Trek The Unknown

I Think that it’s time to talk about something in my own country.
I haven’t been traveling for a while now so I decided I should take a day off all the work I have and go to do something for my spirit.

I’ll start from the beginning…
after Rabin, the left winged prime minister that was assacened by a jew in Israel, the Israeli society began to by very divided like. left and right, secular and religious jews…they were all in a great conflict.

After that a few movements in Israel were developed in order to bridge the problems in the Israeli society. One of these movements is Tzav Pius (meaning “directive appeasement”). It Aims to have a true dialog between different groups in Israeli society. By creating a dialog between very divided society the aim was to get us more unite.

I joint today one of thier projects for one day. This project was not generated by them but is supported by them. Thier aim is to walk large parts of the Israel trail together in order to get different people from different groups in Israel get to know each other.

The Israel Trail (Shvil Israel) goes all along the state of Israel. It’s not only a physical trail, but also a human trail. on each spot on that trail we have as Israeli and jewish people some kind of historical or significant event happened to us, which all of israelis are united around it.

Today was an amazing day for me meeting various people when walking on the trail. some people walk it from the begining to the end which takes around 2 months. some people just join a day or 2, like I did.

This project is also for the memorial of Avi. Avi was one of the soldiers that was killed almost 11 years ago when to Israeli helicopter crashed together at the north part of Israel. His parents are the initiators of this project. This is the 3rd year that this project is running.

they don’t have a website in English though….but if you still want to have a look:
http://www.avi-beshvil-israel.org.il/misgeret.php.
it’s in Hebrew

Source: WikipediaAnnapurna Circuit – day 9 – trying to reach Tilicho Lake.

I read about Tilicho Lake a lot before deciding I want to go there. Most guide books claim it to be a little dangerous. Also it’s off the beaten track of most travelers which is the reason I go trekking - feeling adventurous! But even going to those places one should be smart enough and not do stupid things. I’m a very responsible traveler.

The Tilicho Lake is a side trip at the Annapurna Circuit trek. It leaves from Manang, and takes 3-4 days to complete and coming back to Manang. This was my plan….

Leaving Manang in the morning walking through kangsar to Tilicho Base camp. On the next day climbing up to the lake at dawn and sleeping again at the Tilicho base camp an additional night. The last day would be walking back the same way we walked the 1st day.

We left Manang at 7:45 towards kangsar. Our , Sonam, said it would take 3 to 3.5 hours reaching the village. We were very glad to discover after one hour and 20 minutes that we have reached our 1st destination – kangsar village.

We wanted to continue walking to the Base camp. On the way Sonam fell twice and twisted his leg. We saw he started to limp and it hurts for him. We kept walking anyway….

My friend Eli, which joined this side trip, and I were for fear of the trail going there. There are 2 ways reaching the base camp. One is long and hard & takes 4 hours. It goes up a mountain and then all the way down. The 2nd trail is the lower trail it’s an easier relatively straight trail which takes around 2-2.5 hours to complete. The problem is that the latter one is a very narrow trail, with a land slide to the side of it at some part, defiantly not a great experience…

In addition at the afternoon the wind start to blow there and Blue Sheep start to walk on the mountains which causes rocks to fall down on the trail. It was pretty early but we had to make a decision on which trail to walk.

We asked each person passing us on the opposite way if the lower trail is appropriate for waking. Everyone said its fine and we shouldn’t worry. My main fear was the landslide. It’s a narrow trail for one foot while the other foot must be put on the landslide, this causes the sand to go down a bit….fortunately it stops and you don’t find yourself falling down the mountain…but still very scary in my opinion.

After Sonam asked a few people we met a bunch of tourists which came down from the lake. They said the road down is fine and no need to be afraid of that landslide. The Problem is, they told us, was falling rocks (!!!) when climbing up from the base camp to the lake. They said there were strong winds therefore a big rock almost hit them when rolling down!

I didn’t want to take ANY risks I don’t have to take. I agreed to walk a few more hours on the longer and more difficult trail (Although everybody said the lower one is just fine). I was managing my risks…..

In addition I decided that there would be strong wind we won’t going to climb up to the lake from the base camp…another risk is solved. One risk I couldn’t solve was Sonams’ leg. He claimed to be fine…

I was afraid to walk on the lower trail and too lazy to walk the upper harder one. I solved this by saying to myself that because of Sonams leg we should just return and walk back to Manang.

That’s what we did eventually….

I was very disappointed on the way back for not coping with my fear of the way (which everybody said it’s just fine and walkable). On the other hand I choose the more human option and took care of my porter. What would have happened if something happened to him on the mountain?! Then would have been to deeper trouble. We then had needed to rescue him somehow and would have got stuck without a porter for the next few days.

If someone of my readers who walked this lower trail from Kangsar to Tilicho Base Camp can comment on this trail situation? Is there a way to do this way without risking yourself?

I’m thinking when will be my next chance of visiting there. That place is amazing from the pictures I saw!

I have a plan of taking a flight to Jomson on my next trip to that area then walk through Tilicho Lake and Tilicho pass, going again through Kangsahar, Manang and finally Homde. Homde, as I mentioned on previous post has an airport. So flying back to Pokhara is certainly an option.

This trip suppose to take 5-6 days and requires camping gear, since at the 1st 3-4 days of the trek, there are no guest houses to stay in,.

What do you suggest? How do you cope with these kinds of fears? When I came back I was angry at myself that I’m a just cowered.

After arriving back at Manang, I knew we made the right decision. I went with Sonam to the HRA (Himalayan rescue association) clinic. The doctor gave him some pills and put a bandage on his leg. He told him to rest as much a he can. On the other hand he said: “I know it’s your job and you don’t have any other choice, so if you are back to work then just don’t push it too much or else it will get worse.

On the next few days we took short and easy walks. Sonam’s leg was just fine afterwards…

“There are some things in life that are frightening and you just have to try them, but sometimes it’s hard to find some courage for that deep down inside you….”

So, as I promised….

Manang is a special village along the way when trekking the Annapurna Circuit. It’s the last village before people going up to the highest place on trek - Throng La or Throng Pass which is 5416 M high up. This is high!

volunteer doctors from the HRA (Himalayan Rescue Association)
come every season and stay at Manang and other villages around to help the trekkers. When going into the heights above 2500- 3000 M many people suffer from a Problem called mountain sickness, Which can be leth?l if you are not aware of the symptoms and how to handle them.

When reaching Manang you are advised ( or more like…YOU HAVE TO) stay there for at least one day to acclimatize yourself to the heights. It’s just get higher and higher from there on until the pass and you want to survive that on perfect shape.

The clinic In Manang helps travelers and the local community in a few ways….Every day at 15:00 there is a lecture about mountain sickness. Many of the deaths from mountain sickness are caused because people were not aware what they should do when getting any symptoms of this illness and how to deal with it. It’s very important to reach this lecture and learn about mountain sickness. IT CAN SAVE YOUR LIFE!

The Clinic also helps the local people for free and is funded by the medical treatment being given to the tourists coming there.

It’s possible to buy medicine or other medical stuff you need and missing at the clinic or just donate by buying a T-shirt.

The HRA also operates a few more clinics around the Everest base camp for the same reasons.

I hope this small post would save many many lives. All you need to do is be aware of this mountain sickness. read about it, go to the lecture there and enjoy your trip!

Tel Aviv is joining the Earth hour movement. “Earth Hour” started as a single event in Sydney on 2007, when all the city’s lights were turned off. This year “Earth hour” is a global movement with 20 cities around the world going to turn thier lights off for one hour on March this year.

check it out:

On my recent trip which I came back from, 3 weeks ago (3 weeks already?!) I traveled with one of my best friends. This was a special trip for me, I never traveled with a good friend and it was truly a great experience. We had our argues on what we want to do and where to go, but it was all on an open and very understanding atmosphere.

When we visited New Delhi, We used the metro to ride around town. It’s cheaper and faster than a rickshaw. one day an Israeli girl ( many Israelis are traveling in the far east , especially India) asked us how to get to a certain place in town. I told her that the best way to do this is to use the metro. She said, it sounded too complicated and she will just take a rickshaw to that place. I told her It’s much slower and much much more expensive. She didn’t really mind.

My friend was there at the same time and I told him I can’t understand why people are traveling to new places and just stay at the few touristy places they know and not trying to explore a little more from what they read or know about..just to do things aliitle bit different and that would make your trip a whole lot differente. I say, be a little adventurous, explore, experience….

He said I was being arrogant by thinking this. Not all people are the same and are very comfortable of being in strange different places by themselves.

I guess he is right. Not all people like the same way of traveling and although I’m not too happy about “classic tourism”, some people do like it ( Fully guided tours for instance). The problem is that these people are missing what’s so special about the places they are traveling. They don’t “feel” them.

The key is to find the right balance and even if you afraid of riding\walking\being someplace because It’s too much of a “challenge” for you, you should gather a tiny bit of courage and just try…

Remark: Mickey, Thank you for being a great friend and a great travel partner.

Marry Christmas everybody and happy new 2008!