Nepal - Bhutan 16.6. - 16.7. 2011

Hong Kong - Nepal, Kathmandu 17.6. - 20.6.2011



Our flight to Nepal was through Hong Kong where we had about 10 hours to spare. I made great plan to see Victoria peak with the great view of Hong Kong. Unfortunately it was raining and it was no point going over there. Jeanne and I spent the time walking around Hong Kong and Kowloon islands and eating Chinese food.
The first three days of our holiday we spent in Kathmandu, capital city of Nepal. I tried twice to take mountain flight to see Mt. Everest, but the weather was bad and we didn't see anything. With Jeanne we walked around Thamel, the old and tourist part of Kathmandu, visited Swayambhunath (Monkey Temple), Pashupatinath, Bodhnath (Boudha) and met with Jeanne's students from India.
PHOTOS

Nas let do Nepalu byl pres Hong Kong, kde jsem meli asi 10 hodin volna. Ja jsem naplanovala, ze se podivame na Victoria peak, odkud mel byt nadherny vyhled na Hong Kong. Bohuzel ale prselo a tak nemelo vubec cenu se timto smerem vydavat. Jeanne a ja jsem stravily dany cas prochazenim se po ostrovech Hong Kong and Kowloon a pojidanim cinskeho jidla.
Prvni tri dny nasi dovolene jsme stravily v Kathmandu, hlavnim meste Nepalu. Ja jsem zkousela letet dvakrat k Mt. Everest, ale pocasi bylo spatne a tak jsme nic nevideli. S Jeanne jsme prosly Thamel, stare a turisticke jadro Kathmandu, navstivily jsme Swayambhunath (Opici chram), Pashupatinath, Bodhnath (Boudha) a potkaly se se studenty Jeanne z Indie.
FOTKY

Pokhara - Upper Mustang 21.6. - 2.7.2011



The second part of our trip was trekking in Upper Mustang region. We flew to Pokhara where we had two days for our permits to be issued. Upper Mustang was closed for tourism till 1992, then the number of visitors used to be limited, these days it less strict, but there is fee $50 per day and for a minimum 10 days. The agency didn't tell us about the minimum 10 days until we got to Nepal and since we planned only 7 days in the area and we couldn't do anything about it anymore, we weren't happy that we have to pay for 3 extra days! Upper Mustang is area south of Tibet, which used to be part of Tibet and the culture and buildings show that. Summer is monsoon season in Nepal, but Upper Mustang should be one of few places not affected by it. Even though it was true for most of days, the surrounding mountains were under clouds. We were hiking in elevation between 3000 - 4000 meters, sleeping in simple "hotels" - tea houses. We had one guide with us and one assistant/porter who was carrying big bag for Jeanne. I decided to carry my backpack myself since I realized that for this trek I don't need too many things. To prove that Czech people are almost everywhere, we met one guy from Prague.
PHOTOS

Druha cast naseho vyletu bylo prochazeni oblasti Upper Mustang. Odletely jsme do Pokhary,kde jsme mely dva dny na to aby nam vyridili povoleni. Upper Mustang byl uzavren pro turisty do roku 1992, pak pocet turistu bylo limitovano a v teto dobe uz to neni tak striktni, ale poplatek za vstup je $50 na den a na minimum 10 dni. Agentura nam rekla o 10ti dennim minimu az kdyz jsme priletely do Nepalu a jelikoz nas plan byl jen na 7 dni a my uz jsme s tim nic delat nemohly, na nalade nam nepridalo, ze jsme musely platit za 3 dny navic. Upper Mustang je oblast jizne od Tibetu, drive to byla cast Tibetu a tak se to projevuje v kulture i budovach. V lete je monsunove obdobi v Nepalu, ale Upper Mustang je jednou s mala oblasti, ktera by nemela byt zasazena destil. Toto sice bylo po vetsinu dni pravda, ale okolni hory byly zahaleny v mracich. Pohybovali jsme se ve vysce 3000 - 4000 metru nad morem, spaly v skromnych "hotelech" - tea houses. Mely jsme sebou jednoho pruvodce a jednu asistentku/nosice ktera nesla Jeannin velky batoh. Ja jsem se rozhodla, ze si svuj velky batoh ponesu sama, kdyz jsem zjistila, ze na tento vylet toho moc nepotrebuji. Abych dokazala, ze Cesi jsou temer vsude, tak jsem se tam take potkala s jednim Cechem z Prahy.
FOTKY

Kathmandu - Bhutan 3.7. - 16.7.2011



Last part of our holiday was in Bhutan, but first we stopped for one day in Kathmandu. I took mountain flight for the third time, but this time I saw finally Mt. Everest. Even though only the top was out of the clouds, it was memorable experience! Another amazing experience was our flight to Paro, Bhutan. For the royal Bhutanese airline fly two Czech pilots and since it is relatively small plane with a few people I was invited to the cockpit and also I could stay for landing. At the airport we were picked up by Jeanne's student father and his employee and since then they took care of us. We slept in nice hotels, drove around the country in nice car and learned a lot about Bhutan. It is nice happy kingdom with their own amazing architecture. We took trip to the center of Bhutan and since Bhutan has mainly big mountains, the 270 km trip took us about 9 hours! The roads are not that great, they are steep, winding and narrow. We were lucky to see one festival with traditional dances, for this occasion we dressed up in traditional clothes too.
The month went so fast and after our 10 days in Bhutan we flew back to Nepal and the second day back to San Francisco through Hong Kong.
PHOTOS

Posledni cast nasi dovolene jsme stravily v Bhutanu, ale nejdrive jsme se zastavily na den v Kathmandu. Uz potreti jsem vyletela se podivat na velehory, tentokrat uspesne. Konecne byl videt Mt. Everest, sice jen spicka vykukovala z mraku, ale i tak to byl uzasny zazitek. Dalsi neuveritelny zazitek byl let do Para v Butanu. Pro Butanske kralovskou spolecnost litaji dva cesti piloti a jelikoz jsme leteli v relativne malem letadle s malym poctem lidi na palube, byla jsem pozvana do kabiny a mohla jsem zustat i na pristani! Na letisti jsme byly vyzvednute otcem studentky Jeanne a jeho zamestnanci a ti se o nam po celou dobu starali. Prespavaly jsme v hezkych hotelich, vozili se po okoli v peknem aute a dozvedely se mnoho o Butanu. Je to skutecne stastne kralovstvi s jejich vlastni typickou architekturou. Jeli jsme i do stredu zeme, ale jelikoz Butan je tvoren hlavne velehory, 270 km cesta nam zabrala asi 9 hodin. Silnice nejsou az tak uzasne, jsou strme, hodne se tocici a uzke. Mely jsme taky to stesti se podivat na jeden z mistnich festivalu s tradicnimi tancemi, na tuto prilezitost jsme se take oblekly do tradicnich satu.
Mesic ubehl rychle a po 10 dnech v Butanu jsme letely zpet do Nepalu a pak druhy den zpet do San Franciska pres Hong Kong.
FOTKY

Rafting - Yuba river - 4. - 5. 6. 2011

I chose this year for our annual rafting trip Yuba river. It is class III - IV with one class V rapid which people can decide if they want to walk around it or ride it. This year signed up 24 people, but the California weather was playing with us and for the first week of June the forecast predicted cold and rainy weather and 11 people canceled. The 13 brave, hard core people left on Saturday morning (actually only 11, 2 arrived on Sunday morning just for the rafting) and spent the day around Grass Valley. We met for nice lunch, then walked around interested gold mine - Empire mine and since it was raining the whole time, we had also dinner at Grass Valley and then drove to the campground.
Sunday morning we met with our Whitewater voyages, company that we went every year so far. We put wetsuits and warm layers on and drove to the starting point on the river. Then we listen to safety talk, how to behave in the river if something doesn't go well, and that time we didn't know how useful it will be for some of us. The rapids in the beginning weren't too dangerous, mostly III class with some IV class, but it changed after lunch. Maytag is class V rapid, we stopped at shore to look at it and if somebody wasn't comfortable to ride it they could walk around it, nobody chose to walk though :). Raft with me went first, we got into hole, our guide and two other people were washed of, I hold for a little bit more, but then I swam too. This was first time that I fell of the boat. The last three people on raft managed to get out without another loss! It was just great experience swimming through the rapid! The second boat manage without problems. After that we had a few other interesting rapids before we ended up in the campground. On the way back we stopped at Czech restaurant in Concord for dinner.
PHOTOS

Tento rok jsem vybrala pro vyrocni rafting reku Yuba. Je to III - IV trida s jednema perejema tridy V, kde si clovek mohl vybrat jestli je pojede na raftu a nebo obejde. Tento rok melo jet 24 lidi, ale Kalifornske pocasi si s nami hralo a na prvni vikend v cervnu predpoved rikala zimu a dest a tak 11 lidi zrusilo. Tech 13 statecnych a zdatnych vyjelo v sobotu rano (vlastne jen 11, 2 prijeli az v nedeli rano jen na rafting) a ztravilo den v okoli mesta Grass Valley. Potkali jsme se na obed, pak jsme se prosli kolem zajimavych zlatych dolu - Empire mine a protoze nam porad prselo, zasli jsme si take jeste na veceri v Grass Valley nez jsme odjeli do kempu.
V nedeli rano jsme se potkli s Whitewater Voyages, firmou se kterou jsme zatim jeli kazdy rok. Oblekly jsme si neoprny a dalsi teple vrsty a jeli jsme na misto odkud jsme zacinali rafting. Nejdrive jsme si vyslechli jak se chovat na vode, kdyby se neco nemileho stalo, to jsme ani jeste nevedeli, ze pro nektere z nas to bude velice uzitecne! Pereje zpocatku nebyly prilis nebezpecne, vetsinou tridy III, a par IV, ale to se zmenilo po obede. Maytag je perej tridy V a tak jsme nejdrive zastavili u brehu a obhledli situaci, kdo by chtel, mohl tuto perej obejit, ale vsichni chteli jet. :) Raft, kde jsem sedela jel prvni, dostali jsme se do diry, a nas instruktor a dalsi dva lidi byli smeteni do vody, ja jsem se drzela jeste chvili, ale pak jsem ve vode zkoncila take. Toto bylo poprve, co jsem spadla z lode! Trem poslednim lidem na raftu se podarilo odtud dostat bez dalsi ztraty! Byla to zajimava zkusenost plavat pereji! Druha lod proprula bez potizi. Pak uz bylo jen par dalsich zajimavych pereji a zkoncili jsme u kempu. Na ceste zpatky jsme se zastavili v Ceske restauraci v Concordu na veceri.
FOTKY

Matterhorn 28.-30.5. 2011

There are two mountains named Matterhorn that I know of, one in Alps, one in Sierra mountains, so when on Mountaineering meetup was posted trip to climb Matterhorn I didn't hesitated and signed up. It was great opportunity to practice my mountaineering skills that I learned a couple weeks ago. It supposed to be trip for three days, but because of not so great weather, we shorten it to two. Even with little bit better weather in the end we weren't able to summit, the last rocky part was covered with snow and at places too dangerous to cross. Even with not reaching the summit it was great trip.
PHOTOS

Ja znam dve hory se jmenem Matterhorn, jedna v Alpach, druha v horach Sierra Nevada, tak ze kdyz Mountaineering meetup ohlasil vylet na horu Materhorn, ani chvili jsem nevahala a prihlasila se take. Byla to skvela prilezitost procvicit si znalosti z horolezeckeho kurzu, kterym jsem prosla pred par tydny. Puvodne to mel byt vylet na 3 dny, ale kvuli ne zrovna idealnimu pocasi to bylo zkraceno na dva. I kdyz jsme nakonec meli lepsi pocasi, nepodarilo se nam dosahnout vrcholu, protoze posledni cast byla skalnata a pokryta snehem a misty nebezpecna. I pres to, ze jsem nedosahli cile to byl super vylet.
FOTKY

Ohlone Wilderness trail 50km run 22.5.2011

I think when I heard of this run a couple years ago I thought why would I ever do that? Then I started to meet more people who didn't think this is crazy, but challenging and signed up! I actually signed up this year because my friend wanted to run too, in the end somehow I ended up running it by myself! It was really tough, especially because it was colder that I expected and my muscles were stiff and it was difficult to run. I made it in 7 hours 38 minutes, not so bad for first time 50 km race especially in this conditions and with so much elevation change, but I was still a little bit disappointed. I was 117 from total of 199 people, but 21st from only 44 women!
PHOTOS

Když jsem poprve slyšela o tomto běhu před pár lety, pomyslela jsem si, proč bych neco takoveho vůbec dělala? Pak jsem se začala potkavat víc lidí, kteří si nemysleli, že je to šílené, ale ze je to dobra vyzva a tak jsem se přihlásila! Vlastně jsem se tento rok prihlasila, protože moje kamaradka chtěla běžet taky, nakonec jsem ale nějak běžela sama! Byl to opravdu těžky zavod, a to zejména proto, že bylo chladněji nez jsem očekávala a moje svaly byly ztuhlé a bylo celkove obtížné bezet. Ubehla jsem to za 7 hodin 38 minut, coz nebylo tak špatné na poprvni 50 km závod, zejména za techto podmínek a v tolika kopcich, ale i ta jsem byla trochu zklamana. Byla jsem 117 z 199 lidi, ale 21 z jen 44 zen!
PHOTOS

Santa Cruz BBQ - Bay to Breakers - Lenka Filipova 14.-15.5. 2011

This week was quite busy. On Saturday Martin had his BBQ party in Santa Cruz. Sunday was even busier, first I got up at 3.40 am and drove to San Francisco for 100 anniversary of Bay to Breakers run. Even though it was only 2 weeks after running marathon I managed to finish 12 km under 1 hour! Exactly 0:58:24! Then I went home, had a nap and then drove back to San Francisco to see Czech singer Lenka Filipova concert!
PHOTOS

Tento týden byl docela rušný. V sobotu měl Martin party v Santa Cruz. Neděle byla jeste vice rusna, nejprve jsem vstala uz v 03:40 a jela do San Franciska na 100 výročí Bay to Breakers. I když to bylo jen 2 týdny pote co jsem bezela maraton, tak se mi podařilo dobehnout 12 km pod 1 hodinu! Přesně 0:58:24! Pak jsem jela domů, zdřímla si a pak jela zpět do San Franciska na koncert česke zpěvačky Lenky Filipove!
FOTKY

Big Sur Marathon 1.5. 2011

I am not sure how I signed up for this second Big Sur marathon, when last year was supposed to be my first and last marathon! :) The course was a different due to road slide, so we run out and back. I thought first that it is going to be easier because there won't be big 2 mile climb to hurricane point, but apparently going twice over Carmel highlands added 700 feet of climbing! Even though I didn't reach my goal - qualify for Boston Marathon I ran 12 minutes faster than last year: 3:45:50!
PHOTOS

Nejsem si jista, jak k tomu doslo, ze jsem se přihlásila na druhý Big Sur maratón, kdyaz minuly rok měl být můj první a poslední maraton! :) Trasa byla jiný vzhledem k tomu, ze se sesunula cast silnice, a tak jsme bezeli tam a zpet. Myslela jsem si, že to bude jednodušší, protože tam nebude velký 2 mílovy výstup na kopec Hurikán, ale bezet dvakrát pres kopecky v Carmelu přidalo 213 metru stoupani! I když jsem nedosáhla svého cíle - kvalificovat se na Bostonský maraton, ubehla jsem to o 12 minut rychleji než loni: 3:45:50!
FOTKY

Birthday BBQ 23.4.2011

As a tradition for my birthday I invited friends to park for a BBQ. This time it was in Almaden Lake park, which has volleyball court. The weather was just perfect - not too cold, not too hot. And I hope everybody had good time as I did!
PHOTOS

Jako tradičně na moje narozeniny jsem pozvala kamarády do parku na grilovani. Tentokrát to bylo v parku Lake Almaden, který má volejbalove hřiště. Počasí bylo perfektní - ani příliš chladno, ani příliš horko. Doufám, že všichni si to uzivali jako já!
FOTKY