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Show uuriMury T The Salt Lake Tribune, 16, Sunday, February streets. We went to the Hindu shrine of where the smoke (rom cremation fire filled the air and to the Swayambunath, the monkey temple, where the penetrating eyes of the swami who read our palms vied with Shirley Smith lives in Park City. - ts 110-fo- ot ly-berthed, square-rigge- d the huge eyes painted on each side of the golden Buddhist shrine. Then, at last, we are on our way, porters and trekkers packed into a ramshackle bus bouncing along an amazingly steep road with high cliffs and no shoulders. We close our eyes. Dumre, where the bus leaves us, is about midway on the road to Bokhara, Nepals second city, some 120 miles to the west. It is a one street bustling frontier kind of town with dingy stores, stray dogs, dust and dirt. The porters (we hired a 9th here for the loads seem so heavy) assemble our duffle bags and stuff sacks and hoist them to their backs, thick ropes across their foreheads to support the weight. They are small and very, very strong these porters who will travel with us and carry our goods these next four weeks. They have names like Krishna and Bishnu, Ram and Primbadur. They are boys of 17 and men of 40 and they all have new black and white tennis shoes to take them across the 180 miles of rocks, mud and snow ahead. We wear heavy, hard soled hiking boots and sometimes get blisters. Our conversations are mostly smiles and gestures, but it suffices. We learn a few words of their language and they of ours and Marine Highway ferryliner, starting from Seattle. The ship sails up the Inside Passage to Haines, Alaska, through such waters as Wrangell Narrows and Peril Strait. All staterooms have outside views, and U.S. Forest Service rangers are aboard to give lectures on Alaskan flora and fauna, and describe points of interest. on a Departures for the tour are scheduled from May 28 through Sept. 12. Further information can be had by 8089 contacting TravAlaska at Fourth and Battery Building, Seattle, Wa. 98121, tel. (206) ship. iny rry yi jr nr"4if 441-868- make a party for the porters, complete with a tasty rum punch and a makeshift Santa Claus, who of course they dont understand, but enjoy immensely anyway as he distributes presents to each. Our days start early, usually before sunrise. Sleeping sometimes 8 to 10 in a small, crude room on wooden cots on the top floor of a village house, we grope in the dark for our clothes and by the time we have picked out our few belongings the sun is up and the Dede (big sister in Nepali and the term by which Nepalese women are addressed) of the house is cooking breakfast on a clay stove over a wood fire in the central room of the house. We never went hungry. For 50 cents we could have a breakfast of porridge and eggs, apple pancakes or Tibetan bread and always lots of cups of black tea, at 3 cents a cup. Most days found us on the trail between 7 and 8 a.m., stopping for tea and small cookies at perhaps 10 and then lunch, consisting of dal bhat (rice at a viland lentils) costing 35t-4- 0 lage tea house by 12 or 1:00 by 4.00 we were usually stopped for the day, by 5.30 it was dark, with no electricity, we had eaten and were often in bed, by 6 30 bone weary from the day's walk and asleep immediately. Days became more difficult as we gained altitude, for at times we climbed two and three thousand feet. But we eventually become strong. On the 13th day we reach the halfway point at Manang, a Tibetan village at 12,500 feet surrounded by white shafts of peaks another 1,200 feet higher. Here we acclimatize for a day feeling, amidst the stone houses and streets of mud in this primitive, trading village as if we are in another far off century. There was a celebration d here and we watched as girls danced somberly around a fire on a temple roof and Tibetan ponies raced across an open parade ground. Two days later, having left our cramped wooden beds at 3 a.m., we are walking step after labored step the 3,000 feet to the summit of 17,700 there is mutual caring and concern But it is Subash Singh Lama, our sirdar whom we truly come to know, love and admire. A gentle and caring person, Subash, at 26, has guided trekking and climbing groups into most areas of Nepal and we realistically put our lives in his hands for the duration of the trek. We carry our folded paper maps. His map, he says, is in his head and he knows every peak and village, every crumbling bridge, every dangerous stretch of trail and enough English to tell us about them. There is a peace and simplicity in our days and we begin to forget the frenetic pace of our stateside lives. Distance is measured in hours and days, not miles, and news travels only at the speed of man. I am not prepared for the verdant beauty of the lowlands. We walk the first few days through subtropical forests, past lush green terraced rice paddies with an occasional glimpse of d a peak in the distance. We have problems early on. Normally the dry season and best trekking time, we get rain the second day, brought on by the tail end of a freak cyclone that swept across the Bay of Bengal and it continues to rain until the earth is soggy and we cannot dry out. We meet disappointed trekkers returning from unsuccessfully trying to cross the pass a week ahead of us and they talk of land slides and deaths and dangers ahead. There are heavy snows up high now and the pass is closed and we talk of turning back. Instead we take a rest day in a lovely little village, in a Tibetan hotel with prayer flags fluttering in the breeze and the rainbow crowned Marsyandi river flowing by below. Here with tents and clothes drying, our spirits and the weather lift and we never talk again about turning back. We go the next morning to buy a goat which will walk with us the day after to Tal and become our dinner that night, in celebration of Dasain, a large and important festival. Subash likens it to our Christmas and we snow-drippe- dark-gowne- For those years old, the Seaport also runs six- - and ten-da- y cruises in New England waters aboard the schooner Brilliant. During each seagoing course, groups of nine mariners will stand lookout, steer, keep the ship's log and practice piloting skills. An adult leader and Coast Guard licensed captain and mate will accompany the sailors, who will have time to explore coastal towns as well. This years Joseph Conrad program begin June 22, with fees ranging from $250 for a beginner session to $490 for the ten-da- y course. Ttie Brilliant cruises start June 15, with a three-da- y weekend cruise May '16. .Fees are between $300 and $780, depending on length of cruise. For more information and applications, write to Alicia Crossman, Mariner Training Program, Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, Conn. 06355. Alaska by sea and land .SEATTLE, Wa. (UPI) Traveling by ferry may seem dull to commuters, but one ferry route shows passengers a thousand-mil- e panorama of mountain peaks, waterfalls, and glaciers along Alaskas Inside Passage. Now a travel firm is offering a summer 1986 itinerary linking the ferry cruise to an overland bus tour of Alaska-Yuko- n highways. The nine-da- y tour, run by TravA-laskcruise begins with a four-da- y six-da- - ISLAND PACKAGE 1 AIR FARE u Adults $399 & $ 439 Air Only $359 S3 Daily Air From Las Vegas $358 Los Angeles $259 15 DAY 2 ISLAND PACKAGE 2 ISLAND PACKAGE AIR ONLY AVAILABLE FROM o o o o o 0 o o PRIDE OF AMERICA LADY LIBERTY TOUR 14MYS jQQC Departs June 28 Be There When President Reagan Unveils Relights The Statue of Liberty Torch1 Includes NEW YORK BOSTON PHILADELPHIA & WASHINGTON IX A HISTORIC TRIP! A OTHER SPECIAL TOURS o March SAN FRANCISCO 11 A PASSION 21 6 Days BLACK HILLS $ June 7 DEATH VALLEY March 29 TOURS July 11 Htstonc East) July 21 (Includes 11 Days o 0 o o o PLAY 4 Days HILL CUMORAH 15 Days 25 SOftO (Also Reno A Tahoe) 6 Great Days o o o o o o $ 499 from SPECIAL 328-355- 6 RATES GROUP (see) ON 373-7- o (.) o AU TOWS 1 00 ,J $OQOO tZ Zf -- . each way ADD $10 FOR ONE WAY TRAVEL oo it SAN DIEGO $dQ50 iv5r from each way $79 EACH WAY ROUND TRIP Includes 3 Night Cruise ADD $10 FOR ONE WAY TRAVEL Round Trip Air from Salt Lake 4 Nights Hotel Accommodations in Orlando LONDON $SOO00 w W ZJ Round Trip LQRRIS PM CHARTER DEPARTMENT HOURS: 8 AM-PM SATURDAYS: 9 AM-OFFICE HOURS: 9 AM-- PM PM VACATION DEPARTMENT OPEN SATURDAYS: 9 AM-- PHOENIX 5 6 40O from ' ADD BASED ON ROUND TRIP TRAVEL SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND AVAILABILITY SOME RESTRICTIONS APPLY OREM OGDEN 621-545- 225-611- 0 ' 2 . HAWAII DEPT. WAY TRAVEL t t PARK CITY 649 - 1555 TAHITI SAN DIEGO 483-646- HAWAII 483-656- Department Department LOS ANGELES Department SAN FRANCISCO Department CRUISE Department each way J ilOTOR bNE IN SALT LAKE CITY CALL: 355-880- 0 Admission $119 EACH WAY. 5 200 & AIR CHARTERS NIGHTS ACCOMMODATIONS 483-656- 5 Bus To DISNEYLAND (Also Meals m Las Vegas) ADD $10 FOR ONE WAY TRAVEL DISNEYWORLD BAHAMAS CRUISE 4 ISLAND PACKAGE $99 & 7 ($149 under 12) $49 EACH WAY ROUND TRIP from AIR FARE 300 So Suite SLC.Ut S4I0I Includes o o o o 199. 19) Deluxe Hotels . w When purchased in conjunction with our $99 Hotel Package. from $599 15 DAY A LAS VEGAS from $OA50 each way W Zt OSAKA MOW DAYS (March 5 ADD $10 FOR ONE WAY TRAVEL 599 JENSEN BARON TRAVEL 5 ADD $10 FOR ONE WAY TRAVEL COMPLETE New Address 595. DISNEYLAND MARCH SPECIAL from each way "VZr $69 EACH WAY ROUND TRIP COMPLETE TOKYO 649 695. BOISE $549 Complete air and hotel packages from SLC -- 2 ISLAND PACKAGE $509 86 '86 $79 EACH WAY ROUND TRIP KIDS ROUNDTRIP AIRFARE COMPLETE 12 DAY sooc; 0 3 TOURS SAN FRANCISCO each way from $AQ50 ACCOMMODATIONS AND 7 NIGHTS COMPLETE HAWAII OTHER EXPO 483-659- 3 $479 . 379 R o 0 o o o 0 K'ds 297237 from 2 ISLAND PACKAGE Air Only ONLY Includes Calgary Stampede' F RANCIStO & Oregon Coast SAN 13 DAYS Departs July 3 ORANGE COUNTY each way from. $m50 nSr $79 EACH WAY ROUND TRIP TOTAL PACKAGES 7 NIGHTS ACCOMMODATIONS o 0 o o o o o o o ADD $10 FOR ONE WAY TRAVEL ADULTS PUERTO VALLARTA Al-- o o o $4050 $(oT(o 9 DAY , 1 FIESTA M0T0RC0ACH Presents EXPO 86 & CANADIAN ROCKIES LOS ANGELES from KNOWS MEXICO iWAII with Australians and English, French and Nepali friends, drinking coffee and Nepalese rum, staying up late by lamp light prolonging this magical time that two days later at trails end can never be recaptured. We stay, our last day, at Pokhara, on the shores of Lake Phewa, sleeping in real beds, in rooms with showers, eating tropical fruit, lasagne and cake while our bodies recover and our minds turn again to the world outside these mountains. Back again in Kathmandu we shop and eat and shop and eat some more, not yet ready to face the real world. We pack into yet another bus for the five-hojourney to the jungles of the PIMM . Mr. Vacation MEXICO CITY PUERTO VALLARTA & MAZATLAN 0 o o o ROUND TRIP AIRFARE ' t" 4 toy PKkaf. ( We spend a night at Goropani, in the Mountain View Lodge at the foot of Poon Hill, around a crackling fire KILANIB a, 319 ft south and Chitwan National Park where in the misty dawn we ride high on an elephants back through the brush and surprise a rhino at his water hole. Subash gifts us each with a necklace of flowers on our departure day and as our plane to Bangkok banks past distant snowy peaks, we begin already to plan next years trek. MSMEVWORLB - MAZATLAN gj iy- the physical and Thorong La pass psychological high point of the trip. Every movement is labored at this altitude. Count 10 steps, stop and breathe 10 more and take 2 more breaths, but we all make it finally to the windswept, snow covered pass, the sky burning blue above us. With a descent of 5,000 feet ahead of us before the day ends, we dont stay long and the strong ones help the others down the winding trail until 13 hours after crawling out of our cold beds at base camp we walk into the village of Muktinath, fatigued, hungry and very happy. An old religious center, Muktinath has something of the mystic about it. It sits in a poplar grove on the arid north slope of the Annapurna Himal and from outside our tea house we see temples in one direction, snow crowned peaks in the other. The remaining days go by too quickly. We descend from the 12,475 feet of Muktinath to the rugged Kali Gandaki river valley and the hot baths of Tatopani at 3,900 feet, only to face the 10,000 steps that lead us to Poon Hill at 10,000 feet. Here one crimson dawn we watch as the sun turns to fire the snowy peaks of Annapurna, Tukche and Machupuchare the fish tail mountain. y ", n'tTinniWWir? mi -- i1! ISIPCOTf . 319 iSlgrrjTiji tiny mountainous kingdom in Asia Travel shorts Tall ships summer : Summer MYSTIC, Conn. (UPI) ;for many teenagers means sailing, but two maritime museum programs this summer offer them not only sail training, but living and cruising aboard tall ships as well. . The Mystic Seaport Museums Joseph Conrad program for trains beginning and intermediate sailors in the basics of the sport during the day. At night, partic-'ipanlive aboard the long Joseph Conrad, the museums permanent- i 1986 Nepal Continued from T-- l necessary to bring camping gear and backup food for those times ;7hen it might not be possible. Working with a local Kathmandu Trekking agency, Mountain River Adventures, we contracted for a sirdar (Nepali for guide and the single most important person on any trek) and enough porters to carry the heaviest of our gear. Finally, one year and one month after that hike in the Uintas, we were winging our way, from Bangkok, Hong Kong and Delhi to the incredible beauty of the Kathmandu valley. Four days in Kathmandu were not nearly enough, we discovered, but we did our best to absorb the sights, sounds and smells of this grand bazaar of a city. We avoided being trampled by sacred cows and bicycles, rickshaws, taxis, gaily painted trucks and lumbering buses and grew used to the piles of garbage in the n ufo 483-646- 4 from SOQQOO &ZFZr Round Trip 483-646483-655- 0 MUMHIS SAVLH tAUtS - JO DAY AUVANCt PUHCHASE |
