michaela daye.: panorama view.

dear you,
www.docsfoundationnepal.blogspot.com
let me tell you about my trekking adventure.
it's gonna be hard not to get ahead of myself because it was so amazing.
friday around 2 we (we being ramchandra, mati, urusha, and i) went on a 5 hour bus ride to pokhara.
we didn't do much there, except for finding our room and going to bed.
sabbath, we went to fewa lake so ramchandra and urusha could go to the temple.
the temple that's conveniently located on a small manmade island in the middle of the lake.
we should have churches like that.
we had to take a canoe to get there.
the view was already spectacular, and the trekking hadn't started yet!
the mountains (called mountains because they're snow-covered) are reflected on the lake for a double whammy :)
anyways, after some successful worshiping, we took a taxi to nayapul.
and that was where the trekking part started.
the first trekking day was more walking than trekking, although don't let that fool you.
for my out of shape body and lungs, it sucked.
it started out as a dirt road, turned into a dirt track, and then turned into stone steps.
going up.
we went up about 500 meters in 3 hours, which isn't impressive, but means we were tired.
and that was just the beginning.
but we were very happy when we reached our little lodge in tikhedunga.
fortunately for me, there were lots of mountain donkeys and horses that stopped outside our room for their meal.
so i of course went to commune with them :)
the next day was the killer day.
in 7ish hours, we climbed 1400ish meters.
-all you hikers out there, i know this isn't that awesome. but its my greatest accomplishment so far in my life, so don't hate-
the first 2 hours were just steps going straight up the side of the hill.
sabbath had just been walking along the valley floor to the point where we had to go up.
sunday was all about the burn.
there were a bunch of asians who were so funny!
one guy gave us candy.
well, what we thought was candy.
it turned out to be seaweed.
shoulda saw that one coming.
anyways, after trudging up the stairs we finally made it to the next phase.
jungle.
it was still hard, but less so because it was a dirt path up through beautiful trees.
there were lots of rhododendron trees in full bloom, which was gorgeous.
AND we saw little white monkeys running around in them!
that night we stayed in ghorepani, a little 'village' at around 2900 meters.
we were really worried because when we arrived, it was really foggy and we couldn't see any mountains.
ramchandra kept insisting the mountains were really close, but i couldn't picture it.
but when we went outside early the next morning, i totally got it.
they were right there!
we hiked for another hour and a half, trying to go fast to get to poon hill (our intended destination) by sunrise.
and we made it.
OH. MY. GOODNESS.
whoever determined that this is the 4th best viewpoint in the world should be given something nice.
it was EXQUISITE.
the pictures i'm going to post don't do it justice at all.
this is the part where i wish i had the nice nikon/canon/i'm a pro cameras.
our group, along with a canadian lady we met along the way on sunday, took a bunch of pictures together.
and i started a trend!
i suggested that we take jumping pictures, which caused a scene.
7 people jumping and yelling for cameras tends to do that.
but then a bunch of other groups started doing it!
i don't have those pictures yet because ann (canadian lady) has a nice camera that takes faster pics and she's going to email them to me.
but she went on to annapurna base camp, and won't be back for 8 extra days.
anyways, i got to call my parents from the top
-dude, how is there cell service at 3200 meters?-
and then we skedaddled all the way back to nayapul.
it took forever, and urusha barely made it cuz she's a city girl, but we did it.
but in birethanti (right before nayapul) i saw the most beautiful little girl EVER.
you'll see why when you get to the picture.
anyways, we made it back to pokhara, and then had to wait for the night bus.
which was horrible at first.
us 3 girls were squished into one and a half seats in the back of the bus.
but some people got off, so we eventually got our own seats.
kathmandu doesn't allow buses to come in before 5 am, so even tho we could have gotten there by like 2ish, we had to wait.
it sucked.
but that still didn't take away from how amazing the trip was.
the whole time i was thinking that God is so creative and just plain awesome.
to think of huge mountains covered in snow, jungles, rhododendron forests, river valleys, etc.
all in the same place.
God's a pro.
there are so many other little details that i want to write, but they're probably only interesting to me AND i'm excited to post the photos.
so i'll stop writing and let the pictures do the talking.
love,
me