After this posting, I will go back to using
www.travisjguy.blogspot.com Of course I will be pasting all of these
emails into the blog as well. I will miss the great food of China,
the very friendly people, the tremendous beauty, and how alive China
is. I went into China with negative feelings towards the Chinese govt
bc of environmental issues and the tibet issues. I sort of forgot
about these as I travelled through China and really enjoyed the
Chinese people. They made me forget about the govt. But after going
through Tibet, I disliked the chinese govt even more than I did coming
in. What they are doing to the Tibetans is terrible. How they lie to
their own people about what is going on in Tibet is terrible.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly I saw a television broadcast here
in Nepal about that they gave the Nobel Peace Prize to a person in
Chinese prison. They were saying that the chinese govt was angry for
this and they also mentioned that every tv station, radio station,
internet site that mentioned anything about this guy getting the peace
prize had been instantly blocked. The guy from CNN, who was
broadcasting in china, was saying how he was already completely
blacked out in china. So crazy!
10/5 We crossed the border and said a said goodbye to Dolkar and her
friend (and guide for the Japanese doing the similar trip) Dekyi. At
Chinese customs (yep customs for leaving the country) they asked all
tourists to show their books. I was glad I had hidden my chinese
guidebook in my dirty underwear as they did not find it which meant I
could save 20 bucks and trade it for the Indian lonely planet. Some
other tourists in the line werent so fortunate and got their lonely
planet taken away. The lonely planet has a map in it that shows
Taiwan as a separate entity (China claims that it owns it) and also of
course sheds a bad light on the chinese in Tibet. To get into Nepal,
you cross something called the Friendship Bridge (we had been on the
friendship hwy in tibet). that goes over the gorge and river. Halfway
onto the bridge is a red line: the border. On the chinese side there
are about 20 soldiers on the bridge fullly armed. On the nepal
side...no soldiers in site. After crossing the river, we found a few
of the Nepali soldiers...drinking tea in a tea house and laughing and
smiling and not caring about any of the tourists milling around. I
bought the 90 day visa for nepal (100usd), though as we laughed later
there was no need to really get a visa bc there was no border check no
nothing. It was sort of voluntary to walk to the visa office and buy
one. Though I think you would probably need one to get out of the
country, so I am glad I got one. After going through the formalities
of the border, we hired a land cruiser for the 120km drive to
Kathmandu. The drive was bumpy on a washed out and landslid road.
But it was a cool drive with nice green scenery, rice terraces, the
raging river, and the gorge and of course the infamous Nepali
suspension bridges everywhere. The nepali bungee jump spot was only
10km from the border and we hoped to do it that day, but unfortunately
they do it every other day and that wasnt one of the days. Arie and I
had to cross the suspension bridge high above the gorge to ask someone
about jumping, so unlike everyone else that would jump the next day
with us, we had actually seen what we were going to jump off of. We
knew at that momen when we decided we would still pay the 55 euros,
that we were crazy.
We arrived into Kathmandu late in the afternoon and we wondered around
a bit and got some nice indian/nepali food. It was that evening that
I started to notice that my left leg felt a bit funky and weak and my
left arm was a bit weak (like you had fallen asleep on it) and tingly.
I was also a bit lightheaded. I had hoped this would all pass by the
next morning.
10/6 Arie and I left at 6am to take the ride back up to the Last
Resort where the bungee jumping was. There was no way Erik would ever
jump he said and Leon had already jumped, so it was just us two from
our little group. The rest of the people going up were mainly
Israelis and actually 3 Americans, which is a high number for
us...goes to show we are an adrenaline junky country. Unfortunately I
still had a bit of the tingly, weak feeling in my left side of the
body, though I didnt notice it too much as I was quite scared for the
bungee jump. The jump is the highest in Asia at 160m/525ft (The one
over the Royal Gorge bridge in Colorado is the highest). You jump for
a suspension bridge stretched wide between the gorge with the raging
Bhote Kosi river below. Just walking across the suspension bridge
scares lots of people I think. When you get to the resort, there is a
briefing and you get weighed to see what category of bungee you will
be on. I was in the middle catergory at 76kilos. The under 70kilos
crowd of mostly girls and some asian guys went first. So we had to
sit and watch from one side of the gorge as they all went. Of course
my stomach was in knots during all of this. Finally my group got
called. Arie got called first, and he went. One of the employees
would come out and call your number as we all stood on the suspension
bridge looking down hundreds of feet below you. It is so scary to be
standing on the bridge looking down, let alone to watch others go
before you. I was about the 5th or 6th to go. All of us guys
(supposedly tough) stood on the bridge, squirming, whimpering, bonding
before the jump. Everytime the employee would come out (we called him
the grim reaper), we all got quiet and extra nervous. One guy a
couple before me, got suited up, got onto the platform and stood up
there for a while and despite our cheers of encouragement and the
spotters whispering in his ear, turned around and didnt jump. That
made us all even more tense. I got called up finally. As you are
being harnessed in you have a video camera in your face and are
supposed to make some comments. I think I managed to mutter some sort
of shout outs to dad and bro and say sorry to mom for not listening to
her on this one. Once you are suited up, you head for the platform
and you slowly walk to the edge until your feet hang over the gorge
with the river 160m below! I remember waving to the camera on the
left, the girls who had gone already on the right and then I dont
remember much else. I dont remember the countdown or how I managed to
jump, but all I know is that I had given a big 50 freesytle type dive
and was soaring down at incredible speed, and then all of a sudden
slowing as the bungee kicked in and then bungeeing up and down for a
bit. Once I had jumped there was no fear...all the scaredness was
right before...but I still have no idea how I managed to just jump.
And I really dont remember the count or any of it. Must have almost
blanked everything out in the flight or fight response mode you learn
about on physiology. It was a great relief to just be hanging there
upside down over the blue river with waterfalls falling all around and
knowing you were done. The crew eventually pulls you in and back to
dry land. Arie and I celebrated with a few dutch beers on the ride
home, but I was still feeling weird on my left side and wasnt in too
much of a mood for celebration
10/7 In the morning my left hand was quite tingly and I still had all
the weird feelings. I spent the whole day looking for a trekking
company and group to hike the Mera Peak. All the tour companies and
tour things are in Thamel, a neighborhood of Kathmandu. Kathmandu is
quite crazy. It really is like how you imagine India to be like.
Full of life, crazy traffic, crazy busy, smells everywhere (most of
good curry, masala, etc) but some not so nice. Its quite dusty,
dirty. Narrow and crowded streets. Tiny cabs and rickshaws
everywhere But lots of friendly people and all know english quite
well. Women dressed in Hindu style for the most part with colorful
clothes and red dots on their foreheads As I was trying to find a
trekking company I was wined and dined (well more like had lots and
lots of milk tea and momos) as the companies tried to impress me. I
bargained and questioned and checked safety and reputations and
knowledge and all that. Eventually I decided on one that I think was
good. Leon, Arie, Erik, and I went out for a fancyish nepali dinner
as a goodbye as the Dutch Dudes were heading to Pokhara the next day.
I had been very lucky and had such a great group on the tibet trip.
We all really bonded and had great times and jokes together. Dolkar
was also great bc she joined in on the jokes. Erik had a birthday
during the trip in which he turned 27 (I was actually the oldest with
Arie and Leon being 22 and 24, but Erik complained about turning 27
and was depressed about it) so Dolkar called him Old man, and we all
started calling him that and even the other guys did. Dolkar had a
nickname for everyone...Arie was Pee Boy bc he was always asking to
stop for pee breaks. Leon was Pretty Boy bc she said he was very good
looking but also soft. I was Crazy Man bc, well, I guess I had a lot
of energy especially considering the altitude and am a bit crazy I
guess.
That night we bought (for 2 bucks) 7 years in Tibet and watched it.
Made us even more mad at the chinese govt. After they left, my left
side was still feeling quite strange and I was quite scared and
worried about what was happening and so was my mom and dad
10/8 I took a rickshaw to the hospital near the british and french
embassies. I had to wait 3 hours before I could be seen so I had some
tea and dumplings at the Ambassador hotel. I actually enjoyed this bc
the whole area felt so fancy british commonwealth style like you see
in the movies with nice lawns and buildings and food and proper
waiters all in the middle of a big poor and dusty city. The doctor
checked me out and performed all kinds of tests and didnt notice
anything too unusual. My blood work came back normal. I then took a
cab to get an MRI at a different clinic. The LONG 30 minutes as the
machine whirred over my head was perhaps scarier than the bungee. I
worried about cancer, tumors, blood clots, strokes, not having my
normal life again. The results of the MRI came back normal. This was
all good, though I still have quite a worry and fear as we dont know
what is causing the weird feeling on the left side of my body, though
it is getting better as time goes on
10/9 Just wondered around Thamel and Kathmandu a bit. Went to a
crazy and crowded market and past a few streets with hidden temples.
Then did some errands like buying some hats and gloves, having a
colorado and USA flag made to hopefully hold on the summit of mera
peak, writing some postcards, looking in used bookshops, etc, etc
Said goodbye to Erik today as he was off to Chitwan NP.
Tomorrow I meet with the guide to go shopping to buy and rent some
things I need like a -30 sleeping bag, down jacket, plastic alpine
boots, crampons, ice ax, snow glasses, etc
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