Week 16

September 9-15: Kathmandu, Nepal

As we arrived in Nepal, after layovers in Belgium and Dubai, we were greeted by Dipak, one of the staff from Hotel Ganesh Himal. The car ride to the hotel was interesting in more ways than one. We were suddenly amidst a crowd of cars, bikes, people, buses, cows, and etc., all fighting for ownership of the road. As I was processing all this, we realized Dipak and I were in Japan at the same time. He proceeded to talk to me in Japanese, meanwhile, Lisa was taking pictures of all that was taking place around us. Before we arrived at the hotel we already had most of our week planned, thanks to the help of a lady from Baltimore who shared the ride with us.

The next day we took a walk through Thamel to purchase last minute items needed for our trek to Namche, on the Everest Base Camp trail. We managed to get all our gear for less than one pair of trekking poles at home. Later we meet Dipak for supper at a Japanese restaurant.

Friday we were ready to take the early morning flight to Lukla to begin our trek. However, the weather was not cooperating. We spent half the day waiting with delays.

During our wait we continually were confused by the boarding system, which consisted of a guy walking through the room yelling out flight numbers. We also got to meet the other Lukla passengers, one of whom was a mountaineering guide in Alaska. He had been away from home for a few months spending time as a guide in Africa.

Finally, we were told there would be no flight that day. Due to a limited amount of time and the unpredictable weather in Lukla, we called Dipak and arranged to have our flight changed to the Annapurna region of the Himalayas, another popular trekking site with a more accessible airport.

We arrived later that afternoon in Pokhara. This lake side city is famous for its mountain views. After checking into the hotel, we went for a walk around the lake and got something to eat. The views from the street of the mountain peaks were amazing.

Saturday we began with an hour and a half car ride to the trailhead in Nayapol. The first obstacle of the day was a pack of donkeys that were covering the entire path. The second was a river running over the path and the worry of whether this was indeed the right trail. Luckily, four boys were enjoying a swim and assured us we were on the right track. The first few hours weren't too bad, lots of great views and not too steep. We quickly learned to share the road with the various groups of donkeys that carried loads of goods on their back. I became particularly fond of one who was not only last in his group, but also, rather far behind. He would stand at the bottom of a long uphill portion and take three deep breaths before moving along. We caught up with this same pack in the next village taking a rest and noticed him right away. As they took his load off he seemed relieved and fell to the ground rolling around like a dog, maybe I liked him so much because I felt the same way once we made it to Ulleri, our destination for the day. In all we hiked for around 7 hours. The last two being the worst. However, this is where the views of the mountains were incredible.

We spent the night in tea houses ran by locals. The food was great and the families that ran the places were very helpful.

Our second day was the hardest. We started out around 5:30am and finished around 5:30pm. The goal was Poon Hill, via Ghorepani Village. We stopped there for breakfast at Hotel Sakura and were quickly convinced to return for lunch when the owner offered to keep our bags while we hiked the rest of the way up. Once reaching the destination of Poon Hill, known for its panoramic views of the mountains, we took a break to take it all in. It's hard to describe beauty, so I won't attempt to do so.

The clouds eventually moved in and blocked our view. We decided to begin our journey back. You would think going down hill would be a breeze but it was still hard work. That night we returned to the same teahouse in Ulleri.

Our final trekking day was probably the lightest day, but not an easy one. We returned to Nayapol and on to Pokhara. We shopped a little after returning but found it difficult to do too much as we were having trouble walking.

Finally, we returned to Kathmandu and toured the highlights of the city. The monkey temple was properly named as it was covered with them even on the roadsides.