Reflecting Back

My hiking began in Summer 2006 after I retired from Bank of America.   I embarked on the never-ending “project” of fitness - get healthy and lose weight – by hiking and swimming.  Both continue to date.

Mount Diablo (3864 ft) is in our backyard – more appropriately, our house is in the foothills of Mount Diablo.  Therefore, it was only logical that my hiking experience started there.  Initially on paved roads, then trails.  Soon, I joined “casual” hiking groups and became a regular.  (These hiking groups announce weekly in newspapers and via emails, the date, time and place where the next hike will be, as well as the distance, time and difficulty level of the hike.   You show up at the designated place, sign the waiver, and hike.)   It is great to have the company of like-minded people, share stories and experiences, and encourage each other to do more.

Over the years, I had heard stories of people hiking all the way to the top of Mount Diablo, and wanted to see if I could do it.   One Saturday, I went to join that day’s hike, but had missed the email about change of location.  Since no one showed up where I was, I just decided to make my own hike -- to the top of Mount Diablo, and made it in about 3 ½ hours. I took a more scenic route on the way back and returned in 2 ½ hours.  Six hours including some time at the top.   Coming downhill, however, I forgot to tighten my shoelaces and consequently, stubbed both my big toes against the shoe.  It was really painful for the last mile or two.   Eventually, both big toe nails fail off and new ones grew.  But I was happy with my accomplishment.

The leap from Mount Diablo to my first “real” trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC) Nepal was purely accidental -- and monumental.  Trekkers generally train themselves by first climbing the Half Dome in Yosemite, Mount Whitney, Mount Shasta, Mount Rainier, Mount McKinley, Mount Kilimanjaro, before attempting Everest Base Camp.  I skipped all the in-between steps and went directly to EBC.

Not being a climber, going to the top of Mount Everest was never my goal.   Besides, in the amount of money it takes to make it to the top, it is possible to see / trek the rest of the world.

In January 2009, a colleague and I happened to attend someone's presentation about their EBC Nepal trek the previous year.  We were both hooked and earnestly planned to follow their route.  The colleague had to drop out later, but by then I was all psyched to go.  So I did three months later - in April 2009.


After the trek, I realized how unprepared I was - about the difficulty of the trek, the terrain, the risk/rewards and the magnitude of it.  Furthermore, I then wondered how do I top the EBC adventure with something grander?


Well, another opportunity kind of sneaked in.  If I had not done EBC in 2009, my fallback choices in the Himalayas would have been Kailash-Mansarovar or Annapurna circuit.  

Hindus consider Kailash-Mansarovar a holy pilgrimage (Yatra).  It had been very difficult for most foreigners to enter Tibet, for a long time.   Only in the last few decades, it became possible to do this trek – initially from India, and now Nepal. (Tourist dollars help!!!)  Because of a treaty between Nepal and China, one can travel to Tibet from Kathmandu with a special visa/travel permit AND only with a tour group arranged as a travel package.  You get a single entry group visa, which requires you to stay with the tour operator the entire time (they keep your passports.)  And any other China visa you may already have is cancelled.

Annapurna circuit is lot more convenient and cheaper.   Annapurna lies entirely in Nepal, and travel groups in Kathmandu are able to customize the trip to suit your needs while making more money for themselves.

In January 2011, I got an email from an Indian travel group about their Kailash-Mansarovar trek.  The price was right and the timing was perfect.  When I explored further, I realized that the groups in India subcontract the tour to a group in Kathmandu, Nepal, who arrange the trip, take you to the Tibet border, and in turn, subcontract to their Tibetan counterparts.  Why then shouldn’t I cut out one middleman and go directly with the group in Kathmandu – one I was familiar with previously.  But two problems cropped up.

Just as I was about to book the trek, I got an invitation to teach a short course in late September at LanZhou University, GanSu, China.   What a coincidence, I thought.   I can do the trek and then go on to LanZhou in the same trip.  But most treks to Kailash end in August.  I could do a private group with minimum two people in September, but costs would be much higher.  Then I found another group from India with a September trek. 


All looked fine and I was ready to pay the deposit, when it became clear that this new plan was not workable either - as a SINGLE trip.  The China/Tibet visa you get for Kailash Yatra is a single entry group visa, and it expires as soon as you return back to Kathmandu.  I will then need to apply and get a brand new visa before entering China again.  The time was limited (3 days) – and what if the visa is rejected?   I couldn’t take that chance.

Back to square one – I thought.  I almost would do the trek via Kathmandu, Nepal in June/July/August, and then separately go to LanZhou after obtaining a separate visa to China.  Or, I could get the visa to China first, and then find a tour operator in Lhasa, Tibet – cutting out both middlemen – in India and Nepal.

That plan seemed to work much better.  The tour operator custom designed a trip for two (my son Kedar and I) AND added EBC Tibet to the tour as well.  How can you beat that?

By itself, trek to EBC Nepal is preferable any day over EBC Tibet.  But having already done the Nepal side, it would be interesting to experience the north face of the giant mountain peak.   Hope the weather cooperates.