Trip to Haiti Postponed

We hope that everyone is having a wonderful holiday season. We have decided to postpone our trip to Haiti due to family health issues. We appreciate all the support we have recieved for our trip. Donations will go to support the International Medical Assistant Team members who are still scheduled to provide medical aid during this time. We are working to find another time to assist with the medical releif effort in Haiti and will keep you informed.

Helping in Haiti 2010

Jay and I are joining with International Medical Assistance Team (IMAT) to provide medical support with the ongoing cholera outbreak in Haiti. We will be in Haiti for the week between Christmas and New Year. Nearly a year after the devastating earthquake humanitarian aid and medical relief is still a high priority. The recent cholera outbreak has significantly affected the people of Haiti. Medical teams are needed to provide supplies and support to reduce the numbers affected or dying from cholera. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/content/outbreak-notice/haiti-cholera.aspx

The decision to go to Haiti has not been an easy one but it feels right. We have the skills and training necessary to provide aid and there is a need. I am sure this will be a life changing experience for us and we hope to help as many people as we can in our short time in country. Jay and I are contributing our costs out of pocket. If you would like to help us help others, you can donate to IMAT and indicate that your contribution is in support of Janet Peterson and Jason Swenberger for travel to Haiti, December 26th. The easiest way to donate is to use your credit card through the IMAT web site: http://www.imateam.org click on “donate” in the lower right hand corner. If you prefer, you can send a check made out to IMAT indicating our names in the note. All donations are tax deductable. IMAT also accepts donations of medical supplies.

For more information on cholera http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2010/chapter-5/cholera.aspx

We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season.

Janet and Jay

Headache?

Hello again- back in Namche.

We had a marvelous trek to Thame (12, 200ft) and Arya (14,054 ft) along the valley of the Duhda Kosi river all on an incredible high alpine plateau. I arrived at 14, 000 complete with a headache. We were due to stay two nights in Arya before heading over the Renjo La pass which takes you above 17,000ft. We decided to alter our plans when my headache got worse instead of better in 24 hours. We decended back to Namche in one day ( 17 K with 3000 ft of decent). We are back in Namche resting, doing laundry and visiting with "family". Tomorrow we will head out to Tengboche and try a slower acclimitization process. We are still planning on doing the high passes- just in a anti-clockwise direction.

Today is our first day of sun. I am so excited to actually see the great mountains surrounding the Khumbu Valley. We are heading up to Khunde where I might get my first view of Everest.

The Road to Namche

Lindsay and I have been traveling for 10 days now. It is hard to believe we are a third the way through our trip. We decided not to fly to Lukla- most people begin their trek with a flight to Lukla which can precipitate problems with altitude- we chose to trek from Jiri via the old mountaineers route- the route used before the Lukla airport was installed. It was cool to walk in the steps of Sir Edmund Hillary! This route required eight days of trekking with one "rest" day thrown in at Junbesi. For our rest day we hiked up to the Thupten Choling Monestary- the largest with 400 Ani (nuns) and 100 monks. Our visit to the monestary was incredibly moving. Very, very calming and peaceful.

The trek followed a mostly easterly path which means traveling over a series of valleys with rivers that run North to South. This means that each day took us up over a pass and down into a valley to cross a river on a suspension bridge. Sometimes there were two passes and two valleys in one day! The trek below Lukla was very peaceful with few tourists. The villages were very small and quiet. Once we hit the Lukla area we were joined by 100's of other trekkers- a bit of a reverse culture shock!

So far we have climbed a total of 22,912 feet (6974m) and descended a total of 17,832 feet (5429m). Our high point was the Lamjura Pass at 11,594 feet (3530m) and our low point was 4926 feet (1500m). We have averaged 6.5 hours walking each day - our longest day was 8.5 hours! From here on out the trekking times are generally shorter as we have to move up slowly to avoid altitude illness. A big advantage of our chosen trek from Jiri is that we began the aclimitization process early on- Lindsay and I "ran" up the Namche Hill passing many of the poor soles who had just arrived from the Lukla airport.

Lindsay and I are both doing well. We both experience a bought of the khumbu tummy - we recovered quickly. Nepal is a very beautiful and spiritual place. I am a peace here.

Thamel

Just returned from Thamel. Now I know where all the tourists are hanging out. I am still overwhelmed by the hectic, crazy, busy, fast past, noisy, polluted, crowded bustle of the city. Kathmandu is relatively poor but so rich in culture.

We spent the day walking the city and purchasing our last minute items. We were informed that the city (country?) will be having a bus strike tomorrow so our plans to catch the bus to Jiri in the morning are history. Sooooo, Lindsay knows a guy who knows a guy who has a car and for a small fee can get us to Jiri. No problem. So are plans are back on!

We are leaving for Jiri tomorrow to begin our Trek from Jiri to Namche Bazaar. We should arrive in Namche by May 2nd or 3rd if all goes to plan (and it usually doesn't). I probably will not have access to the internet during this time- but should be able to update in Namche.

Kathmandu

Here I am here in Kathmandu (KTM). It is 240am and I can not sleep. Let see, could it be the Jet Lag, the wild dogs barking outside, the heat and humidity or is it the one mosquito that won't quit?

I arrived to find temperatures well into the 90's with the humidity equally high. The air is very thickly polluted with dust and exhaust. The city moves at a fast pace- it was quite a shock going from the relative calm of our flight to the roar of the city. Seeing a familiar face at the airport was definitely a plus- there were literally thousands of people smashed up against the glass partition looking for their person. Luckily, Lindsay was smart and waited on the other side where she could be easily spotted. The taxi ride from the airport to Lindsay's was like Mr. Toads Wild Ride and I think I held my breath the entire way. Lindsay just calmly chatted as if the near misses, constant barrage of horns and slammed brakes were normal. Oh yeah, they are.

Lindsay lives in a part of KTM that does not cater to Westerners. This part of KTM is raw and beautiful in its own chaotic way.

I had my first taste of Dahl Baat today. Lindsay's Didi (Didi is a term used for respect and literally means older sister) prepared our Dahl Baat (lentils with rice) which was fabulous- much better than the food on the plane. We ate lunch seated on the floor - we used forks although most Nepali's eat with their right hand. It is important to be aware of your posture and position as it is considered impolite to point the soles of your feet at anyone. You can not sit with your legs stretched out in front of you.

After a scrumptious lunch we ventured out to get our Trekking passes from the Trekking agency. This meant walking on a single wide dirt streets with two way traffic moving fast in both directions that at first glance seems very random and insane - but somehow works. Cars, motorbikes, bikes, pedestrians, cows and dogs all claiming right of way - the cows always win... followed by the trucks and cars.

"Cross with confidence, never hesitate and remember it works because it is predictable" That was the advice Lindsay gave to avoid getting hit.

After running a few errands we stopped in at the Fulbright office which is an amazingly clean and modern building. We were invited to a talk that addressed ethics and gender issues in female Buddhists in Bengladash and Nepal. Fascinating.

Later today we will check out Thamel and the touristy areas of KTM. We begin our trek on Sunday.

Pre-Nepal

I (Janet) am preparing for my Nepal trip. Blogging is certainly a distraction - but a worthy one. I will be flying out of PDX on April 21 at 710am. My wonderful husband will be taking me to the airport butt early- hopefully we will be able to enjoy breakfast together before I take off.

I will be flying from PDX to LA and then from LA to Tokyo to Singapore to Kathmandu. I have an eight hour layover in the Singapore airport from 1am to 9am - should be interesting! I arrive in KTM on April 23 at 12:05pm local time. Kathmandu is 12 hours and 45 minutes ahead of Portland or LA. When it is 7am in LA, it is 7:45pm in KTM.

My friend Lindsay is meeting me at the Airport in KTM and we will go from there- Our plan looks something like this (dates not included) :

explore KTM
bus to the end of the road - Jiri (1905m) or Bhandar (2194m)
Jiri to Namache Bazaar (3440m).
Namache Bazaar to Thame (3820)
Goyko via the Renjo La Pass (5338m)
Goyko to Dragnag (4700m)
Dragnag to Dzongiha via Chola pass (5420m)
Dzongiha to Lobuche (4930)
Lobuche to Gorak Shep- side trip to Kala Pattar (5545m)
Everest Base camp (5400m)
EBC- Lobuche, Periche, Dingboche- Pangboche-Namche- Lukula
Fly from Lukla to KTM
KTM to San Francisco - June 2
Home on June 3rd.

I will do my best to communicate - I will not be taking a computer or cell phone with me. I will try to update the blog - and will post to facebook when I can access the internet.

I know two people who are climbing Mt. Everest this season. You can follow both their blogs: Melissa Arnot: http://blog.firstascent.com/tag/melissa-arnot
Cindy Abbott: www.reachingbeyondtheclouds.com

Have a wonderful April and May- see you in June.

JP

Bahamian Time

Bahamas time is a concept that has taken a little while to get used to. At first I took it to mean that Bahamians are always late- which accounts for most of Bahamian time. However, it could also mean that they can be early and just leave whenever they want- or when it is most convenient for them. Our taxi was to arrive at 550am to take us to the airport for our 7am flight to Eleuthera– at 540am I heard a horn outside the hotel and then I heard tires squealing as somebody took off rather in a hurry. We waited at 550 for our Taxi whom did not show (although he claimed to have arrived, honked and left). No other taxi was available until later and we had locked ourselves out of our hotel room in an effort to check out. Now what? We decided to wait on the street to see if a bus might drive by or another taxi. After about five minutes Luis drives up and offers us a ride. Luis was driving home after dropping his daughter at work and felt sorry for us standing there looking rather stranded. He informed us that the Bahamians believe in Karma – pay if forward.

T’ings are Different in the Bahamas.

Traveling to the Bahamas for reasons other than vacation has lead to some curious observations.

Initial thoughts:

We arrived in Nassau on February 1st after a day and night of travel. We were tired and welcomed the warm breeze as we negotiated our way through the airport. Our first stop was the Pineapple air counter to pay for our tickets to Eleuthera. “T’ings are different in the Bahamas” is something we would hear again and again. We finalized our flights and made our way via taxi to the cheapest digs we could find- The Orange Hill Beach Inn. Although a very pleasant setting, the hotel is a bit run down – which is ok if you like to share your bed with bugs. Other than that, the Orange Hill Beach Inn is outside of the main town, away from the hustle and bustle of the city and directly across the street from our first white sand beach encounter.

When I travel, I prefer to stay away from the big touristy areas- I prefer to get a real feel for the culture and people- I like to eat at authentic places and explore the streets and villages. We spent our first full day exploring Nassau which began with a number 10 bus ride from Orange Hill into the center of town. Nassau is a fast paced town which boasts at least two Starbucks (for good or for bad) and a multitude of fast food restaurants. Burger King was the first store front sign outside of the bus stop. Our day of exploring took us through the town and across the bridge to Paradise Island- what a shock. If you only ever visited Paradise Island you have never been to the Bahamas. You have been to a resort with a very Vegas combined with Disney Land and Sea World Feel. You might as well as stay home. But, I guess the Bahamas are driven by tourism and this was the epitome of tourism at its finest!

I learned the most that first day from the water taxi guide as he briefly, but loudly, provided the rich history of Nassau along with a spiel about being poor and that it was the “rich tourists” like us that put food on his table. Just about everyone put a dollar or so in his hat- $45 in 15 minutes- not a bad gig. I love taking public transportation in foreign cities as it is usually way cheaper than taxis ($1.25 vs $20) and provides a short snip-it of daily life of the locals. The school girl on her way home , the parents with the sick child or the elderly lady with all of her groceries balanced on her lap. In general, the Bahamians seem to be a happy people- easily distracted and fond of engaging conversation about anything, particularly themselves.