So, I think the technical term for what our vacation has been so far is "clusterf*ck"
Our travel agency jerked us around on the permits; we wasted time in one town (Kalimpong); missed sights in others (Tsomgo Lake); shortened our stays in Pelling because of the
"transport" strike; only to get to Darjeeling and have two days with absolutely nothing to do because it was actually a general strike; to add insult to injury, even the weather isn't cooperating - the rainy season, which usually starts in June/July has come early, so besides being wet most of the time and having the mountains cruely hide behind clouds, we're contending with mosquitos the size of my index finger and leeches crawling up shower drains. UGH!
Some of you may have noticed that I'm ALSO writing to you before our trek was suppose to end on Friday evening ... How to put into words the utter frustration of the past three days.
By Monday morning we still hadn't received any word from Trek Mate, the company we were using for the trek that was suppose to leave that morning.... so Allen went up to their offices and sat there until they opened at 10am. When they opened the office they apologized for not getting in contact with us (because apparently no one is allowed to answer a cell phone during a general strike... eh, right?), but that we could grab the gear they said the would provide us with (parkas and sleeping bags) and we could be on our way. Allen said that we had no way to carry them - so they gave him an oversized (made for someone 20kilos larger, we later found out) camping bag. Allen asked is there was anything else we would need since we hadn't brought any serious gear b/c our primary goal on this trip wasn't treking. He said that we would only need t-shirts during the day b/c it got hot, the parkas were for the night when it got cold, but besides that we should be fine.
HA!!!! The guide then picked us up at the hotel and (because he was a subcontractor and wasn't there when Allen had spoken with the office manager) seemed a little surprised by us only having sneakers and light rain jackets beside the Trek Mate gear.
What a joke. Looking back - these were all moments for someone to speak up, say "hmmm... doesn't look like you guys have all the necessary equipment - maybe we should get you rented shoes?"
But we were starting out later than scheduled because we only spoke with the office after they opened at 10am (originally they were supposed to pick us up after breakfast, around 8am).... we didn't leave town until closer to 12:30pm. Everyone assured us we would be fine and rushed us out the hotel, with what - in hindsight - seemed like a light load even for a camping trip. We thought we would be OK because there were huts we would be staying at along the way ... and because we NAIVELY put our trust in this company. Let me explain.
This wasn't a trail we were climbing up - this was little more than a road of rocks ... uneven rocks ... rocks that are slippery when went (like during the rainy season) ... rocks that are challenging to climb at the best of times ... but are miserable to climb when you've got on a heavy pack of useless crap and improper footwear. The sleeping bags were useless because every hut (better to think of as hostel) we stayed at had beds and plenty of blankets ... and the parkas were useless because who wears a down jacket in the rain!
UGH! Add to that the guide - who despite being friendly - was keeping up a faster pace than even he had anticipated - we always seemed to miraculously make it to our stopping points ahead of schedule. It was like we were racing the other people on the hill to get to the stops faster.
It is easy to see now, in the comfort of this internet cafe, off the mountain (and away from the debilitating effects of altitude sickness), to see where things all went wrong ... but at the time, we felt so rushed, so much pressure to just go, and frankly, excitement at where we were ... that we couldn't forsee what would inevitably happened*.
By the third day of our trek... after 22km walk and close to 3000m above sea level ... my left knee just gave out. There was no accident (thankfully), but I knew shortly after 9am yesterday morning that I couldn't keep going up the hill without risking more serious damage to my knee. It was a really hard decision to make. I felt like I was letting Allen and the guide down; like I had gone so far (we were only 4 steep km from the top, Sandakpur) only to give up near the end. But really I didn't have a choice.
So we made that decision to turn back at around 9am ... it took until 4pm to find transport to get down the hill... and another 4 hours to get back to town. Thank goodness I hadn't broken something ... or, heaven forbid, needed emergency medical services! We were totally floored at how there seemed to be absolutely no procedures in place to deal with an injured trekker. I can't imagine I'm the first person to get hurt and need to go home - but damn, at times it certainly felt like it. You would think after years and years of these various trekking companies working on this trail ... or hell, even these little villages that dot the path ... that at some point or another they would have developed a system of mutual support to get people off the mountain. But no.
We begged any passing cars (because a lot of Indian tourists forgoe walking up the mountain and just drive to the top instead) if they could take us ... many were too full of luggage ... one was plenty empty and the passangers had even said OK, but the driver decided it wasn't worth his time to wait so he left without us.
(sigh)
So we got back to our hotel after 4 motion-sickness-inducing hours in a jeep and car ... thankfully there was room in the inn for us (ha) ... but it had been a very very long day.
We're angry at ourselves for not being more prepared - but we're more angry with the "guides" we hired for not properly warning us of what we were getting into. Yeah, foreigners have to hire guides (because you cross into and out of the Nepali border), but ... shouldn't these guys know by now how to get people up the mountain safely?
Ugh. Shoulda, woulda, coulda.... this whole trip is starting to feel like "if we had known
Which begs the question of what is the point of hiring travel agencies and guides if not to make sure you know what you're gettin into!?
Glad I got that off my chest - sorry for the extended pity party. Hopefully when we get to Delhi and London, I'll give you a better perspective (ie, pictures) of what we've seen and done up here. I promise to keep those future posts thematic, so you don't have to suffer through the chronology of our clusterf*ck of a vacation again.
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* Sounds a lot like "Into Thin Air," no?
Here was our itinerary. We were suppose to make it to Sandakpu, but only got as far as Kali puri
This was what we were walking on.
(sigh) ... Look at how excited Allen looked on our first day... little did he know what he had in store over the next couple of days
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