Adventure stories for kids that love to learn #3 1941 Gaston Place Apt 122 Austin, Texas 78723 USA Phone (512) 929-7776 Email grodgers@austin.rr.com URL http://www.GenosPlace.org May 1995

Hi kids. This ismy third realadventurestory for kidsthat love tolearn. I learneda lot in mytravels andnow I wouldlike to sharethose

experiences with you. That’s me inthe picture above and here is one ofmy many stories.

Namaste !

Good morning Geno, Namaste!Time to wake up and see themountain! “Namaste Tsering,” Isaid. Tsering made it a habit to bringme black tea at 6:15, every morningon the trail. It was customary to say,“Namaste!” Namaste is a Nepaleseexpression that translates to, “Isalute the god within you.” When heopened the door to the hut thebright sun light seemed almostblinding.

Tsering was one of the Sherpas Ihired to carry me up and down themountains. A Sherpa is a native ofthe Sherpa area of Nepal. The wordSherpa is sometimes mistakenlyapplied to all porters. I hired 4Sherpas to take turns carrying me,one at a time, on their back. Theyput me in big wicker basket called adoko and carried me up and downsteep mountains and across footbridges like the kind you see inIndiana Jones movies. A doko isusually used to carry supplies orsmall children. It is light yet strong.

After I got some help gettingdressed and into my wheelchair, Iwas treated to more black tea andsome Tibetan bread. Tibetan bread isbest described as a flat fried donut.It is served with jam or honey.

During breakfast we enjoyedlooking at the mountains. Themountain that Tsering spoke of isMachhe Puchhare (Fishtail), one ofthe more famous of the Himalayanmountains. Nepal is famous forhaving seven of the eight tallestmountains in the world. The tallestmountain here in Nepal, in fact in theworld, is Mount Everest. BecauseEverest is so tall, the peak is onlyvisible from certain areas of Nepaland only when there is no cloudcover.

After breakfast it was time to starttrekking again. Trekking refers tohiking along the trails that linkNepal's isolated villages andsettlements and is similar tobackpacking. However, while peoplego backpacking to get away frompeople, in Nepal you are a visitor topeoples' homes and villages. Besidesother trekkers, we shared the trailswith pack animals (burros) and

porters who carried supplies to theremote villages.

The Sherpa put the strap of the dokoon top of his head, with the otherend of the leather strap wrappedaround the lower part of the doko.He stood up, with me still in thedoko, and tested the weight andbalance on his back. No sooner had Ibeen seated in the doko than I foundmyself mobile, on the back of aSherpa. He walked hunched over,dispersing much of my weight on hisback.

The Sherpas were amazing! Theywalked and sometimes ran, withheavy loads on their backs, with cat-like grace. They were as sure footedas mountain goats and neverseemed to get tired. They steppedover logs and up rock steps withamazing ease. Even the sun didn’tbother them. High in the mountainsthere are few clouds to filter out thesuns rays. Temperatures on thetrails got as high as 50° C (122°F) inthe sun. Because of my spinal cordinjury I was sensitive to hot weather.Thankfully, there were plenty oftrees to provide shade. The Sherpasalso fixed a canopy on the doko toprovide shade where there were notrees.

When I got too hot I would shout“panny” (the Sherpa word forwater). Since very few Sherpas

speak English I had to learn some oftheir language. When I said“panny”, they stopped, took my hatand soaked it in cold water comingout of one of the many pipes stuck inthe mountain. They put the hat backon me to cool me off. There aremany places where the Nepalese justinsert a long bamboo shaft (that hasholes in it) into the mountain. Oftentimes that is all that is necessary tocatch run off water which filtersthrough the mountains. Althoughall the Nepalese drink this water, webrought our own bottled water, thatway we didn’t need to worry aboutbacteria in the water.

Sometimes when we stopped Iwould say, ”Photo”, and point atsomething. They would take mycamera and snap a picture. TheNepalese were very helpful - it ispart of their culture. Most didn’tspeak English but that didn’t stop

them. If it looked like I needed helpeating or laying down or doing justabout anything, the Sherpas weresure to offer their assistance. Theyare very kind and gentle people.

Twice a day we would stop to eat.The main dish for the Nepalese isdaal bhaat which consists of whiterice and lentil soup and usually plainor curried green vegetable.

Other Nepalese foods include boiledpotatoes, brown bread, friedpotatoes, pasta (with onion,

Story Questions1. Can you find Nepal on an atlas?2 . I flew into Kathmandu, then

drove to Pokhara, then drove toAnnapurna to start my trek. Canyou retrace my journey ?

3. How far is it from Kathmandu toAnnapurna ?

4 . How do the Nepalese lookdifferent from most Americans?

5. Would you like to live in Nepal?Why or why not ?

6. Most Nepalese are Hindu, manyare Budist. What does that meanand what role does it play in theirculture ?

7. How would you prepare to gotrekking in Nepal ?

8. What is hydroelectric power ?9. Have you ever been on a bridge

like the one on page 3 ?

vegetable and/or cheese), instantnoodle soup, pizza, and yak cheese.

the village has electricity (over athird do), it will come on after darkand the lodges usually have only asingle light bulb per room. Thereare no TV’s, radios, electric stoves,washers, dryers, or computers in themountains. The Nepalese generateelectric power with miniaturehydroelectric stations. As glaciersmelt, their water runs down themountains. There are many placeswhere hydroelectric stations are setup to take advantage of this runoff.

When our trekking was over I wassorry to say goodbye to our Sherpafriends. Even though we didn’tspeak the same language we gotalong very well.

Good News for Girl ScoutsHey kids, good news, I sent anewsletter to a close friend whogave it to her sister who shared itwith her girlscout troop. Since thenthe girls and I have been email penpals, and it's been fun. They learnmore about me, my adventures, andmy disability. I learn all about them.And now, other troops aroundPennsylvania are getting hooked upwith someone like me who can be anemail pen pal. Let me know if youwant to be an email pen pal withsomeone who has disability.

A big thanks goes out to JayKennedy for scanning photos forthis edition of “Geno’s Place”.