Footers Abroad: Himalaya Adventures Part 1

Our adventure began after a very bumpy 10 hour bus ride on crap roads from Kathmandu-Jiri on October 11th. Since I (Jeremy) have a fear of long distance buses in developing countries I was death-gripping the seat while Tracey attempted to avoid motion sickness with Nepalis throwing up all around us for most of the ride. We have been on many hikes and quite honestly this is the most spectacular. We had three straight days of rain & five days of clouds/sunshine.

We started our trek with our fantastic guide Bim Devan, in Jiri on Oct. 12 & arrived in Namche Bazaar after 9 difficult but absolutely incredible days of hiking. The path is a series of very strenuous ascent & descents & we typically covered 8-12 miles per day carrying 20-25 lb. packs. Following our route, by the time we reached Namche, we climbed up almost 29,000ft & descended about 22,000 ft. We spent most of the trek between 7000 & 11,500 ft so we are well acclimatized. Strangely I found that I (Jeremy) actually felt stronger the higher I climbed. After the trials of the first part of our trek, we are looking forward to the next and we are feeling healthy and strong.

The scenery was incredibly diverse passing through the Solu & Kumbu regions. We passed through Sherpa, Rai, & Tibetan villages with many farms and large gardens. The road stops a little past Jiri and there is no wifi, cell service, or internet for 6-7 days. As you get further into the Himalayas the culture changes from Hindu to Buddhist. The people farm potatoes, millet, rice, cardamon, bok choy, carrots, & other winter crops. In addition many people raised cows, chickens, goats, mules, & a cow/yak hybrid. They also make nak (female yak) & goat cheese. We are going to spend 2-3 days in Namche resting & will begin our hike to Gokyo (about 15,000 ft) soon. We will describe our trek & experiences in part 2 but for now enjoy some pictures:

Beginning of trek