TO DO - Himalayan Trek

At least in my head, I'm always planning the next place to travel. I usually plan pretty far in advance, just in case a friend or two wants to come with.

Trekking the Himalayas

This one has been on my list for only about the last year or so. We're aiming for late spring or early summer 2014. Ideally, we could start in Nepal, go through Lhasa, and end in Bhutan (or the other way around). Now, the problem with this schedule, is that I'd like to do as many days backpacking as possible, but with the time it takes to get between (and spend time in) all three destinations, there may have to be some driving. Another problem is the altitude. As you may recall from my previous blog post on Pear Lake, my body turns into a little bitch once the altitude hits 8,000 feet or so, while just the city of Lhasa is sitting pretty at around 15,000 goddamn feet. A large chunk of time, unfortunately, may be spent acclimatizing to the altitude.

Why the hell would you do this?

It's kind of hard to explain. There's something oddly enchanting about this whole area. Everything is rooted in this deeply reverent spirituality that's extremely unique to that part of the world. I'm also increasingly a fan of the outdoors, and especially mountains, even given the unbelievable frustration I experience while trying to scale them. Oh, yeah, bragging rights.

Soon to be made inadequate person 1: "Oh yeah, I've backpacked Yosemite, NBD".

Me, ender of worlds for all braggers: "Oh yeah? Cool, man, let me know when you've trekked around Mt. fucking Everest.'

(finish all drinks on the table, stand up, flip table, strut)

How the hell are you gonna do this?

With a lot of planning. Most people seem to go through trekking services, and they basically set everything up for you. I'll probably do some mix of trekking services and my own planning to get everything done. The idea of hiring porters and the like to take care of your ignorant ass in the back-country of the Himalayas sounds like a strange necessity. I won't even hire a cheap maid to clean up our usual mess of an apartment. On the other hand, this being one of the most challenging and dangerous places to trek in the world, it might be a good idea. I'm a heavy guy, it's gonna take a few strong porters to carry my inevitably broken body down from the mountain.

Now, the interesting part, is going to get all of the necessary visas organized for the tip. Apparently, in order to be in Bhutan, you have to be prepared to shell out around $200/day. Now, this covers plenty, such as hotel, meals, guides, etc., but it's not really the type of traveling I like to do. I also plan on staying in a hotel as little as possible, so not quite sure how that's all gonna work out. Lhasa is an other place that may be difficult to get into. Be it that Tibet is now owned by China, I heard that one does not simply walk into Lhasa, but when you gain entry, at least there's plenty of freedom (haha!) to go around. Nepal should be easy, they just might wonder why some giant American is roaming their street eating everything he can get his hands on.