TravelStream™ news feed for member dinovagabond on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dinovagabond en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:45:48 -0500 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1235567880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1235567880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1235567880/tpod.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:45:48 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Phuket, Thailand

Disaster struck today!So I arrived in Kata Beach this morning (in Phuket, Thailand). I took an overnight bus from BAngkok that should have taken 12 hours and for whatever reason it took about 17 hours. The first guesthouse I visited was full but the people there suggested another one close by. When I went over, a sketchy guy showed me a bungalow. The price was a bitmore than I wanted to pay and the guy seemed a bit seedy. I questioned taking the bungalow but I just didnt have it in me to keep looking for another place so I took it. About 5 minutes after I checked in I left my bungalow and noticed that my Scandinavian neighbor was doing cocaine on her front balcony. Of course I had to see tthis 5 minutes AFTER I decided to take the room. Seeing this didnt make me feel any better about staying at this place.So I spent the day at the beach. It's a beautiful beach. One of the nicer ones I've seen. I actually had a good day. I ended up meeting an American lady who has been living here for 2 years and we chatted all afternoon on the beach. I am convinced she is some sort of escort for rich men. I could sense it. She told me all about her problems with men. I had to be Dr. Phil for the afternoon but it didnt bother me. It beat the regular traveler talks I've been having for the last 10 months (i.e. where have you been, where are you going next, etc). Our day together ended when she asked if I would join her for a late lunch but I refused. My radar said that although she was very beautiful, she seemed a bit shady. Im sure she was super surprised when I said I wasnt going to join her. Im sure she thinks I am gay. God I hope my radar didnt let me down! Anyhow, I am getting away from the point of my entry.After leaving the beach, I spent a few hours walking around Kata and Karon Beach. I was checking out some other guesthouses that I could move into tomorrow. I returned to my guesthouse at about 7 pm. I had to walk past 2 bungalows to get to mine. The first bungalow had 2 pretty scandinavian girls. They were sitting on the balcony. I said hello. They said hello back. Then I walked past the second bungalow and saw another Scandinavian girl (the one I saw snorting cocaine earlier in the afternoon). I said hello. She said hello back.  As I walked to my bungalow, I could see that my lock was unlocked. Shit! I could have sworn I locked the door before I left. I said a short prayer to God before I walked into the room and asked that my stuff still be in my room. I opened the door and struggled to finnd the light switch. It didnt matter. There was enough light for me to see that EVERYTHING was gone! My backpack was gone! The stash of souvenirs I bought that I hid in a corner of the room was all gone too. I let out the loudest "F&^KKKKKKKKKKK!" you could hear. I left my bungalow and the Scandinavian girls are like "What's wrong?". I was so angry and told them that all my stuff was gone. EVERYTHING! Then I started yelling out the name of the guesthouse owner. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!" I must have yelled out his name about 10 times. No one was coming. SO I walked down towards the reception area continuing to yell out his name. I was so pissed. I was already thinking aboiut calling my sister and having her wire me money through Western Union. Some lady was at reception and I was yelling "EVERYTHING IS GONE! MY PASSPORT! MY MONEY! MY CREDIT CARDS! MY CLOTHES! EVERYTHING!" The lady didnt know how to react. She pointed me to Eed's house. SO I walked towards his house and continued yelling out his name "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!" SOme people came out of their bungalows. One Thai guy came out and he asked me what happened. I told him "EVERYTHING IS GONE! MY PASSPORT! MY MONEY! MY CREDIT CARDS! MY CLOTHES! EVERYTHING!" He didnt know what to do either. He also pointed me to Eed's house. I walk into his house and see only his elderly mom and dad and I start telling them about what happened. I told them "EVERYTHING IS GONE! MY PASSPORT! MY MONEY! MY CREDIT CARDS! MY CLOTHES! EVERYTHING!" They both whip out their cell phones and start making calls. I told the elderly mom to come back to the bungalow with me. I walked back to my bungalow. Mom was far behind. I was walking too fast for her. As I looked at my bungalow from a distance, something occured to me. I had a thought that was worse than finding out that everything I had was stolen. Only one thing could have made me feel any worse than I was currently feeling. I stood there frozen looking at the bungalow I had walked into. The Scandinavian girls were just staring at me wondering why I just stopped walking and stared at my bungalow like a zombie. I really didnt know how to react as I was still thinking things over. I saw something that made me realize that DISASTER did in fact hit me and it was worse than getting my things stolen. To the right of my bungalow, there was something that would explain everything. It was..............ANOTHER BUNGALOW!!!!!Could it be? Did I walk into the wrong bungalow and just make a complete fool of myself? I was happy and also embarrased like never before. I walked slowly to the other bungalow. I still wasnt 100% that it was my bungalow. I have to admit that a part of me really wishes it wasnt. The lock was still there. It was locked. I put my key inside. I turned the key. The lock unlocked. I was happy. I was embarrassed. I opened the door. My backpack was there. I was happy. I was embarrassed. My bag of souvenirs was stored safely in the corner of the room. I was happy. I was embarrassed. I am such a DUMBASS! I know what story to tell when people ask me about my most embarrassing moment. I walked outside. The elderly mom was there. I told her what happened. She said something in Thai to her elderly friend. They laughed their heads off. I could also hear the Scandinavian girls laughing. DISASTER! I stayed in my bungalow for a while. I was too embarrassed to walk back outside. I should check out really early tomorrow morning. I am so embarrassed.Hey, it's good that I can laugh at myself though.Dino Vagabond
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228314000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228314000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228314000/tpod.html Tue, 30 Dec 2008 09:23:43 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Kathmandu, Nepal

Today I took a 7 am taxi to the bus terminal so I could catch my bus to Kathmandu. I was told by the 4 sisters at my guesthouse that I would be put in a comfortable tourist bus. They lied again. God bless them anyway. They are beautiful but amazing liars. All the buses I saw were pieces of junk. I was actually escorted to the nicest of the bunch before some guy came over and redirecting me to another bus which was probably one of the worst. I peaked inside and didn't see one tourist in the bus. It was all local people which made sense as it definitely was a local bus. I asked the guy responsible for redirecting me if this was the tourist bus. I was told yes. I asked the man where were all the tourists then. He didn't respond. At least I made a group of bus drivers behind me laugh when they heard my question.  So I should have paid 150 Nepalese rupees for the bus ride instead of 450 rupees. It is a nice scam they have going here. I ended up arriving in Kathmandu at 2 pm and ran some important errands. First, I returned the sleeping bag and down jacket I rented from one of the shops. Next, I wrote/sent some postcards. Unfortunately the post office was closed so I asked the manager at my guesthouse to drop them off at the post office for me. He said he would. I then packed my backpack in preparation for tomorrow's bus journey to the India/Nepal border. Before I went to bed, I bought a bike lock so I could secure my backpack to something stable while on bus/train journeys through India. I left my previous lock in Iran.   Tomorrow I am taking a local bus to the border. Should be fun. Dino Vagabond  
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228223040/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228223040/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228223040/tpod.html Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:38:39 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Pokhara, Nepal

Today was another day of just taking it easy. My body is enjoying the rest.I ended up spotting Rebecca - the Chinese girl I was supposed to meet at the Hot Springs in Tatopani but didn't. I asked if she went and she did. She didn't look too pleased that I didn't show up. I explained that I made no promises in showing up as I thought I would have a hard time waking up at 5 am. She didn't like my honest answer. I should have went though. I regret it. I was hoping to meet up with her later for dinner but she seemed (or rather acting) to be in a rush so I didn't ask. And I wonder why I am still single. I spent most of the afternoon just updating my blog and uploading photos. I did run a few errands. I bought another book - Mr Nice. It is another non-fiction book I've decided to read about a criminal. It is the 4th one of this kind that I have read on this trip. Banco, Shantaram and Che Guevara were the others although some would argue that Che wasn't a criminal. They say the books people read say a lot about them. I don't know what these books say about me but I definitely like reading about bad guys. I think some of them are good guys that just do bad things. I also changed some Nepalese money to US dollars. I had way too much Nepalese money after my trek. I shouldn't have listened to Klaus when he said I should budget $35/day for the trek. $20/day was more than enough. I also settled my bill at the guesthouse. I like the 4 sisters running the place but man are they scammers. They said they were going to sell me the cheapest bus ticket to Kathmandu available. Their price was a lot more than the other quotes I got. Only when I told them that I could get a better price did they agree to match my lowest offer. Then they charged me a 10% VAT on my room bill.  I was never charged another 10% in Kathmandu. They explained that the VAT was just put in affect a few days ago. Sure it was. I later confirmed that this wasn't true. I told them I knew they were scamming me but I was more than happy to give them the extra money as they had the unfortunate task of doing my laundry (which they charged a decent price for). Those clothes didn't smell too good after the completion of my trek. At night I tried to find a restaurant that sold Yak steak. I could have had this in the mountains but so many people said I should wait until I got to Pohkara. Unfortunately I listened to them. There isn't one restaurant that makes Yak Steak and none of them ever did. They managers of each restaurant told me I could only find Yak steak in the mountains. I shouldn't have listened to my fellow trekkers.  I guess I will have to return to the Himalayas one day so I could try it. Dino Vagabond
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228136520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228136520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228136520/tpod.html Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:04:16 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Pokhara, Nepal

It was nice not to wake up today and not have to walk. Really nice!!!  Because it became a habit while completing the trek, I woke up at 630 am. I still stayed in bed until 9. After getting ready and dropping off my laundry, I walked around Pohkara. It definitely is a nice little town. It has a very relaxing vibe - unlike Kathmandu (which I still like).  Besides some light sight seeing, I decided to shave my head again. I asked the barber to give a Mohawk look first before he completely shaved my head. It is a photo I plan to share with my mother just so she could feel proud of what she created. I also asked the Indian barber to give me a shave as I really needed one. I made sure he changed the razor though before he took a swipe at my face. I like the shaved head look. I think this will be the haircut of choice until the day I die. I am close to committing to that.  By late afternoon I went back to the guesthouse to talk to the nice Nepalese sisters running the place. While talking to them, I decided that I would stay in Pohkara for another day. There wasn't anything else to see or do but I just wasn't ready to go on a 7 hr bus ride yet.  I'll just spend the day updating my blog and running some errands. Dino Vagabond
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228049220/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228049220/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1228049220/tpod.html Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:53:25 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Pokhara, Nepal

Chris and Abi walk up at 5 am to walk up this place called Poon Hill. It is a popular place to go up to see the sun rise. I've seen my share of sunrises and sunsets on this trip so I decided against going. The main reason though was that my knee really didn't need the extra pounding.  I started the last day of my trek with Chris and Abi once they returned from Poon Hill. I was anxious to get to the end of the circuit. Really anxious! I kept looking at my watch guessing how much time I had left on the trail. I am really glad I decided to do the Annapurna Circuit. The scenery was beautiful and I met some really nice people. I am especially glad that I decided to not give in and finish the last 5 days by foot. I didn't want any regrets! Earlier in the day, I gave Abi my hiking boots and some of the gear I bought for the trek. I no longer had a need for them and I knew Abi would appreciate some newer stuff.  He was also doing me a favor by taking the stuff out of my hands. I didn't want to carry the gear for the rest of my trip. By the end of the day, I couldn't find Abi or Chris. They were way ahead of me. I thought there would be a chance of seeing them at the final town - Naya Pool - I came across for the day but they were not there. I owed Abi 300 rupees for some food payments ($4) he made on my behalf and I really wanted to get him that money. It isn't a lot of money for me but I knew it was money he could use. He knew I owed him the money too but when I saw that he didn't wait for me at the end of the trail, I figured he wasn't too worried about it given that I gave him a lot of gear. Chris later confirmed this for me. I ended up taking a local bus from Naya Pool to Pokhara. The bus was unfortunately packed so I ended up standing for most of the 2 hour journey. Not exactly what I wanted to do after finishing a 15-day trek through the Himalayas. I meet a nice American couple from California who were also traveling for a year. We talked about our treks and our RTW trips to help pass the time. When we reached Pokhara, we shared a taxi which dropped us off at their hotel. From there, I walked along the main road which was dotted with tourists, restaurants, souvenir shops and guesthouses. I ended up deciding to stay in this guesthouse called Lubbly Jubbly. Four friendly Nepalese sisters managed the place. They quoted a good price so I took it. I think I was the only person staying there. I didn't see anybody else there all night long. After showering, I walked along the main road. Pokhara is a small town. I liked what it had to offer. I could definitely see myself staying here for 2-3 days. I ended up having a huge dinner. I needed one after my 15 days in the mountains. After I satisfied my stomach, I went to an internet café to see what was happening in the world. It had been a while since I was connected. It turns out the news wasn't so good. There were horrible terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Some of the attacks targeted foreigners. In addition, the international airport in Bangkok was under siege by protestors and planes couldn't get in or out. Guess the departure and destination cities of my next flight? Yes - Mumbai and Bangkok. I'll have to monitor the situation.I also had a few emails from my friend Sam who is considering coming to visit me in India. I am hoping the terrorist attacks won't deter him from coming. Dino Vagabond
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227961080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227961080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227961080/tpod.html Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:20:30 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Annapurna Region, Himalayan Region, Nepal

So I didn't meet up with Rebecca at 6 am. I woke up at 5 am and felt the cold air circulating in my room so I went back to sleep. Hopefully she did the same. Not much happened today however it was the toughest day of the trek. I wasn't expecting this. We walked 1700 meters UPHILL today. We started at 1200 meters and ended at 2900 meters. The most we ever went uphill in one day during this trek (prior to today) was 800 meters. I didn't expect this kind of punishment on the 2nd to last day of the trek.   I started walking at 745 am. Chris and Abi came by my guesthouse and we started the tough journey together.  I knew we wouldn't end the journey together as I am a much slower walker than Chris and Abi. By lunchtime we climbed up to 1950 meters. It was depressing knowing that I wasn't even halfway to today's final destination - Gharopani. My knee wasn't enjoying the punishment either. Other trekkers noticed that I was walking funny and offered their creams and knee braces. I am a pretty stubborn guy and refused their kind offers.  The last 3 hours of today's trek was especially brutal. I feel bad complaining about it considering that I walked by porters that were carrying a lot more weight than I was. I told Chris not to bother waiting for me as I was slowing them down. They reluctantly agreed. I knew I would be fine.  I stopped a few times to drink water, eat oranges and some raisins. Each time I offered my food to whichever porter decided to rest next to me. I couldn't imagine the guy sitting next to me watching me eat while he was obviously hungry and thirsty. I reached Gharopani at 415 pm. I am pretty sure I was the last one to reach the town. I really wanted to take a shower. Because I was the last one to check into my guesthouse, I was left with no hot water. It wasn't the ending I wanted for my day but it was fine. I had colder showers in my life. I also realized that I left my soap and soap container in Tatopani. It's only the thirds thing I've forgotten/lost since I started the trip. I'll get it replaced. Tomorrow is the last day of the trek. I have to say that I've had enough of walking. It's time to head back into the city. I definitely feel like I am in much better shape since this trek started. Dino Vagabond
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227858600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227858600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227858600/tpod.html Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:01:07 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Annapurna Region, Himalayan Region, Nepal

I had another great night of sleep. My body is enjoying the rest. I was awoken, however, by the noise of mice scratching the outer side of my bedroom wall. I have gotten use to hearing mice in the middle of the night. I was confident that there was no way for them to get into my room so this allowed me to sleep comfortably.Before starting my trek, I looked for the safe-water drinking station but never found it. This meant walking for most of the morning without water. This sucked although my bag was a bit lighter because of the absence of 2 liters of water. I would have preferred carrying the extra weight though.The trail was pretty quiet again. I hardly saw any trekkers and only a few local people. I enjoyed the peace and quiet. There are times where I feel a bit vulnerable to a crazy mountain-person attack. It would be very easy to hide a body in the Himalayas. I did end up meeting one other trekker today - a pretty Chinese girl from Shanghai named Rebecca. I had seen her in the previous town but didnt speak to her. I offered her some of my raisins and this triggered a nice conversation. I found out that she was scammed by other Chinese travellers she met. She lent them money so they could pay their porters a few days of wages in advance. When she woke up one morning, she found out that they all took off on her. It sucks when you get ripped off by other travellers. But she had a good attitude. She said she didnt spend time worrying about it. It happened and nothing was going to change it. She couldn't have been more right. I ended up stoppng for lunch in a town called Dana. A porter belonging to a group of German travellers came up to me and asked if I had a guide or a porter. I said I didnt. He looked surprised. I guess he thought it was strange. I guessed that he asked himself why I would do this if I could afford to have a porter. I sometimes get the feeling that some locals are impressed with this while others are not too happy as I could employ a local person for a few weeks. I cant make everyone happy.I ended up getting to Tatopani at 2 pm. I walked into a guesthouse and asked the owner if she had a room available. She did. Before I saw the room, I asked if she had hot showers. She said that she did not have hot water. When she saw that I hesitated about seeing the room, she quietly asked me if I was Israeli. Lots of people guess that I am when they see me. I told her I wasn't but asked her why that mattered. She then explained that Israelis like to take long showers and use up too much of the available hot water. I never heard this before. She then told me that I could have access to the hot shower in the guesthouse as long as I kept it quiet as there were many Israelis satying at the guesthouse who were under the impression that their was only cold water available.I ended up walking around Tatopani for the rest of the afternoon. I noticed that I had blisters on my feet. I didnt complain as I was thankful that I only got them towards the end of my trek. I took quite a few photos of the town. The locals would come by and ask to see the photos. I was happy to show them.There were hot springs nearby and I wanted to go in them. Perhaps they would make my feet feel a lot better. The problem was that I didnt have a pair of shorts with me and I wasn't sure if it would be appropriate to go into the Springs with my boxers. So I ended up buying an ugly pair of shorts for 300 rupees ($5). I didn't bother bargaining.At 345 pm I went down to the Hot Springs. I ran into Rebecaa who told me that she planned to go at night when there were fewer people. She asked if I wanted to go with her. I didnt hesitate to say that I would like that. We made plans to meet at her guesthouse at 645. I still went to the Hot Springs during the afternoon though. It was really hot but not too hot that I couldn't enjoy my time there. The local women were covered in sheets/towels while the local men were wearing ther speedo underwears. I guess I didnt need to question whether it was appropriate to wear boxers after all. I was still glad I bought my ugly pair of shorts. I ended up seeing Chris and Abi and the Hot Springs. It was good to see them again. We hung out in the hot water for about 90 minutes. We made plans to trek together tomorrow to a town called Ghorepani.After supper, I went to meet up with Rebecca. I was quite cold walking to her guesthouse. I thought about telling Rebecca that I didnt want to go anymopre but this would have made me look like a wimp. You know you are getting old when you are thinking about cancelling a Hot Springs appointment with a pretty girl because you think it is too cold. I was glad when she suggested we go in the morning instead as it wouldn't be so cold. She asked that I meet her at 6 am at her guesthouse. I said I would try my best. I wasn't sure I wanted to get up so early in the morning. This is when I realized I was definitely getting old. I was actually considering sleeping in rather than going to the Hot Springs with a pretty girl. God help me! Dino Vagabond
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227769260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227769260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227769260/tpod.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 02:03:08 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Annapurna Region, Himalayan Region, Nepal

When I woke up this morning, I decided to walk. It wasn't because my knee felt fine (it always does in the morning) that I decided to continue by foot. It was because I thought I would regret it later on if I took the jeep. I really wanted to do complete the rest of the trek by foot. I thought my memories of trekking through the Himalayas would be tainted if I didnt complete the circuit by foot. I really am stubborn. As long as my knee doesn't get worse, I wont regret my decision. Time will tell.When I left my guesthouse, I filled up my water bottle at the nearby safe-water drinking station. I didnt need to worry about losing my iodine tablets after all, as I ended up coming across these stations in most towns I stopped at. While filling up my bottle, the shopkeeper was brushing her daughter's hair getting her ready for school. I dont know why but it was nice to see this and I felt a need to document it. MAybe I will figure out later why I thought it was worth remembering.Shortly after I left Marpha, a tractor stopped beside me and the driver asked where I was going. When I told him I was going to Ghasa, he offered me a lift. Of course I knew he was going to expect some money. I said thanks but I explained that I really wanted to walk. He couldnt understand why I didnt want to go by tractor. I wondered if God was trying to tell me to take the friggin tractor and not kill my knee. If it was, it wouldn't be the first time I didnt listen to Him.I ended up walking for 7.5 hours. My knee held up for the first 2 hours but then it tightened up again. It looked like I was walking with a wooden leg. I survived.The trail was very deserted. There was almost no one around. Again, the signage was pretty crappy so I needed the locals to help me out every once in a while to make sure I was headed in the right direction.To help pass the time, I played mind games with myself. They were foolish games but they served its purpose. I tried remembering the names of every elementary and high school teacher I ever had. I then tried to list a female singer and a male singer for every latter in the alphabet. I did this by first name and last name. Which brings me to this question - is it Caylin Porter or Kaylin Porter? There were more dumb games like this but it helped make the time pass a bit faster.I ended up meeting up with Paul and Donna at the guesthouse I checked into in Ghasa. We ended up having dinner with an American man and his 2 New Zealand daughters.Tomorrow I will walk to Tatopani.Dinio Vagabond
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227681360/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227681360/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227681360/tpod.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:38:06 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Annapurna Region, Himalayan Region, Nepal

I woke up at 7 am and had breakfast with my fellow trekkers. It felt like the trek was ending today as we all said goodbye to each other. Before we went our separate ways, we took a group picture and exchanged hugs. We were an excellent group.The first person to leave was Chris. He took off with his poretr, Abi, by foot. The rest of us climbed into a jeep headed for Jomsom. Once we arrived there, I ended up saying goodbye to everyone else again and then made my way to Marpha. The others went looking for another jeep headed to Pohkara - the end point of the Annapurna Circuit - as they were all done trekking.The walk to Marpha was only 90 minutes long. I suddenly found myself alone for the first time along this trek. I enjoyed the feeling. I was sad that the group disbanded but I was ready for some solo time. Sometimes you need to travel alone and other times you want to travel with a small crowd. The signage between Jomsom and Marpha really sucked. There were many instances where the road would split up into 2-3 separate directions and I had no clue where to go. Most of the time I would ask a local where I needed to go to in order to reach Marpha and this would resolve the issue. Other times I would just use my common sense. I was lucky though to find locals most of the time whenever I needed the help.The scenery towards Marpha wasn't so great. It was actually very far from spectacular. For most of the trek I had to deal with a heavy wind which meant dust (as a result of the unfinished road) constantly blowing into my face. I was fortunate that the positive vibe I was feeling from suddenly being on my own overtook any negative thoughts I came across because of the poor trekking conditions. My knee was stilll an issue. It locked up a bit shortly after I started my walk today. I really need to be careful with this knee. I reached Marpha at 1245 pm. I checked into a guesthouse, had lunch and then walked through the town. I heard a lot of people raving about how nice Marpha was supposed to be. It was the reason why I decided to stay here for the night. I wasnt disappointed. I liked it. It was definitely bigger than most of the places I stopped at during this trek. But it is still far from a big town. I saw everything in less than an hour. The only thing I didnt like was that there were way too many souvenir shops which meant too many vendors asking me to look in their shop. I would say I wasn't interested and most of the time I would get the same reply - "Free to look my friend." Some of the vendors would ask me if I was going towards the summit or coming from the summit. Each time I told them I was going downhill, they would ask me for my equipment thinking I did not have a need for some of my clothes. Some offered to give me some cheesy souvenirs in exchange for my wool socks, my boots or long sleeved shirts. One vendor took off her shoes and showed me the holes in her socks signalling the need for a new pair. When 3-4 vendors did the same thing later on, I realized it was a town-wide trick to get trekkers to give up their socks. I was glad I didnt fall for their attempt to emotionally blackmail me. Anyhow, I didnt give them any of my stuff for a few reasons. One, I still needed my clothes. Two, I thought they would just sell whatever I gave them anyway. And three, I wanted to give my stuff to a porter who looked like he needed it.It got pretty cold at night. At supper time, I took shelter in the kitchen of the guesthouse since it had a wood burning stove. I sat next to the grandmother who was also trying to keep warm. She paid no attention to me but it didnt stop me from having one of my travel moments. I just thought it was great to me in the middle of the Himalayas all by myself. I wondered what my friends were doing back home.At supper time I went to the small dining area. There, I met a nice English couple - Paul and Donna - who were on a 4 month trip around the world. We chatted for a few hours while we ate and then called it a night.Before I went to bed, I thought about my plans for the next day. Was my knee good enough to complete the rest of the trek by foot? I didnt think so. I decided I would take a jeep to a town called Ghasa which would save me 8 hours of walking. From there, I would walk for about 5 hours to a town called Tatopani.Dino Vagabond
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227592260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227592260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dinovagabond/1/1227592260/tpod.html Mon, 29 Dec 2008 00:52:41 -0500 From briefcase to backpack - a year of wandering the globe.

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Annapurna Region, Himalayan Region, Nepal

I didn't sleep too well last night. Besides fighting the cold, I had to deal with a wood frame bed and Sam's constant snoring. I also ended up getting a severe headache - no doubt as a result of the altitude. The headache caused me to wake up at midnighht and I was almost sure I was going to puke. When the breathing problems started, I got worried. I decided to take Diamox for the first time on this trek. I was hoping to avoid it but I couldn't. Thankfully, and surprisingly, the symptoms of altitude sickness all went away a few hours after I popped the plll into my system. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of taking Diamox is the constant need to pee. I woke up at 3 am and walked outside into complete darkness (and the bitter cold) where I must have peed about 3 liters in one go - just like the donkies I've seen along the trail.At 5 am, I woke up to get ready for the climb up to the summit. I was happy that my knee felt fine. I met up with Sandy and Eric at 545 am (Chris and Sam wanted to go later) and we started our climb while it was still dark. We used our head lamps for the first time which definitely helped until the sun came up.Not surprisingly, it was quite cold and windy. I had to stop at one point as I thought my feet were getting frost bitten. I told Eric and Sandy I would catch up with them later while I warmed my feet in a small shack. It was good that I did this as I was certain that I would have got frost bite on my feet if I continued. I was hardly able to move my feet by the time I took my socks off. I rubbed my feet for about 10-15 minutes and then continued the trek once I felt they were fine.I ended up reaching the summit at 830 am. I met Sandy and Eric there and we gave each other a small group hug. We kept our celebration very brief as it was friggin cold at the top. I also ended up seeing Sam and Chris and we spent some time taking photos until we were too cold to continue. It was about -15 to - 20 degrees celcius. After taking refuge in a small cabin to get warmed up, we decided to start our walk down. As soon as I started the descent, my knee started acting up again. I wasn't surprised. I knew going downhill was going to be an issue for my left knee. I went downhill very slowly. People were endlessly passing by me as I was going super slow. By the time I made it to today's final destination, I was convinced that I was the last person arriving from the summit. I was wrong however when I saw a Brazilian guy arriving about 30 minutes after me. I later found out that he had knee issues as well. Today's final destination is called Muktinath which is at 3700 meters. The summit reached 5416 meters. Walking 1700 meters downhill wasnt easy for me so I was glad to finally see a bed once checked into a guesthouse. Takling a hot shower after 3 days of not showering also felt great. I thought I smelled pretty awful. But so did everyone else.Tonight was our last night together. We are all going our separate ways tomorrow. Chris and Abi will walk to Jomsom while Sam, Sandy and Eric are planning to take a jeep as far down as they can as they are done trekking. Because of my bad knee, I am going to take a jeep to Jomsom. My knee needs the rest. Taking the jeep will save me 4 hours of walking. From Jomsom, I will walk to a town called Marpha. After that, I will decide whether to continue the rest of the trek by foot (another 5-6 more days) or just take the jeep all the way down. It will depend on the status of my knee. Dino Vagabond
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