Hidden Nepal with Adventurous Women

Hi there everyone! As I'm sitting here typing this blog, I am reflecting on our recent adventure to Nepal. I feel myself smiling as I recall some experiences and the wonderful friendships that were made, whilst on tour.

We were a party of 9, varying in ages & backgrounds and based in three different states of Australia, which no doubt added to the excitement of our adventure! It's a wonderful thing to see women stretch and grow (including myself) and I personally feel that Nepal is one of those magical places where we do learn so much more about ourselves. Just a few things we've learnt along the way:

You can do anything you put your mind to
We volunteered in a school with very little financial support, which certainly showed. The children were all clean and in uniform, BUT the school itself was of very low standard, unpainted buildings, disgusting ablutions - so bad that the stench seeped into some of the classrooms, leaking roofs, minimal school supplies, lack of teaching resources, just to name a few. We learnt here that we could contribute in so many ways, not only financially. Some of us had never painted, but we were quick to learn, others taught in classrooms, even though they had never taught a day in their life, others showed students how to grow things from seed and played games with the children. A couple of us were invited into the homes of some of the students and that was certainly an eye opener! Our experience at this school was very rewarding and we hope to return and offer further support in the future.

Inner Strength
Our trekking experience was tough, I admit...but when 8 of us reached the top of Poon Hill, 3200m above sea level, at sunrise and saw the might Annapurna range light up, we were elated. The impressive view and the power of these mountains was certainly worth the tough trek and again we learnt more about ourselves....we had to dig deep at times, encourge others, and find that inner strength to keep going!

Let the child out to play
Bathing the elephants in Chitwan National Park was a playful experience, which I would recommend you do if ever you have the opportunity! We had so much fun holding the elephant gently by the ears and sliding up on his trunk, rolling around and stroking him in the river, being tossed off his back into the water and showered as he cheekly flicked a trunk full of water over his shoulder!! Check out the video of us frolicking with the elephants on You Tube

Some of our other experiences included Rickshaw rides, boating on Lake Fewa, traffic jams on the mountains, walking amongst the moving mass of people in Kathmandu, massages at Seeing Hands by blind massage therapists, women's refuge, Tibeten refugee camp, singing on the bus, breaking down on the side of the road, sleeping under the stars, spotting rhino's, deer and other wildlife in Chitwan......and much more!

There are no more overseas trips scheduled for the remainder of the year, although there is still plenty of activity happening in most states of Australia, so check out our 'Adventure Club' for what's on in your state! If your into Yoga and looking for a bit of relaxation, check out Sunshine Yoga's 8 day retreat at Lord Howe Island starting on 6th December.

Next year begins with a bang — we have a Yoga Retreat in Tasmania scheduled for early January, Egypt at the end of Feb/Mar, Bali Bootcamps start up again in March, Hiking in Spain, April, Highlights of South America 8th May, Kokoda & India in the second half of the year.......and I'm sure there will be lots more!

Coffee and Music

Had a very lazy morning and didn't feel like facing the same ol breakfast always on offer at our hotel.......juice, eggs and non palatable coffee or tea, so we strolled down to our favorite little restaurant called "Once Upon a time" and had something decent, along with plunger coffee.

As we sat sipping our coffee, we heard this incredible voice - sounded like Ben Harper.....I thought it was a CD..................

We turned around to see a guy just sitting by himself at one of the tables playing a small guitar and singing a few tunes ad-hoc. We listened for ages as it was so good and then on leaving the restaurant we said to him "great music - loved it". He picked up on our aussie accents and started up a conversation with us so we stayed and chatted longer. His name is "Kin" and he's from Perth...Fremantle. He has played a bit around Freo and was one of the performers at the Fairbridge Folk Festival. He does not make a living out of music, but from teaching English as a second language in other countries. I hope one day he becomes famous for his music as he certainly has the voice of an angel.

Adventures in Pokhara

We ended up hiring bikes for a couple of days to explore Pokhara and surrounds. First day we followed the road which sort of ran beside the lake. We were actually looking for "Devi Falls" which we had a lot of trouble finding due to the fact its not what we thought. Eventually after seeing a sign amongst some little shops saying "Welcome to Devi Falls" we decided that this must be it - maybe - Anyhow we preceded to park our bikes when this guy came out of his shop and tried to charge us for parking on the dirt in front of his shop. I became a little annoyed and said no way are we going to pay for a piece of dirt......so we moved onto the next bit of dirt!! We then got chatting to a young 18 year old guy called Raj from another shop. He explained to me that this was pretty normal and it was just another way of making some money. He asked us if we would like him to give us a bit of history and a guided tour around Devi Falls and the village for a small fee. We accepted after negotiating a price, as his English was really good and he seemed like a nice kid. Just to put you in the picture.........at first we were not sure if Raj was a girl or a guy......his voice was very high pitched with a slight American accent.......very similar to that of Michael Jackson. His English teacher is an American guy so obviously he was picking up on the accent. The tour he gave us was really informative. He advised us to take a look at Devi Falls from below the ground in a cave called Gupteshwor as we would get a much better view. He was right - it was incredible. You would not have even thought there was a cave existing under all that chaos above......sacred cows ambling along the main roads, local villagers going about there business and the main road just meters above us. After taking us through the cave, Raj escorted us through one of the many Tibetan Refugee camps in Nepal. This particular camp was home to 2000 refugees who were very happy to have fled Tibet over the years. It was a very interesting community for us to have had the privilege of visiting.

As we said our goodbyes to Raj we set off back to downtown Lakeside..............well we eventually got there on dark, after getting lost and not having a clue where we were. Brad came good with directions (funny how he is very good at directions in foreign countries........but in Perth not all that good!!hehe). Getting lost in these places is part of the adventure. The children in the streets were so friendly and were waving at us and yelling out "Namaste" (hi) all the time.

Kathmandu

Aaahh Kathmandu - the atmosphere of this place is unreal. After getting used to the idea of limited power as they load shed daily here, unreliable mobile phone connection, tiger balm sellers, hash sellers and the like we are totally in love with this place. Our first day in Kathmandu we were transferred from the Airport to Tibet Guest House which is located just off one of the busiest streets in the Thamel area. Just away enough so we could get a decent nights sleep, but just close enough to all the most popular restaurants and shopping areas of Kathmandu. Most of our afternoon was spent getting our bearings and trying to work out the Rupee against the Aussie dollar and then a quite night.

The next day we met our Sherpa guide, Nima, who is a lovely man. He met us at our guest house for coffee, then took us back to his office to organise all the formalities of our up and coming trek to EBC. Once the formalities were out of the way, he invited us to meet his family and join them for a meal - wow traditional nepalize food. I love my indian curries, but this may have even surpassed the ol indian curry!! Nima and his family are lovely people and I would gladly recommend his company to anyone wanting good, reliable service for trekking and mountaineering. After lunch Nima's daughter (Chookie) took us for a stroll over to one of the most holy Stupa's in Kathmandu. This was a great experience for us, as her great grandfather on her mother's side was one of the gurus way back and there was a picture and statue of him in the temple. She was able to share a wealth of knowledge with us and even got us in through the back door...whereby as a foreigner we would usually be charge an entrance fee of course. After that we made our way back to the Thamel area and went up to the roof top garden at the top of our hotel which offers magnificant views of the Kathmandu valley. We met a party of 7 Aussies up there who were off to trek Annapurna region. They had an interesting story to tell - they all met whilst trekking the Kokoda Trail 2 years prior and had reunited to do this trek. After speaking with them, Brad and I took off for dinner. Just had to have some western food, so indulged in Pizza and red wine at the "Roadhouse Cafe" which is a very popular cafe in Thamel - again I can highly recommend the food at this place.

Next day Nima came to visit us and took us for breakfast at a Hotel where he does a lot of business. Our breakfast was provided by the hotel free of charge because of Nima. He then booked us in there for our return from our Everest Trek. We then went and got the rest of our hiking gear. Nima suggested walking poles which we got and a windbreaker jacket.

After shopping (one of my favourite passtimes), we took a Rickshaw up to the Monkey Temple which was about 20 minutes away from the city. After climbing the million steps up to the top of the temple we were suitably impressed. It certainly set the mood. We decided to walk back to Thamel after visiting the temple to give us a little warm up for the trek. The walk was only about 45 minutes, so not too bad. Lunch was next at a local Nepalise cafe called Himalaya Cafe which served up good honest cheap nepalise food. After our lunch we popped into the bustling internet cafe as it had POWER on...............(huge thing in Kathmandu...and Skype, so we could contact our boys and my mum. Its always a buzz to see them, gotta luv Skype. Now its time to stroll out and peruse the shops..mmmmm more shops...

Stay tuned for my travels in Thailand in Nepal COMING SOON

Well its only just under three weeks until I fly out to Bangkok and meet my Travel Buddy for the first time....very exciting. Her name is Tracy, she comes from Arizona. We met on a travellers forum and have been corresponding ever since.

We will take in the sights and smells of Bangkok, then head up to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand where we will embark on a Hill tribe Trek, then take in a little relaxation in the form of yoga, massage and meditation.

After Thailand my hubby Brad joins me and we fly to Kathmandu, Nepal where we meet with our local Sherpa guide and trek to Everest Base Camp.

I will be building relationships with reputable local guides and "road testing" two of the most beautiful destinations in the world, as I am looking at escorting tours to both of these in the near future.

So.............................look out for my next blog......I will keep you posted .......

or if you would like to register your interest for any of the up and coming tours please visit our website at www.adventurouswomen.com.au