Friday, September 30, 2011
Crazy Kathmandu!
Well I have arrived safely in Nepal! First off, I have to say, that I saw Mt. Everest, along with 4 other peaks, popping out from above the clouds from the plane!!!! Pretty stunning! When i saw that i realized the whole trip was worth while! So--Kathmandu....This city is nothing short of insane! Motorcycles, scooters, trucks, vans, cars, bicycles, pedestrians, stray dogs, pigs and cows all trying to share the same tiny roads going whichever direction they please, and honking at one another constantly! It is nuts! Despite all the craziness of the city, it feels good to be back on the road again, where $5 gets you food and lodging for the night, every bathroom is BYO TP, there are people from all over the world to be met and exotic food to be eaten! I am most definitely looking forward to getting out of the big city! Tomorrow I am heading to Pokhara, a smaller town where there should be good Himalayan views! I found some people to do big hike with, so in a few days I will be off into the mountains to do a hike that should take anywhere from 2-3 weeks. I am very much looking forward to that! I am also planning to do the everest base camp trek while i am out here, not sure when exactly but im sure ill get to it! Hope everyone is doing well!
Monday, September 26, 2011
airports are my friends
i am listening to some great music right now and feeling pretty excited about spending the next 2 days in airports. i love them! haha, i fly to Seoul and then to Bangkok and then on to Kathmandu! I will arrive (2 days later) on the SAME DAY that the biggest celebration of the year begins and lasts for two weeks! apparently most businesses close down so it should be very interesting! it has been a wonderful week spending time with family, although some of it was not on the best terms..it was still good to see everyone! i pretty much spent the last week eating good food and drinking good wine...so i really cant complain!
i wrote in my last blog about the volunteer organization i am going to be working for...i set up a fundraising page for the company because i think what they are doing is amazing! the proceeds of this go to the organisation, mostly for medical and school supplies, not to me! a very little bit goes a long way in nepal. if you are feeling generous, check it out at http://www.justgiving.com/Dana-Thompson0 if not, no worries!!
love and miss you all :)
i wrote in my last blog about the volunteer organization i am going to be working for...i set up a fundraising page for the company because i think what they are doing is amazing! the proceeds of this go to the organisation, mostly for medical and school supplies, not to me! a very little bit goes a long way in nepal. if you are feeling generous, check it out at http://www.justgiving.com/Dana-Thompson0 if not, no worries!!
love and miss you all :)
Friday, September 9, 2011
On the road again...
I'm leaving the U.S. again so I am back on the blog-wagon! I am hoping to keep it up a little better than last time!! We will see how it goes :)
When I arrived back to the U.S. from Southeast Asia, I told myself i would be on another international flight within a few months....well, that was about 11 months ago! It is hard to believe how fast time has flown by! Although it was much longer than anticipated, I have had a wonderful, constructive 11 months back in the U.S. I spent some time back in California, reuniting with family and friends and saving some money for my next big adventure. It was great to be surrounded by familiar faces again! The time with my parents, grandparents, siblings and of course friends was much needed. The last 3/4 months I have spent in Durango, Colorado, a place I am absolutely in love with. I have spent the summer hiking, rock climbing and getting to know some very amazing people. Colorado is without question one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. You could spend a lifetime in the mountains here and still not see everything! This town is everything I could want in a place to live...and I will be returning here when I get back!!
So the exciting part....yesterday I booked my one-way flight to Nepal! I will be flying into Kathmandu on the 26th of September! I was sure to pick a flight that gets in during the day so that I get the view of the Himalayas from above...I think that veiw alone will be well worth the trip! My plan for when I get there...well, is to have no plan! I am going to get a 90 day visa in Nepal, and plan to do some hiking in the mountains (of course) and just to experience Nepalese culture and food. In addition, I have found a volunteer organization that I will work with while I am there. I will spend some time in a tiny village teaching English and working on organic farms. I will start my volunteer work sometime in November, so I will have over a month to travel and hike around Nepal. The village I will be working has no roads, so to get there, I will take a bus to a certain point and then walk an additional 1-6 hours (seems like quite the difference)! I am excited about that. I will live with a host family in a home with no electricity or internet or phones. It sounds amazing and I am really looking forward to it! If you want to know more about the program, you can look on the website at http://helambuproject.org/about-us/.
After Nepal, I plan to visit India and am thinking about Tibet but have no actual concrete plans...imagine that! :)I am not really sure how long I will be gone this time, I am going to play it by ear and either come home when I am almost out of money or take a teaching job somewhere in Asia! Again, the plan is to have no plan!
Hope everyone is doing well and for those of you in the U.S. please give me a call before I go if you want to get together! I will be flying to California on the 19th of September!
When I arrived back to the U.S. from Southeast Asia, I told myself i would be on another international flight within a few months....well, that was about 11 months ago! It is hard to believe how fast time has flown by! Although it was much longer than anticipated, I have had a wonderful, constructive 11 months back in the U.S. I spent some time back in California, reuniting with family and friends and saving some money for my next big adventure. It was great to be surrounded by familiar faces again! The time with my parents, grandparents, siblings and of course friends was much needed. The last 3/4 months I have spent in Durango, Colorado, a place I am absolutely in love with. I have spent the summer hiking, rock climbing and getting to know some very amazing people. Colorado is without question one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. You could spend a lifetime in the mountains here and still not see everything! This town is everything I could want in a place to live...and I will be returning here when I get back!!
So the exciting part....yesterday I booked my one-way flight to Nepal! I will be flying into Kathmandu on the 26th of September! I was sure to pick a flight that gets in during the day so that I get the view of the Himalayas from above...I think that veiw alone will be well worth the trip! My plan for when I get there...well, is to have no plan! I am going to get a 90 day visa in Nepal, and plan to do some hiking in the mountains (of course) and just to experience Nepalese culture and food. In addition, I have found a volunteer organization that I will work with while I am there. I will spend some time in a tiny village teaching English and working on organic farms. I will start my volunteer work sometime in November, so I will have over a month to travel and hike around Nepal. The village I will be working has no roads, so to get there, I will take a bus to a certain point and then walk an additional 1-6 hours (seems like quite the difference)! I am excited about that. I will live with a host family in a home with no electricity or internet or phones. It sounds amazing and I am really looking forward to it! If you want to know more about the program, you can look on the website at http://helambuproject.org/about-us/.
After Nepal, I plan to visit India and am thinking about Tibet but have no actual concrete plans...imagine that! :)I am not really sure how long I will be gone this time, I am going to play it by ear and either come home when I am almost out of money or take a teaching job somewhere in Asia! Again, the plan is to have no plan!
Hope everyone is doing well and for those of you in the U.S. please give me a call before I go if you want to get together! I will be flying to California on the 19th of September!
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