success!!!

I did it! I made it to base camp and back, all in one piece. I've had a few days to decompress and am going to try and please all my fans with some photos (and stories). First of all, I want to make if abundantly clear that I did NOT climb Everest. In fact, I didn't even climb ON Everest. Base camp isn't actually on the mountain, unfortunately. However, I did see the mountain quite a few times and those photos will come with time, I promise. The 16 days I spent on the trail were incredible and this was definitely one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had. The scenery was breathtaking and worth every step (which is what many people told us to encourage us along the way and luckily they were right).

[I just spent an hour and a half trying to load some photos, only to have something fail, so I'm going to dinner instead of spending another hour and a half trying again. I'll try again later. Sorry! AHHH, computers in Nepal...]

attempting Everest, base camp that is

I have gotten a crazy idea and have decided to attempt to climb Everest, or at least to base camp. I have no idea if I will be successful, but everyone cross your fingers that I am, please. If all goes well, I will be out of contact starting this Wednesday until around April 25. Don't worry, there will be LOTS of photos when I return (if the weather cooperates). Please send lots of great wishes my way, and maybe a little oxygen too!

kathmandu

This past Saturday was probably one of the strangest days I've had traveling yet. I went on a walking tour with a new friend I picked up on the bus and we happened to be in the right place at the right time TWICE! We were walking into a courtyard, when all of a sudden a man in a mask with a skirted costume guided by several other men came out from a building across the street and into the courtyard. Two more quickly followed. We tried to ask what was going on but couldn't find someone who spoke a lot of English. We went back on the street to see a crowd of folks surrounding a small platform and looked up to see the windows crammed with spectators. So we decided to join the window crowd and were able to get a good view and at least a minimal explanation of the event. The three men were all living gods and three sheep and one young buffalo were being sacrificed for them, which meant that the gods had to drink the blood of the animals. We watched what we could, saw more than we needed to, but definitely not the whole sacrifice (I had to cover my eyes several times). IT was a once in a lifetime experience, gruesome, but equally fascinating.

Later in the day, when were in the town center, again there was quite a commotion. This time we already had a good vantage point and saw a young girl being carried into one of the main buildings. Another spectator told us it was the living goddess, who we read only comes out of her abode a few times a year. Again, we were in the right place at the right time. Lucky us!
the living god is in the middle
a monument to one of the Hindu gods
temple tops in the city center

9:45

When I arrived in India, it took me a while to adjust to the 10 and a HALF hours time difference. It seemed rather silly to have all hours on the half hour with the rest of the world, but I finally adjusted and always understood the reason behind this (India is technically divided by 2 time zones, in an effort to keep everyone in the same time, they chose the half hour between the two). However, Nepal is 15 minutes ahead of India, and therefore 45 minutes (or 15, whichever way you look at it) from the rest of the world. Does this make any sense? Not to me. And their reason is just so they aren't in the same time zone with India! So pick a normal time zone, please dear Nepal!!!!