November 2018: Tigers, Turtles, and Twenty-four

Birthday Bowel Movements

Tori ushered in her special day with a severe case of not-Delhi belly, and Stefan succumbed to the sickness a few days later. Nepal is a great place to exist until it's not. Thus far, we've never escaped South Asia without a good dash of food poisoning.

Nepal Less Explored

We spent the rest of our time in the country looking for the quieter places. Tori attempted to be a digital nomad in Kathmandu, which succeeded to mixed degrees. Neither wifi nor coffee is the city's strongpoint, and writing online involves a lot of those both.

Stef, on the other hand, loved his time solo trekking in the Langtang region. This area is a hair's breadth from Kathmandu, and used to get tons of exposure. Sadly, most of the towns along the way were wrecked in the 2015 earthquake. Time brought regrowth, but the tourists didn't follow.

Highly recommended for good views and nice people.

Tigers, and Rhinos, and Sticks Oh My

As the masochists we are, we decided to spend our last few days in the country on a 16 hour bus ride to Bardia, a massive nature park on the border of India. We bartered our way to friendship with Hukum, who led us into the jungle with nothing more than a stick for protection. The two tigers we saw didn't seem to give a shit about us, but apparently they liked the look of this Dutch guy.

From 18,000 Feet to Zero

We're just beginning to explore the Philippines, a drastic switch from a year of hiking alone in the hills. So far, the people have been the nicest we've seen in Southeast Asia and the rum the cheapest (a liter of coke will cost you more than a liter of booze!!). Its status as a former US colony is palpable: everyone speaks English and eats a fuckload of sugar.

We've seen big turtles and bigger waterfalls, all while we muster up the courage to break our budget for a few scuba dives. At $15 a pop, we think it's probably worth it to see some sharks.

Feliz Navidad

♡ Stef and Tor