Part Five: I swear this is the end

Last, but not least, my family wrapped up their vacation with a quick trip to Chitwan National Park. We stayed in the adorable Sapana Village Lodge and got to meet the hotel's privately owned elephants. Including a teeny-tiny (well, teeny-tiny for an elephant) baby that was born the day before we arrived!

Other highlights included an elephant safari (not very comfortable, but worth doing), a magical canoe ride down the river spotting crocodiles all the way, and a fortunately/unfortunately uneventful walk through the jungle.

All baby animals are cute, but this baby elephant was stinkin' precious.

 

 

This moment may have been the highlight of having my family in Nepal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part Four: Because I took over 800 pictures in two weeks

Both of my camera batteries and my new 64gb memory card certainly got a workout while my family was here! This is a random spattering of other photos I took while trekking. The last pictures is one of the most adventurous things I've ever done...

Paragliding.

"Okay, so when I say run, just run down the hill."
"You mean towards the edge of the hill where it steeply falls into the valley?"
"Yeah. And you have to run or it won't work."

Give me one second while I turn off all forms of common sense...okay sure.
(Actually, less terrifying than I anticipated, and once you're off the ground it's quite peaceful.)

 

Part Three: Sunrise at Poon Hill

The third day of trekking began with a very early morning climb to the top of Poon Hill. This was a much anticipated event, but I must admit that having done it I'm not sure I would do it again. Perhaps it was my thighs still burning from over 3,000 steps the day before or the knowledge that the view out my window, from beneath my warm cozy covers in the hotel, was quite similar. But now I can say I did it and some of the photos turned out to be favorites.

Our hotel was in Ghorepani so even before the sun rose we climbed 336 meters!

 

 

 

Part Two: And A Happy New Year

After Nagarkot everyone came back into the valley to see a little bit of Kathmandu, meet my Nepali family, and visit my school. Unfortunately all of those pictures must be on other cameras because I don't have them. Hopefully some kind family members will send some to me or upload them to google drive very soon!

Then it was off for a quick trek in the Annapurna region. If you are familiar with it, we went from Nayapul to Tikedhunga to Ghorepani to Tadapani and back down to Nayapul. Some days were challenging but ultimately the views were totally worth it!

The path was actually quite easy to follow, but we went with a guide.

I was surprised to pass so many gorgeous waterfalls along the way.

The landscape was all "Nepali Flat" meaning a little bit up, a little bit down.

When you encounter a line of mules, avoid standing on the drop off side of the road.
 

For us this was trekking, but for many people it’s just life.

You won't see me in pictures of bridges because I consistently wanted to get off as fast as possible!
This one was one of the best.

What can you see Becca?

More beautiful waterfalls. Later on we passed several that were frozen. 

In the next post...the magnificent Himalayas.
(Sorry, but every photo requires editing HTML code and I can only do so many in one sitting.)

Part One: Merry Christmas

I had an especially merry Christmas this year because my family arrived at the Kathmandu airport for two weeks in Nepal! As soon as they landed we headed up to Nagarkot for a few days to adjust to the altitude and the time difference. Some did better than others, but I won't name names...



Enjoying the mountain range from the Nagarkot view tower

Sisters in Nepal

Everest is the one on the right if you look at the two smaller peaks in the middle.

The summit is swept up in the clouds.

 





Mountain sunset from the Hotel at the End of the Universe in Nagarkot