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Other entries in Pokhara

temporary civilization

annapurna circuit chewed us up and spit us back out. we managed 4 days trek up the valley, then got snow-bound by a day long blizzard that dropped 1m of snow & made our decision to turn bak around and not go for the pass.

the same storm dropped snow on kathmandu - the first time in 62 years, I guess. and made the snow line drop from about 2000m down to 1500m in our valley, which meant a whole lot more snow to wade through on the way out. and did I mention night time temps of -.5C? and this was only at 2200m -the pass we were headed for is at 5000m.  yeah, riiiiigt.

we'd been debating how far we'd last even before the blizzard but after it made the choice easy - especially when my "boots" were soaked within 2 hrs hiking in the snow. bareable now, but just stupid at higher elvations with even lower temps.

but sheee-ite, it was still 100% worth it! the vallley we were in was so steep, the trail narrow, full of mule trains and porters and locals in flip flops (even above snow line). although we didn't get as far as we wanted, still incredible mountain views - manaslu (8000m+), annapurna II (7900m), etc etc.

now we're camped out in pokhara for a day before getting back on another part of the trail. civilization feels great, but internet is a scary $1.20/hr and the horn-honking is too much - I need to get back into the woods!

so this is just a quickie email to say we're alive, not burried in snow, and not nearly as cold-tolerant as I thought. more words and pics later....

PS - a few bits from the kathmandu paper:

- the storm we got caught in was huge - loads of places got snow for the first time in decades. roads & schools are still shut down, people froze to death, cows/yaks died, etc etc. lucky we were semi-warm and at least indoors that day but was supremely hard on the local people.

- nepal 'celebrated' Democracy Day - the king made a speach supporting his '05 coup efforts which sparked major protests in kathmandu. there's talk of turning nepal into a republic asap. public elections are set for mid-june but corruption and problems with elections are already surfacing. suspect the next few months will only get more strange....

- protesting is still happening in the southern terrai (same protests that affecte my border crossing). demands are getting more complicated so the strikes should continue for a LONG time & get more violent. glad I have no plans to go back to india.

- now that the maoists are officially in govt, they made a statement saying promotion of tourism & industry are the way of the future for nepal. ironic as they also just imposed a 5 day 'collection drive' to raise 3mill rupees to send their leader to a meeting elseswhere in nepal...this collection drive is in a remote (non-tourist) area - plan is to extort fees from buses and taxis. but still....seems a little contradictory to continue extortionist ways and not expect it to backfire on tourist traffic? 

more importantly, is this the way for a (now) 'legitimate' part of the nepali govt to behave? what a joke that this is tolerated and merely reported on as news, not outrage. or, ummmmm....considered that it's illegal? not in nepal I guess...

- read article about nepal transportation system. seems anyone can buy a bus, get govt approval and become an entrepreneur running the route. sounds exciting enough, huh? well, used to be a corrupt system in getting govt approval. govt finally cracked down and stopped this so now you 'just need a permit from the govt'. but to get this, you need local approval - and here's where the corruption has moved.

local officials were even quoted about the fees they collect saying they are to 'mobilize funds required to meet internal expenses and give donations to various social organizations.' this is the most thinly veiled coverup of corruption I've ever heard. give me a break - isn't 'social organizations' just a fancy way of saying 'my freekin pocket'....aren't you glad you live in a country that has issues, but not like this?

- saddest news: the bombs exploding in an indian train bound for pakistan killing 64 people. senseless killing of innocent people makes me sick. heard reports of people trying to escape the burning coaches but were stopped by bars on the window. I've ridden these trains, know of those bars. there's no way anyone's getting out....the thought is absolutely horrible....

- K. a few things that need instant clarification: is anna nicole smith really dead? of what?? and did brittney spears really shave her head? I head into the hills for a few days and look what happens.......

- also read that ralph fiennes made it into the mile high club with a qantas air stewardess. she ended up getting fired, he never called her back, and now she feels used.

shocking.

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