Nepal is the craziest, wildest place I've ever been to. I will never forget my experiences here, the way that I was challenged in so many ways and the amazing adventure that was had.
For my last week here in Nepal, my team had the opportunity to go on a trekking adventure through the mountains in the Lamjung District. This adventure began when our bus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. It had been raining for the last 30 minutes of the ride and somehow the tarp did not make it over some of our bags that were on top of the roof so we were handed soaking wet packs. We were supposed to be taken to a church where we would meet our guide and spend the night. We quickly discovered once we turned around that the church was atop a hill and required us to forge a stream to get to. We were greeted by 3 locals and a goat. They led us into the tiny church building with no door and that is where we slept. The pastor of the church prayed for us the next morning before setting off on our trek and I was slightly concerned when his prayer finished with "Oh God, please help them on their journey".
Within an hour of our ascent up the first mountain that our guide refered to as "killer mountain" I understood that prayer. I have never experienced something so physically difficult before! Nepal's mountains are no joke! After killer mountain we stopped for a lunch break. We plopped down on the floor of a random stranger's mud hut as she fed us the hugest portions of rice I have ever seen. I felt like I was eating for a family of four! After passing by miles of rice fields and watching the hard labor that is involved in picking the rice and then beating it I had a greater appreciation for what I was eating. After lunch we crossed over 3 more mountains, each one being higher than the next. At the end of the day I had never been so excited to crawl into my warm, comfortable sleeping bag.
Day two started bright and early at 7am. My sore body was not thrilled to see that we still had a steep hill to climb. Just when I was about to curse something or someone I saw the tips of white peaks. We had reached 6000 feet and had a breath-taking view of the Himalayan mountains to greet us. I could have cried it was so beautiful. It made every painful step up those mountains so worth it. I could have sat there all day soaking it all in, but we still had more hiking to do. The rest of the day brought us through a jungle, across rice fields, and past a water buffalo slaughtering to another mountain with a tiny village. The whole village came out to greet us with flowers and tea. We were fed huge portions of rice (again) as children kept busy touching and observing my crazy light-colored hair. After dinner they led us to a bonfire where they performed local song and dance. By the end of the night we had all been dragged up there to partake in the dancing. The village people were laughing hysterically at our less than graceful dance moves.
The next morning we began our descent to catch our bus back. After the first hour it turned into a race to catch the only bus that leaves some random, tiny village each day. I can't imagine what we looked like to the villagers working in the rice fields as six white girls with huge backpacks came rushing by in an almost sprint. Thankfully we caught our bus that took us on a bumpy, wild ride. When that bus ride ended we were all more than eager to get back to the tiny church atop a hill to collapse in exhaustion, but we had one more bus to take for the final hour. After waiting 30 minutes for this bus it showed up packed full. The driver said if we wanted to get on we had to go up top. So….we did just that. We climbed on top of the bus and rode the rest of the way on the luggage rack. I must say, the top of the bus is great for soaking up the sun, feeling the wind through your hair, and taking in more beautiful scenery.
Our great adventure ended back in Kathmandu at an Irish pub where we toasted to surviving such a trek with cheeseburgers. This was an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was the perfect way to end my time here in Nepal. I hope that someday I can come back to this place as there are so many more adventures to be had here!
