Lang Tanggggggggg.....

During her week in Kathmandu, she visited some temples and holy places, Swayambu, Pashnupati, Buddhanath and wandered around Kathmandu pretty much! That was really enjoyable, because this is a very diverse, colourful and fascinating place. Even though, she ended up in hospital getting a doctor checking her respiratory, after she almost lost her lungs during her reoccurring, convulsive cough attacks. The doctor said that everything sounded alright and that this was probably an allergic reaction to the Kathmandu air pollution… ah, well, he must have been right, as she is still alive!

After this week, she set out for the Lang Tang trek in Himalayas……with an Indian guy she met in Kathmandu…

As much as Blondie was trying to keep fit in Ireland, going to the gym, surfing, eating healthy etc, that much she was cursing the first 3 days of this trek. It is a different thing keeping fit in the gym in Swords…, and different one using this fitness climbing up the Himalayas…. With a backpack on her poor little back additionally! Because, it turned out that Blondie and her new friend, Girish didn’t get a porter…Of course, another adventure was just round the corner…actually, in a toilet….on the second evening, Blondie was poisoned by a mixed fried rice and spend a nite in the toilet in a hole actually as this could not be called a toilet (picture on FB)…so the third day she was sick, weak and had to endure a quite steep, long climb throughout the day! However, from the fourth day on, the backpack grew on her, the stomach got better and some mysterious cosmic powers got into her, cause from then on the climb went absolutely fine!!! Then, on the sixth day, she discovered climbing with the ipod!!! Ah, Goergie! This guy is good for everything! With “Somebody to love” (Elton was helping Georgie here and both gays did great!) and Faith, Blondie was flying up those mountains!

So, in short, she climbed through the Larabina Pass at 4610 m, she survived sleeping in freezing clod lodges, where shower gel and shampoo froze solid during the nite, she survived a falling log – she was briskly walking with Georgie, when something just flew down, just few meters in front of her…it turned out it was a big thick piece of log falling down…ah, well, shits happen… was close, but luckily not this time! In Lang Tang she had to run from charging yaks – the beasts are huge, and when they decide to go for a run, they don’t care if something/someone is on the way…Now, if you want to try them, you can just stand where you are and see which one of you will be more convincing….Blondie decided to play a chicken and ran away very briskly as well!!!

On the last day, since it was 10 days since she had left the land of hot showers, meaty meals and liquid shower gels….she really wanted to get back for Kathmandu asap, so decided to walk from Kiyanju Gompa to Syabru Besi…this took her 9 hours of constant walk, she made two short stops, for a Tibetan tsampa porridge and a coke.
She set on at 6.30 a.m. and was really enjoying it! Empty trail, only Blondie and waking mountains…she was racing the waking sun – which one of them first reaches a sleeping hill – listening to Solitude (Buddha Bar) and Café del Mar – this was absolutely amazing, beautiful almost spiritual walk through an autumn Himalayas……
Into the eighth hour of her walk, she hated the sun, the trail, her backpack and the only thing she could think of was taking off her smelly boots, lying down and having a cold beer and a cigarette!!! She was so tired that, her mind was going berserk, she caught herself pondering on her smelly boots…The truth is that she got herself a paid of cheap Regatta hiking boots for EUR25, with the plan of dumping them after finished treks in Nepal, therefore so cheap. Those boots did very well as such a cheap pair! Walked Blondie really well and comfortably! But since they are only waterproof, not waterproof and breathing…..they are extremely smelly! You can’t have everything for EUR25….
So, actually those boots could act as a perfect weapon against unwanted admirers…You say “Stay away! I have very smelly boots and I won’t hesitate to take them off!!!!” And you do, and then leave the unconscious (or dead, depending on how many hours you walked that day…) one there and run!
Not too bad, huh??? That’s exactly what Blondie was thinking about into her ninth hour of walk to Syabru Besi…. and those are the very boots.... ;)

And when she finally reached, she was so tired couldn’t move her legs, even her toes and her knees just didn’t bend! And then, the following morning she had to take a 10 hours bus ride back to Kathmandu (the bus was full of people puking through the windows, but as long as she didn’t have to walk anywhere that day, the rest didn’t matter….)

So, she came back to Kathmandu with stiff legs and flat ass!!! But happy! The first thing she did, after the hot shower of course, was to have a big juicy, though not bloody, steak!!! After 11 days of vegetarian diet consisting of Tibetan bread and jam for breakfast, and garlic soup, momos or dhal baat for lunch/dinner…steak and beer were exactly what Blondie was dreaming of, on the puking bus to Kathmandu.....hhhmmm, mniam!

Next stop: Patan (Lalitpur) Children Welfare Home 1 week Volunteer Program

We will not write about a week in a Nepali orphanage…. You can imagine that….The rest you can see on the pictures in FB – coming up soon

One thing to write about is today’s Blondie’s visit to the Immigration office to extend the visa….she was all combative and ready to fight against her “friends” Bribers… When she arrived there, one of them was there, told her that she was too late cause they were closing but that he would do that for you....oooo, that was the sign - they were closing but he still agreed to serve her...he was nice cause he was expecting...then he started calculating the price for 17 day visa extension and arrived at $34 = NR2,550 - and that was correct!!! no charge!!!

But then, he asked whether she wanted the visa today, and when all-tensed Blondie said: "yes, please" with a lovely, girly smile, there he attacked!!! He said: "No problem, but we charge NR500 fee" "For what, sorry???" "For that, that we are closed now and you want your visa now".......and that's why Blondie has to go back tomorrow to the Immigration Office to collect her visa....Cause of course, since she is officially protesting against all kinds of ripping-off tourists, she didn't pay any "little charges, my ass".....

Next stop: Pokhara + Annapurna trek (maybe, depending on how the LangTang trek recovery goes…)

Good Night!