of two.

Once we reached our lodgings for the night, New Excellent View Guest House in the tiny village of Dhampus, there wasn’t much to do. We took a little walk around the area and waited for dinner time. (A wait that included far too much game playing, if you ask me.)

The guest house provided the basics. And by basics I mean: electricity only in the dining room, unheated water, and a candle. Thankfully, the bedding kept us quite warm through the night… which was a necessity since we had another day of hiking ahead of us.

Day two of the trek took us through a more inhabited area. It was fascinating to see the local people going about their business working in their fields. At midday we stopped for lunch at another guest house. Molly and Frances booked a para gliding ride for the next morning, so they stayed at the top while Mike and I hiked down.

My goodness. The hike down was horrible. Momentum wanted my body to move much faster than my joints would allow. If I could have run down at parts it would have been better, but the rocky ground and sharp drops made that option far too frightening.

Just as I was cursing the uneven ground and wishing for at the very least some comfortable gravel to walk on, we reached the main road back to Pokhara! Now all we had to do was walk into town, pick up our packs, and find a hotel.

xo, jill

of two.

We were all really excited to trek in Nepal. However, limited time and equipment meant we couldn’t do anything too difficult. We booked a two day trek from Pokhara and got walking.

While the trek wasn’t exactly what we were expecting (lower elevation, limited mountain views, and “trekking” on dirt roads), the children we met along the way made it all worth it.

The plan was to hike in the morning to our guide’s house where we would eat lunch. As we neared the guide’s neighborhood, we encountered his niece and nephews along the way. The children were very friendly striking up conversations with Molly and Frances. There was even a little singing.

When we arrived at our guide’s house the rest of his family welcomed and entertained us. At a certain point the children ended up with the cameras. I’ll have to write an entire post dedicated to their photography.

After eating a delicious meal and being decorated with flowers, we continued our trek up the hill.

xo, jill

Tin can airplanes. (Right, Mike?)

After visiting the cremation temple, we whizzed over to the airport to catch our flight to Pokhara. We entertained ourselves with novelty snacks and Bananagrams through a few flight delays before walking out onto the tarmac to meet our tin can, I mean, plane.

Up in the air we had our first glimpse of the Himalayas through the thick clouds.

Thankfully, Yeti Airlines did not disappoint and we landed safely in Pokhara.

That night we rented out a little cottage on a lake. The gelatin eaters made s’mores and I relaxed by the fire.

We had an early morning ahead of us… day one of our trek!

xo, jill

Maybe not.

The next temple we visited wasn’t quite as lighthearted as the Monkey Temple. It was actually a bit uncomfortable, in fact. On a local guide’s suggestion, we headed to Pashupatinath Temple. Pashupatinath is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Non-Hindus are not allowed to enter the temple, so we didn’t see much of it.

The uncomfortable part of the morning was that Pashupatinath is also the site of cremations. Grieving families gather to cremate their loved ones along the river. That’s just a weird vibe.

I didn’t feel comfortable taking photos here, but here’s a mix of Molly’s and Mike’s to share.

I was pretty glad to move on.

xo, jill

monkey do.

A definite highlight of Kathmandu was Swayambhunath, aka: The Monkey Temple. The temple is on the edge of town on a hill and it’s crawling with monkeys! (There’s even a monkey swimming pool!)

To actually view the stupa (Buddhist temple) itself, you must hike up a very steep and long staircase.

Once you reach the top you’re rewarded with not only the stupa, but a nice (read: cloudy) view of the city as well.

Unfortunately, because we visited near twilight, a lot of my monkey photos didn’t turn out well.

There’s just something about a monkey that makes you laugh. I love them.

xo, jill

Upon arrival.

In my 7th grade World History class I discovered Nepal and the Himalaya range. I remember being amazed by the images of snowy mountains and the Sherpa people. I distinctly recall thinking, “I wish I could go there, but it’s so far away.” I knew it would never happen. Times have changed.

Kathmandu is merely a four-hour flight from Abu Dhabi! (Actually, we flew out of Sharjah… something I won’t likely repeat.)

The morning of our first day we set out to follow a Lonely Planet walking tour. Here are a few photos of our first impressions of Nepal:

xo, jill