Namche, Nepal

I'm spending a day here to acclimatize (more about thia later), so I thought I'd pen something.

One cannot describe several things until you experience them. This is obviously true...these words, these symbols I compose to represent my experience are, well, poor substitutions of you actually doing it yourself-- I could go on here about how this ties into the teachings of Jesus or Buddha, but, another day for on that observation.

Here then are a few more local observations where the words don't quite match up with the experiences:
* looking at a map and trying to figure out how that represents the reality of actually being in the location. It gets weirder when you are in the mountains. It's impossible to determine distances when you are dealing with altitude at the same time. What appears on the map as being a very short distance may take several gruelling hours of climbing or descending. In contrast, what appears to be a mountain you think is just a half hour away can take days to reach. Mountainous areas do weird things to space and time.

* as Doug mentioned, there is no way to capture the smells. No donkey shit here, more like yak shit, and human smell. Humans here smell like scorched earth and slightly fecal since they don't bath as frequently as other cultures. Then again, water, when it's available, is freezing cold and mainly reserved to sustain life--both human and beast.

* Altitude. This does strange things to your physical/mental being note-- since I subscribe to the belief that there is no mind without a body, or no body without a mind, the notion that the physical and mental are separate entities falls apart fairly quickly with a little investigation in the nature of being. Rather, I prefer the body/mind, different characteristics of the same natural phenomenon.

Altitude sickness is a very real problem. I was planning to rush up to Everest Base Camp in three days from Namche, but once I made Namche I felt light-headed and drunk. It is the wise one who heeds the signals of the body and acts accordingly. So another day of rest here.

Speaking of altitude and its effects, I met a German geneticist here who had just returned from the Everest Base Camp, where she was involved with some research into the effectiveness of a drug for hyper-tension. It seems that high altitude acts in the same way as one might experience in a fit of anxiety we tend to compound our modern lives with--you know-- getting upset about the guy ahead of you while you drive, impatient with a waiter at lunch, angry about some bill or other, or, in the case of the big businessman, that deal you just didn't close. It's hard to live these days without some form of tension, but when it gets overwhelming, it leads to hyper-tension, which is not good all the time.

Since altitude creates these physical effects naturally, it's the perfect place for some clinical research. Fifteen climbers and scientists were involved, and the drug that they were testing was—Viagra. Yep. No end of jokes were made about this. Actually Viagra was initially used for folks with circulatory problems—it dilates blood vessels allowing blood to flow more easily—the side effect, is, well…famous now.

The physical effects of hyper-tension are the constricting of the blood vessels. This can cause cardio/pulmonary problems—coronary thrombosis, shortness of breathe, confusion, and, well, plain bad feeling. And so it is at high altitude.

One difference is that since there is not enough pressure on the body, the blood actually accommodates the lack of pressure in the circulatory system by pressing out water. This is oedema. When the water presses out into the lungs, it causes water to accumulate and eventually you'll drown. When the blood presses water out into the brain, the brain swells and well, is fatal as well.

The research study was to determine if Viagra can open up the blood vessels and relieve hyper-tension. If so, you'll no doubt be reading about this in a few months.

But before you stock up with Viagra, there is one thing the German geneticist told me: race horses are known to run until they drop of exhaustion. When they are given Viagra, they no longer suffer from the exhaustion normally felt, and will actually run, double-time, beautiful strides and all that, until they keel over and die—of a heart attack. Be warned.

* Something I found out—if you wear shoes with a pointy tip, which fit really well to your foot, it makes going down steep slopes manageable. I had a pair of oversized shoes before, and that just made me out of control. (note-be sure to wear a pair of shoes that have enough foot room otherwise it's tough on the feet going down.

That's about all—I did want to mention about how traveling and walking alone has been great. There are hardly any tourists this year, and sometimes I have the whole lodge to myself. Which reminds me—I went to the ultra-expensive Japanese lodge to see how the other half live—but it was empty as well. One thing that is very strange—they fly the Japanese from Kathmandu to above Namche, which is over 2,000 m. Undoubtedly, when they arrive, they all suffer from extreme altitude symptoms. Stupid, huh. The typical Japanese solution--build a compression chamber and supply oxygen—at very high fees. Sheesh. When will they ever get it right and treat each other in ways other than to rip themselves off?

I was also going to talk about how I don't have all the gear and all that stuff I see a lot of folks equipped with. In effect, they look at me scurrying up and around them and sort of envy my small pack, small camera, and minimum gear. Travel Light!

Oh, one last thing—what's with the saying "the clothes make the man". Huh? Please sort this one out and reply with the correct answer.