J's India Trip

Preparations are done and guests are arriving. It seems elaborate in terms of set up, but the guests are not all dressed up (some are in jeans). Which seems unusual for an Indian wedding. It's also on the small side with only 64 guests and 12 wedding party (based on the number of chairs).

I wonder if I could crash?

PS not sure what is up with the owls (if you look closely at the tables, you'll see that the centerpieces are owls made out of flowers). I tried googling owls and Indian weddings and didn't come up with anything, so I'm guessing that its some idea/obsession of the bride/groom.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 11:41 PM 0 comments

Very elaborate preparations happening in the courtyard at the hotel

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It's really really bad

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 7:38 PM 0 comments

To a national obesity epidemic.

While the US might still be #1, many developing countries are heading in the same direction.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 11:12 PM 0 comments

I'm on the wrong side of the plane, but I was able to get this picture using zoom. It's a spectacularly clear day with low clouds. It's pretty amazing when you're flying at the same height as the mountains you're next to.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 9:45 PM 0 comments

On the plane to Delhi! Fight number three of six for me, and three of five for Dad.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 9:45 PM 0 comments

We went out for Chinese food last night. Apparently Dad, John, and I had never previously experienced Sichuan peppers and it took us most of the meal to figure out why our tongues and lips were tingling/burning.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 6:07 PM 0 comments

It was raiding the garbage can. And then paused to masturbate. :)

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Resting by the lake on Pokhara

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"That's our plane," I say, pointing to the Tara Air plane on the runway.

Dad responds, "I thought we were on Yeti Airlines."

"We are."

"Got it."

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 10:11 PM 0 comments

I wonder if there are also Nepali-style or French-style flavors.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 9:08 PM 0 comments

When I went to move the chair this morning, it was already occupied. :) I got to snuggle with the cat for a little while. Since we displaced her from her warm spot, I felt obligated to keep her warm for a bit. :)

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 7:21 PM 0 comments

That there are a bunch of prayer wheels outside the Jomsom airport?"

Dad and John respond, in unison, "yes."

But seriously, they take safety and weight restrictions very seriously.so I'm not particularly worried. Although, since the snow level is currently only 1000 feet above us, we're exploring contingency options if we can't fly out tomorrow. Dad and I don't leave for Delhi until the 31st, so we have some slack.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 4:45 AM 0 comments

This is Jarkhot and looks very much like rural Nepal used to (according to Dad and John). The leaves are changing on the trees, and Tek(our guide) thinks it's snowing in the upper elevations.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 2:16 AM 0 comments

With very pretty drinks

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There is a spring that someone decided was holy at some point. The spring is diverted in to these baths and 108 water spouts. Pilgrims walk under the spouts and through the baths to cleanse their karma. The water is just above freezing.

There's also a *giant* Buddha and an eternal flame of sorts (I'm guessing methane).

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 5:36 AM 0 comments

These are all over the place in Muktenath. Clearly an NGO had a project here asst some point. But it does seem like people are using them.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 5:33 AM 0 comments

Drying in the sun. Lots of garlic!

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 5:32 AM 0 comments

John climbing up a sketchy.ladder to a sketchy roof to take a picture. Dad and I declined to follow.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 5:31 AM 0 comments

From several hundred feet above ( maybe more)

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Dalgiri is the mountain on the left. The peaks on the right (we think) are Tukshe and Dambush

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 11:19 PM 0 comments

Just like YakDonalds in Kagbeni no longer has golden arches

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 11:17 PM 0 comments

Is that a Hotel Bob Marley in Muktenath?

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 10:58 PM 0 comments

So I put on my bandana to cut down on the dust I was breathing. The wind was strong enough to knock you off your feet. Dad said that he felt the bridge we were crossing catch the wind and lift a bit. We decided to not cross that bridge again until the wind died down.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 12:59 AM 0 comments

So I put on my bandana to cut down on the dust I was breathing. The wind was strong enough to knock you off your feet. Dad said that he felt the bridge we were crossing catch the wind and lift a bit. We decided to not cross that bridge again until the wind died down.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 12:58 AM 0 comments

There's a water wheel powered by a small stream that turns a grinding wheel. The first picture is sideways.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 11:23 PM 0 comments

The building on the right is almost 600 years old. Tiny birds nest in the holes in the wall.

The one on the left is still under construction.

John is playing with his camera. And I learned the correct way to show respect to the Buddha when entering the "place where God lives" which is the literal translation for the space where monks actually pray.

The monks create sculpture out of butter, mixed with dyes and something to give it more texture. I couldn't tell what, but the creations are fascinating.

And last is the daily schedule for the monks in school (the younger ones are considered monks even though they are still children).

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 10:39 PM 0 comments

Meet Ms. Protector

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Visit another monestary or get coffee and apple pie.

We did both so far today, although we elected for chocolate cake instead of apple pie this time.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 9:43 PM 0 comments

In order to alleviate our frustrations with our travel challenges, we jokingly came up with the following as the ideal composition of a trekking group:

* A MacGyver (assuming they also have vehicle repair skills)
* An emergency medicine doc
* A wilderness EMT (MDs often don't know how to deal with field situations)
* A physical therapist (specializing in sports medicine)
* A massage therapist (could be the same person as the PT)
* An amazing cook (ideally can supply a sous vide)
* C3PO: for all our language interpretation needs. Although probably we'd only want his head because he moves too slow. Not sure what the Nepalis would make of that.
* A historian (specializing in Nepal, Tibet, China, and India)
* A sociologist (same as above)
* An anthropologist (same)
* An archeologist (same)
* A theologian (specializing in Buddhism and Hinduism)
* A helicopter pilot (just in case)
* A mountaineering guide
* A photography assistant, who can double as a porter for the photography gear
* A geologist
* IT support/tech expert
* Locals who agree to be models for photographers
* A wardrobe/local clothing expert to provide appropriate dress for the models

:)

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 9:22 PM 0 comments

Jeep number 2 proved reliable and the driver made good time. We had breakfast in the same town where Jeep number 1 was abandoned. The original plan was to pull out the broken rear differential and take it with us to.Pokhara (the closest large city) to get a replacement part. Unfortunately, our original driver, Oli, discovered that both the rear and front differential were bad, so he gave up and we continued on without the parts.

Our group consensus is that Oli doesn't know what he's doing and who the heck knows which part of the transmission is bad. The Jeep has over 450k kilometers on it.

On to Muktenath tomorrow!

PS we all had warm/hot showers and got to wash our hair. Plus, it feels a lot warmer, which makes sense since we're 3000 feet lower.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 9:12 PM 0 comments

It's very windy

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 7:24 AM 0 comments

The charging station at the hotel in Lo Manthang. There are no plugs in the rooms, so everyone uses this. And yes, there are multiple surge protectors and splitters chained together.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 7:22 AM 0 comments

A cow might wander in and eat the cardboard. Yum!

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 7:21 AM 0 comments

There was an older woman sitting in the sun and she made it clear, using hand gestures, that she wanted my hat because it covers the ears. It looks very nice on her, but I didn't get a picture.

I did get a new hat and a picture with the woman who knitted it.

# posted by Disease Cowgirl @ 7:20 AM 0 comments