Never Too Late for Everest

Spring is finally here and all thoughts now return to going places, visiting kith and kin, getting ready for the beach and spending as little time indoors as possible. Like most people, my family and I tend to think of the fun we'll have seeing new places and driving long distance to be with friends whom we have not seen in a while or making the annual trip to see relatives whether we want to or not. We participate in the usual warm-weather activities of picnicking, trekking, camping and enjoying the sun since Summer goes fast here in the Northeastern United States. But for some, the dream is bigger - more exalted and ambitious.

Climbing Mt. Everest is a dream for many mountaineers and even for some who just want to do it because "it's there." At the age of seventy-nine, there is someone close and dear to me who is ready to conquer Sagarmatha in the first week of June. This man learned to ski after he turned fifty. He was always willing to try something new without hesitation. And now he has given himself the ultimate task - sitting atop Everest as Tenzing Norkay and Edmund Hillary did more than half a century ago.

Mt. Everest is picturesque, foreboding, breathtaking and there. Once one has conquered Everest, what else is there to surmount? The Sahara? There are only so many challenges on Earth and Everest is the creme de la creme. Can my Dad prevail? He certainly has the heart and the will but are they enough? What about the stamina required to accomplish this daunting task? Will the weather cooperate? Will the gods be with him? Only time will tell.

To learn more about Mr. Shailendra K. Upadhyay's endeavor, log onto www.skeesug.org and get more detailed info. After perusing the articles, you might be interested in visiting Nepal to see (or even climb) Everest and find out all about its magnificence. The grandeur that awaits you in second to none. And you will enjoy Nepal with all its quaint cities and traditions. Spring is here. Go forth and enjoy the little country in whose lap lie the Himalaya - the most spectacular sight you can see without the aid of any telescope.

Travel in These Rough Times

The other day at work someone mentioned that he was off on his vacation for two weeks. The natural question posed to him was, of course, what plans he had and where he planned to go. The person smiled wistfully and replied that he could not afford to go anywhere because of financial conditions and so would stay home and do things around the house. Everyone nodded in agreement and joined in to say that vacations these days meant staying home and relaxing.

A few days later I was reading the Sunday New York Times and looked through the travel section. There were so many vacation packages available to all parts of the world. The Caribbean, Mexico, Hawaii and the South Pacific dominated the list of pages. I looked through them and noticed that, though people were in dire straits, the tours and sightseeing offered were not really scaled down in price. Yes, some destinations looked affordable but were they really?

The most helpful hints I found were for local area mini-vacations. If you live in the tri-state area, there are so many sights to see and things to do that you can have a true vacation for a lot less than going to more exotic places. Staying around your environs means you save on plane tickets, hotels, food and taxi/bus/train fares. A family of four could save about $750.00 apiece by visiting sights close to home. Most people who live in the tri-state area have never gone to the Empire State Building or Broadway theaters or the beaches in the surrounding areas, Well, now is your chance though I would not recommend swimming in the ocean during winter.

So what does one do here in the winter besides going into New York City? Not all love or want to partake in the hustle and bustle there. If you are from New Jersey, you can go to Atlantic City or Wildwood (great spot even during winter)or to the Poconos for skiing. All this can fit nicely in your budget. Visiting the various beaches of Jersey is fun even if you cannot bask in the sun. Winter has its own charm at the beach.

A Connecticut resident can avail himself of Mystic where the aquarium is a grand sight. He could go to Foxwoods Resort Casino or Mohegan Sun Casino or a few of the other ones not too far away. Going to see the magnificent mansions in Rhode Island is also a delight. And, of course, there is always the winter sport of skiing. There are lots of things to see and do if you only take a closer look.

New York has the Statue of Liberty, museums galore and the sights I already mentioned above. Central Park is also a bucolic oasis that is quite pleasant to visit when it is cold especially if snow has fallen recently. The world-famous Bronx Zoo and the Central Park Zoo are worth seeing. And, of course, like New Jersey and Connecticut, ski resorts are close enough for frequent visits. There are just so many sights to see and places to visit that a two-week vacation might not be long enough.

Yes, a visit to Tahiti or Honolulu or Puerto Rico is fabulous but these hard times beg for local attractions. Putting off "climbing" the Empire State Building because it happens to be in your backyard or not going to Atlantic City for the same reason is now passe. Now you can go see what's in your backyard and enjoy it. Save the world for later.

(Skiing: This is one of the activities I have not understood and won't try. Why do people pay to slide on snow? I can understand tobogganing when you slide downhill on snow and experience various thrills. But this all free. Why pay to do this while dressed in layers of clothing and inviting falls and accidents? I invariably see a broken leg whenever I had the misfortune to visit ski resorts. Ice skating is fun and economic but skiing? What is the attraction?)

Children & Vacationing

When I worked in Hightstown, New Jersey about two decades ago, I met a couple who had been married ten years but had no children. They both had good, decent-paying jobs and liked to eat out often and travel frequently. Since I come from a culture where the primary reason for marriage is procreation, their status intrigued me. I was not too embarrassed to ask them why they had no offspring as money certainly was not a problem. To this day, I am astounded at their answer that it was because they loved to travel. I was completely flabbergasted then and still am at such an unusual answer.

It seems that going places was their greatest pleasure in life and having children would be a quite an impediment to their favorite activity. When I asked in a puzzled manner as to why children would curtail this, they answered that their independence would be lost. They could no longer pick up and leave any time of the day if they wanted to go to Las Vegas (one of their most frequented haunts) or one of the islands or Florida, etc. Where would they get reliable babysitters at the spur of the moment if they decided at midnight that they wanted to hit Atlantic City? How could they plan for a nice cruise in November when the children would have to be in school? Where would they leave the kids if they wanted to dash off to dine in New York City on a Tuesday night? They could see a myriad of such problems which they said would be insurmountable. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill. Had they never heard of summer vacations or Spring and Fall breaks?

Before my wife and I had our first child, we used to go places and enjoy the sights. But we NEVER gave a second thought to how our plans would be ruined if we had kids. We never thought having children would curtail our travel or take away from many of the things we wanted to do. In fact, we looked forward to having kids and traveling with them. I have always wanted to go to the Galapagos Islands and will do so while enjoying every moment of it with our kids. Sharing the experience of the "origin of species" islands with family will be the ultimate in fun and excitement. What are Disneyworld, Seaworld, Six Flags Safari (to name a few) without kids? The wonder in their eyes, their squeals of delight and terror when Shamu jumps out at them, building sand castles in the beaches of Nassau are all best seen through children's eyes. Kids a burden? Perish the thought.

We have a long list of travel plans for our enjoyment with our kids. Going home to see the grandparents every two or three years, lying on the beaches of Hawaii or St. John's or Phuket, visiting Utah and Arizona to see Bryce Canyon, the Grand Canyon or Zion Park are just a few of what we aspire to do. Taking pictures while doing all sorts of wild and crazy things and re-hashing those experiences years later will be something we look forward to. The kids an impediment to all these pleasures? Really? We plan to enjoy our Kenyan safari, trekking in Kathmandu Valley and looking for clams on the coast of Maine with our son and daughter.

Years later when I had moved on to another job, I met another couple who had been married even longer and had no kids. The couple gave me almost the exact same answer when I asked them about their "non-procreation." This couple liked golfing above everything else and had no time or money to spend on kids. I still have not been able to fathom the emotions of those two couples. I have heard many valid reasons for couples not having children but an impediment to travel is not only one of the most bizarre but probably the most selfish one yet. I love traveling with my kids and hope to do a lot more before they are able to travel on their own.

Nepal - Nature, History and Architecture

People travel for many different reasons. Vacationing is probably the most common. Yet we also travel because of work, scientific research, to visit family, to get away from it all and to relocate. Vacations are the most fun. You go for the pleasure of seeing new places, eating different foods and seeing sights that are not available locally. When on "holiday," tastes vary. I know a friend who likes to visit Paris, London, Rome and other modern cities for the shopping. Another person I know likes to be "one with nature" and looks for pristine, unadulterated bucolic settings where he can hike, climb rocks or go bird-watching. I prefer nature, history, marvels of engineering (the pyramids, the Taj Mahal, the temples of Nepal, the Coliseum in Rome and places like the Parthenon) and food. After searching far and wide, I have come to the conclusion that Nepal can boast of all these and more.

As far as nature is concerned, Nepal is a nonpareil. It is second to none in its grandeur and beauty with its majestic, world-famous Himalayan range and other idyllic spots which are still virgin and untouched. All you have to do is stand anywhere in Kathmandu, the capital city, and see the grandiose sight of the world's tallest peaks glistening in white reaching up to the sky. Or you can go on a hike to the non-distant hills (in Nepal, anything below 17,00 feet is a hill) and peer out into the distance and see more hills, mountains and valleys. The mist-covered pinnacles make for picturesque post-cards. And breathing the crisp mountain air is a luxury that is free yet priceless. You can never have enough time to vacation in a Shangri-La like this.

Nepal's place in history is secure as one of the two countries the British could not conquer. After gaining control of India, the Brits tried their best to subdue the Nepali people. Not only did they meet resistance from the natives but also had to contain with the rugged terrain which was not overly friendly to the Redcoats. The soldiers could not march up in columns or single-file because they had to climb sheer cliffs and the preponderance of rocks and nettles all over the hills. They did give up finally after these futile attempts and instead offered an olive branch of friendship.


Nepal also happens to be the only official Hindu country in the world. Though most people in the world equate Hinduism with India, it is practiced with more fervor in Nepal. After all, India has the second largest Muslim population in the world as well as a large contingent of Christians. Nepal teems with temples. You cannot go far in any city without encountering a pagoda temple or place of worship which are always occupied. Many of these temples are more than a few hundred years old with some over 1500 years old. And the architecture is magnificent - all the carvings, drawings and eroticism displayed on the pillars are unmatched. Tourists are sometimes shocked to see eroticism and sexual acts displayed on temple beams. You have to remember that the Kama Sutra is a basic part of our culture. As for the longevity of these structures, people don't realize that unlike the pyramids which are mostly rock and sand, temples are mainly wood. For wood to survive in all types of weather for so long must give pause to those who make pressure-treated lumber which still needs maintaining every few years. S0 is the technology of today (bridges, skyscrapers) really better than the old days? The temples with their majestic roofs, pillars and doorways have survived so long without giving way to age and weight. Could it be that God does indeed live there?

When you consider that in Nepal you can experience peace and tranquility, the grandeur of nature and history with architectural splendor, what more could you want? Nepal is still relatively cheap and is a place where you do get your money's worth. And don't forget Nepali cuisine. Though neighboring India and China, its cuisine is dissimilar. Yes, there are influences of Indian cooking and some Chinese flavors but what is consumed by the Nepali is quite unique. Maseura, titaura, gundruk, sinki and jaulo are a few dishes you cannot get elsewhere. There is a special fruit which I have not been able to find elsewhere in the world - not even in India. It's a sour fruit which grows on trees that tower over fifty feet and is good for making achaar. Maybe some botanists (plat biologists they are called these days, I think) can go to Nepal and identify this fruit. So go, go to Nepal and enjoy. Just don't go there for shopping unless it is for handmade goods, carpets or religious artifacts.

Hippies Met in Nepal and the US

Although there were a lot of Hippies when I was a student growing up in Nepal, I never knew any of them personally. Although intrigued with these foreigners who had come to Nepal with the barest of worldly possessions, we never befriended anyone thinking of the phenomenon as a fad that would soon disappear. So, when I came to the United States, every American who told me that he/she had been to Nepal got the third degree from me. I wanted to know under what circumstances they had been there. I usually got three types of answers but never the one I wanted.

The most common answer was that the person had visited Nepal as a tourist. This was the most prevalent response. The second type of respondent said he had been there as a Peace Corps volunteer. I had met many of the volunteers and had known a few. We had a Biology teacher at my school who was a Peace Corps volunteer from Cleveland. The last type of reply was from diplomats and kin of diplomats. Though I "searched" far and wide, these three types were typical of people I met.

The tourists raved about Nepal's beauty and relatively inexpensive lodgings, cuisine, and gifts they had bought. They all had got their money's worth and were quite content. The diplomats just thought of Nepal as another stopover in their career though most did appreciate the peace and bucolic nature of the country. The Peace Corps volunteers were most vocal in their praise of my country. They regaled me with all sorts of stories and outlined many adventures that befell them in their two-year stay. They were so thrilled to have been there and enjoyed themselves immensely especially since their stay was paid for. But I still had to find one Hippie who had been there. Now where does one look for a Hippie in New York?

It was almost 25 years later while working in Brooklyn that I met a co-worker who had been all over the world in his Hippie phase and had spent two whole years in Nepal. He described the nation as the most beautiful and tranquil place on earth and would not have left if not for family matters. He mentioned shopping in Asan, picnicking in Godavari and living in the shadows of Swayambhunath. He talked about walking all over Kathmandu because of limited funds and the unreliability of the Sajha buses that only went to certain places. He said his greatest fear was the mangy curs that roamed the streets of Kathmandu and barked fiercely at him and his companions when they came back from their late night forays. Although he lived in a Buddhist monastery, he had converted to Hinduism in his travels through India and was a devout believer.

Amazing, isn't it? When I was assiduously looking for Hippies who had been to Nepal, I did not find one. Twenty-five years later, when I had forgotten about my quest, I met a bona fide person who had traveled all over the world with prolonged stays in Nepal and India. He also mentioned having spent two days in the gutters of Karachi sick from malaria. Now he was living in New York as a sedate husband and father. Was this a change for the better? I guess even world-roaming Hippies have to grow up.