No Taj, but Tanji is here!

No Taj, but Tanji Sherpa is here! exclaimed my hotel staff after they heard I was not going to India that weekend. And I said: Who exactly is Tanji?!!! (all pissed off because I really wanted to go to India but the Indian embassy needed more time to put a stamp on a piece of paper...ghhrrr).

And they said, well, you need to train for your marathon - go trek with Tanji for a few days! He's the sherpa guide in Nepal, one of the best! So, he can prepare you for the climb up to the Everest Base Camp and for the marathon on the way back.

They gave me a few minutes to re-pack and off we were!

We started in a small village near the Langtang range and made our way to Chisapani village. We hiked for about 5 hours that day, mostly uphill, had lunch and I decided to hike some more on a motorcycle! :)) The bikes they have in Nepal are awesome, and cheap to rent. So, I spent a few hours having fun biking around villages while Tanji was taking a nap.

Tanji Sherpa just got back from trekking the Annapurna range, so he was a bit tired. But, he was excited to take me trekking and make me run the hills and train for the marathon. He was really funny. He would think of short-cuts that were super steep and would make me run the stairs and would "accidentaly" take us the wrong way just so we would hike longer and cover more ground. :)) He enjoyed "torturing" me that way :))

He also taught me a few things about the buddhist religion (all sherpas practice buddhism) and pointed out a few things about accilmatization and climbing. He was kind of parental that way, which was great.

He and I had a great time up in the hills where we bumped into a few extraordinary and fun people like Georg and Bill from England, and Marshall from Texas!!

I hang out with Marshall for a couple of days in KTM on the way back. Marshall just finished medical school and was in India for 2 months at some sort of a practical training.
Marshall made sure I carbo-loaded properly before my marathon - we drunk plenty of beers!!!

Dr. Bell - I had a f-great time with you, dude!! Safe trip back home and good luck with moving and starting work!! Responsibilities baby, rock on! ;)))