**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.**

Despite feeling quite chilly all night, we managed to have a fairly decent sleep. Although, we both awoke quite sore in many muscles that clearly aren’t used in out sedentary lives. Needless to say, we were hobbling around and we were quite concerned with how we’d make the trek all the way back to Lukla in one day.

But first things first, we ate breakfast, and picked up a few much-needed supplies (tissues, chocolate, water), and then we were off.

Mornings are always best because the precipitation from over night tends to create crystal clear views of the mountain peaks. We took the opportunity to start slow and snap some pictures of Namche.

The first hour was fast as we descended what took us 4 hours the previous day. It was much easier going down, for sure. It was nice weather for a little bit, but around 11:30 it started to pour rain… and it essentially continued until the last hour of our journey. We still saw many lovely views, including strikingly green fields where the locals grows their own produce.

Every once in a while the fog and clouds would dissipate and we would get to see views of the mountain peaks again. Those views are what kept us going despite our various physical ailments (letting us know just how out of shape we are).

We eventually gave up on keeping our pants and vibrams dry as we trudged through rivers of animal dung. We tried to convince ourselves that it was like the expensive mud wraps people get. But really it was just nasty animal crap squishing up between our toes for hours.

With every bend around a hill we’d look for some sign to show us how close we were to Lukla. But it seemed like instead of seeing something familiar, we’d see another uphill climb. Eventually though we spotted the archway that signaled Lukla. I think it gave us a last little burst of energy so we could make it to our hotel.

When we finally arrived we cleaned off our disgusting feet and settled right in to our usual evening routine: eating, drinking tea, and enjoying the scenery around us. Although, this time our view was overlooking the airport runway, which was quite neat.

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Read more about our trip to Nepal…

Nepal: Day 1

Nepal: Day 2

Nepal: Day 3

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.**

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

**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!**

My 29th birthday is today (it was April 19th!). It feels like such a monumental age. The last year of my 20s – insane. It’s gone by so fast; too fast. In any case, this birthday coincided with a school holiday, so something monumental had to be planned. Even a week before the holiday we didn’t know if we could leave the country due to Peter’s residency. However, it appeared just in the nick of time. And with 5 days to go, we booked tickets to Kathmandu. No hotels, no driver, no major plans. It’s the first time we’ve done this, and so far so good.

We flew out of Kuwait at midnight and tossed and turned our way to Mumbai. We enjoyed a layover there with colleagues from our other school’s campus. Another quick 2 hours and we were in Kathmandu dealing with a ridiculous visa process. It took almost 2 hours, and it was a little disorganized. We parted ways with our colleagues and set out to find out how to get to Lukla, which is up near Mt. Everest. We saved the day for an American father-son duo (who had been sold a flight to the wrong location!), and then set out to find a hotel.

We lucked out with Pariwar B&B in the heart of tourist hippie heaven. We barely left the block of our hotel but yet we stocked up on hippie clothes, backpacking/hiking necessities for our trek, and spent a great deal of time eating on a rooftop patio sprinkled with flowers in shades of fuchsia.

We indulged in Indian curries and chocolate cake. And here we are now, ready to fall asleep to the sounds of some of last year’s greatest hits playing in the distances while hippies and locals party the night away.

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Read more about our trip to Nepal…

Nepal: Day 2

Nepal: Day 3

Nepal: Day 4

Nepal: Days 5-7

Nepal: Day 8

Let’s talk about sand.

When I think about Kuwait, I think about the desert factor of living here.  Generally we track in a lot of sand around our house because there are flowing drifts of sand wherever you look, even though we live in a city.

I also think about the beaches along the shore of The Gulf, and how beautiful it looks and how lovely it is to walk along.

But then there’s this:

The most beloved sand experience of all in Kuwait: sand storms.

We’ve only have one or two “legitimate” sand storm type days, and even still we went on with our usual business.  I mean, if we’d had to be outside that would’ve been cancelled, but it didn’t effect us going anywhere.

But it was a bit yucky.  It gets in your eyes, your nose, your mouth… I wore sunglasses even though it wasn’t sunny and I held my scarf over my nose and mouth when I was briefly outside walking.  It’s kind of like fog in the sense that it clouds over much of what you can see, except it gives off this weird orange glow in the sky/air, which is completely unlike fog.

As annoying as the sand can be sometimes, it still hasn’t given me a day off school for a “sand day,” so I feel like it owes me…

About a month ago “concert season” began here at our school!  As a part of my job as music teacher to years 1, 2 and 3, I’m involved in helping to teach the children their songs and prep them for their concerts.  Their classroom teachers choose a theme and their songs, and then I co-ordinate with them to help the children learn them.

In the weeks where the concerts are happening (2 concerts per year group), it’s filled with practises, practises, and more practises!!  So those weeks were a little busier than usual.  But it was very fulfilling and enjoyable to see the kids perform.

I wanted to show you a couple of pictures from each of the concerts.  I did what I could to take pics with my phone while multi-tasking the other things I was responsible for.  The kids were fantastic, and they made their parents and their teachers proud!

It’s my birthday today!  And consequently it’s the last year of my 20s… scary thought.

Last year we were in Chicago on my birthday!

This year we’re flying to Nepal.  As you read this I’m likely somewhere between Kuwait and Nepal, possibly in our stop-over in Mumbai.  In any case, I look forward to sharing all of the details when I get back!