Keep on trekkin': We Are Back

And All One Big Happy Group Again!

It was wonderful to re-unite with the rest of our fellow trekkers, Luna, Debbie and Prem. And to return to Chandra's home and family. We had hundreds of tales and pictures to share. After a great feast on daal bhaat with a fresh cucumber, tomato and onion salad with squeezed lime over the top ( I really loved the Kaji's Nepali food) we had a group meeting. We discussed our trek and praised Chandra and Deb for the amazing job they did. They made it all work without any hiccups. Trekking Nepal has always been on my bucket list, but never, ever did I expect this awesome experience of seeing the country from these ancestral trails and learning their customs and being so enriched by their culture. For the last two weeks, Chandra was constantly asked; "How much longer?", "Are we almost there?", "How many hours before we arrive?", "Do you think we are half way?" And he was always noncommittal with "maybe an hour, maybe four" or "just five more hills or turns". This frustrated a few at first, then we all expected one of these answers and it became comical. This night he brought this up and simply said, "Now that we are here did the time it took us each day from start to finish really matter? Did you enjoy the trek any less or did you enjoy it more for staying in the moment?"

"It is not the destination, but the journey."

I tell you, Debbie is one lucky woman! And Luna will be an amazing woman when is grows up.

Holiday swing

We are still celebrating Dasain. Along our hike every village had one of these swings put up for just the month long duration of the festival, no longer. The loops at the top to hold the swing on the poles are water buffalo neck rings. They still had hair on them. Carrie got pretty high standing up on her turn.

Luna and Debbie

While mom and child took it easy.

An afternoon walk to old town Nangi.

Couldn't you just live here?

This is the oldest house in the village, probably 150 years old.

It was easier to built round house then to make right corners. Notice the smoke on the far mountain. We saw smoke high in the mountains it usually meant trekkers were signaling for a helicopter rescue. But not here in the low lands. A farmer was just burning trash.