Hike Nepal 2024

15th & 16th May

Our 2024 gym trip is the first hike we’ve done in Nepal in 6yrs, and is not likely to be the last, but like any of our gym adventures, there was drama and uncertainty. We were tested physically, emotionally, mentally, and in more ways than one – starting with the flight there. We had driven from Bathurst to Katoomba after Maia finished school on Tuesday, then risen early on Wednesday morning to get to the airport by 8am. In the car, Maia was siffling and blowing her nose a lot, by the time we were on the first leg to Singapore she was running a mild fever and had a full blown sinus infection.

Thankfully, with another 16 mums on the trip, I didn’t overreact too much (i was thinking of stopping in Singapore or turning around and going home again!!). We drowned her in tiger balm and saline spray, and by the time we landed in Kathmandu her fever had broken and she was sleeping. Unfortunately for some of our other hikers on this flight, they were sandwiched between not one, not two, but 5 crying babies and two excited friends who caught up for 5hrs through the night. ..

While we were handling a sick child on a flight to a developing country, the participants that had flown in ahead of us found themselves stranded at the airport after a miscommunication about pick up times. They were wondering what to do when Mukta realised she could read the script… then she realised she could speak the language too! In no time at all she had organised a taxi and a local price to transport them to the hotel – what was going to be a disaster turned in to a funny anecdote!

Luckily for us on the second flight, Binod was at the airport with a garland of Marigolds each as welcome. All of us were delighted, but Maia particularly so. In between fingering her garland she was enquiring about why there were dogs everywhere, and whether or not there was a speed limit in Nepal.

We were pretty exhausted when we arrived at the hotel, but Binod, our guide, wanted us to inspect the rooms before we checked in. By this time it was the equivalent to 4am Sydney time, and we’d all had such drama arriving, that we stuck our noses in one or two and then asked him to hand out the keys so we could go to bed!

Our entire, 20 person Hike Nepal group in the same room for the first time ever, with two of our Hike Nepal Guides, Binod on the left, and Jitendra on the right.

In the morning I was awoken by the murmur of voices in the courtyard. I poked my head out and there was Mukta and Terry – who i proceeded to holler at from the 2nd floor! Tracy, Linda, Naomi, Karla, and Mark had already arisen at 5am to catch a helicopter to view Everest and would be gone most of the morning. For the rest of us there was a buffet breakfast, where Maia tried to sell us the doughnuts as bagels, and a tour of a local temple connected to the Gosainkunda lakes which we would be hiking to when our adventures truly started. Maia was on bed rest, which she spent watching Bollywood music videos.

The temple that most of our group went to on the first day was called Budhanilkantha. In Hindu Mythology, this means ‘Old Blue Throat’; the title of Lord Shiva that was given by gods after the Lord drank poison to save the world. The story is that the spring that feeds the pond in the Budanilkantha temple is connected to Gosaikunda which makes it to have a direct connection to the water source from Lord Shiva. It is a very special place, and has been for thousands of years for Hindu people.

Mukta

Mukta was the one who told me this story. She was born in India, in a village that is also sacred to Hindu people. She came to Nepal for the adventure; she trusts the IntoYou people, clients and trainers alike, and felt safe being adventurous with us. However, in addition to the adventure, Mukta found a place that was deeply connected to her Hindu roots. She didn’t expect it to be so similar, spiritually and culturally, to where she grew up, and felt right at home from day one! Nepal reminded her of old places in India, ancient places alive with ghosts and spirits and stories.

Mukta is very “what you see is what you get”, but not in an “in your face” kind of way. She’s one of the most genuine, open, and loving people, with no hidden agenda.

17th May

It’s Hike Nepal 2024 and we are not getting away without drama!!!

We’ve only just met Linda and she’s already ruined everything by getting a BLUE T-Shirt instead of a green one like the rest of the group – except not all of the group had a green one either. Today’s drama started yesterday when Kass found a guy who embroidered touristy T-Shirts, instead of printing them. She had the idea that everyone should get one with the Langtang and Gosainkunda trail maps on them, and 18 out of 20 people liked the idea and ordered them too. Kass then decided she liked the green shirt that everyone else was getting (her original one was a dark red), and ordered a second one. The poor man worked through the night, but couldn’t get them all finished; which meant that everyone except Kass and Linda had green “Nepal” shirts, two of us had no shirts at all, and Kass was in floods of tears because she didn’t get her green one for the group photo.

The upshot is we changed the itinerary slightly – which means the shirts aren’t the trail we’re doing anymore, anyway! Although it was too soon for Kass to appreciate the joke on this particular morning!

Everyone in their T-Shirts…. except the exceptions

We got a bus today, and we’re all still a bit shell shocked! It took over 6hrs to drive 120km – much of which was on unsealed road that was still being built. This road (did i mention it was is still being built?), is two lanes wide, littered with boulders that made you feel like you were on a 4wheel drive track, soft sand in which the bus would slide around, and we were driving on the cliff side of the road. This meant any time another car or bus came, our bus would lurch over to the left, wheels only centimetres from the unprotected edge, bus inhabitants leaning towards the middle of the road as if to push the bus back towards the centre! It was terrifying and exhilarating all at once. Unfortunately, we did pass an accident where a motorbike had collided with another bus. Even though the drivers are going slow it happens frequently, with the unprotected motorcyclists rarely coming out unscathed (or alive).

We had our first Dal Bat for lunch on this day, and I ate it everyday afterwards. About 80% of Nepalese people eat Dal Bat everyday, twice a day. It’s basically a pile of rice with curry, greens, lentil soup, and some kind of chutney or pickle. It’s all you can eat, and they’ll refill your plate until you burst, and it’s different in every town which keeps it interesting. It’s also part of my secret arsenal to avoid gastro – I’ve been to Nepal 3x now without every getting gastro!

Maia trying some berries from a roadside seller

Helen

Helen is also in Nepal for the adventure, but also for a challenge. She needed to get away from the “grind”, return to nature and do something for herself. Helen mum of two, she works full time, manages a goat farm and is president of the local pony club. In other words, like many mums, she’s BUSY, and felt like she needed to remind herself of who she was, who she is on her own. For Helen it’s been a stressful few years. For the first time her family has been worried about money, getting jobs, and paying the bills – this trip was a chance to forget all about it and start over. She4’s always wanted to do a trek in Nepal, and this opportunity came at exactly the right time.

Helen has done adventure trips before, she took herself off to Africa once and did the Okavenko Delta, camping, and all on her own. She wasn’t worried about this trek, per se, although there were a few niggly doubts and thoughts around the unknowns! She didn’t know how she’d handle the altitude (fine – except for one day), how her knees would hold up (fine – she has a good trainer!), whether or not she’d get sick (nope, well maybe just a little bit), etc.

As a self professed “slow burn” introvert, it took Helen a little while to come out of her shell in a group of 20 random individuals, but by the end we all got to see the warm and adventurous person that Helen is! However, being a decent person didn’t save her from her fair share of drama – in a land where sleep can be difficult to come by, this woman would drift off a the drop of a pin, inciting rage in those who spent hours every night battling with their anxieties!! Helen could also be accused of liking animals more than people, as she snuggled with every mangy dog and flea bitten cow that she came across, but would creep past the people like she hoped they wouldn’t see her! Don’t worry Helen, we see you, and we think you’re ok just the way you are.

18th and 19th May – Can we go home now??

Oh. My. Goodness.

Most of us are asking ourselves why we’re here already. Can we go home yet? Are we done?

We climbed almost 1500 metres in altitude today. This is hard at sea level, but when you’re starting at 2000m it’s another thing again. It took some of us 12 hrs to do it too. It was only about 12km in total; but it was so steep. So high. So grueling. That, and lunch took a couple of hours to come.

In addition, a few of us were sick already with grumbly, upset tummies that interrupted our sleep. Jen had to stop about 1km in, feeling faint and unwell. Binod ordered a horse for her, but she couldn’t hold on, and her boyfriend Phil, and the guide, Sunil, turned around and took her back to the hotel.

So then we were 19 already. Mukta was next, having trouble regulating her body temperature. It took her over 5hrs to do the first 7km, with a skyrocketing heart rate and a touch of heat stroke. However, because Jen didn’t use the horse, we now had a horse as a backup for whoever needed it. Maia was the first to have a go, but she got off after about half an hour, after which Deb had a turn! Someone took a video of Deb getting on to that horse. It was like a sketch comedy. By the end she was flung over the saddle on her stomach, with one young guide’s hand right up her ass, trying to force her leg over the animal so she could sit up.

Maia was absolutely astonishing throughout the whole day. Even after 9hrs of walking, 11hrs on the trails she was chipper. That was, until we were ascending the last flight of stairs to our guesthouse and she got stung with stinging nettle. We subdued her and reassured her, and she seemed okay. That is until she went to have a shower, and there wasn’t any hot water! She cried, and cried, and cried. I sponged her down and she cried and cried and cried. I got her in PJ’s and snuggled in to her sleeping bag and she cried and cried and cried.

Then she had a nap.

Maia handing out chalk to some local school kids

As I was writing this, Mukta, Di, and Terry still hadn’t arrived – They finished right on dark. There was good news, though. After a day’s rest Jen was feeling much better and Binod had arranged for a jeep to bring them around to meet us on the trails tomorrow!

We’ve coined a new term – “Nepali Flat”. It means either uphill or downhill that is less than 1000 meters ascent or descent… The second half of our first day’s hiking was “Nepali Flat” and we ascended over 500m!

Unfortunately, the trials for Mukta, Louise, and Terry didn’t end with their arrival on dusk. Their room was crawling with bugs, we’re not sure if they’re bed bugs or not because they weren’t in any other room, but in a way they were lucky to arrive in the dark. Mukta is allergic to bed bugs and if they’d placed their bags down during daylight without seeing them she may have been bitten and that would have been the end of her trip! They were moved to another guest house, only a 100m up the road, but it was exhausting nonetheless.

Starting Day 2’s Hike – Minus Jen, Phil, and Maia (the former because they were on their way in a jeep, the latter because she was watching the mules get loaded with our stuff)

We amended our Day 2 itinerary (thanks Binod and Hike Nepal for being so flexible!) and now we only have 10km to walk on day 2. It still took us 8hr though, because we climbed another 500m and are now living at 3008m! Poor old Jen thought she was getting a Jeep to our second night’s accommodation, but the road doesn’t go that far. Instead, she was dropped 2km out of town (where we stayed last night), and had to walk 12km on zero food with a queasy, post gastro body. Three others have gastro now, but we’re back to our full contingent of 20 hikers, so we’re happy!

We got to wander alongside a river for much of this day’s hike, then through ancient forests. We saw monkeys, and had Oreo’s before lunch. Maia has workout out how to siphon treats from each of our hikers, and has already worked out who’s carrying snakes (Mark) and who’s carrying lollies (Tracy and Liama). She won’t walk with me while one of them are around.

Adventure Phil

We’ve only just met Phil, and I guess travelling with the IntoYou rabble may have been a test of sorts! Jen asked Phil if he wanted to join us on our adventure this year, and because he likes trekking, and he’s never been to Nepal, and because someone else organised it, he said yes and here he is! Phil is an avid hiker, and comes from a family of intrepid bushwalkers. He’s done much of Australia and New Zealand; in particular the Overland track in Tassie which he’s done three times! He loves that particular hike because of the scenery and drama of the landscape, the fact that there’s not many people, there’s amazing variety, and it’s through the highest mountains in Tasmania.

I was surprised that Phil wanted to hike in places where there weren’t many people, because it soon became apparent to us that Phil likes to be where the people are! He was having beer with one group in the evenings, coffee with the early risers in the mornings, sharing stories every afternoon, and spending individual time with each hiker, getting to know them, on the trails. He’s a paragliding pilot, something he is quite proud of, as he had to work hard to achieve it! He took good care of our Amazing Jen while she was ill.

Amazing Jen

Jen jokingly said she’s coming back to Nepal with us to keep an eye on me. I thought she was joking, but…. Jen likes having a goal for her training, it works for her to know why she’s going hiking or lifting weights. Nepal is always a bit of a test, and she wanted to bring Phil and show him how she got her “Amazing Jen” nickname! Jen is called Amazing Jen mostly because of her Mary Poppins bag. It doesn’t matter what you need, Jen has it, but her bag is half the size and half the weight of everyone else’s. She’s just got the perfect touch when packing – just enough of exactly what she needs. It’s not unusual for Jen to pull out a mini gas burner and heat up some water for a cup of tea and a bikkie on the trails!

Jen came on our very first Gym Trip, when we cycled Samoa. Since then she’s done something like 8 of 12 adventures with us. She’s had some major life events in that time; including births, deaths, divorces, moving out of Sydney, changing careers, and buying a business; but the essence of who she is remains unchanged. She’s the unrufflable (unless she gets wet), easy-going (unless there’s water), Amazing Jen (on dry land).

20th May – Happy Birthday Karla!

For Karla’s birthday, she got a cute pajama set from the Women’s Charity Sungabha Nepal, a voucher to spoil herself, and a solid case of vomiting and diarrhea. She opened her presents, and a “card” as best she could (it was a piece of paper with everyone’s well wishes on it), then put her head down and started walking. It was an “easy” day today, only 5km. However this is still obscenely hard when at least 5 of us are putting all our efforts in to keeping our sphincters closed and our bodily fluids inside our bodies.

5 people down with gastro wasn’t as bad as we originally thought, though. Originally, there were 8 people who failed to show for breakfast. It was only when we found Tracy, Naomi, and Linda in their little shack, lined up like sausages, so close they could taste each other’s exhales, and giggling that we realised they were just snug and having a good conversation. Lucky for them because they had a 30m dash for a squat toilet that night, and they may not have made it…

Our starting crew on the day of Karla’s birthday. The shed where Tracy, Linda, and Naomi camped the night is in the background.

We weren’t far from our destination of Lamtang, a village that was decimated by the 2015 earthquake. The same one that occurred 10 days before we were supposed to fly to Nepal for the first time (we ended up camping in Cambodia instead, you can read about that here). There was something faintly spherical about hiking the region that was catastrophically affected by an event that also affected us in Australia, and I was enjoying these thoughts when Maia informed me that she hadn’t weed aaaaallllll day. That, and she had a headache.

A rest stop, after climbing another 400m or so in one go.

Getting dehydrated is bad for you. Getting dehydrated at altitude is downright dangerous. Here I was with a 10YO who was dehydrated at 3500+ metres, so I made her drink.

A lot.

Which she promptly vomited up.

At least that brought me to my senses. I started giving her small sips of hydrolyte, and nursing her for the rest of the walk to Lamtang, which she did, carrying her own bag. Once there she was sick again, and i mixed a high concentrate electrolyte and gave her sips every time she woke from napping. This was less than ideal for me, as I now had Maia’s sinus infection, and I was hoping to lie down myself. Instead, i was doing laps of a 3-story building, bring up boiled carrots and bringing down empty plates. By the evening she was back to her usual self, and I was exhausted, anxious, and sick.

Karla

Most of you know Karla as one of our trainers. She’s the one that beat Jade in the Burpee challenge one time, despite being 20yrs older (although Jade was pregnant at the time, Charlie and I have no excuse, and just accept that Karla is awesome). Karla is one of those strange people that LIKE being taken out of their comfort zone, and experimenting with things that she wouldn’t have done on her own, and also exercising. Our adventure trips hit those goals square on!

The Kepler Trail, NZ (2023) was her first adventure holiday, which she cruised through, and she learned about herself that she handles uncomfortable situations very well! You can read more about that adventure here. Karla will give anything a try, and especially thrives in a team environment. She likes feeling part of a group, and likes to think she’s easy to be around. To date, I haven’t heard anything to the contrary!

Mark

Mark is Karla’s husband, and while he was happy for her to go off galivanting through NZ last year with us, he was all in when he found out we were coming to Nepal! This has been a lifelong dream of his, and he’s always been fascinated with Nepal. He watches all the Nepal documentaries, reads all the books, and is fascinated by the mountains. He liked training for a specific reason, and having never done an adventure holiday before, found out that he liked having something to train for. Incidentally, he and Karla met through national level Table Tennis, so perhaps it’s not surprising that their competitive spirit and “exercise for purpose” bones were tickled in this training format!

Mark is a genuinely nice human being. He’s also determined and competitive. He was the U21 Aussie Champion for table tennis, and repped for Australia a few times in the international scene. With all the travel, sport, and training he’s done, Nepal met his expectations. He enjoyed seeing how different it was to Australia, and how it wasn’t just about the mountains. He loved exploring the little villages and fields, seeing women working those fields with kids strapped to them, Nepali people and porters walking the mountains in thongs, and the lush forests. It has been more varied than he thought it would be, and he didn’t miss his TV!!

He also impressed Karla. It would appear that she wasn’t sure how he’d go in this environment, and that he rose to the challenge (not in that way – the walls are thin in the teahouses).

Creative reuse and recycling in a country that doesn’t have garbage collection, and a village where everything that comes in or out does so on the back of a man or a yak.

21st May and the Crew Splits Up

Two nights in one place and our crew is split in two… but don’t worry, it was just for the day!

The majority of the crew did a day trip to Kyanjin (3830m) as an acclimatisation and cultural experience. Over 7km, the main group gain 350m and were left gasping in the breaks. This is the one climb where Helen felt the altitude, despite being 600m higher a few days later. Dave, however, was unaffected, performing push ups in the break to prove his fitness and enjoy his body (for those of you who don’t know Dave, he’s lost over 50kg). I suspect it was also to burn off some of his nervous energy, as they had to cross a very wobbly suspension bridge, and Dave Does Not Like Heights. Or Suspension Bridges. Or Heights.

Karla had a classic confused moment on that bridge. It seemed to be especially wobbly when she tried to walk across it. But when she stopped and looked behind her, it mysteriously stopped bouncing and swinging. Later, we discovered a gleeful Phil retelling the tale of how he kept her guessing the whole way across!!

Our hikers we bloody surprised when they reached Kyanjin to find a BANK!!! All of us were running low after discovering expresso and cake in Langtang (same place as Lamtang, depending on which sign you’re reading). They needed a passport to get money out, and only Linda had one, so she was in charge of everyone’s change! The tellers couldn’t add or subtract unfortunately, and the result was a mass of confusion during which Linda professed her profession: she’s a lawyer, and this is how it’s going to go, thank you very much. A go that way it did.

Meanwhile Phil had discovered fresh cakes, and like a good boyfriend, brought two slices to share back for Jen.

Special mention has to go to Mukta and Terry on this day. They were two of our most resilient and persistent hikers. They came in last, or next-to-last most days, but always with a positive and “can do” attitude. Usually when a participant is last in, they feel demoralised and anxious – but not these two. Not only did they continue carrying their own packs, they took each day as their own – they didn’t try to “keep up”, prove anything, or be anyone that they were not. They simply carried on, participated, and showed up. This day was perfect to have a break, and for six of us, that is exactly what we did. Terry and Mukta shouldered their bags, put their left foot’s in front of their right foot’s, repeated that process, until they were in Kyanjin. Their zest, energy, positivity, and persistence went a long way towards a wonderful and accepting culture within our group.

Classic exuberant finish from Mukta and Terry after a grueling climb

Sisters Leanne and Liama on the road to Kyanjin

Jen was part of the second crew who took a day off. She was still recovering from gastro, and hadn’t quite shook it off enough to eat the volumes of food one needs for a physical event like this.

Personally, I had not slept. The anxiety and paranoia I had over Maia’s illness the day before had culminated in a night where I re-lived every minute of my sickest moments during Everest Base Camp hike in 2017. You can read about this adventure here. Maia was completely recovered, but I was wrecked, so spent the day dozing on the guest house’s rooftop.

Di, Deb, and Tracey H also took the day of, struggling with injuries, exhaustion, and altitude. We had a quiet day, but those that could still climbed a little hill at the edge of town to do our acclimatisation. Jen and I did a grounding exercise, led by Maia, who fetched us bits of rock and ferns to hold as we meditated. It was a very healing and peaceful experience. On the way back we stopped at a Tibetan jewelry store. The man there didn’t speak much English, but invited us in to his home to show us his Buddhist shrine and explain to us why money was necessary, and when you have none you get “cut down” (not in those words, he used a hissing/swishing noise and sliced his hand like he was using a machete). He then got upset with us for looking at his bedroom (we were looking at the front door and his bedroom was right next to it), and shooed us out.

That night, the guest house proprietors put pine needles in the fire heater. It smelled divine. I was enjoying this when Karla discovered she’d lost her sunglasses. She was worried she’d left them at the water vendor, about 20min back up the mountain, so Jijentra (or G-Ten as we liked to call him, in our Aussie accents) started jogging back up in the dark to see if he could retrieve them. Horrified at his efforts Karla decided to look one more time, and instead of shaking her glasses case, actually opened it. Behold her sunglasses. She rushed back to the common room to ask Binod to phone G-Ten and turn him around again!

Clare

This trip for me was about putting a full-stop on my cancer journey and “proving” I was healthy again. I had grand plans about bringing all the trainers who supported me through this time with me. Unfortunately it backfired a bit. For those who don’t know the story, our adventurers did Annapurna Base Camp in 2016, and I was completely healthy – chucking off my backpack at the end of each day and then returning to the trails to carry our tail-ender’s packs the last kilometre or two for them. By 2017, what started as a sinus infection turned in to bronchitis, tonsilitis, laryngitis, and a stint in hospital. What we found out later is that I had developed a tumour, which had out-grown it’s blood supply, and was in the process of rotting inside my body. So not only was I attempting Everest Base Camp with internal bleeding and anaemia, I was also being poisoned by my own blood.

It was traumatic, but I didn’t realise how traumatic until I was sick in Nepal with another sinus infection and my 10YO child. I spent the night before this day awake, reliving every step of Everest, and plotting about how to get us out of there. By 6am I was a complete mess, and messaged Binod to come past with his Oximeter. I was 100% sure I had altitude illness and that both Maia and I had to go.

But I didn’t. My blood oxygen was good.

So I brought my mess to breakfast, received lots of hugs, pep talks on PTSD, and permission to have my melt down moment. Now I have a new Nepal story. One where i got a sinus infection and then recovered. Where I brought a 10YO and neither of us got gastro. Where we started and finished with 20 participants. I have also realised that there’s no “happy ever after”. There’s no full-stop. There’s only “little bit betters” and “one foot in front of the other” for the rest of our lives.

Maia

Maia came along because she wanted to do Milford Sound with us in 2025, where she would be required to carry her own food, clothes, and bedding for 4 days. I suggested coming to Nepal first, because all she has to carry here is her daypack with rain gear and snacks. She wants you to know that she is 10 years old, in year 4 at school, very fierce, and also cute. She loves challenges, and is very generous. She was born in Manly, has the initials “MJ” and that she used to sail an MJ (which stands for “Manly Junior”). She used to go to Wheeler Heights Public School.

That is all!

22nd May and We’re Going Downhill for the First Time!

So the promise was that once we’ve done the first day, every other day is easier. However no-one told us that going down, for 10 kilometres of stairs, hurt like your legs were being removed from the knee with two pairs of kitchen tongs.

By now we had also worked out that Binod regularly lied, and had to be specific about what we were asking. For example, “is it 5 hours at our pace or a regular person’s pace?”, or “by easier do you mean 10.5hrs of walking compared to 11hrs? or just 5hrs?”

We knew we were going down today. It was supposed to be easier. We thought downhill was easier.

We did what took us three days to climb in one day down. Now we all know gravity exists, but what you may never have thought about is that we accelerate with gravity 1.8m per second squared, every time we lower ourselves down a step. Every step. This means our joints and muscles are absorbing anywhere between 1.3 and 11x times our bodyweight. Every step. Admittedly, you’d be unlikely to be at the 11x your bodyweight end of the scale unless you’re Usain Bolt sprinting down a hill, but we were all carrying extra weight. So i weight about 65kg. I was carrying about 8kg. Even if I was only absorbing 1.3 x my weight, that’s a 94.9kg single leg press every time I landed. For 10km straight. I don’t know how to train for that except to train for that, and I did not train for that so it hurt!!

By now Jen was feeling much better, and could stomach potatoes and porridge, but she was still a little off. As we wandered along Jen wondered out loud “do I even like hiking? what am I doing here?”. This from the woman who moved from Manly to the Blue Mountains for more hiking. Who has done more IntoYou adventures than anyone else. I had to have a chuckle – here’s how we know someone’s at half-mast!

There was a little action in our hind-quarters today, with Jitentra rescuing a baby yak. It was stuck in the river with it’s mum standing on the other side. Jitendra waded in and picked the little calf up, crossed the river and deposited it beside it’s mother. Both creatures were remarkably passive about the whole affair, and everyone came out of it well!

It was on the interminable way down that Helen let slip that it was her birthday on the 25th. Now, having made such a fuss over Karla (thanks mostly to the IntoYou trainers who had the foresight to plan ahead), we weren’t about to let this even pass us by without another hullaballoo. Unfortunately, Helen’s pace was often the same as mine, and I just couldn’t shake her off. Whenever she got ahead they had a break. Whenever she dropped behind Maia saw a flower or a rock and we had to stop. Plus, the further down we got, the fewer the shopping opportunities, and I knew exactly what she wanted: one more bead bracelet. I also knew she liked the colour teal and it’s variations, but where do I get something like this in the middle of nowhere??

Bringing building materials up the mountain

About then, Liama decided she needed a loo – and it was then that i knew exactly what we would do. Liama had to hold on until we got to the town before our accommodation. This was a biggish town (still no road access, so biggish in relation to other mountain towns where everything they have comes up on the back of a man or mule) and had toilets. It also had ONE shop. As our crew walked past, I waved them onwards with “we’re not stopping, I’m just waiting for Liama to use the loo”. In this shop I could choose ONE kind of bracelet (not beaded) in TWO colours (neither of them teal).

I’ll take it.

By the time Liama had finished I was all wrapped up and smug, and we walked the last kilometre together.

Bir, our single, one man porter, was walking with us this day. He had made a walking stick out of bamboo for Maia earlier (just whipped a saw and multitool out of his backpack… kind of reminded me of Jen!!). He pointed out men walking up the mountains towards Langtang with western toilets on their backs (after 10yrs they’re still rebuilding Langtang, and Westerners don’t like using their thigh muscles to squat apparently!). He also spotted the monkey in the tree first, which captivated Liama, Maia, and I for several minutes!

We eventually made our way to some very basic accommodations. However, it was also one of the few that still had hot water at the end of the day! Tracy T managed to wash her hair and most of us got a steaming hot shower that day. Tracey H was put to work braiding everyone’s hair afterwards, and paper-walls and leaning-over-a-cliff common room not withstanding, it was a pleasant afternoon!

The common room that leaned over a cliff face…

Leanne and Liama

I didn’t know Liama and Leanne terribly well before this trip. Leanne was my physio, and I used to go to Liama’s yoga studio in DY before she moved to Kiama. To me, they were professional, smart, and ambitious people, and when I saw them in their workplaces, I didn’t think much beyond my own pain and practice. These two are sisters, and took the opportunity to travel to Nepal for some powerful reasons. If I thought they were pretty great before, then my esteem grew 100x in this two week adventure, as they filled me in on their reasons for being here.

Before I start, a warning. Their story includes personal experience of child abuse. While I don’t go in to specifics, if you think you may be triggered you may want to stop reading here.

Leanne

Ten years ago, Leanne told her husband that she’d like to go to Nepal to find peace. He told her to find peace here first, and then go to Nepal. This trip was Leanne’s gift to herself, after a brutal couple of years battling both breast cancer and her childhood abuser. The timing just worked.

Leanne knew she had to find peace within herself, but while she was here she realised she had to let go of the day to day. To truly be peaceful, she couldn’t hold on to anything, and ultimately it seems to be what has set her free. Today she can say that she’s proud to have clawed her way out of an abusive upbringing, and come out the other side as a strong and capable women. She’s proud that she’s breaking the cycle, bringing up two girls in a loving and dependable family unit. While Leanne hasn’t let the past define her, she has used it to define her future.

Liama

Liama grew up in the same household as Leanne, and as such has experienced much of the same things. However, Leanne didn’t remember the abuse until she was in her 40’s, and Liama has remembered her whole life; spending a large portion of it thinking it was only her that was abused. She came on this trip as a means of letting go of the past. It gave her something to focus on when the going got tough last year, and the training was brilliant to help her get out of the house and put her body and mind towards a positive purpose.

Completing this trip is a way of proving to herself that she can do anything. Liama has been plagued by self doubt her whole life, and coming through this journey was really, really important. I think she proved it ten-fold! Just walking in the Himalayas is hard. You can go up for days and thousands of meters in a row. Liama did it sick (she was one of the unfortunates that struggled through the first couple of days). She’s shown us that despite surviving the worst things that a child, or adult, can go through, that redemption and rehabilitation is possible.

This journey is a turning point, from a negative mindset to a strong, resilient, and capable one. We will see her do more amazing things I am sure!

23rd May and the Seven Star Hotel

Still going down at the start of today’s hike!

Naomi and Linda asked Binod if we’d have a hot shower tonight. Or complete walls. He said tonight. “It is a 5-Star Hotel?” they asked? “It’s SEVEN stars”, he replied.

And that’s what got us out of bed and on the road this morning.

The SEVEN Star hotel. We could picture it. Lush, warm sheets. Wine with dinner. A flushing toilet. Walls so thick you couldn’t hear the inhabitants next door, and WIFI – fast, reliable WIFI. We were ready.

But first, we had to head down to the river, cross it, and back up the other side to a town that we could see from where we were staying. The down was lovely, despite our sore and wobbly legs from yesterday. We passed a monument to a Jewish hiker that died in the earthquake, then crossed a swinging bridge over the river. We followed the river up and down, or Nepali Flat for a few kilometres, and had lunch overlooking it.

We passed through quaint little villages and saw what we think were honey badgers (don’t worry, we didn’t go near them!). We saw a chipmunk too!

After lunch we had a 3hr climb to our seven star hotel. It may have taken us a little longer than usual, because we passed under a family of monkeys on the way! We enjoyed their antics for ages before moving on. About halfway up we stopped again for a loo break, an breather, and were captivated by a woman making belts on an old-fashioned loom. She was literally strapped in to it like i strap myself in to my windsurfer, and used her body to arrange the threads. Every time she made one line of belt, she had to rearrange the threads exactly so, in order to keep the pattern going. It took her 2 days to complete just one belt, and she sold them for 800 Rupee (about $8). We bought one each. Binod bought one for Maia which was sweet too.

Mukta and Terry were stopped a third time by a girl with a baby goat. She even let them hold it for a bit! So it was late, past 5pm before we got to this 7 star hotel. We were sweaty and stinging for showers. We had barely any time to enjoy it before dinner, which we forgot to order in our excitement over clean sheets and hot water. It was around 9pm before we finally ate and crashed in to bed.

It was, however, and bloody fantastic bed.

Linda

Linda is a Northern Beaches mum, born in the UK, married an Australian, and the rest is history. She makes up one of the three gigglers that were late on Karla’s birthday, these three women are all Englishwomen who have moved to Australia for good, and lean on eachother like family during the school term. She signed up because Tracy T signed up, and she’s always wanted to see Nepal. She told me about a list she put together as a young woman, and the only thing left on her overseas “list of things to achieve before 40” was a trip to Nepal. Better late than never, she seized this opportunity to join us, without even looking at the itinerary. Even as I interviewed her, her husband still thought she was doing Everest Base Camp! Luckily she saw it from a helicopter before we started hiking!

Linda was attracted to the mountains. She is from an active, hiking family and feels comfortable taking on a challenge like this one. In fact, she lived in Hong Kong for 5 years, and would often hike up the mountains home of an afternoon after work, her daughter often joining her.

Linda wants everyone to know that cancer didn’t kill her. She’s now 2yrs breast cancer free, but only 6mths complication free. She had ongoing issues after her double mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery, that impacted her health and ability to function. In addition, her mother in law died while she was undergoing treatment (of breast cancer). So it’s been a really awful couple of years for Linda. However, in her own words, she’s a fighter, something which we saw each and every day she hiked.

Linda at Kathmandu airport with her “welcome” garland of marigolds

Tracy T

Tracy is my friend from my very first personal training job ever, at Fernwood Fitness, in Sydney City, in 2001!!! I told her about this trip and she said “I’m coming”!!

Tracy says that “over the years you have subtlety mentioned where your groups were going, and I never felt I could come along and leave the family. This year, I knew the kiddos were old enough and capable to be without me for a few weeks so I hot footed it out of Sydney.🤩 Nepal and a hike would be a great challenge – for many years I thought my body was broken and I had lost confidence in it, having the goal of the hike was a great way to test all of the hard work I’d put into it and challenge my belief that I need to stick to things that are familiar to stay injury free.”

Anyone who ahs ever walked with Tracy knows that she has zero sense of direction, but walking with a group meant that she felt confidence that she was going the right way. In training, we laughed at the extra work she managed to get out of everyone by making her way up a hill and then having to turn back.

Tracy has loved every minute of Nepal, she loved making new friends and sharing experiences. She loved turning negative self talk and beliefs into exhilaration and joy and she loved the spiritual side – meditating and story telling as she walked. She says “I’ve definitely grown as a human and deepened and grown my friendship circle – thank you Clare, feeling very blessed!”

Tracy and I at her wedding in 2006. If I could have found an older, sweatier photo I would have, but we’re talking about the age before digital cameras!

24th May and the Mountain That Literally Never Ends…

We knew this day’s hiking was going to be tough, we did, after all, expect to climb over 1000m in 8km. I think a few of us believed that no mountain can go on forever, but this one did, we literally climbed it for days. it literally never ends. For this reason, most of us started the day with an expresso, and some of us didn’t limit ourselves to one! That, and it was available, so…

We’d only gone a few hundred metres when we stumbled on a Buddhist celebration. May is Buddha’s birth month, and all over Nepal there were celebrations, rituals, and events. We happened upon one at the local temple, and were invited in, so we went! They taught us the story of Buddha, the circle of life, and showed us around the temple. Maia was transfixed by the birth and sex depictions on the wall! After we’d all rung the bell and listened to the chanting, we restarted our hike.

Not much further along we came across a barbed wire boundary. Binod casually led us across it, and we were deeply committed to the trail inside when a man in khaki with a massive gun started barking out questions to Binod. We’d casually strolled on to the army base and were being ordered off the property… oops. Thankfully I had brought radios for maia and I to stay connected, and I’d handed out the spares to the people walking behind us. We were able to tell them not to cross the wire, but to walk alongside it, avoiding the ire of the man with the gun!

From there, there wasn’t much to report except:

Stairs
Sweat
Stunning views
and Tracy H got stabbed with Barbed Wire

I guess you’re wanting an explanation of this last point? Well, while we were ascending a grueling mix of switchbacks and stairs, winding through farms, fields, and forests on a trail that Never. Ever. Stopped. Tracey H stepped on a piece of barbed wire. It promptly flicked up and stabbed her in the leg. and yes, it was rusty.

Tracey is pretty no-nonsense, whacked a Band-Aid on it and carried on. She had thankfully had her tetanus shot, and had antibiotics on hand to treat an infection if it occurred. However, no-one washed it out, so that night we cracked open the saline and flushed it, then dressed it with a large, non-stick bandage (after soaking it in betadine) and hoped fort he best.

We lunched that day on a spectacular ridge that overlooked the region we had spent the last week or so hiking through, and after lunch it was a Nepali Flat, undulating trail to that night’s accommodation. As we made our way through the village, fat drops of rain started, but we were all tucked up inside beside the fire by the time it started raining for real!

When Maia was getting ready for bed, she screamed loud enough for our guides to come running. She had an enormous, fat bumblebee on her toe. We made her walk outside then flicked it off, where it bumbled lazily away. Random.

Tracey H

Tracey is in Nepal for the adventure. Her first adventure trip was a Northern NSW Adventure, when we planned to go to do the Cape to Cape in WA but got locked out by Western Australia’s government. You can read about this trip here.

This year, she wanted to come to Nepal because it was different. She also had a Nepalese friend who died almost exactly a year ago, and it seemed like a nice way to honor his memory. Tracey is resilient. Even when she had altitude illness she could be found in the laundry washing her undies. She can adjust to most situations. She can be knocked down, and she can get up again. Tracey is a domestic violence and breast cancer survivor, and faces all challenges with good humor and pragmatism.

However, she still rates this trip as the hardest thing she’s ever had to do physically, and the second-only-to-chemotherapy thing she’s ever done mentally. As such, she’s feeling pretty chuffed with what she’s achieved!

Louise

Louise and Tracey are best friends! While this was a nice thing to share, they’re here for very different reasons. Louise came to Nepal, on her very first overseas trip, 25 years ago (in her 40’s). She hiked Annapurna as a sort of test for herself. On that trip was a 65 year old that she has never forgotten, and she wanted to see how she compared to this women, that she so admired 25 years ago.

Louise says “I feel i have challenged myself and that i have succeeded. At the age of 68 years, I don’t think I’ll do another hike, but I wanted to prove (to myself) that i could still do it”. ahem. Louise didn’t miss a day. She didn’t just do what she had to do, she did everything that was available to do!

Louise can be slow to get to know people, but once we got to know her she was solid company! We find Louise as we find her, she is who she is. She has had her fair share of “stuff” in this lifetime, has challenged herself physically and mentally with this trip, and is satisfied that she is a stronger, better person now than she was when she was younger.

25th May and Helens Birthday!

Happy Birthday Helen! and no, we didn’t sing her that song, she’s heard it enough for a lifetime! We presented her with a “card”, organised and decorated by Maia (a sheet of notebook paper folded in half and covered with messages from the 20 of us!), and her covertly acquired bracelet, and I think she was happy! For Helen’s birthday we had a short, 3hr uphill hike to our highest elevation yet, and then rested all afternoon.

On the way up we passed some workers installing power lines. Many of these mountain towns are off grid, which is great for the environment, but tough on us tourists who want light, plumbing, and wifi! We had some feedback for the OH&S regulators of Nepal, but we couldn’t figure out how to submit it, so I will write it here instead:

Workers need to be harnessed when working seven metres up a power pole.
Workers need to be earthed, or have adequate safety gear, when working with electricity.
Workers need a safe way to ascend and descend these steel poles in -0 degree environments, beyond shimmying up and down in thongs without support or safety measures!

It was eye opening for sure!

Also eye-opening. A toilet that is a literal hole in the ground

While we were resting the topic of the “leech and lunch” came up. Yesterday at lunch, someone spotted a fat leech that had obviously been well fed under the dining table. We joked around, not thinking too much of it until today. Kass found a giant red welt on her ankle, and put two and two together – the leech was hers! We have been carrying salt and saline, but in some ways it was better that it fed and fell off unmolested; it was Kass’s first leech, and she’s known for big emotions, so who knows what her reaction would have been if she found it buried in her skin!

We had also noticed that none of the travelers we encountered were western. Most of them were Nepalese and Indian, with one group of Jewish kids (which i will get to later). The reason for this is that it was May, Buddha’s birth month, and many were making the pilgrimage to Gosainkunda for a ritual dunking in the Gosainkunda lakes. There was an option to head straight up to the lakes this afternoon, but we didn’t take it because the fog came in, obscuring anything more than a couple of metres in front of you. So we were resigned to an afternoon of reading, recovery, and shooting the sh*t around the fireplace.

As more and more of us joined the group around the fireplace, Helen remained where she was, taking up more than her fair share of room. She was sprawled over 4 people’s seats, engaged in a book that was written in Hebrew and read from the back to the front. Deb nudged her a few times, good naturedly bumping her along to make room for the others but she didn’t budge. Somewhat taken aback, Deb looked more closely at Helen, and realised it wasn’t Helen! It was one of the Jewish kids that was touring Nepal with a bunch of other Jewish kids, and in to their second month of trekking!! Oops. We laughed about it but the girl wasn’t that impressed. And she still didn’t move.

When everything comes up the mountain on the back of a man, reusing materials is necessary. The door to our room for example

These kids were very friendly, one in particular was extremely outspoken and was interested in getting to know us as soon as we walked in to the door. Later on she was engaged in an argument about potatoes with the proprietor, and later still she was ensconced in the kitchen cooking for herself! By now it was 11pm and we were all tucked up in bed. Those above the kitchen couldn’t sleep because of the racket this girl and her friends were making, and almost all of us were woken up even later when they came to bed. It was like Shrek had arrived and Fe Fi Fo Fummed the whole way down the hallway. The building literally shook every step they took. If you couple this together with the shrieking and laughter and conversation they were engaged in, it was a very boisterous bedtime for them. We thought we’d get our revenge when we arose early the next morning, but they were up and off ahead of us!

Relax time, before another big day of up, and then down

Anyway, hopefully Helen’s birthday was up to scratch; we gave her a half day’s hiking, a bracelet from outside a toilet, entertainment in the form of men risking their lives up steel poles, and a case of mistaken identity after all!

Kass

Kass is Jade’s mum, for those of you who train in the IntoYou studio, and she is equally as adventurous, active, and determined. Kass is kind, funny, reliable, and makes friends for life – she’s deeply committed to the people she cares about. She came along for this trip mostly because she doesn’t like missing out, and she always feels a sense of achievement when she completes a hike in Nepal. She says “every time I leave Nepal I get stronger”. This is probably true for all of us!

Deb

Deb came along to Nepal because she wanted to give her new hip a go! She had it replaced last year, and boy, did she test it! This new hip not only walked 10 days through the Himalaya’s, it swung over a horse too! She thought if she could complete this trek she could do anything. She did, and she can, no worries at all! Hiking this time in Nepal she did her best – she did as much training as she could fit in, and she went as long and fast as she thought she could each day. In the end, she needed support in the form of a porter carrying her pack for her. She found it hard to ask, and admit she needed help, but also believed that flogging herself wouldn’t get her to the end in one piece. All in all she feels satisfied with what’s she achieved. Deb has returned to Sydney in a better state than she did after Everest, that’s for sure!

26th May & Four of 150 Gosainkunda Lakes

Today was a big highlight – THE Gosainkunda lakes! At first we thought it was just one lake. While hiking we saw four and were over-awed. Then Jitendra told us there were 150 and we would have seen them all if we were fit enough to hike over the pass, and we deflated a little bit for a little while – but it didn’t last long!!!

We climbed another 450m today. We were up, packed, and breakfasting at 6am, with stunning views of Manaslu (one of only 14 mountains in the world over 8000m). At 6.40am we were outside and antsy, impatiently waiting for our guides (they always served us first then ate afterwards). We got underway right before 7am, and it was tough from the first minute. It was a steep and rocky trail that led straight up. it took us 3hrs to get to Gosainkunda, and we were racing the fog the whole way.

Even though we only saw 4 of the lakes, they were all breathtaking; turquoise, crystal clear water with dramatic backdrops of sheer mountains and fluffy clouds.

We were absolutely ready for lunch at 10.30am!

We got to explore the temple where the ceremony occurred for Buddha’s birthday that morning, again we rang the bells 7 times for good luck, and then we made our way to the ramp where people where performing their 7-submersion ritual in the main lake. Most estimations were that the lake was around 3 degrees. My feet certainly went numb within a few minutes!

We enjoyed it as long as we could, then came down 3 days worth of climbing in just one afternoon, reconnecting with Dave, who didn’t climb any higher today, and Di who had stayed lower the night before at the Yak and Nak.

Dave

It’s baffling, but Dave enjoys our company. Even when he’s the only man on the trek. However, this trip had added significance for him, as he has lost 50kg+ and was keen to test out his new body! He was in such great condition for this trip, that he was getting in to camp before he felt exhausted, then waking up feeling rested and recovered the next day! This is amazing stuff on a trip like this! He could plod and plod and plod, he didn’t need as much rest, and when he did rest he felt rested, and no soreness either!

One afternoon in Langtang, I came across Dave sitting on his bed looking forlorn. After all we’ve said and seen from him (above), it seemed incongruous, and I sat beside him and asked what was going on. He spoke of his journey, not just the dramatic weight loss, but of planning this trip while also taking care of his terminally ill mother. She was excited for him to embark on this trip and actively encouraged him to take it on. When he was walking, and feeling so good in his body, he could also feel his mum with him, and it was both devastating and inspiring.

Lola passed last year, and has left a hole in Dave’s life as he was her primary carer during her last years with us. She was vivacious and loving, and a quintessential Aussie larrikin (despite being female!), deeply involved in the Manly Sea Eagles, and always up for a party! In her honor, Dave has achieved everything he wanted to in this trip. Even at his most emotional, he has felt more alive, and more healthy, than he has in years.

Di has participated in 7 of the gym trips. She loves the company and the countries that we’ve visited. The friendly banter and photographing the vast scenery. Last time in Nepal she was sent down by helicopter to hospital after seeing Everest base camp, so her mission was to keep well, which she did! She finished the hike, only slowed down by a twisted ankle, blisters and a bakers Cyst on her knee.

27th May & How We Made a 4hr Hike in 8hrs

We. Sure. Did. What should have taken 4hrs – at our pace, confirmed and doubled checked by almost 20 of us with Binod – took 8hrs… Let me explain!

Firstly, we took a leisurely start to the day. Where we had been waking at 5am – ish to get packed and organised, before breakfast around 6.30am and departure at 730am; today we didn’t breakfast until 7.30am. I had time for a real, brewed coffee before breakfast even started cooking!

At 10am, we stopped half way. But it was waaayyyy to early for breakfast, so we just had tea. Tea took an hour to come, but we had free wifi and plenty of time, so we didn’t worry too much! Then we were on our way again.

We pulled in to an awesome little guesthouse around 11.30 and decided it was time for lunch. However lunch had to be harvested from the garden farm first (thank goodness no-one ordered chicken or mutton!), and while we waited we were entertained by a self-professed, Bob-Marley styled, holy man, who couldn’t make his own singing bowl sing. He could, however, hold a rhythm on the drum, and perform a headstand on uneven cement. So those that were cornered outside by his antics gave up their small denominations to send him on his way.

Oh, there was a puppy too! That definitely kept us entertained!

After almost 3hrs we were finally eating! It was amazing and delicious but we were also getting tired. When we hit the trails again after lunch we knew we were close to civilization (or a road) because the path was PAVED. We followed a literal footpath for the remaining few kilometres down to another crystal clear river, where we promptly got distracted and wanted to get in.

Even then, we were only a half-hour from the town we were staying in, but what we forgot to factor was that Binod always books the hotel or guesthouse at the furthest edge of the town, and this town was a big one. So we followed the river for a bit, climbed another hill over the other side, then had another kilometre or two of road trudging through town to get to our hotel!

And that, my friends, is how you turn a 4hr hike in to an 8hr one!

I want to say though, that the hotel was very nice, even if it didn’t have enough rooms, and we had to share three to a room, and Maia and I were upstairs with the family that owned the joint! It was clean, the sheets were fresh, most people had a hot shower, and I’m not opposed to showering under a bidet when I am hot and sweaty (which i was)… true story.

Terry (Tezz)

Terry was a participant on our ill-fated Everest trip (you can read about it here), and was one of the people who turned back with me, one day short of achieving base camp. She wanted to do it again, and do it better this time. She wanted to compare herself to how she was before, last time she was here; she was unconfident, scared, had less ability, and more uncertainty. In other words, she was a timid person for whom undertaking Everest had an extreme-anxiety provoking effect. It was important to Tezz to do it better, because she wanted to show her kids that she could do hard things (beyond planning dinner every night of 32 years).

This time, she packed lighter and stressed-less. She had the confidence to know she’d find her way if she got lost. She didn’t care if she was slow or last. She sat right down in to the Nepal experience and loved every minute. Terry is proud of herself. She feels like she has achieved what she set out to do. She was comfortable being last, and with being uncomfortable. Terry wants you to know that she may be quiet, but she is strong. She reminds me of the quote from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream – “Though she be but little, she is fierce”!

28 – 30th May

Because of our changed itinerary, we had another bus ride back to Kathmandu. It was another hairy one, only 100km or so, but higher than before and just as steep. Fortunately for us it was foggy and rainy, so we have literally no idea how close we came to the edge. As we were waiting to get on to the bus, we saw a bunch of army personnel marching down the street. It was a Republic Day march! I didn’t know this until recently, but Nepal was a monarchy until 2008, when protesters drove off the royal family. Nepal is now a republic, but there are some murmurs around bringing the monarchy back.

Once again, Tracey “lost” her water bottle. These bottles have a life straw in them and are worth over $100 each, and Tracey H lost hers at least once day, mainly because she liked to put it on the ground so she didn’t knock it off the table. On this day, she couldn’t find it anywhere… until we looked right beside where she was sitting and there it was!

We were relieved to tumble out of the busses at the Hotel. During the short changeover from our large tourist bus to two small shuttles (the big busses don’t fit down the little streets of Thamel), we were approached by children begging for food. It was hard to say no, as they were disheveled and dirty, and you could see the tent city squatting on the piles of rubbish and debris on the other side of the road. Generally, you’re advised not to give money to beggars because you can be overwhelmed by more and more coming up and asking for more and more money. It’s an impossible problem. The afternoon was spent napping, and getting more T Shirts embroidered!

On the 29th we had a day set aside for sight seeing. It was hot, sticky, and dry in Kathmandu, but we had an air conditioned bus and a driver that wasn’t stingy with it! Our first stop was the monkey temple. It took a while to get going because we were charmed by the monkeys and dogs that roamed free. The buildings in this temple were over 1000 years old, and still being used for shops and apartments. The electricity was all retro-fitted, which looked dodgy, but seemed to be working as none of the buildings have burned down (yet)!

Our second stop was the crematorium and surrounding temples. It was very busy because this is a “once in a lifetime” pilgrimage for many Buddhist people. We got to watch one person’s ceremony, but they go to a different place for the cremation which is only open to the family. Maia had a lot of questions after this, and I was thankful to have Mukta on had who was able to explain Hindu customs (at least from her perspective of what her family do in India).

Our last stop was The Great Boudha Stupa, a world heritage site surrounded by monasteries, shops, and fantastic rooftop restaurants. We stopped at one of these for lunch and had one of our best meals by far, overlooking the Stupa. We then got to walk around it and even on it. We didn’t really have enough time to explore the area completely, and we were quite hot and tired, but one curious thing I saw before we left was a pigeon feeding enclosure, with set pigeon feeding times. I don’t know what to say about this, the rationale, or anything else; except that it was a very stinky patch of pavement!!

Our flights didn’t depart until 11pm the next day, so we had a full day battling the traffic and spending our last rupees. I found another charity to get behind – Beni Handicrafts – who are collecting rubbish and turning it in to usable objects like salad bowls and bags. Unfortunately we didn’t get to drop in to Seven Women, now Sungabha Nepal, but we did make a sizable donation that will keep the Women’s Refuge and Training Centre ticking over for a few years to come!

Binod surprised us twice in these past couple of days. The first time with a certificate and a trophy, personalised with our names and everything! He gifted each of us with a singing bowl as well. Then, right before heading to the airport he gave us a scarf each, which traditionally is about good luck. We loved it all. Hike Nepal is the best, can highly recommend them!

We flew out of Kathmandu surrounded by electrical storms, tired but satisfied in our bodies and minds.

Naomi

If I asked Naomi to write about anyone on this trip, she’d happily transcript their story, but she found it much harder to write about her own journey! Naomi is friends with Tracy T, who asked if she’d like to join her, hiking in Nepal; Naomi didn’t hesitate and jumped straight in. That in itself isn’t unusual for her, but following a few health scares, this was a journey of resilience, perseverance and renewal.

Naomi said “Soon after signing up, my body didn’t do what I wanted it to, and I started to doubt my stamina, endurance and capacity to take it on (a bit of an unusual feeling for me!).”

Naomi learned that it is ok to take on your own journey and adventure; it’s ok to reassess and change plans …that is absolutely ok. She says “I hiked my own hills, took on my own challenges, giggled until I cried (thanks Deb) and cried until I giggled. I was privileged to hear the renewal and recovery stories of others and felt inspired and lifted with each and every footstep along the way. I left our lovely group in Nepal, more accepting of reality, more at peace with what has been and hopeful about what is to come….whatever that might be! Basically, I had a bloody great time. Thank you x”

Naomi was wonderful in that she had the ability to walk with anyone in the group. She could slow down and smell the roses. She could pump out the hills and come up gasping and exhilarated. She literally went with whatever she was feeling in any particular moment.