On that note....

Xx

How do you define yourself?

 

Just recently I have got to thinking about how we define ourselves as people.  So often people say to me "what do you do?",  increasingly I find this question difficult to answer.  I feel like I do lots of things; would you like to know what I do to pay my bills?  what I have studied when I submit an assignment?  what I want to be when I grow up?

I tend to satisfy people by defining myself as a PhD Candidate, although sometimes I am not sure that the people who ask really knows what that means.  They probably just think I am a poor, hippy uni student who can't be bothered getting a real job.

Regardless, I have started to think less about tangible things that define me as an individual.  Consider the above quote.  What do you think?  By what means do you define yourself and your life?

 

Moments in Nepal

** By the time I finished writing this (and uploading, sigh) I realised that this blog post is probably more about my random thoughts about our trip to Nepal rather than just about videos I took while I was there.  Oh well, enjoy!! Xx

I was perusing through my photos of our time in Nepal last year and came across some videos that I felt are otherwise wasted if not posted and shared with the world.

The first video was our flight taking off from Pokhara to Kathmandu after our ten day trek. As we had taken a bus from KTM to PKR (9 hours to travel 200 kilometers!) this was our first experience of the tiny planes that ferry people around Nepal.

This is the amazing view from the cockpit on our Mountain Flight up to see Mt Everest.  As we had not been able to fly into Lukla (hence the re-routing to Annapurna) we decided to take a scenic flight up on our last day in Nepal.  Rotten and hungover for the first and only time on the trip, we had to wake up at 4am to get the airport transfer on time.  It was horrible.  However, as you can see, all of that was long forgotten as the Everest region of the Himalaya's appeared in the distance.  I highly recommend this flight to anyone who travels to KTM.  It is about $160 USD per person.

This is a video of Mt Everest from the mountain flight.  It is a bit clunky as I struggle to see over Pete and Greg's shoulders, probably much to their annoyance. 

MOUNTAIN FLIGHT! MOUNTAIN FLIGHT! (May I never hear these words shouted over a 1980's style PA system in KTM Domestic Terminal...)

I took a few videos of us cruising around KTM from the comfort of our "Tourist" bus. Here's the first. Ever apprehensive to put myself in the tourist category, it is unavoidable in Nepal!  All the buses that transport foreign travellers around have huge TOURIST stickers on the back, while some may think this makes you a target, it is quite the opposite.  A legacy from more violent times in Nepal, having TOURIST on the back of your bus avoids a bombing which has been a regular occurrence on public modes of transportation.  Regardless, it is nothing to worry about, except that you feel guilt enjoying the lap of luxury in one of the world's poorest countries.  As you can hear in this video, we passed a market where more likely than not knock of North Face gear was being sold.  My favourite was of course, "Thorn Face".

Here is another video of us driving around KTM......

One thing I have neglected to mention about Nepal is the pure awesomeness of the FOOD.  On our first night in Nepal we stayed in a pretty "swanky" hotel, Hotel Manang which was the hotel for our trek through G Adventures.  The trip from the airport to the hotel was pretty harrowing for me in particular but I am the first to admit that I suffer from culture shock.  Even when I travelled to London I swear I was a victim..... regardless, I was pretty shaken up from our midnight hotel transfer adventure and most of all I was STARVING.  We were lucky that the hotel would give us a meal and beer so late at night; in fact we stayed up until about 3am chatting to the security guard and other hotel staff (who of course I was convinced were going to harm me, turns out they're just a hell of a lot friendlier than most people in the western world).  This is a photo of my first supper in Nepal and it was something pretty special.  Coming in at around $6 USD I was getting totally ripped off, but it was worth every penny.  This is a rather fancy version of the local cuisine, dal bhat takari.  Dal bhat is the staple food of Nepalese people and while it is absolutely divine, it can be tiresome when lacking choice.  The quality and style varies and usually one element of the dish shines over another, however I have not had a meal that I have not liked!!  It is usually served with pickle, sometimes spinach, flat bread of some description and sometimes yoghurt. Nom!!

Something I love about travelling is the little quirks you notice about other countries and their culture.  In Nepal, there is no yelling or waving at people in order to help them reverse their car without causing damage, simply a bang on the roof of the car!!  Nepal is rather hectic so I am guessing this is the only method that would be effective amongst the chaos!!

 ...and it wouldn't be Nepal without a crazy intersection.  Although I am not 100% sure that they were as crazy as I thought at the time. 

A Kathmandu taxi.....

And back to the food again.... Standard fare on the ABC trek is the following:

Breakfast: Tibetan bread, hard boiled egg x 2, black coffee.  Tear off half Tibetan bread, fill with egg and enjoy.  Repeat one more time.  Take second piece of Tibetan bread and smother in honey.  Enjoy with black coffee.

Lunch: Egg veggie noodle soup.  Alternatively, veggie noodle soup OR egg veggie fried noodle OR veggie fried noodle.  Lather in hot chilli sauce.

Snack:  Snickers and can of sprite (roughly $2 USD....each.)

Dinner:  Dal bhat takari OR egg/veg noodle soup/fried noodle.  At ABC we "treated" ourselves to pizza, don't do it, stick to the local food as it is FAR tastier (and cheaper!!).

If someone can find me a supplier in Melbourne of this green chilli sauce that I ate with every single meal, then I will be eternally grateful!!

Sleeping on a trek in the Himalaya's is somewhat challenging without the right gear.  We were lucky/smart enough to invest in proper North Face sleeping bags that would keep us alive in minus 40 degrees celcius.  The rooms in the tea houses are small but generally at lower altitudes you can get a simple double/twin room (by simple, I mean a bed and a clean sheet and pillow).  As you go higher the rooms become more crowded.  To give you an idea about how close you'll be sleeping to your fellow room mates, here is a shot I took with the light of my head torch one evening.....

Here is a better idea of what you're in for, this was our first tea house and we were actually quite impressed with the standard of accommodation.

 

Pete assumes the recommended sleeping position...all limbs INSIDE the sleeping bag...

Here is our group after the last major day of trekking....rice wine and beer ensued.

Finally, my favourite photo from Nepal of my husband and I at Machapuchare Base Camp, about to depart for Annapurna Base Camp which is 4130m above sea level.  It is a challenging walk up to ABC from MBC although not that far in distance.  This was the first and only time we really noticed any effects from altitude on our bodies.  People were breathing heavy and there was an unusual amount of snoring coming from the rooms that evening!!!

I guess the only question is now, when do we go back again?!

Xx