October 2018: Mountains, Donkeys, and Dal Bhat
This Month
It was welcome to Nepal, a land of Himalayan giants and some of the most developed hiking tourism in the world. This mixed blessing meant that we spent almost our entire 45 day visa in the mountains and so did a hoard of other like-minded and also very-not-like-minded trekkers. The way to Everest is paved in donkey shit and Coca-Cola labels.
DIY Basecamp
Most of our time was used up hiking in the Everest region. We could see the baheamoth mountain from about day two of the trek and barely lost sight of it for the rest of the month. Lhotse, Everest's oft-forgotten little brother, was perhaps even more impressive, as were the views from the three passes adjacent to the main trail.
We've never hiked like this before, though, on trails so well defined you could practically find your way blindfolded. And we traded in our cozy Hubba Hubba tent for a slew of entrepenurial teahouses that offered us lodging and - relatively - cheap food. In fact, most of the rooms were free as long as we agreed to eat our weight in dal bhat, an unlimited lentil dish that starts out tasting good and ends up looking like rather watery diarrhea.
We did it for cheaper than we thought possible, just $180 per person for a 23 day trek including all transport, food, accommodation, and permit nonsense. The google search results terrified us during our planning stages, claiming that $1000 for a two week hike was a steal.
Spoiler: it's not.
The Tourist Debacle
A summer spent in Central Asia, with perhaps the nicest people in the world, ruined us for the rest of the trip. With more tourists comes more money, but also more calousness in the local people and you could blatantly see that the foreign dollars didn't stretch beyond the lucky few. Mix that with a bunch of people high up in the mountains that maybe aren't equipped to be there, and you have a bit of a shit show (Stefan helped organize one woman's evac and we saw another man die before the helicopter could make it). Despite Nepal’s best effort, these mountains are wild and, at times, brutal.
It also meant that in just five day's time, Stefan could hike with his dad to a beautiful view and toddlers with backpacks could get their own taste of the outdoors. Seeing the highest range in the world is awe-inspiring, for everyone.
What's Next
It's getting chilly in Nepal and families are preparing for festival season. November is for exploring some more rural locales and switching gears to the beaches of the Philippines. We haven't heard great things about the food there, but as long as we can keep it down, we're all in.
♡ Stef and Tor