They're just there

George Leigh Mallory was one of the greatest British alpinists of the early 20th century, and his big dream

 was conquering the summit of Everest. On July 8th 1924 he was seen clearly through a crack in the clouds 245 meters from the summit, and has never been seen since. His body was found 75 years later, and until then no one knew whether he reached the summit or not.*

Before he met his demise at the place he's been looking for it, Mallory made a tour around the US lecturing about mountain climbing. In one of his lectures, a nagging reporter asked him "Sir Mallory, why climb Everest?". His famous, improvised and impatient answer: "Because it is there".

Maybe that's the best description of the Himalayas - they're just *there*. Their size challenges the viewer's sense of perspective, and they look eternal, as if they're simply not going anywhere. They don't make one feel physically small as much as insignificant in time.

mountains, reflected in the window of the world's highest hotel

a tiny piece of the Himalayas, with Everest in the middle

Want a fun fact? Apparently the Himalayas are actually one of the most mobile mountain ranges in the world - they're growing at a rate of half a centimeter per year, still pushing their way upwards from the force of India's collision with Asia about 50 million years ago. Actually that's not that long ago - when dinosaurs roamed the earth, India was still a large island off the coast of Africa. Want another? Ok, here - the highest mountain outside of Asia is Aconcagua in Argentina, towering at 6,961 meters above sea level. Impressed? The Himalayas laugh at this puny hill - it has more than a hundred mountains over 7,200 meters tall.

And now, a few facts about the Everest itself, or to be exact, about its peak. It was first ascended in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand, who became a national hero and still appears on his country's 5 dollar bill; and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, "the tiger of the snow", who became a hero in India, Nepal and Tibet (they're still all trying to claim him as their own) and a little sadly the first low-born Asian to become famous in the West. What's a Sherpa? The Sherpas are a people (or a tribe? what's the difference?). They immigrated from Tibet around 500 years ago and many of them currently live in the Everest region. They are famous for their physical strength, their ability to cope with oxygen-poor high altitudes and for their good nature and intelligence, and they are the ones who have been helping western climbers to try and reach high peaks in the area since the 1920s.

The Everest is considered a relatively simple peak for professional mountaineers and doesn't require any impressive technical skills such as rock climbing or advanced ice scaling techniques. This is mostly thanks to a team of Sherpas who clamber up themselves before the climbing season starts and install ropes and ladders for the convenience of the (mostly western) expeditions that will come later. Hundreds reach the summit every year, but it's still dangerous due to the oxygen-starved air, the avalanches, the cold and the sudden storms that can bring fierce hurricane-strength winds. There are different ways to calculate the danger level, but the bottom line is that one person has died on Everest for every 15 that have reached the summit. Besides the risk, the climb demands considerable stamina; lots of willpower to deal with weeks of cold, cough, pain and altitude sickness during the wait for the window of opportunity and the acclimatization to the thin air; and the mental capacity to deal with the possibility of setting out on "summit day" (a 12-hour climb) which might end in a turnaround 100 meters before the top because you were too slow or the weather has changed, many times without the opportunity to try again.

Oh, and you also need about a hundred thousand dollars.

the runway at Tenzing-Hillary airport, considered one of the world's most difficult landings.
The pilot lands on a slope and has to quickly turn and stop to avoid hitting the wall

Something else: in 1978 the legendary/crazy Italian climber Reinhold Messner first reached the summit without bottled oxygen. Many didn't believe him, and accused him of sucking oxygen from miniature bottles hidden in his climbing partner's clothes. He denied the accusations, and proceeded to shut everyone up two years later by climbing not only without oxygen, but also completely alone. Crazy.

The only two people that might be crazier than him are the American Jordan Romero (or maybe his parents), who became the youngest to ever reach the top in 2010, doing it when he was 13 years old; and a Japanese gentleman named Yuichiro Miura who became the oldest person to reach the top in 2003, at 70. The crazy part is that when someone broke his record a few years later, he did it again when he was 75. And then someone broke it again, so he did it again this year, at 80.

So far for fun facts about the Everest. Credit goes out to Wikipedia, people we met on the way, and the book "Into thin air".

any further questions? Enquire here

***

On a trek you do a lot of things - you walk, you meet trekkers, locals and yaks, you drink lots of tea, you play cards and you eat dal bhat and momo (the first is a filling rice-beans-baked vegetable dish and the second is local dumplings). But the most powerful experience is simply walking into the mountains. You live with them and breathe them, day after day. You learn to recognize each individual mountain and know it by name, and you understand that each one has its own character - from the sharp zigzags of Thamserku, through the beautiful asymmetry of Ama Dablam to the wide, massive pyramid of the Everest. This character tends to change with the weather, the time of the day and your line  of sight. Sometimes you come back down a slightly different path, you see a familiar peak surrounded by an orchestra of clouds and you stop and stare, discovering a new facet of the mountain's personality.

things you do on a trek, number 1: put on sunscreen

things you do on a trek, number 2: drink lots of water 

number 3: bug Neriya

number 4: discover surprising landmarks

number 5: Momo eating momo

Thamserku

Ama Dablam

boom, there's the Everest

The name of the trek, "Everest Base Camp", is a little misleading. The "King Mountain" is indeed the reason people come here, the reason the region has an airport, schools and hospitals, and the reason the locals are adept at carrying loads and using climbing equipment even though their forefathers have been farmers for hundreds of years; but it's not the most beautiful mountain or the most commanding peak, and the base camp itself - the point where expeditions start the grueling climb to the top - is certainly not that interesting. There's usually just a tent city there (when we were there even that was missing, so it was just some rocky ground), and a lot of trekkers don't even bother making the 6-hour return trip and instead climb to Kala Pathar - a 5,545-meter spot that provides the closest accessible viewing spot of the highest point on the planet. The whole trek is a Y-shape, with the starting point at the top and a snowy mountain pass connecting the two arms. Our first plan was to go around the whole Y, but we've been told that the pass is probably closed due to the storm (see previous post), and many people said the western side is actualy the highlight. So we ended up giving up going to the base camp area altogether, and the trek was simply fantastic. Later we went to the Everest Stake House and had a salad.

the trek

Gokyo from above - a much nicer place than Everest Base Camp

a few minutes earlier

 Beyond the experience of walking into the mountains, one of the most interesting things on the trek is the people. It's a little funny (or sad) how easily they fall into national stereotypes (hey, call us shallow. we tell it like it is). The Japanese usually walk around in large groups, with colorful gear, they're usually older (we met one who was 69), and many of them have both porters and guides. One group especially impressed us - not only were they having miso soup and ramen noodles that were probably flown in from Japan, they each received a hot water bottle at the end of each meal to keep themselves nice and warm. Hooray to the Japanese.

The Germans, on the other hand, were tough, serious, fast, and looked as though they were doing the whole trek as a preparation to some sort of mountain marathon. Even the older ones passed us on the trail, usually in the "70-year-old German Woman Method" that Neriya later adopted - you take small steps and walk very slowly, but you *never stop*. The Israelis can tell you about the best and cheapest places, and usually come back from the trail sick/sunburned/exhausted. And the Australians are simply outgoing and great. We were especially lucky to meet an awesome couple from Darwin, Australia, who we spent much of the trek with. Super friendly guys, smart and funny with a heart of gold. 

they're somewhere in this picture, we're not sure where

In the background, around and inside all these people, are the porters - the locals who make their living carrying westerners' backpacks. It does feel very strange to have someone taking your stuff on his (or her) back, but they make two months' pay in two weeks and live very well off it or send their kids to school. They're surely much better off than the ones who don't know English and end up getting paid by the kilo and carrying 30, 40 or 80 kg loads of beer, mattresses or firewood up the mountain.

a relatively modest load. And he's wearing shoes, too, and not flipflops

Geljen Sherpa, the guy who was with us, was mostly really sweet and positive. But we were surprised at the nuances of the porters' local politics - they get offended if you go to a different restaurant than the one they recommended, sleep in different lodges than the ones they pointed you too, etc. Of course it's not just business, but lots of respect issues - did someone see him start walking to a different lodge, does the owner's sister know his brother-in-law, and so on. It took us a while to realize that they also occasionally pay for food and a bed, and don't just get it free when they "bring" us in, and so in a few places they're unhappy and don't really say why. 

Eli losing miserably to Geljen

Geljen's family

our little family, in Geljen's home

One of the leading characters in the story of the trek is the weather. It affected everything about our day our mood, the difficulty of the trail, the beauty of the mountains and the amount of money we spent on tea to keep warm. You usually only walk four or five hours every day and spend most of the afternoon reading, writing, playing cards and staring out of the window of the lodge at the changing landscape, the setting sun and the shifting clouds which are often seen from an unusual perspective - from above. The cold usually isn't too bad. While you're walking it's not cold because you're moving your body, at night you get into a good sleeping bag and while you sit in the lodge it's usually nice and heated (unless they're being cheapskates and not renewing the supply of firewood [or yak crap, true story]). There's only one weak point - when you have to get out of your sleeping bag at night to go to the bathroom when it's minus 15 degrees outside and minus 5 in your room. Not very pleasant. One of our warmer nights was when we left a village early and arrived at our destination to discover that all three lodges were completely full. We ended up sleeping in the common room (which is also the lobby and dining room), together with all the porters. For us it was nice and warm, but it seemed it was somewhat awkward for them and they didn't really enjoy us seeing them play cards at night or clean up quickly in the morning before the trekkers arrived for breakfast.

Anyway, towards the end we were in a hurry to get back the warmth of a reasonable altitude, and we fantasized about sitting in the sun by the lake in Pokhara (a Nepali resort-town) or on the beach in Melbourne [Naturally, it rained for days straight in both cities when we got there].

snow!

snow, snow!

snow, snow, yak, yak, yak, Nepal!

the view from halfway up Gokyo Ri. The view from the top?
We have no idea, we spent an hour in a cloud

When the weather was especially cold, one of the most astounding sights we saw presented itself. It was in a village called Dole, we had finished dinner and were heading out to a different lodge to play cards with our Aussie friends. We were partway there when we looked up and froze. We'd never seen so many stars, or such a sharp and bright relief of the Milky Way. It was breathtaking, a little scary, and more than anything - hypnotizing.

hello, I am a yak

***

We've seen a lot of cool things and had many experiences during the trek, and the trip so far in general, and only one thing stayed constant. No matter if we were in a crowded apartment in some city, a cabin in the mountains or a dusty hostel, there's one moment in each day that stays the same, and in which we feel at home. It's the moment when we take out the sleeping bags, unroll them, open all the zippers, connect them so they form one big two-person sleeping bag, and climb inside. In that moment, when we get in the bag, everything around us disappears behind the scenes and all the day's experiences fade away a little and make room for one warm, fuzzy feeling - the feeling that we're here together, and that's the most important thing. And the most fun.

***

Here's another video. Sorry for the length. At this rate we'll be posting thirty-page updates and 5-minute videos by the time this trip is through. We'd write more concisely, but we didn't have time.

P.S. Oh, and we also met Miss Oceania (she's Australian) 

:) We even made her put her sash back on for the picture, like good Israelis.

there she is, by that blonde with the leopard-skin jacket

* Nobody knows to this day.

לא יכול לחיות נכון בג'ונגל מבטון

אז סיפרנו כבר שהתחנה הראשונה שלנו (אחרי לילה בלונדון) הייתה סינגפור.

לא לגמרי הצלחנו להבין מה הקטע של העיר-מדינה הזו. מצד אחד קדמה מטורפת, רכבות היי-טקיות בתוך העיר ובניינים שנראים כאילו הם נלקחו מתוך כרזות לסרטי מדע בדיוני ישנים ומצד שני אוכל רחוב אסייתי וזול וחום ולחות טרופיים בלתי נסבלים (בדיעבד התברר לנו שהעיר נמצאת רק 137 קילומטר מקו המשווה, ושהטמפרטורה הכי נמוכה שנמדדה בה אי פעם היא 19 מעלות. ג'יזס).

ג'ונגל באמצע העיר

באמת ג'ונגל, עם קופים והכל

האימפריה מכה שנית

חוץ מזה, יש תחושה כללית שיש משהו לא לגמרי תמים שמסתתר מאחורי החזות הנוצצת והמתוקתקת. המארחת שלנו בקאוצ'סרפינג (שהייתה נהדרת, דרך אגב) סיפרה שמעבר לעניין הקנסות המפורסם (כן, 500 דולר על אכילה ברכבת) יש נטיה כללית להתערבות ממשלתית בכל תחומי החיים, גיוס חובה למרות שלא ברור מהם האיומים הצבאיים על המדינה, ותשדירים מלחיצים שקוראים לתושבים לדווח על כל חפץ או אדם חשודים, למרות שלפי מה שהצלחנו להבין, מעולם לא היה שם פיגוע או אירוע בטחוני כלשהו.

Singapore is a FINE country!

כבר הזכרנו שמאז הבחירות הראשונות ב-1959, אותה מפלגה זכתה בכל מערכות הבחירות? זו המדינה עם התמ"ג לנפש השלישי בעולם שמדורגת באופן קבוע כבעלת אחת מרמות השחיתות הכי נמוכות שיש, אבל מוגדרת לא כדמוקרטיה אלא כ"משטר מעורב" (שילוב בין דמוקרטיה ומשטר לא-דמוקרטי) על ידי האקונומיסט. אה, וכל התאספות של חמישה אנשים ומעלה דורשת אישור של המשטרה, יש עונש מוות חובה על רצח, ואמנסטי טוענים שכנראה שיש שם את שיעור ההוצאות להורג לנפש הכי גבוה בעולם. מלחיץ משהו.

"הסימן המוסכם בסינגפור ל"אנא אל תיכנס, אדוני

בלי שום קשר, קונספט מגניב אחד שכדאי לנו לאמץ משם הוא מתחמי האוכל שלהם. פוד-קורט בסינגפור (בין אם בקניון או ברחוב) מורכב מאוסף של שולחנות שסביבם המון דוכנים - כל אחד לוקח מה שבא לו, וכולם יושבים ביחד בערבוביה. נוח וכיף, וכל מנה עולה רק 4-5 דולר.

הדבר השני המגניב הוא הגישה היצירתית שלהם לאטרקציות. היא ניכרת במיוחד באתר חדש שנפתח בעיר - ה-Gardens by the bay. ישבו אנשים וחשבו - יש פה איזור שלם ליד הים, צמוד למתחם של מלונות מפוארים. אין שם שום דבר מעניין. זה לא מוקד של תרבות עתיקה, זו לא פיסה יפה של טבע, אין שם כלום. מה נעשה? נמציא משהו. נבנה מגה-עצים ממתכת, נלפף סביבם צמחים מטפסים טרופיים, ונקרא להם ״עצי על״. נשמע מגניב, לא? תוסיפו לזה גן בוטני עצום, שתי כיפות זכוכית ענקיות עם ביוספירות טרופיות שלמות בפנים, וקיבלתם אטרקציה מלאכותית לחלוטין אבל איכשהו מאוד מקומית.

עצי על!

!ככה הם נראים מקרוב

?!כמו כן - מה לעזאזל

אגב, תיאוריית קונספירציה אחת גורסת שהרעיון לגנים נולד כשהתברר שממלון ה-Marina Bay Sands (זה שתוכנן על ידי משה ספדיה, הגג שלו נראה כמו סירה ענקית וכולל בתוכו, מסתבר, את הקזינו הסגור הכי גדול בעולם) יש נוף מרהיב על כל העיר מכיוון אחד, אבל בצד השני לא היה שום דבר מעניין - ולכן החליטו לבנות שם את הפארק.

נ.ב. למי שראה את הגמר של העונה השנייה של המירוץ למיליון, שם בדיוק הייתה נקודת הסיום האחרונה של המירוץ.

המלון המדובר

(הנוף מהגג שלו (מהצד שלא צופה לגנים

***

במעבר חד, טסנו מסינגפור ונחתנו ישר בקטמנדו, בירת נפאל. כל מי שיצא אי פעם משדה תעופה במזרח מכיר את ההתנפלות של נהגי המוניות ביציאה, ובהקשר הזה קטמנדו לא שונה. הזמנו את ההוסטל שלנו מראש, והוא היה משמעותית יקר יותר מהמקובל (20 דולר שלמים לשנינו ליום, כולל ארוחת בוקר). מצד שני, לא היינו צריכים לחפש מקום בגשם ברגל וגם היו שם חבר׳ה ממש מעניינים ולא הקהל הרגיל של ישראלים אחרי צבא (בלי להעליב) ובריטים שיכורים. פגשנו שם אמריקאית בת 31 שעזבה הכל ונסעה לטיול של שנה שבמהלכו היא מתכוונת לבקר בכל שבעת פלאי עולם הטבע ומתכוונת לכתוב על זה ספר (הנה לינק לבלוג שלה); פגשנו בחור בן 65 שהיה בכל שבע היבשות (כן, כולל אנטרקטיקה), מתכנן טיול של חודש לאפריקה לשנה הבאה, והמליץ לנו על ״טיסת הרים״, במהלכה לוקחים נוסעים אל מעל לעננים לתצפית על רכס ההימלאיה ומגיעים פחות מ-10 קילומטר מפסגת האברסט; פגשנו זוג שנראו כאילו הם יצאו מ״into the wild״; פגשנו צעירה מסינגפור שהיתה תקועה שלושה ימים בסופת שלגים בתוך אוהל באברסט בייס קמפ עצמו, בלי תקשורת, וסיפרה לנו על מישהי שהתחילה להשתגע שם וניסתה להתפשט ולצאת החוצה בטענה שחם לה; ופגשנו שתי נשים ישראליות בנות חמישים פלוס בדרכן להודו.

כשהגענו להוסטל, התחלנו לשמוע כל מיני חדשות מדאיגות לגבי מזג האוויר (ירד גשם ללא הפסקה במשך כמה ימים): אחת הסופות הכי גדולות מזה שנים פגעה בהודו וההשפעות ניכרו בנפאל; יורד מלא שלג בהרים והרבה ממסלולי הטיול סגורים; כל הטיסות בתוך המדינה (הדרך היחידה להגיע לתחילת המסלול של האברסט בייס קמפ אם לא רוצים ללכת שבוע ברגל) מבוטלות כבר כמה ימים; ואף אחד לא יודע כמה זמן זה יימשך. שמענו מכל אחד שפגשנו תחזית אחרת, החל מ״מחר יתבהר״ ועד ל״זה יהיה ככה לפחות שבועיים, תיסעו להודו במקום״. 

מזג האוויר התבהר די מהר, וכבר למחרת הפסיק הגשם וזכינו לראות את טאמל, השוק/רובע תיירים של קטמנדו, במלוא הרעש והבוץ שהוא מסוגל לו. היה כיף לאכול ארוחות ב-12 שקלים ולקנות ציוד טיולים בעשירית מחיר, אבל רצינו להגיע להרים. הזמנו טיסה כמה ימים קדימה בתקווה שיתבהר עד אז ונסענו ליישוב קטן במרחק שעתיים משם, לטיול קצר באיזור כפרי יותר. 

למרות האמירה הידועה ״דברים כיפיים הם כיפיים״ (ש. כהן), הסתבר שההמלצה הנפוצה על תצפית לשקיעה ולזריחה על פסגת ההר המקומי היתה מיותרת. יום הטיול למחרת, לעומת זאת, היה קשה אבל מהנה, מלא בנופים מרהיבים וכפרים זערוריים. וטרסות. טרסות בכל מקום. לא הצלחנו להבין אם הילדים המקומיים שאנחנו פוגשים הם סתם חברותיים או שהם מנסים לקבץ נדבות. לצערנו, קרה כמה פעמים שחשדנו בהם אבל הם סתם רצו להגיד לנו שלום ולתת לנו פרחים. אבל אז פגשנו שניים שאחרי כמה דקות של הליכה משותפת, התחילו לדרוש שנביא להם דברים, החל מכסף, דרך בקבוקי מים ועד לבובת הכלב שהיתה איתנו ("!water give!", "money give!", "dog give!") וחשפו בפנינו את הישבן כשסירבנו בנימוס. 

טרסות

טרסות, טרסות

נריה מקבלת תשר על זה שהיא חמודה

מיהו אותו כלב? ובכן, זהו מומו, שמטייל איתנו מסביב לעולם. הוא אוהב לטייל ולשחק ג׳ונגל ספיד, אבל לא אוהב להתקלח וגם לא לאכול מרק. הוא אוהב להצטלם בכל מיני מקומות ולהתחבר עם המקומיים, והוא מנהל את הבלוג הזה בשבילנו. 

זה אני

בסוף טיול היום שלנו ראינו שקיעה הרבה יותר יפה מזו שבשבילה נסענו יום קודם, וגם חווינו את החוויה המפוקפקת של להיות אורחים יחידים במלון. המלון התנהל במיטב המסורת של לכלוך, בלגאן ושכונה מוחלטת, עם מעטה של אלגנטיות בדמות צוות מעונב שפה אלינו כל הזמן ב-sir ו-ma'am. דוגמה בולטת: ביקשנו בארוחת הבוקר מים מינרליים. לא היינו בטוחים שהמלצר הבין אותנו, אז אמרנו לו bottled water, bottle of water. הוא עשה פרצוף מבין, חזר כעבור כמה דקות, והגיש לנו עם קידה בקבוק מים מינרליים.

ריק. 

בדרך חזרה לעיר הגדולה, עצרנו להסתכל על הפסל השני בגובהו בעולם של שיווה, אחד האלים המרכזיים בהינדואיזם. תשמעו, הוא די גבוה. מה הסיפור מאחוריו, אתם שואלים? האם נזירים מקומיים בנו אותו במשך עשרות שנים, או שהוא שריד מכפר עתיק שסגד לו לפני ארבע מאות שנה? כמעט. הוא נבנה על ידי טייקון דודי שמש מקומי, כדי להראות את דבקותו הדתית. בפועל, מסביב לפסל קיים מתחם עם מסעדה, מלון וספא, לא סגורים מה קדם למה. הספא מציע שלל טיפולים, ממסאג׳ שמנים ארומטיים ועד לחוקן מפנק. חזרנו לקטמנדו מאוכזבים מחוסר האותנטיות של האטרקציה המקומית.

פסל די גבוה

אנשים די גבוהים

קצת לפני סיום, טיפ של אלופים: אם מישהו אומר לכם יותר מדי פעמים ״don't worry״, זה הזמן להתחיל לדאוג. לא משהו רציני, אבל לא טעינו לגמרי כשחשבנו שאין סיכוי שכביסה תתייבש "בשמש" תוך שלוש שעות ביום מעונן. 

ולסיום, סרטון קצר נוסף. מחר נוסעים לאברסט!

נ.ב.

שכחנו לכתוב בפוסט הקודם – למי שתהה מאיפה הגיע הלוגו של הבלוג - זה בזכותם של לב ואנה המוכשרים, מתוך הברכה המקסימה שהם כתבו לנו לחתונה.

Jungle and concrete

So we've already mentioned that our first stop (besides one night in London) was Singapore. We didn't completely get what's the deal with that city-state. On one hand amazing progress, high-tech trains inside the city and buildings that look like they were taken from old science fiction posters; and on the other hand cheap asian street food and unbearable tropical heat and humidity (afterwards we learned that the city-state is located only 137 kilometers off the equator and its lowest ever recorded temperature was 19 degrees celsius. Jesus).  

a jungle in the middle of the city

an actual jungle, with monkeys and stuff

the empire strikes back

Besides, there's a general feeling that there is something not entirely innocent hiding beneath the shiny and organized facade. Our couchsurfing host (who was wonderful, by the way) told us that except for the famous fines (yes, 500 dollars for eating on a train) there is a general tendency for government intervention in all areas of life, compulsory army service even though it's not clear what the national military threats are, and scary broadcasts urging citizens to report any suspicious persons or objects, even though to the best of our understanding there has never been a terror attack or any other kind of security issue there.  

!Singapore is a FINE country

And have we mentioned that since the first elections in 1959, the same party has always won? Singapore is the country with the third-highest GDP per capita in the world, it consistently has one of the lowest corruption rates measured, but it's defined by the Economist not as a democracy but as a "mixed regime" (a mix between a democracy and a non-democratic regime). Oh, and any gathering of five people or over requires police approval, there is a mandatory death penalty for murder, and Amnesty claims that the city-state probably has the world's highest per-capita execution numbers. Somewhat scary.  

"this is local sign language for "please kindly carry on, good sir

Regardless, a cool concept from there that we should adopt is their food courts. A food court in Singapore (whether on the street or in one of their many malls) consists of a group of tables surrounded by lots and lots of stands – everyone grabs whatever they want and everyone sits mixed together. Fun and convenient, and every dish usually costs just 4 or 5 bucks. The other cool thing is their creative attitude towards tourist attractions. It's especially obvious in a new site opened in the city – the Gardens by the Bay. People sat and thought – there's a whole area here by the sea, attached to a complex of fancy hotels. There's nothing interesting there. Not an ancient cultural center, not a nice piece of nature, nothing. What should we do? Invent something. We'll build big trees out of metal, wrap some tropical vines around them and call them "supertrees". Sounds cool, right? Add a huge botanical garden and two gigantic glass domes with whole tropical biospheres inside, and you have a site that's completely artificial but somehow very local.  

!supertrees

!this is what they look like up close

!?also - WTF

By the way, one conspiracy theory suggests that the idea for the Gardens was born when someone realized that the Marina Bay Sands hotel complex (the one designed by Moshe Safdie, that looks like it has a giant boat on top, which apparently houses the world's largest indoor casino) has a stunning view of the city on one side, but nothing interesting on the other – and that's why the park was built. P.S. If you’ve seen the finale of the second season of the Israeli version of The Amazing Race, that's exactly where the finish point was.  

the aforementioned hotel

the view from its roof, on the non-Gardens side

*** In a dramatic shift of atmosphere, we left Singapore and landed straight in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. Anyone who's ever exited an airport in the Far East is familiar with the swarm of attacking taxi drivers, and in this sense Kathmandu is no different. We booked our hostel in advance, and it was significantly more expensive than most (a whole US$20 for both of us per day, including breakfast). On the other hand, we didn't have to look for a place on foot in the rain and there were also really interesting people there, and not the usual assortment of post-army Israelis (no offense) and drunk Brits. We met a 31-year old American who left her life behind and went on a one-year-long quest to visit all seven natural wonders and is planning to write a book about it (here's the link to her site); we met a 65-year old guy who has been to all seven continents (yes, including Antarctica), is planning a month-long trip to Africa next year and recommended we do a "mountain flight", where you are taken above the clouds for a vista of the Himalayas and get to under 10 kilometers from the peak of Everest; we met a couple who look like they came out of "Into the Wild"; we met a girl from Singapore who was stuck in a snowstorm at Everest Base Camp for three days, without communication, and told us about someone who started going crazy and tried to undress and go outside claiming she was hot; and we met two Israeli women in their fifties on their way to India.   When we got to out hostel, we started to hear some disturbing news regarding the weather (it's been raining nonstop for a few days): one of the biggest storms in years has hit India, and the effects were evident in Nepal; it's snowing in the mountains and many of the trekking routes are closed; all the local flights (the only way to reach the beginning of the trek to the Everest Base Camp unless you want to walk there for a week) have been canceled for a few days; and no one knows how long this will last. We heard a different forecast from everyone we met, from "it'll clear tomorrow" to "it's going to be like this for at least two weeks, go to India instead".   The weather cleared up pretty fast, and the very next day it stopped raining and we got to see Thamel, Kathmandu's busy market/tourist area, in all its muddy, noisy glory. It was fun to eat three-dollar meals and buy 10%-priced hiking gear, but we wanted to get to the mountains. We booked a flight for a few days ahead, hoping the weather will clear up by then, and went to a small town two hours away for a short hike in a more rural area.   Despite the well-known adage "fun things are fun" (S. Cohen), it turned out that the common recommendation of seeing the sun set and rise from the local mountain wasn't worth it. The hike the next day, however, was tough but beautiful, full of astounding views and tiny villages. And terraces. Terraces everywhere. We couldn't figure out if the local children are just social or whether they're trying to get money. Unfortunately, a few times we suspected them but they just wanted to say hi and give us flowers. But then we met two boys that after a few minutes of walking together started making demands ("water give!", "money give!", "dog give!") and mooned us when we politely refused.  

terraces

terraces, terraces

Neriya gets a tip for being adorable

Who is this dog? Well, that's Momo, who is traveling around the world with us. He likes to travel and play Jungle Speed, but he doesn't like to shower or to eat soup. He likes to get his picture taken in different places and connect with the locals, and he's running this blog for us.  

this is me

Anyway, at the end of our day trip we saw a sunset much more beautiful than the one we came for a day earlier, and we had the dubious honor of being the only guests in a hotel. The hotel was run in the best third-world tradition of dir and disorder, with a thin veil of elegance in the form of a well-dressed staff who kept addressing us as "sir" and "ma'am". One example: we asked for mineral water at breakfast. We weren't sure if the waiter understood us, so we told him "bottled water, bottle of water". He made a positive face and came back after a few minutes, serving us – with a bow, no less – a bottle of mineral water to our table.   Empty.   On the way back to the big city, we stopped to marvel at the world's second-highest statue of Shiva, one of the central gods of Hinduism. Listen, it's pretty tall. What's the story behind it, you ask? Did local monks build it over decades? Perhaps it is a remnant from an ancient village that worshipped it 400 years ago? Almost. It was built by a local water-tank tycoon to show his devoutness. Actually, there is a complex around it featuring a restaurant, a hotel and a spa; we're not sure which came first. The spa offers a variety of treatments, from an aromatic oil massage to a therapeutic enema. We returned to Kathmandu shocked at the lack of authenticity of the local landmark.  

one pretty tall statue

two pretty tall people

Before we finish, a tip: if someone keeps telling you "don't worry", that's when you should start worrying. Not anything serious, but we weren't completely wrong for being skeptical of a load of laundry's ability to "sun"-dry on a cloudy day.   And finally, another short video. Tomorrow we go to the Everest!   P.S. We forgot to write in the last post – if you were wondering about the logo, it's thanks to Lev and Anna, who included a drawing in their lovely card we got from them for our wedding.