Nepal Day 7: Thame Village
Day treks are hard. The point is to keep up with your fitness, trek high to acclimatize and then come back down low to sleep. Your body is working hard to build more red blood cells so your muscles can breath as you gradually ascend to higher altitudes. Meanwhile, your brain and legs are threatening to organize a protest if you take one more step. But then you take a deep breath, look around and kick yourself in the ass for even thinking about complaining. 
So, on Day 7 we took a long day trek to Thame Village. Along the way I saw a man puking on the side of the trail. If you know me, you know that throw up is in my top 3 biggest fears of all time. I immediately started assessing the contents of my own stomach and whether or not I felt nauseous. I quickly tried to put the whole scene out of my mind but I was kind of traumatized for the next 4 hours. But by the time lunch came around I put the mini anxiety attack to rest and chowed down on some egg fried rice.
As we ate lunch the clouds started rolling in. It was cold and rainy as we made our trek back to Namche Bazaar. Even though the temperatures are freezing, walking keeps you warm. And even though it's not technically raining, when you're walking through the clouds, before you know it you are soaked. 
Even though it's a little disheartening to walk for 8 hours, with your view of the Himalayas obscured by clouds, only to end up back where you came from soaking wet and exhausted, it was still one of the most beautiful days of my life.
Trekking feels like my whole life at this point - there is no past or future - all there is is one foot in front of the other and thinning air.
i can not even fathom doing what y'all did. perhaps if i had conditioned for it?
awesome photos. and heavy load men... i won't complain any more about carrying my groceries up the stairs.
again, thanks for sharing. pam
ACK.
Your photos and graphics get better every day. KATHLEEN.
That yak in the first is magic.
Pam - Jeremy and I are fairly athletic to begin with but I did work out extra hard leading up to this trek. You can check out my fitness routine here: http://jeremyandkathleen.blogspot.com/2010/07/working-on-my-fitness.html
Seriously though, I would recommend this trek to anyone. So much fun.
Jason - Thank you! I have to give the credit to the clouds for the photo quality in this post. They made everything so moody and beautiful.
So beautiful! And I'm just like you with the throw up thing. I've gotten a little better, but I used to virtually make myself sick worrying about getting sick!
Chelsey - ME TOO. The phobia seems to wane with age but my god - when I was in college I would leave once someone started puking (which was all the time, from drinking too much).
kathleen, thanks for reminding me of that workout post. i do remember reading that and the best thing i took from it was this...."I treat my workouts like a meeting I can't miss.". i struggle with consistency. i'm great once i start my workout, but it takes great motivation to get started! i need to remind myself how much better i feel after working out as motivation. pam
i can't believe THIS was your first time overseas!! can't wait to see what you guys do next time!
i really hope you have all these nepal blog posts turned into a little book for your coffee table. i think it would be really cool, & people would love to sit down on your couch & look at it.
everything about these posts documenting your trek is simply amazing and awe-inspiring, from the actual tale to the eye-catching way you are telling it! you rock!!!
Holy cow. I can't even imagine carrying the load that those guys are hauling. Sometimes, I think my Ipod's too much of a weight.
Kelly
It's official. I want a yak.
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