Along the way, it became obvious that physical geography plays a strong role in the religious practices and iconography of Nepal.  When you recognize that Nepal is sandwiched between Tibet -- the ancestral home of the Dalai Lama -- and India -- the font of Hindu development, you can understand the inevitable melange of religious observation that takes place in the country.

In some ways, Hinduism and Buddhism remain quite discrete.  Sahdu's, for instance, wear orange robes, while the robes of Buddhist monks are safron.  On the other hand, these religious traditions have melded into something that is all together Nepalese.  Something I came to think of as "Bindu".   How does Binduism manifest itself?  A Buddhist temple that reveres monkeys (a la the Hindu monkey god Hanuman), for example.  Or a statue of a multi-armed Buddha (a la the Hindu lords Vishnu and Durga) for sale on a street vendor's table.  Or Lord Ganesha (a Hindu god) seated as Buddha.  Or the Śikhara of a Hindu temple painted with the ever-watching eyes of Buddha.

While a purist in either tradition might see sacrilege, I found myself viewing these mash-ups as authentic.  I saw them not as bastardizations, but rather as proof that the Nepalis are deeply in touch with their spirits, in a way few western religious traditions allow.

When you travel in Nepal, make sure you take time to recognize and absorb it's many forms of spiritual observance.  Who knows.  If you focus hard enough, perhaps you'll even convert to Binduism!

In fact, every time I looked up to take in the beauty, I found myself stumbling.  Along a mountain cliff with no guard rail, such an occurance can be deadly.

Nowhere was the volume of scree and ice greater than in the Khumbu Valley on the way to Everest Base Camp.  Despite the looming enormity of Everest, the walk to Base Camp was about as myopic an experience as you can imagine.  If you didn't watch every step, a twisted ankle, or worse, was an inevitability.

The solution, of course, is to stop frequently to take in the sites.  This we did.  It's also a good idea because it allows both frequent rest and drinks.  Rapid ascent and dehydration are two of the biggest trek-wreckers on the mountain.

My first "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore" moment came on the first day's hike, where we reached the small village of Phakding (which, incidentally, is pronouned perilously close to a rather untoward english word when spoken casually).  Looking up the valley from the lodge, one sees a layered collage of ever-taller mountains.  The visual is so surreal that it appears to be CGI'd rather than actually there.

For the rest of the trek, I marvelled at how high one could look and still be staring a terra firma.

Part of that repair can come from tourism -- folks from outside the country coming to meet its people, enjoy its hospitality and see its natural beauty -- and I'm happy to pitch in.  While travel to countries like Nepal does have an element of risk, it's not as great as Hollywood would have you believe!  With a good bit of prudence and great planning, there's little cause for general concern.

One way to stay on top of what's going on is to remain in contact with your tour operator or guide in the period leading up to the trip.  They don't want anything bad to happen to their customers, so they will usually keep you very well informed.  Such was the case with Geckos Adventures, our trek planner.

Another way is to reach out an make new friends that are on the ground and can give you the local view.  This is how I met Raj Gyawali, whose company Social Tours is based in Kathmandu.  A quick visit to Raj's site and a subsequent email to him yielded the following friendly and informative email:

Namaste!

Nepal is fine to travel! Its safe and totally OK to trek specially.

We are having major political upheavals, which means that crime is on the rise in Kathmandu etc... but that is still far far lower than most cities of the world. Political changes means demonstrations and strikes etc. but once you are in the ground you will pretty much know where to go and what to avoid. Much like anywhere else in the world.

However, if you are trekking, then once you are out in the open, you are totally in a different world... nothing seems to matter in these areas... political upheavals in Kathmandu, the stock exchange crashes, nothing! Its plain fun....

When in Nepal, feel free too to drop into our office an talk to our staff, they will be more than willing to venture information. There are no obligations involved to providing you information of course.  We are more than happy to help a traveler coming in.

Enjoy your travels.

Raj

Umbrella is very active and continue to need both volunteers and financial support.  Learn more about them and their work by downloading the newsletter at this site.

While our trek will not be particularly technical, weather is always a factor in the mountains.  According to the weather guidance, the average overnight temperature at Everest Base Camp in late October is -10°C.  That's 14°F for we yanks.  In a word, cold.

The one thing worse that being freezing is being frozen!  And both are possibilities at high altitude. That's why I bit the bullet and invested in a new sleeping bag.  I had two concerns: weight and, of course, temperature rating.  To make sure I had enough margin for emergency situations, I set my sites at -20°C.

After some research, the clear choice for me was the Marmot Col EQ.  Overall, the Col EQ is warm, light and, perhaps most important, comes highly recommended by many posters on a number of Himalayan trekking sites.

While marketed at -20°C, the bag is actually rated at -29°C according to Marmot's Site.   Beyond the insulation factor, the 800+ Goose Down fill makes the bag a mere 4 lb 4 ozs  (1.928 kgs), amazing when you figure there are bags 50% heavier with lesser ability to keep you warm.

Got the bag just a few days ago and I'm extremely pleased with the fit and finish.  I'll have to wait until the Trek, however, to give the most important report.

I'm greatly looking forward to meeting the founders, other volunteers and, most important, the children of Nepal's Umbrella Foundation on this trip.  If you're traveling to Nepal in the future, give serious consideration to visiting and assisting Umbrella in their important work. 

If you have no immediate travel plans, then at least consider sending some of your resources to visit.  Tax-deductible donations can be made from the United States by visiting Umbrella Foundation USA.

Upon hearing about the trip, Ned took the same approach as me: jump on it.  His understanding wife approved as well given the fact she has family in India.  She gets to visit home, while Ned goes off into the wild with his guy friends.  It's a perfect fit.

More on and from Ned as travel plans progress.

Here's how it materialized.

First.  During the past year, I've worked with colleague Chris Coyne to develop and expand Heart+Passion, our voluntourism group.  During our many discussions, include those on the most recent H+P trip to Mali, we outlined journeys we felt would create the most opportunity for personal growth.  High on the list is Nepal.  We both felt a trip to Nepal would be magical and penciled one in for October of this year.  Despite our enthusiasm, however, work on other businesses and projects overran the plan and we decided to shelve the idea indefinitely until more time became available.

Second.  In our efforts to expand the work of H+P, both Chris and I have intersected with interesting people that share the same interests.  Chris, for example, encountered the Umbrella Foundation -- a grass-roots NGO based in Kathmandu that works with conflict-displaced children -- through his charitable giving.  The US director of that organization is Bryan Van Vranken.  Cut to my world.  As I'm exploring folks that can advise me on another business venture, I learn of a sharp young guy from a friend in the web development business.  The referral I receive: Bryan Van Vranken!  When Chris introduces me to Bryan, revealing that Bryan had been guided to him through completely independent channels, I see the importance of this synchronistic connection immediately.

Third.  Being as busy as we all are, it's hard to stay in touch with everyone we love and care for.  Eventually, however, a little voice surfaces to remind us of them and to prompt us to get in touch.  As far as this story goes, that little voice said "I wonder how Adrian's doing?"  Adrian is a fellow veteran of the Dot.conomy with whom I've shared too many experiences to count.  As things cooled down in the internet space and family developments presented themselves, Adrian moved back to his native Australia.  Despite Skype and email, geography and busy lives conspired to choke our communications down to a trickle.  I was shocked to notice that it had been many months since our last exchange.  To rectify the situation, I decided one evening to put "Find Adrian" on my GTD list on Vitalist.com (a great service everyone should try, by the way!).

The Big Bang.  In the same week, (a) Chris and I decide to table the H+P Nepal journey, (b) Chris, Bryan and I merge, and (c) I put "Find Adrian" on my To-do list.   Then, the very morning after I post "Find Adrian", this email arrives in my Inbox.

From:Adrian on behalf of Adrian
Sent:Tue 2/5/2008 2:07 AM
To: Scott
Cc:
Subject: everest

My friend Marc has asked if I want to do this with him, his brother and some friends (Marc is one of my best friends from med school).

Everest Base Camp Trek

What do you think?

Adrian

The answer, of course, was self evident.  Some greater order preordained it before the email was ever sent!

As Jung pointed out, the world is filled with incredible synchronicities.  The trick is to twig them when they materialize.  Undeniably, this was one of them, I realized, and jumped on the chance to join the group, as well as infuse it with a volunteer experience from Umbrella.