Nepal – Annapurna Circuit
I went trekking in Nepal with the same Sherpa Tribe that worked for Edmund Hillary. Little did I know that our guide, Tsering Sherpa, would lead me on an expedition to Mt. Everest many years later.
I hired 4 Sherpas to take turns carrying me, one at a time, on their back. My friend Bill, who is also a quad, did the same. They put me in big basket called a doko and carried me up and down steep mountains and across foot bridges like the kind you see here. A Sherpa is a native of the Sherpa area of Nepal. The word Sherpa is sometimes mistakenly applied to all porters.
Most Nepalese have never seen a wheelchair.
It was fun watching them play in my wheelchair.The Annapurna trail was incredibly beautiful. While on the trail, Tsering, our guide, made it a habit to bring me tea everyday at 6:15 a.m. He would say, “Time to see the mountain, Geno”
The Sherpas were always very helpful. Anytime I moved, they tried to anticipate my needs and jumped up, as if to say, “We’re here to help”. Most did not speak English, so it was hard to graciously tell them, “No thanks.” At times, they actually got in the way. Once, so many tried to help me through a narrow doorway that we couldn’t fit through. When Pam tried to wash my hair, they jumped up to hold a pot or anything else that would be helpful
We stopped at the friendly neighborhood Yak Cheese store for a meal of daal bhaat, the staple of the Nepalese diet. Daal bhaat consists of white rice and lentil soup and usually plain or curried green vegetable. Other Nepalese foods are Tibetan bread served with jam or honey (a flat fried donut), mashed or boiled potatoes, french fries, bean burritos, brown bread, corn bread, fried potatoes or pasta (with onion, vegetable and/or cheese), instant noodle soup (chicken flavor), pizza, yak cheese, and occasionally yak meat stew. Homemade alcohol is called raksi – made from corn and millet, or chang (less potent, fermented rice). Here, a Sherpa is feeding me. Notice my shirt is drenched with water. It was very hot that day so I kept asking the Sherpas to pour water over me. Most Sherpas did not speak English so I just said, “pany,” the Nepaleses word for water, and pointed to my head
Royal Chitwan National Park
The Terai is an area of hot subtropical plains and some of the most fascinating attractions in Nepal. Foremost among them is the magnificent Royal Chitwan National Park, once the hunting ground for British and Nepalese aristocrats. We crossed a river to get to Chitwan. Normally, there are a lot of crocodiles in this river but at this time of the year, it was so hot that the crocodiles were in a cooler area.
Today, the animals – elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, leopard and deer – are protected, not shot. We were fortunate enough to scout for wildlife on the back of an elephant. We also examined the jungle by canoe and went jungle walking with experienced guides. As Pam pushed me towards the elephants, they started to back away. They were a little shy of someone in a wheelchair.
Our guide, Tsering, watched over Devin everywhere we went. Tsering spends most of his time in the mountains there, he is fearless. The jungle was a different story. Once, on a trail in the jungle, a rhino had Tsering running up a tree. After working all day, the elephants are given a bath. Campers are invited to help. Devin, the little guy in the picture above, knew how to instruct the elephants to spray water. He gave the command several times while on the back of one of these portly pachyderms.
Today, the animals – elephant, rhinoceros, tiger, leopard and deer – are protected, not shot. We were fortunate enough to scout for wildlife on the back of an elephant. We also examined the jungle by canoe and went jungle walking with experienced guides.As Pam pushed me towards the elephants, they started to back away. They were a little shy of someone in a wheelchair. Our guide, Tsering, watched over Devin everywhere we went. Tsering spends most of his time in the mountains there, he is fearless. The jungle was a different story. Once, on a trail in the jungle, a rhino had Tsering running up a tree. After working all day, the elephants are given a bath.
After working all day, the elephants are given a bath. Campers are invited to help. Devin, the little guy in the picture, knew how to instruct the elephants to spray water. He gave the command several times while on the back of one of these portly pachyderms.
Kathmandu, Nepal.
“Namaste!” my friend Bruce said as he greeted me at the airport in Kathmandu. Namaste is a Nepalese expression that translates to, “I salute the god within you.”
