Mumbai Part 2- Photos September 9, 2008

Most of our time in Mumbai was spent touring around. Allison and her classmates are working on a redevelopment plan for the derelict ports on the eastern side of the Mumbai Peninsula. These ports have gone by the wayside, more or less replaced by ports elsewhere in Mumbai, and across the bay, in Navi Mumbai. The main objective was to get a sense of the place; the local inhabitants, the current industries, and the sentiments of the affected people regarding a restructuring of the area.

We went on a few walking tours, which were eye-opening. The main industry in the ports today, is ship breaking. Large vessels no longer viable for shipping or other uses, are taken here to be dismantled piece by piece, and sold for their various parts and scrap metal. It is a horribly dirty and dangerous industry, and can only be profitable in places without human health and environmental protections. Other countries that have ship breaking industries are Bangladesh, Pakistan, and a few nations on the west coast of Africa.

Here is some dismantling in progress.

Here are some MIT students finding their way amongst the trash piles.

No part of the ships are wasted. Here are some workers collected metal shavings and hauling them in and out using both carts, and metal baskets carried on their heads.

There certainly where motorized trucks hauling things around, but also no shortage of less industrialized methods.

The living conditions are atrocious. There is basically no delineation between where people work and where people live. A nice idea in the US, where it is a way to shorten your commute. Not such a great idea in a place too toxic to work in, let alone live in.

Here’s an example of one of the nicer structures.

Here is a typical street corner in the slum. Notice on the right vendors selling food.

We walked passed this medical clinic. It caught my eye because it said “Physician and Surgeon,” and I was imagining surgeries being performed there. Wow! When I got home and looked closely at the photo, I noticed 5 1cc syringes sticking out of some multi-dose vials sitting on the shelf inside. It seems as if they are there to be used on multiple patients. If you want to zoom in, click on the photo and see for yourself.

Despite the hardships though, these people are visibly cheerier than Americans, and certainly less aggressive and more tolerant. It really makes you wonder about the fundamentals of human happiness…

Part 3 to follow…

-A’s

Mumbai Part 1- Photos September 8, 2008

Allison and I took a train from Delhi to Mumbai. It was 18 hours, and we loved every minute of it. We had a 4 berth sleeper cabin, which really made the trip enjoyable. We shared the cabin with two very friendly Indians.

Here we are after a restful night, right before pulling into Mumbai Central.

Leaving the Mumbai train station, we couldn’t find a taxi driver who was willing to turn his meter on. A gang of them tried to convince us it would be cheaper with it off. I had to go back inside to get a cop in order to a driver to comply. It ended up about half of what they were demanding.

Here’s a picture of the Mumbai Taxis. They run on natural gas. This one must have the optional rally fun pack.

With the meter running, we B-Lined for the West End Hotel, our home for the next 12 days. The room was decent, and we loved the idea of being stationary for a little while.

The next day we headed to the Gates of India to catch a boat to Elephanta Island. Elephanta is known for it’s intricate caves carved out of stone dating back to the 6th century, and its insanely unruly monkeys.

This is Allison inspecting one of the caves. There are a series of 6 or so caves, all cut into the rocks on the top of the hill. One of them is as big football field- with 20 foot ceilings.

Surrounding the caves are merciless monkeys. Check out the yarmulke on this guy. He stole some corn on the cob.

The rest of the troop must have been running low on blood sugar, because they had a hankering for soda pop. They saw this family coming from a mile away. This monkey is eyeing up some Fanta Orange, tightly clutched in the hands of an unsuspecting boy.

Their main tactic is fear mongering. They surround anyone carrying food. Once surrounded, they send in the goons to jump right in front of the person to swing fists and bark. Wouldn’t you give up your orange soda?

And the getaway. Great success!

We witnessed other monkeys who had picked up the ability to unscrew soda pop bottles, and throw the caps into the woods. This guy couldn’t pull it off, and had to bite through the bottom.

This one preferred the refreshing taste of Limon.

Luckily Allison and I were only carrying health food, so we were spared.

We hiked to the very top of the island, and found a massive cannon to sit on. It was installed just a few decades ago, to take care of any potential invaders from Pakistan.

Mumbai is not as hot as Delhi, but it is still pretty hot. We began overheating, and headed back to the hotel room. On the journey we took note that the concept of the siesta is really pantropical. Here, even the stray dogs need a midday nap.

Stay tuned for Mumbai Part 2. And then a recap of our wonderful wedding weekend in Denver. After that, the blog will be wrapped up for the summer, and reserved for the special occasions in our lives which warrant updates.

The blog has had around 5,000 visits since its inception, which is more than we ever expected. We really hope you’ve enjoyed reading.

-Alex and Allison

Climbing Stok Kangri- Photos September 2, 2008

From Leh, Allison and I set out to climb Stok Kangri. It is the biggest mountain in close proximity to Leh. It is not a technical climb, but difficult due to the elevation(20,100 feet or so).

We hired a guide service, which provided us a Nepalese sherpa guy, a donkey man and his helper, and a team of donkeys. The donkeys unwillingly carried our tent, food, and cooking supplies for us.

The trail on day 1.

Our donkey man. An 80 year old Tibetan fellow.

This line of work is surprisingly dangerous. The day before I took this photo, the group camping about a half mile up ahead of us had just pulled into their camp when their pony man got kicked in the head by one of his ponies. Early the next morning, that pony man died from his head injury. We heard about it from the man’s group as they were descending back into to Leh that morning. We were surprised that no one reporting the accident appeared to be very shocked or dismayed by the event. I guess they figured the pony man was onto his next life already.

I gather that working with donkeys is a little safer due to their smaller size. Here the group is unloading the beasts of burden.

Donkeys are, or course, more stubborn and harder to work with. This donkey called it quits about 100 feet before he reached camp. They had to unload him after he refused to go any further bearing the load.

Donkey 1 – Donkey men 0

To acclimatize effectively, our hiking schedule was pretty laid back, just a few miles and a few thousand vertical feet per day. This afforded us lots of camp time.

We had lots of time to drink tea.

Allison won lots of rupees from me in countless poker games.

Everyday, we beat the donkey man and his donkeys to camp. While waiting for the donkeys to arrive, we had to come up with other things to do. We introduced our guide to bowling.

Not a bad setup for the wilderness.

I used an example of perfect form to demonstrate.

I don’t think they have bowling in Nepal. This guy may have been up Everest twice, but I doubt he could break 100 at Luckystrike.

Allison’s really hard on herself when she scores under 250.

On day 3 we made a big climb up to the Stokla saddle at about 15,000 ft. We posed for a misty photograph.

The Himalayas are gorgeous.

Really interesting rock formations.

This is a yak.

Everywhere you look, there are prayer flags flying across some great span of space.

We made it to basecamp (16,500ft) on day 4.

Looking down towards the basecamp ghetto of tents.

On summit day, we departed at 1:30 am.

A brutal time to wake up, but Allison was still smiling.

We walked through the snow in the dark for hours. There was only a few inches on the ground, but it was just enough to make everything slippery. Once the sun came out, we realized that the sky was completely socked in.

Climbing to the final pitch, we roped up for safety.

The sun came out for a brief few minutes. The rocks were glazed with rime, and glittered in the sun. The views were amazing. It took a few quick shots at around 19,600ft.

Looking south.

Looking down the ridge we had just come up.

And up towards the summit.

Approaching the top, there wasn’t a lot of air to breathe. Our pace slowed considerably, but we trudged on to the top.

We stayed on the summit for 10 minutes or so, just enough time for a few photos.

It was cold and windy, and didn’t appear as if we were going to get any break in the clouds, so we headed back down to basecamp. We left the summit at around 7am.

Allison and the guide snaking back down into the clouds.

We made it back to basecamp, did a high-5, and took a few short naps.

The next day we hiked down to the town of Stok Village. One more wait for the donkey man and we hopped on a van to take us back to Leh, where we planned our route back to Delhi and onto Mumbai…

-A’s

Wilson Peak July 21, 2008

This morning Allison and I set out to climb a 14,000 foot peak. Wilson Peak is situated amidst a group of 3 14ers. We picked Wilson Peak because the weather didn’t look like it was going to cooperate, and it’s the one you can get up and down the quickest. We left the house before 6 am. On our trip towards the trailhead, we had no idea that not only would we not reach the summit, but we’d be taking a helicopter home…

Driving up to the trailhead, we passed some cattle. I like the haircut on this one.

A view of Wilson Peak from the approach. 14,000 something feet high!

We parked the car at the trailhead. Hiking with an MIT student can be frustrating. You’re not allowed to start walking until your watch can pick up enough satellites to track your elevation gain vs distance traveled….

It took a while, but soon we were underway. Nice Marmot.

Looking back down the valley we hiked up. Beautiful.

A disintegrating building.

Lots of slippery snow to cross.

Approaching the saddle 13,020 feet, just before the scramble to WIlson Peak.

This is a photo of Allison at the saddle. Up above, we could see two figures taking a rest at about 13,200 feet. We would get to know these folks very soon….

This is the last photo I took before the day took a turn for the worse. You can see Lizard Head in the far right of the photo. Our trail took a left turn at this point.

Allison stopped to eat a quick snack, and I ran up the trail to look for a route. I crested a small ridge and saw a heap of gear just below some steep rocks, right where they met the snow. I looked further down and saw two people, the same silhouettes we had seen above us just 15 minutes prior. Only now, they were about 100 feet below us. One of them was lying in the snow, the other standing over him. I yelled down, “Are you guys alright?” My question was answered with an abrupt, “NO!” Not an answer you are ever expecting to hear. It was followed by an assertive, “We need rescue. Broken Thigh!”

I walked down to them, and Allison stayed up high in the hopes of getting cell communication. Luckily we could separate while maintaining voice contact.

I think they were happy to see us. A guy who works in a hospital, on an ambulance, and on ski patrol. And a hot chick with a cell phone and a GPS watch.

Looking up, I could see that the fall had been considerable. 30 feet bouncing over steep jagged rock and a 100 foot slide down the snow, to where he came to rest.

This guy’s femur was obviously broken and his thigh was as big as watermelon, only harder. And it would only get worse over time.

I took vital signs, treated for shock, and improvised a long bone traction splint. The ingredients? Two trekking poles, a stuff sack, duct tape, and 3 mil rope. Take a look…

The patient and a long view of his new splint.

The muscles in the the thigh are really strong, and once the femur breaks, the muscles go into spasm. They will pull the sharp bone ends together, causing extreme pain, and life threatening bleeding. A closed femur fracture can cause enough blood loss to lead to death.

This splint, pulling ~15lbs of pressure down on the foot is actually pulling the bone ends apart…

Allison was hard at work up the ridge. She couldn’t get voice cell service, but could squeeze out some text messages. She texted a friend, who called the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s deputy, in turn, texted Allison. At this point I had yelled up to Allison that we need a helicopter ASAP. She passed that along and that got the gears turning. Amazingly, the whole entire rescue was coordinated via text message. Not a single phone call was ever placed.

We had been on scene since 10 am, and the sheriff’s deputy promised a chopper by 1 pm.

I hiked 5 minutes down to a flat spot where I thought a chopper could land. It would take a brave pilot, but there was some flat snow just along side an old mining cabin. I made a big X in the snow that would be visible from above.

I grabbed an old board and stuck it upright in the snow. I tied my shirt to it to make a windsock. This is the last time I would ever see my shirt intact, but In marginal conditions, these pilots can use all the information they can get.

The chopper came in at about 130. We were glad to see it.

Awesome landing, right on top of my X!

Out of the helicopter came two people with lots of equipment. It then lifted off, to return when we had the patient ready to load.

We met up with Eric and Brian, members of the local search and rescue.

We hiked them up to the patient. They had lots of medical stuff with them, which we desperately needed.

I used some of it to start and IV on the patient, and to give him some fluids and some morphine. He was happy to have some pain relief.

It took over an hour to get the patient stabilized, moved into a basket, and carried the 400 feet down the snow to the helicopter landing zone. It was starting to sprinkle and lightning was moving in. We were about to lose our window to use the helicopter. The alternative? Carry this guy down 3500 vertical feet.

Luckily the weather held off. This is a shot of Eric waving in the chopper. That fabric in his hand used to indicate wind speed and direction? A fragment of my shirt…

A great shot by Allison that really shows the clouds mounting in the background.

Here’s the chopper coming in. Brave pilot.

Brian covered the patient while I held onto my hat and the IV bag. By this time, the patient looked pale as a ghost, and really needed IV fluids to keep his pressure up.

We all helped load this poor guy.

The helicopter left to drop the patient off. Luckily, it came back to get us, and give us a ride back into town.

Amazing views out the windows.

Approaching the Telluride airport via helicopter.

Once we hit the ground, we met up with Eric again. He told us that when he was transferring the patient to Flight For Life, he curiously began complaining of back pain. Since we had done such a thorough evaluation of the patient over a period of 6 hours, Eric was stunned. Reaching down to feel the patients back, as any good medic would do, Eric pulled out these rocks which were firmly pinned up against his spine… Ouch!

And no adventure is complete without a few souvenirs…

You can read the news story about the rescue in the Telluride Daily Planet.

-A’s

Imogene Pass July 16, 2008

Today Allison and I took the jeep to Ouray, over Imogene Pass. It’s a rugged 18 mile trip over one of the highest passes in the country at over 13,000 feet. We took this “short cut” to find some hot springs to soak in. Ouray is full of them.

The trail was pretty rough from the start. Can you see it cutting a faint horizontal line through this picture?

The trail was steep and rocky. We climbed over 4,000 feet in just a few miles.

Mmmmm…….doughnuts.

With rock walls on one side and cliffs on the other, you must always keep you eyes on the road.

Along the way we passed countless abandoned structures, all of them related to mining in some way.

We reached the ghost town of Tomboy.

This is one of those desolate places that makes you wonder how people ended up there. Back in its day, around 100 years ago, it apparently had 1,000 residents, a school, a bowling alley, a YMCA. It is now just a pile of rubble, with only the skeletons of buildings remaining.

It’s also striking how much junk was left behind.

Moving higher, we passed this sign. This might the first time I’ve seen “short wheel base” recommended on a road sign. And based on the terrain we encountered, I’d say they’re using the term “recommended” pretty loosely.

The last switchback before the top.

At the top of the pass, we got out to take a look. It looked like a Jeep advertisement.

Some rednecks went postal on this mailbox. It must take the mailman forever to get up here.

Leaving the top, we turned left here. This sign is clearly brand new. No bullet holes.

That rock is huge!

And finally pulling into Ouray…

After lunch in Ouray, we headed to Orvis Hot Springs, in nearby Ridgway(no cameras allowed).

At the park in Ridgway, I had Allison strike a pose on a weird bear/owl chair thing.

Then I pushed her on the swings.

And she spun me on the spinny thing- until a gang of 8 years olds came and kicked me off….

-A’s

Ophir Pass June 20, 2008

Allison and I rested our legs today and let some fossil fuels do the work for us. We decided to head to Durango to meet up for lunch with Joe and Karen, Allison’s dad and step-mom. We picked a short-cut through the mountains, taking our one-way mileage from 120, down to 80 miles. We headed 12 miles south to the town of Ophir, where we picked up the road to Ophir pass.

The road is a jeep trail which connects Ophir with Silverton. Ophir is a tiny town, without much infrastructure. It is really beautiful, but littered with avalanche paths. More on that later. Here’s a photo I snapped of Ophir.

It’s hard to see, but it’s there, nestled in the valley.

The road is fairly rough, and requires 4WD. I drove…

Allison took the helm at the camera, which kept her mind off of the heights and drop-offs.

The road got very narrow toward the top.

Luckily no other cars came from the other direction through the narrow section. This could have required a lot of dangerous backing up, which adds to Allison’s anxiety!

Here the Jeep looks pretty dwarfed by the snow banks.

All the minerals up in the hills provide for the really rich colors you can see in the background.

Nearing the top, we passed a friendless soul looking for some snow to ski on.

Rule #1- Always ski with a partner.

This area is known for its avalanches. Look at this hill. It’s avalanche paths are spread out like fingers, leaving it with a striped appearance.

Across the valley, we spotted a bald patch of land littered with downed trees. Since all the trees above the patch were in tact, Allison surmised this was from a snow slide which had so much energy, it traveled a ways UP the opposite hill after it reached the valley floor. My contention? Obviously the work of Aliens. Click on it and see for yourself….

…Aliens!

The descent was a much easier drive.

We were soon on the highway and before long, in Durango. Lunch was fantastic. A gem of a Mexican restaurant hidden in an Albertson’s parking lot.

After, it was off to the local industrial park, where Allison knew of a local brewery. Much to our surprise, when we arrived we found a raging party, complete with cheap beer, free food, and a live band. These are all ingredients for a good time.

Any decent ski patroller can find some quality eats, free of charge. It’s in our blood.

Allison showed me how pound a microbrew. It’s a lot like pounding an MGD, but more expensive.

The party was complete with hippies and their leashless dogs. This is the drummer from the band. He alternated between beating his drum, and beating the dogs that were trying to eat his shift meal pizza. No joke.

This is the rest of the band. I never did catch their name, but they looked like they might have been called Southbound or something. Great Hank Williams covers….(senior, of course)

On the drive back I snapped one last photo of the road leaving Ophir.

You will recognize this road after you watch this short video on Ophir avalanches.

Try and disregard the Jihadist music, because this is the most incredible video on avalanches I’ve ever seen, and right in our own backyard!

-A’s

Packing for a Long Journey June 7, 2008

We’ve been putting it off long enough, but we are finally ready to leave Boston for Colorado. It’s been great to hang out in Boston free from school and work obligations, but it’s time to move on. We are all packed up and ready to leave, right on time….1pm!

We are looking at 35 hours on the road in a Jeep Wrangler, so we’ve packed lots of comfort food…

the beer is at the bottom…

Time to hit the road. See you in Colorado!