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Why People Return to Nepal
Kathmandu - Thursday, April 13, 2000

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Berg

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Mountain Zone, it's Wally Berg on the 13th and I'm calling you from the Yak & Yeti. We had a great morning in Lukla. Typical Lukla morning: you are out in the sun watching the aircraft come and go. And by the aircraft I mean not only Twin Otters, but helicopters of all sorts, the big Russian helicopters, the new — or at least new for Nepal — Japanese Kawasaki helicopters, bustling activity in Lukla this morning. We were relaxed as we enjoyed a few final moments with our staff and we boarded our Yeti aircraft — pretty mid-morning I would say — and got to Kathmandu about 11 o'clock. More than one of our group commented to me as we drove in from the airport to the Yak & Yeti, 'I didn't remember it was so modern here.'

I had to laugh to myself and they were laughing as they said that because not long from now I will meet the next group of Everest Base Camp trekkers with Alpine Ascents at the airport who came to town and it is pretty funny to think that that sort of overwhelming, chaotic, mass of medieval, strange, Third World stuff that you see when you come in to Kathmandu initially after a short time trekking will seem modern, but in fact I think it always does. We're enjoying the modern comforts here at the Yak & Yeti and I know people have taken out and they are walking around the streets today — great feeling after a wonderful trek.

Our last day-and-a-half or our last hours in the Khumbu were equally as rewarding and interesting as the earlier part of the trip had been. In particular for me, as we walked down the trail from Namche to Lukla, I was happy to run across my old buddy, John Gully, who I had just happen to mention in an earlier dispatch for this trip and his work with New Zealand youth more than 10-years ago now on an Everest clean-up project. I hadn't seen Gully for years, he and Peter Jameson and Scott Fischer and I became really good buddies at Everest Base Camp in 1989, and it was a very warm reunion we had. Myself and Bruce and Evan ran across John as we were walking along a trail.

When we got to Lukla I sent you the sound which I hope was conveyed, some of the festivities, but we also just had a nice quiet time with our staff, walking off and saying goodbye. And individuals, by that I mean guides, porters, cooks, yak drivers, had the last moments with the Alpine Ascents group and it was a very warm time. We became very close on this trip, as we always do.

I should report that Kami, our yak driver from Namche, who had the eye injury, our last day in Namche he and Jeff Boscamp walked up to the Khunde clinic and got yet another Western medical opinion on Kami's eye and Jeff, I know, really enjoyed the opportunity to visit the Khunde clinic and see what their program is about there. And the news is great on Kami's eye; the prognosis is just as good as we thought initially. He is a very lucky man; his wound is healing nicely. We've determined with some certainty there is no damage even to the tear ducts and you know we dogged another bullet there, but Kami was very happy for the news and for the friendship with Jeff especially that this engendered.

Anyway, I could go on and on about the warm feelings that this group has for their staff, but that's kind of the typical story here in Nepal and about why people keep returning. We'll be having a little dinner tonight in the Chimney Room at the Yak & Yeti, which brought us up a lot of found memories from our initial dinner there during the trek, and I know it's going to be great to sit down and have a nice meal. We'll be around this town for a bit longer. We'll be doing, in small groups and on our own, some touring and shopping around Kathmandu. And, of course, I'm looking forward to spending a week or so here —a little longer than a week, actually — catching up with old friends and contacts in the valley and waiting for the arrival of the next Everest Base Camp trip.

— Wally Berg, Alpine Ascents Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent

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