Nepal
Kathmandu & The Himalayas
We departed the desert landscape of Dubai and headed for the mountains. Our goal, a hike amongst the most imposing and towering mountain range in the world, the Himalayas. Just how tall are the mountains in the Himalaya range? To put it in perspective: the highest elevation in the United States is Denali, located in Alaska at 20,310 ft. The tallest mountain in the world outside of Asia is Aconcagua in South America, more than 2,000 feet taller than Denali at 22, 828 ft.
However NONE of the mountains mentioned above crack the 23,000 ft mark. Here is the mind blowing bit of info, the Himalayas have MORE THAN A HUNDRED MOUNTAINS that exceed the 23,600 ft mark! The tallest of course, Mt Everest, stands at 29,000 ft, twice the size of the tallest peak in Colorado, insane!
We would spend 7 nights in Nepal. Due to time, resources, and equipment scaling Everest would have to be a future endeavor. We decided to hike along the Annapurna Circuit, home to Himalaya Mt. Annapurna, the 10th tallest mountain in the world at 26,545 ft. After a long layover and dinner in New Dehli, India (which is another story) we arrived in Nepal's capital city of Kathmandu. We explored the city for 2 days, caught up with friend Alex (the zip-line safety instructor who supervised our flight in Malaysia), met our guide who would be leading us on our 4 night trek, and booked a white water rafting trip to cap off the hike!
Some favorite memories below from our adventure in Nepal.
Kicked things off in Kathmandu...
A visit to Swayambhunath "Monkey Temple"...
The next morning we met our guide Suresh (pronounced SueRice) who outlined the game plan for our 4 night trek, highlighted with an early morning hike up Poon Hill to watch the sunrise above Annapurna and the Himalaya range.
The sleeping arrangements were called "tea houses" found in villages, some were very basic but perfect after a long day trek!
Day 2...
Perhaps the most inspiring moment of our travels occurred during our day 2 trek in Nepal. While hiking uphill for an hour, exhausted, we approached a group of 15 people. About 5 of the 15 were moving at a much noticeably slower pace. As we caught up we understood why, they had prosthetic legs. They were struggling with every step, but continued to push themselves to the limit to scale the mountain. It was incredible to witness their determination. It was both emotional and inspiring. We chatted with one girl in particular, Adrianne, who lost her leg as an innocent bystander during the Boston Marathon bombings 3 years ago. Adrianne wished us luck as we continued onward, "see you at the top" she said.
The following morning it was up at 3:30AM for an hour trek to the top of Poon Hill to witness the sunrise over the Himalayas and Annapurna.
Our last day would be spent descending through villages down the mountain towards the town of Pokhara, where we would spend our final evening prior to our 4 hour white water rafting trip...
The hike was incredible, another truly memorable experience during our journey! Sean got Laura rafting afterwards for the first time ever too...
Loved our time in Nepal, will be back for Everest! From the mountains to the mysterious land of pagodas, off to Myanmar!
I am left speechless, awe inspiring! That sunrise, brought tears to my eyes!
I just got chills.
beautiful! miss you gypsies so much!!
Xxo!!!
Thank you for opening my eyes to the beautiful world we live in , How blessed you are for all you have experienced. (Now come home!!!!) 🙂 xxoo
Unreal!
Miss you! Xxo
You two are absolutely amazing! Showing me so many places that I doubt I will ever see, if not for your beautiful photos & kind words about the amazing people you have met on your travels. Love you both.
Best. Update. Yet! Except the South Africa update with some newlyweds, of course!
Obviously!! Haha miss you guys!
Thank you for sharing your incredible journey with all of us! Our world is amazing and you given us the opportunity to view it thru your eyes, books do not do it justice! Your story will be one to listen to.
We are so happy to share it with you! Life won’t be the same after!
Wow! We definitely are going up to visit Alex, it looks amazing, love you two
Yes! Great place to explore the mountains
Truly breathtaking!
Thanks Gregg! Appreciate you following along! 🙂
Spectacular! So happy for both of you!!
So happy to share it with you!
I can’t believe you met Adrianne! She was my dance teacher at Arthur Murray in Boston. And you guys and I just met randomly through airbnb and here you are meeting Adrianne half a world away. What a crazy small world. P.S. Aconcagua is 22,841ft rather than your stated 22,828ft…those extra 13 ft were hard to climb! I remember!!
Hah thanks for the heads up Sarah! We actually thought of you and your groups climb when we came across Adrianne and hers…. so many amazing people in this world! 🙂
Your amazing!!! Xxo