The day started early, because this was the morning when our plan was to greet the sunrise from a nearby hilltop, Poon Hill. This hill is somewhat of a trekking target in itself – it is the climax of a popular four-day itinerary from Pokhara and it is often included in other treks in the [...]
This is a Mars bar we bought in the quaint town of Ban Tanthi (one of two Ban Tanthi’s, confusingly located three kilometers apart from each other). As you can tell from the image, it doesn’t look exactly fresh. Ban Tanthi is far away from any road, so everything has to be carried in by [...]
Day five of our trek can be summed up in one word: climb (or, alternatively: pain). The day started in Tatopani, a little trekker’s village that sits in a river valley at 1,190 meters/3,904 feet. From an early morning start at 7:30, we climbed for seven hours, gaining 1,670 altitude meters/5,479 feet to reach our [...]
Alas, the report from the fourth day of our glorious trek will be a short one. Here’s the thing: the Nepalese have cut a road along the once popular Jomsom trek. This has dramatically lessened the popularity of trekking in this part of the Annapurna region, because it isn’t much fun to hike through beautiful [...]
Our third day was spent backtracking from Mukinath to Jomsom. Up to this point we were walking in a reverse Annapurna Circuit direction. Most trekkers who tackle the Circuit trek (which the Jomsom area is apart of) walk around the Annapurna massif in a counter-clockwise direction. There are a few reasons for this. The most [...]
The second day of our trek was a bit more strenuous than the first, mostly because this was the one day when we actually got a bit lost. Getting lost, on these types of treks, involves very little danger. Rather than getting lost I would say that we took a scenic detour to a nearby [...]
Unlike our intense morning flight from Pokhara to Jomsom, the first day’s trekking was relatively easy; a warm-up, really. The route hugs the riverbed between Jomsom and Kagbeni, which for all purposes was nearly flat. The landscape reminded us of our time in Leh: bare, rocky mountains separated by a wide riverbed with little vegetation. [...]
When you’re packed into a 30 year old prop plane, flying between Himalayan mountains, en route to one of the world’s most difficult airports, you deserve a little freak-out when you glance up and notice this: Your pilot snapping photos on his phone. Of the huge mountain you’re flying toward. This was just one of [...]
Instead of going off on a ready-made, mapped out trek found in a guide book, our landlord/fixer here in Kathmandu (a veteran of 14 years of guiding and mountaineering experience) composed a fun fourteen day trek for us, using elements of the old Jomsom trek along with a quick dash in to the Annapurna Base [...]
We’re due to talk to our landlord/trekking extraordinaire tomorrow about next week’s trekking options but before we do we’d love to hear your input. Which trek should we do? The choices have narrowed themselves down to the Mt. Everest Base Camp trek, the Annapurna region trek or somewhere off the beaten track. For further [...]
We’re hitting the road again in less than a week! We think. No, we’re not leaving Nepal, exactly. We are lacing up our boots, locking our apartment door and hitting the hills (aka some of the highest mountains in the world) for some amazing trekking. October and November are two of the [...]
Nepal is a wonderland for people who like to trek. It is the home to several of the world’s highest mountain peaks, as well as the site of a number of classic hikes. Since we’re now living here, we need to go on at least one major trek. The problem (a happy little problem indeed) [...]
This is Sam’s Bar in Kathmandu. The walls here are cluttered with random quotes and graffiti, and at first glance you’d think that there’s nothing cool about that and that it has been done before. Well, look again at some of the stuff that’s been written there. Yep. Some guys rode a snowboard [...]
Wow, was this ever an adventure. It started as a whim – I figured that it would be fun to count a six thousand meter peak among my achievements. It was a four-day trek with a climbing expedition thrown in as a bonus. It ended up being one of the physically most taxing things I’ve [...]
We’re back in Leh after our jaunt up to Stok Kangri and its surroundings. We’re safe and sound, and checked in to our favorite guest house where we just had a hot shower (well, bucket of warm water). The climb went well, although Jaime had a spell of the old altitude sickness and spent [...]
You know the saying, “to fly by the seat of your pants?” Well, that's been our philosophy for most of our adult lives – before and after meeting, falling in love and marrying. We're now taking that idea on an extended round-the-world trip. Follow us as we share the good, the bad and the downright nasty of life on the road.
