Nepal - Oct 2005

Keith was switching jobs at Aimco and asked if he could take a few extra weeks for a trip of a lifetime - and to our incredibly happy surprise, the answer was yes!  So, with some hurried last-minute planning and some just-in-time immunizations, we headed off to Nepal for a month to hike the 200 mile Annapurna circuit. 

Accommodations:

Yak and Yeti (Kathmandu) - Very nice hotel with older architecture.

Tea House on Trek

Tea Houses (Annapurna Circuit) - We have to say that the lodging was way better than expected.  We got our own room each night and a few nights we even got our own bathroom.  The rooms were pretty sparse (two single beds with a table between) but mostly very clean.  We quickly got used to aiming in the squat toilets and we got hot showers most of the time!  Surprisingly, we slept rather well (probably b/c we were so beat from the walking) except for the few nights we spent at high altitude!

Activities:


Kathmandu

Our flight took us through Bangkok, though we had no time for anything but a quick overnight to catch our connecting flight to Kathmandu.  The time change from Bangkok to Kathmandu was 1:45 - the first time in our life we had not seen fully rounded hours.  When we arrive in Kathmandu, we checked into our hotel in the late afternoon and then took a walk around the old town.  Aside from trying not to get run over by the myriad of bicycles, motorcycles and cars, we enjoyed the sights (and smells) of the area.  There is no shortage of trekking companies and pashmina clothing stores.  And to top it all, we found a Barnes & Noble (not really, the name is Barnes and Noble Book Store - quite clever we thought). After a nice dinner, we headed back to the hotel to pass out. 

Temple in Kathmandu

The next day was spent sorting out our plans for the next month.  With over 450 trekking companies to choose from, we picked a company that was recommended by our hotel.  The odd thing is that it turned out to be the same company that some other friends of ours (Mia and Byron whose wedding we attended in Sweden only a few weeks earlier) were using while they were there on their honeymoon.  We had a yummy Thai dinner that night with Mia and Byron -- nothing like having other people crash your honeymoon!

The next day we toured around Kathmandu.  We saw a few Buddhist and Hindu temples and also got to watch a cremation ceremony.  After the bodies are cremated, the ashes and remains are thrown into the river -- I guess this is one reason why we only drink water out of a bottle!  We spun many prayer wheels that day so hopefully some good blessings came everyone's way! 

Prior to leaving for the trek, we did a one hour flight around Everest and the surrounding mountains -- quite stunning!

Annapurna Circuit
The trek details: 19 days, 200 miles, approx. 27,000 feet total ascent and 28,000 feet total descent, reached highest elevation of 18,000 feet, 40 meals that included rice, no meat, no Diet Coke, 2 Maoist shakedowns, about 1000 goats and 2000 donkeys, 74 uses of a squat toilet, one bus ride with chickens and sheep, one day of rain, and saw approx. 10 mountains over 23,000 feet -- all without ever getting sick or injured, not even a blister!  We had an amazing time; one of the coolest things we've ever done.  We had a guide and a porter (who carried both of our backpacks -- made us feel like total wimps) -- they were both extremely nice and were a big help!  Some highlights:

Trails and Scenery 

Scenery on Trek

We hiked through quite a bit of varied terrain, starting with mossy green trees with rolling rice paddy fields, to rocky terrain similar to the Colorado Rockies, to desert-like valleys.  We passed many marijuana fields -- apparently it is not illegal there!  As we got higher, we saw the snow-capped peaks of the Annapurna mountains -- Keith kept asking if Shawna wanted to climb one -- of course, she was not interested in any climbing that involved freezing weather and ice axes!  The trail was remarkably well kept -- often quite wide -- there were only a few places where we had to cross a landslide with the trail being a bit washed out.  I wouldn't say the route was always the most obvious so was glad to have a guide to show us the way.  Aside from trekkers, we often had to share the trail with donkeys transporting goods and sheep being led to the local festivals (for either sacrificing or food) -- of course, this meant you had to look down more than up to avoid the animal poop along the way.

More Scenery on Trek

Villages and Local People 

Village on Trek

Throughout the trek, we passed through many villages -- the housing varied from thatched roofs, timber, mud and stone.  In some of the villages, we visited the local temples and monasteries which were quite amazing given how remote some of these places are.  A few days before the Pass, we visited a monk who "blessed" us for the Pass -- of course, we got these blessings along with a string necklace for a "small" donation to the monastery.  It was quite interesting to see how different the people looked in each village -- showing influences from Tibet, India, and the Far East.  In one of the villages, there was a "projector hall" where we treated ourselves to a movie (Seven Years in Tibet -- Keith thought he had not seen it but then remembered the movie towards the end) -- the hall was a mud house with yak fur covered bench seats and black curtains to block the light.  We were the only two there so we had to pay the "3-person minimum" which equaled about $4.50 total!  The movie projector stopped about 5 times (I guess we were taking all of the town's power) and they had to fast forward to the spot where we left off each time -- making a 1.5 hour movie about 2.5 hours long.  In another village, there were hot springs -- Keith went in but I chose to only dip my feet since there were many sweaty hikers (mostly European men in banana hammocks) sitting in the pools.


Food  

Prayer Wheel

The food was quite tasty but grew tired of the options towards the end.  Every menu was mostly the same, offering various choices of soup, fried rice, potato dishes (including Rosti), fried noodles, spaghetti and the local favorite of dhal bhat (lentils with rice).  Some places got a bit creative by offering pizza, lasagna or burritos -- none of which even closely resembled what these taste like in the US.  Dessert was rather limited but usually included apple pie or pudding -- our favorite was the "Mars Roll" which was a Mars bar deep fried like a Spring Roll -- nothing like taking something fattening and adding more fat to it.  It's a good thing we discovered it towards the end of the trip, otherwise we may not have lost some of the weight that we did.  We stayed away from meat the entire time to improve our odds of not getting sick -- a gamble well worth taking.  Surprisingly, we didn't really miss it!  The best part about the food was the menus themselves -- they were all printed with the words "Approved by the Menu Subcommittee" (whoever that is) and often had many funny misspellings (like Franch Fryes).  Some of the items within a category on the menu were also odd, like listing fried potatoes under the room charges and including vegetable moussaka under Mexican dishes. 


Meeting the Maoists
The Maoists conveniently called a cease fire during the peak tourist season so to stay busy, they stopped the trekkers along the trail to ask for a "donation" -- of course, there was no choice in the matter nor was there room for bargaining!  So we paid our dues but luckily, they gave us a receipt so that the next time that we ran into them, we could show our receipt so that we did not have to pay twice.  The funny thing is that all the local people and even the trekkers knew exactly when and where they would run into the Maoists but the police did not seem to know about this.  I would have to say our encounters were rather friendly but I guess to be expected when you are about to dish out money. 


The Pass 
The highest altitude we hiked was to Thorung La Pass which is over 18K feet.  They do a really good job of acclimatizing you by the way they split up the days leading up to the Pass.  We had to hike very slow the day of the Pass and felt quite dizzy -- but once we got up there, we felt fine.  The views were amazing!  We heard afterwards of a few people getting pretty sick with one person being helicoptered out with severe altitude sickness.

Thorung La Pass

Pokhara
The trek ended in Pokhara where we spent two nights -- mostly relaxing but we also did some sight seeing.  Pokhara is a very cute town with a large lake surrounded by the Annapurna mountains.  After doing laundry and catching up on what happened in the world while we were trekking, we explored the town and spent some time rowing on the lake.  We also got our first dose of meat again -- fortunately our bodies did not reject it!  All in all, it was an amazing trek and we are so happy we did it! 

Chitwan National Park

Chitwan National
Park

After the trek, we had one more week in Nepal which was fairly tame and relaxing compared to the prior few weeks.  We spent a couple of days in Chitwan National Park where everyone goes to see wildlife.  After doing a safari in Africa, the wildlife in no way compares; however, we did get to do/see some interesting things.  We took an ox cart to a local village to see how they harvest rice -- we think we could have walked faster as the ox went about 1 mile per hour.  We also took a canoe ride in the park -- mainly saw many birds (including a kingfisher) and several crocodile.  We visited the elephant breeding center and pet some of the baby elephants -- they are quite hairy and wrinkly little buggers but cute nonetheless!  The highlight was an elephant safari where we rode elephants (4 people on top) through the park.  We got the biggest elephant which weighed about 5 tons so was happy that he did not decide to sit on us.  While on this safari, we saw a few types of deer and a rhino -- the rhino was not too happy when 8 elephants surrounded him!

Kathmandu

Durbar Square

We spent our final two days back in Kathmandu where we caught up on some souvenir shopping, visited Durbar Square (where many of the old temples are).  We ran into several people that we met along the trek and also had dinner again with Mia and Byron who had completed their Everest Base Camp trek. Their trek was a couple of days longer than ours but far fewer showers! Despite that, we are committed to return to Nepal and do the Everest hike some day.

After 5 flights and about 25 hours of actual flying, we made it home safely.  Because of the time zone difference, we didn't sleep well and were wrecked all weekend long.  Of course, our first purchase when we arrived on US soil in Los Angeles was a Starbucks!

Restaurants: 

• Third Eye - Our first meal in Kathmandu was supposed to be one of the more expensive restaurants in town -- the entrees priced at around $4 so I don't think we broke the bank account here.  The meal was fantastic -- north Indian food.
• Yin Yang - Thai restaurant in Kathmandu where we went to with Mia and Byron.
• Roadhouse Cafe - Great pizza joint in Kathmandu.

For more photos of this trip:

London / Norway / Sweden - Sept 2005

Trondheim, Norway

This trip worked out perfectly!  Rachel & Oliver getting married in London on Sept 3rd and Mia & Bryon getting married in Sweden on Sept 10th - one week apart.  So, we headed off to Europe for a week of fun.

Accommodations:

Chateau Melissa/Charlie (London) - We stayed at a friend's flat in London - you just can't beat the price!

The Petersham Hotel (Richmond) - We stayed here for Oliver and Rachel's wedding.  Beautiful hotel!

Best Western (Trondheim) - Functional hotel in the heart of the city.

Hotel Geiranger (Geiranger) - Nothing special but convenient.

Best Western (Oestersund) - A good, central hotel where we stayed for Mia and Byron's wedding.

Hilton (Heathrow) - What you would expect from an airport hotel.

Activities:

London

Rachel & Oliver's
Wedding

We flew to London overnight, leaving on the Thursday night so we could have a day to recover from jet lag before Rachel's wedding.  We hung around London on the Friday, had a bit of a nap, and then went out for dinner with Charlie/Melissa on the Friday night to a fancy dinner. Of course we ended up having way too many drinks which made us a little (lot) the worse for wear when we got up Saturday morning.  It was a bit of a rush to get a taxi out to pick up Keith's morning suit for the wedding, check in to the hotel, then speed off to the Rachel and Oliver's wedding ceremony.  The wedding at Holy Trinity Church in Twickenham and reception at the Ham Polo Club were beautiful (actually hot and sunny - very impressive for England!) - it was wonderful that we were invited.

Our flight to Trondheim left the day after Rachel's wedding.  We were able to sleep in a bit, then dropped by the wedding brunch before heading to Gatwick to get our flight, arriving in Trondheim at 11:15pm that night to check in to our hotel.

Norway
Since we were be back in Trondheim at the end of the trip, we immediately headed 6 hours southwest to Geiranger to see the fjords.  Unfortunately our entire time in Scandinavia saw rain and clouds which was a bit of a disappointment (but not suprising).  In addition to Geiranger, we also stayed in Stryn and Dombas, taking in more of the gorgeous scenery.  We spent three full days in this area before we needed to take the six hour drive to Oestersund via Trondheim.  During our time there, we did a few hikes, took a boat ride and saw a few glaciers.

Geiranger

Sweden

Mia and Byron

We arrived in Oestersund in mid-afternoon and checked in to the hotel.  Oestersund is in central Sweden and is a town of 50K people.  Mia and Byron live in Frosen, which is small island on lake Storsjon.  We went for a walk to see the area and actually saw Mia and Byron driving around town - it helps that it is such a small place!  The Friday night we attended a pre-wedding party where Keith was really pleased to meet a few old Kandersteg friends, including Kerstin Bergsten who was on staff in '90.  After a lot of drinks and catching up, we headed to bed.

On Saturday, we did some more walking before meeting at the Froson church for the wedding.  It was really cool to see Mia's mother dressed in traditional Swedish wear!  The wedding was perfect and the reception was a lot of fun. 

The next day we had to get up and drive back to Trondheim for the flight back to London where we spent a quick night at the Heathrow Hilton before jumping on the flight home the following day.

Glacier in Norway

Danelle's Wedding - Dana Point, CA - Aug 2005

The Gang at Danelle's Wedding

Danelle and Dan got married at the St Regis in Dana Point, CA.  We also stayed there making in convenient to stumble home after the reception.

The Happy Couple - Danelle and Dan

Nancy, Julie and Shawna

Many of the Fuqua gang came, including: Kim and Tom, Tracy and Dave, Nancy and Hall, Julie and John, Keith and Kate, John, Emily, Dave and Rob.

Shawna and Keith

On the Saturday, we all relaxed at the pool and then went to the wedding that evening.  The wedding was set outside and it was a beautiful day.  Following the ceremony, there were drinks and then dinner and reception.  Keith and Tom had a little too much to drink that evening so they ended up going back to the room before the night was over -- something about whiskey and cigars put them over the top!

Too much to drink?

On Sunday, some of us went to Disneyland and had fun walking around the park and going on some of the rides.

John, Kim, Julie and Nancy

Vietnam / Cambodia - March 2005

Temple in Vietnam

This was our first trip together to Asia and the beginning of many more trips to the Far East.  On this trip, we spent two weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia, visiting Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hue, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City, Mekong Delta and Siem Reap.  The trip was truly amazing with gorgeous scenery and the people were very nice and welcoming.

Accommodations:

Hilton Hanoi Opera (Hanoi) - A nice hotel in the French Quarter district and within walking distance of most of the major attractions.

Junk (Halong Bay) - We stayed on a wooden boat for a couple of nights booked through a tour company (see below).  Accommodation was comfortable and the food reasonably good.

Furama Resort (China Beach) - A beautiful resort right on the beach with a nice pool and lush grounds.

Renaissance Riverside Hotel (Ho Chi Minh City) - A nice hotel overlooking the river.

Mekong Delta - We stayed in a couple of non-descript hotels (can't remember the names) booked through the tour company (see below) that we used to tour the Delta.

Angkor Village Hotel (Siem Reap) - A unique resort hotel in town with wooden houses nestled among tropical ponds and gardens.

Activities:

Hanoi
We arrived late in the evening into Hanoi after flying for way too many hours.  We checked into our hotel and crashed for the evening.

Temple in Vietnam

While in Hanoi, we toured the beautiful city by walking around to the major sights.  Crossing a major intersection in this city is like gambling for your life as you dodge the thousands of scooters on the road.  We walked around the narrow alleys of the Old Quarter where each street specializes in some type of ware - such as a street solely dedicated to silk or musical instruments or spices.  We also visited the historical Dong Xuan Market in the Old Quarter which was rebuilt after a fire in 1994.  Of course, we also saw many temples and pagodas including the Ngoc Son Temple on an island in Hoan Kiem Lake (which is quite beautiful and peaceful) and the Temple of Literature which was built to honor men of literary accomplishment and was the site of Vietnam's first university.  Lastly, we visited the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex which includes the final resting place of Ho Chi Minh and the Presidential Palace.

Halong Bay
We took a two night boat trip along Halong Bay with the tour company Handspan.  The specific tour we took was the Halong Bay Cruise (3 days). The tour office is in Hanoi from which they drove us via shuttle to Halong Bay.  Once there, we boarded the wooden junk which was quite comfortable - the bedroom was a bit larger than we expected but the bathroom was the size of a matchbox!  While on the boat, we saw a floating fishing village, kayaked, swam and relaxed on a beach and visited a famous cave.  After the tour, we returned to Hanoi for one more night.

Junk on Halong Bay

China Beach (Da Nang)
We flew early in the morning to Da Nang and checked into our hotel which is a resort on the beach.  Very close to our hotel was one of the old US Army bases - we stumbled upon it as we were walking along the beach.  One of the Vietnamese military guards (who didn't seem happy to see us) rushed us off of the grounds rather quickly.  There was not much remaining but it was cool to see the rubble that was left behind.

Japanese Covered Bridge

We stayed a couple of nights here and used it as a jumping point to see the towns of Hoi An and Hue.  Hoi An is a picturesque riverside town 30km south of Danang.  We took a day trip here and walked around the town seeing the market, pagodas, temples, congregation halls, old French-colonial houses and the famous Japanese Covered Bridge.  We also took a day trip to Hue where we visited the Citadel, The Imperial Enclosure and the Thien Mu Pagoda.

Ho Chi Minh City
We flew here from Da Nang and arrived late in the evening.  The following day, we toured around the city seeing the War Remnants Museum (which used to be called the Museum of Chinese and American War Crimes - good that they changed the name), the Reunification Palace (a modern atrocity) and various pagodas and temples throughout the city.

Mekong Delta

Mekong Delta

The following morning we were picked up by our driver for a three day / two night tour of the Mekong Delta that we booked through Ann Tours.  While in the Delta, we went to My Tho where we saw a pagoda and a family who made rice noodles.  We also took a boat tour down one of the small canals where the soldiers during the Vietnam war would hide.  We stayed overnight in Chau Doc where we walked up the Nui Sam Mountain and took a boat trip to see a floating fish farm where catfish were raised under the floating houses.  We stayed the second night in Cantho.  The following day, we took a boat trip to see the floating produce market (where many fruit and vegetables are traded) before we drove back to Ho Chi Minh City.  While it was cool to see the Delta, we felt like we spent too much time in a car on this tour so would recommend that you explore other options if you are interested in seeing the Delta. 

Cambodia - Siem Reap
We flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Siem Reap where we spent three days and two nights seeing the Temples of Angkor.  The ruins of Angkor are like no other - it is incredible how vast the place is and how well preserved some of the temples are.

Ta Prohm Temple in Angkor

While here, we used a tour guide to take us around which we would highly recommend.  The main temples that we explored included Angkor Wat (the largest and most stunning of the temples), Angkor Thom, Bangteay Srei and Ta Prohm famed for its appearance in the movie Tomb Raider - it is really cool as it is not preserved so you see the roots of the trees overtaking the ruins.

For more photos of this trip: