Our journey to the starting point of our trek.

The day had finally come. It was time for us to leave Kathmandu and take the grueling journey to the starting point of our trek in the Himalayas. This was the part of our journey that we were both excited and apprehensive about. Excited because we knew it would truly be an epic seven day journey to the top of the world with incredible views and apprehensive because we felt unprepared for what lay ahead.

Being the backpackers that we were, the cheapest option to get to Syrabrubesi, the starting point of our trek, was the local bus. The local bus was everything that you imagine a bus in India or Nepal to be. It was very old and extremely colorful, there were all kinds of decorations hanging from the ceiling and sitting on the roof was the norm for men traveling on the bus. That morning we met up with our wonderful guide Bolle and our porter, Dendee (that's how we pronounced it, I have no idea how to spell it) and made our way to the bus station. The bus station was very chaotic and we were so thankful to have Bolle there organizing everything and ordering us food and chai from a little stall. We had some idea as to what the standard of the bus we would be taking would be but there were a couple of other trekkers on the bus also and they seemed completely shocked by the bus.

Our bus to Syrabrubesi

The bus was very busy and we felt extremely lucky to have Bolle with us, we met a pair of German sisters who were completely frazzled because they had no idea which bus to take, where to sit and what to do. Luckily for them Bolle generously helped them throughout the bus journey. It was at this point that we started realizing how lucky we were to have Bolle by our sides.

Syrabrubesi is only 120km away from Kathmandu but unbelievably the bus journey takes anything between 8 and 12 hours! This is because from the departure point to the destination the entire road is winding mountain roads. I don't thing we ever drove more than 2km on a straight stretch of road. Also there are no bus stops along the route. A person stands on the side of the road and the bus picks them up. Luckily for us these mountain roads provided us with some outstanding views and I felt so in awe at the scenery. Everywhere the eye could see there were mountains with rice paddies going down the entire side. Most houses don't have running water so the main source of water for people is from wells on the side of the road. We saw people showering, washing dishes, doing laundry and preparing food on the roadsides.

The scenery throughout the bus journey was so beautiful.

More rice paddies.

The closer we got to Syrabrubesi the more indigenous the people were. this trek is quite close to the Tibetian border so most of the people living in this area would be Tibetian. There were children who looked like they hadn't had their hair brushed or washed in years and they were so excited to see the bus come. It was so cold up there that I couldn't blame them for looking so disheveled. It's incredible to think that they only have cold water available to them, on the road side. This probably makes showering unbearable for most of the year. The poverty in that area was also very visible. Luckily everybody had concrete houses, but that is for necessity as I can only imagine how cold it gets in the height of winter. Most children were wearing rags and there were many people on the roads carrying food and firewood up the grueling hills, some of these people were very elderly and carrying things that I couldn't deem of carrying, sometimes for hours on end because they couldn't afford the bus.

One of the houses on our way to Syrabrubesi.

There were also plenty of goat herders along the road, as well as buffalo and cows. It was an incredible journey that gave us an insight into the difficult everyday life of most people in Nepal.

Goats on the road.

Halfway through the journey we stopped for some lunch, typical Nepali style, Dal Bhat. Dal Bhat is really delicious, it's a big plate with rice, lentil soup, pickles, some type of sauce and a curry. The typical way to eat it is to mix it all together and eat with your fingers. It took us a week before we'd try eating it the traditional way.

A typical Nepali Dal Bhat

I have to say though that the bus ride, for me, was honestly the scariest I have ever taken. The roads were so windy that a few people seemed to feel sick, in fact a very unfortunate incident happened on the bus. A person on the rooftop was feeling sick and started vomiting, unfortunately because he was on the roof the vomit was going down into the open window below and on to a poor woman! We were counting our lucky stars that it wasn't us!

We were getting higher and higher as we went along and the road was only barely big enough for two vehicles. The vehicle on the outside would have to edge off of the road so all there was was a sheer fall down a mountain. We would have to get so close to the edge that one of our wheels would be nearly off of the road. If the driver made one slight mistake then we were going to be tumbling down the edge of the mountain. I was sitting by the window and nearly pee'd my pants every time someone would overtake us, as I couldn't see any road, only the sheer drop of the mountain. Then there was the scariest part of the road. This one part had been swept away by a waterfall where the road should have been. It was raining so there was quite a bit of water too. And to make matters worse there was another vehicle going the opposite way, so we had to pull out to the edge of the rubble to let the other driver pass.

With my hand on my heart, I truly thought those were my last seconds on Earth. I had come to terms with the fact that I was going to die. It sounds silly but that is how scared I was. I couldn't see anything underneath us, just the side of the mountain and we were driving over huge rocks that would make the bus lean to one side. In that crazy moment that I thought was my last all I could think about was what would happen to Willy.

As you've probably guessed by now, we didn't die! We arrived in Syrabrubesi alive and well after about ten hours. We got settled into our guesthouse, had some food, watched some Dexter and had our last hot shower for a while.

We were both so nervous that night as the next day would mark the beginning of our seven-day Langtang Valley trek.

Beautiful scenery 

Scenery on our way to the beginning of our trek.

One of the many rivers in the area.

Getting up high and the mist covers the tops of the mountains.

Travel Agents:

Exotic Mt.Treks: They were very honest and really seemed to want to help us in the best way possible. I'd definitely recommend any travelers to use their services.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293890-d4353870-Reviews-Exotic_Mt_Treks_Pvt_Ltd_Private_Day_Tour-Kathmandu_Kathmandu_Valley_Bagmati_Zone_.html

Trekking Guide:

Bolle Magar: bollemagar@yahoo.com

He was a highly qualified guide who always had our best interests at heart, he always had a smile on his face and became a good friend during our trek. His English is also great.

Hint: if you book with him directly you will be able to cut out the agent fees and save some money.

The wonderful city of Kathmandu

Now before you start reading this entry I just want to apologize beforehand about it's length. Kathmandu was an incredible city, we both fell in love with it and once I started writing about our time there I physically couldn't stop, so this post is quite a bit longer than previous ones, so grab yourself a cup of tea and get settled in before reading ;)

OK, now you can start reading...

WOW! That was our first feeling when we arrived into Nepal. We had spent the night before in the Kuala Lumpur airport and were pretty tired when we arrived. Actually, I noticed while queueing for our cheap Air Asia flight that about 90% of the people were men, which was a little worrying. But we soon realized that that's life in Nepal. The women stay at home and look after the children while the men go out and work. When we were getting closer to Kathmandu I was straining my neck to look out the window and try and get some views of the Himalayas but I couldn't see anything. After the heat of South East Asia for the previous two months it was such a relief to get off of the plane in Kathmandu and feel the cool air.

The Nepali women are so beautiful in their colorful Saris.

I was expecting Kathmandu and Nepal in general to be crazy and quite like India (or what I imagined India to be like) but I was wrong. Kathmandu is such a lovely (albeit a little crazy) capital. It was also where we were to get used to the frequent power cuts that happen in this part of the world. In fact, there was never any power in the city it seemed! We stayed in a beautiful guesthouse in Thamel (the backpackers area of the city) . The Hotel Florid had lovely big rooms with big thick blankets to keep us warm in the cool evenings. It also had a generator which was used after 6pm everyday which meant we had electricity in the evenings.

Our guesthouse was down a nice quiet lane way away from the craziness and the beeping horns of Thamel, but only one minute away from all of the action. Our first evening was just spent wandering the lane ways of Thamel and taking a look in many of the shops. We had been very good in both Cambodia and Thailand not buying stuff, but Thamel forced us to buy some cool souvenirs. We instantly fell in love with the city and we hadn't even explored it yet! It's hard to describe what made us fall in love, maybe it was the cooler temperature, maybe it was the fact that it seemed very safe, or maybe it was just knowing that soon we would be hiking in the Himalayas. I think it was a combination of all three of those and probably a lot of other things. Whatever it was we were both excited for the next day to come so that we could explore the famous Durbar Square.

Durbar Square is basically the name that is given to the old town centers. Every major city in Nepal (especially historic ones) has a Durbar Square and it is where you can see the old architecture of Nepal and imagine what life was like hundreds of years ago there.

Kathmandu's Durbar Square is quite big and we were pleasantly surprised when we entered the city gates. We decided to get our first views of the square by having lunch on one of the many rooftop restaurants. This is one aspect of Nepal and India that I really love, the rooftop restaurants. Nearly every guesthouse has one and it's such a nice way to see a city.

Jason on our rooftop restaurant

Our lunch; Buffalo momos. These are everywhere in Nepal
and it's almost impossible to go to Nepal and not try them.

Kathmandu's Durbar Square is full of old temples and it used to be where the king of Nepal lived. From our rooftop we could see all of the beautiful tops of the temples and watch the world go by us down below. We had fun wandering around the crazy streets and seeing goats and cows wandering around. We also saw a holy man so decided to get photos taken with him (for a tip, of course).

The beautiful rooftops of Durbar Square.

Chasing the pigeons in Durbar Square.

The next day we had to go to the Indian embassy to apply for our visas. The process for getting the visa is so frustrating and I guess it gives you a little slice of what India is going to be like. Before going to the embassy you have to fill out a very detailed form online and then print it off and go in. The embassy opens at 9:30 but we were told to get there early so we arrived at 9. It had just opened when we arrived and we choose a ticket, we were number 52 and they were now on number 4! It was a long wait and while waiting we got chatting to a nice German guy (who we randomly met again while trekking in the Himalayas AND in a random temple in India) who told us that he did an hour long mountain flight over the Himalayas and that he got to see Mount Everest, so we began thinking about splashing out some money and doing it ourselves...you can't come to Nepal and not see Everest!

At about 12:30 our numbers were finally called and we went up to the counter and handed in our forms, after looking at them the man told us that the current address was actually your address in Kathmandu, not your home address, which is what we had written down. He then told us to go back and fill in the online application again and come back to repeat the process all over again tomorrow! We were so frustrated, one little mistake and we had wasted the whole morning! We decided to do some sightseeing and visit Boudhanath. Boudhanath is a lovely little town that has a giant stupa in the middle. A stupa is a Tibetian Buddhist structure that contains relics inside. It's a place where Buddhists come to meditate and pray. But a word of advice, when you see a stupa (or any Tibetian Buddhist structure) you must walk clockwise around it. It was such a beautiful place, there were lots of monks around and the shops and restaurants that surrounded the stupa complemented it perfectly. It was such a nice evening that we had soon forgotten our woes of the Indian embassy and were back in our Nepal love affair story.

Standing in front of the Boudhanath Stupa

Jason and the Stupa

While we were there there were many monks praying.

Buddhist Prayer Wheels

Boudhanath Stupa

 The next morning we went back to the embassy and were number 21, which was much better than the previous day. While waiting we noticed that we had written something wrong (again!) Luckily there is an agent next door that just fills out the application for you for a small price. It was a relief to have them do it, knowing that it would be correct when we got called up. We were still a while away from our number being called so we decided to get some breakfast. But when we got back we were horrified to find that our number had been called and they were on number 25 now! Luckily we went up and they still accepted our applications!

That evening we went to a travel agent to discuss our trekking options. We had decided to do the Langtang trek because it's much quieter that the other two popular treks and it can be done in seven days. Also because this was our first multi day trek we decided to make it as easy as possible by hiring both a porter and a guide. Our travel agents were so nice and even more importantly seemed very honest. We were so glad that we chose them out of the hundreds of travel agencies in Thamel. They tried their hardest to make things as cheap as possible and once we told them that we were interested in the mountain flight they gave it to us for $60 cheaper than all of the prices that we had found online. We were so excited because we were booked in for a mountain flight the next day and beginning our trek the day after.

We had an early morning the next day, it was time for our mountain flight. We had arranged for the taxi driver that brought us to Boudhanath Stupa to come and bring us to the airport that morning. The domestic airport was crazy, it was so old and run down. We were excited to get on to our little 12 seater propeller plane. It was my first time on one and since I've become a more nervous flyer as the years go by I was a little nervous about it.

Our little propeller plane

We were so lucky, there was not a cloud in the sky and the plane actually felt safer than a normal plane, there was no turbulence whatsoever. I was really surprised that less than 10 minutes after taking off the majestic Himalayas just appeared outside Jasons window. Our flight time was one hour long, we would spend 20 minutes flying towards Everest with the views on Jasons side, then we would turn around and spend 20 minutes with the same views on my side. We also had a chance to each go inside the cockpit, talk to the pilots and get our first glance of Everest.

Taking off with Kathmandu city below.

In the cock-pit getting my first look at Mount Everest.

There it is...Mount Everest

I think this may be Yala mountain.

On the plane, both of us ecstatic from the views we just witnessed.

I can't describe my feeling as we were flying watching these amazing mountains pass us by. They were so beautiful and so untouched looking, it almost felt otherworldly. They also went on for as far as the eye could see. I was definitely in awe while looking at them. Our flight was probably one of the most expensive things that we did on our travels but seeing Everest and the other massive mountains was completely worth it and I'd definitely recommend the flight to anyone visiting Nepal.

After our mountain flight our taxi driver brought us to Swayambhunath Temple (more commonly known as Monkey temple) The reason it's called monkey temple is because...yes you've guessed it, there are hundreds of monkeys living around the temple. The monkey temple was another exceptional experience that Kathmandu gave us, not just for the Stupa itself, but because it is on top of a small mountain overlooking the incredibly large city of Kathmandu. The views from the top were astonishing and the monkeys provided us with some great entertainment.

Monkey Temple.

One of the many monkeys that live around the temple.

A girl chasing the pigeons.

Monkey taking in the incredible views.

One of the buildings that surrounds the Stupa.

Cheesy couple shot!

More buildings that sup pound the Stupa.

Walking through the little lane ways that surround the Temple.

Two little girls taking in the views.

We found yet another roof-top restaurant, ordered a coffee and spent some time up there just admiring the views and monkey spotting.

The view from the rooftop cafe.

Enjoying the peacefulness of the area.

That evening was spent getting some last minute items for our hike and meeting our guide Bolle. We war both very apprehensive about the trek and had no idea what to expect. But what we didn't know was that it was to be an epic trek to say the least.

Tips:
Accommodation: We absolutely loved The Hotel Florid, we stayed here on and off for about 2 weeks and they kept our gear for us when we went trekking. Because we stayed with them for so long they gave us a discounted rate when we got back from our trek. The staff were also amazing always helping us with directions and even opening the kitchen early so that we could have breakfast before going on our trek.
We spent the first couple of nights in a shared bathroom and unfortunately it was cold water shower but the private bathroom rooms have hot water.
Price: $15-share bathroom
          $20-private bathroom

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g293890-d632769-Reviews-Hotel_Florid_Nepal-Kathmandu_Kathmandu_Valley_Bagmati_Zone_Central_Region.html

Travel Agents:
Exotic Mt.Treks: They were very honest and really seemed to want to help us in the best way possible. I'd definitely recommend any travelers to use their services.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293890-d4353870-Reviews-Exotic_Mt_Treks_Pvt_Ltd_Private_Day_Tour-Kathmandu_Kathmandu_Valley_Bagmati_Zone_.html


Trekking Guide:
Bolle Magar: bollemagar@yahoo.com
He was a highly qualified guide who always had our best interests at heart, he always had a smile on his face and became a good friend during our trek. His English is also great.
Hint: if you book with him directly you will be able to cut out the agent fees and save some money.

Mountain Flight:
When pricing flights online they were about $180 each but while booking our trekking with Exotic Mt Treks they offered the flights for $120 each and it was definitely money well spent.

Some of the views from the Temple area.

Crazy Songkran celebrations in Bangkok.

Enjoying the Songkran fun!

When our bus was pulling up into the city the first thing that we noticed were the water fights! There was water being thrown everywhere, there was also flour and water mixed together to make a paste and that was being smeared on everyones faces. It looked like so much fun, I think the ten year olds inside of us were rearing to go, but the adults in us realized that we each had large backpacksand small carry on bags with valuables in them and had to make our wary through thousands of people to find a guesthouse in the area where Songkran was being celebrated at its wildest!

The next 40 minutes were so stressful but eventually we found ourselves a cheap guesthouse and got our bags safely into our rooms. Before we did anything else we filled our water guns up and got ready for the action that was about to unfold.

If I had to describe Songkran in one word it would be INSANE! Unfortunately I don't have any photos as bringing a camera out in the craziness would be camera suicide. We were staying just off of Khao San Road, which is the main stage area for Songkran. Everytime you left your room you had to prepare to get wet, or should I say drenched! There were people on the streets with huge barrels of water and for a small price you could buy water from them to fill up your gun. But you also had to be careful because they were pouring buckets of water over people while passing by. There were also different variations in the water temperatures. The best ones to buy from were the people that had put blocks of ice into the barrels to make the water horribly icy cold. I still shiver thinking about the many buckets of ice water that I got poured over me.

It was so much fun though, It was the hottest time of the year in Thailand so the water had a great cooling effect. We decided to act as a tactical team that had each others backs. Along the way we would pick up some other people and work together with them. My personal favorite victims were the dry tourists that looked like they had just got off the plane and had no idea it was Songkran, seeing their faces when you shakily attacked them was the best. We spent a lot of time in a great little makeshift street bar just spraying people walking past.



I also had the pleasure of meeting up with my old college friend Shane. He has been living in Bangkok for a long time now, about 5 years, I think. Myself and my friend Lou got to meet up with him when we did our round the world trip four years ago and it was so great getting to see him again. I also got to meet his lovely girlfriend Dao who was so much fun!

Unfortunately that was the same day that we had to say our teary goodbyes to Erica and Dan. Having spent the last three years with them it was so strange saying goodbye this time, not knowing when we'll see each other again. We had a great week with them and were so happy that we got to celebrate their engagement together and meet up in a country that wasn't Korea. I'm sure it won't be too long until we see each other again.

See you soon! 

That night it started raining and this made the water feel a million times colder than during the day. I had to go back to the room early because I couldn't stop shivering. The fact that we only had a cold water shower to go back to made me shiver even more but luckily i was so cold that it made the water in the shower feel hot.

The next day would mark our last day in South East Asia. I have grown to love South East Asia with all of my heart and seem to always end up coming back here. I'm not sure if I'll get the chance to come back again some day but I really hope so. Being our last day in Thailand we were both very nervous and excited about the next part of our adventure...Nepal!

On our last day Kate had come back to Bangkok so we got to go for lunch with her, Shane and Dao. We had some delicious Korean barbecue and it was so amazing being surrounded by Irish people again, there really is nothing like it. Then Shane made myself and Jason insanely jealous by bringing us to see his apartment and even gave us cups of Barrys tea! Now that's friendship.

We both couldn't believe that our time in Thailand and Cambodia had come to an end! After our visit to Shanes apartment we had to go to the airport to get a flight to Kuala Lumpur and being the backpackers that we were, had to spend the night at the airport to wait for our flight to KATHMANDU!! 

Island bliss on Koh Chang

We were excited to be back in Thailand and on our way to Koh Chang. We had heard great things about Thailands biggest island and were also going to be meeting up with our friends from Korea; Dan and Erica.

The journey from Koh Kong to Koh Chang went nice and smooth and the visa process was surprisingly easy and stress-free. We arrived in Koh Chang just in time for dinner. We had decided to stay on Lonely beach because it is much cheaper and backpacker orientated than the other beaches. It was April now and this is the hottest month in South East Asia so we decided to splash out a little and get an air-con room. As we were walking around that evening we instantly fell in love with the island. It was very quiet and had a nice relaxed vibe to it.

Lonely beach on Koh Chang

We found a restaurant that had free wifi so had dinner there. It had the strangest French owner though. He seemed quite drunk and was just downright weird. While Jason went back to the room to get the laptop I was witnessing a very awkward fight between him and his wife. I was the only customer in the restaurant and his wife started shouting at him for drinking the alcohol. He then said that the drink he was pouring was for a customer (I was the only customer and didn't order any alcohol) The fight then escalated to someone throwing dishes at the other and smashing them everywhere. I was just hoping and praying that Jason would be back soon! I think it was safe to say that we would never be going near that place again!

He didn't seem to mind the rough water

The next day we decided to rent a kayak and head out to the nearby islands like we had done on Railay beach. Unfortunately the waves in Koh Chang were much higher and I felt so uncomfortable being out there in the kayak so we decided to turn around and head back in. That night we had dinner by the sea and saw yet another stunning South East Asian sunset.

Amazing sunset!

Beautiful sunset at the beach restaurant

The next day we went our separate ways; I spent the day sunbathing and getting a pedicure...what more could a girl want! Jason spent the morning on an elephant trek. He had researched a lot about reputable companies that treat the elephants well. He decided to go with one company and he soon realized that no company that offers elephant trekking is good. He was very upset by the fact that the people used sharp metal rods to keep the animals in check and decided that at least now he did it he understands why it's wrong.

Jason bathing an elephant

Many people come to South East Asia and go elephant trekking. In fact I did it when I came here 4 years ago. But most people don't understand that by doing these treks you are supporting animal cruelty. There are some great places in South East Asia where you can visit a sanctuary and interact with the elephants in a much more natural way where the animals aren't forced to do anything that they don't want to do. I would definitely recommend one of these sanctuaries to anyone that wants to interact with an elephant. Sure you won't get to "ride" one, but wouldn't it be great to be able to interact with a happy healthy elephant rather than one that is being forced to carry you?
One such place that many of my friends have visited and loved is Elephant Nature Park in Chang Rai in Thailand. Their website is http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/

That evening Erica and Dan arrived and had just gotten engaged a couple of nights before so we went and watched the sunset, celebrated and caught up with each other.

We also booked a snorkeling tour for the next day, which was a lot of fun (albeit completely packed with people and not much coral in the sea). It was a busy couple of days in Koh Chang as we wanted to do as much as possible as well as have fun and celebrate together.

Getting ready to snorkel

The day after we had a cooking class booked, I think we were all excited about learning how to cook Thai food and we were definitely not disappointed. Our teacher was great and we couldn't believe the standard and quality of the foods that we made by ourselves. I can't wait to get into our new apartment so that we can try to recreate those dishes. The best part about the cooking class was that afterwards we all got to sit down and eat everything we cooked. We had made so much food that it was impossible to eat it all! Some of the dishes that we made were Tom Yum soup, Coconut soup, Pad Thai, Red Thai curry, Green Thai curry, Chicken with cashew nuts and sweet mango with sticky rice. Yum yum yum!!! I'm drooling right now just thinking about it!

Pad Thai

It was so delicious!

The next day Jason decided to go through with getting a tattoo that he had been thinking about for a while, he got it done bamboo style and was really happy with the end result.

Jason getting his
bamboo tattoo

Koh Chang was very chill and quiet while we were there which was great because we felt like we could really get to know the locals and made a couple of friends that we could stop in and chat to every day. But near the end of our stay on Koh Chang there was so much excitement in the air. Songkran was nearly here!

Songkran is the celebration of the Thai New Year. It is a massive 3-day event and the Thais celebrate by holding a 3-day national water fight. It was so exciting knowing that we were going to be celebrating Songkran in Thailand and had no idea just how crazy it would be!

The day before Songkran began we decided to stock up on water guns that every single store was selling (including the tattoo shops, restaurants and bars). We then found a group of local kids that were starting early by splashing every car and bike that was going past. We decided to join them and had so much fun, a ,to of people were tourists that had no idea so they got a huge shock when a massive bucket of water got thrown at them in their taxis. Most people took it with big smiles and laughs but there were a couple of foreigners that got pretty angry. I had one Italian guy come all the way back around on his moped just to start shouting at me. The best part was that the entire time he was shouting at me a Thai man was spraying him with water. He finally got sick of it and drove off again.

Unfortunately that was our last night in Koh Chang and the next day all four of us got the ferry and bus up to Bangkok to celebrate and see Songkran at its craziest!

All four of us together. Me, Jason, Erica and Dan.