Don't worry, I'm fine.

Hello,

Don't worry, I'm fine. There was a huge protest because a young man was killed so I didn't get back to Kathmandu until late last night. Everyone abandoned the buses because we had been stuck due to the protest for 6 hours, having been on the road already for 6 hours. 3 of us got across the general blockade (it looked pretty much clear as I think the protest was over) but it was weird because the power was out so no one could see a thing but we could feel glass under our shoes. We finally found a taxi, bargained a ridiculously low price and were on our way. The driver was really nervous and for good reason. We had some people through bricks at the car as we went through the dark streets. Again I am fine. I'm at the airport waiting to board in a few minutes. I'll send another message when I get to Hong Kong. I love you all very much! Oh and the paragliding in Pokhara was amazing. I've got good video!

Raymond

Sent from my iPod

Twin baby elephants!

Hello everyone,

Sorry I didn't drop you an email sooner but I pretty much got a bus ticket right before the power went out and didn't have a chance to send an email before. anyways, right now i'm in Chitwan! I decided against the bungee jump as it is a ridiculous amount of money and the safari here seemed to be far more worth it, plus I got to go on a elephant safari where I saw wild rhinos and elephants, I got to take a bath with the elephants, I went and played with some new born elephants and a pair of 8 day old twin baby elephants, I went in a dug out canoe and went on a safari this morning and saw some jackals and crocodiles, I did a bike tour of the town, had two nights accommodations and all my meals included all for the same price of one bungee jump! I'll wait for New Zealand to do the huge bungee jump! I've REALLY enjoyed Chitwan! It's been really nice but tomorrow I'm leaving for Pokhara and I'm going to be doing the Paragliding! I get to take a camera with me so that's cool! I'll probably take the video camera and use the still option for pictures. I've been searching for gifts for people but Mom, sorry is your favorite color blue? I think it is I just need to know though. As for my beard, I grew it out until the end of Everest but when I got back I had a lot of dust and dirt in it that made it really ichy and it looked pretty gross. I took a picture then took my multi took scissors and trimmed it down a bit. it's still good though, don't worry, tiny scissors can only go so far! I also got a hair cut but it is dark and I can't see it, it was a dollar but it looked good from what I can tell. I also got a head massage out of the deal! I think I look a lot thinner so it'll be interesting to see if you guys think so. I look forward to seeing the new James Bond and I'll definitely see it with Chris W if he's waiting for me (thanks buddy!) Anyways, I'm going to watch a stick dance, not sure what that is but I guess I'll find out, then to bed and on another bus tomorrow. Hey I got to ride on the back of a motorcycle in crazy Kathmandu. it was pretty fun, I would have been late for my bus and a guy at GVI (who said he'd be back in time so that we could walk) told me to get on his motorcycle and we raced over there. I had my big bag on my back and my little one on the front plus I was trying to hold on! It was great and hey! it's almost time for me to come home! I miss you all very much but I'm not going to wish the days to pass any faster then they already are. I love you all and take care.

Raymond

Wow, what a view!

Hello everyone!

so i'm back from Everest Base Camp and Kala Pathar (5,643 meters!) It was pretty amazing! only me and one other volunteer summited Kala Pathar but it was definitely one of the hardest climbs i've done. I think for me it was the altitude. I didn't take any of the prescription drugs everyone else was taking to cope with the lack of oxygen and altitude sickness (I talked to 4 - 5 other groups and they were all on something). It was also a little scary as a person died at 5000 meters two days before on a nearby pass! I wasn't feeling any symptoms so I decided to try and do it without anything. Leaving at 5 am (in the dark) was very cold! To give you an idea, my water bottle was frozen solid when we got to the top! We did the first quarter with headlamps then it slowly got bright enough to see. Everest slowly grew larger and larger. I think the 13 kg (28 pound) bag slowed me down and really became a struggle because it just felt so heavy. We reached the top before the sun came over Everest and I must say it was pretty emotional. My hands were so cold that I didn't want to pull my camera out but don't worry, I did! (I even changed lenses!) The summit was a dead cliff on one side so getting right to the top was a bit tough but I managed and I took a video. I tried to say some words but I kept pausing to hold back the tears. The pictures of Kala Pathar you find on the net make it look small, the issue is that it's only the first half, there's an entire section that rises up in the back that you can't really see from many angles. It's the same rock type as Everest which has it all rocky and black, not to awe inspiring but when your on top it's amazing! There were at least a dozen helicopters coming through the area each day with people suffering from altitude sickness, most of them from below 5000 meters! It was amazing and Everest base camp was awesome as well. I got to see the Khumbu Glacier and the Khumbu ice fall which is the first challenge for those heading for the top. Base camp was empty as attempts are only made in spring due to the cold of fall/winter. It was awesome! however I stunk by the end, no shower for just under two weeks made for an interesting time. When I arrived in Kathmandu today I went straight for the shower. I also had to add another notch to my belt! I lost some weight! This evening we went to the Rum Doodle (a local restaurant) and had dinner. The place is known for having every person who has made it to the top Everest having signed a piece of it's wall. I got a picture of Sir Edmund Hillary's signature (unfortunately Tenzing's (the Sherpa who summited with him)) had faded beyond recognition. You can also get a wooden yeti foot and sign it to comemorate your accomplishment. Our group did just that! I've got a picture.
Tomorrow I'm going to figure out exactly what I'm going to do over the next week and where I'm going to go. I'll be sure to keep you informed on what I decide to do! I'm missing you all and I am getting excited to see you all in only a short while! Oh, and Lukla airport was pretty interesting, I saw a protest and the wreckage of the plane that crashed a month ago. Yak's are interesting animals, extremely strong and they just plow by you if your not watching. I got thrown by one pretty good! Yak poop is also the main source of fuel fuel for the stoves at all the tea houses. It burns really well but stinks! Anyways I miss you all and I'll let you know as soon as possible what my plan for the next week is.
Love Raymond

EVEREST here I come!

Hello!

I am back in Kathmandu, it feels weird and i was definitely sad to leave trisuli this morning. last night durga and i had a long conversation in which he told me that Hannah, Cameron and i really became apart of the community. that unlike many volunteers before we became locals to them and that all though my time was short i had made a large impact on the reformation of the young leaders group and started what will hopefully be a life changing project at the mosque. one of the girls in the young leaders group took Cameron and i up to her house on Wednesday as it was the celebration of buii tika (brother tika) and we presented with tika and a sweets by her family and sisters who now consider us their brothers. it was really amazing! over the last two weeks the kids have started to call Raymond buii, which means Raymond brother. it was really cool to be considered one of them. the kids all came out this morning and gave me tika again which ended with me having red stuff all over my face then they gave me garlands of flowers, 10 of them! it weighed a lot but it was really awesome! one of the older ladies wanted me to take one of her daughters (both young leaders) cause she liked me so much! I couldn't stop laughing and the girls were so embarrassed. On Tuesday we took all the kids to badipur and the hike was quite long for a bunch of kids but we all made it and bandipur was simply beautiful. the work that is going on there is really great but there is a problem with alcohol abuse amongst some of the parents so it makes it tough for the volunteers as there is little they can do to stop the parents from beating up on their kids. Anyways, leaving this morning was really tough but i'm planning on stopping over for a night on my way from Pokhara (where I'm planning on going after my trek) because durga would like to have me over for dinner. I've been doing very good in keeping a written journal in the book Elbert gave me so I look forward to typing it all out. there's been a lot of little things to remember and I've really been able to keep track of them which will make explaining and remembering it all later a lot easier. I fly to lukla tomorrow so it'll be about two weeks before i have internet access again but I'm really excited for the trek to begin. one of the girls droped out of the program about a week and a half in so there's only 4 of us going on the trek but there sending two guides because they think i might be faster then the rest because i've been hiking almost every morning in trisuli. i don't want them to break up the group but i guess we'll see how things are once we get on the trail. I realized today that the acclimatization days will most likely mean that during those days we'll most likely make a 500m ascent then come back down and sleep the night which means 6 - 7 hours of hiking on those days as well. my suspicions were proven correct this evening when I asked the guides, the rest of the people in the group were unpleasantly surprised to say the least! haha! they keep telling me it's going to be so cold like MINUS 10. haha, then i remind them I'm from Canada and they say i could probably do it in shorts! I decided to rent a jacket because I don't see myself using it at home and it's only a dollar for every two days so it's not like I'm breaking the bank. I got waterproof gloves and a really nice ear/neck warmer for $5 and i bought those, other then that i'm saving my money for some fun stuff when i get back and souvenirs.

i know that paragliding and bungee jumping were two things mom didn't want me to do but I've been assured that both are run by the best agencies in Nepal and i know people that have done both and said they were absolutely incredible and top notch. they are arranged by GVI (they offered me a really good discount) and I was told they are two things you have to do in Nepal. however, I would like mom to be ok with them so please let me know.

Thanks for taking care of my car, sounds like it'll be top notch when I get home and I love you all. I better get packing for my trek to BASE CAMP EVEREST so i will talk to you all when i return! love you again and take care!

Kids at the Mosque

Hello,

I figured i'd drop you just a quick email as i won't have internet until i get back to Kathmandu before my trek. Nepal is going into another festival (the festival of light). It's kind of a celebration of brothers and sisters but it means another week of no school and limited work for the business sector. kind of annoying which is something Durga (a really nice, quite, humble, and wise guy that runs Trisuli and the rafting) has been hoping will change because Nepal has a lot of festivals and they really interfere with a lot of things, especially school. Things are still going really well and actually we have a new teaching opportunity. The Mosque here is starting to allow its kids to ask questions and explore, as before they were pretty much forced to stay to themselves and in the mosque. we've been invited to teach sports, art and English. Most of them have never had the opportunity to play sports or do art so it's really great to see them having fun. most of them are really young so exciting that we get to design this new outreach and project as it's really opening up that part of community which, till now, has been really secluded. I'll be sure to send you an email when I get to Kathmandu and yes, I'm extremely excited to go to Everest but I'm definitely going to miss it here as we've done so much to really jump start this program. Cameron, the guy I've been working with, is going to be here for the rest of the month so i know it's in good hands and we've already got people lined up to continue it when we leave.

I love you all and take care!
Raymond

Dhal baat.

hello everyone!

so it has been a busy week so far. Hannah, she trained me when i first got to trisuli and kind of got me into the ring of things left on monday but Cameron, another volunteer at trisuli that trained me got back on tuesday from a 4 day trek in the annapurna region. while hannah and i were working last week another girl named magella radomly showed up. she had volunteered with the organization a year back and thought that she could help getting this organized better then it was already. It seems that there is a lot of stuff going on as GVI is working with local organizations to create progress in the country. It makes it easier for GVI to work in the country but it also means that the people here have to wear more then one hat (are working for both the tourist industry and the volunteer side of things). Anyways, we planned a huge day out with all the kids where we're going to take all 40 of them to Bandipur which is supposed to be this amazing, somewhat midevil, town and do a 4.5 hour round trip hike. 3 hours up to this very scenic area with great views of the mountains and everything, where we'll eat lunch and play some sports, then 1.5 hours down then take a rented bus home. non of them have been to banipur so this is pretty huge for them.

Anyways, monday was a bit tough as i really didn't have anyone to talk too. the locals are very nice and we have a lot of fun but bed time for most of them is 8pm and the level you can talk to them is only so high. Tuesday morning I got up early and did a hike up into the the hills which was really nice. I got right into the clouds. When I got back I was wondering why my door was open and who was in room. Preparing for a confrontation I walked in and to my surprise it was Cameron. We sorted some things out and kinda planned out the next couple of days. we did some construction for the young leaders room as it's very small and modified some desks and table so that everything fits better. we also went over to the school and tried teaching grade 1 and 2 english. it's hard, they only know how to repeat and the teacher dispeared right after I started so that didn't help. I'm going to try and figure out a way to help them understand as we continue teaching. It has been a great time and I look forward to young leaders today. They seem to get a lot out of the class and really enjoy coming. I'm doing good, I eat dhal baat everyday pretty much which is rice and lentalls. It's good but I am missing some of the simple foods we have at home. Things are great I look forward to hearing how things are. each weeks seems to be going by slowly which makes me very happy. their weekends only consist of one day, so the 6 day work week probably has something to do with it. I went swimming the other day and we've almost the got the raft fixed for the river. Sports day this week should be a ton of fun! We've done a lot along the lines of organization and created sort of a weekly outline for future volunteers. it's really great to be in the beginning stages of really making this turn into more of an organized setup as I think the kids are getting a lot more out of it. it's also teaching them basic organizational skills as they are very much involved in deciding how things are being set up.

anyways, I love you all and I'll talk to you soon. I hope it's not getting to cold and hearing about all the nice thanksgiving food is making me hungry! I'll drop you another email in a week or so and definitely before I begin my trek in a week and a half. I've already got some plans to go to chitwan national park and pokhara after the trek with some of the people from my group. I'm going to set it up through gvi so don't worry and I know to change things with the mandap hotel. I stopped taking the malaria pills as I was told there was no chance of me getting malaria as the nights are getting quite cool but the days are still hot HOT! They are good till 2010 so maybe someone from our family will need them before then and I don't wan't to waste them if there is no chance of me getting them and I was told this by the lead treking guide.

anyways, I love you and I'll talk to you later!!
raymond

Roxy mixed with coffee, butter and sugar...

hello everyone,

i'm officially at my placement! The Trisuli Center. it's in the area that i went white water rafting and is located on a cliff overlooking the river. there's mountains and hills on directly up from both sides of the river with a small beach on the opposite side from the Trisuli Center. It's really beautiful. the entire area is in mist and clouds in the morning and around 10am it all clears off and is really REALLY hot for the rest of the day. there's a really nice tented camp for people who are staying over the night for rafting but room is up at the Center in a small room just by the path down to the swinging bridge. at night everything cools down nicely and we're really close to a full moon right now so it's really bright out as well. all the bugs are really big! snails the size of your palm, huge spiders, slugs, grasshoppers, everything! rafting was a lot of fun, on the first day the rescue raft flipped which was pretty funny! I'll probably get to go again because sometimes they need a hand the volunteers get to help out. I've already assisted with some of their work. we have a group called young leaders club that we head up every day where we work with the kids on basic skills that will help them with finding jobs and also making the community a better place. we also teach english at the local school in the mornings. it's a bit difficult at times but very rewarding. I went on a 5 hour hike yesterday which was 4 hours up and 1 down in the blazing sun which was tiring but I got to eat lunch at a local farm on the top of the mountain. they didn't speak any english but were extremely generous and a lot of fun. today we're going to hopefully fix a raft for the kids to play on in the water and maybe do an english exercise which involves building sand castles. oh and I got to ride in a the back of truck through the moutains here and in the back of a trailer being pulled by tractor with a bunch of locals, but hey it's a lot better then the local buses that get so packed full that people end up on the roof. It's a really cool area and the kids are so much fun. My birthday was good but i had a sore stomach which was actually fixed by a glass of roxy and mixed with coffee, butter and sugar. Roxy is a local wine made from millet which is milled corn and wheat, and is very, very strong. straight it tastes a lot like rice wine. anyways i'll drop another email in a week to let you all know how i'm doing.
love.
raymond

My new home in the clouds

Hello everyone this is Adam here. Raymond called me on my cell the other day because he has no internet really where he is now. Below is basically what he said when I talked to him on the phone. He sounds like he is doing great and really haveing a wonderful experience.

Raymond:

Well, I have reached my new home for the next 3 weeks. It is soo beautiful here. The place where I am staying is built out of stone from the river and it is on a cliff overlooking this river. We are like in the clouds and near by there is a suspension bridge that goes across and then down to a fire area with all these candles surrounding it. It is like something from a book. My stomach has not been feeling that great but the people from GVI are really great and brought me some soup last night rather then eating the rice and chicken, seems like everyone here is getting a bit sick from the food. This pas weekend I did white water rafting which was great but I will tell you more about that another time. The families here are wonderful, and the kids are awsome. I am starting to plan a movie to do with all the kids because they just love to be on camera and it would be soo wonderful to bring that home. For those of you who were worried about the recent plane crash here the news you have been hearing is wrong, it actually really wasn't a crash at all, the plane landed fine and everything but as it was turning around on the runway the wing caught the steel fence and blew up. Kinda crazy but needless to say they have removed all of the fencing now. I hope you are all doing well back at home. I miss you all and I am not certain when I will be able to touch base again because the singnles we can get are very very rare if at all, I had to try 50 times honestly untill I got through to you. Take care.

Found Tony

Day 6:

Today has been a bit more relaxing. I met two very entertaining irish guys this morning. 8am and already drunk. haha they sang a song for my video camera which was pretty funny. there was also this old guy from new york who was almost exactly like woody allan, accent and humor. I got on the computer right after breakfast and sure enough i had an email from tony. it said, "i'm at the new orleans cafe", then i saw another email from him that said let's meet at the new orleans cafe for 9am... it was 9:15, so i quickly ran over there and luckily he was still there and we managed to have a coffee and talk. then we walked around a bit, he bought some fake oakleys, i bought some more socks and a pair of shorts for about $4 canadian, it was good. so i hung out with him for a couple hours then he had a wedding to go to. Nepali wedding happen very fast, for the most part 2 weeks after you meet! Then i went and got a quick bite for lunch, a bowl of amazing tomato soup and some awesome spaghetti, only $4 canadian, and each of them
alone could have been a lunch by themselves. Then it started to rain. it doesn't really come slowly, it kinda just pours. I bought a paper map of the route to everest base camp from lukla so that i can have that when i get home and i can show you guys the exact route. Anyways, tonight is my last night at the mandap hotel, there is a lock up at the gvi location that is safe for anything we don't want to take on the trek. the places we'll be staying at will be safe for all our stuff so no worries. I'll try and find somewhere to email you from over the next couple days as we'll still be kathmandu but now that i'm with the group mom can sleep a little more soundly. haha. so yeah, today was very nice and everyone with the gvi group is going out for dinner together tonight. Anyways, i'll talk to you later.

raymond

Kathmandu

Day 5:

Hello,
so im in kathmandu and at my hotel. its quite the place. we have regular power outages daily of at least 3 hours but sometimes up 7. my room is simple but it works, kinda clean but in a good location to get around and very close to Global Visions headquarters. I got up at 6 this morning to try and find Tony at a location that he thought would be easy to find. Well, to say the least I didn't find it and spent about 6 hours walking around all over trying to find it and then spent another 2 hours trying to figure out how to get back to my hotel. on the brighter side I got to see a lot of the central area of kathmandu and have now kinda figured my way around.I've already been in contact with tony and we're going to try and figure out a place to meet in thamel which i'm now comfortable with walking around. this is such a crazy place. theres traffic everywhere and motorcycles zipping in and out. down by the river, which one nepali who grew up in london was telling me is called the stinking river, is probably one of the worst examples of poverty in nepal or for that fact in the world. one lady said it's the worst poverty she's seen in all of asia. there is garbage strewn all along the river banks with pigs and cows and dogs everywhere, cloth makeshift tents and houses made out of garbage are hidden amongst the piles of garbage while people try pick whatever useful materials they can find from it. the air is think with smoke and dust so much that you can taste it when you breath. as you move away from the river on either side it slowly gets better an better but there is still garbage everywhere. Thamel (the district i'm in) is really a beautiful place with lots of foreigners and lots of cheap shops for equipment, and drinks. I can get a 2 ltr bottle of water for roughly 15cents Canadian. I met some ladies from australia that had done the everest trek and they gave me a walking pole (that's like $40 back home, maybe $10 here) for FREE and an unopened package of water purification tablets just in case i'm stuck for water anywhere. I think I got a sunburn today, it's very much a tropical environment here which makes the fact that we don't seem to have hot water very often just fine by me. there's some really cool clothing for sale but so far cleaning some of my stuff in the sink has worked fine. I definitely plan on picking some stuff up before I come home though. The food is really good, kind of a mix of Chinese and East Indian so i really like it and i haven't felt sick at all. Tomorrow should be fun, more exploring, and don't worry, it seems very safe here and i've never felt threatened by anyone. Kathmandu really is beautiful, it's just so different from anything i've ever seen before. internet at the hotel only costs about 20cents canadian an hour so i'll be able to update you as long as i'm here. which is only another day or so but i'm sure i'll be able find another place easily as long as im in kathmandu. I hope everyone is doing well, i love you and i'll talk to you soon.

raymond

On my way.

Day 4:
I'm sitting at my gate. Managed to go see the big Buddha today! Everything is good. Met a nice English couple and talked to them during the train rides. I also saw the new GTR. Very nice. A typhoon is coming in but I'll be in Kathmandu before it hits Hong Kong so no worries. I had to carry everything everywhere today which was tiring. Well I've got to catch my flight. Love you and take care.

Hong Kong!

Day 1:
I'm safely in Hong Kong! It's kinda weird because we essentially chased the sun around the earth. I haven't seen darkness since the morning I left Winnipeg. So know I'm going to make my way to my hotel. I'll drop you another email in the next day if I don't have Internet at the hotel. I'm pretty tired so I might call it an early night and make the most of tomorrow.

Day 2:
I found my hotel which, is really nice! They put me on the top floor but my view is still another wall. Haha. I got a nice case for my iPod, a small tripod and a protective uv filter for my video camera all for about $70 which is pretty cheap. It's really warm here but the smog definitely keeps the sun hidden, at least I think it's smog. I checked out the other hotel I'll be staying in on the way home, it looks very nice! Had breakfast there which was awesomely good! I pretty much walked around from 8am to 4pm. Kinda figured out the train system and how I'll get back to the airport in two days. Not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow yet but I'll figure it out. I might take a boat across to the island a check it out. My feet are a little sore but the boots feel great! Well, I should probably go find some dinner. Everything is very Americanized, except for the people, I know that wasn't that funny, haha. But really, it feels a lot like New York with almost all the same stores however, there is also a bunch of European stuff which is cool to look at. BUT, I still haven't found a cheap wrist watch which is really surprising! I've seen alot of watches but non are digital or cheap for that matter. Cool city though and I look forward to tomorrow. It's weird, cause the time here is the opposite of winnipeg minus 1hour. So you'll be getting this while I sleep! Anyways, take care.

Raymond

Tickets Booked!

So all my airline tickets are booked!

I fly to Hong Kong on Sept. 29, hang out there for a couple days then fly to Kathmandu, Nepal. After I arrive I'll be going to through a crash course in Nepali language and customs and then I'll be sent to one of three different orphanages that are located througout Nepal. After about a month and a half at the orphanage I'll be flying to Lukla. From Lukla I'll be hiking for two weeks which will take me all the way to the base camp of Everest. Then I'll fly back to Kathmandu, stay there for a couple days then to Hong Kong, another two days there and home. Roughly two months in all.

I hope that I can keep this journal updated as I go. Feel free to check in periodically and check out my posts. Internet access might be sparse as I travel outside of the main tourist routes but I'll be keeping a paper journal and whenever I get a chance I'll transpose it to the web.

Raymond