Nepal 2016 – View From The Top (Annapurna Base Camp)
Trek leg write-up by Grace:
“So far, this trip has been hectic, challenging, beautiful, fascinating, but ultimately rewarding. [Following Murphy’s Law], everything that can go wrong has, and yet we’ve still pushed forward. After several relaxed days at Hotel Planet Bhaktapur, we hopped onto the bus to Pokhara and launched our trekking adventure. Our second and third days were our steepest, but on the picturesque misty walk through a grassy valley amongst hundreds of goats, we landed at Annapurna Base Camp.
The clouds covered most of the view on the morning of departure, but we managed to capture a stunning glimpse of Annapurna I. A few more days downhill past the wet tree-line (which really looked like a jungle but we couldn’t decide which…), plus a couple of surprise, never-ending staircases, we found ourselves at the end of our trek, in a bumpy jeep ride to a bus to Pokhara.
After a chill day in Pokhara, we discovered the [lesser-known] restaurant here called “Mo 2’s.” Hit them up on Trip Advisor. The group consensus is that they had the best Momo’s we’d eaten all trip…”
-Grace Alston, July 2016
From new Trip Leader Trish Bennett’s notes:
While “out in the field,” Global Routes Co-Leaders diligently take notes on everything from the quality of the group’s restaurant experiences to taxi and hotel recommendations. Of course, this also includes notes on each student. We hope you’ll enjoy the following excerpts straight from our leaders’ journals:
“Gabe is in very good spirits. He is enjoying his homestay family and work project. He is helping to spearhead the “friendship camp” project with Defne. Mary says he was very positive during the hike – that he was having a lot of fun even in the middle of a rainstorm. He has been spending his downtime with Edward and reading his book when he can.”
“Defne has been helping Gabe to spearhead friendship camp. She is taking the trip very seriously, looking for ways to learn and grow as an individual and a leader. She communicates very well and openly with the group. She’s really enjoying her homestay family/home and loves all the food.”
“Cole has been working very hard at the worksite. He is enjoying his homestay and the service project. He has been spending time playing with the local children at the school during the work day when he’s not playing cards with the rest of the group.”
“Merak is working very hard to communicate with his home stay family, who speaks very little English. He has a very positive attitude, which helps to encourage the group – his energy is always contagiously high and he’s always working hard on the project.”
“Josh is thriving in his homestay experience. He has been working hard on his Nepali in order to communicate with his host family – he teaches the other students new words each day. He offered to cook for his host family on the third night, and it was a big success in the form of tasty yeast pancakes.”
“Jill has been working extremely hard at the worksite. She is always the last one to come back for a break and the first one returning to work (and usually reminding others to join her!) She has been getting dirty and staying very positive with all the work we’ve been doing.”
“Edward, who’s not a native English speaker, has been communicating more and more with other group members as the trip goes on, talking and joking with them more every day. He is also making a big effort to speak Nepali with his host family and is helping to each other students. He is becoming a more vocal member of the group. He spends his downtime studying his Nepali phrase book or playing cards with the group.”
“Grace has been working hard at the worksite, and has also enjoyed playing Frisbee with the locals. She has been doing really well in her homestay and really enjoys the food and hospitality there. She and her roommate really get along.”
“Taya has been working very hard during the day at the worksite. She helps to bring order to the group when it gets a bit too loud and crazy. She is very open with her feelings – which is great as it helps bring the group up with her positivity.”
