Trekking the Himalayas

Nepal has definitely made it high on our list of trip favorites. The landscape is amazing, the people's laughter always buzzs in the background, and somebody is out there picking up trash.

We spent our first few days in Kathmandu and Pokhara wallowing in the tourist- (aka consumer-) friendliness. We filled our gullets with psuedo-Western food, admired the plethora of colorful wares (is it too early to start shopping for Christmas?), and watched pirated movies in bars.

We spent four spectacular days trekking in the Annapurna area of the Himalayan mountains. Now, we had read up on the hiking in Nepal and knew that it was a well-established activity through the tribal villages but we were NOT prepared for the amenities. A couple times an hour we came across shacks within the villages selling bottled water, kit kats, and tea to tourists. When we stopped for the day, we expected our 'teahouse' lodging to consist of a hut with grandma heating up tea and dal bhat (rice and lentils) on the hearth and room on the floor for us to throw our sleeping bags. Holy capitalism! Were we surprised to find a multitude of family-run lodges in each village with private rooms, foam mattresses, extra blankets, terraces, and 4-page menus. What luxury. We quickly realized that we weren't in Colorado and, though lacking in serenity, our trek offered incredible views of the snow-capped Himalayas peaking over the hills alive with villagers farming every available space and using the trails to transport herds and wares as they have for centuries. What an experience!

Namaste (Hindu greeting -- 'I salute the god in you')

Tera and Jim