I recently got the opportunity to go to Nepal and simply put, it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. So, I thought I’d write a post about what I did on the trip for any aspiring Nepal visitors or travel junkies like me.
Excitement started pretty much from day one. After a 5 hour flight and another hour on the bus, we arrived on the bank of the Trishuli River. Multiple two person tents were set up, along with a hole in the ground as a toilet. Evening was already setting, mist coating the calm river. After a decent night sleep involving a lot of sand, we prepared for rafting. While the river was calm by our campsite, it wasn’t so much further upstream. Several hours were spend traveling down the cool Himalayan river, past the local houses built into the hillsides. After the first of many vegetable curry lunches, we traveled by bus to Nepal’s second largest city of Pokhara.
In Pokhara, we prepared for the 3 intensive trekking days up ahead. Pokhara, located close to the Annapurna range, is a city full of trekkers preparing for their hike to base camp. We were, of course, not doing this. The first day we trekked to the village of Landruk. The first 4 hours consisted of mainly spiraling stairs, but after this it remained relatively flat. Up until this point, I hadn’t seen much of the Himalayas, nor had it really sunk it that I was trekking right alongside it. However, when a bit of rain cleared away the clouds, the white peaks of Mt. Annapurna and Machapuchare, aka Fish Tail, stood tall in the distance.
The following day we hiked down into the valley, and then all the way back up, to the village of Ghandruk. Needles to say, don’t go trekking in Nepal if you don’t like stairs. The next morning we awoke to the sun rising above the Annapurna range, which is an image that I cannot even put into words. What followed was our last and arguably least intense day of hiking back to Pokhara. Instead of hiking upstairs, this consisted mostly of going down. I did feel my calves a little after this one.
After our trekking days, we travelled the 200 km back to Kathmandu for the service and more cultural parts of our trip. In the morning we visited the Swayambhunath temple in the city. Working together with Himalayan health project, we spent the rest of the day helping doctors provide basic health care to many locals. The following day was our last. In the morning we took a quick visit to the Boudhanath Stupa. It was one of the many places damaged by the devastating earthquake that struck Nepal earlier last year. Much of the structure was removed for reparation. Though still majestic, it was a good wakeup call to see the impact that the earthquake had.
All in all, the trip to Nepal was amazing. I’ve never seen such great views in my life, I could spend hours staring at those mountains. Each slight movement of the clouds made it look like a whole new mountain. So if you can, visit Nepal. It is an experience you’ll never forget. To see what I’m talking about, watch my video of the trip above!
Comentários