Day 3: Jagat to Dharapani (4,265 ft-6,102 ft)

Palms at 6000 feet.

The views keep getting better the higher we climb.

If I never see another landslide again, it will be too soon. The rain pounded away again last night, but by morning had disappeared, leaving blue skies and numerous landslides in our path. Today was our hardest day yet with seven hours of hiking up a steep canyon and an 1,800 ft gain in elevation. We have to concentrate on every step we take as the trail is basically a stream that we follow. Our persistently wet shoes and socks are wreaking havoc on our feet as we have to tend to have numerous blisters on each foot. However, we are rewarded with gorgeous views of the valley and countless waterfalls that present themselves.

More images of Days 1-3 can be viewed at: http://picasaweb.google.com/robyou/AnnapurnaCircuitTrekPart19189202010#

Day 2: Ngadi to Jagat (3,051 ft-4,265 ft)

Our first lodge.

Waterfalls and cable bridges.

This trekking business is no walk in the park. We spent about six hours on the trail, winding our way up the Marsyangdi River valley, all the while scrambling over landslides and on many occasions, pausing to find the trail. We are starting to think that a guide might have been a good idea and a porter even better (the 10-15 kg backpacks make the scrambling over boulders a lot harder). We are so glad to have our walking sticks for that extra point of balance.

Day 1: Bhulbule to Ngadi (2,756 ft-3,051ft)

Another delay.

First day on trial and all smiles, the water buffalo is happy too.

We had another early morning bus ride from Dumre to Besi Sahar, a 32km journey which took almost 3 hrs, as it was a simple mud and rock road cut into the hillside and we were delayed yet again by a minor traffic accident (no one was hurt) which caused the entire village to come out, watch, and block the road. After the very bumpy and uncomfortable ride, we finally reached the small town of Bhulbule and set off on the "official" part of the trek. Our first day was relatively easy with a gradual hillside trail climb over the grey, frothy waters of the Marsyangdi Kola River, continuing on through a wide green valley with terraced rice fields and corn reaching high up on the hillsides. Robyn was prescient with our very first blog entry titled "Landslides and Leeches" as I had my first bloodsucker attached to my foot within the first hour of our trek.

Travel Day: Journey from Kathmandu to Besi Sahar (starting point of Annapurna Circuit Trek)

Waiting at the bus station in Kathmandu while the bus is blessed.

We made it back safe and sound from our trek, but we will be posting our Himalayan adventure in piecemeal for fear of overwhelming readers.

This first couple days are fairly brief (we were very tired at the end of each day!) and after re-reading what we wrote, we think it's a tad on the whiny side. However, we want to be true to the spirit and feeling of when we wrote these entries, so we're leaving them as is. Please be patient with us as we adjust to life on the trail. Enjoy!

Travel Day: Journey from Kathmandu to Besi Sahar (starting point of Annapurna Circuit Trek)
We left Kathmandu in the morning on the local bus (we were the only foreigners on it), expecting to arrive at Besi Sahar by early afternoon. We were warned that plans are often foiled in Nepal, especially during the Monsoon season (we are at the tail end of the season). About two hours outside of Kathmandu, our bus approached a long backup of vehicles which stretched further than the eye could see. After waiting roadside by the bus for several hours, we painstakingly learned (as there were few people who had any info and even fewer that spoke English) that we were blocked by a large landslide. Seeing that there was no movement of vehicles nor alternate routes we could take, we decided to start our trek early. Walking in the rain, past a long back-up of buses and trucks, we finally reached the landslide about 12km away, where large boulders the size of semis, blocked the entire road, of which abruptly then fell off into the river. There was a long queue of nervous Nepalis and the odd foreigner waiting to climb around, over, or under the unstable rock and mud. A few soldiers attempted to direct the anxious crowd over the easiest route - a narrow gap between a huge boulder and There were about 3 possible routes to take, none of which looked appealing nor safe. A few soldiers attempted to direct the anxious crowd through the easiest route, although the line dissolved and chaos ensued as some boulders started tumbling down in front of us (it had been raining nonstop for several hours and the ground proved very unstable). We grew nervous and inpatient as we felt it was dangerous to just be standing there so we dropped down to the lower route next to the river where we scampered over wet rocks and mud. Hearts racing, drenched with sweat and rain, we felt relief at having passed unscathed. We walked another few km and found a minibus that would take us to Dumre, a town in the direction of Besi Sahar, for an exorbitant fee. We arrived there almost 12 hours after leaving Kathmandu, and still several hours short of our planned destination. Not an auspicious start!

Annapurna Circuit, Nepal 9/17-10/2/2010

We flew into Kathmandu yesterday after a long day of traveling and an uneventful night in the Delhi airport. We spent the day running around Kathmandu getting prepared for the start of our Annapurna trek tomorrow. We will be taking a hiatus from posting for the next couple of weeks as internet access is fairly spotty and expensive on the trek. But we should have lots of fresh material when we reach our destination in Pokhara on 10/2, just in time for birthday cake for Steve. Namaste.

Phi Phi Island Thailand 9/8-9/10/2010

Our first snorkeling stop. These were the best corral reefs we have ever seen.

Photo from the highest viewpoint on Phi Phi.

We daytripped to Monkey Island where Steve honed in on his wildlife photography skills.

View from the top. Most of Phi Phi is developed along this narrow isthmus. It had been heavily damaged in the 2004 Tsunami.

Additional photos can be viewed at: http://picasaweb.google.com/robyou/PhiPhiIslandThailand989102010?feat=directlink

What can you say about Phi Phi. Beautiful party island. We had a great room with a view, two days of warm weather, a snorkeling trip with colorful fish and amazingly intact coral. We also walked on the beach from the movie "The Beach". Southern Thailand continues to impress.

Kata Beach Phuket Thailand 9/01-9/4 and 9/10-9/14/2010

The Big Buddha with his back turned to Kata

Sunset at Kata Beach Phuket Thailand

Additional images can be viewed at: http://picasaweb.google.co.th/robyou/KataBeachPhuketIslandThailand090109042010#


We came back to Kata beach after taking a week to check out what was on the other side of the bay. Three rainy days swimming and climbing at Railay. On our return to Kata we stopped at Phi Phi island and spent a couple of days snorkeling and hiking and the weather was great. We are so glad to be in southern Thailand and quite happy we found Kata beach. With warm blue water and waves to surf, this has really been the most relaxing place we have found in our nearly three months of travel so far. We booked a room at the Kata Beach Studio, about a ten minute walk from the beach. We have a rooftop pool to cool off in and our room has a private deck with space to lounge. We have been surfing, eating, sleeping and playing paddle ball. This is all part of our training regime for the upcoming trekking in Nepal. We decided to do the Annapurna circuit trek starting in a few days, hopefully Sept 17th if all goes according to plan. We catch a plane to Kathmandu tomorrow evening the 14th.

Ton Sai Bay, Railay, Thailand

In Railay, you can step out of your bungalow and be right there at a climbing wall. Many are only accessible during low/high tides and there are places to do some deep water soloing, where you climb without any ropes and fall directly into the water.... saving that for next trip!

Steve getting barreled by the rock formations.

Amazing caves and islands everywhere!

Steve fit in perfectly with the scene at Railay.

Additional photos can be viewed at: http://picasaweb.google.com/robyou/RailayThailand90409082010?feat=directlink

At the recommendation of Wolfgang, our climbing buddy in Vang Vieng, we made our way to Ton Sai Bay, a rock climber's mecca and a somewhat reclusive spot in the Krabi Province of Thailand, as the electricity is shut off during the day (between hours of 9am-5pm) and the only way to get there is by boat or a 1/2 hour sweaty climb through the jungle. Getting there was an interesting journey consisting of 3 boats, many wadings through thigh high water, scrambling over boulders and squeezing through small openings in caves with our 20 kg backpacks. When we finally spotted Ton Sai Bay through the jungle foliage, with its 30m cliffs surrounding a crystal clear bay, and climbers dangling from precarious looking overhangs, we knew we had arrived. Unfortunately, it rained most days we were there, but we kept ourselves entertained watching the resident troop of monkeys, rock climbing, exploring the beaches and caves, and of course, eating a lot of amazing Thai food and fruit shakes.

Vientiane, Laos

We were the only people in this entire water park. Steve's face says it all...terrifying!

Our extravagant splurge on French cuisine. Pictured here is Steve's filet mignon with goat cheese/gorgonzola sauce. Price tag $6

Additional photos can be seen at: http://picasaweb.google.com/robyou/VientianeLaos828912010?feat=directlink

Sorry for the delay in posts, but we've been taking somewhat of a vacation from our vacation while in Southern Thailand. There wasn't too much to report on about our adventures in Vientiane, the sleepy capital of Laos, but we partook in two of our favorite activities: eating and some water fun. At the recommendation of some fellow travelers, we decided to kill time at a local water park in Vientiane. Although we read some reviews that the park was dangerous and that locals refuse to go there because of its bad safety record, we decided to check it out as we had a day to kill before we took the night bus to Bangkok and we thought it'd be better than walking around the city getting all hot and sweaty. When we first got there, we thought it was closed because the park seemed quiet and deserted. At the insistence of the ticket seller that the park was indeed open, we paid our $4 admission and entered what felt like the theme park scene from the movie Zombieland. Steve and I ran all over this deserted water park with one very bored looking lifeguard trailing us. He accompanied us to the 2 water slides that were working (only 2 of the 12 slides were actually operational) and pantomined how to ride down them properly - face first utilizing a rubber mat. We rode them several times and then a couple of the lifeguard's buddies showed up, so he ignored us the rest of the time, and we managed to not hurt ourselves!

One night we indulged in classical French cuisine where Steve had a filet mignon and I had some sort of seafood bisque stew. What probably would have been a couple hundred dollar dinner in the States came out to a whopping $20. We were tempted to stay another day just to indulge in another dinner, but we decided it was time to move on and get into training for our Nepal trek (don't think French dinners help) with some surfing and rock climbing on the islands of So. Thailand.