THE ADVENTURES KEEP COMING!

I just heard from two fellow climbers I met on the Kangchenjunga trek in Nepal in 1996. I’ve written about both of them before, since they continue to lead energetic and adventurous lives. If all goes well, I’ll meet up with one, Terry Rollins, when I visit Dharamsala in December, after climbing with my daughters in Sikkim. Terry has been teaching English to Tibetan refugees as a volunteer at the Tibet Charity in McLeod Ganj, Upper Dharamsala, since July. He’ll return to Japan in April, to continue as an ESL teacher in that country. I’m thrilled to be able to connect with him after all these years!

Another avid climber from the Kangchenjungo trip is Sigrid Selle, who is a photographer extraordinaire, and has trekked in such faraway places as Pakistan and Yemen. She spent last August in Mongolia, covering the whole country by jeep, staying in yurts along the way, and taking two separate treks in the western mountain ranges, Altai and  Kaakhiraa. She planned the entire trip on the spot, visiting small villages and hiring guides as she went. Now this is something I would love to do. Any takers?

Here are a few of Sigrid’s photos, which she has graciously given me permission to scan. The colors cannot compare to the originals, but are, nevertheless, outstanding. She is known in the San Francisco area for her stunning slide shows…and she hasn’t gone digital!

Ladakh

Kangchenjunga, third highest mountain in the world, from Ladakh

Mustang

Kashgar/Xinjiang

Yemen

“]

Hunza Valley/Pakistan

Tolbachik Volcano/Kamchatka

Finally, I cannot disappoint my friends who laugh at my theater addiction. You can’t blame me for seeing two wonderful new shows on Broadway before I depart for Asia. I highly recommend the hysterically funny La Bete, starring the amazing Mark Rylance, David Hyde Pierce, and Joanna Lumley, written by David Hirson and directed by Matthew Warchus (remember, he directed the recent hits, God of Carnage and The Norman Conquests). And don’t miss Kander and Ebb’s final musical, The Scottsboro Boys, a wrenching story that is told as a minstrel show with a powerful bite to match its powerful performance. To top this off I saw the Metropolitan Opera’s latest production of Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, with the magnificent Rene Pape in the title roll. Long it is, but with such a chorus and orchestra, under the baton of the Russian, Valery Gergiev, that the four hours flew by. Many thanks go to my good friend, Phyllis Bitow, who squired a group of us in the wee hours back to our suburban nests.

Stand by for more information about my upcoming trip, plus a few more travel tips.