Gone Trekkin....

This will be my last post for about 3 weeks because we're gone trekkin...

Our plans for the final month (coming home in exactly a month!) of our trip have totally changed because of the violence and unrest in Tibet right now. Our plan was to travel from Kathmandu, Nepal to Lhasa, Tibet overland, but Tibet is basically closed off right now to tourism. I'm sure you've heard about it on the news.

So, we've decided to once again join our awesome friends the Katzes and their friend Chad to go trekking in Nepal! We're all doing (planning to at least) the famous Annapurna Circuit Trek, which is about 200 kilometers long, takes about 18 days, and reaches altitudes just shy of 18,000 feet. It also is known for it's spectacular mountain views, and incredible diversity of culture, climates, and landscape.

We've done tons of research this past week on what to expect, and we've bought tons of new gear (especially warm stuff) for this trek. I can't wait! Actually, it's 5AM here now and our bus to the village where the trail starts leaves at 6:30AM, so I better run!

Hope to return with some great photos! :)

I don't have any recent ones to share right now... but here are a few photos that have absolutely nothing in common except that they are all really old, taken at least 4 years ago!

PS- I won't be responding to emails or voicemails until around April 16th too!

kathmandu at night

These photos were shot out of the window at 2 different guesthouses we've stayed at in the "Thamel" area of Kathmandu. Pretty cool views of the city, without even having to leave the my room.

Holi Day in Nepal

The streets of Kathmandu, Nepal are CHAOS right now. Today is the "Holi" festival, all the businesses are closed and thousands of people roam the streets basically creating as much noise and chaos as they possibly can. Paint, colors, buckets of water, water balloons, powdered ink, and just about everything else is flying though the air everywhere. This would NEVER fly in America!

Bethany and I just walked out of our guesthouse and within moments, we looked like this! (and not by choice!)

I'm gonna go out and try to take some photos... might as well wish my camera goodbye. :)

nepali food

I didn't expect much of Nepali food because I have heard from people it's not very good. But I've really enjoyed it! There is so much variety in all the dishes.

As you can see in this pic, you order a traditional Nepali lunch (can't remember what it's called) and you get so many different yummy things. At a local restaurant, this dish costs around 30-50 Nepal Rupees, which is about around 50 or 60 cents. But at a touristy restaurant in the tourist area you'll pay about 200 Nepal Rupees and it most likely will be a smaller portion, and not taste as good. We always try and eat outside the touristy areas whenever we can.
White rice, 2 different curries, lentil soup, steamed spinach & greens, salad, pickle sauce, and fresh yogurt!

This is one of my new favorites, it's called Momo. You can find plates of Momo like this for 15 or 20 Rupees (25 cents). They give you a curry dipping sauce with it, so good!! This one was from the KEEP center in Kathmandu. Cool place.

But then you'll eat all this wonderful food and walk out of the restaurant and see stuff like this! It's easy to tell yourself that your pork wasn't from a pig laying on a table in the open air like this one... but in the back of your mind... you know it totally was! haha

Mt. Everest! (snapshots)

On our flight from Paro, Bhutan to Kathmandu, Nepal a few days ago, we got quite the treat of seeing Mt. Everest peak above the clouds. Wow, really cool!
I didn't take any photos with our real camera because Bethany was hogging it. Actually, Bethany was the first to get out the real camera, and I was too lazy to unpack the other one, so, she got better pics that I'm sure she'll post on her blog later.

But here are my snaps with digimon to prove we saw it!

Still alive

Sorry for the lack of posts! We were in Bhutan for the past 6 days, it was really nice and relaxing. Finally got up in the mountains away from big cities, smog, and trash that is so common in Asia.

Now we are in Kathmandu, Nepal. So far, so good, but we've only been here a couple hours. :)

Here is a snapshot of us (we look like SUCH tourists!) a couple days ago at Taktshang Monastery (Tigers Nest) in Paro, Bhutan.

That place was so awesome. Of course I say I'll try and post photos soon... but in reality, I'm about 15,000 images behind, so it might be a while. :)

Camel Safari!

We just got back from a 2 day, 1 night camel safari in the desert of India just 20 kilometers from Pakistan!

We are sooo tired! Can't wait to sleep tonight.

I'll try and update soon with more photos. Here is one of my favorites though. I'm the one in the middle, waving my hand. :)

I look like the Geico caveman

A blog reader (Luke Kermode) made a comment on my last post that I look like the Geico caveman you see in the Geico commercials. I got a laugh out of it. He couldn't be more right though, well, at least my hair and beard look a lot like his. Hopefully not my face though!

I've decided not to shave, or cut my hair until we get home in May! I'm gonna be a hairy mess!