Lets Go Trekking

For Dashain break this year, which is the big festival here, the JV’s headed out to Jhapa which is the southeastern district of Nepal. I was excited to finally get outside the valley for a little bit! We took a 17 hour bus ride, which was insane. With in the first hour of the bus ride, a window had fallen out and shattered and the driver didn’t even blink let alone stop. It usually is only a 15 hour bus ride but because of an accident we got stuck at 2am for 2 hours. So I took advantage of this break to stretch out and sleep on the road for a little bit, in which the charming Nepali men around us referred to us as dogs, even though they were doing the same thing. Though alas we arrived at 7am in Jhapa. After spending a night at the Jes Res there, Fr. Bill and the six of us headed out for our trekking adventure. We began at 90m and by the end of day one were at 3000m, it was absolutely exhausting, and my asthma became an issue for me, one that frustratingly slowed me down. The second day was hard because the morning was filled with going downhill which was nice, but then in the afternoon, we made a went straight up. Though we did have fun at the India border. The trek we took was along the Nepal India border so we weaved in and out of Nepal and India, fortunately we only hit one check-post, which is where we discovered my visa was about 2.5 weeks expired. Fr. Bill was not concerned, and once we discovered that the guards were smoking up, I realized technicalities were not an issue. So on we went. We made it about half way up Sandakphu, which was our goal. But we were able to stay at a beautiful lodge, where we were lost among the mountains and fog. The next morning we headed out early and in 3 hours we had reached the top, which was ahead of the 5 hours, Fr. Bill thought. On the way up the views were beautiful, we were literally among the clouds. It also was the first time that it smelled like autumn since being in Nepal. It was wonderful! Though it did make me miss home and the changing colors. Once at the top it was too cloudy to see the Himalayas (which mean snow capped mountains) views. But the lodge was so cozy, though it was honestly the coldest I have been since being here! That night it rained, which was good because it cleared away the clouds and we had absolutely breathtaking views of the Himalayas. We woke up at 5 am and watched the sun come up around us, that with the mountain views was fantastic! I even saw Everest for the first time, and after this trek, I have realized I will leave it to the real trekkers and just enjoy the sight of it. After about 1.5 of watching the range we had a good breakfast and headed down the mountain, which was the desolation of the trip for me. Since, it had rained the night before the dirt path had turned into a slippery clay or brown death as I think of it. I spent most of the way down on the ground; it was incredibly frustrating. So needless to say it was quite a relief when then next day we were finally down the mountain and in Illam our final destination. From there we rode a bus back to Jhapa, spent the night and next day touring around the Jesuits projects, and then at 4 am we took a bus back to the Valley. It was a good trip, regardless of how challenging, and it was nice to be able to take the time and reflect and be away from “normal” life. It was also good for me to see what life is like outside the valley. It is easy to think that all of Nepal is like Kathmandu, because of how massive the city is, but in reality things are very different. We were able to have chiyaa with a tea-worker’s family whose children go to St. Xaviers school in the valley. How the tea gardens work is that you work in the fields and then you are provided housing and a salary. The housing is multiple houses placed together on a small compound. For example, the family that we visited had three houses (and by houses I mean concrete one-two bedroom shanties) with 10 people living there, which Fr. Bill said was small. It was remarkable. I am often amazed at the different levels of poverty that are found in Nepal. Overall the trip was wonderful and a perfect way to spend my first Dashain.










Katie and I


Prayer Flags













The JV's and Fr. Bill


Himalyas