Himalaya's

A Choice group was going on an expedition to the Himalaya's near Anna Purna. I joined in with them for part of their expedition. On the way to the village Jack an American man that helping with hydropower, Tachor a Nepali Choice employee, and myself got dropped off on the way. Tachor was taking us to see Kisedi Khola, the proposed hydro power site. I was kind of thrown off guard when they told us that we were getting out there so I wasn't able to bring anything. For the first few day's in the Himalaya's I had my camera, a water bottle, and a little jacket. Out of all the things I wish I had grabbed, I missed socks the most. Although I kept being told their weren't mosquito's at this altitude at this time of year, I seemed to keep receiving bug bites, and my feet stuck out of their short beds.

We walked for a few hours right off through the Himalaya's before we came to our first stop. Tachor's parents friends house was on the way so he wanted to stop by and visit for awhile. They gave us Tea and Rice Puffs. I don't know what it was called but they like puffed up their rice and we were eating it dry like that.

We crossed a lot of bridges on our journey and each one is rather long and doesn't seem entirely safe. On this bridge there was a little girl crossing that we were told was on her way to school. She had about an hour walk to school that she was making alone. 

 

We kept on walking until right before dark where we spent the first night at Tachor's friends home. They fed us the typical Rice, Daal Bhat, and Saag. It's o.k. at first, but after three meals a day it get's really gross. Daal Bhat can be good depending on who cooks it, but usually in villages like this it doesn't taste like much of anything. I really really don't like saag. It's a green leafy cooked vegetable which is not very good and get's worse every meal.

After our delicious meal they took us to our room they were letting us stay in. Because I was the smaller of the two of us I got the smaller bed. I think my bed was about 4 1/2 feet long, and entirely made of wood. My hips hurt supper bad by the morning. I was glad to have a bed though and they gave me a decently warm blanket which I was very happy to have.

We stayed at a village that was about an hour away from the part of Kisedi Khola river we needed to see. When we woke up we were told that some villages members wanted to meet Jack and I. We arrived to this.

They gave us blessing on our foreheads and beautiful flower lei's to have. Then sat and talked with us for awhile. It was really cool that they did this just because they had no idea that we were even coming to their village. They found out and hurried to put this little shindig together. It was so cool because it was just for the two of us. It made it seem much much more personal than when you do things like this with a big group of Foreigners. It was cool to have them be doing it just for you.

It was super cool finally seeing the hydro power site so that I could have a better idea of what I had been writing about. It was nice to reference where the powerhouse site and everything like that is going to be. It helped me to understand how hydro power works a little bit better.

Children kept seeing us hiking through the mountains and just tagging along for awhile. These kids walked with Jack and I about an hour one night. They were super cute. They mostly just tried to sneak along behind us and I would turn around and scare them. They would run off screaming and laughing and then come do it again. It never really got old for them.

After a few days we finally started heading back to the village where the rest the group was. We walked back to the main village which took about 6 or 7 hours up and down the mountain sides. It was a long but extremely peaceful and beautiful walk. I wanted it go on for longer but at the same time I was super excited to be able to change my clothes.

I couldn't complain only carrying a camera when there were women all over carrying stuff like this. They were awesome.

We finally made it to a bus stop and had a bus ride up a valley and to the top of the mountain. It was supposed take about two hours. There are only local buses so we squished in one sitting awkwardly with out knees in our chests. We got one that was taking cement bags somewhere so we went the first hour stopping every ten min. to load more cement. Then we just stopped. I at least had a seat, but there were about 20 Nepali's just standing over us without one. we stopped for about an hour and a half. No one got off, and nothing happened. I have no idea why were were stopped. But everyone just sat or stood there and didn't really ask questions. It was weird. It doesn't normally do that either because Tachor didn't know what was going on either.

 

We finally started going and we took about a 2 hour ride up to the top. It was really dark when we go there so we walked through the dark for about an hour to the village where the Choice group was staying. But we finally made it to them.

They were having a little party with the villagers when we arrived. Dancing, drinking Roxy (local wine), eating roasted goat. I was tired and just wanted to find my pack, but it was locked up for the night. So I got to enjoy the party and hang out until someone found me a villager's home to stay in. It was super fun though.

We were building a schoolhouse in the first village we were staying in. They had already been working on it for a few day's so I helped mix cement and worked with them. Then we moved on to another village.

Before we left this village threw us a little party. They blessed us and gave us beautiful hand made gifts that you could tell they spent a lot of time on. I felt bad they gave us so much but it was really amazing. I love all these little ceremony's because you get to interact with the villagers. I love when the older villagers get in on the dances and you can tell they are having so much fun. The kids are cute to watch, but it's a cool experience when the whole village is participating.

 

To get to the next village we had a little hike ahead of us. It was only about two hours long but it was carrying our heavy packs, which was not fun. Luckily there was only some uphill at the beginning and then relatively flat for most the way. I packed light but then got stuck carrying a lot of stuff so it turned out to be a very heavy load. The hike was amazing though. It was on the top of some of the mountains so you had a beautiful view no matter which way you looked. We took a few wrong turns which unnecessarily prolonged the little trek. I was with two or three other people, all of us could see the village across from us but couldn't quite get there.

The next village we stayed in had a beautiful view of the Anna Purna range. It was quite a beautiful thing to wake up to and see the sun reflecting off the snow.

We were given a lovely welcome ceremony again. where they blessed our foreheads, danced, and made us dance as well.

We were building a medical clinic with the village. The cool thing about it is it was on top of the mountain between many villages. The Nepali government was putting in a new road between all the villages so this medical clinic is super important for everyone near by. It also had a beautiful view. We spent the time picking and shoveling the foundation. I was really happy to be doing that because I hadn't been getting much exercise sitting in Kathmandu. So it was nice to get some energy out.

Since I wasn't staying the entire time with everyone I ended up staying in a home with a family, and sharing a room with a Nepali lady. That was a little bit awkward because we couldn't communicate, and wouldn't have known what to say even if we could. But it was really a neat experience. I've never stayed with someone I don't know in a village that I haven't been to. It's such an interesting experience feeling so out of place.

After a few day's Jack, myself, and a Nepali guy had to leave early so we started our trek back. We woke up early one morning and trekked out with our packs for an hour or two. It was a way we hadn't been so it was real enjoyable.  We came to a few homes where the road began and had some tea and waited for the bus to have enough people to leave.

It was an hour long ride, and the worse bus ride I've ever taken. Times 20. Luckily it wasn't packed in the normal fashion of Nepali buses. We were four wheeling down a mountain side with cliffs on one side. It was the bumpiest thing ever. I was flexing my body the entire hour trying to save my head. I would hit my head super hard on the window and then on the ceiling. It was miserable.  You really can't explain how ridiculous it was. I can't believe the bus makes it, we went over some gnarly stuff in it. Things that I would only take the jeep across here. On top of that, they have the music playing in regular Nepal fashion. Blaring way louder than the speakers can handle so it sounds dreadful, with their awful little tunes they listen too.

We were so excited to get off that bus that we jumped off and hoped in the first van heading back to Kathmandu. We sat for 6 hours with our knee's in our chest and squished up against our neighbor sitting 5 across. It was glorious after the last bus ride though.

I was so so excited when I hoped off that bus back in Kathmandu. I hate bus rides.

The himalaya's are amazing. If you ever get a chance you definitely need to go on a trek, a Choice expedition, or something similar in the Himalaya's. Stay with a family and enjoy the beautiful scenery. It's really spectacular.