Our first trip to Nepal

Nepal was added to my “places to visit” list when I was in Scotland at an Airbnb. The owners of the house were old and had traveled all over the world. I always ask people what’s the most amazing place they’ve ever been to. Their answer? “Nepal.” They added, “We traveled so much, but we were always returning to Nepal.”

We decided that we wanted to go to Nepal to trek in the mountains too. We chose Annapurna sunrise with an agency we found in the National Geographic tour guide. It wasn’t the hardest trek, and it was perfect for our first trip there.

We took the trip one year ago and looking back at the photos, I remember the exact feelings I had when I stepped off the plane. First of all, I was so thankful that we landed safely. I read that because of the mountains planes sometimes crush (rarely though) and I wasn’t feeling very comfortable about this :)). Also, I caught a cold a few days earlier and I thought my ears and head would explode because of the pressure. Always blow your nose a lot before flying if you’re sick, trust me :))

When we exited the airport, my heart broke a little. I knew about the earthquake in 2015, but I had never imagined what this looks like in reality. Most of the buildings were destroyed, there was so much dust and polution in the air, you could barely breathe. We arrived at our hotel and hurried to get outside so we could head out to visit Kathmandu, the capital.

I’d travel in Asia before but this part of it was particularly special. It was so crowded on the streets. Cars, people, motorcycles, horns, cows, you had to be so careful all the time. People were nice. Some of them were very poor, but really kind. I felt safe throughout our time there.

We spent 2 days visiting Katmandu before heading to Annapurna where we were supposed to start climbing the mountains. The distance between Katmandu and Annapurna is 200 km and it took us 9 hours to get there by bus.

From Annapurna we started climbing up. For 3 days, we climbed and climbed and there were times when I said, “I cannot do it anymore,” and that’s when Mircea was taking my backpack too, poor guy. I have to mention that we didn’t train a lot for the trip, we just ran a few times before. Anyway, I’m not the fittest person, but the trek is still possible even if you don’t go to gym often.

The climb was so beautiful! Oh my God, it’s such a peaceful place! We slept in very very modest lodges where you had to pay for the shower. We ate in modest places also, and we loved it. We only ate local food, and drank too much ginger tea. We met a lot of locals, people who actually live at 3000m altitude there and who bring up their food using donkeys. Poor donkeys have to carry everything up there, even construction materials for new lodges or houses. We saw a lot of monkeys, but we didn’t see tigers, thank God :)) We had a really awesome guide who shared with us the background and history of Nepal. He also shared that he had seen a few tigers in his life on other treks.

The best moment was the last climb to see the sunrise and one of the highest mountains in the world. We woke up at 4 a.m. and I felt so bad, I could barely get up there. I felt dizzy and sick for a few hours. When we arrived up there everything changed. That was the reason of our trip, and we got there, and I was so happy looking out at the beautiful mountains in front of us.

I have tried to travel as much as possible over the past few years but no destination has given me the peace and happiness Nepal did. I left a part of me there and we decided to go back as soon as we can. Hopefully for Everest base camp trek, which is harder and longer and it requires more intensive training.

Nepal, I love you so much!

Hope you enjoy the photos, you can always contact me if you have questions about the trip.

Odrida & Mircea