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Doug on His Adventure to Base Camp
By Doug Sovern
Resting
near a glacier on Mt. Kilimanjaro. This photo was taken at 14,000
feet.
April 22, 2000
Hello, again, this time from Kathmandu! All of you
who responded to my last message... thank you! I just read your
emails from this little Internet "cafe" (read: ten computers and
a coke machine) in the colorful Thamel district. One rupee per minute
for Internet access! (That's about one and a half cents... let's
see PacBell match that!)
Kathmandu is as fascinating and lively as advertised. It is about
90 degrees, and quite congested. The new part of the city is nothing
to write home about... so I won't. The older part reminds me a lot
of Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar, with its narrow winding streets crammed
with souvenir shops, gawking trekkers, beggars and bakeries. If
you even stop for a moment to look at something, the vendor starts
haggling with you, and if you say "herdaichu" (just looking) or
say no, they assume you're just bargaining for a better price and
follow you down the street. Never mind that you really don't want
to lug an ornately carved scimitar to Everest with you... although
it might come in handy if I encounter a yeti!
I am on my own at the moment, because the rest of the group has
not arrived yet. I was met at the airport by a sherpa, Mingma Sherpa,
who works for Mountain Madness, but now he has gone off, leaving
me to fend for myself until the others get in. It's a little daunting
at first, footloose and guideless in a foreign land, but it quickly
becomes easy and fun, and I have spent hours
wandering about. I am careful to note which way I came and leave
a trail of theoretical bread crumbs... I met some musicians in the
street and ended up getting a lesson on a small sort of mountain
violin, the name of which begins with an S and has just evaporated
from my mind. I bought one of the wooden instruments and a bow from
a guy named Raju, for roughly ten dollars. That also included the
lesson, and permission to record him playing for me, and then me
struggling through a C scale. It will thrill the KCBS listeners
when I return, I'm sure...
There is some political unrest here, to my surprise. A Maoist insurgency,
in the west. A local official was murdered yesterday and 13 of the
rebels were killed in response. The British Foreign Secretary was
here today, advising the government to learn from England's experience
in Northern Ireland... perhaps not the best example for the Nepalese
to follow! Anyway, the Maoists, apparently frustrated by the results
of democracy here, as best I can learn, have been making trouble
but keeping out of the trekking and tourist regions, because they
know where Nepal's bread is buttered. Or yak buttered, as the case
may be.
One last note...the Everest climb is going so well, according to
Mingma Sherpa, that the team may summit before we trekkers even
get there! The Mountain Madness team is leading the way, setting
up the fixed lines at the higher camps, and will likely be the first
to attempt the summit, which means they may ascend a few days earlier
than planned. If that happens, they will wait for us at base camp,
and we will simply celebrate their success with them, and then trek
out together. Oh, well, better early than late, or never. They have
to take their best shot whenever the weather allows... That is all
for now, from Nepal. Isn't this better than a postcard? (Imagine
a pretty picture of Everest here...) Thanks.... Namaste... Doug
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Resting
near a glacier on Mt. Kilimanjaro. This photo was taken at 14,000
feet. 
