Tag Archives: trekking

Nepal 2014

The trip through Nepal was pretty incredible. We ended up staying another week and a half in Kathmandu before leaving the country. During that time we ended up getting some good R&R, visited the medieval city of Bhaktapur, our guide went to some different temples with us in the Kathmandu valley, had some great food and I had my first haircut outside of the US.

The remaining time in Nepal was well spent. We took the time to relax for awhile and recharge our batteries after the rigorous hike in the Himalaya. Much like in the mountains, the Nepali people in the city were just nice, just as hard working and just as great to be around. We traipsed through Thamel and discovered some great Western restaurants. We even found a bar a lot like would be found in the US called Tom and Jerry’s. It wasn’t until we found Tom & Jerry’s in Thamel that I realized how much I missed home – western music was playing, the beer was delicious and Jacquelyn greatly enjoyed her margaritas. It was weird to think that we’ve only been on the road for about two months and already I was starting to miss some of the things I enjoyed at home.

It was fun to see all the people from Europe and North America dress up in Nepali clothes and walk around saying “namaste” while bobbing their heads and holding their hands together. It seemed as though white women in their 20s to early 30s were the most susceptible to acquiring the local’s identities even if the locals didn’t really wear the traditional Nepali clothes or walk around bobbing their heads and saying “namaste”. Overall, it was pretty hilarious. It’s akin to the folks I used to work with that would drink the corporate kool-aid  and become “Mr. or Ms. Corporation” but instead of corporate speak and buzzwords these travelers would speak horribly mangled Hindi and look like idiots. At the very least, I hope their traditional Nepali clothes were comfortable.

It was great to see our guide again and we were really happy he brought us around to different temples in Kathmandu. We really like Sandesh, it’s too bad he had tragedy befall his family but the Nepali people are an incredibly strong bunch and if anyone can handle it, it’d be the Nepali’s.

At the end of the day, we weren’t quite ready to leave Nepal. It was such a wonderful country and we had such a great time there.  Someday, it’d be great to go back.

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

 

Trekking in Nepal 2014

We spent about two weeks walking in the Himalaya before heading back to Kathmandu. We went to a region not too far from Kathmandu called Langtang / Gosiankunda so we fortunately missed the deadly avalanche.

The trek was pretty incredible: stunning scenery, great company, good weather, and delicious food. For the most part, the weather was incredibly good – good temperatures and clear skies. We hired a porter-guide, Sandesh, to help us along the way. We really lucked out, he was a great guy and we enjoyed spending a little over two weeks with him.

The scenery speaks for itself. Never have been around such incredible beauty; I hope to come back again in the future. There’s an immense tranquility at the higher elevations – no planes, no car noises, no Harley Davidson noises, no pollution, no/very few people, no cell phones, no radios, etc. It was so wonderfully awesome to completely avoid all the annoying sounds of humanity, I was quickly brought back to the numerous times I took off into the Black Hill and found my little corner of clarity in nature. The experience was a great reminder that I greatly enjoy being disconnected and having my own tranquil space free from the pollution of others. It was also great that I was able to share this experience with Jacquelyn; she has never hiked in this high of elevation, which is an experience in itself. It’s really hard to describe hiking / walking / trekking above 14,000ft: the sun is brighter, sounds carry further, there’s less pollution, and things just seem so much better!

We met all sorts of people on the trail from many different countries. tree huggers (literally came across a group of Brits hugging a huge tree, they asked me to take a photo of them), individuals trekking by themselves, huge groups of trekkers and porters, older individuals (70s-ish), people with very little gear / preparation (no sleeping bags, no coats, but just jeans and a sweater), and people with every last accessory (including matching bandanna). We did not meet many people around our age (early 30s) and those we did meet were all in Nepal for a short time because they had to get back to their jobs. We met a new group of people we didn’t quite enjoy being around and those are Israeli tourists. Quite a loud and obnoxious bunch seemingly oblivious to those they are around.

In order to pass the time, Jacquelyn and I read books and played cribbage. Before we left, we decided to have a cribbage contest which we aptly called “the Great Himalayan Cribbage Championship”. We decided the winner of the tournament would get to spend $40 or more at a restaurant of their choosing at a date of their choosing. Here in Kathmandu, a $40 dinner for two is quite luxurious. We played during the course of the trek and I was completely victories, utterly defeating Jacquelyn with exactly one victory to her zero. It was a great victory and I will reminder her for years to come.

The biggest surprise was the Nepali people. Talk about a bunch of very strong, very tough, very friendly people. For example, Sandesh, our porter-guide, is probably 5’3″ and I think I have somewhere around a 120lbs on him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he could bench press me. No matter what, he always had a smile on his face and was ready to go, even after eight hours of hiking misery and two family tragedies (uncle and cousin killed in Annapurna avalanche, child in ICU) during our trek.

We, at least me, didn’t have the huge, life altering, experience that many other people claim to have while trekking in the Himalaya. In fact, I feel pretty much the same as when I arrived. Sure, it was pretty, sure it was great to experience all the cultural difference, and yes it was very rewarding hard work, but it was just another awesome experience we’ve had on our trip – not a life altering experience which completely changes the way I think about life. I am OK with this, I didn’t think anything was wrong with me to begin with so there’s no reason why I needed the life altering experience :).

 

I broke up the photos into two groups. One group of 83 photos shows the various experiences on the trail. The next group of photos are artistic (if you can call it that) photos of the things we saw on the trail, pretty much mountain views. The second album of full of pretty stuff but no real content.

After the trek we went back to Kathmandu and hung out for almost two weeks. I’ll write about that later.

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

Trekking photos:

Mountain photos: