Merry Christmas!

We are about to leave this wonderful country of Nepal, back to Hong Kong and then to the Philippines.

But lets back up a bit since it has been a while. Our blogging has been stopped a number of times due to power outages and just technology problems (three times). But enough excuses we will be updated more in the future but with less pictures since that seems to be the real crux of this blog.

Since we last typed we have explored the Kathmandu valley. We visited the monkey temple with of course has adorable, monkeys running around (they have red butts). Then we headed to Chitwan National Park and took a jungle hike looking for Rhinos (we found three, one charged us and we had to climb a tree to keep from getting trampled to death!, While in the tree Leah got attacked by ants and the bites are just now going away)! During this hike we must have a guide in front and behind us to keep the poor helpless tourists from dying (bad for public relations).

After the forest we headed to the "monastery." Leah and I took a Vispasana course on meditation. This thing is hard core! 4-wake up, 4:30-6:30 meditate (wake your body up with some pain), 6:30-8 rest/eat, 8-9 meditate( easy one), 9-11 meditate (like running 10 miles without shoes) , 11-1 rest/eat, 1-2:30 meditate (you start shaking while you sit), 2:30-3:30 (easy because it is short) meditate, 3:30-5 meditate( OH GOD the pain !!!!, you want to run and hide but you can't even shift your weight, your butt begs you to stop), 5-6 tea (fruit and crisp rice, you do not get full), 6-7 meditate, 7-8:30 class on meditation, 8:30-9 meditate, 9-9:30 (talk to the teacher if you can stand to look at his comfortable painless face) 9:30 sleep like a dead man/woman, wake up and do it again... oh by the way, during all this, no eating meat, no talking to anyone, no looking at any one, no drinking, boy/girls segregated with no contact.

So now that you are all ready to take the course, it is FREE after all, the meals are all you can eat but only twice a day. You can not leave the course for ANY reason ( one guy had to due to visa problems, another person had to leave with massive stomach cramping and fever). But this is a life changing course, like running a marathon twice a day for a week with no training. Plus after obtaining full enlightenment you can start your own cult/sect and make good money writing books.

Christmas, we woke up and left the "monastery," Leah and I had not even talked for 10 days. It is hard to put into words the 10 days and returning the "the real world" of Nepal. But dinner was at a french restaurant, drinking Chilean wine, and wild boar, with fellow meditators, then heading home (the hotel) for our first group meditation session without teachers. Talk about a great Christmas gift!

Out of the Mountians

Everest is just past my back foot. We are up in Gokyo Ri.

Happy Thanksgiving, we celebrated by walking over Cho la a high pass connected Everest Base Camp with the Goyko region.

Base camp at last. (To see the image bigger you can always double click)

Our first view of the big mountains!

We have arrived safely back in Kathmandu after a wonderful, but hard 24 days of Himalayan hiking. I had totally underestimated the effects of altitude on my body. When we were up at Everest base camp we were getting 50% oxygen compared to sea level. Tiny inclines (well there really wasn't anything that tiny) would drop me to the ground sucking in gulps of air. Rob and I have been reading Gone with the Wind out loud during our resting times and occasionally we will have to stop reading just to catch our breath. It was actually really funny at times. Rob also noticed my breathing while I was sleeping was different. All of a sudden I would take many fast breaths before returning to normal sleeping rhythm. To say the least we are happy to be back a bit lower and breathing easy. However, it was all worth the effort to see such amazing peaks. The landscape has just been amazing and our pictures don't do it any justice. It is the feeling the mountains give you of being so small and insignificant. We always joke and tell each other to look "big" before we take the picture. Defiantly a great accomplishment for us both.

Here's Rob.

Awards:

Longest go without shower (Over 15 days, both of us)

Max height reached ( Kala Platter, around 5400 or so meters, Leah only, Rob slept)

Longest go with one pair of underwear ( 6-7 days, Rob)

Worst smelling shirt (Me again, yuck, sorry Leah)

Coldest night sleep (2 hours outside of base camp, over negative 25 below Celsius)

Biggest blister (Leah, right on the heel)

Worst food experience (Leah got food poisoning twice, it was like sleeping next to the exorcist girl)

Most often eaten food (rice, we are in Asia after all)

Biggest let down in food (Pasta with tomato sauce, WRONG, pasta covered in Katsup)

Cheapest night sleep (less then 10 cents)

Worst smelling socks ( Tie )

Dirtiest clothing (Tie again, except for underwear and you know who won that)

Total elevation gained ( over 10000 meters)

Most likely to get altitude sickness ( me by a ton, Leah has no problems )

People we miss ( our German buddy Thomas, and Matt, and Sophi "the aussies")