Bhutan: About to start trekking

Am at the Gangtey Palace hotel in Paro that has very good Internet connectivity.  We are leaving in 5min or so.  The next many days, we will be walking, staying, sleeping, pooping, breathing outdoors.  We did Tiger's nest as an acclimatization trek yday - it was nice.  What am I feeling?  Nothing actually.  Want to go.  Bhutanese people are amazing - there's a certain gentleness in their ways, which seems so lost in the so called developed world.  A sense of community and interdependence.  I'll know more as we go deeper inside.

Bhutan: Words before flight

I'm flying tomorrow to Delhi and then at 5am the next day to Bhutan.  Milan wants everyone to be at the airport by 2AM.  I'm reading a wonderful book - The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.  It's amazing.  Anyways, what am I thinking/ feeling right now?  Nothing actually.  Going back to Himalayas is always like going back home.  I feel comfortable there.  The city gnaws on you - however you try to keep your sanity - it gnaws.  The Himalayas let you be.  Give you space.  Grow you.  Create a freshness.  Provide a broad perspective of life.  This trek will be interesting.  Let's go now.

Bhutan: Almost there...

It's almost here and feels real now.  My back is better - sitting is more difficult than walking!  Am still buzzing with work and there's stuff pending.  I wonder when was the first time I wanted to go to Bhutan.  The group is getting excited too - lots of mails flowing.  Signed up for this Global Rescue LLC - that provides medical evacuation anywhere in the world.  Per Milan's suggestion, I signed up for the individual medical plan for the duration of the trek.  They processed my paperwork in just a few minutes and sent me a temporary card.  Milan also sent some hotel links in Paro and Thimpu...looks nice and cosy.

Anyways...in 4 days, I'll be back in the Himalayas...back home.

Bhutan: Recovering from back injury before a trek

The only known is the unknown.  But with this trek, the unknown seems to have revealed itself even before the trek started.  About two weeks ago, I lifted more than I should've on a bench press.  In about 15 minutes, I knew I did something wrong and stopped my workout.  In about a couple of hours, I knew I did something really wrong.  I thought it would go away.  I rested, moved gently around, sat weirdly, lay flat...took Ibuprofen...whatever.  It didn't go away.  A couple of days went by.  A myospaz tablet here and there somewhat helped but the pain was persistent.  I behaved as though nothing happened.  A full week went by and my posture had this right tilt - that I so desperately wanted to ignore.  At work, I'd put all my weight on the sides of the chair so that I don't wince too obviously when I got up.  Plus I had this cough that caused acute pain by pushing my rib cage down with the spine.  It all got a bit much and I figured ignoring wasn't fixing this.  Finally, I called a physiotherapist (Dr. Prakkash Sharoff in Khar and he's a blessing).

He made me bend forward, backward, sideways.  My back would scream in pain when he would say, bend forward and now lift your head.  There wasn't too much discussion about the plan of action and I was caught surprised when I found needles pierced in my butt.  Ouch.  Was this acupuncture?  I asked.  Dry needle therapy - I was told.  When I finally got up, my tilt reduced to my surprise.  But the pain didn't go away.  It took another three rounds of needling, 6 short physio exercises repeated 3 times a day over 7 days before my pain gave glimpses of receding.  

The needle is fine and goes in without bleeding.  About 7 or 8 needles are pierced in areas tracking the path of pain.  Simplistically, it releases the muscle from its knots - I think it basically shocks it by inducing pain.  The muscle unknots and lets go of the nerve that it was twisting and thereby communicating pain to the brain.  My first and second experiences were relaxing immediately.  The third didn't have an immediate effect but seemed to be the most effective.  I also got ankle weights (1 kg each) to strengthen my lower muscles.  The problem essentially has been on the left side (where I also have a genetic iliotibial band syndrome - my left knee is more bowed than my right making the left imbalanced and weaker).

This evening I felt amazingly better.  And it's almost shocking to not have pain (I feel some stress in the hip but no pain).  Body pain is greatly psychosomatic.  Yesterday, I got somewhat desperate - was this going to go or not or what?  I researched what I could on recovering from sports injuries and foods that aided strengthening the back muscle.  Then I read up Milan's trek documents fully (for the first time!).  It helped me visualize and get into the zone.  I've been through difficult treks before.  I've been through this angst before.  Just before trekking on the Jinshaling (Great Wall of China - a nice and easy trek), I had knee pain.  I decided to go anyways and it went away.  This thinking and getting into the zone seems to help in some way.  The whole thing suddenly feels real and the body some how starts gearing up.

I'm sitting on a hot-water bag as I write this.  I got maniacally methodical about this - that also seems to help.  I researched and found the following foods good for strengthening back: cherries, olive oil, soy, green tea, bright colored vegetables, walnuts, sardines, pineapple, berries, dark green veggies, turmeric, garlic, ginger, soy protein, fish/ cod liver oil capsules, vitamin D, magnesium - whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts, potatoes, avocados, bananas, kiwi, spinach, kale, broccoli, tofu, black beans, almonds (this is a good article on food for a healthy back).  These are essentially anti-inflamatory foods that help with cooling off inflamed muscles.  I'm not eating them all but I now have nuts, multi-vitamins from GNC (a cocktail of 6 smelly, oversized capsules), cod liver oil capsules, several fruits and fresh veggies in my diet and lots of water.  I'm also reducing sugar and inflammatory foods (oils, milk, cheese, bread, alcohol, white rice, pasta, noodles and so on).

Earlier in the evening I pulled out my duffel bag that has all my trekking paraphernalia (Ahaan baby cutely tried on some of these) and I went through Milan's check-list.  I have most of it.  Possibly need another pair of pants.  I'm in the zone.   I have a physio visit tomorrow morning.  Day-after, I'm back at the gym.  Bhutan - I'll see you soon.

Bhutan it is

It's middle of the night.  Literally.  I can't get Bhutan out of my head.  In less than a month, we'll start trekking.  I completed reading Married to Bhutan by Linda Leaming earlier tonight.  What a wonderful feel, perspective.  Enjoyed the book.

Though I've been more or less fit, my back gave in 1 week+ ago.  I have possibly 3.5 weeks to get back in shape.  Laya - Gasa trek - Milan says - is the second most difficult trek in Bhutan.  I'm most curious about the people who love a king who loves them and decides that the Gross National Happiness is a better measure than Gross Domestic Product.  Very interesting.

Sometimes I like to learn before I go, sometimes I discover everything.  Somehow this time I was curious to read about Bhutan.  Leaming's book provided that perspective.

Ok, let's do this.