Friday, May 11, 2007

Alive, well & showered :-)

Namaste!

Thanks to everyone for your comments - I have really appreciated them. A bit of 'home' during an adventure that has well & truly pushed me outside my comfort zone. Nothing like not showering for 17 days to make you feel 'precious' ;-)

Just a quick post - I am alive, well & back in Kathmandu after our trek. After seeing nothing moving faster than a Himalayan trail (ie a convoy of yaks) and hearing nothing louder than the bells they wear around their necks for 3 weeks, polluted & chaotic Kathmandu is proving to be somewhat of a culture shock.

I'm really struggling to find the words to describe the trek - I certainly can't in the time I have available now - suffice to say that it was by far the most difficult & challenging (both physically & mentally) thing I have ever done - but also the most rewarding & fulfilling. Nepal & particularly its people have touched my heart & soul. Apart from the scenery, it has been the interactions with the locals that have truly touched my heart. The Nepali are by far the most generous, humorous, good natured & beautiful people I have ever had the privilege of meeting. With porters who don't speak a word of English, I have played cards and also cricket with a bat made out of a tree stump - cricket I have to say becomes very difficult above 4,000m! I have been called 'didi' our young porters - kids under, say, 25 for whom western woman are still an object of fascination. The smiles on their faces when I responded with 'bhye' (meaning younger brother) were priceless & something I will always treasure.

I can't believe my time here is coming to an end - but I am already planning my next 2 visits here. This place has made such an impact on me that I know it is somewhere I will continue to visit time & time again. In the last few days I have also put into place plans to give something back to this wonderful country & to a few very special people which I am very excited to be involved with.

I'm flying back into Sydney on Sunday night so a full 'trek report' & photos will follow soon.

9 comments:

Gronk said...

Wow ! Can't wait for the extended version Jen. Fly safe. :)

Hamburglar said...

Yeah - wow!

TA and the Gnome said...

So glad it has been good. We need times like this to give our lives refreshment,challenge and perspective .
Look forward to hearing more.

TA

TA and the Gnome said...

So glad it has been good. We need times like this to give our lives refreshment,challenge and perspective .
Look forward to hearing more.

TA

Superflake said...

Glad to see Mountain woman is coming back. Good to hear you enjoyed the trek, the country and the people.

Ewen said...

What a shame they haven't got 'smellablog'!

Can't wait for the photos and five word report ;)

Tesso said...

Can't wait to hear all about it Jen.

See ya in Warwick :-)

undercover brother said...

coooool!
holding my breath for more reports and photos.

no yaks on mt kilarney :)
cu next weekend.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Jen! thought for a moment you had been taken by a hill tribe chief for his wife! looking forward to hearing about the smelly trek!!!