April 25, 2016

Mera Peak: Snapshots

It has been months (yikes, 6 months!) since our trek in Nepal, and I have been struggling to capture the essence of our journey in writing. It was such a beautifully varied and immersive experience. I wish I could bottle up the quiet joy, tired sense of accomplishment and excitement that we experienced every day. It was hard work, but we were constantly rewarded with stunning landscapes.

It's also difficult to capture what the group dynamics were like. My fellow trekkers were a funny, well-traveled and interesting group of people. I don't know if we just got lucky or if this is just what happens when you put a bunch of like-minded people together, but I truly enjoyed hearing everyone's experiences and stories. In fact, we were such a chatty group that our sirdar, Domi, kept telling us that we were talking too much and that we should be saving our energy!
day 1, rainbow encircling the shadow of our plane into LuklaRainbow encircling the shadow of our plane into Lukla

I may not be able to do the full trek experience justice, but I can share a few moments in time that were memorable to me.

April 13, 2016

Mera Peak: Trek Life

Every night as we finished off our last mugs of tea and prepared to head to our tents, our sirdar, Domi, would cheerfully call out the schedule for the next day. "6, 7, 8!" he'd chirp. Sometimes it was 7, 8, 9! Oh happy day!

Wake up tea at 6am, breakfast at 7 and on the trail by 8. I am not a morning person even at the best of times. Least of all when my sleeping bag is nice and toasty and it's cold outside. But sadly, there was no sleeping in for me on this trek. Not only did the schedule not allow it, but my bladder didn't either.
Morning sun in Chalem Kharka