Change of Plans

I have decided to leave Namche a day earlier than planned. My next stop is Thangboche monastery which involves a fairly grueling climb. A British couple that I have been spending some time with have found a nice teahouse part way into the trek to Thangboche. It's a pleasant two hour walk from here and means that we'll be starting the climb to Thangboche fresh the next day. I've decided to join them. It will be nice to be in a quieter place tonight, although being part of the bustle of Namche is fun too. I'm sure I'll stop in again on the way down and enjoy a drink or two when altitude isn't an issue.

I'm not sure if there will be internet in Thangboche, although I suspect that it has found its way there by now. I'll probably spend a few days there as there's a beautiful monastery there and I can sit in on the afternoon chants with the monks, which is really soothing. It's one of the reasons I came up here.

The next town, Dingboche, has internet for sure, so the worst case is that I'll be out of touch for 4 days or so. All is well, so no need to worry.

Everest View Hotel

This will be a very short post as I'm almost out of time.

I had a great sleep last night and stayed in bed until a luxurious 7:00 AM. I spent the morning just ambling around the countryside above Namche Bazaar. There was fresh snow on the ground but it melted by mid-day. I stopped for a pot of hot chocolate at the Everest View Hotel, which, not surprisingly, offers great views of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam. It is a very expensive hotel in the middle of nowhere. Most guests get choppered in and don't venture out beyond the beautiful balcony.

I am absolutely in my element here. I'm having a blast and feeling great. I'll spend another day at Namche and then head up to Thangboche monastery for a couple of days of spiritual work with the monks (and the bakery!).

Namche Bazaar (3440 metres ASL)

I flew into Lukla yesterday morning and after a couple of hours of trekking stayed in the village of Phakding. I trekked in beautiful sunny weather but the clouds came in shortly after I arrived at my teahouse and the rain poured steadily all afternoon. After six months without a drop of rain in Kathmandu, this was actually welcome. I spent the afternoon reading and writing, although I did't have much solitude as a group of about eight fairly loud young men were sharing the dining room with me.

Today was a different story. After an awesome sleep, I got my stuff together, had some breakfast and set out. My original plan was to stop in Monjo but I arrived there at about 10:00 AM and wasn't ready to stop moving. I decided to push on to Namche Bazaar, which was a mistake and a huge lesson learned. Monjo is almost exactly half way between Phakding and Namche, but the second half took well over twice the time of the first half. Even with someone reminding me about this stretch of trail at breakfast this morning, I still couldn't remember it being that hard and didn't forsee a problem. I guess my subconscious was suppressing the memory or something. I gained too much altitude today: rule of thumb is 400 metres and I covered almost 700. Many others were doing the same thing and because I've never really had trouble with altitude I didn't really think much of it. I'm sure I've done more in the past, but typically descend again rather quickly (i.e. going over a high pass) so it hasn't affected me. Anyway, I arrived here at about 1:30 quite tired and feeling the need to stop to catch my breath every 10 steps or so. I didn't have a headache, but my stomach was a bit off. I also experienced a bit of tingling in my fingertips, which is a totally new thing for me. I checked into a teahouse, changed into dry clothes and had a bowl of soup. I then went and lay down for a short nap and now feel good as new. This is a good lesson learned for me, and I won't push my boundaries anymore. Also, a person's susceptibility to altidude can vary from time to time, so it's best not to make assumptions. I have all the time I could possibly need up here - there's no need to hurry.

Lest any of you are worrying about me doing this alone, let me put your minds at rest. The first half of the trek today was something like taking a stroll down the 401 - there are tons of people on the trails. Too many for my liking. I'm hoping this will spread out over the next leg of the journey, but there is absolutely no way I can become lost or experience some trauma without being found within seconds. I have heard that there are even signposts now at any questionable intersections on the trail, so getting lost will not be an option. The climbing expeditions are all trekking up to base camp at the moment as well as the regular trekkers like me. There are just tons of people around.

As for my general mood, it's great. It is just so wonderful to be out here and away from the city. I really think that my love of Nepal is restricted to visiting the mountainous regions. I'm not sure where this is going to take me in the long run - much meditation to be done on this subject in the next few weeks - but I really can't see staying in Kathmandu. Seeing it all from this distance makes me understand that living in the city isn't the right path for me.

I'm finding things more expensive than I expected up here and am worried about the amount of money I brought along. I can probably get more cash here at Namche (at an astronomical rate) but don't want to spend all my money on the internet. I expect to stay in Namche for at least two and possibly three nights. My recent scare with the too-quick ascent has taught me a lesson and I think I'll hang out here for a little while to let my body aclimatise well. The town is rockin' (a bit weird really - it used to be such a quiet little town) so I'm sure I'll have plenty of company over the next few days. I'll check internet at least daily here, so feel free to write. I understand that internet is now available in a couple of villages even farther north of here and a couple of cell towers are going in (although I didn't bring my phone). I'll therefore be able to touch base regularly.

After seeing the number of trekkers on the trail I was kind of kicking myself for packing so much stuff. I didn't want to take any chances so have stuff available for all contingencies. Most other trekkers hire porters, but a couple are doing it on their own and their bags are much smaller than mine. However, I was so happy today when I could take off my sweat-soaked clothes and put on dry clothes before I got chilled. It's also great to have some comfy shoes for day hikes and warm fuzzy gear to sleep in. All is well with the world at the moment and I'm so happy to be out here.

Preparations

My cold has been incredibly tenacious and even though I feel fine, I am still coughing a lot and trying to rid myself of the congestion in my chest and sinuses. I have been getting myself ready for my trek. I had a few things to pick up and headed into Thamel to shop. After having spent as much time as I have in Kathmandu, my visits to Thamel have become a fate worse than death for me. I venture in from time to time to enjoy the nightlife, but I avoid daytime visits like the plague. At this time of year, when tourists are abundant, it’s particularly bad. I imagine that when the local touts look at me, they just see a giant wallet.

I guess the shopping gods were smiling on me yesterday as I had a very successful day, finished what I had to do in record time, and didn’t even get fleeced along the way. I am particularly proud of a windproof jacket that I found after much searching. It’s a great colour and is even made for women, which is difficult to find here. I’m very excited about it.

I have a colleague from Vancouver arriving in town today, which I’m looking forward to. I have had great success with my Canadian company of late, and expect that Brad’s visit will continue the trend. He’ll be around through the weekend, so I’ll be seeing him right up until I leave for my trek.

I will leaving for the Khumbu on Sunday morning and have booked my return flight for April 23. I can change the return date if I want to, so I’ll just see how things go up there and come back when I’m ready. When I’m in cushy surroundings it’s easy to think of the wonderful aspects of being in the mountains, and forget about the hardships of living in rustic conditions. (Yes, I realise that I just referred to life in Kathmandu as cushy - bit paradoxical given the lack of electricity and water here.)

I will be largely incommunicado while away, but will have internet access in one of the villages about four days in. I expect that there will be lots of other trekkers in the area, and it’s also climbing season, so I’m not worried about being out there alone. There will be lots of company on the trails, so there’s no need to worry about me.

I’ll try to post from Namche Bazaar in about a week or so. After that, I’ll be out of touch for awhile.

On the Mend

After my third day in bed I am starting to feel better. I am however, going absolutely stir crazy. I don’t care how I feel tomorrow – I’m going out.

We have had a couple of storms over the last few days. They have been very short-lived and have only yielded a few drops of rain, but it has been heavenly. We’re a long way from monsoon season, but even this little bit of moisture is a breath of fresh air – literally. It smells soooo good on my terrace.

A Day in Bed

I didn’t stay long at the St. Patrick’s Day party as my head was pounding and my cold was getting worse. I had a horrible night and was afraid that I was dealing with a sinus infection and/or tonsillitis. I have slept most of the day and the pain seems to be subsiding a bit – I think I’m just really congested and am hoping to avoid antibiotics. It seems to be going around. My climbing friend has postponed his departure to the Khumbu as he's struggling with it as well. They're leaving tomorrow and I'm supposed to see them tonight, but I'm not sure I'll have the strength to drag myself out.

I am being bombarded by messages for Earth Hour. Given that I will actually have electricity for a few hours on Saturday night, I hope I don’t upset anyone by leaving it turned on and getting some stuff done. Perhaps I can substitute one of the 16 off-hours I have during the day.

Top of the Mornin' to Ya

I met with Bharat yesterday, and as expected, he had yet another visa scheme for me. It was very similar to an earlier iteration, and one that I’m not entirely comfortable with. It is somewhat legal, as far as that goes in Nepal, but is also suspect. There is one set of documents that the government sees, and another that we sign between us which covers our respective asses if anything goes wrong. The problem is that the latter papers also prove that my visa was obtained under false pretences, so if I were to produce them to settle a dispute with my employers, the government either throws me out of the country or into jail. I know I’m looking at the worst possible scenario but you kind of have to, don’t you? I’m sure there are tons of people who are here on much shadier arrangements, and it is just the norm in Nepal to skirt the law or bribe your way through red tape. It’s just not sitting well with me.

There are some other issues that are making me less than enthusiastic about staying on. I won’t go into details – just stuff like salary, vacation etc. The biggest stumbling block for me is the whole cultural issue. I wrote about it in previous blogs, so I won’t go into any more detail. I’m just wondering if I have the flexibility to be able to work in this environment. I love the country to visit and could be quite happy living here if I was independently wealthy and could go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted. But working here is an entirely different challenge, and one that I just don’t think I’m up to.

I met with Khem to explain all this to him this morning and he was pretty understanding, although he did his usual long-winded sales pitch to me. I have officially resigned and will be heading up into the mountains to recharge my batteries. They are going to continue working on my visa in my absence, so if I change my mind somewhere along the way, I can return and pick up where I left off. I think the chances of this happening are slim-to-none, but I’m willing to leave the door open for now. I could return refreshed and ready to try again.

I’m not sure when I’ll be leaving but it likely won’t be for a little while. I have a work acquaintance from Vancouver arriving in Nepal tomorrow and making his way to Kathmandu in a little over a week. I will stay in the city long enough to show him around before flying off to Lukla. I don’t want to plan my “trek” too much – will go where the wind blows me and not feel like I have to put in too many miles each day. I haven’t been running since about Christmas so my fitness levels are ridiculous and I expect to be trekking at a snail’s pace once I get up to altitude. I was all keen to start running again now that I’m not working but am battling a cold so will give it a couple of days. One of the reasons I stopped running over the winter was because I couldn’t be guaranteed of a warm shower when I was done. That situation still exists but it’s warm enough now that I can take a cold sponge bath if necessary and not freeze to death. (I keep a spare bucket of water in the bathroom for times when there’s nothing coming out of the tap.)

So that’s it for now. I’m on my way to celebrate St. Patrick ’s Day at a restaurant called “Celtic Manang” where a friend will be playing Irish folk music on guitar. I’m not sure how long I’ll last with the decongestants doing their thing, but I’ll see how I do.

More Confusion

Things continued to deteriorate for me last week. There was a major holiday here on Tuesday called Holi. I’m not even sure what this represents from a religious point of view (nor does anyone else around here, so I’m not feeling too guilty about it). Regardless of its roots, it has become somewhat like Halloween, but without the treats. Kids go out in the street and throw water, powdered dyes and in particularly nasty situations, used motor oil, at anyone crazy enough to be out and about. The youngsters love it, the adults stay in. Everything is closed, public transit doesn’t run and if you can find a taxi actually working, you’ll easily pay double the normal fare. It is a day for staying locked up in your home. After several discussions with Khem about this holiday he insisted that it was a regular work day, even though the students wouldn’t be on campus. All my friends were horrified that I had to work on Holi as it’s the one day in Nepal when absolutely nobody works. I dressed in my worst clothes and found a cabbie who was willing to take me to work. When I arrived, I was the only one there until Khem and the visiting Swiss consultant arrived and were able to let me into my office. Khem insisted that the other staff members would show up at 3:00 for the management meeting we had scheduled. At about 2:00, he pulled out his laptop, checked the list of staff holidays (which I didn’t even know existed) and said “oh, I guess it’s a holiday today”. At this time of day it was impossible for me to go home as the streets were crazy with the festival. I finally managed to convince him to drive me home. It never occurred to him to apologise for having me work on a holiday or to offer me compensation.

This was pretty much the last straw for me. The next day I asked him when I could expect to receive the money he owed me and he expressed disbelief that there was anything outstanding. He chased down the accountant and I finally received my February wages by the end of the day. Late in the afternoon the following day I got the remainder of my January wages. I decided to cut my losses and handed in my resignation at the end of the day. (Since I’m here on a tourist visa, I’m not legally employed so this was really just a formality that my work ethic compelled me to do.) Needless to say, he didn’t take it lying down and went into his usual long-winded explanations (read excuses) for everything that had happened. He did take some responsibility but for the most part it was the usual Nepali finger-pointing (e.g. the fact that my visa isn’t moving forward is his brother’s fault, the fact that I didn’t get paid is the accountant’s fault etc.).

He has since sent me a long email explaining how things are going to change and that I should give him another chance. He suggested that I meet with Bharat to discuss my visa on Monday. He makes some valid points and I am certainly giving them some consideration. But ultimately the problem is with his attitude and work ethic, both of which are very hard to define. I can give specific examples and he can promise that that particular thing won’t happen again, but I know that the underlying root of the problem will manifest itself in different ways down the road.

I also understand that I was having a particularly lousy week and am feeling a bit better now. I’m trying to sift through my feelings to determine if work was the main problem or if there are other contributing factors. When I was thinking about quitting I planned to take off into the mountains after I settled everything and try to reconnect with the Nepal I love before I have to leave the country. I am realising now that this is really crucial for me and that I have to get out of Kathmandu for a while. I can’t plan to take any holidays, even within the country, on the salary that I’m earning, which has been a concern for me. I have decided that if I am going to give the job another chance I will need a raise and an immediate vacation so I can escape to the mountains.

I’m not sure why, but the Khumbu has been calling me. I find it a bit strange given that it isn’t my favourite mountain retreat. Perhaps it’s the strong Sherpa presence and the monasteries which are beckoning. I just feel like I have to go there now in order to restore my balance and sanity. I know that I will find the answers I’m looking for there.

In other news, I’m having a very social weekend. A guy from Montreal that I met here a couple of years ago is back to climb Everest for the second time. He had just summitted for the first time when I met him in the spring of 2007. I have been spending a bit of time with him and his climbing partner, and have really been enjoying their company. If I head up into the mountains, I’ll visit them at Everest Base Camp as they prepare for their climb. Also a friend of a friend has just arrived in Nepal to volunteer at a school in the south. I spent the day with her on Friday and had a blast. We have so much in common and it was just great to have some real girl talk with someone I could relate to so well. I think I totally talked her ear off, but she’s willing to come back for another visit this afternoon so it can’t have been that bad. Hopefully we’ll meet up with the guys later today as well as they all leave Kathmandu tomorrow for their various destinations. I am concerned that I will revert back into last week’s funk once all this great Canadian company leaves. I guess my reaction will help to guide me in my decisions.

My immediate plan is to meet with Bharat tomorrow. If my work visa is not forthcoming, this all becomes a moot point as I’ll have to leave Nepal by the end of May and I won’t spend that time working. I’m still waiting for Khem to get in touch with contact details for Bharat and/or an appointment time. I’ll blog again when I have a better handle on what I’m doing, or to report that I’m still bumbling along in a state of confusion.

The Blues

It has been a rough week. We had some visiting dignitaries from Sri Lanka here at the beginning of the week and they turned the power on almost round the clock to impress them. I guess I’m in the same load shedding group as the Sri Lankan ambassador’s place so I got to enjoy the benefits of hot showers, TV and lights for almost three days. Sadly their visit was cut short due to the terror attack on their cricket team in Pakistan.

Things are getting increasingly frustrating at work. Due to my productivity levels, which are high by Canadian standards and astronomical here, the workload of the entire college seems to be migrating over to my desk. I have to admit that I have been responsible for some of this; I get so frustrated waiting for people to do things that I tend to just do them myself. It is now out of hand with some of the lazier staff doing absolutely nothing and dropping all of their work on my desk. Unfortunately, paycheques aren’t as easy to come by as work. At the last management meeting, virtually every task that came up was assigned to me, even though I am by far the least qualified person on the staff to do the bulk of them. I’m getting tired of being expected to do everything while the others sit around being useless. I think this is another function of the aid situation I mentioned in a previous post. I’m beginning to wonder if the Western world isn’t doing more harm than good with all their handouts in this country. The Nepali people seem totally unwilling to help themselves and are always waiting for the next handout.

My visa situation is a black hole and to the best of my knowledge, work hasn’t been started on it yet. The story keeps changing (as they tend to do here) and I really don’t know where things stand. The last option to be presented to me this week is light years away from the offer made to me back in December and is far from satisfactory to me. The lawyer was supposed to meet with me this week but didn’t show up. I’m not sure how this is going to play out.

You may remember that I previously referred to Khem as a “silver-tongued devil”. It is becoming increasingly clear to me that this can be much less charming and much more disturbing than I originally understood. He is the king of spin and it’s really difficult to trust most of what he says. I don’t think he’s deliberately malicious or a liar, but he never tells the same story twice and I feel like I’m on shifting ground with him all the time.

The latest issue was a faculty workshop that started yesterday and continues next weekend. I didn’t want to go partly because I didn’t want to give up 2 weekends, but mostly because I’m not faculty and it’s totally irrelevant to my work. After several discussions with Khem, he put his foot down and insisted that I attend. When I showed up yesterday morning, he was surprised to see me, and didn’t know why I was there. He claimed that he never said I had to attend. Needless to say, after having cancelled some fun weekend events in order to be there, I was less than pleased.

As a result of all this, I’m not sure what the future holds for me here. Worse, I’m not sure what I want the future to hold for me here. I’m becoming more and more disenchanted with the life I’m leading here. I can easily be this unhappy at home where at least I can take a hot shower and read by electric light in the evenings. The only good news is that I’m really enjoying the work itself and think I may have learned something about what kind of job may actually make me happy.

I have to post this quickly as the power will be going off in seconds. No time to proof-read. Sorry for bad grammar, typos etc.

All Over the Map

I apologise for delay in posts. I hate to keep blaming everything on load shedding, but the fact of the matter is that it pretty much manages my life these days. It is so difficult to fit everything into a few precious hours of electricity each day, especially when those hours happen at inconvenient times. What is perhaps even more disconcerting is that I have become a slave to those hours. When the power comes on I feel obliged to be ultra-productive, regardless of the circumstances or time of day. There are times when the power is on from 8PM – midnight, and I’d rather just lay back and watch a movie, go out for dinner or call someone at home for a chat, but I have to heat water, iron clothes, do dishes, catch up on personal correspondence and finish up the day’s work. There are other times when it’s on from midnight – 4AM and I feel the need get up and do stuff. My sleep patterns are really not patterns at all, but random naps.

I moved into my new apartment over the weekend. It wasn’t a terribly difficult move apart from the fact that I had to do it by taxi. I had a couple of friends help me out which made it quite painless. We’d both take a load out to the cab, then my friend would stay and make sure that the taxi didn’t drive away with my stuff while I went back for another load. I don’t exactly live like royalty here, so it only took four trips. I sold my fridge to my new didi who bought it for her mother. She came to pick it up on Saturday morning and I was surprised that she arrived alone and without a vehicle. When I asked how she was planning to get the fridge home, she said she’d take a taxi. I thought she was out of her mind – taxis are tiny little hatchbacks that can hardly accommodate three Western passengers simultaneously. But sure enough, within in minutes she talked a cabbie into it. He came in with her, helped carry it out and load it in his car. He even got the hatch shut over it.

I was really excited to get to my new place. As I’ve mentioned, it has a beautiful sunny terrace that I’ve really been looking forward to. In addition, it offers quiet nights and a steady water supply. After I took the last load over yesterday morning, I had to go get my visa renewed across town. On the way back, I stopped at an internet cafe and started to blog about how happy I was to be in my new place. Alas, their generator had a hiccup of some kind, all the computers went dark and I lost my post.

When I got home my landlord came up to tell me about the new water situation. There is a huge water shortage in the Kathmandu valley (no news there) and the government is now only turning on the water supply to our neighbourhood between 3-4 AM. If we don’t have electricity during that time, we can’t pump water into the cistern, which means we go without water for the day. This means that I’m actually in a worse situation for water than I was before. If we do get water, it means running the pump in the middle of the night, which in turn means no sleep.

On top of this, the load shedding schedule changed again at some point over the weekend. Rumour has it that we are now up to 20 hours per day without electricity, but nobody knows for sure because they haven’t published a new schedule (likely because they’re afraid of the backlash). We just sit and wait for the power to come on and off and then scramble to get things done. It is impossible to plan anything and really, what is there to plan with only four hours of power a day?

The icing on the cake was a noisy night of dogs barking last night, something that apparently never happens in my new neighbourhood. So much for my quiet nights – let’s hope it was an anomaly and not the beginning of a trend. Today I woke up to cloudy skies; almost the first since I’ve been here and no doubt a precursor to monsoon season. No sitting on my sunny terrace today.

So after a great day yesterday, I’m having a seriously lousy one today. I really don’t know if I have it in me to live under these conditions. It’s one thing to go on a trek and live without your creature comforts, but to try to live a Western-style life without electricity and water is somewhat overwhelming. It’s not what I was expecting when I moved here. I was prepared for the pollution, dirt, crazy driving, hassles in the street, different culture, different work ethic, whole different way of doing things etc. All these are minor annoyances in the grand scheme of things. But now the annoyances seem to be outweighing any good I’m getting from this place. It’s very disheartening.

I’m not really sure what happens next. I could wake up tomorrow feeling great again, or things could continue to get worse. Maybe we’ll get our new load shedding schedule and it will actually be logical and make life easier. There are even rumours that there has been a deal struck with India to import some electricity. But if I continue to have to go days on end without being able to wash or flush my toilet and if I can’t call home or catch up on my work, I might feel the need to jump ship. God knows what I’d do...I’m sure that I wouldn’t be able to find work in Canada in this economy and there’s not exactly a mint-load of money in my bank account right now. Even if I could find a contract, I shudder to go back to the same work that made me so miserable before. I guess I’ll just have to spin some prayer wheels and see what the universe tells me.