1. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
What on EARTH have I gotten myself into?????2. I should probably wrap myself in bubble wrap and live in quarantine for the next week and a half to avoid any potential injuries or sickness.
This one's simple--I'm clumsy and consistently that kid that gets sick on finals week; luck is never in my favor and these two options seem like my safest bet.3. Am I in shape?
I mean technically any solid matter has a physical shape...so, yes, I am in A shape. Unfortunately that's not really going to help me through day after day and mile after mile of hiking. And this is NEPAL we're talking about. Can't we just hire a Sherpa to carry me?4. What's the deal with altitude sickness?
To paint a picture: Augusta, Maine, my hometown, is at an elevation of 68 feet above sea level; North Andover, Massachusetts (where Merrimack College is located) is at 75 feet; our final destination in Nepal is upwards of 12,000 feet. Altitude sickness occurs when your body has trouble acclimating to new heights and cannot take in enough oxygen. Everybody reacts differently to the changes in altitude, and while most symptoms of the sickness are mild, others can be quite dangerous. Granted, all of us going on this trip have medication to treat the issue and insurance to cover anything that might go wrong, but just the fact of not knowing how you will react up there is a little daunting.5. I know how to say Namaste (hello)...and that's about it.
I traveled to Ecuador earlier this summer and what I found to be the most difficult, but also the most interesting, were the language and cultural barriers. Sure, I don't know how to speak Nepali or Sherpa and I don't know much about Hinduism or Buddhism, but I know that recognizing and embracing the differences between their culture and ours is what will make this trip so amazing.6. Leeches and Monkeys and Yaks--oh my!
Apparently during the rainy season (June - September), leeches can just fall from trees and land on you; groups of monkeys frequent the streets of Kathmandu; yaks just roam all over the country. Nepal is home to many other exotic animals--the "big five" are rhinos, elephants, Bengal tigers, snow leopards, and musk deer. While the jungles of Nepal are home to the rhinos and elephants and tigers, in the mountains we could get the chance to see a snow leopard or a musk deer, as well as red pandas, Himalayan tahr, langurs, and Asiatic black bears. That would be cool...right? Maybe?7. Who is going to sedate me and drag me across this footbridge?
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| Photo credit: Rocky Prajapati (Katha Haru), Tony Lee --See Thame Sherpa Heritage Fund page on Facebook |
8. Oh yeah--The Tenzing-Hillary Airport, also known as THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS AIRPORT?!
CASUAL…we’re flying from Kathmandu to Lukla to begin the hiking part of our journey, and flying out of Lukla back to Kathmandu at the end of our trip. Whatever you do, do NOT watch videos on YouTube of planes flying in and out of there. I already made that mistake. On the bright side, I am confident that if we survive the landing and takeoff, we're pretty much invincible and can survive anything else Nepal throws at us. |
| Yep, that's the landing strip. What's at the end of it? A cliff. And a mountain. (http://2nomads1narrative.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/plane-at-tenzing-hillary-airport-lukla.jpg) |
