As preparations for an upcoming trek in Nepal ramp up, I’ve begun thinking of this whole before-we-even-get-out-the-door process as an adventure akin to preparing for a stage production. Imagine excitement, anticipation, some trepidation, chaos, lots of rehearsals and so many backstage details.
The cast of our upcoming adventure has just received devastating news. Four of us have been looking forward to this trek for over a year, but one of our members, Michel, has just been diagnosed with cancer. Instead of tromping around Nepal, he will be having much less enjoyable adventure with chemo and surgery. Michel, our hearts are with you with wishes for your recovery. You will be missed.
With a “the-show-must-go-on” attitude, we carry thoughts of our comrade with us.
So how migh lowland walkers rehearse for a high-altitude trek?
Let’s set that stage on Mount Washington’s summer hiking trails. The lodge is at 1175 metres and the peak at 1590. Kathmandu is at 1400 metres. Perfect. Right? Well, maybe not. Our actual trek starts at 2440 metres and we will ascend to 5360-metre Renjo La. With those elevations in mind, Mount Washington may be less than optimal, but trudging up the overgrown Linton’s Trail or the steeper Giv’er to the peak is improving our physical stamina.
Our first encounters with the Linton’s trail were fraught with challenge. It hadn’t been maintained for years so we had to climb over and under fallen trees and pretty much guess our way up the mountain. The runs do look different in the summer. Is this Linton’s? We just kept walking up, but we met more than one group of confused tourists coming down.
“Where’s the trail?” one couple asked.
“Just keep walking down until you come to the lodge,” was our less than helpful reply.
A recent race solved the problem because in preparation for that event, the mountain chainsaw crew cleared the deadfall to make the trail negotiable and easier to find. Thank you, chainsaw crew.
Of course, there’s more to preparing for this performance than getting fit. Backstage chaos reigns supreme. This action-packed production requires pharmaceuticals, vaccines, travel insurance, registering the trip with the Canadian government, applying for the visa and deciding which gear to bring. While the production team is busy sorting through that myriad of stuff, there’s a curious twist to the plot to consider as well.
In April 2023, Nepal banned foreigners from independent trekking. We must now be accompanied by a guide licenced in Nepal. There may be some people who don’t like this new rule, but I applaud it.
Why? I’ve heard foreigners trekking without a guide, arguing about the cost of a meal or a bed for the sake of a few cents. Others, ignorant of the customs, make horrible cultural blunders that are insulting and disrespectful to the local population. And then there are those who get lost in the mountains and sometimes die because they didn’t “read” the conditions correctly. Trekking with a licenced guide provides income for that guide and their family and it mitigates potentialy costly mistakes some solo trekkers make.
Since first going to Nepal in 2011, I’ve trekked with the same guide, Tendi Sherpa. Over time, he's become a dear friend and then his parents welcomed me into their family as a daughter. I’m proud to be known as Tendi’s didi – his elder sister.
Tendi is the lead actor, the script writer, choreographer, and cultural compass of this production. He is also responsible for the supporting cast – without whom we could not perform. Three porters will join our fellowship of adventurers. That’s one porter for each of us Canadian lowlanders. Some trekking organizations save money by using one porter for two trekkers, but too often this practice overloads the porters. Unenforced rules are supposed to protect trekking porters from carrying no more than twenty-five kilos. I remember a trekker telling me – with pride – that her and her partner’s load was exactly twenty-five kilos.
“And what about the porter’s gear?” I asked. “His change of clothes? His coat?”
“Oh,” she said. “Well, I never thought of that.”
Interesting how we can forget to think about the welfare of the person we’ve hired to carry our load. Perhaps, a metaphor, for many aspects of life.
This next bit is technical backstage stuff concerning the pharmaceuticals we are bringing. Diamox for days above 3400 metres to take as a prophylactic to reduce chances of getting altitude sickness. Azithromycin as a just-in-case-we-need-it antibiotic. An analgesic of some sort. For me, that will be Tylenol and Voltaren. Cough suppressant because the dust, dry air and altitude can lead to way too much coughing. Coldmedication for a drippy nose – again all that dry air and dust. The normal travel first aid kit items like Band-Aids and antibacterial ointment. Sunscreen and lip balm. High altitude sun is brutal. Deet for when we’re in mosquito country in the lowlands of Chitwan after our trek. Mosquitos in lowland Nepal can carry all sorts of interesting diseases such as Malaria, Japanese encephalitis, Dengue and Chikungunya. I carry epi-pens, too, because I have a wasp allergy. I haven’t even mentioned toiletries … you can see how the volume and weight can add up.
Here’s more backstage tech. The pre-trip vaccines can seem like a daunting list. Besides all the normal vaccines that Canadians should already have such as MMR, chick pox, pertussis, polio, diphtheria and a few others – a traveller to Nepal should also be protected against Hep A, Typhoid fever, Tetanus, Cholera and must have a current COVID vaccine. A full Hep A vaccine series gives lifetime protection. Depending on type of typhoid vaccine, it is good for two to five years. Tetanus vaccines are good for ten years. Dukoral is an oral Cholera vaccine that requires one or two doses depending on how long it has been since last taking it. It offers short-lived protection of about three months. Nepal requires proof of current COVID vaccine. Rabies, Hep B vaccines and before and after tuberculosis testing are also on the list for people staying longer and living in closer contact with the local population than just trekking. Wow.
Buying travel insurance is never much fun but it’s an essential component of this production. All those trip delay, interruption, cancelation clauses – my package has thirty-seven of those alone. Illness and injury clauses, natural disaster and do-not-travel advisory clauses – there are so many contingencies to consider. It’s enough to give a person pause. When travelling in Nepal it is also important to have a remote evacuation clause – usually for around $5000.00 coverage – that will cover helicopter transport should a trekker become ill or injured. And some of those have altitude limitations. Read that policy – it’s a vital part of the script.
I have no idea how to relate this to our theatre production theme, but when you travel abroad do you register with the Canadian Government? I’m sure other countries have similar programs. This is also important so that if there is some sort of disaster – from riots to war, from flood to fire, from earthquakes to volcanoes – the government knows where Canadians are and can help with extraction/rescue. https://travel.gc.ca/travelling/registration is where travellers do this. It’s an easy process.
And then there’s buying the visa. This won’t as difficult as getting a Taylor Swift ticket without being a registered fan – I hope – but Nepal has recently instituted an on-line visa application process. We are new to this. Apparently, this should not be done more than two weeks ahead of the arrival date. The site https://ca.nepalembassy.gov.np/tourist-visa-application has some interesting English translation but is – I think – quite straight forward. Famous last words. There is also the option of standing in the very slow long line up at the Kathmandu airport and starting the process there.
Does this production have extravagant costumes? Oh yes it does. The gear. But there are multiple places where a person can look up trekking gear lists, and I need to get up the mountain for another huffing and puffing hike.
Very excited to get all this rehearsal business behind us and to return to the thrill of performing on the Himalayan stage! As Shakespeare wrote:
All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
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