Nepal!

Jon and I spent our first week of Winter Vacation in Nepal. Upon arrival in Kathmandu, we hopped our "puddle jumper" plane and headed to Pokhara, the town at the base of the Annapurna Circuit (a 21 day trek around the Annapurna Mountain Range). We, however, began a 5 day trek the next day after enjoying the cute town and all of its delicious food (steak, in particular!). Our trek began in Naypul. The first day broke us in with 3 hours of gradual up hill walking to the village of Tikhedhunga. There we stayed in our first "teahouse" (guesthouse lodge). I had the best tomato soup of my life, and we enjoyed the afternoon gazing at the view, playing yatzee and wondering what to do with our non-English speaking guide. Ah, our guide...sweet 21 year old dude, who really tried to take care of us, but what we discovered was that there was really nothing for him to do except pay our bills at the lodges (this was part of his job as we went through a guide company that was already paid in full). And because he didn't speak English, we couldn't really befriend him either. So, there he was paying our bills and trying to order our food at dinner time(a bit bourgeois feeling). Oh well, we were in the Himalayas and good for him, he's making some extra bucks taking a walk.

The next day, we hiked up and up and up THOUSANDS of STAIRS (yes, there are stairs all along the trail...very set up) to the village of Ghorepani. Here we were greeted with fantastic views! The original plan was to stay the night, wake up at 4:30am and hike up to Poon Hill (a hill in Ghorepani) where you are able to get a panoramic view of the gorgeous mountain ranges surrounding you. Well, Jon and I were feeling a bit saucy after some lunch and a game or two of yatzee, and so, we hiked up to Poon Hill that afternoon instead. The skies were clear, and no one was up there! We had the place to ourselves, which we learned the next morning to be a rare thing on Poon Hill. Most trekkers are advised to go for sunrise, which means a cool sunrise, but it also means 50 other people tagging along by your side. I dug the sunset:)

The following day, we hiked through woods (jungle as the guide liked to call it) to Tadapani - no stairs this day. This was the smallest of the villages we stayed in, and most crowded of lodges. There were about 8 other occupied rooms (including those for guides and porters). Well, one trekker brought her ipod speakers and bought rounds and rounds of whiskey for the Nepalese porters and guides...before you know it, Jon was squirming in his seat. Trekker girl busted out the 50 cent, guides and porters were hootin' and hollerin', and dancing on the table was looming in the near future. Now, while I was psyched to find that "da club" can be found anywhere I go, Jon was in trekking hell...it was cute:)

The next day, we headed down hill to Gandruk, where we stayed in the finest of guesthouses. We had our own bathroom, hot shower and a fantastic view from our window. Now, while I say this was the "finest", I must clarify that this "teahouse" trekking deal that Nepal has going on, is quite fantastic and easy. You hike from one lodge to the next (and don't worry if you change your trekking plans, there are always other villages to stay in along the way), where you can usually take a hot shower if you want (although, the hot may not last too long), you can order from a fairly large, decent menu, and you can purchase beer. What more do you need?

The last day, we hiked out to Naypul and caught our ride back to Pokhara. That afternoon, Jon and I received the BEST massages of our lives from 2 blind masseuses of "Seeing Hands - Nepal". No lie - a fantastic deep tissue massage given by an individual who was able to pinpoint the exact location of my stress, knots, tight muscles and who was then able to work them all out. "Seeing Hands" is a worldwide organization begun by a couple of British individuals. The great thing about it is the fantastic opportunity it provides blind people in Nepal, who are seen to have their disability because of sin in a previous life.

That evening, we also ate more steak...rare, very rare steak (foreshadowing...more later). It was tasty.

The next day, Christmas day, we flew back to Kathmandu and met up with Dhan, the head dude that arranged our trek for us. What a neat man! He began an organization called Folk Nepal. They sell handicrafts and give most of the proceeds towards helping provide medical treatment to villages that have none. He took us to lunch in a Japanese restaurant, and then after wandering around Thamel (the heart of Kathmandu craziness), he took us out to dinner with his wife and 5 children! What fun we had! We ate in this big family restaurant, we laughed and joked with the kids and we learned more about Nepal and its future.

On the 26th, Jon and I took a trip that I don't think we'll ever forget - we flew to Everest! Very cool. Small plane with one aisle of each side; big enough for about 18 people. The skies were clear, the range was stunning and Everest was just freaking cool to see. They let each of us go up to the cockpit one at a time to get some excellent pictures - again, super cool:) They gave us a certificate upon landing that said "I did not climb Everest, but I touched it with my heart"...aww, shucks!

(the peak on the far left is Everest)
That afternoon, we jumped on another plane and headed back to Delhi where we met up with my Mom, Dad and Kathryn in the airport! More on that soon.... For now, check out the Nepal and India pictures in Picasa:)