The Twelve Days of Trekking

Ok, here goes! 

I returned from my trek almost two weeks ago, but it's been such a crazy busy few weeks that it's only now that I've finally been able to sit down and write this post. :P 

Trekking was AMAZING!!!! The mountains were beautiful, the air was clear, the people were welcoming, fellow trekkers were plentiful and the hiking wasn't too strenuous. :)  As I was hiking (and thinking about how it's the Christmas season back home and I was trekking for twelve days), I thought I'd make my own 'Twelve Days of Trekking.'  Enjoy :) 

'For the First Day of Trekking, a nine hour bus to Sehpru

And I'm going to the Langtang Himalayas'

That's our bus.  I was riding on the roof and we had to get off and walk though this town because there was an army checkpoint.  Riding on the roof is technically illegal, but everyone does it anyway.  You just have to get off when the bus passes through one of the many army checkpoints.

'On the Second Day of Trekking, we hiked to Didi's village

Oh how quaint!'

My guide is from the Langtang area.  On the second day we hiked to her village and I spent the night at her families homestay.  It was wonderful :) 

Millet drying in the sun.  There was a festival coming up and the village was getting ready by making huge quantities of the local alcohol, raksi :)

Helping Didi and her family prepare the evening dal baht

Didi's home 

'On the Third Day of Trekking, we met a wild yak!

Some monkeys and a wild pig'

The picture doesn't do justice to the size of the yak.  He was HUGE!!!! And very beautiful.  We followed him for 40 mins or so before he finally wandered off up the hill and left the trail. :P

One of the many suspension bridges we crossed. 

'On the Fourth Day of Trekking, we reached Langtang Village,

Apple pie and yak cheese'

Langtang Valley.  The further up the valley we went, the more beautiful the views became

3,475 meters! Woot Woot! 

A very funny looking yak!

APPLE PIE!!! It was DELICIOUS! 

These old houses where not made for Jewel-sized people!

'On the Fifth Day of Trekking, the clouds came rolling in!

OH LET IT SNOW!'

Looking down the valley

My guide and I taking a walk around Kyanjin Gumba

'On the Sixth Day of Trekking we descended 2,000 meters

Knees are a'aching'  

Sunrise over the Himalayas

We hiked to a 'small' viewpoint above the village, only 4,773 meters! From there we walked down to 2,410 meters.  It was a long day. 

I love the prayer flags everywhere, they add so much colour to the scene

'On the Seventh Day of Trekking, we celebrated Tihar

Everyone eats kopsi'

One of the Didi's in my guest house, making kopsi, a type of fried bread

Our lunch spot was a Swiss doppelgänger. So pretty!  

'On the Eighth Day of Trekking, I washed my dusty clothes

Water is a'chilly'

(I don't have a photo for this day) 

'On the Ninth Day of Trekking, there's a panorama view

The mountains are a'mazing'  

The sky was the most amazing colour of blue!

Gosainkund Lakes - 4100 meters

Penguin had to take a rest, it's been a long trek :)

I sat here for more than an hour, just enjoying the view and contemplating life the universe and everything

Me and my guide! Mero sano didi (My small sister) :) 

My guide and her father (who was my porter)

Sunset

'On the Tenth Day of Trekking, 'twas just a two hour trek

Legs are a'resting'

Sing Gumba

The Gumba (monastery) in Sing Gumba 

'On the Eleventh Day of Trekking, we left the mountains behind

Back to the city'

'On the Twelfth Day of Trekking......'

We were meant to be gone for twelve days, hence my brilliant idea to do the 'Twelve Days of Trekking,' but we ended up coming out of the mountains and back to Kathamandu on the same day, instead of spending one night in Dunche. So only eleven days. :(  

Saved Drafts

I've been meaning to write this post for ages, but I never have the time.  I still don't really have the time, I should be doing one of the million things I have to do before I leave Nepal.  But I'm writing this blog instead.

Anyway.

I've never had the best memory, so whenever I see/hear sayings/words/jokes/whatnot, I write them down in my phone and save them as a draft.  I've been doing this for the past three months in Nepal, so there's quite a list and I've wanted to go though it and remember what I saved.  So here's the list:

1- If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it
2 - An old lady in a dress was walking home with  her groceries when she slipped and fell on a patch of ice.  Her groceries went everywhere.  As she was trying to find all the items, she asked a man going by, "Did you see my butter fly?" He replied, "No, but I did see a big black moth."
3 - "The none existent Australian Embassy or the dingy Fire Club.  Such  a tough decision."  (We were trying to decide where to go out one evening after eating out and a Nepali guy at the table next to ours said there was a party happening at the Australian Embassy.  Mac, the volunteer coordinator for Umbrella, was quite sure that the Australians don't have an embassy in Kathmandu.  Our other possibility was going out to Fire Club, a super dingy, sketchy, loud, dirty dance club, full of creepy old Nepali men. :P Tough choice eh?
4 - Noon - salt in Nepali.  Thakyo - tired (Very important words to know :)
5 - 'For the first day of trekking, a nine hour bus to Sephru. And I'm going to the Langtang Himalayas' (While I was trekking, I was trying to come up with lyrics for 'The Twelve Days of Trekking.'  I didn't have a pen and paper to write down my ideas while I was hiking, so I saved them in my phone :)
6 - 'Love is a chain of nature' (Seen on a poster in one of the tea houses we stopped while trekking)
7 - 'Fish and Cheeps' (A sign for fish and chips)
8 - 'When you're traversing an unlit road that's barely two lanes wide and isn't straight for more than 100m and is occupied by monster lorries, huge buses, the odd tractor or wayward four legged animal, with motorcycles weaving in and out, sixty clicks is fast!'  (This is what was going through my head on the jeep ride back to Kathmandu)
9 - 'Devighar and Galchhi, Trisuli River' (two towns we drove through and the river we rode along on the way back to Kathmandu, it was STUNNING.  I wanted to remember the names, on the off chance I had time to go back, but it didn't work out)
10 - 'I wish you blue birds in the spring to give your heart a song to sing. And then a kiss, but more than that I wish you love.' (written on the wall in a pub in Thamel)
11 - 'Going on a date with your lover? Now know the dating tips to impress your love.' (One of the many spam texts I get from NCell, the main phone company in Nepal).
12 - 'Politicians are like diapers.  They need to be changed often, and for the same reasons' (Written on the wall of a pub in Thamel).
13 - 'Beer: now cheaper than gasoline, so don't drive, drink' (written on the wall of a pub in Thamel)
14 - "Afghanistan was hard core in the sense that there were bombs" (An expat comparing the dangerousness of Afghanistan and Africa)
15 - 'The Honk and Holler Opening Soon - Billie Letts' (A book I need to read)
16 - 'Dress Classy, Dance Cheesy' (Excellent advice!)
17 - 'Dance Lalla with nothing on but air, Sing Lalla wearing the sky.  Look at this glowing day! What clothes could be so beautiful, or more sacred?' (A saying on the back of a book I found while perusing though the bookshop)

What would we do without cell phones?

:)

Last Week to Make Donations!!!!!!

My sincere apologies for not updating my blog in ages! I was trekking for two weeks, and since I've been back I've had so many things I need to do before I leave Nepal that I've hardly had time to sit and remember what the date is. :P It's been a busy few weeks!

I only have 9 more days left in Nepal, and only 5 more days to raise €524.00 for the Umbrella Foundation.  'Tis the season to give after all right? Give a little, give a lot, tell your friends, spread the word! :)

The Umbrella Foundation is doing some amazing work for the children of Nepal and I have LOVED the past three months that I have spent volunteering with them.  The 28 boys in my house are like brothers to me and my wish for this Christmas is that the Umbrella Foundation will be able to continue supporting them, which is only possible through donations from wonderful people like yourselves. :)

It only takes 5 minutes and it's completely safe and legit, I promise! And you'll get that happy feeling for having done something good. :)

Donate here:
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/jewelinnepal/

Read more about the Umbrella Foundation here:
http://www.umbrellanepal.org/

See some photos of the beautiful boys I get to work with here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152055838660442.899716.636050441&type=1&l=a5281612c0

and here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152182390905442.920345.636050441&type=1&l=64e09f4b00

Please. Please. Please. Please. Please!  With a cherry on top! :D

Wholesale Chaos at Kalamati Bazaar

I did not write the following. But it's a fantastic description of the market I visit every Monday and Friday with my house father to buy vegetables for Umbrella. 

'Wives haggle with shopkeepers as bored husbands carry their purchases, checking into their mobile phones out of habit. Cauliflowers are sniffed, fruits bit into, and tomatoes squeezed. Fish wither their last in buckets of dark water, oblivious to their imminent death at the hands of the dark heavy man hovering about. The place buzzes with activity, with an organized chaos that is ubiquitous to city life.

The mood of the place injects a caffeine-like rush in us as we take photos, get out of peoples' ways and counter curious gazes with half smiles. The largest vegetable market in the capital, it sees people from as afar as Panauti [approx. 32Km away] bring in their fresh produce, fruits, vegetables, fish. And people from as far or even further away flock here to buy it from them at wholesale rates.'

The photos that accompanied the article are much better than mine.  But at least you can get a feel for what it's like. :) 

Motorcycle parking

Green leaf produce area

Carrots and turnips

Sourcing out good green beans

Inside Kalimati Market, wholesale area

Those are bags of potatoes. 

The loaded delivery van

This weeks purchases on the porch of the office, waiting for representatives from each house to come collect their share 

A Day in the Park and a trip to Gatlang

One of the final Dashain activities was a day out to Balaju Park.  One of the volunteers brought his ropes and harnesses and hooked up a line up a tree for the kids.  They had a great time competing to see who could scale the tree the fastest.  The best time was 11 secs. :) 

And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo.  Everyday you see quite a few. 

It took team effort to get Raju up.  He loved every minute of it!

Volunteers, hard at work :)

Even in Nepal, we celebrated Halloween! 

I made a butterfly costume out of my sari :) 

Us volunteers took a few days off to visit a village up in the Langtang area of Nepal where a few of Umbrella's kids have been re-integrated.  It was an amazing trip!

Women carry these HUGE bundles of greenery. We'd see them walking on the side of the road, apparently in the middle of nowhere. From behind they look like big green blobs with legs. ;)

Small villages built on the hillside

Riding the bus, Nepali style!

Drying corn

We visited the house of a previous Umbrella child who has since been re-integrated with their family.  This is the view from their doorstep 

I always read this as 'toilet' :P 

Such amazing views!

I'm not entirely sure what these are.  They covered the base of the stupa in the above photo

The inside of our homestay.  This room served as kitchen/living room and dining area

The school yard

The local school 

We hiked up to a small pond/marsh area that is the site of a monastery.  More amazing views :)  

A yak cheese 'factory' at 2,700m.  We tried some, it was delicious! 

I'm not sure what this sign means....

That's the road we travelled, it was as bad as it looks.  There were many 'oh shit we're gonna die' moments.  We survived :) 

Looking over the edge of the bus, and straight down.  There was no edge of the road, only down

Picture Postcard Perfect!