the trek

trek was out of this world. it covered so much ground, watching the ethnic and bio-diversity change was incredible. collin (the canadian friend we picked up in india) roarke and i started in besisahar after another cramped bus ride. as usual, none of us had done our homework. we really didnt know where to go or who to fallow. but after a while we made it out of the town and on to a path winding its way through rice patties. we quickly realized we were not the only people doing the trek, but there were more than enough guest houses and restaurants along the way. we cracked the guidebook and map after the first day of walking hoping to have some sort of idea for day two. we quickly learned that we would be walking through "healthy marijuana fields". the map and the book were not lying. it was some of the most surreal walking i might ever do. we walked for days through rainforest jungle into pine forests and eventually to high mountain terrain with healthy marijuana fields fallowing us through it all. it was also really interesting to walk from villiage to village, watching hindu temples turn into tibetan buddhist prayer walls as we gained elevation and got closer to tibet. but some of the villiage life was bitter-sweet because its hard not to imagine everybody's life without the mass influx of rich white trekkers. i definately learned that the ethics of eco-tourism are more complicated than i realize. that being said, the enire villiage seen was a blast to be a part of.

we budgeted terribly for this part of the trip. everything is so much more expensive when you get off roads. so, we ended up skipping meals to save money. a lot of the walk was hungry, but i think it builds character or something.

the mountians were certainly the best part of my trek. the scale of the mountains boggles my mind. it was so much fun to spend days walking in valleys looking up at 8000 meter peaks. the altitude was something i had not encountered before either. the day before we hiked through the highest mountain pass in the world, we slept at 14,700 feet (higher than i had ever been before). getting up to 17 and 18 thousand feet and looking at the worlds highest peaks was a magical experience. i tried to run at the pass itself and failed miserably. ive never had lactic acid build up and my breath disappear so quickly. but we were all lucky, the altitude didnt do much besides make us breathe more. 2 people died on the trek while we were walking due to altitude sickness. that reality check enforced the awe that all the mountains here already have.

the hike down the other side was much different. the trail becomes a road. consequently, there are a lot of buses, the food is cheaper, and souvenir vending is a much bigger part of life. with some of the magic of the hike lost on this side, we took a bus back to pokhara yesterday. i thought that indian trains were crazy, they seem boring when compared to nepali bus rides. we rode the roof for 5 hours of bus 4-wheeling yesterday and its crazier words can describe.

all the plan now is to eat lots of food and do laundry. who knows where we are headed? maybe more trekking, maybe elephant and rhino bathing at chitwan national park, the highest bungee jump in asia? i think we'll try for some combo before november 9 when we head to thailand.