The Himalayas and I

Obviously, I didn't have internet while trekking, but I tried to journal a bit.

October 10th. My eyes cannot express the beauty they have seen today. We trekked from Khare to Landruk. It took about six hours with the breaks for water, snacks and photos. We went up and down and up and down, across suspension bridges and enjoyed the crisp, cool air. Though extremely difficult, the trek so far has been amazing. My feet hurt, I have blisters and I'm sunburned, but I have so much energy right now. I'm sitting with our guide, Kulu and porter/assistant Meena. We are drinking ginger chai and eating daal bhaat (a Nepali favorite). Apparently, Landruk to Ghandruk is about to kick our asses! We go straight down (mostly steps made out of rocks) and then straight up. It should take us six hours.
Aside from all that, Kulu and Meena have been great. We are definitely enjoying their company, I hope they can say the same about Stephanie and I. We are staying at a small tea house, Ex Captain Lali Gurung Guest House. It's a cute guest house with shared bathrooms. A little story, I had to use the bathroom at about 2am, but feared the YETI would eat me so I waited until 4am and then woke Stephanie up so she would stand guard at the toilet!

October 11th. What do I even say? I just accomplished one of the hardest things I've ever done. I wish I had written more, but I have tons of pics to prove it! The day began with an extreme downhill trek to the bottom of the valley. At that point we crossed a very sketchy suspension bridge and started an even more extreme trek up. It was probably two hours down and four up! We were headed to Ghandruk, a scenic village of stone and slate houses with a colorful Buddhist monastery. We decided that we would stay at the Peaceful Lodge, though I'm not sure how peaceful it was. They had a television and we watched Amitabh films with the family...as a side note, October 11th is his birthday! Happy Birthday Amitabh Bachchan!!!! Meena, the assistant, one can eat any husky American man under the table and two, can sit in front of a television for hours. Which is exactly how she spent her evening!

The next day we made our way to Nayapul, which they say is an easy descent...HA! It rained the night before so it was slippery and difficult. Thank goodness for good hiking boots (THANK YOU REI). I don't want to complain as there were hundreds of porters along the way that were carrying five backpacks, water, camping supplies, etc, all which probably weighed 50-75 or more. The trek probably didn't end in the most enjoyable way as there was much commotion. Dasain begins in a few days so everyone is preparing. Dasain is Nepal's biggest annual festival. It lasts for 15 days. It celebrates the victory of the goddess Durga over the forces of evil. Hundreds of thousands of animals are sacrificed in Durga's honor. Which is no joke. It was terribly hard to see all these sheep being gathered for sacrifice. I am definitely rethinking the whole vegetarian thing.

So, here we are. It's our last day in Pokhara. I'm awake super early and just relaxing and enjoying the view of Fewa Lake. In a few hours we will be departing via YETI Airlines back to Kathmandu. One day left there. Stephanie will leave in the morning and I leave tomorrow night. Twenty days sure did fly by. I'll be back though. The people of Nepal have to be the kindest, sweetest people I have ever met. It definitely has a similar vibe to India, but less hectic. There is a lot less harassment as well, in all aspects. Lastly, women seem to also have more of a voice here. Nepal makes me smile.