Boom, DONE!

A couple days into our trek I begin to wonder, even questioned, why it was that I signed up to for such a campaign in the first place. And sure, trekking the Himalaya is quite an adventure in it's own respects and I don't mean to take anything any from that. But the question of 'why' was dawning, and  was persisting.

A couple of things stood out to me as we finished our first day of climbing (which was about 1000m, on the first day). One of which, amongst many other and probably the biggest revelation, was that I was in NO shape to do a 10 day trek, or any hiking at all to be honest; not in a bit at all prepared to walk on an inclined path, which seemed to be NEVER-ending.

When I reflect on the experience now the journey seems very silly; to hike up hill then downhill just to go up hill again, then back down 4 days later. And all of this physical agony just to reach a base camp of 8th highest peak in the Himalaya. All of the sweating, leg cramps and heavy breathing caused by the thin mountain air; the peaks you saw a couple of days ago from the far off distance still seem as far as the first time you laid your eyes on them. Waking up bright and early; walking through the beating heat of the sun, through the cold rain and hail. Through muddy, rocky, snow covered terrains. Sleeping thru cold nights and walking some cold mornings. All of these just to reach the base camp of the snow covered mountains you've been staring at for 4 days, only to spend a couple of hours taking pictures, drinking tea just to keep warm and taking in as much of natures beauty as you could because you swear to not spend another night sleeping uncomfortably in the cold.

With all that said, I would now like to share with you the answer to the previously asked question of 'why'. Like with every story, with each beginning the sense of excitement to be starting a new adventure,  and the ends seemingly glorious conclusion, the middle is where I found my resolution. It was during the middle of our journey where I found why it was that I, and probably many before and many after, have chosen to put themselves through such great heights. And I only say 'such great heights' not only because we reach the highest point I've ever climb to, but because it felt like a significant point in my current story, the story I'm living. Many have traveled in journey to a sight of absolute beauty, to which is only revealed to those who are willing.

So, I present to you, my resolution (from 4130m):

It was at the base of the Annapurna where I found my resolution. The beauty of my surroundings, seemingly embracing me like an old friend, like it seemed that the mountains knew I was coming. Even with the weather the previous day horrible, when it was our turn to see her, the skies put on it's gorgeous deep blue dress (more blue than I've ever seen it) which only seemed to bring a much bigger climax to the mountains white veil.





Then..
after some exerted effort on trying to capture natures beauty, we just sat down and hung out. We hung out with some travelers we met the evening before, and some others we met during our trek up. And what better way to celebrate reaching the base camp of the Annapurna, you might ask? Well....

Then..
we hiked back down..

possibly the last for this blog. Feeling a bit of melancholy.
hope you fella's and ladies have enjoyed and thoroughly been entertained.
its been fun writing.
now, we wait in Dublin for our flight home.
see you all soon.
peace.
 
 -f

after 3 weeks..

22 days of volunteering in an organic farm in the Ilam region of Nepal has come to it's conclusion, we now sit in an interweb cafe shop in Pokhara, after almost a 16hrs uncomfortable bus ride. Today we relax, shop around Pokhara, for tomorrow we start our 10 day trek of the Annapurna Sanctuary.So to update ya'll on our adventure thus far.

Farm life....
Farming is A LOT of work, or from my perspective anyway. Although it was far from what I expected our Wwoofing experience to be, it was an exciting adventure. And to paint for you a vague picture, well, here are some pictures. 

We also attended a Nepali wedding. And as mentioned on the previous blog, the wedding celebration took two days.And here are some pictures taken from those two days.

But it wasn't all work, although for the most part it was, we did find some time for ourselves, time of natural exploration of its rightful epic grandeur. We sat thru a hail storm, explored the river, and journeyed through the mountains to visit Mai Pokhari (a sacred lake) and a Waterfall (which took 12hrs of walking time). 

And after 22 days of adventure, we now sit only a day away from another; tomorrow we start another adventure, a 10 day trek to the Annapurna Sanctuary.

So there it is, an update for those who are following this blog. Sorry it took so long to post another update, and it will probably take another 10 days for the next one to be posted. I dont know if there is internet access up in the mountains. Thank you for all your prayers, dear friends. See you in 10 days..

-f

another one of those...

for those who religiously follow our blog., thanks!
So, a couple of days ago Jason and I were talking a bit about our trip thus far and made the comment that it has ONLY been a month since we left home. And then we both agreed that it seemed much longer. But onto the good stuff.

Day 11.
So many stories to tell, even only after being here less than 2 week. Given my limited time on the interweb, I will quickly describe things we've experienced and seen of Nepal thus far.
First, after only 2 days on the small remote village of Barbote, we witness a funeral like no other (or non that we've ever seen). Around noon an elderly lady living in the village died, and a house ceremony took place. We didnt get to witness the ceremony before the burial but we did get to see how they bury, or more appropriately. burn their dead. We join a group of men, and when i say men i mean every men on the village we're staying at and then villages on our way to the burning site. Like I said, we followed a herd of men down to the river, which if we walked it would have taken two hours, but hiked down we didn't. Instead, we ran. Yup, a downhill marathon it seemed. And even better, they carried the dead body on two long bamboo sticks, the deceased tied onto it, two men on either end carrying, booking it down a mountain path. And i thought that was crazy until we got to the river, where the men a pile  of wood on the river, making an altar of sorts, almost 5ft high, and the body laid, like a wood sandwich and the deceased as the filling. And then they set it on fire. Yup, an interesting funeral to say the least. It kinda puts a new meaning to camp fires. After 20 minutes or so Jason and I, along with Surya, hiked back up to his home.

Second: A Nepali wedding!
Apparently, a traditional Nepali wedding takes two days to celebrate. Unfortunately i cant post pictures but the process of preparing for a wedding here is pretty cool. On the first day, the bride is celebrate. They make a ton of food, and an day long of ceremony just for the bride, preparing and blessing her on her new journey. The second day consist of celebrating both the bride and the groom, along with the family from both parties. A huge wedding, where Jason stood tall like the white man that he is, towering over all the brown people, i blended in.

We've been shown how an organic farm works, a messy job. But it's a really interesting process. The Adhikari family had been really kind and patient with us. And tomorrow, Jason and I, along with three other, will be hiking more of the mountains to see a waterfall. It will take a whole day of journey. An exciting time will be had.


Im all out of words. till next time. 

just an update for all.

We arrived at the farm safely(despite a very long bus ride that seemed to have no regard for its passengers safety, in that it continued to accelerate even whilst making sharp turns, whilst driving on the edge of a mountain). but jason and i survived and we've now been safely working with a very kind family, whose home we are staying at. Even though we've only been here for a couple for days there are already much story to tell, but i think we will save those stories for later, when we get home. I will say, however, that it ha been fantastic to see how the village we are at, and for that, how he Nepali celebrates both death and marriage. Great stories to say the least.

This is all to say that we are safe and healthy, well fed (OH well FED). also, they dont eat meat. I miss meat. I miss steak! anyways, we will try to keep posting things but interweb is far from the village so we only have access to it once a week. but we will definitely try to keep you wonderful peeps posted.
And i think i speak for both Jason and I when I say that we miss friends, and family, and the english language. Although we've been getting the some Nepali words down. 

aight, peace!

Rome: We came, we saw, we left!

There is too much to say about Rome, so I might a lot of things.
On Sunday went to the Vatican and we saw the Pope, (his name escapes me at the moment, but we saw him, through a window). He read something in Latin, which luckily Jason and I have rigorously studied in preparation of hearing the Pope speak. He read verses, greeted some people from different countries (in their own language), then he waved and he was off. After that we walked down the street and visited a castle that was a prison, i could be wrong. It was a pretty magnificent architecture to say the least. And after a day of walking, we ended up in the best Gelato place in Rome, and we were not disappointed (ferrero roche gelato is effing delicious, winnipeg needs to get on that).
Throughout the next couple of days Jason and I, (along with Estin, a girl from Vienna who was staying in the first hostel we stayed at in Rome) visited more museums and say most of the city of Rome had to offer. We went to see the Old Rome along with the Colosseum. It was a bit overwhelming to walk through the Colosseum given its incredible history, and that Ive only seen it in movies. It was pretty great.
We also went back to the Vatican and explored St. Peters Basilica, (the Pope is livin in a pretty pimpin crib, MTV should get on that). We also saw the Sistine Chapel where the famous ceiling paintings of Michelangelo were. The Sistine Chapel was overwhelming, but incredible.
We walked and walked and had more gelato and walked some more and had more gelato.
We saw ALOT of ruins, ALOT of it. As we walk through Rome, I felt like I willing took a history walking tour. Streets of Rome is like a history lesson, overwhelmingly plenty of history!

After spending almost a day aboard a plane, from Rome to Heathrow, to Dehli, to Nepal, we reached Kathmandu and will be here until Monday. Tomorrow, we head to the farm where we will be spending most of our time in. So we are taking advantage of the interweb for the time being, until we get cut off from it for awhile.

Rome exposed...

During our time in  Rome we ran into some really interesting things (and what can you expect from a city that held thousands of years worth of story, history, and incredible architecture and art.)
And with all that said, this is what we came up with... actually we are going to let pictures tell you what our conclusion were.
So we present to you: ROME, exposed!

the end..