Calendar   Home
Previous Day May 23, 2001 Next Day
Namche Bazaar (3500 m): We spent the day resting to acclimate our bodies to the high altitude. We're living in 'luxury accomodations' which mean we have bed slats instead of the cold floor and an outhouse instead of the forest. The outhouse is a shack with a hole in the floor. There will be no Western toilets on this trek. Because the outhouse reeks, we prefer to go to the bathroom in the woods. The last time I failed to pick a good spot and in the middle of my business, squatting in the bushes below the trail, I looked up to see two Nepali women curiously peering down at me from above. When you're in that situation there is nothing to do but wave and smile.
Our porters carry our gear, a back-breaking load, into the mountains.
We cross a lot of bridges suspended high over rocky gorges and rivers.
In Nepal, always walk clockwise around stupas, prayer rocks, and prayer poles.