Lanka, and my last post at all for a few weeks. I leave for Nepal tomorrow, and I wont have computer access while I am hiking the Annapurna circuit. I must say, I am sad to leave Sri Lanka. But I am really looking forward to my adventures in Nepal! So bye for now. Namaste!

A Gap Education

(It turns out that you dont always need school to learn...)

Most of you know this, but I really like to be productive. Whenever I do something, I want myself and/or someone else (preferably both!) to gain something out of it. Naturally, I tried to make sure that my gap year would be productive. And of course I was worried what I might do if it wasnt!

I have no skills working with elephants. Im not a vet or a zoologist or an animal trainer. Indeed, my work at the orphanage has been nothing that anyone else couldnt do.
And while I am an expert poop-scoop now, that knowledge is of little use to my future ( I hope). In short, my manual labor at the orphanage hasn't "produced" much of anything worthwhile.

The first week of my trip was hard (as first weeks always are): I had too little work, too much free time, I was all alone, and nothing was familiar. I was searching for a silver lining- something to make my efforts productive- then I realized: the hard part was the silver lining. The hard part was the productive part!

The most important thing I have gotten out of my trip so far is this: being comfortable with being uncomfortable. Much of what I have encountered so far has been uncomfortable:
-traveling through airports in the middle east; alone, white, and female.
-waiting around for LONG periods of time, with nothing to do and nowhere to go.
-doing tasks with no instruction on how to do them
-being surrounded by people that you dont understand
-poking your head into every single road stand, looking for a particular item, with no way to ask about it. (surely I must have looked ridiculous to everyone watching)
-being pointed to and giggled at by an entire bus stop of children, every single day.
-living in a strangers house.
-eating alone for 3 meals a day.
-wearing a bandaid on my face so that a scratch doesnt get infected with elephant poo.
-having absolutely no built-in friends, acquaintances, or safe-people; being forced to reach out to others, all of the time.

Things are still uncomfortable, but there are a lot of great things here, too. I've been learning a lot: about elephants and about life in Sri Lanka. I've seen amazing cultural sites and beautiful landscapes in Sri Lanka. I've enjoyed spending time with other volunteers. And I love being around the elephants.

This trip has been more 'life-experience' than 'fun-experience,' although the scale is beginging to level out. I haven't just mastered the art of being uncomfortable; I've really grown to love it here and I'll be sad to leave in a few days.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Yesterday, as I walked home from town, I was honked at by a monk. TWICE. (okay technically the second time it was a tuk-tuk driver that honked but there was still a monk IN the tuk-tuk). I had no idea that monks could get road rage.

And just before that happened, I was bitten by a dog at the orphanage. It didnt even break my skin, thankfully. [But on the bright side, even if it had broken the skin, I would have been safe from rabies! The elephant orphanage actually vaccinates all the local dogs for rabies. Did you know that dogs are a really big threat to elephants? Rabies from a little tiny dog bite can kill a huge elephants. Fun fact!]

Must be karma.

PICTURES (or lack thereof)

Bad news: the computer at my favorite (only) internet cafe in Rambukkana is too old for a usb port. That means I have no way to upload my pictures! I will do the best I can to figure out something else to try tomorrow, but dont get your hopes up.

If I cant figure things out tomorrow, it may be a few weeks before I can post any more photos! I will be hiking in Nepal for a few weeks, and I highly doubt that there are many internent cafes in rural sherpa villages.

Observations on Elephants

So I am learning a lot about elephants: how to care for them, about their habits, how to run a wildlife sanctuary. I've been making daily rounds with the vet and he has been very informative. I've also learned a lot from the mahouts, and even from other volunteers (one of them is a zoologist in the UK). Here are a few things I've witnessed which I thought I'd share:

-I watched an elephant 'in must' go crazy yesterday. He did a headstand with this back legs off the ground! I moved out of the way just in time as he threw a log halfway down the shed.
There is not enough room at the orphanage to make seperate enclosures for the musting elephants...they have to be chained up for the entire period of their must, which can last 2 or 3 months! The vet said that getting more land is one of his priorities, but it is expensive so chaining the elephants is they best than can do for now.

-An elephant bellow is quite a terrifying noise. It sounds almost like a dinosaur!

-I have been grabbed by more elephant trunks than I can count. Sometimes they just reach out and grab you when you are walking by!

-I witnessed a hillarious scene as an elephant recieved bananas from the doctor yesterday. He refused to grab the bunch with his trunk, but rather stood with his mouth wide open as the doctor tried (and failed several times) to toss the bananas into his mouth!

-I watched the vet cut into an abscess on the ear of one of the tuskers, Sampath. It was really gross, but really interesting, too! It is amazing how the mahouts can control the elephants. Sampath just laid on the ground quietly, but you could see him wincing in pain.

-Today as I was walking to the orphanage I heard a familiar noise behind me. It was a jingle of sorts, and I wasnt quite sure what it was but my first thought was: it is an elephant walking with chains on! Crazy, right? Well, it WAS an elephant walking with chains on. I watched him emerge from the bushes across the street. I find it strange that I recognized the sound of an elephant's walk. Who knew something like that would ever become normal to me!

-And have I mentioned that I learned how to ride an elephant. Not just on one of those benches, like they have at the circus. No, I learned how to ride on sitting right on the head, like a real mahout! I have pictures, so no worries.

I'm So Sick of White Bread.

All they have in this country is white bread. It is good, bakery-made white bread, but it is still white bread. They must have some recipe that everyone in the country knows, because it all tates the exact same. I miss whole grain bread.

A note on food in Sri Lanka...
There are two main food groups here: Rice and Chili Peppers. The latter is literally eaten like a vegetable with meals or as a snack. It is no wonder people here have stomach ulcers!

And have I mentioned that I love the bananas here? I think I may move to Sri Lanka if only so I can eat bananas without guilt. They are not shipped from accross the ocean. In fact, the bananas I eat havent even been carried across the street! My host has a garden where she picks bananas. All the rice I eat at her home comes from her own rice patty behind the house. We also grow coconuts, papayas, and other things I dont even remember! This is local produce at its best. You all know how I get excited about local produce!

Cultural Highlights of Sri Lanka

I am back in Pinnawala after 4 days of traveling around Sri Lanka. I had no idea there was so much to see and do in the country...I am so glad I didnt miss out! So here is a (brief) summary of what I saw:

Sigiria ("Lion Rock"): a STUNNING natural rock formation full of ruins of a kingdom that was built there. We climbed all 1,000+ stairs to get to the top and the view of Sri Lanka's jungles was amazing.

Anuradhapura: Sri Lanka's ancient capital. The ruins were only recently discovered and are now being restored. I saw the first Buddhist temple, the oldest Buddhist temple, the biggest Buddhist temple, and any other -est Buddhist temple you can think of.
Also went to see the Bohdi tree where Buddha was enlightened. It was carried over to Sri Lanka as a sapling many years ago. The temple was so crowded with pilgrims. I saw the bullet holes in the temple from where the Tamil Tigers attacked in 1985. Our guide was there the day they attacked and he told us the scary story of seeing them emerge from the jungle, and watching over 150 be shot and killed.

Golden Temple of Dambulla (largest sitting Buddha statue in the world) and the Cave Temples: both were really neat.

Spice Garden: learned about the various herbal medicines and products. Got free massages, too! I thought it was quite interesting.

Cultural dancing: watched a cultural dance group in Kandy. Also saw fire-walkers (you know, the people that walk on hot coals). It was pretty impressive but after walking barefoot on BURNING hot sand at each of the temples we visited, I think I could do it too! Almost.

Lord Buddha's Tooth: Visisted the temple that houses Buddha's tooth relic in Kandy. It was SO SO crowded because we arrived at the time when they reveal the golden casket containing the relic. It was quite special to see the golden casket. They actual tooth itself is only revealed every 5 years, drawing crowds of millions of people!

Hill Country: The Sri Lankan hillside is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I was torn between wanting to look out the window as we were driving, and wanting to close my eyes so I didnt get sick from the winding roads! There were so many giant waterfalls. And huge fields of tea. We visited a tea factory and got to see how tea is plucked, dried, fermented, and sold. And of course, we got to try some free tea.

A few more notes on Sri Lanka:
-There are SO many monkeys here. They are like squirrels back in the USA. They run around everywhere.
-There are giant Komodo Dragons here. I never thought I would ever see one in person, but now I have!
-I am finally begining to learn some of the language (Sinhalese).
-I have seen more Buddha statues than I ever thought even existed.
-Baby bananas are way tastier than regular-sized bananas.

I have A TON of photos from my trip. I will work on putting up a few of them this week.

And a special shout out to Clinton, the lawn gnome!