Annapurna Trekking - UPHILL

May 8, 2014

After 21 days of trekking and mt. biking through what is called the world's best trek by NY Times and Outside Magazine, Omar and I have emerged - alive, sore, and parasite free!

We walked over the world's highest pass at 17,769 feet (5,416 m), we walked 85 miles (137 km) and mountain biked down 8,500 feet (2,590 m) over 55 miles (90 km).  We finally arrived to the town of Pokhara and let me tell you - a town has never looked soo good!!!

Day one - the scenery was breath taking from the start!

That is just what you think it is!  It grows all along the trail, but the buds are noticeably absent!

Rhiannon and Omar spinning prayer wheels after I caught the first parasite of the trip - hoping to avoid the same fate.

I love these things - it's like a way to cheat on your prayers. One good spin and you said all your prayers you need to for the day!

Amoeba-cide pills - Omar and Rhiannon's prayers were not answered.  But we did start a new diet fad!!!

However, parasites and bacteria couldn't keep us from trekking - it did just cause us to use the bathroom all day long.  

It wasn't long till our pine forests and apple orchards gave way to jagged crests and snowy peaks.

Horses, ponies, donkeys, cows, mules, goats and yaks all roam free here.

We followed the river up valley the whole trek up - that's the town of Lower Pisang in the background.

And that's the view behind us.  We walked to Lower Pisang, crossed the bridge and spent the next two hours hiking up.

Well worth the view!

We met up with our trekking buddies Nick (England), Manu and Airwon (France) and had a lovely Easter brunch together.

Omar and Rhiannon proudly displaying their yak cheese with the local who made it.

The town of Ghyaru - hope there isn't an earthquake!

More prayer wheels - right before we all ended up at the doctor's and with antibiotics this time around... hmmm . . .

It's the yeti!!!

Yaks! 

Believe it or not - this isn't photoshopped.  That's the Gangapurna Glacier behind us.

Omar and Rhiannon took the high road - I took the low road.

The bustling metropolis of Manang.  We spent three nights here recovering from our various illnesses before heading towards the pass.

Manang traffic jam.

Nick, me, Rhiannon and Omar - making our way slowly towards Thorang Pass.

Amen!

O and I at a small summit outside High Camp - just over 16,000 feet - tomorrow is pass day!

We made it from High Camp to the summit in just under three hours - trekking on boot-pack snow trails.

Thorang Pass - we made it!!!!!!!!

17,769 feet (5,416 m)

Happy Nepalese New Year

April 14, 2014

Happy 2071 New Year!!!  Looks like we get to party twice this year with Nepal New Year starting tomorrow and parties rocking all night long!  (Not sure how they figure it’s 2071 . . . but apparently they have their own calendar here and live in the future.)

O and I have been running around Kathmandu the last few days getting all our trekking needs for our departure tomorrow to hike the Annapurna Circuit - where if all goes according to plan we will visit the world’s highest lake and trek one of the world’s highest passes - 17,768 ft.   We have been very busy training for this as you can tell from our last posts. 

 

Here’s the view from our hotel rooftop where we eat breakfast every morning and feel our lungs turn a little blacker.

There are literally 100’s of stores selling anything and everything you could need for rock climbing, trekking, camping, etc.

I am pretty sure my North Face -10 C sleeping bag I just bought isn’t a real brand name, but when it only costs 30 bucks - who cares!  As long as they work and apparently they do!

We met up with our old friend Rhiannon from Tropicbird in the Thamel area of Kathmandu where we are all staying.  She’s hiking the Annapurna Circuit with us, but unlike us - she has actually done some training and trekking already.

And we wonder why electricity only works here 33% of day.

This street looks peaceful compared to the people, dogs, cars, and rickshaws we battle with everyday around town.  We are soo ready to get out of this city.

Our reunion dinner at a New Orleans Jazz cafe - to catch up on the last few months and to make final plans.  We felt like we got ripped off with our meal costing 3 dollars each!!!

Island Paradise

My home for the last month was Haad Yuan Beach on the island of Koh Phangan. What is it like to live on an island? Here are some pictures of my life in paradise for the last month.

Here is Haad Tien Bay and Haad Yuan Bay behind it. The bays are perfect for swimming and cooling off on hot days. Our first week on the island we hiked up to this viewpoint as we explored our new home.

Sunrise walks made for good days and fun photography.

Koh Phangan is really known for its full moon parties. Thousands of travelers (literally 6,000 revelers) gather on Haad Rin beach to get drunk and party all night long. I had to check it out!

Once they get drunk, they get silly and try to do stupid things like jumping ropes of fire. We have been seeing backpackers with burns on their legs from this for months now!

Getting to Haad Rin involved an arduous hike through the jungle. Luckily, this viewpoint provides a much needed break where you can rest and catch your breath.

Other fun activities include hula hoop Sundays and all night long raves at Eden, the local bar in Had Yuan.

Of course we had to eat and one of our favorite places was The Bamboo Huts.  Can you spot Ali doing her yoga homework?

These are the wonderful ladies at The Bamboo Huts that prepared so many of our meals. Notice the mud they put on their face. That is the locals' idea of sunblock.

 So here we leave you with the wonderful view from Bamboo that made the perfect setting for our meals. I am sure we will miss this when we are hiking through the freezing Himalayas.

La Isla Bonita

April 8, 2014

It’s been a while since I last posted (for reals - got you April Fool’s suckas!) - I have been beyond busy in yoga school, but here are some photos of my home in Haad Yuan, Koh Phangan, Thailand for the last month.  Omar and I have been island bums so long I now know how to identify gecko poop!  (And have unfortunately stepped in it!  Let me tell you - there are some giant geckos here!) I am sad to be leaving our island paradise, but excited for our next stop - Nepal!

 

Here’s looking at our home, Big Blue, where Omar and I spent the last 30 nights in our beach bungalow.

And the view from Big Blue looking out at our private beach, where we suffered daily jelly fish stings.  Jerks.

Yola, Shari, O and I decided to hike to the view point on one of my yoga-off days.  This near killed us - we are sooooo not ready for Nepal.

Here I am teaching a yoga class  - oohhh

Officially a Yoga Alliance approved teacher!

Home, sweet home

Shari and I with our yoga gurus, Lily and Ramananda, who taught us everything from back bends to meditation.

One of my fellow classmates, Amy, had just come Nepal and learned how to use the Tibetan Bowls - so peaceful!

My final closing ceremony at Blooming Lotus. 

Thong Sala - the main town on Koh Phangan - Omar and I spent two nights here so we could adjust to civilization and the real world again.  However, Omar failed and we ended up here instead.

How to get to our secret little island retreat

Alison signed up for yoga teacher training in Haad Yuan, a beach area in the island of Koh Phangan. So how do you get to Haad Yuan? Pretty easy. First take a flight to Bangkok. After spending a few days there this is the odyssey you must follow:

First a minivan will pick you up at your guesthouse. Ours happened to pick us up at four in the morning. Everybody and their luggage will be packed like sardines on the van.

The van took us to the airport. At the airport we had to get on a bus to board our plane. 

The bus took us to one of hundreds of planes lined up in the tarmac. Air Asia has an impressive fleet. Here we could board our plane.

No fancy ads on this airplane. It almost could have been a southwest airlines flight.

We landed on a small airport on the south of the mainland. We were the only plane there. Still morning time.

Here we would hop on a bus that would take us to the ferry terminal.

Lets hop on the bus with the funky colors for a magic trip.

Once the bus dropped us off at the ferry terminal we would wait a couple of hours for this rust bucket to arrive. After lunch and a nap this ferry would take us to the island. 

Ah Thong Sala is within sight. We are getting close!

Close but not there yet. At the pier in Thong Sala we had to hop into an island taxi. Basically a pick up truck with benches in the back. Off to Haad Rin.

Once we arrived at Haad Rin we would have to hop on a water taxi. The water taxi is a long tail boat that would take us to Haad Yuan.

The journey was long, after one minivan, 2 buses, one airplane, 2 boats and a tuk-tuk, it took us all day to arrive to Haad Yuan. Looking around it was clearly worth the hassle even if we are tired and hungry. Too bad we did not find open rooms the night we got there...

Our last days in Cambodia

As we wrapped up our last days in Cambodia, we had lots of fun exploring, cycling, and spending time with the Musik family.

Our third day in Angkor Wat we spent cycling around. We got some old beach cruisers for a couple of bucks and ended up taking them off road. Not the best idea we ever had! For two dollars more we could have had proper mountain bikes with working brakes. Oh well. It made for an adventure and an exciting day. We cruised over 35 km in the jungle that day.

With the freedom of bicycles we went to explore on our own and found unrestored temples free of crowds and guides.

Some temples are no longer structurally sound and probably should be roped off. But In Cambodia you explore like Indiana Jones - at your own risk.

We also found itty bitty spiders...

And itty bitty girlfriends in itty bitty door frames.

Apsara dancer reliefs are prevalent throughout all the temples as well as down town Siam Reap. While I have yet to see a Cambodian girl topless, or with those endowments, we went in search of modern apsara dancers.

After picking through several comercial dances with terrible reviews we found a school that fundraises with apsara dance performances. This dance was about fishermen and their wives. Those baskets are used to catch and store fish.

This is the classic apsara dance that kings might have enjoyed thousands of years ago in the temples of Angkor Wat. It was a great experience!

Back to the Boat

I can't believe we bought a freakin boat!!!!  Captain found this boat for sale for us and we just bought it from the marina auction for a screaming deal.  O and I are headed back to Malaysia to meet Captain, who has kindly volunteered to help us fix it up and do the carpentry work.  Thanks Captain!  The bad news - O and I won't be headed home this summer.  The good news - we have two extra cabins in the yacht - who's up for a sailing adventure???