Sore muscles, happy girls and a happy halloween!!!

As we boarded our 8 hour bus ride yesterday Ang and I wished each other Happy Halloween! Ang quickly asked what I was dressed as and I answered "a dirty hippy, and what are you?" she said she was dressed like a "trekker".....both were true. Being that we had only minimal clothes for our hike we had both recycled a lot of clothes and were not looking our best ever.

Our hike in the Anapurna mountain range in Nepal was amazing! Lets first start with our guide, Hari, who made the whole thing wonderful! I can't say enough good things about him.  He was constantly asking us if we wanted tea or water along with carrying our bag. Most people that hike have a porter/guide or both- and we were both shocked at how much they carry up the mountain! Some porters are carrying boxes of beer, soda, shelves, housewares, you-name-it up the mountain with only a small strap on their head balancing it all! We were glad that we limited ourselves to one backpack- although we still felt bad every morning when Hari had to pick it up and start carrying it! We had rented sleeping bags and down jackets, which we blamed for most of the weight in the pack.

We started out with a rafting trip which was really fun- we had a good group of people and the weather was nice! Different then when we were in Colombia, the rafting instructions (ie: which side should paddle when) were in English....which led to less confusion for us! Since Ang and I are both still a bit gun-shy about food and getting sick- we were both a bit nervous about eating tuna salad or canned ham on the beach of some random river in Nepal- but managed to find some peanut butter and bread to hold us over through the day. I know I have said it before- but Nepal is SO much more clean than India....we probably don't need to be worried, but we are still being careful after being sick in India. I'm assuming a major reason for the increased cleanliness in Nepal is due to the amount/access to water they have- but that is just a guess.

After a great day of rafting we headed to Pokhara- where we were closer to the start of our hiking. We left the next morning around 7 a.m., drove for an hour...and then we were off! Although the first day was 6 hours- it wasn't straight up like some of the other days. The weather was beautiful the entire time- we have truly lucked out the entire time we've been gone. We hiked through numerous villages and the Himalayas are breath-taking. Someone said that they would make the Rockies look like little babies...and they were right! Every time we would come around the corner and see them- I was shocked!

We stayed in really basic 'teahouses' in villages along the way. I think we were both surprised at how nice the 'teahouses' really were- the sheets were clean, we had hot showers and the food decent. We had our first experience with yak cheese and yak milk...the cheese is decent and the milk is not my favorite. All of the porters/guides ate dahl baht every meal (a lentil soup with rice and curry potatoes)....and Ang followed suit. I couldn't take it after one meal, but ended up with some very interesting combinations- and should have probably stuck to dahl baht.

The second day of hiking was the worst. Most of you probably know this about me, but I don't really enjoy hiking. Of course, I love being at the top of beautiful places...and that is why I continually get roped into hiking.....but I don't really enjoy the actual act of hiking up a hill. Regardless, the second day was straight up the ENTIRE day, starting with 3,000 steps. It was like being on a stair-stepper the entire day! Of course this is when I crack and start complaining to Ang about 'why' we ever chose to hike in the first place. Although this is not one of my prouder moments...at one point (of course to be funny)....I waited until Ang had turned around to see me and then flipped off the mountain- as if to say "screw you- you just keep going straight up!" Of course this is  also at the point that our poor little guide turns around to see me! I wanted to melt into the mountain! I tried to explain that I wasn't "flipping him off- just the mountain"- and of course this was lost in translations with our few English words. I'm not sure if he saw or not- but believe me- I was embarrassed....who is immature enough to flip off the mountain?! We slowly made it through the day- and the views were worth it!

The next morning we had to get up at 4:45 a.m. to hike another hour for a 360 degree look at the mountains. I was internally (some verbal) complaining most of the way- but it was also worth every step. Seeing the sunrise over the Himalayas is a once in a lifetime experience. We then hiked another 6 hours on the 3rd day and were both very sore at the end. Most nights we found ourselves in bed around 8 p.m.!

The walls of the tea houses were very thin and on one particular night we were lucky enough to be rooming next to a loud snoring German woman. We both kept waking up and hitting the wall- she would stop for a second and then start right back up again. It sounded like a motor was being started up on a motorcycle. I have a personal vendetta against public snoring (ie buses, trains, thin-walled rooms) and at some point I unzipped my sleeping bag, jumped out of bed, beat on the wall and yelled "You are snoring! Turn over!" Again, not one of my proudest moments- but come on. In my opinion, if you know you have a snoring problem, you must do something about it if you are going to sleep in public places. Ang asked me if this included sitting up all night to avoid snoring...and I said 'yes.'

The Nepalese people are beautiful....the entire hike you are greeted by people saying "namaste"- and even little kids try to put their hands together in prayer-like fashion to offer the same greeting. If it wasn't rude to steal babies...I would like to take a Nepalese baby home. Everyone just goes about their life in the village, or working in the rice fields...as you hike through their life. It was a very peaceful experience.

After 5 days of hiking we were shuttled back to Pokhara by our wonderful guide Hari. He is 23 years old and wants to come to the US after he learns English better....believe me, both Ang and I talked about whose family he should live with if he ever got to the states! He is genuine, kind and loved telling us about his family and customs. We both wanted to put him in our backpacks and bring him home.

After making it to Kathmandu yesterday we met back up with some friends we met originally in Varnasi, India. They have similar, hilarious stories about India and have both been sick about as much as we have. It was nice to connect with them and we are spending the day together today. Tomorrow afternoon we fly to Bhutan!!