What's For Dinner: Dal Bhat (Lentil Soup Over Rice)

Dal bhat (lentil soup served over rice) takes me back to our trip to Nepal. It is the most popular dish in Nepal -- and we ate a lot of it during our trip. I happened upon a recipe for red lentil dal a while back, and now during my month of eating unprocessed foods, I figured it would be a good time to give it a try. Since potatoes also fare heavily in Himalayan meals, I decided to add in some chopped red potatoes to my dal for additional texture. Eating this meal brought me right back to the dining rooms of the teahouses that we lodged at during our trek in the Everest region -- although happily this time I didn't need to wear a hat, puffy North Face jacket, and gloves while eating it.

Dal Bhat (printer-friendly version)
makes 6-8 servings

1 tablespoon organic canola oil
2 cups chopped onions (1 large onion)
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups water
1 cup dried red lentils
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground curry
1 1/2 cups chopped boiled red potatoes
1 cup basmati or jasmine rice, cooked according to package directions
2 tomatoes, seeded, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup onion and 1 minced garlic clove and cook until tender and golden, about 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
2. Fill a medium sauce pot with water. Bring to a boil. Add the red potatoes and boil until tender, about 10-15 minutes depending on size. Once tender, drain and return to pot. Set aside.
3. Combine the water, lentils, turmeric, cumin, ginger, curry, remaining 1 cup chopped onion and 2 minced garlic cloves in a heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil.
4. Once it begins to boil, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
5. Transfer about half the lentil mixture to a food processor or blender, and puree until smooth. (If using blender, keep the lid slightly askew to allow air in.)
6. Return the puree to the pot. Mix in the sauteed onion and garlic mixture. Stir in the chopped boiled potatoes. Stir and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
7. Spoon rice into bowls. Add the dal over top the rice. Top with chopped tomatoes and fresh cilantro.

(adapted from this Epicurious recipe)

Nepal: Going Home

I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

The day after Christmas marked our departure from Nepal. We spent the morning enjoying a leisurely continental breakfast before departing the hotel grounds for a quick trip to the Boudhanath stupa, which was located just a short walk away. I was hoping to find a few last-minute souvenirs, but nothing caught my eye. We got a little turned around trying to find our way back to our hotel, but after a few trips around the circular stupa, we found the right alleyway that led us back to the Hyatt.

We then grabbed a quick lunch before heading onto the hotel shuttle bus to the airport. At the airport, we managed to check our bags through to Denver. One less thing to worry about upon our arrival in Delhi! Our flight was originally scheduled to depart around 3:30p, but we ended up taking off around 5:30p due to foggy conditions in Delhi. In the meantime, we enjoyed sitting in the departures hall, watching WWE matches being played on a big screen TV in the front of the room.

Our flight from Kathmandu landed in Delhi around 7:30p. Though I had managed to print our British Airways boarding passes for our flight from Delhi to London at the Hyatt, apparently they weren't good enough to get us through to the international terminal. Instead, we got to sit around in the transfer limbo zone outside the terminal. Our names were finally called around 10p, and we gladly took our official boarding passes and headed through security to the international terminal. By this time, most of the restaurants were closed or in the process of closing, so I stopped at the WH Smith bookshop to grab a snack and magazine to read.

I think our flight was originally scheduled to depart around 3:30a on December 27th, but our flight ended up being delayed until 5:30a. At this point, a pretty thick fog enshrouded the airport, so most flights were delayed (we kept listening to flights continually being pushed back and were a bit worried that our flight wouldn't take off at all -- which was a little concerning, as we needed to get home due to our imminent cross-country move). Interestingly, there are a lot of lounge chairs situated around the gates, but by the time we were looking for a pair, all had been taken. Eventually, we found a spot to call our own, and D camped out on the floor, and I smooshed myself into a chair and used my backpack as a pillow to take a nap for about an hour. Around 3:45a we made our way to our gate; our flight began boarding around 5:30a. Once in my seat, I promptly fell asleep. When I woke up about an hour and a half later, we were still taxiing. Eventually we took off and were on our way to London, only 3.5 hours off schedule.

We arrived in London around 9:45a and once off the plane, promptly headed to our respective bathrooms to do a little refreshening. Luckily, our flight to Denver was scheduled for 12:35p, so our delays leaving Delhi didn't cause any problems with our travel plans. We were very glad that we had a direct flight to Denver as the East Coast of the US had been clobbered by a snowstorm and most flights to anywhere along the East Coast had been cancelled.

I have to admit I did stop off at a Starbucks kiosk in the airport for my first nonfat chai latte in nearly a month. It was just as good as I remembered. : ) Our flight from London to Denver was uneventful, and I spent much of the flight watching movies and reading the magazines I had picked up along the way. Upon our arrival in Denver, we made it through passport control and customs without a hitch, and we greeted my parents at the arrivals area soon after. From there it was a quick trip up I-25 to Fort Collins, where we would spend the night at the Edwards House before completing the journey back to Laramie. Our trip was officially over.

Kathmandu: An Upgrade For Christmas

I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

{Christmas decorations at the Samsara Resort}

As our trek was nearing its end, D and I mulled over what to do during our final few days after we returned to Kathmandu. We originally considered taking a short trip to Chitwan National Park, but given that we likely wouldn't see any wildlife due to the season, we decided it'd probably be a better idea to just hang out in Kathmandu instead. However, we did decide to splurge a bit, and upgraded from our standard room at the Samsara Resort Hotel to a club-level room at the Hyatt Regency Kathmandu. 

After breakfast at the Samsara and second breakfast at Pumpernickel Bakery, D and I stopped back at Pilgrims Book Shop to pick up a Christmas present for Bharat. Then we returned back to our hotel (where they had started to decorate for Christmas) to check out and move to new digs across town. We originally planned to take a taxi, but given that there was a student strike recently in the area where we need to go through, taxi rates had skyrocketed. We ended up taking the hotel's car service to the Hyatt Regency instead.

Upon our arrival at the hotel's grounds, our car was stopped at the gate and was security checked before we were allowed in. Once we arrived, we were ushered up to the sixth floor where we checked in. Oh my, our room was amazing. Perhaps the best part was the huge bathroom with both a ginormous shower (with plenty of hot water) and soaking tub. The first thing I did upon our arrival was take a nice long bath. One bonus of staying at the Hyatt was that their electrical power was pretty much seamless. Due to an overtaxed electrical infrastructure, Kathmandu has multiple power outages during the day (and night). The Samsara typically ran their generator when the power went out at night, but during the day, when the power went out, that was pretty much it until it came back on. At the Hyatt, the power would go out for a short second before the generator kicked in. Pretty nice!

{Hyatt Regency Kathmandu room and ginormous bathroom}

In the afternoon, D and I headed to the hotel's restaurant on the bottom floor for lunch. We both opted for Western meals -- fish and chips for D and a tomato and mozzarella panino for me. While there, we decided to sign up for the hotel's Christmas Eve buffet dinner. Prior to dinner, however, we headed to our floor's lounge area for the evening cocktail and hors d'oeuvres hour at 5p. I may or may not have tried just about one of everything on offer. After stuffing ourselves (okay, myself) silly, we headed downstairs for dinner. The buffet dinner featured a wide variety of options including Mediterranean fare (hummus, tabouli, and the like), traditional Christmas dishes (roast turkey with all the fixin's), and traditional Nepali fare. D and I enjoyed our dinners along with glasses of mulled wine. We completed our (beyond satisfying) meal by sampling several of the desserts on offer. After reaching our fill, we basically rolled ourselves back to our room for the evening.

{lunch, cocktail hour, and Christmas Eve buffet at the Hyatt}

{Christmas Eve}

Nepal: Back in Kathmandu

I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

The theme of our first full day back in Kathmandu after our trek was food. After enjoying the buffet breakfast at our hotel (toast, muesli, and the like), we headed off to Pilgrims Book Shop to find new books to read as D and I had both finished reading the books we'd brought with us on our trek. On our way back from the bookstore we stumbled upon Pumpernickel Bakery, and decided to enjoy a second breakfast of pastries and hot beverages. I opted for a cinnamon roll and hot chocolate, while D chose a chocolate croissant and cup of coffee.

{goodies from Pumpernickel Bakery}

Following our stop at the bakery, we headed back to our hotel, where we sent off some of our dirty clothes from traveling and our trek to be laundered and caught up on email. In the early afternoon we headed out for another meal, this time to the Roadhouse Cafe, which featured wood-fired pizza on its menu. Unlike our first attempt to find this restaurant the second night we were in Kathmandu, we were able to find the cafe this time around with little problem. Following a lunch of (too much) pizza, we ordered a couple of coffees and hung out at the restaurant for awhile longer while we read our books.

{pizza for lunch at the Roadhouse Cafe}

Later in the evening, we met up with Rajan back at our hotel, and we all made our way to Nepali Chulo, a former rana palace, for an evening of traditional Nepali cuisine and a cultural show. We ate our weight in delicious food and had an excellent time listening to the songs and watching the dances that exemplified different regions of Nepal.

{traditional Nepali banquet meal}

Nepal Trek Day Four: Namche - Dole

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

1. Leaving Namche, 2. A view of the trail yet to come, 3. Donation to maintain EBC trekking trails, 4. D giving our donation and signing the book, 5. Along the trail, 6. Mountain view, 7. Along the trail, 8. Along the trail, 9. Along the trail, 10. Village view, 11. Along the trail, 12. Lunch menu, 13. View outside dining room window, 14. Cloud-shrouded mountains, 15. Along the trail, 16. Frozen waterfall, 17. Along the trail, 18. Moss-covered trees, 19. Moss up close, 20. Yak!, 21. Trail view, 22. Welcome to Dole, 23. Dole yak, 24. Dilip striking a pose, 25. Dole lodge dining room, 26. Squat toilet (slightly frozen), 27. Dole lodge room, 28. Foggy view, 29. Lodge menu, 30. Dusk

After a breakfast of lemon pancakes with honey for me and porridge with apples for D, we packed up our gear and were on the trail around 8a. Today was the first day that I really met my nemesis -- trails along steep ledges. I think it's not so much a fear of heights as it is a fear of falling. (Seems to me there's a difference there; I don't particularly mind being somewhere high so long as I have stable footing.) It didn't help that most of the trails are covered in gravel, meaning it's quite easy to lose one's footing. By the end of the day I had a deep pain in my back, I think mainly due to stress tension and being so "on" in my alertness to avoid tripping over loose gravel.

After a lunch break in Phortse Thanga, we continued on our way to Dole. The walk there (though treacherous at times for me) was absolutely stunning. Part of the trail meandered through a shady copse with moss hanging from the trees' branches. As our trail climbed in elevation we passed by several frozen waterfalls. Near one such waterfall we stepped to the side as a family (mom, dad, child, and yak) made there way past us across the small bridge. They were headed down to spend the winter months with family members living in lower elevations.

We arrived in Dole around 3p. At the lodge here, our room featured two twin beds with delightfully-thick comforters and the bathroom was a private squat toilet (our first, and I was rather nervous to give it a go) located down the outside hallway. I took a short nap before heading into the dining room, which already had a roaring fire in the stove. D and I both read a bit and I warmed up with a satisfying mug of hot chocolate. I also spent a good portion of the afternoon staring out the window watching the clouds roll in, obscuring the view of the mountains surrounding Dole.

At Bharat's suggestion, D and I both ordered the veggie sherpa stew (thick vegetarian soup with tubular pasta, carrots, leafy greens, and potatoes), steamed potato momo (dumplings), and popcorn (!) for dinner. All the food definitely hit the spot. D and I both called it a night around 7p. Due to the lack of lighting aside from solar-powered lightbulbs, which aren't particularly bright, there wasn't much reason to stay up any later. 

Nepal Trek Day Three: Namche - Khumjung - Namche

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

1. Mountains and prayer flags above Namche, 2. Me and D and the mountains, 3. Along the trail, 4. Along the trail, 5. Khumjung, 6. Closer view of Khumjung, 7. Carved stones, 8. Me and D in Khumjung, 9. Khumjung stupa, 10. Prayer wheels, 11. Khumjung Monastery, 12. Stone carvings, 13. D and stupa, 14. Heading back to Namche, 15. Airstrip above Namche, 16. D on the trail, 17. Namche from above, 18. Namche Bazaar, 19. Yak bells, 20. Apple strudel, 21. Espresso, 22. Cow-yak hybrid peeking out, 23. Mountains looking over Namche, 24. Namche lodge menu

Day Three was a fairly low-key one. We stayed in Namche two nights to acclimatize to the rising elevation. (Namche is at an elevation of 11,286 feet.) After a leisurely breakfast, we packed up our daypacks, and Bharat led us on a short journey to Khumjung, located just over the ridge from Namche. On the way there, we stopped off at the Everest View Hotel, "the highest-placed hotel in the world." There we enjoyed the views on the back terrace before heading down the hill into Khumjung. Once in Khumjung, we stopped at the home of one of Bharat's friends. Though Bharat's friend (who apparently has summited Everest four times as part of various climbing expeditions) was away guiding a trek, his friend's wife invited us into their home for a warm cup of tea.

After enjoying a small snack, we headed along through the town. We attempted to visit the village's monastery, but unfortunately no one was around as many of the monks (as well as many villagers) were in nearby Tengboche to honor a 93-year-old nun who had recently died.

After wandering through town, we made our way back up and down the ridge into Namche. Our entertainment on the way back was music played on Bharat's cell phone. (Everyone seems to carry a cell phone and cell coverage is surprisingly good throughout the region.) It was a bit surreal to listen to Akon and Justin Bieber along the trail! Lunch at our lodge was chosen by Bharat, and he ordered us both aloo roti - potato pancakes. During lunch we conversed with a couple from Seattle, who were headed back to Lukla after completing the route we planned to do ourselves. They had a lot of helpful advice and it was great hearing recent firsthand experience of the trails ahead.

Following lunch, I took advantage of the warm sunshine and paid the 300 rupees (about $4) for a hot shower. The shower facilities, which were divided into private stalls, were located outside of the first floor of lodge. Though the water was more "lukewarm" than hot, it was still quite nice to clean off the accumulated muck from the dusty trails and wash my hair. After my shower I headed back to our room for a little reading and relaxation.

Later in the afternoon, D and I ventured down into Namche to explore the shops. This is the place to pick up any forgotten gear. Plenty of fake stuff (North Face seems to be the most popular knock-off), but there are also actual dealers too, including shops for Mountain Hardwear and Sherpa Adventure Gear. I took a peek into several souvenir shops and made a note of things I might want to buy on our way back through Namche at the end of our trek.

Upon the recommendation of the Seattle couple, we stopped in the Namche Bakery for an afternoon snack of apple studel and espresso. (Oh, it was so good!) After cleaning our plates, we headed back up the many steps to our lodge for a little more relaxation before dinnertime. Following a filling dinner of cheese pizza (D opted for the more traditional dal baht), we headed to bed around 8p. One random note of the day was that we found out that the lodge owner had actually been to Casper, Wyoming before -- what a small world! 

Nepal Trek Day Two: Phakding - Namche Bazaar

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

The theme of day two was "Up and More Up." As Bharat promised, today involved a lot of steep uphill hiking. Given our early bedtime the previous night, our day started early around 5a. After a 7:30a breakfast of black tea and an apple pancake, we hit the trail.

{early morning village view}

{everywhere you look there's a beautiful scene to behold}

{entryway into Sagarmatha National Park}

{D and I upon entering the park}

We stopped for lunch in Jorsale at 10:45a, surprisingly, though it was only three hours after we had hit the trail, both D and I were starving. I supplemented by traditional platter of dal baht with a slice of apple pie. (I just couldn't resist!) 

Jorsale was the last "village" before the final slog up, up, and up to Namche. Not long after hitting the trail after lunch, we came upon an extremely high suspension bridge. After letting a yak train cross, it was our turn. There was a bit of a steep unprotected step down from the bridge on the other side, and I was glad that Bharat was there to offer a steadying hand. 

{majorly high suspension bridge; I was not a fan}

After a particularly long period of switchbacks of the hillside, we came upon our first view of Mt. Everest. Another bonus of this stopping point was the two villagers selling fresh oranges to eat. The sweet and juicy orange was a refreshing snack after such a long haul uphill.

{Me with the first view of Mt. Everest behind me}

{Me right before that picture was taken}

The trek uphill didn't seem to phase Bharat or Dilip much.

{Bharat and Dilip; just a walk in the park}

Given that there are no roads in this area, the only way to transport items is by carrying them. Needed items are flown to Lukla, and then porters carry them (such as building materials, food, cases of beer, etc.) the rest of the way. After seeing what these porters were carrying, I no longer felt I could complain about the perceived heavy weight of my relatively small daypack.

{all of a sudden our packs feel less heavy after watching these porters pass through}

We arrived in Namche around 2p. The village, which was particularly scenic, was a welcome sight to behold. Unfortunately, we still had about a million (or so it seemed) stairs to climb to make our way through the village up to our lodge for the night.

{Bharat pointing out sights in Namche to D}

As we entered Namche, we passed by a large encampment of Tibetan traders, who had made their way from Tibet to Namche to sell (cheap Chinese) goods to the locals and those passing through town. They stay until their goods are sold before making the ten-day trek back to Tibet.

{a Tibetan yak; Tibetan traders trek into Namche to sell goods in the 
marketplace before making their way back home}

Eventually we arrived at our lodge, and after after reaching our room and dropping my pack, I immediately stripped off several layers and collapsed onto my bed. 

{the entryway to our digs in Namche}

{mountain view from our lodge room window}

After a short nap, D and I headed to the lodge's dining room to relax with a cup of tea and get in some reading. D and I also played a few rounds of Scrabble to entertain ourselves before dinner.

{lodge dining room}

{Tashi (which means "lucky"), the lodge dog, and resident crumb picker-upper}

Tonight's dinner consisted of a cheese sandwich (which was delicious) and more black tea. After dinner we hung out for a little while more with our fellow lodgemates before calling it a night. After an exhausting day of hiking, I was definitely looking forward to hitting the hay. I was also looking forward to not having to pack up all our stuff, as we would be staying in Namche again the following night as we acclimatized to the elevation. 

Nepal: Touring the Kathmandu Valley

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.

On our first full day in Kathmandu, as part of our trek package with Earthbound Expeditions, D and I took a full-day tour of UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley. It was a six-hour whirlwind of "temples, temples, and more temples" (as I wrote in my travel journal), each with its own interesting history. Here are a few images of the sites we saw:

Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple

Durbar Square

Pashupatinath Temple

Boudhanath Stupa

Prim (our driver), me, Ram (our city tour guide), and D at the end of a long day

After our tour was over, we came back to our hotel and immediately took a short nap. (I needed to sleep off a pollution-induced headache; due to its valley location, Kathmandu is terribly smoggy and smoke-filled). Later that evening Rajan met us at the hotel and introduced us to Bharat, who would be our guide on our trek in the Himalayas. We were also given our complimentary down jackets, which we would soon come to love (and live in) during the cold nights and early mornings high in the mountains. After an unsuccessful attempt to find one of the recommended cafes listed in our Lonely Planet guidebook, we ended up back at our hotel's restaurant for dinner. After reorganizing our gear and charging our electronics, it was off to bed, as we had an early get-up the following morning to meet Bharat for our flight to Lukla.

Nepal: Getting There

{via}

Over the next three weeks, I'm taking a trip down memory lane with a look back at our trip to Nepal last December. For all of the entries about our trek, click here.


It took us two days to reach Kathmandu from Denver; we left on December 4th and arrived in Nepal on the morning of December 6th. Our first flight took us from Denver to London. After leaving Denver at 5:30p on December 4th, we arrived in London at 9a the next day. We had about a three-hour layover until our next flight to Delhi. Though I stayed awake watching moves on the DEN-LHR flight, I managed to catch a few z's on the flight to India. We arrived in Delhi at 1:45a on December 6th. And thus began the first snafu of the trip. We hadn't thought to check our bags through to Kathmandu, as we were switching airlines in Delhi. I figured we'd just go through customs, grab our bags, and then put them back through for our flight on Jet Airways. Of course, without any sort of visa (I didn't think we'd need one, since we wouldn't be leaving the airport), this plan was a no-go. I spent a few frantic moments (okay, more like several frantic hours, as I was nervous about the potential whereabouts of our bags until I actually saw them again) talking with British Airways gate agents outside the international terminal. On both our flights into and out of the Delhi airport we were stuck in international transfer limbo as several hours elapsed between our arrival at the airport and when we could check in to our flight and actually enter the international terminal. D set up his backpack and fell asleep for awhile; I was too nervous/worried to do any sleeping myself.

After what seemed like forever, we finally checked into our 7:30a flight to Kathmandu, got our boarding passes, and headed through security into the international terminal. The terminal itself was really nice -- lots of restaurants, shops, and seating/lounging areas. I picked up a snack of mango juice at one of the magazine/gift shops and we set off to find our gate. Our plane ended up being delayed an hour, but otherwise was uneventful. I spent the majority of the flight staring out my window and enjoying my first glimpses of the snow-topped mountains and mountaintop villages that surrounded the Kathmandu Valley. I remember thinking to myself how surreal it was to finally be on my way -- the trip to Nepal was something I had dreamed about doing for a long time.

We arrived in Kathmandu around 10:45a, and after breezing through immigration (we had purchased our tourist visas in advance, though you can get them upon arrival as well), we headed to baggage claim. From my journal entry that day: "Surprise upon surprise, and joy upon joy -- our bags were there - HOORAY!" There was a slight kerfluffle after we got our bags as the baggage tags didn't match our claim tags, since they had been re-tagged in Delhi, but we managed to explain why they differed.

We left through customs and met Prim, who would drive us to our hotel and to other destinations during our time in Kathmandu. From the airport, and onto the road! Oh my god, is traffic in Kathmandu crazy! There are no traffic lanes, no real rules, and the roadways are a chaotic blend of cars, bikes, motorcycles, rickshaws, and other forms of transport. Clearly we were not in Kansas anymore. I remember being immediately sent into sensory overload -- lots of noises, honking horns (good prep for living in Philly?), people everywhere, animals everywhere, and more. The smell of burning trash was particularly evocative, and reminded me of my time spent in Honduras.

We arrived at the Samsara Resort Hotel, which would be our digs while in Kathmandu. Though the rooms were spartan, they were well-maintained and the staff was friendly and quite helpful. Soon after our arrival we met with Rajan, and together we headed over to the Earthbound Expeditions offices (just a short walk from our hotel), where we signed the requisite waiver forms and paid the balance of our trekking fee.

Clockwise, from left: 1. Samsara Resort Hotel 2. A View of Our (Messy) Room 

3. The View From Our Hotel Window 4. Samsara Hotel Entryway

Though the offices were only a short walk from our hotel, we still managed to get ourselves turned around, and it took about a half an hour to find our way back. (It probably didn't help that we stopped along the way to find an ATM, so quickly lost sight of our original pathway from the hotel.) Luckily we happened upon Prim and he walked us back to the hotel to ensure we wouldn't get lost again.

After a much-needed (and longer than planned) nap we checked and sent email (it was super convenient that the hotel had both wifi and an Internet-connected public computer in the lobby). Later in the evening we headed downstairs to the hotel's restaurant for dinner and then soon after called it a night -- after nearly non-stop travel, we were definitely looking forward to getting a good night's sleep in a real bed. The next morning we would be up early to spend the day exploring Kathmandu.

Where I've Been: Nepal

One year ago today D and I embarked on a trip that I had dreamed about taking for a long time. Our destination? Nepal and a trek in the Himalayas. Embarrassingly, I first became enamored with the idea of traveling to the Himalayas when the Real World Seattle cast went there during the trip portion of the show. (Do they still go on an epic trip? I stopped watching sometime around the Las Vegas season.) Given that the Seattle season aired in 1998, I had been hankering for quite a while to make the trip to Nepal. Over the years I amassed quite a collection of adventure company brochures featuring treks to destinations in Asia, including the Himalayas, and I often daydreamed about joining one of the treks on offer.

When we first decided that last December would make an excellent time for taking this epic trip, I first had my eye on one of the treks offered by REI. However, the dates didn't quite mesh with the ones we had in mind (D was teaching in the fall semester, so we couldn't leave until the semester was over), so I looked into independent companies. (Given the potential cold temperatures, I also wasn't too thrilled with the idea of nightly camping, as was a feature of the REI trek I had my eye on.) I liked the idea of going with a local (i.e., Nepali) trekking company, and thus keeping the money in the local economy, rather than going with a Western company. After some research, I came upon the Kathmandu-based Earthbound Expeditions, which happened to be the number-one rated Himalayan trekking company on TripAdvisor.

In July (2010), I got in contact with Rajan Simkhada, the trekking company's president, and through email, we planned a private trek for D and I with a guide and porter for three weeks in December. D and I also consulted with the husband of one of D's colleagues at the time, who actually had spent a good portion of time working for a trekking company and leading treks through the Himalayas in Nepal. Soon after our initial contact with Rajan, we wired a deposit via Western Union (that was fun!), and our trip planning was officially underway. After the cost of the trek, the other major expense was airfare, and we opted for a British Airways flight that took us from Denver to Delhi via London, and then switched in Delhi to a Jet Airways flight that would take us the rest of the way to Kathmandu. Our final purchase (other than gear, which I think deserves its own post) was purchasing travel insurance for both of us including medical evacuation coverage.

Over the summer we tested out some of our gear and our aptitude for altitude by getting in some hikes in the Rockies, including a hike up Grays (14,270 ft) and Torreys (14,267 ft) peaks. The rest of the summer and early fall was spent accumulating gear and waiting in anticipation for the 4th of December. (Especially since I was saving up all my vacation days for our trip, so I hadn't had many days off, except for company holidays and a personal day here and there.) There were also some major logistics involved, as just a few days after we returned from our major trip, movers would arrive at our front door to haul our stuff from Laramie to Philadelphia. My parents generously offered to housesit for us while we were gone so that we wouldn't have to worry about leaving our houseful of possessions alone for the three weeks we would be away. Another bonus of their long-term stay was that they could also provide chauffeur service for us to the Denver airport!

As I spent this afternoon looking through photos from our trip, I thought it would be fun to share with you a look back at our adventure last year. Over the next three weeks, I will intersperse posts about last year's adventure with my usual food and goings-on posts. I hope you will enjoy taking a trip down memory lane (even if just one year ago) with me!