A little boy fills my bucket....

So one of the last days up high in the Himalayas, I was walking down the trail by myself and came upon a little home.

Outside of the home was a little boy that was about 4 years old. As I approached he smiled at me and pointed up a little hill over his home and said "cow, cow!!" in english. Sure enough, there was a cow grazing on some grasses about 50 feet above his home and he was so excited to share his family pet and sacred animal with me.

I said "dhanyabad" which means thank you, to him gave him a high five and kept walking. About 50 steps down the trail something tapped my leg. I turned around to see it was the little boy and he had a cute little flower for me and said "thank you" in English as he gave it to me. He was so cute. I knelt down and dug through my pack and gave him a pencil and pen as they are prized possessions in this area where things are hard to get.

The look on his face matched mine when I got the flower. His face lit up with excitement and surprise and he quickly opened the pen and started writing words and numbers on his arm! Not sure if his mom would be so happy about that but we each filled one another's bucket and I smiled the rest of the day with that great memory.

The below pictures are of the little boy, the flower, and his home.

Enjoy

Mountain Biking in the Kathmandu Valley

Yesterday and today were big festival days today for the Hindu people and there were many celebrations.

Both days I rented a mountain bike and road out if the city and into the surrounding valleys. I was able to ride for about 6 hours yesterday and 7 today. Lots of hard work but extremely rewarding with the amazing views and the ability to meet many friendly Nepali people.

I've included a couple of pictures of the little green guy and the Kimberly Lane Coyote with my bike helmet.

A cool picture of some of the farm fields we rod through.

Finally, a picture of a giant swing made from 4 huge bamboo poles tied together and a really tall swing in the middle. Even the adults will go in them. The swings are built throughout Kathmandu by the hundreds and are only up for a couple of days for the festival and then are taken down until next year. Pretty cool.

Back down to Kathmandu

We walked our way back to Lukla and waited on getting on to one of the many flights that arrive and depart daily.

The little runway there is totally insane and it looks like its almost impossible for a plane to land or take off there. The biggest plane that can fly there is one that can hold 19 people total.

So now it is Monday evening and I will be on a plane back to Minnesota on Friday. Tomorrow ill be doing some mountain biking and then possible some whitewater rafting later in the week. There are many things to do and see here. There is also a Hindu festival of Dasine that goes for more than a week which has a lot of activities surrounding it.

I hope you've had as much fun following along as I've had keeping you posted.

The first picture is a 7 year old girl that was taking a reading break outside her house and staying warm in the sun.

The next is a typical lunch meal in the mountains of noodle soup with vegetables. Very tasty.

The next are the two porters that helped carry all of our stuff for the whole trip. They would carry up to 80pounds of gear with a strap on their head. Very strong guys. Their names are Lakba and Nema. Both are 21 years old.

The final is a picture of the Lukla airport and the tiny little space where they load and unload planes extremely fast! Usually a plane will take off in no more than 5 minutes after it lands.


Back in a few!

Top of Kala Pathar!!!

So the day after we trekked to Everest base camp, we awoke early for a climb to the top of Kala.

Kala is a mountain that has a peak height of 18,500 feet and has amazing views of some of the massive mountains all around.

We started at around 4:15am and it was super cold, and it took about 2 hours before I made the the summit. The views were amazing. I stayed up top for about ten minutes, took in all the views and took about an hour to get back down to the bottom.

Included are some pictures from the top and some views from the trails. I hope you like them.

We're in a slowish decent back down the way we came but the views are amazing. We've had great weather..

Mt Everest base camp success!

Thanks for reading everyone.


We left a small village called Tengboche at 5am in the morning and hiked up to the last village before named Gorak Shep. We had tea and soup before continuing on to base camp. In total, it was almost a 10 hour day of hiking! Ugh but hugely rewarding and amazing views and sites.

The pictures include the little green awesome guy (which all of the Nepali children love) the little Kimberly lane coyote and a picture of me with my Sherpa guide Dulgee.

So the fun items you have entrusted to my care have made it to the base of the tallest mountain in the world! Pretty cool! They are safely tucked on my pack and will hopefully be returned safely to your class along with a rock from the base of Everest.

More updates to come...

Update from Derik via Cathy...

Saturday we were at Periche.
Sunday we hike to Lobuche 6 to 7 hours.
Monday we hike from Lobuche to Everest base camp and then overnight in Gorak Shep - 8 hours
Tuesday is an early morning hike up to Kala Pathar which is supposed to have amazing peak views if the weather is clear and then all the way to Periche (6 or 7 hours). 

Wednesday I will depart Periche and head all the way to Namche Bazzar. A LONG day more than likely 8+ hours but will be back to relative civilization and will have water, electricity etc.

I'll then spend a few days in Namche at a nice place we stayed on the way up.  Same place that President Jimmy Carter stayed many moons ago.  Far from luxury but comfortable warm and clean. From there I can do a bunch of day hikes and such and visit museums etc, chill out, or let my heels heal (lol) and relax/enjoy watching the yaks go by. Looking forward to it.

Days start with morning tea at 6:45 then breakfast at 7 and then on the trail by 7:45.  Break for tea after about 2 hours,  lunch after another 2 hours and then get in to the tea house around 2ish.  Sort gear, do an acclimatization hike and then back for afternoon 4:00 tea.  Dinner is around 6:30.  I literally haven't eaten meat since the 7th.  Not advised at altitude because of how hard it is to keep.  They don't eat cow so it's either chicken, yak, or canned tuna.  The cheese is made yak milk and so is the butter....yum?  The food gets a bit repetitive as the menu items from place to place are nearly identical.  Lots of soups, rice, and veggies. By the time Kathmandu comes I'll be ready for pizza!!  

Travel monkey made friends with a German hiker's marmottes - note Mt. Everest in the background!

Made it to Tengboche!

We left Namche Bazaar this morning at 7:30 and traveled up and down the valleys and all the while following a beautiful river that originates from Mount Everest.

It took us about 7 hours and climbing a total of almost 1,000 ft to get to the small village of Tengboche.

As we go higher up into the mountains the villages are a bit more basic in what thy have. This village and all the others further up have electricity bit only from solar power. It is interesting to note that they do have cell phone towers almost the whole way to base camp.

The pictures included show another great view of Everest and some other tall peaks along with a the largest Buddhist monastery in the Everest region and finally a view from a ridge line above the village that gives you an idea of the village's size.

I'm feeling good albeit tired and not having any real negative reactions to the altitude at his time.

Thanks for reading!