From Kathmandu to trekkers camp and and climbers camp above Yangma village
Starting point is Taplejung at upper right of map of Nepal
From Taplejung to the village of Yangma is 25 miles in a straight line
Kathmandu is in the Kathmandu Valley at 4,500 feet
On the drive in from airport
Fruit vendors
A commercial laundry
Construction worker's homemade hat
Monk
Radisson Hotel - definitely an oasis
Initial team meeting at the Radisson Hotel
Swimming pool - Radisson Hotel
Team building at the Radisson
My hotel room - organizing gear
Dinner at a traditional Nepalese restaurant
Religious site at Nagarjun where we did a short hike
Kathmandu outskirts
Thamel shops - the central part of the city
Friends, family and ourselves donated $12,000 to support a field clinic
Tilganga Institute of Opthamlogy's newer building
Tour of the clinic
The lenses (intraocular lens implants) are manufactured here at low cost
The centre serves over one hundred thousand people a year
The majority of surgeries are for cataracts
The lens manufacturing facilitiy
The planned eye clinics in the field include one to Taplejung in March 2011
Plane to Biratnigar. Then due to cloud the flight to Suketar becomes a 3 hour bus to Birtamod and a 14 hour bus to Taplejung.
Relaxed at the start - unaware that a 25 hour trip awaits
Waiting for our plane to Biratnigar
Everest and Lhotse from plane
Biratnigar is in the Terrai (The lowlands)
Waiting for our next flight
Inside the Airport Canteen
Bus instead. First bus took us to Birtamod.
View from bus
Birtamod
No knee room for westerners
Late dinner stop in Ilam
Morning and the smiles hide the disomfort
Early morning and the ordeal nears an end
Leaving the bus for the final 200 yards to Taplejung
Taplejung (6,000 feet) is the administrative headquarters of Taplejung District
Taplejung
Taplejung and view north
Breakfast just above Taplejung
Suketar (8,000 feet) is the district plane landing strip
Ang Ngima and Teahouse on way to Suketar
The trails are not just for trekkers
Suketar
Camp outside Suketar
Setting up camp at Suketar
Afternoon tea
Breakfast and porters with loads behind
Descent from 8000 feet to 4000 feet
Porters resting
Porters with double loads
Note the corn being dried
Children
Forage for animals?
Only a fraction of land is suitable for farming
Gadidanda village
Lunch - the building is the school at Gandidanda
Lunch
Typical lunch for trekkers
Bamboo
Rice paddies
Buildering at Linkhim school
Breakfast
Heading off
Linkhim village
House
Nepalese woman
The local slaughterhouse
Trail and terraces
Bridge over a side stream - most bridges were rebuilt in the past ten years
Crossing the bridge
The trail can be slippery
Crossing Tamor River to get to a safe swimming spot
Swimming hole
Porters arriving at camp
Hike from Chhiruwa at 4,000 feet to Jomgin at 9,000 feet through mostly subtropical regions
Cooking crew cleaning up
View back to camp
Recent landsllide - the wood is part of a crushed house
Tapethok and the beginning of six wet days
On the trail
Lelep
Rest break at Lelep - out of the rain
Lunch was in the house of locals
Monument to parents/grandparents
Camp from the ghompa (Buddhist temple)
Children playing soccer on top of school building under construction
Porters and locals
A small village on the other side of the Tamor River
Tongba - the local alcoholic beverage made from fermented millet
Me enjoying a tongba
Dinner
A leech had a good feed while I was asleep
A leech
Why visit?
Poinsettia
Curious boy
View up Ghunsa Khola (we returned down this valley) and millett field
Millet - grown higher up than rice
A mani wall - pass with wall to the right
Mani stones
Trail above the Tamor River - note the bridge upstream
Porters resting at bridge
Lovely forest
A recent landslide
Boy
Waterfall on other side of river
Waterfall we walked beneath
Sheep
John and view back down the Tamor River
Rex reading at field about to be turned into campsite - Inaladauda
The fields grew potatoes and corn
This was the grimmest part of the trek - like World War I trenches
View up the Tamor River
Mud
A large praying mantis
A nice setting for breakfast
Bridge over the Tamor River
The amount of water is incredible
Even the porters found the footing poor here
Lunch under a temporary shelter from the rain
We are now getting into more remote parts at 8,000 feet
Me at Jongin (9000 feet)
Several of us hiked up 2,000 feet to Olangchung Gola - peopled by the Walung originally from Tibet
Landslide - we left late at 3.30 pm
Dave at the mani wall entering Olangchung Gola
Olangchung Gola
The ghompa above Olangchung Gola is 400 years old but rebuilt in 1860
Olangchung Gola from the ghompa
Old prayer wheels
Ghompa and prayer wheels
Entrance - no photos allowed inside
Country changes to subalpine and alpine with Fall color
Leaving camp at Jongin
Some sunshine and Charlie with his ubiquitous umbrella
Rain returns
A fire for warmth
Fall color
Camp at Tiguma
Alpenglow on peaks above camp
Charlie near the end of substantial forest
View towards Sarphu Peak (in cloud)
Telephoto shot of Sarphu Peak in previous photo
Ang Khami
Keith and Heather with camp behind
Me above camp on a late afternoon walk
Our first and only campfire on the trip
Porters early in the morning
View back to bridge over the Yangma Khola
Occasional sandy benches - remnants of glaciation
Chorten before Yangma village
Yangma village at 14000 feet is the highest village in Nepal
Yangma village
Yangma village - ghompa at the top
Woman harvesting potatoes
Woman
Yangma village - microwave dish for telephone
Woman and child
Yak
Cook Maila purchasing food
Inside a house - wood fire for cooking, cheese above, drinking regular tea
Yaks grazing
Camp above Yangma village
Early morning nature call
Ken managed the sloar panels and battery recharging
Time to sort out the food for up high
An hour in the hyperbaric chamber (here pressurized to 9000 feet) helps overcome altitude sickness
The first day we used yaks to carry gear
The cooking staff still carry the cooking equipment
Chheche Pokhari - a glacial lake
Yak train coming through from Tibet
Windblown patterns at head of lake
View down Pabuk Khola - note the yaks carrying our gear
Unloading the yaks
Sarphu peaks to the SSE rise to 21000 feet
Chhochenphu Himal to the SSW rise to 19500 feet
The highest camp for the trekkers was at 15400 feet 5 miles in a straight line beyond Yangma
Early morning and completely clear skies
Hike up peak on ridge at 17100 and then P5346 (17600 feet) behind out of sight
Keith with Sarphu peaks behind
View down to camp
First view of Yangma peak
Yangma peak - summit ridge is skyline to right of peak
Dave left camp later - view south down Pabuk Khola
180 degree view west from P5346 (17600 feet)
180 degree view east from P5346 (17600 feet)
Dinner included yak meatballs
Heavy frost
Trekkers heading off on the hike that Theo, Keith, Dave and I did the day before
I rest at camp
Sarphu peaks rising above morraine in the foreground
Himalayan blue sheep 100 yards away (telephoto shot)
Himalayan blue sheep in profile
Female blue sheep from 20 yards
Young male blue sheep
Finally the herd left
"Bed tea" - white tea with sugar - the way to start the day
Another spectacular day
The trekkers and climbers - Photo 1 of 4
The trekkers and climbers - Photo 2 of 4
The trekkers and climbers - Photo 3 of 4
The trekkers and climbers - Photo 4 of 4
The yaks are back
Time for trekkers and climbers to part ways
Loading the yaks
Loaded yak
Yaks heading off
We took yak trails above Cheche Khola and Nanggama Pokhari to climbers base camp at 17000 feet
A last photo in this incredible setting
View southeast to Sarphu peaks
Me with Sarphu peaks behind
John with Chhochenphu Himal behind
Keith and view to southwest up Chheche Khola
Our yaks close to base camp
The End - See separate slideshows for the climbing and for the trek out
