apologies

Sorry I haven't been able to update this; there is rarely enough power in Nepal, and when there is, we always seem to be out visiting family, friends, orphanages, etc. We are now in Thailand, but are on vacation this week!! I will update this when I can, perhaps in less than a week from now. Here is a photo of our family in Pokhara, just over a week ago. I'll get back to the Tsum in the next entry!!

Day 5 Salleri to Lokhpa, where the Lower Tsum sort of officially starts!

Here are some photos of this day= a long one, with lots of elevation gain.

Brian, fortunately, had lots of energy to cook supper, cuz I sure didn't! (but the next day it was the reverse, so fortunately we don't all break down at the same time!)
Lunch break at Phillim (dal bhat and rubs)- this is where that photo of us on the suspension bridge with the mountains in the background goes too- see blog from one of the first days).

Day 4: Dobhan to Salleri

Well, it was inevitable: one of us got sick last night for the first time! Poor Chultim got some kind of gastro-intestinal bug and we had to give her some (natural) medicine and help her up the mountain today; actually she did really well, considering. We entered the Manaslu Conservation Area today, a day earlier than our permit start date, and definitely gained altitude, though we had lunch down at the bottom of a widening canyon (still on the Bhuri Gandaki River) at Yaru "sandbank restaurant" in the middle of nowhere (but at the centre of everything, right Larry Z??!) Sometimes I just love run-on sentences. Let's see how the photos load, here...

Day 3 of our trek: Macha Khola to Dhoban

Wow, that took long to load.....Jan, here's a photo of our donkeys for you! That's me with Chultim too. Day 3 of our trek, and still three days to go to get to the beginning of the Tsum Valley. I'll try to put a photo on here of some water pipes going up to the Tsum on porters' backs. Everything gets up there on someone or something's back! You wouldn't believe some of the stuff that goes up these hills, or rather up and down cuz there's an awful lot of that! You are going from point A to point B, but not in any kind of direct way, because of the incredible topography, for every km you go up, you go down another, but somehow by the end of the day, you've gained altitude. If you look at the map, it appears you've only gone maybe 10 km horizontal distance, but really it's more like 20!!

I put a photo of Tatopani on here, which ended up as the first one. They load in reverse order onto here! We stopped here for lunch and a hot springs shower- holy cow, did that feel good!!!!

On the way back down, we "hauled donkey" that day to get here by late afternoon, just so we could have a hot shower and camp here next to the hillside that dripped warm water- delightful!

a few more photos of the second day of the trek

Nauli Khola, a village we passed through on the way to Macha Khola, and some school kids in a classroom. Macha Khola is where we ended up on the second night of our trek, which is apparently farther than most trekkers get, but not nearly as far as the Tsumbas (people of the Tsum) get when they "fly" up here! Oops power out...

day 2 of the actual trek; March 1)

So, if the bus or other vehicle ride from Kathmandu doesn't give you a heart attack, and you have handled a few suspension bridges and climbing some tough trails in the heat, and the cliffsides don't scare the living daylights out of you, you are doing well!!!

EVERY step you take has to be a focused one, especially around the cliffs, and even more when there are loose rocks along the cliffs and the wind is gusting!!! You pray there won't be a donkey train coming the other way!!!
After a whole bunch of these, you become a bit blase about it all, believe it or not!

a bit more on first days Feb 27 and 28 2010

First day of the trek- Holi clebration in Soti Khola; this woman was relentless about "painting" our faces with red powder, and having WAY too much fun!!!!
Other photo is of helpers carrying some of our stuff from where the jeep let us off, over the suspension bridge to the other side of the river to where we stayed the first night (Feb 27) before the actual trek. I have to go in and out of this blog to upload photos toit- give it alittle break!! Might not get too far at this rate........

First days of the Trip to the Tsum

Our trek up to the Tsum Valley has been completed! The first photo is of the first day of the trek; the second is of the fifth day- since I'm having such a hard time loading photos and even staying on the internet, I thought I'd just stick this one in here too!!

We're now back in Kathmandu after a challenging, but very interesting, trek up as far as the Upper Tsum Valley. It was an awesome trip, and we met many people and saw many places. It took us at least 7 hours by jeep over the main highway (where vehicles routinely pass each other around blind corners; even we close our eyes at times!!) and then over bone-jarring back roads, to get to Arughat Bazaar. We stayed overnight there, and loaded up the donkeys the next morning (all eight of them) with our baggage and some food.

It was hot in Arughat, and the first day's trekking was easy, over a road to Arghet and then a road in the midst of construction for a good part of the way, at least to Armala, to Soti Khola. Road construction here is done by some heavy equipment, but also a lot by hand, so you can imagine the speed at which it happens! Such challenging terrain, too! We crossed our first suspension bridges and encountered the first challenging parts of the trail up, and were rewarded with a swim in the frigid waters of Soti Khola (khola means creek).

Also on this day, the huge holiday/celebration of Holi was happening, so we got our faces painted red by a local exhuberant woman! Unfortunately, Soti Khola is the place I will forever remember as where I got the darn bedbug bites (like, everywhere) and where Brian was kept awake most of the night by barking dogs (I personally believe in ear plugs and zoning out!).

Since I never know when the power will go out here, I will keep this first blog of the trek short so as not to lose everything, and try to upload another photo (which seems to be challenging for this little notebook computer with the thousands of photos on it!)

Kathmandu, Nepal

Namaste from Kathmandu!! What a city; the power is out a lot of the time, I'd forgotten how precarious it was to cross the road here- you need to have your wits about you 100% of the time, not 99.9!! Gapped for a split sec and almost got nailed by a motorcycle!! Brian got attacked (not in a bad way- it was funny, actually) by a monkey at Swayambu Temple yesterday- it stole 2 oranges- he had gapped for a split sec too.

We are now switched over to Nepal time, and we are off to our trip to the Tsum tomorrow morning; just have to tie up loose ends here. Logistics are still "difficult" here to say the least. Garbage and pollution is unbelievable, the rivers are worse than before, even, which is to say beyond filthy. We are looking forward to the fresh air of the mountains.

We met with the Tsum Welfare Development Committee yesterday and they are excited about our community's connection with theirs. They are grateful for your involvement. I probably won't be posting for awhile now. If I find it difficult to do this in KTM, I imagine it'll be even harder in Arughat (where we are taking a jeep to tomorrow), though who knows.......and in the mountains, probably non-existent. We have a solar charger with us to charge the big camera batteries, so that's cool.

See you in 2 1/2 to 3 weeks!

Happy Losar!!!

Happy Losar, bringing in the Metal Year of the Tiger (or should that more appropriately be Snow Leopard,the nearly extinct cat species that inhabits the Himalayas)? Today is the first day of LOSAR, the New Year, which is celebrated with great fervour amongst the Tibetan people all over the world.

We'd like to have a party, but we're too busy getting ready to leave!! Certainly don't have time to make momos (a traditional Tibetan dish). So now we're taking the truck to the coast. We've had such an awesome response from this wonderful community we live in (plus some others from afar!!) that we just can't get it all in our little Echo. Not even close.........the community has donated over 250 bags, first aid supplies, and other items, and we've had such a huge amount of support and help from friends, helping to inspect and pack parcels, etc etc, that we are truly in awe!

Okay, this is just a short one today; hope you have a wonderful new year- take the tiger by the tail!!

Donations of Care Packages

Thanks to the generous support of the people of the West Kootenays (and also from the Yukon, Vancouver Island, and Eastern Canada), we have collected over 130 care bags, $790, and a whole bunch of other loose items like toothbrushes, etc. Friends have been busy helping, and folks have been quite creative getting together the items. We still can use some first aid supplies, like compression and butterfly bandages, gauze, tape, etc, and oral rehydration salts if you have some kicking around....light stuff, now, please, as we're getting close to the max. We don't have a lot of our own stuff to take, but we can only fit so much into and on top of our little (normally good gas mileage) Echo!! Plus we have weight and size restrictions for the luggage (and our bodies). But we thank you for your generosity! We just hope nobody asks us to take our bags apart at an airport or a Customs somewhere on the way!!! Here's a photo of the room full of items! We are getting excited about leaving soon, but still have a ton of things to do.

Photos (From Others Who Have Been Here)

The Trek Into The Tsum Valley

To get to the Tsum Valley, we have to hire a vehicle and driver from Kathmandu to Arughat, which is a day's drive (120 km!)northwest of the capital. We start trekking at Arughat, as that's where the road ends,and follow the Bhuri Gandaki River north up to Lokpa, and then into the Tsum along the Shiar Khola River. We estimate it will be about 120 km up (one way) and take us maybe a week (depending on conditions); then after spending some time up in the higher elevation areas over 3500m (around 12,000 feet), we'll go back down the same way.

We (the O'Neills) will be trekking to the Tsum at the same time as the Doells will be trekking in the Solu Khumbu, from Lukla up towards (and perhaps even to) Everest Base Camp. That's to the northeast of Kathmandu. We'll be roughly at the same latitude, and similar altitudes, but many, many valleys and kilometers (miles) apart.

How to Help

Another family from our corner of the world (southeastern BC, Canada), the Doells, is also raising awareness and funds/items for the people of the Tsum and of the Solu Khumbu area, and will be in Nepal at the same time, though in the Solu Khumbu. Together, it is our intent to raise awareness, to show multi-media presentations after our return to Canada, and to continue to raise money to assist these people whose plight is very real.

Here's how to help send items and money to the people of the Tsum for the March trip:

1. You may make a donation of small light articles that a poor family living in the mountains of Nepal would appreciate. Examples are:
* bandages, guaze, ointment, antiseptics and other first aid items.
* nail clippers, small scissors, small soap, facecloths, water treatment tablets, hankies, bandanas.
* eyeglasses or sunglasses you no longer use.
* small, healthy snacks, energy bars, etc.
* kids' (or adults') gloves, mitts, socks, hats, warm underwear - new/ used, but in decent shape.
* pencils, sharpeners, crayons, small light notebooks, etc.
* toothbrushes and toothpaste, waterbottles.

2. Make a cash donation - even $10 or 20 can go a long way there; it can be used for food, farming supplies, building, schooling.

3. If you want to add a personal touch to this project, we are trying to amass as many large-sized Zip-lock bags as we can fit into a backpack, to distribute to families in the Tsum.
Here's what you can put into a bag:
* any of the items listed above - as much as you can get into one, plus a little cash would be good to help the family (to be converted into rupees).
* a brief message (that we would get translated) toa family, for example, "we hope these articles will be usefultoyour family, from the Bradeys of Nelson,BC, Canada". You could also describe yourself (or family) or go into some details if you like, such as "I'm a schoolteacher", etc...
* a photo of yourself and your family to add that personal touch.
* we, in turn, will take a photo of them receiving their bag, and document whose bag went to which family (by a numbering system).

All articles collected will be distributed to the inhabitants of the Tsum Valley with as much equanimity as possible, with the assistance of the local people and organisations that are also trying to assist here. If we see people along the way, from Kathmandu to the Tsum, who are equally in need of assistance, we will also distribute items as required.

Our focus is on the Tsum, and because it is so remote, and only recently even heard of by most, it receives very little outside assistance. Because of droughts and massive crop failures last year, the situation is currently very bad indeed.

If you are interested in making a small donation, which would have a great impact, please call Chris or Brian at 250-226-7107 or email tonepal@live.com. We have some drop-off points in the Nelson- Slocan Valley areas, and can collect too!! The Doells have been collecting tuques (in their Tuques for Everest campaign) and other items in the Rossland-Trail area. You can also use snail mail!! P.O. Box 48 Winlaw, BC V0G 2J0

Thanks. Namaste and Tashi Delek (greetings in Nepali and Tibetan respectively)