As per usual, here is a video hi-lighting a lot of our photography from our trip to Nepal, plus some Blair-Witch styled video footage, all rolled into one delightful video, complete with Nepalese soundtrack.

Enjoy!

**A week ago we traveled to Nepal.  The posts that you will see over the next few days are excerpts from my travel journal recounting our trip.**

We both woke up surprisingly warm considering we were staying in a room made out of plywood without any heat. I guess that’s what 4 blankets will do for you! We pulled the “curtain” back, and we had such a stunning view of a mountain. It immediately pulled us out of bed at 6:00 a.m. ready to get trekking for the day. After a quick, but hearty breakfast, we were on our way.

Our “guide” set off with us and we walked along taking in the glorious views. I’m not exactly sure when things took a turn, but all of a sudden we found ourselves gasping for air, chests tightening, heads “floating.” It was compounded by the fact that our trek became colder and steeper. At one point we were told by fellow trekkers that it would be a steady steep incline for the last 2-2.5 hours.

I’m not even sure that “discouraged” adequately describes the emotion I was feeling. I was tired, my body was slowly shutting down, and the altitude was getting to me. I don’t even know how many times I paused in our 7 hour trek; nor can I (nor will I) admit how many times I said, “I can’t do this.” There were other dramatic statements declared as well, but ultimately my #1 encourager, Peter, kept me going. That, and the snickers bar I ate in 7 pieces.

Seeing as our “guide” didn’t speak any English (I think he muttered 3 words the whole trip, and not at once.), we couldn’t even ask “Are we there yet?!” So we had to rely on conflicting reports, and hear things like, “Oh I remember that part; it was the worst!” Stellar.

Anyway, enough of the melodrama (for now). We rounded a corner and we realized that we were at a check point for Namche Bazaar, so we knew we were almost there. At this point I could barely feel my toes, and every muscle in the lower half of my body was screaming, “Why?! Why would you attempt to climb the Himalayas when your only source of ‘physical exercise’ consists of climbing the stairs at school?!’”

I still don’t have a good reason other than it seemed cool. And cool it was; as we took step by slow step down and up the muddied trail into the village of Namche.

We had some confusion with our “guide” about finding the hotel we wanted, so we ended up eating soup in this random restaurant with an old woman humming the same 3-note tune over and over while continually flipping from Bollywood channel to Bollywood channel. We were still debating going on to the hotel we’d heard about that has a view of Everest. However, the journey of 1 hr. seemed insane and we were told it wasn’t clear enough to see it.

So we took that as a sign to settle in Namche. It’s a good thing we did because not even 15 minutes later it started pouring rain. And then as I settled in to write this journal entry, it started snowing. All things considered, I think warming by the fire with a thermos of hot lemon tea was a much better plan.

We sat chatting with various other travellers, warming up and relaxing. Dinner was a bit of a scene though. I ordered a “hamburger” and when it arrived, it was 3 slices of spam on a bun. Umm… no thanks. So we sent it back and asked for a veggie burger instead. Well, that eventually returned, but they stuck it on my existing bun and served it cold with cold fries. Not cool. Or is it? Anyway, I finally got it but was almost not hungry at that point. After that we headed off to bed early seeing as we both had headaches from altitude adjustments.

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Read more about our trip to Nepal…

Nepal: Day 1

Nepal: Day 2

Nepal: Day 4

Nepal: Days 5-7

Nepal: Day 8

**A week ago we traveled to Nepal.  The posts that you will see over the next few days are excerpts from my travel journal recounting our trip.**

At some point during the evening the music stopped and things in Kathmandu settled into a comfortable silence. I know this because I was awake for much of the night. I think it was a mix of jet lag, sweating and not being able to turn off my mind. With turning 29 and having a scheduled power outage (thus no power for our alarm clock to catch an early flight), and being concerned about flying to the “most dangerous airport in the world”…I was not able to sleep.

Regardless of my worry, we woke up just fine, at a lovely breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, with a side of sweet ‘n’ sour hash browns. We at on our hotel’s terrace overlooking the stacked buildings, swooping birds and trees and flowers of all kinds. They all neatly fit together in a multi-coloured hodge podge. It’s hard to tell which buildings existed first.

After breakfast we were taken by our driver back to the airport to the domestic section to catch our flight to Lukla. He let us off at this random gate with the advice to just “go down there and you will see line.” …So we got out, walked outside on this rough trail, past a random monkey, and tons of people (none whom looked like they were flying anywhere), towards a run-down building. Now, the flight on a dinky plane to the “most dangerous airport in the world” was worrisome enough… but now this, a very dilapidated building, added to my concern.

We pushed past the crowds and into what appeared to be the Nepalese airport version of the New York Stock Exchange. There were tourists, locals, backpacks, crates of resources, and it was all happening very loudly in every chaotic direction. We both kind of laughed and then dove into the craziness and headed toward the “flight counter” that said “Lukla.” We moved around the desk trying to squeeze in amongst the others. Eventually we were given tickets and told to go to our gate. So we went through some pretty relaxed security and passed through these curtains. All of a sudden it was like we’d entered another world. There were regular airport seats and large windows facing the tarmac. It all seemed so relaxed and civilized in comparison.

We met up with the father-son duo we’d met the previous day and we all revelled in the check-in “process” we’d just been through. No sooner had we arrived than we were rushed out for our flight. When we checked the time it was barely 8:30 a.m., and yet our flight was scheduled for 9:20. As it turns out, there are no “real” flight times. They’re merely “suggestions.” What really happens is that when enough people check in, they go. So apparently they were ready.

Our small gaggle of passengers were taken by bus to our tiny plane. We loaded the 18-seater where we held our bags on our laps. We also could see the entire cockpit. It was both interesting and unnerving.

We took off with the engine humming in our ears. We were offered cotton balls and candies to help adjust to the sound and cabin pressure. The mountainous terrain was quite stunning as we soared quite closely to it. Our fellow plane companions were practically on the edges of their seats as they snapped photos and filmed the journey. You could sense the excitement and anticipation, thick amongst the gore-tex-clad trekkers.

As we began our descent, I decided not to look up due to the fact that we were about to land on a 420m runway that ends directly at a brick wall.

My fears were allayed when we landed smoothly on this mountainside “airport.” We hopped out and our guide was there with a sign all ready to go. We walked through the village of Lukla with only a brief stop to go to the toilet and for the locals to record our trekking passes.

After that we were on our way. Our guide (who, by the way doesn’t speak a word of english and who is probably only 18 years old) carried my pack which made things pretty easy for me. It was hard to take in all the incredible scenery around me while simultaneously trying not to step in animal dung.

Nevertheless, our rocky path led us through some truly magnificent views of the Himalayas. It seems to be layers of lush green grass, trees, bushes, all nestled into the mountains, with some homes and monasteries scattered throughout. Birds were chirping, the bells of the herds of cattle and donkeys were clanging.

We passed dozens of Buddhist prayer wheels where trekkers and sherpas all took turns spinning them, listening to the chiming bells, as they hoped for protection, peace and prosperity.

We paused briefly here and there along the trail to catch our breath, drink water and eat copious amounts of trail mix.

The morning was perfectly overcast with a fairly warm breeze and just a sprinkling of rain. We stopped more officially around 12:00 or so, after we’d been hiking for 3-3.5 hours. We settled in at the Shangri-La Guest House where we we warmed up with a bowl of fresh, hot soup. We rested and chatted with fellow trekkers, just enjoying the afternoon.

As we sat, we realized the rain had picked up, and instead of a light mist, it was legitimately pouring. So it was in that moment that we chose to settle there for the rest of the day. This is vacation, after all. So we sat in a room by a pot of charcoal staying warm, eating snacks and generally chatting the afternoon away to the sound of the pitter patter of raindrops. It was absolutely lovely and relaxing.

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Read more about our trip to Nepal…

Nepal: Day 1

Nepal: Day 3

Nepal: Day 4

Nepal: Days 5-7

Nepal: Day 8

We had finished Church, taxied home and had eaten a delicious lunch of leftovers.  It was then that we set out to walk to another Church to meet up with friends for an afternoon in the desert.

We walked along busy, dusty roads in the glorious sunshine, recapping our weeks and excitedly chatting about the upcoming drive out into the desert of Kuwait.

Upon reaching our destination we eventually met up with various friends from our weekly Bible study and even work, and boarded a mini bus desert-bound.

The bus passed many stalls set up along the highway selling flags and other such paraphernalia for Kuwait National Day coming up next week.  It was fun to see the various homes and cares joining together in pride for their our country.

We arrived mid-day in the heat of the sun, passing piles of sand, lots of families and various dead sheep.  We set up our humble picnic amidst desert flowers, sand and garbage (the latter being the least enjoyable of the three).  We ate, chatted and enjoyed some much-needed vitamin D. The weather was perfect, really.  A little hazy, but comfortable and warm.

Our afternoon was spent amongst fine friends climbing up to the top of Mutler Ridge (the highest point in Kuwait…and since Kuwait is a desert, let’s be real, the ridge isn’t that high…).  We had a beautiful view, and it felt kind of like walking on the moon with all of its pebbles, neutral tones, dips, and dives.  It would be a perfect location for a picnic.  (Note to self: make that happen!)

After sufficient exploration up top, we climbed back down (going down is always worse than going up!), played some frisbee (who am I kidding, Peter played frisbee, I took pictures), and then took the bus back into the City around dusk.  It was a fantastic end to our Friday.

After Aqaba we headed back to Amman, but along the way we paused in a couple of different spots. The first spot was Lot’s cave where he and his daughters took refuge when fleeing from Sodom and Gommorah. It was waaaaay up hill and we had to climb through a fence to get to it, but it was quite neat to see.

I mean, there wasn’t much to it but a cave, but I like seeing things like that and thinking about the history that it holds! It’s kind of mind-blowing if you really think about it.

Then, as we drove further, we stopped in Wadi Mujib for what I would say wins the “most surprising” award of our trip!

We all knew that it was a water fall that we would be walking through, but we had no idea how exciting it would be!

We were suited up in bathing suits and life jackets, and equipped with the best footwear known to man: flip flops. We started our trek through some gravel and ankle-high water and eventually found ourselves totally submerged in water and climbing intense jagged rocks with nothing but a rope to help us up!

It was loads of fun and definitely an adventure we all enjoyed. A few bruises later (mostly for accident-prone me!) and we were all really pleased with the experience! We had so much fun and if you’re ever in the area you should definitely give it a try!!!

If you’ll recall a while back, we bought Kindles!  We purchased them a.) because we like to read and b.) because when moving to Kuwait we wanted to take a pile of books with us, but realized that with only 2 suitcases each, carrying a pile of heavy books wouldn’t be the best way to fill up our luggage.

So with that in mind, I took the advice from a bunch of friends and blog readers and did some research on books.  I’ve decided to download the following for my reading pleasure over the next few months.  I haven’t purchased them yet, so if you have any last minute advice, let me know!!

• “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Brontë
• “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe
• “The Blue Castle” by L.M. Montgomery
• “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer
• “The Red Tent” by Anita Diamant
• “Sarah’s Key” by Tatiana De Rosnay
• “I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity” by Izzeldin Abuelaish
• “Women, Food and God” Geneen Roth
• “The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt-Out” by Brennan Manning

Also worth a note, I read “The Poisonwood Bible,” “Boundaries,” “Queen Noor,” and “Prisoner of Tehran” this summer and they were all so amazing.  Seriously.  I am so blessed to have had time to read a bunch this summer, and not one of these books let me down.

What have you read lately?

I find that sometimes August can bring a few more showers than July.  It can be frustrating as you realize that the summer is slipping away, but you’d rather be outside than inside due to rain.  In any case, here are some fun rainy day activities for adults and kids alike!

1. Go outside and dance in the rain! Why stay indoors? Either suit up in all your rain gear, go out dressed as is, or put on your bathing suit, and just enjoy getting wet!

2. Grab a cup of tea and a good book, curl up in a chair with a cozy blanket and relax. Listen to the sound of the rain pelting on your window.

3. Do one cleaning task that you wouldn’t normally want to do on a sunny day when you’d rather be outside. You know, vacuum, clean your toilet, do a load of laundry. Get it done while you’re stuck indoors and then you can have fun outside when it’s sunny again!

4. Help your kids get a little crafty. Have them draw some new art for the fridge, or give them a dollar store canvas and some paints and let them create a masterpiece! If you are really into displaying art, give them specific colours that match your home decor, tell them to create, and then you can hang it up somewhere prominent! They’ll feel super special.

5. Go to a local pond and feed the ducks. They’re used to being wet, so a little rain won’t scare them away. It’ll be fun to watch them enjoy the rain!

6. Learn something new. Grab google, wikipedia or youtube and look up how to do something you’ve wondered about but never thought to try. It might be a cooking technique, how to play an instrument, or the history of a type of species. Whatever it is, expand your knowledge a bit!

7. Have a picnic indoors. We love doing this! Set up a space in your home with a table cloth or blanket on the floor. Serve up some fun picnic foods (like curried devilled eggs or Greek bean salad) and pretend like you’re outside! If you really want to make the experience exciting you can download some soundtracks of the ocean to play – it’ll sound like you’re right there!

8. Weed your garden. It might get messy, but it’ll be easier to pull some of those tough weeds when the soil is wet rather than when it’s hardened by the summer sun.

9. Make chocolate chip cookies. Is there anything better on a rainy day?

10. Make a pot of soup. Rain makes you feel like you want to be a bit cozy, so a pot of soup is perfect. It’s easy to simmer on the stove all day, and you can stay warm and dry.

Or, go for a drive.  Just not in traffic, or you’ll hate the rain even more.  :)