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Pokhara – the Other Nepali City
Blog: Seat of Our Pants - 12 December 2009
The town of Pokhara is the third largest city in Nepal, and oh boy is it ever different from Kathmandu. We were immediately taken in by the fact that crossing a street doesn’t involve dodging crazy traffic from all directions. Its location is pretty much sublime – Pokhara sits by the shore of a stunningly [...]
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You’ve Finished! Now Get ON the Bus
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 12 December 2009
11/18/09 – 11/19/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 15: Ghara to Ghorepani (4.75 hours) Most mountains I can think of go uphill for a while and then head back down, meaning once you reach the top, it’s all downhill from there. Not this one. This one goes up to the top, then down, down, down, up! Rather than [...]
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Fair Trade Shops in Kathmandu & Patan
Blog: the reX-Files.ca - 12 December 2009
There are many shops in Kathmandu and in Patan that are fair trade, locally made, and supportive of small communities and women’s groups. Here are some of the most popular stores and our favourite ones both big and small. Mahaguthi – Craft with a Conscience – in Lazimpath (small store), Kupondole, Patan (main store) One of our [...]
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When You’re Here, You’re Family
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 11 December 2009
11/17/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 14: Kalopani to Ghara (8.25 hours) There have been two times on this hike where I’ve felt like crying (but didn’t, obviously, because I’m too manly for that). One was minutes before we reached the Thorong La Pass – that was out of happiness that we were about to accomplish something that [...]
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Jomsom Shmomsom
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 10 December 2009
11/15/09 – 11/16/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 12: Muktinath to Marpha (6.25 hours) Our first day on the west side of the circuit – is it too late to go back to the east? So far 90% of our hike has been on these things called roads. You may have heard of then – jeeps and buses [...]
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Travel Back in Time
Blog: Ottsworld - 9 December 2009
Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 4 Travel Back in Time Itinerary: Kathmandu to Puma Photos: View Puma Snapshots We said goodbye to the bustling city of Kathmandu and hopped in our time machine which took us back in time about 50 yrs. A time and place where electricity and plumbing were not guaranteed, where harvesting was done by [...]
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Moral Dilemma
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 9 December 2009
11/14/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Here are the facts: We met a guy last night – let’s call him Sam because that’s what I keep calling him in my head even though that’s not his name. Sam is trekking the circuit on his own. It is highly discouraged that you trek the circuit on your own. Sam asked us if [...]
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Second Mental Breakdown of the Month
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 8 December 2009
[Editor's note: Please note that in an effort to catch up, we have temporarily instituted "Two for Tuesdays" and this is the second post of the day.] 11/14/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 11: Thorong Phedi to Muktinath (9 hours) We woke up bright and early at 4:40am in order to get on the trail before 5:30am. As it [...]
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What Would You Do For a Little Yak Poo?
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 8 December 2009
11/12/09 – 11/13/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 9: Manang to Letdar (3.5 hours) The snow is always whiter on the other side. This morning I felt like Truman Burbank trying to escape Seahaven Island. Out of nowhere millions of trekkers raced to the trails, blocking all possible paths (all one of them) to the top. We had met [...]
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And on the Eighth Day, We Rested
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 7 December 2009
11/11/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 8: Rest day in Manang Hi! I’m alive! In case you’re curious, the reason I haven’t been writing all week is because whenever we’re not trekking or eating, I’m basically lying fully cocooned in my sleeping bag – usually asleep. If you do the math, this means I’ve spent about 16 hours [...]
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Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 6 December 2009
11/10/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 7: Ghyeru to Manang (4.75 hours) By our count, there are six signs to look for to make sure an independent trekker is on the correct trail while hiking the Annapurna circuit. In order of importance they are: Signs. The ACAP has done a fairly good job marking [...]
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A Long Hike Brightened by an Old Man
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 5 December 2009
11/09/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 6: Chame to Ghyeru (7 hours) Thanks to a chance encounter at lunch, today was the closest I’ll ever get to meeting Santa Claus. And that wasn’t even the best part of the day. Zhou and I were ready to call it quits for the day in a small town called Pisang, when [...]
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Annapurna Itinerary
Blog: Ottsworld - 5 December 2009
Tiger Balm Tales – vol. 3 Start from the beginning! Tiger Balm Tales – vol. 1, vol. 2 We saw the first glimpse of them from the plane window – the rigid, snowy Himalayan peaks. They were practically at eye level with our cruising altitude; you could reach out and touch them as if they were the [...]
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No Singing Aloud Allowed
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 4 December 2009
11/07/09 – 11/08/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 4: Tal to Danaqyu (4.75 hours) I wouldn’t call trekking here boring since the landscape is constantly changing and there are always new things to see, but sometimes we need to do things to keep our minds active. We tried a game of 20 questions the other day, but Zhou [...]
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Copy Culture: Nepal, pt II
Blog: Seat of Our Pants - 3 December 2009
This above picture is nothing else than a snapshot of the TV show I happened to tune into the other night. To avoid paying royalties, someone took a video camera to a movie, shot a movie of the screen (including audience reactions, coughing, popcorn eating etc.). Normally, these rip-off abominations end up on DVDs. This one [...]
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Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 3 December 2009
11/07/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Trekking is a lot harder than I originally imagined it would be. We wake up everyday before 7am, eat breakfast, trek for four hours, eat lunch, then trek for as many more hours as necessary before sitting in our beds to regroup, then eating dinner and sleeping. The hardest part though has [...]
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7 do's for the Kathmandu night
Blog: 99 + 1 countries - 3 December 2009
1. Get acquinted with people who can take you to drink tongba. Razu at the Mount View guesthouse might prove to be your new best friend if he takes you to Dorje restaurant.
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This Definitely Isn’t Africa
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 2 December 2009
11/04/09 – 11/06/09: Annapurna Circuit, Nepal Day 1: Besisahar to Bhulbhule (2.5 hours) After arriving in Besisahar at around 3pm, we decided to skip the bus to Bhulbhule and walk to the trek’s starting point ourselves. We figured it would be a good warmup and we could get used to the bags we are going to be [...]
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Getting Around the Kathmandu Valley
Blog: the reX-Files.ca - 2 December 2009
Aside from the traffic, pollution, and excessive honking, getting around Kathmandu isn’t as bad or hard as one might think – you just have to be patient and selective about your transportation choices. Tuk-tuks – they can be crampy, the ride can be bumpy, but they are sure fun and eco-friendly especially if you have [...]
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Copy Culture: Nepal
Blog: Seat of Our Pants - 1 December 2009
We’ve seen it all over Asia – the copy culture. In Vietnam for example, everyone walks around wearing Dolce & Gabbana. Armani appeared to be the brand of choice in Indonesia. Here in Nepal, the only brand deemed worthy of copying is North Face. Everyone’s wearing it. I haven’t seen a single other outdoors brand [...]
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Scenery from a Nepali Bus Ride
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 1 December 2009
11/04/09: Nepal Remember Uganda? It was so beautiful and picturesque that both Zhou and I voted it “Most Beautiful Country in Africa,” even though we only saw seven African countries. Now stick a few awe-inspiring mountains in the background and you have Nepal. But you know what – we haven’t even scratched the surface yet. How do I [...]
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What Could Possibly Top Africa?
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 30 November 2009
11/03/09: Nepal Today was our second full day in Nepal’s capital city. Kathmandu itself is noisy, colorful and crowded. It’s a bit overwhelming at first – there are so many signs and shops and sounds and smells and people – very different from anywhere we’ve been so far. Shoot, Zhou already said all that. I suppose then [...]
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Bathing with elephants? No thanks
Blog: 99 + 1 countries - 30 November 2009
It's cruel. It's abuse. It's wrong. Elephant bathing is one of those things which in a guide book seem like the funniest thing you could ever do, but the reality of it is quite different.
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A Little Fun…My Three Best Kept Travel Secrets
Blog: A Little Adrift - A RTW Travelogue - 29 November 2009
There’s been a little movement throughout the travel community – an attempt to unite travel bloggers and create a list of the most unique travel destinations and secretly amazing places to visit. Nellie over at Wild Junket nominated me to participate in Tripbase’s “3 Best Kept Travel Secrets,” and that’s a pretty hard task because there are some amazing places out there. But there are a few places and experiences that particularly stood out in my mind as I backpacked around the world: 1) India’s Festival of Color, Holi Holi ...
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Kathmandu Day 1, or, In Which We Use a Cow to Navigate the Streets
Blog: No Hurry Curry - 29 November 2009
11/02/09: Kathmandu, Nepal We arrived in Kathmandu last night too late to do anything but get to our guesthouse and fall asleep. So this morning we woke up bright and early to explore the city. And as soon as we stepped out onto the streets, Kevin was promptly run over by a pedicab. Just kidding. But it [...]
