Nepal 2012.

After almost two months of being home, I have finally been bothered to upload my pictures of my trip to Nepal in December last year to my laptop. I thought it'd be nice to show you guys what I got up to over there, since it's something I'm really passionate about and want to do more in the future.

Hiking through Chitwan National Park

A busy street in Kathmandu

 As you can probably guess by the gorgeous pictures, Nepal was an adventure and a half! I was in a team of 11 students with a leader and two teachers, and we spent 3 weeks in the beautiful country. The first thing that hits you when you get to Nepal and step out of the airport is the extreme poverty of the place. There were people everywhere with disabilities and the entire place was so dirty that we had black gunk up our noses for the whole time. But that aside the people there were so friendly, always offering to help, and it goes to show that you don't need everything to be happy, you just need to be able to appreciate what you have.

A local on top of an unfinished building in Kathmandu

The first "activity" that we did was our 6 day hike. Most of our group was pretty fit, but the first day of our trek absolutely killed us. We were climbing up the mountainside at a pace that was almost too fast to keep up with, and it may have had something to do with the fact that the Sherpa that was leading us had climber Mt Everest six times and lived to tell the tales! When our tents came into view that first night

 I think we all wanted to cry with happiness, and the view was absolutely stunning. Our tents were pitched on a field overlooking the Annapurna range (pictured) and it made for some absolutely breathtaking views when the

  

Prayer flags at Monkey Temple, Kathmandu.

 sun rose and set. The next five days of the trek were just as exhausting but so rewarding. Everyday the sherpas would power on ahead of the group and set up lunch and dinner for us. We had a rule in country to "Boil it, peel it or forget it" so needless to say that every meal we had was piping hot. A few of us (including me) got sick partway through but that didn't stop us from completing the trek in high spirits.

Our next adventure was in the town of Pokhara. Similar to Kathmandu, this town was however much smaller and a lot quieter, which I enjoyed more than the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu. One of my favourite things about Pokhara was the gorgeous lake that stretched out to almost touch the mountains, and apart from the colourful boats on it, you could also sit and watch people paragliding off of the mountains. At any one time there were at least 20 paragliders in the air. I wish I could have gotten a photo of them.

Put we weren't in Pokhara just to have fun. We also had work to do! Before we left for Nepal we had done a years worth of fundraising to raise enough money to do a community project. Our project was to paint classrooms of a local school that was in dire need of some

A monkey at the aptly named "Monkey Temple"

Boats in Pokhara school that was in dire need of some touching up. 

touching up. While we were working the kids would peer through the windows at us. There were no glass windows, only iron bars (you can imagine how cold it would be in the winter). Whenever we had lunch breaks we got to play frisbee with the kids and teach them a bit of English. They all quickly learnt how to say "camera" because their absolutely favourite thing was to have photos taken of themselves. (See the two pictures below). They were such gorgeous kids that it was almost impossible to believe that most of them would be going to home to a place

where they might not even have dinner. At then end of our six days working there we had managed to paint the whole bottom storey of classrooms and had also donated school supplies and enough money to finish painting the top classrooms. An effort well done on everybody's part.

Our next adventure was so amazing it is almost hard to believe that I actually did it.
Chitwan National Park was about a 6 hour bus ride from Pokhara so by the time we

Our campsite overlooking the Annapurna Range

got there we were all pretty exhausted, but not exhausted enough to not get excited when we saw an elephant roaming along the same street we were on! The place that we stayed at while we were there was a big step up from the tents we slept in on the hike and the kindergarten classroom we slept in at the school, so the beds were hugely welcomed by everyone. I even got to have my third shower in as many weeks.

The hi-light of the whole trip for me was the "elephant washing" that we did. Basically we got to sit right on the back of an elephant while it
sprayed us with water from it's trunk. After a few of those sprays it would sit down in the river and then throw you off of its back. It was the most fun I
have ever had! and one that you would no doubt pay thousands for in any other country. We also went on an elephant safari where we saw some more wild animals such as a mother rhino and her child as well as some deer. It really was a breathtaking moment to be able to experience all of it from the back of an elephant.

By the end of our journey we were all exhausted and ready for the long flight home, but at the same time it was bittersweet leaving the country that we had learn to love so much in those three short weeks. Looking back now I wouldn't trade my experience for anything. The things I learnt about

Stunning view of the Annapurna Range.

not only myself but also the beautiful of the world and the people that populate it are lessons that I am going to take with me through life, and memories that I will cherish forever.

If I have one word of advice for you, it would be that next time you consider getting away on a holiday, try and think outside of the box in terms of where to go. Don't go to destinations just because they are "easy destinations" you should go places that open your mind and your heart to the world.

If you have any questions about my experience let me know.

We were higher than the clouds!

The gorgeous kids and I at ShreeRam Primary School

The kids.

Chitwan National Park

Elephant safari

Spotted some Rhinos!

Kathmandu

Some of the girls in my team getting sprayed by an elephant

 Over and out,
Erin.