Magical Nepal, Mystic Mountains

Lotus Flower

Mt. Incredible!

Rise of the Ancient Ones

Nepali little one

Surrounded by Mountain spirits

Awesome...up for a climb?

Campin' at the top of Mother Earth

Layin' back and Lovin' it

Magical Mountain Monkey Moments :)

Langtang baby!!

Chorten prayer wall and Himalayas

Up, up...and away

Mountains and hillsides in Langtang

Donavon chillin' by a fast and furious Khola

Beautiful Journeys

Soooo Happy :)

9 hour rooftop bus ride moment

Friends we met along the way

Mountain view from Rara Tal region

Rara Tal (Lake)!!!

Up High, near Rara Tal :)--~

Medicinal Plants Everywhere...8)

Cool river view spot on Rara trek

Jumla village... Rara trek

Cookin' up some traditional goodies

Bardia N.P- 1 horned Rhino

Mommy and baby 1 horned Rhino - Bardia N.P

Hello wonderful people, hope you're out in the streets bringing back the revolution for peace and justice...I'm so proud of the Amerikan grassroots movement for the news I've been watching lately...I hope this is the beginning of the transformation to a more Utopian country where family and communities come together to love life and live for each precious moment...the richness of simpler living. Give up the illusion of finding true happiness through materialistic accumulations and return to the roots of who we are as a species, balanced, full of life and passions and reaching out a caring hand to help those around us. Well, I think I could have preached a little longer but I'll stop there and just say, step outside and let your voice be heard. I've been so excited and impressed by the country of Nepal, where everywhere you turn around someone is sharing a smile and offering acts of kindness. Life is at a slower pace, we are still very connected to Mother Earth here and seeing the interdependence of the land and creatures is evident in everyday life...it's beautiful. Since the last communique we've done much and I'll try to summarize without writing a small novel because it's been quite a ride. We chilled at Bardia for a few days, took a walk into the deep jungle looking for tigers...only saw footprints though. We did see some very cool 1 horned rhinos, mother and baby, as well as some snappy crocodiles :) It seemed very adventurous at the time because the grass is so high we were literally crawling through narrow pathways and listening very intently for any approaching footprints. All was well though and after several hours of hiking and watching we came back out of the jungle and celebrated our experience with some traditional fermented wine and some good conversation with other travelers we met.  Our next big trip was heading up north towards Tibet to a place called Rara lake, which is Nepal's largest. The lake itself is deep into Nepal's remote Western region and took quite a lot to reach it, but the journey as well as the destination was worth every challenge. We started by taking a several hour bus ride to a place called Surket where we had to take a 30 minute flight up to the closest town to the lake. We wanted to try and make it by land but apparently the road was really bad and we were trying  to do a rafting trip in the same area and thought we only had 10 days...unfortunately when we actually headed back down, the rafting company  said the river was too high and we couldn't do the 7 day trip :( . Anyway, from the town closest to the lake, Jumla, we did a 10 day round trip hike up and down anywhere from 6,000 - 12,000 feet. We passed through small villages and joined families for meals, camped in amazing spots where you could see the Himalayas and another place where we could see Rara  from far away, this was a side trip in which we climbed a ridge and saw the lake a day before the trail would take us to the shore.  Once we reached the lake we were exhausted from the long climb but so exhilarated to be at the cool refreshing turquoise blue green waters; we jumped in for a nice swim looking through the clear waters to see beautiful fish and kelp floating around us. We chilled at Rara for a couple days and then hiked back to Jumla  where we decided to try the commute back to Surket via road...wow was this exciting? We took a short 2 hour bus ride to the end of where the bus could drive and then ended up hitchhiking on a tractor for 10 hours on an incredibly bumpy road. I joke not that we were gripping so tight for that entire ride that our hands were blistered and our bodies were so sore for a couple days afterwords. After the 10 hour ride we slept on a small cot in the corner of someones house, woke the next day for another 17 hour bus ride along side swiftly moving rivers and lush jungle covered hills. Finally after a 3 day journey, compared to a 30 minute plane ride we reached Bardia again...where we had our cycles stored and stayed a couple of days to recover from our strenuous adventure. We left Bardia for an overnight bus ride to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal and had some serious culture shock...this place has a serious tourist scene and  you can basically find anything you desire...good food and deserts, all kinds of souvenirs, live music and cool people. This place can really suck you in, so to get an exposure to the real Nepal, getting out of Kathmandu quickly is a wise idea.....so I'm really glad we've spent most of our time in rural areas. We stayed in Kathmandu for a couple of days and then went out into the countryside for a 2 day rafting trip, which was awesome. We stayed at a riverside resort and rafted class 3 and 4 rapids for 2 incredible days, Donavon fell out 3 times in some serious rapids but survived the experience and was still smiling at the end. Now we're back in Kathmandu and we are headed out tomorrow for a 10 day trek to the mountains of Langtang...deep inside the Himalayas. This is the mountain trip that we've been gearing up for...20,000 + feet mountains encircling ancient villages and glaciers just a few miles from the mystic land of Tibet. I'm missing you all and Donavon will be headed home just a couple of days after we return from this last trek, which will be a big change for me but I just can't describe how wonderful being with my beautiful son for 5 months has been. He's been really excited to get to see the family back in the states, see his friends and start "school" back up. I'm happy for him and also anticipating the start of a new journey for me :) Well peeps, I'm thinking of you and holding positive thoughts that life is treating you well and your finding peace and happiness in this beautiful moment. I will be uploading pictures when we return from this trip and give you guys a peak into the beauties of Nepal and our adventures. Love to you all, Will and Donavon