A wonderful 3 weeks in Nepal

Written by Sofia

Next up we went to Nepal! My brother, Paolo, lives in Kathmandu so it was great to see him, and my dear friend, Jasmine, also joined us! I visited Paolo in Nepal last year and loved it, so it was special to introduce Bruno and Jasmine to the area and see some of Paolo’s friends again. We spent 2 weeks in Boudha (a neighborhood in Kathmandu), and then split up for one week. Bruno hiked for the week, and the rest of us (Jasmine, Paolo and I) went to a retreat.

Some highlights in Boudha

At the center of Boudha is the Boudha Stupa, a sacred site in Tibetan Buddhism. Surrounding the stupa are many Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and restaurants with both Tibetan and Nepali cuisine. The stupa is always busy with monks and other Buddhist practitioners (mostly doing koras). We usually went one or more times each day, and there’s truly nothing else like it. It’s a special experience each time.

Eating a veg thali. There are unlimited refills for most things on this plate!

One of my favorite experiences was cooking dinner at Paolo’s place with his friend Tashi. After being on the road eating out so much, it was very special to make a home-cooked meal with family ❤️

Momos!

Viewpoint of Kathmandu:

A street:

Sunrise:

Putting up the prayer flags:

Shechen Monastery:

Celebrating Bruno’s 30th birthday ❤️

For Nepali New Year (April 14th), we went to the town of Bhaktapur for their Biska Jatra festival:

Retreat

As Bruno headed for a week-long hike, the rest of us went to a Buddhist monastery called Namo Buddha for their yearly Seminar. There were two teachings and 2-3 meditation sessions per day for a week. This was my first time at a retreat, and I now understand why people do them! It’s hard to put into words how much I enjoyed this week. A brief recap:

  • I learned so much from the teachings.
  • They gave us 3 meals a day and the food was so so good.
  • The other participants there were such kind people and it was really interesting to hear about how they encountered Buddhism and what their path has been.
  • Namo Buddha is a peaceful place, far from the city, at the top of a hill with fresh air. The main sounds you hear are of birds chirping and children laughing. Because of the early start time, I saw the sunrise each morning. I turned my phone off. There was a peace that I felt that week and an abundance of time for introspection that can be difficult to experience in the busyness of day to day life.
  • It was even better to share this week with two people I love (Paolo and Jasmine).

Views of the monastery:

With one of our teachers:

With my brother and Jasmine (and James!):

The Trek

Written by Bruno

As a birthday present to myself, I decided to go for a week-long trek in the Himalayas. I settled on the Langtang Valley trek; a trek that is on the easier side and absent of snow. The presence of snow was critical in determining which trek I could do, since I didn’t have any of my hiking gear with me (good backpack, crampons, poles, etc.). I was accompanied by a guide named Buddhi, a Nepali from a village near the Himalayas.

The trek was an 8 day adventure, consisting of 2 days of driving (one to go, and one to come back) and 6 days of walking.

The elevation gain was roughly 1000 meters per day, with between 10 and 15 kilometers of walking.

I slept in “tea houses”, which are little B&Bs providing food and beds for hikers along the trek. I really enjoyed eating the local food. My go-to meal was dal bhat.

Here are some pictures of the highlights.

The jeep that took me on the 6 hours drive from Kathmandu to Langtang:

Starting my hike, we can still see some smog in the air:

Starting to see snow peaks on day 2:

Some photos from a few of the summits:

Other noteworthy things:

  • I spent the week completely “offline”, my phone on airplane mode. I think it’s the first time since I was about 10 years old that I didn’t access the Internet for a full week. It felt amazing, but I was also bored at times, more thoughts coming at a later point.
  • The villages along the trail are not accessible by car, this means that all the food/water/supply that you buy along the way have been carried there by either humans or mules.
  • The last day was brutal, 34+ km and 55,00+ steps; I loved it.
  • I realize that I like being in nature, and that I like to be alone.