Nepal in a nutshell

The trek was great. We didn't bring a guide or a porter and I feel accomplished knowing that I lugged by own bag the whole way! We rushed through the trek, completing it in 6 days instead of the recommended 10 (my legs have never felt so exhausted). As I was huffing and puffing up and down the endless hills, the sight of porters dressed in jean shorts and flip-flops, carrying two or three huge crates of food, large jars of kerosene or the luggage of three people never ceased to amaze me. And kept me motivated.

View of Annapurna, with Tibetan prayer flags

Most nights we slept in tea houses, in dark little rooms, frequented by probably hundreds of people each season. The food was delicious at the beginning of the trek - order a potato curry and they dash off to the garden to pick the potatoes! I'm also a new fan of yak cheese, which is abundant throughout the hill regions, tastes like parmesan but with the consistency of mozzarella. As we got higher and above the tree line, the food was pretty bland because everything had to be carried in by porters each day. It's quite amazing how well-organized the tourism industry in Nepal is.

Fishtail mountain and ABC lodges

Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) was breathtaking. The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and was freezing cold at 4,100 meters. We had lunch and quickly descended. It took us four days to "summit" as we like to say, and two days to reach the warm beds and hot espresso of Pokhara. After spending a few days in Pokhara, floating around on the lake and eating Western food, we made our way back to Kathmandu, where we are now awaiting our Indian visas.

A Lakshmi Puja

Nepal is a very relaxing place, for the most part, and we're here at a great time. Last night the biggest festival in Nepal, Diwali, came to an end. I'll equate the atmosphere to Christmastime in the US. The first night was great, because we were invited to participate in a celebration by the guy, Uday, who helped us get outfitted for our trek. We had no idea what to expect. As we walked through the streets to his shop, everyone was closing up shop for the day and decorating the sidewalk in front of their storefronts and homes with Lakshmi Pujas. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth, and a puja, as I understand it to be, is a colorful design on the ground, made with different brightly colored powders, butter lamps, fruits and oftentimes some rupees. These pujas lined the streets and were quite a beautiful sight.

We met Uday at his shop and then drove to a neighborhood not too far from our guesthouse. As we approached, I could hear music blasting and I saw about 50 people gathered in a large circle as four girls, dressed similarly to myself, danced what seemed to be a mix of hip-hop and traditional Indian/Nepali dancing to Nepali music. There were a few bright street lights and so we sat around watching as Uday and his friends set up their own sound system and called their friends. As is typical in Nepal, the electricity went out and the street was completely black. The music stopped and everyone stood around chatting, probably about what to do next. After a few minutes, a minivan drove up with music pounding from the speakers. All the kids started cheering and one by one piled into the van. Tom and I sat at the sidewalk, amazed as we estimated that at least 25 people were in the car. They sung at the top of their lungs as the driver took off, most likely for a neighborhood where the street lights were still working.

What happened next still makes me laugh. Uday and his friends set up their speakers and starting playing their own music. There were about 20 of us there and everyone cheered, ran into the street and started dancing. We weren't dancing to traditional songs for Diwali, but rather popular Nepali and Indian songs. Towards the end of the night, we were about 50 people and Tom pointed out that we were probably listening to some tunes off of NOW 5. So there I was, sober as I've ever been, a good foot taller than everyone around me, celebrating Diwali with the locals by dancing like crazy in a dark Kathmandu street.



PS: On the way back to Kathmandu, we had a little stop off in our favorite Nepali town, Besi Sahar. The police chief called us to proudly announce that he had found our stuff - a camera, two pairs of glasses and cash. We couldn't believe it and knew there had to be a catch, but took a taxi to Besi to meet with the police and reclaim our items. As I told the police chief, if this were to happen in the US, I would file a police report with no hope of ever seeing my things again. I honestly was very impressed. In the end, we were given all of our items except the cash - our donation to the hardworking city officials of Besi Sahar.

With the police chief of Besi! Only sorry I didn't get a photo of him wearing my sunglasses...