Kathmandu

We've been in kathmandu for a little over a day now and we love it. This place is full of great energy and great people. On top of that iv been waiting for a long time to do some shopping! Like a child in a toy store Iv Purchased some new hiking gear. A - 10 degrees Celsius sleeping bag, jacket, gloves, hat, poles, thermal pants and shirt, and other small little hiking gadgets. We bought a map, and a flight to lukhkla on top of that to start our journey towards everest base camp. It should take around 8-10 days to reach base camp, and afterwards were planning on taking the long way back through Gokyo. I'm beyond holding in my excitement. the trek will take somewhere over 20 days to complete. It'll be a long journey, but it will be a beautiful one taking us as high as 5800 meters. Our flight to lukhkla is tomorrow morning at 6am, which will take us through some of the most beautiful views of everest and Lhoste. Internet will be a scarce commodity so this may be my last post until we're back.

The journey to Nepal

We went to the varanasi station around 11pm to catch the night train to Gorakhpor. Sleeper section. Loud, and crowded. With little to no sleep we arrived in Gorakhpor around 9am. We found a bus leaving to the Nepal border, which would take around 3 hours. It was a local bus, meaning not much room to breathe. People on your lap, people on the floor, people everywhere. Around 1pm, After 3 clostrophobic hours of sweaty madness we arrived at he border. We made it through with no problems, and we received a 1 month visa which is just what we were looking for. We find out the next bus leaving to kathmandu is at 7pm,amd it's a night bus. A local night bus. We waited 5 hours for the bus, and then jumped on. This bus was probably the worst bus experience of my life. The room was limited. Another clostrophobic ride where with little room. Throughout the ride I had a Nepal women sit on my lap, and Nepal man continually try and ask me questions about my life, and multiple people sleeping on me. The bus went through the windy foothills of Nepal, and since I wasn't sleeping the entire night I got the pleasure of seeing 4 big vehicles that ran off the road or were on their sides. Around 5-6am we arrived n kathmandu, but this wasn't the end. After a search for a taxi driver who knew how to get to our hotel it was still another 5-km drive. The drive was good, until about half halfway the taxi stalls out. After 5 minutes of listening to this car grasp for life I get out and start pushing. The car starts, the car stalls. The car starts, the car stalls. Eventually we make it to the hotel, exhausted and fatigued. "do you have any rooms?"....." sorry, sir, youre going to have to wait". We wait in the lobby for about an hour before we get some beds, and like tree being chopped down we collapse into unconsciousness.

Day 90 (i think), Varanasi

As days go by in varanasi I capture more and more photos, but with the heat and humidity it makes it difficult to continue past noon. IV found myself waking up around 6am, and by the mid afternoon enjoying cafes in different parts of the city. I have also discovered that the visa that we purchased for India, which they told us lasts 1 month, is actually a 6 month Visa. I could stay here much longer, but my blood is flowing more eagerly. With the Nepal hiking season starting up from April-June 9th I can't stay in India, The himalayas are on my mind. Withing the week we'll be In Nepal, and in visual distance of the rooftop of the world. Iv buried my nose in a book "into thin air" (author of into the wild), which tells the first hand story of the everest disaster. The first half of the book is ascending to base camp, the hike we'll be doing when we enter Nepal. At 17,600 feet, with the oxygen levels half of what they are at sea level. IV been waiting for a new challenge.

Varanasi

Varanasi. One of the oldest inhabited cities in the world and the holiest place in India.

After arriving by train I made my way to a hotel, I explored, and found. Within a couple hours I met two friends from pushkar and also found some interesting people around my hotel. I met a man, shiva, who's offered me a nice place to stay, and is open to helping me with my photography. Many of the sadhus in varanasi are "fake" and not true sadhus. Meer beggars. Shiva is working on getting me a one on one with a Naga Sandhu.

There's a festival going on for the next nine days in varanasi for shiva (not the hotel man, the Hindu God..) which gives me great opportunity to get some shots. Varanasi is busy as all of India is, but I really like it. It's got a uniqueness to it unlike anywhere iv been before. Afterwards we will be taking the train and bus to Nepal.