This will be my last post in this series about Nepal, but hopefully not my last post about Nepal on this website. I want to go back and go trekking sometime(Everest Base Camp!!) in the sorta near future!!
3/17/2012
Last day in Nepal! My nose burns with tears when I think of the adventure I’ve had over the last 3 weeks. The thing that really made it stand out was the diverse group of friends I made. Being able to share the unforgettable experience of the Yak Attack with so many other people makes it mean so much more to me. I’ve been in Nepal for a couple of weeks and feel I’ve gained smore of that meaty experience you only get through travel and cultural immersion. I’ll drink it up! Now it’s hard to imagine the first day I stepped off the airplane…when I had no idea of what would come and was eager to discover Nepal. I have a deeper appreciation for everything, but I also feel sad. It’s sad that there will be so much I’ll never see in this world and sad that we take for granted how fortunate we are… things that we’d never even think about in daily life until we go somewhere that doesn’t have it.
We’ve had a blast in KTM eating, shopping, and going to bars with our little group. I’ll miss everyone a lot. We went to the Funky Buddha the last night and it was so funny!! They had a DJ and a bunch of hippy looking tourists getting their groove on. I was a little reticent to start, but I choked down another Gorkha to lube up the joints and get that bon bon shaking. Phil and UK Paul were getting after it on the dance floor- great moves! Really good times. I think I laughed so hard at a couple of UK Paul’s jokes that I almost peed, and I’m STILL laughing. Like there was this short guy with huge, bushy black hair whipping his head around in a crazy fashion. His head looked like a giant microphone. Paul said into the crown of the guy’s head, “Testing, testing, 1…2…3…!!”
With the shopping, bargaining is expected. I thought I’d be bad at it, but it was pretty fun. I just wish I had more money to buy some cool items to bring home. I spent most of it on food an water!! In fact, I probably spent 100 bucks on water.
Rogue cow
Yesterday, Jens (his wife is a diplomat) and his driver took us to the Tibetan Refugee Market, a place that makes knives, Summit Hotel for lunch, and his house. Very fancy! We also visited Santosh’s shop: Himalayan singletrack.
Classy at the Summit Hotel
The refugee market really was amazing. The women there had been rescued, and their job was to spin the wool and make carpets. Jobs that would seem menial to me and you, but they appreciated what they had. We walked into the room and there were about 15 women sitting on blankets on the floor, each spinning wool, singing, and laughing.
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This is NOT sped up…. (and with Keith’s commentary, perfect UK English mind you)
I bought a small carpet with traditional Nepali designs. Everytime I look at it, I think of the women that made it.
The knife factory was… craziness. The handles were made out of horn. The blades were from old car parts (I think maybe the struts?)
“This is a man’s knife. I’ll take this one!”
They made this in the 2 story dingy building! “THIS is a knife!” -Crocodile Dundee
Yep, homie is barefoot.
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Safety standards are overrated…. Gareth and Keith carrying on in the background.
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Way… overrated. Seriously! Barefoot and no safety glasses?! Amazing!!
After that, it was a long trip home. I got sick the last day and even had to use the barf bag on the plane. It was absolutely miserable!! 25 hours on the airplane total and that didn’t include layovers. I think it was from some bad Tikka Masala, and even now when I think of it, my stomach churns and I salivate in a bad way. In fact, I just found a photo of it. ahhhh
It tasted good, but bllleehhhh
After I got home, it felt like everything had been a dream. I spent the next 2 days sick in bed… physically sick, and bummed out to be back to reality. It took about 1.5 weeks and various probiotics to get my GI back to normal. Now getting me back to normal? Probably will never happen.
All the Nepal pages in my journal
I still dream of being in Nepal almost every night. All wonderful adventures eventually come to an end, but I have a LOT to look forward to and conquer for the rest of 2012. Thanks for reading about Yak Attack and my time in Nepal!!
Here are a couple of favorites that have surfaced since I wrote my other stage reports:
Photo: Nepal Sutra
Photo: Nepal Sutra
Photo: Nepal Sutra
Photo: Jeremy Dean
Photo: Jeremy Dean Porter carrying corrugated metal sheets!
Photo: Paul Topham
Huge thank you to everyone involved with this event, especially Phil Evans, Snow Monkey, Gandhi, and of course, Ergon!! Thanks to all of my team and personal sponsors as well!!
