More Nepal Pictures!

More Pictures!

Ok so when I got sick our guide Tirtha couldn't leave me alone to be sick AND find my way the other way around the Annapurna circuit to meet up with the group on the other side of Throng-La pass, so he let one of the porters to stay with me and be my guide. This is Raz, he was my porter and guide when I got sick. He made sure I ate food and drank lots of water and tea so that I would get better. He also helped me get a lot of taxi's, jeeps and buses over the period of about 5 days so that we could be reunited with our group. I took more than two days to recover and by that time the group was too far ahead and I wouldnt have been able to catch up (there were no roads that far in so I couldnt catch a jeep to meet up with them) so I had to backtrack and drive up the part of the circuit we would be finishing on. Wow that was a long one. So anyways, this is Raz and I with one of the many jeeps we had to take, the Chicken Jeep to be exact, but that story is for another entry.




With the group again! Well this is part of the group at least. We met in a town called Muktinath, which is actually a famous sight for those of you who have some knowledge of world religions. This town contains a holy pilgrimage sight for both Hindu's and Buddhistsm the erternal flame and the 108 water spouts. Look it up, its actually really interesting.

Two of our porters being silly!




Thats me and the Himalayas, they're even bigger than Spring Hill!

This is my new boyfriend, it was the nost ring that got me.

The woman in the area all loom and its so beautiful, so I bought a bunch, and asked if it was alright if I took a picture with her so I can remember who made them

Do I really need to explain the excitement of this photo?! And no it's not that fact that they have internet...and therefore electricity...


Whoever can tell me the total and comlete excitement of this photo will get a prize. And no, no one from the hike that may be reading this is allowed to guess because they were there and witnessed my excitement. Hint: there are more than one.

Awesome...I like stuff...

Pierre my Mom and I (oh, and Chloe's hat!) taking a break!

Here's some more of the group!

This day started off as a blur and ended as a blur. It was approximatly 9 hours up-hill. This is what we climbed in the first quarter of the day. It took approximatly two hours...because we had to go up a switchback of stairs...stone ones that had been hand-cut and laid...

For example see above...and below

This was one of that hardest days for me, but it was totaly worth it and even enjoyable. If you know the saying "What goes up, must come down", you'll know that this usually applies to everything...including hills/mountains/going up stairs...that kind of thing. So yes, one day we went up, the next day we went down. The down was a little more terrifying at some places because it was a staircase cut into what is as close to a cliff as you can get without it being a cliff. So another few hours of a handcut staircase switchback was the next days adventure. But I didnt get a picture of that. The morning of that downhill day actually started with a 4:30 wake up call to climb another hill and watch the sunrise...as if we werent at a high enough altitude already.

And so a bunch of us got up to climb Poon Hill. This being an optional sidetrip a few people decided to sleep in. Me not being the most morning of people decided to do it anyways and sacrifice my sleep, how could I not after being sick and missing part of the trek. So this is Tyler and I infront of the sign, just to prove we had done it...oh yeah and there was snow...

And here is the crew that decided to climb, and the mountains in the background of course.

Tirtha and his new wives

I dont know if you'll believe me but it's true. On the same day we climbed Pool Hill and walked down the switchback cliff stairs, we also walked through a rainforest with moss everywhere and a beautiful river, and it was really hot!

A photo that came much to soon, the end of our trip!

So I have some stories to share with everyone but that just took a lot of time! So I will share them soon! I hope you enjoyed those! There may even be more to come because my mom had a camera as well so there might be some of hers coming up on here as well!

Nepal...a picturebook

Here are some photos, as promised

Here we are at the Monkey Temple, lieel did we know it was a small preview to all the stairs we would be climbing on the hike....

Monkey Temple

My first taste of the joys of bus/jeep riding that was to come


Me with our guide Tirtha on the first day of our hike! Starting point: Khudi

The first of many suspension bridges to come....

As you can see they were true suspension bridges...the kind where you didnt know if you were going to make it to the other side alive or not...but fun all the same...they put rocks on parts to cover the holes...

We stayed here our second night...hahaha

Playing with a little girl from a tea house. I gave her some Playdoh (I brought along little presents for the kids along the way) and she was super excited! This is also the tea house I ended up spending some time at because I got bronchitis amd had to stop. The woman who owned it was really nice and kept me fed and full of water and soup!

This is Pokhara, a small lakeside town where we were supposed to finish. I went through on my way to meet the group when they had crossed Throng-La Pass. It took me three jeeps, a bus and a taxi to get here, and I was only halfway there to where I was supposed to meet the group!

Ok well thats all I have time to upload at the moment, I will upload the rest soon!

In New Zealand

So after a five hour flight, one night in Singapore filled with amazing Dim Sum and shopping at Moustafas (or however you spell it) and then another 9 hour flight, I arrived in Auckland, New Zealand...only to get out the doors at arrivals and think that Marilee had forgotten about me. Little did I know they were in a shop looking as magazines, because my flight was 10 minutes early and I had breezed throught customs, so they didnt think I was there yet. So instead of them sneaking up on me I snuck up on them! But its great to be here and great to see Marilee and her family. They are so kind and welcomed me into their home right away and i'm very greatful for that.

I've had my first full day here now and it was a good one! We went for gelati and I got a cell phone for the four months I will be here. I thought it would be a good idea so that my family can contact me and so that the people I meet and the friends I make can call and I can call them!

Tomorrow starts the big job hunt. I'm hoping to get some temp work in an office but with the recesion about everyone's looking for whatever they can get. If that doesnt seem to be working I will try to get a job in a restaurant or bar or something. I'm pretty flexible so i'm sure i'll find something soon enough!

Dont worry everyone i'm going to put up photos today...so no one panic

HIKE IS DONE!

Hi everyone!

Today was the last day of hiking and now we just have today and tomorrow to hang out with our group! We are in Pokhara now and tomorrow we all fly to Kathmandu for our final meal.

I'm feeling all better now so no one worry! When I met up with everyone in Muktinath just after the Throng-la pass (the hardest and highest day, the hight is higher then the everest base camp) I learned that everyone had been sick to some extent. This trip was a lot more intense than I had known! But we all made it and everyone is doing well. Mom got sick too and had to take a pony over the pass and yesterday another person from the group had to take a pony for the second half of the day because he could barely walk. But we all made it and we are all very happy and had a fantastic time!

Well that rain has stopped so i'd better get back outside and explore!

Let me know how you are all doing!

Ohhhh No

I am writing to you all from Pokhara...we were supposed to be here at the end of our Trek...its been a week. I havent got much time because my porter Raz is waiting for me but i will explain as best i can and fill in the rest later.

Basically the story goes: I woke up day three feeling really disoriented and weak. I thought it was because I had been up all night hot and unable to sleep. Little did I know this was not the case. Throughout the day I got progressively worse and developed a fever shortly after setting off on the days hike. By the end of the day I had thrown up, taken a nap instead of lunch, and my mom had put me on anti-biotics. Yep I got Bronchitis...or something to that effect. I tried the next day to continue but because I had been up all night again with a fever I was to weak to continue. So I stayed behind in this little town called Cheymche. I told my mom she had to go on and that I wouldnt let her stay behind. She felt bad leaving but I couldnt make two people stop. They left a porter, Raz to care for me and for the next two days I lay in bed with more fevers. I took my medication though and by the end of the second day I was feeling much better.

I will tell you of my adventure to Pokhara when I have more time but I just wanted to let everyone know what was going on. I am much better now, feeling strong, eating, and my cough is almost gone. There is nothing to worry about!

Nicole I have to say I did not get carried but I had to stop, so you win.

Annapurna on the other hand has not, I will come back one day and I will complete this trek. (Insert dramatic music...if you must)

Kathmandu, day before the hike

Well we have all arrived safely in Kathmandu and it looks like this is going to be a great group of us. All together there are ten hikers, two guides and five porters. I'm very excited as is the rest of the group and we all seem prepared to spend the next three weeks walking, showering not so much, and having a good time!

Today Mom and Pierre and Elaine and another one of the hikers named Wayne and I went to the Monkey Temple and did a little bit of window shopping! It can be a little overwhelming but there is so much to explore. Kathmandu is dusty, my eyes hurt but the atmosphere is full of life. There is no electricity here, only between 8 pm and 12 midnight and even then it's tempermental. I thought I lost this post once because of a temporary shut down...luckily it automatically saves every 30 seconds!

Apparently there will occasionally be computers along our hike so maybe I will be able to put up pictures!

Time to pack, sleep and shower!

In Singapore!

Hi everyone, i'm in Singapore at the airport! Its really warm here and its raining!!!!! Hahahahaha just thought i'd make you all a little jealous! So i'm catching my flight to Kathmandu in a few minutes and then i'm off trekking! Hope everything is amazing there! Oh theres pictures on facebook from skiing if you can look, if you have facebook! If not i'll try and get them on the blog soon!

I miss you all!

Hi to everyone at Wellington West...I miss you all too!

Final Day in Calgary!

So today was my last day in Canada! Tomorrow I am off to Singarpore! Yahooo!

(Lake Louise...see my beautiful hat Chloe!)

We skied Sunshine today and yesterday we skied Lake Louise! They were both incredible and everyone had fun! Sorry, I was skiing with my Dad and some family friends, which I dont know if I mentioned before! My boots the first day were to big but I went and exchanged them for smaller ones and so Sunshine was even better because I wasnt swimming and slipping around! I tried things today I have never pushed myself to do but I did it without falling...that much...The others were incredibly talented and being some of their first times skiing in the Rockies they definitly excelled! Below is a portion we skied down today at Sunshine. See that part right inbetween those two rocks with the smaller one in the middle...yeah we skied down that...we were pretty excited about it.




This was a great way to start my trip and I couldnt have hoped for a better time!


Go Team Can't Touch This!


More photo's will hopefully soon follow!

BANFF!

Skiing is amazing everyone! Just thought I'd let you know!

Calgary: Day One

Yesterday was insane trying to get everything into the storage container, but there was a lot of help and we managed to get it all done. Thank you to everyone that came over and helped...yes Aaron even you!

The day started off well with Kaitlyn and Luke dropping by to start get the boxes moving...and of course to eat some delicious bread pudding. As the day continued more people showed up and the hard work began. Nicole and her parents even came by to wish me a good trip!

I promise I did more work than just sitting around on my chair...outside...but we just thought this would be an amusing picture. So some things were a little difficult to get down the stairs, like my couch and that chair, but with the super human female strength of Amy, Jessica, Erica, Chloe, and I we managed to manuver it down the stairs so that Alan could safely and securely put it in the POD.

The storge container actually ended up being full...I didnt think I actually had that much stuff!

So now i'm in Calgary on my first full day of my trip! Last night I had dinner with my Dad and Karen and Josh came too. Then Josh and I hung out all night and drank wine and took pictures...

DONT WORRY, our heads are not warped...Josh has a Mac...it has features on it that make us look all crazy and stuff, so dont panic.

I'd have to say it was a pretty great start to the trip! Today the plan is to go cross country skiing, but it's so warm today that might be changed to a nice walk in the mountains (it's plus 8!)! We're driving to Banff (Dad and Karen and I) to meet up with some family friends and then until the 5th we're going to do some downhill!