Nepal Pics, part deux: The Mountains Arrive!

For the first 3 days on the trek we had rain, and really as it turns out, there wasn't a whole lot to see anyway. But we were a little down after the rain and clouds and everything, and then came the 4th day. The clouds lifted, the sun shone, and as we crested the hill outside of Namche Bazaar...BAM! Everest! So enjoy, for there are mountains to be seen!

The sherpa's getting ready to go.

The runway we flew in on, not much there!

Yup, there are Starbucks everywhere (it wasn't real though...)

Looking back over Lukla, the first town we flew in to. Notice the clouds....

Prayer stones on the trail. Buddhist beliefs prescribe that you walk to the left side of these on the trail (clockwise).

One of the first suspensions bridges we went across.

Buddhist temple up the hill from Phakding, our first night. Mingma, our "playful" sherpa tied our climbing boots together here and blamed it on the 12 yr. old monk!

The entrance to the buddhist temple.

Cool pic of a waterfall outside Namche Bazaar, our 2nd and 3rd nights. Notice it still isn't sunny...

This is how the Nepali dry yak pies to use as fuel.

I know I've posted this one before, but I love it. Ed, Jason and Emma with our final purchases in Namche ready for the climb!

Yak train!

One of my favorite pics of the trip. I used a 15 second exposure to take this pic at about 10:30 at night. This was looking across the valley from Namche Bazaar to the Kongde Mountains. Notice the clouds seem to be gone...

The next morning, basically the same pic, no clouds, we might actually see something!!

Heading out of Namch Bazaar, having a little fun with our sherpa guide :)

Mountains!!

Holy cow real mountains!! Khumbotse, Everest, Lhotse, Lhotse Shar, Ama Dablam.

Jason and I with Khumbotse and Everest in the background.

The big group with the first Everest view.

Everest, Lhotse, Lhotse Shar, and Ama Dablam. I never got tired of this view...

Closeup of Ama Dablam. The reason I took this is to see how crazy the climbing route is on this mountain. See just a bit under the summit the big snow outcropping that looks ready to plummit down the mountain? The climbing route just skirts that to the right side...that, my friends, is insane.

The reflection in the windows of the Everest view hotel.

Ed on the trail with Lhotse and Ama Dablam.

I call this "Guide and the Mountain" :)

Me with Ama Dablam and a prayer stone. Again...this day was awesome.

We finally arrived down to KhumJung, and look, even the Sherpa's need a cell tower!

Statue to commemerate Sir Edmund Hilary. Not only was he part of the first 2 people to summit Mt. Everest, he also became great friends with the Sherpa people, and started the Himalaya foundation, which build schools and hospitals in the mountains of Nepal to help out the Sherpa people and other climbers who trekked through. A truly great man.

The first high school built in the Everest region by the Himalaya Foundation.

Yaks are cool

A better view of the Ama Dablam potential for disaster...

Ah yes, our guide hard at work on the trail...

Our crew at lunch in Mong La with Ama Dablam behind.

Quick explanation: This article is from the Tri-City Herald, where I grew up and my parents still live. A sherpa lives there, and they had sent this to me a few weeks before I went on the climb. Turns out the owner of this teahouse was related to him and he was going to be there in 2 weeks!!!

Jason does the Heisman in Phortse....

Karma relaxes on the trail outside of Phortse.

Jason, Emma, and myself on the trail with Ama Dablam behind.

I love this pic of the valley. Everest, Lhotse, and Ama Dablam here, along with the glacier drainage from Ama Dablam. Also you can see on the left side the trail that we trekked along.

Me on the trail. Still no clouds....this was a really, really great day.

Nepal Pics, part 1

Sorry if I've already put a couple of these up, but I finally got them resized, so now it's easy to get them up. I'm starting in Kathmandu, and we'll head up the hill over the next couple weeks!

Here's the link to the full album, if you want to all 892 pics :) http://picasaweb.google.com/edwoodgolf/Nepal?feat=directlink

3 pics of Durbur Square, a large Buddhist temple in the middle of Kathmandu. It was hard to navigate to!! The streets in Kathmandu are pretty confusing, you aren't ever really sure what's the difference between an ally and a street...but it all worked out.



Ed and some crazy Buddhist dressed up guy!

Bridge and river on the way into shanty town in Kathmandu...not quite what we were expecting.

Statues at the Monkey Palace.

Stairs up to the top of the Monkey Place, they were steep!

The view of Kathmandu from up on top of the Monkey Palace.

Cool shot with candles in the Monkey Palace offered as prayers.

Monkey's at the mokey palace!

Kathmandu streets. They are really narrow!

Emma, myself and Jason drinking rakshi at the traditional ceremony the night before the trip.

The largest Hindi temple in Nepal, we aren't allowed inside. The Bagmati river flows in front of it, the "holiest" river in Nepal.

Creamations out front in the "holiest" river in Nepal. This river goes to meet the Ganges, but I sure wouldn't want to swim in it.

Buddhist blessing before the trip.

The largest Buddhist Stuppa in Nepal.

The painting of a Tankha. They can up to 12 months to make! Incredibly intricate paitings, I can't even imagine the amount of work that goes into these.

And we're off!! The group in Lukla, just about to set off.