Into the Himalayas to trek

We started our 5 day Annapurna trek out of the city of Pokhara - a nice town on a beautiful lake. It was great to get a break from the noise and pollution of Kathmandu. The Maoist Rebels would not let us pass the first suspension bridge without paying what they called a "tax" ($2 for every day we'd be on the trail).

Being in the Himalayas was beautiful. Waking up to snow peaked mountains every morning is not a bad way to start your day! Our views also included many waterfalls, quaint villages, tiered rice fields, jungles with monkeys, beautiful flowers, gigantic marijuana plants and peaceful pastures and valleys.

It was festival time so we got to witness all the traditions of a variety of festivals (dancing, drumming, costumes). Children in the mountain villages were making marigold necklaces - so we wore ours as we treked. One day we were at such a high altitude (3200 metres) that we had to put on our toques and winter jackets.

I enjoyed the Tibetan bread with honey and the chai masala tea. I did not enjoy (and will not miss) the yak cheese (the only type of cheese available on the trek). We often had to share the trail with sheep, horses, cows and water buffalo. The days were physically gruelling (for me anyways) sometimes climbing straight up or down stairs for 6-8 hours per day. It was fun to meet many nice people from all over the world that were on the same trek as us.