Mellow Expeditions - @jrm.daily
This month’s feature comes from @jrm.daily who talked to us about her trip to Nepal with her dad. However, this wasn’t your classic sunny family holiday away. Instead, they spent 13 days hiking through villages, valleys & up mountains for around 8 hours a day. Here’s what she had to say..
When on a hike in the Lake District one day with my dad, we spoke about trying more hikes out of our comfort zone. Instead of doing something difficult like Scafell Pike, we decided to go all out and go to Nepal, specifically Annapurna, part of The Himalayas. The trek we chose started in Pokhara and travelled through farms, villages, valleys, rivers and mountains up to the peak of Khopra Dada 3660m high.
The trail was challenging with high altitude and up to 8 hours of hiking a day through all different terrain for 13 full days, but so worth it. To be immersed in the mountains, with my dad, learning about a new culture and being in the iconic mountain range was the greatest experience of my life thus far.
Some of the most memorable parts of the trip consisted of a sunrise hike to Poon Hill (3210m) looking out to Mt Dhaulagiri and Mt Annapurna, visiting the Hindu and Buddhist Temples in Kathmandu learning about Kumara and the afterlife, and meeting the people of Nepal who lived 3000m+ living off the land with the simplest of lives yet being the happiest people I’ve ever met. Our guide Ram taught me a lot about Nepal and the Himalayas, it was not only a physical journey but also a mental and spiritual one throughout. I can’t forget about the food! It was divine, 2 weeks of eating fresh vegetarian Nepali dishes with people from all over the world, in the foreign landscape, was surreal.
When departing from Kathmandu, I reflected on the trip. It was rich with culture, full of natural wonders that captured my heart and a once in a lifetime experience. My dad and I knew we would go back to Nepal sometime in the future for a different trek as there is so much more waiting for us. The main thought that stuck with me from this experience was; whatever you’re doing in life, there is always a bigger picture, always somewhere waiting to be explored and teach you something new, where you are right now is not the be all and end all.