Obama-The World's President

Pictured: A proud Obama supporter in South Africa.

It is amazing the change that has occurred over the past year in people's perception of the United States.  When I started the journey most people would cautiously ask me about President George Bush and what I thought about him.  They didn't want to offend me but they wanted to let me know their thoughts.  It was surprising the sheer number of people who had negative opinions about him and our foreign policy.  They were not shy sharing their thoughts about the Iraq War, Guantanamo Bay and our use of torture.  Over time the economy was added to their list of concerns when we talked about America.  I didn't realize until I was on the road what a strong symbol Guantanamo Bay and torture were to the world.  So many people look up to America to be the standard bearer for justice and civil liberties and those two issues were a stark departure of what America had stood for over the years. 

In all of the countries I visited, people wanted to talk about the campaign.  They felt that they had a vested interest in the outcome because of the power the US has in the world.  I was surprised by the number of times people said that the rest of the world should have a vote in our elections because of our influence.  I watched one of the Presidential debates huddled around a small TV with the staff of my hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia.  Another debate was watched with an international group of hikers in a tea house in the Himalayas.  They knew the issues and had strong opinions on what they saw.

Pictured: After watching the inauguration speech in Ficksburg, South Africa, I gave this man my Barack Obama shirt.  He had tears in his eyes as he told me about the hope he had for the US.

With only a handful of exceptions, people thought Barack Obama was best suited to put America back in good standing with the world.  After the election, people in India would thank me as if I had something to do with it.  There was a sense of hope and optimism in their voices. In Indonesia and South Africa, the first thing people say after I tell them I am an American is "Obama" with a smile.  People seek me out and want to talk about him.  My Rwandan cab driver told me he took the evening off to watch the speech and news coverage. You see people in the streets of these countries wearing his shirts and hanging signs in their businesses. 

Last night, I was having drinks with two former national cricket players in Cape Town. One white and one black.  They both said that watching the inauguration speech reminded them of when Nelson Mandela spoke to this country so many years back. I had shivers as they talked about the changes in South Africa and great pride that they felt the same about the election of our President.

I doubt people at home realize know how much this election has meant to the people that I have come across over the past few months.  People from other countries feel that the American voters have validated their concerns. That we voted with the world's interest at heart.  The election of Barack Obama is a symbol for the rest of the world.  It is a symbol of our ideals.  It is a symbol for change.  It is a symbol for tolerance.  It is a symbol for racial reconciliation. There are so many different ways that people people have individually internalized the historic event.

It has been an incredible few months watching the changes in the types of conversations people want to have with me. It has been fun.  Though there is a lot of work to be done by our new President, we are headed in the right direction.  Just ask anyone in the streets of any country. 

Pictured: Our waiter in Indonesia was so excited that we were Americans and told us how much he loved Obama.  We each pitched in two dollars and bought him this Obama shirt which he proudly put on.

Everest: Return of the Trekker

Last we saw our hero was heading back to Luboche alone, defeated and feeling miserable after failing to make it to Everest Base Camp.  This could be the end of him and his adventure.  How will he mange this crisis?  Let's check in with him....

After hiking back to the teahouse, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.  I treated myself to my own room and a hot shower.   After a warm lunch, I took a nap and was beginning to feel a little bit better.  I took a book and sat in the common area and made small talk with the other trekkers.  An Australian women suggested that I take the prescription drug, diamox, for my altitude sickness.  I had been avoiding taking any altitude medication because of the negative side effects.  She had a few extra pills and I decided that it was time for me to take them.  I had failed without them and I only had one more chance so I might as well see if they would do the trick.  

The next morning I woke up feeling like a new man.  I joined two Norwegian guys for the trek to the last village of before Base Camp, Gorakshep.  The hike was challenging but we were able to get it done before lunch time.  After lunch, I joined a Danish group to the trek to Base Camp.  It was 2 1/2 hours each way.  The last thirty minutes before getting to base camp was through the rock and glacier.  Then we were there, Everest Base Camp.  There is no fanfare at Everest Base Camp, no sign or placard.  There were tents for only one mountain climbing expedition. Most expeditions occur in the spring so it is not surprising to only find one group. 

I imagine that some people are disappointed when they arrive at Everest Base Camp because there is not anything to designate that you are there.  I found the lack of closure fitting.  Though I was proud to have completed the trek that is not the reason this area is famous.  As a mountaineer once said to the trekker.  "Where you stop is where I begin."  I have a better appreciation for the hard work of mountaineers.  I was beat after eight days of trekking and the mountaineer is just starting their journey with at least two more months of work before they might get the chance at the goal for the summit of Mt. Everest.

Everest Base Camp was conquered.  I had done it.  It was all downhill from there.  Literally downhill for the next four days as we worked our way back to Kathmandu.

Everest: The Mountain Wins

The first three days of the trek were now behind us.  I was surprised how easy the journey had been to this point.  I was soon to realize that the hard part of the journey was right around the corner. 

Our porter guide, Dinesh, was beginning to grow on me.  At first, I was concerned about his lack of experience hiking to Everest Base Camp.  After three days of the trail, I realized that it was not a big issue because you really couldn’t get lost.  The trails were well marked and there were enough people hiking that you could ask any one for directions if you needed help.  In the end, Dinesh was there to help carry the load and provide morale support.  He definitely was energetic and very inquisitive.  He took the time to ask great questions to me about America and to Fenton about Ireland.  We found out that he was ranked #1 in his college, as he studied English to become a teacher. 

Pictured: Fenton and Dinesh at the one of the world's highest bakeries.

Fenton and I were getting along like two peas in a pod.  People on the trek assumed we had been friends for years as we would banter on about ridiculous things and systematically make fun of everyone, including ourselves, that was hiking on the mountain.  The reality was that we just met at the airport less than a week earlier.  Since most people were on the same schedule and going through the same villages each day, we knew most of the trekkers in our area.  We even organized a reunion party in Kathmandu for my last day in Nepal and invited everyone we met along the way. 

Our next acclimatization stop was in the village of Dingboche at 14,270 feet.  It is here where things began to turn for the worse.  First, we noticed that Dinesh was walking pretty slow and was coughing up a storm.  Since we had a rest day, we made Dinesh relax and joined another group to do our acclimatization hike.  He wasn’t doing much better the next day so we hiked over to the nearest village to the volunteer medical clinic.  

There were three American doctors that were volunteering three months at the clinic by treating trekkers, porters and guides.  They also did a very informative seminar on the impact of high altitude sickness and its friends- high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and high altitude cerebral edema (HACE).  The seminar was eye opening and made you realize that altitude sickness wasn’t some minor inconvenience but a major issue that could kill you.   Throughout the trip, we met many people heading back down the mountain with altitude sickness.  Those that had advanced cases were “helicoptered” down at a cost of $6000.

 
The prognosis for Dinseh was not good.  He had the beginning stages of high altitude pulmonary edema.  The doctor advised that he not go any further up the mountain.  I couldn’t help but laugh about it later on.  I mean my porter/guide got attitude sickness?  This is his job-how does that happen? Dinesh didn’t want to stay and wanted to continue on with us.  He was worried about his job and the impact of not going on the hike.  We told him there was nothing to worry about because we weren’t going to tell his boss.  Fenton and I would carry our own gear for the last three days.  We left the non-essentials with Dinesh and carried the remainder of our gear ourselves.  I was going to be tested but then again that was what the trip was about to begin with.

Fenton and I were off to our next village, Lobuche.  Little did I know I had caught myself a stomach bug, which was intensified by the altitude.  It is not fun dealing with that issue during a five four hike.  I truly became one with nature!  We arrive in Lobuche to find out that there were no rooms left in the entire village.  We were offered a tattered tent as our only option.  The nights at this height are extremely cold and we found it hilarious that in the mornings even the sturdy mountain yaks are covered with frost.  I worked my way onto a common floor in one of the teahouses because I needed to be near a bathroom facility while Fenton braved it out in the tent.  It was a long night.

I woke up the next morning feeling very weak.  I was tired because I didn’t sleep well on the floor of the unheated teahouse. Though I had taken some antibiotics, my stomach wasn’t doing much better.  I tried to make the hike to the last village before Everest Base Camp, Gorakshep.  I walked about an hour and couldn’t go any further.  I had to turn around. The mountain had beaten me that morning.  I had the beginning symptoms of high altitude sickness.  I made long walk back to Lobuche alone, defeated and feeling miserable.  

 

Everest: the Ascent

We waited the next day at the airport for another five hours before we were given any announcement regarding our flight.  There was a level frustration in the waiting areas of the domestic terminal in Kathmandu.  For some people this was their fourth day of waiting; many people with limited schedules would not be able to finish the hike before they needed to be home.  I was content because I had resigned myself to letting the travel gods decide my fate. The worse case scenario for me was that I would hike as far as I could and then head back no matter where I was in order to catch my flight to India.

Then it happened.  Our flight was called and Fen, Dinesh and I were off to start an amazing trek.  The flight was short and bumpy and we had a hard landing on the single runway airport in Lukla.  Actually, all flights have a hard landing because the runway is very short. The airport is actually carved into the mountainside.  The airport, because of where it is located and the extreme weather patterns, has been named one of the world’s most dangerous airports by some observers.  

 
After a quick lunch in Lukla, we started on the first day’s hike.  It was a quick and easy three-hour hike to the village of Phakding, which is at a similar elevation as Lukla about 3000 m.  We had made many friends during our time in the Kathmandu and at the airport that the trail had become a social networking site.  Fen and I would bounce from five different groups seeing how people were feeling and chatting them up as we walked to our destination.

Day 2’s hike took us to the largest village on our trek, Namche Bizaar (3440m.)  The second day’s hike is supposed to be the hardest next to the actual hike to Everest Base Camp.  It took us about four hours to hike to Namche, which would be our first base for acclimatization.  The hike was relatively easy for Fen and I but for many we walked with it was a killer day.   My previous treks and marathon training were coming in handy for me.  Little did I know that it wasn’t going to physical nature of the hike that would be my problem but rather my reaction to the altitude.

Namche Bizaar, though in the midst of the trek to Everest, still had many things that catered to the tourist market.  There were restaurants catering to western tastes, internet cafes, and hiking apparel stores.  Fen and I went to the edge of town and found a local bar with a good condition, regulation size snooker table.  Two local guides took us to town in snooker.  Though we only had one beer each, we could feel the effects of it because of the altitude.  We knew this was the last place for us to have a beer because the guides had warned that after 4000 m, it wasn’t wise to drink because the feelings of alcohol are similar to the starting symptoms of high altitude sickness. 

Acclimatization days are misleading because one thinks they are rest days.  You actually hike to a higher altitude on those day but come back down to your original base to sleep.  Though it doesn’t seem like much, it is recommend that most people don’t ascend more than 400 m a day.   Our guide took us on a hike to Everest View Hotel, the world’s highest four star hotel.  Though he got lost a few times, we eventually found our way to the hotel.  The weather didn’t cooperate, as the clouds covered our first views of Everest. 

In the midst of our hike, we were given the tragic news that there was a plane crash in Lukla.  All of the passengers and crew with the exception of the pilot had died.  The clouds had surrounded the airport and instead of turning around, the pilot tried to land.  The plane missed the runaway and burst into flames killing a group of Germans, Australians and Nepalese.

Pictured: Traveler's photo of the tragic crash.

The attitude on the mountain completely changed.  It was more somber and people paid their respects in different ways. Many who were complaining about the number of canceled flights now understood the reasons for such precautions.  It was a reminder that the mountain was not to be taken lightly.  The weather and the altitude were real dangers not only for mountain climbers but also for trekkers themselves.

Everest: The Muddled Beginning

I don’t remember when my fascination with Everest began but I have read countless books and watched numerous movies and documentaries about the revered mountain.  Whether it was Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay’s initial conquest or the tragic 1996 climbing season, Everest has had a special place in my imagination.  I know that I will never have the skill and ability to climb Everest so trekking to base camp is a safe and manageable compromise.

 

Hiking to Everest Base Camp was one of the original items on the list for the Singh Around the World Tour.  I had mixed emotions about the hike because it was meant to be a part of the trip that I did with my initial travel partner, Patrick Krips.  Patrick and I both wanted to be doing something challenging during our birthdays.  I was in Antarctica for my half marathon on my birthday and we were supposed to be hiking to Everest Base Camp on Patrick’s birthday.  When Patrick went home over the summer, I pushed the trip back a month to better fit my schedule.

 

At first, I was researching tour companies to facilitate the hike.  There were a number of companies that specialize in trekking trips in the Himalayas.  Each company had the same basic package ranging from 12 to 21 days. The minimum time recommended by the tour companies was 12 days because it allowed for appropriate acclimatization.  The key when trekking to 18,500 feet is to acclimatize, acclimatize, and acclimatize. I had fifteen days in Nepal before I flew out to India so I knew I could plan the hike and safely make the journey in sufficient time. In the end, I decided that I would finalize my plans once I arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal.  Plan?  I haven’t done much of it on the trip and why should I start now.

 

The cheapest flight to Kathmandu from Bangkok was on Royal Nepal Airlines.  When I got to the airport in Bangkok, as you know from a previous post my flight was canceled. The next flight was two days later.  Well there goes my planning time for organizing the hike in Kathmandu.  Though it was a setback for the planning, it was financially helpful since the company put me up in a 4 star hotel and paid for all of my meals.  I lounged at the pool, watched cable TV, and got caught up on a few of books.  It was a welcome change from the basic hostels I usually stay at. 

 

Two days later, I was back at the airport getting ready to board my flight to Nepal.  I started a conversation with an Irish couple, Fenton and Angela.  They were in their first month of a year around the world trip.  Coincidently, we were staying at the same hostel in Kathmandu and on the ride over Fen and I discussed hiking to Everest Base Camp (Angela was staying in Kathmandu to do volunteer work). He was scheduled to go on a tour a few weeks later but I needed to be on the trail in two days to meet the minimum hike and acclimatization schedule.  By the time we had our first beer at the hotel Fen had canceled his scheduled trip and we had tickets booked to fly to Lukla, the staging ground for Everest.

 

 

We decided against an organized tour.  We were going to be independent hikers! We hired one porter between the two of us to help carry some of our gear.  The company assured us the porter would be experienced and could serve as an informal guide during the trek since we didn’t know the area.

 

Our 20 year-old porter, Dinesh, picked us up at the hotel and took us to the airport.  Fen asked Dinesh how long our hike would be after we landed in Lukla.  Dinesh had a deer in headlights look.  He then sheepishly told us that he didn’t remember because he had only done the Everest Base Camp hike once before and that was two years ago.   The icing on the cake was when our porter got us lost in the airport parking lot.  It was the blind leading the blind. I don’t see how this will go wrong.

 

 Pictured: Our porter/guide, Dinesh.

 

Once we found the right terminal, we met a number of people in line that had been waiting to fly out for the past two days.  It seems the weather in Lukla was pretty bad.  The Lukla airport is notorious for being enveloped by clouds therefore making it impossible for planes to land. 

 

 

We were not going to be spared from the waiting game.  Our flight was canceled.  Our plans now didn’t have any flexibility.  We had 12 days left for a 12-day hike. Another setback could jeopardize my chances to get to Base Camp.  I was beginning to wonder if this trip was going to be a success.   

 

 

A Sign You Do Not Want To See

I went to the airport today to catch my flight to Kathmandu, Nepal.  As I walked up to the counter of Royal Nepal Airlines, I was welcomed by this wonderful little sign.

Because Nepal Airlines is so small, they don't have enough aircraft to switch planes or add a flight.  I am now stuck in Bangkok until Friday.  Bangkok is not a bad place to be in this situation but my real concern is my hike to Everest Base Camp.  The hike is two weeks long because it requires rest days for a person to acclimatize to the altitude of the mountain.  Everything will need to fall in place flawlessly from this point for me to get to Base Camp and back to Kathmandu to catch my flight to India on October 19.  Well, we will see what the travel and mountains gods will have in store for me.  Rule #1 of Singh Around the World will be my only guide!

I will not have internet access starting this Saturday, but I will try to have a  number of posts that will automatically post while I am hiking so you can can continue to read the blog over the next two weeks.  I will have blog posts for my recent trip to Cambodia and I will also have reflections of my trip to France and Turkey from this summer. You might recall that I didn't blog about those trips because I went straight to blogging real time during the Olympics.