I’m excited to let you know that we’ve added an extension trip to Basa Village. I read Jeff Rasely’s book, Taking Progress to Paradise. I loved it and after writing to him, I volunteered to be  on the education committee. I’d love to visit and see the projects that are underway. We’ve added a 6 day extension trip to Basa Village.www.basavillagfoundationusa.org

Hopefully, Christine and her husband (the couple working on behalf of Dadagaun Village www.dadagaunvillage.com) will join us for this part of the trip.  You can write to me or Barabara Dove bdove@travelplaceinc.com for a copy of the itinerary and for help with reservations. I promise to write again soon. Sydney

Next steps…following through with the teachers and NELTA, continuing to
try to find a suitable English teacher, suporting the installation of
solar power and WiFi, devloping a brochure to describe volunteering
opportunities at Dadagaun and co-ordinating anything that comes out of
that. You never know what’s around the corner! “

Traveling to Nepal can be a soul searching experience. The Trek of Your Life enjoyed sight-seeing, hiking, yoga and volunteering. Nepal is one the poorest countries outside of Africa. The average salary is $1 per day and the National Literacy Rate is below 50 percent. In spite of this, Nepal is known for its beauty and being a beacon for peace. It is known for understanding and harmony between different ethnic groups and religions. Spirituality, community and family are cultural values. We found the Nepalese to be the gentlest and toughest people we know. Their emotional honesty has had a powerful and lasting effect on the four of us. We loved their warmth and sweetness.

Annapurna South at dawn

I thought you’d like to see this email Mozella sent her contacts after she got back. You’ll see why it was wonderful to have her company on our trip.  I’ve also included her poems in this post.

I have just returned from a wonderful ten day voluntourism trip: Sydney Frymire’s The Trek Of Your Life™ –

Breaking the ice with villagers warming up to questions and conversations — Sounds of Kathmandu – 

Trekking up seemingly impossible stone steps — Avoiding more cow dung than I’ve ever seen in my life –

Mingling with passing strangers around a Lodge fire — Navigating my way through curiosity and differences –

Stunned by sometimes shy, snowy Himalayan ranges – Captivated by foot hills we would call mountains — Fresh air

and crowing roosters — Flapping prayer flags and spinning prayer wheels – Buddhas, temples and 

gods galore — The soft celebratory flames of The Festival of Lights.

Namaste,

mozella

p.s. attached are three poems i wrote that are

reflective of various experiences on my trek…enjoy

Waking Up To What I Couldn’t See    

Shrouded … yet in place
not going anywhere
…just waiting for meGlistening  and

spilling truth  across
a clear blue skyTransformed by movement
that lifted  just in time

so that when  I woke upThe  light was on..

… Annapurna smiled

Through  Blue Eyes    

A stranger trekking  on
the  other side  of

a    narrow  path
tells  me  she  has  not  seen
my kind on this trailThis trail, I think-­‐
green land, brown people
-­‐ and she has not seen meI  perceive  that we are one
even though the women who

walk with me, on the same  side
of the stone steps
of the Himalayan foot hills,Who hear the same village voices,
and experience  the
colours  of
cultureSee  through  a different  lens,
and interpret with another
understanding

As  though our boots  and  our

walking sticks are not one behind the other

Same path

but we do not see each other

One path

though we do not have the same view

Same path

my eyes are not blue

Namaste!

Say you closed eyes,

bowed head

and touching palms

Namaste on life’s

narrow, earthen paths

in her royal, silken

       expansive air

Not my significance….yours

for You are the One

Namaste for spirits

merely walking

through each other

…and for those

so intertwined

Namaste for a soul

                                                                                    hardened by hello

Mozella Perry Ademiluyi

                                                                                                                                November, 2011©www.loveisamountain.com

Baby sleeping November, 2011©www.loveisamountain.com

 

 

A staff member met us at the airport and whisked us off to Dwarika’s Hotel. This award winning hotel was carefully built from traditional Nepalese carvings and artifacts as an example of how culture can be preserved while developing a world class hotel.
Each of us was thrilled with our rooms and the hotel.

Hotel Room

After a short rest, we met Steve and a friend for our farewell dinner. When Steve and I said good-bye, we agreed that our experiment was highly successful and we planned out next voluntourism trip for October 2012!

Annapurna South at dawn

Our favorite porter came over to share our experience and told us more about the mountains. Soon bed tea was served and Carolyn appeared. She too, was amazed. Shortly after, we were served bed tea. Breakfast consisted of corn flakes, hard boiled eggs, toast, peanut butter, marmalade, potatoes, onions, peppers and sausage.
We started our hike about 8:30 am after packing up. We started our trek through the unspoiled village of Majhgaun. Our walk then took us through sub-tropical forests that include tree orchids, rhododendrons and magnolias. We walked up lots of steps. There are steps in this region to protect the trails from the monsoons. We also passed through the village of Pothana where many Tibetan traders live and sell their souvenirs. We walked thru very lush forests, fields and villages for about 4 hours.

Trail map

We stopped in one village for some tea. At last, I had what I had been told was called Sherpa tea. I love it! While we were having tea, an American doctor approached us. She and her husband had just finished 2 weeks of volunteering for Helping Hands. She is from Denver and we had a lively conversation.

Trekking

We arrived at Basanta Lodge in time for a late lunch. After lunch there was an optional hike to the old village of Shampua. We were not able to see the sweeping view of the entire Annapurna Range because of fog and rain. It rained hard that night. We enjoyed another fire and lively conversation with other guests over dinner in the lodge before bed. One of the guests highly recommended a travel insurance company, Global Rescue. Worth looking into if you travel often!
Having been on much longer treks in more remote areas, I was pleased at the variety of the terrain and the beauty. It was a wonderful day of hiking.

Gurung Lodge bedroom

We had an uneventful 35 minute flight from Kathmandu to Pokhara, the rural capital of western Nepal. Mozella had learned that if we sat on the right side of the plane in rows 11 & 12, we could see the mountains. We did! It is astounding to see them towering over the clouds.

View from the airplane

We were met at the airport by our guide and given a trek briefing by the Ker and Downey group leader. We were introduced to our porters.We were driven in a van for about an hour to our trek start point. We walked the ridge-line in the lower foothills of the Annapurnas with surrounding views to the Pokhara Valley. This route then dropped to the Modi River Valley, where Ker and Downey’s Gurung Lodge in Majhgaon is located. We had a box lunch that we ate along the way to the lodge. Mozella bought a few things from a Tibetan selling jewelry near our lunch spot.
We arrived at our lodge after about 2 hours of hiking. Each of us is delighted with the lodge and the view. Argun, our guide took us for an hour hike to a village mid afternoon. Then, more leisure time. I’m amazed at how I can rest and relax when I’m here. About four pm, tea was brought to us in our rooms.

Tea time

Fire in the lodge

Mozella wrote a poem about her experience using my initials at the beginning of each line. You can read more about Mozella at www.loveisamountain.com. I’ll post her poems later on my blog.

Then we joined others for a fire and popcorn in the lodge, Before dinner, Mozella treated us to a bottle of wine! Our dinner was good-chicken cutlet, vegetables, rice and dessert. We were in bed early and slept well.

We really love starting each day with a yoga class. We will miss it! Today, Michelle went with Sohan for more site seeing and shopping. Mozella, Carolyn and I stayed at the lodge.

Thanks to Carolyn’s know how and initiative, we worked several hours on entering data onto the spread sheet. The surprising things is-how much we are into getting this all compiled.

We had a good time talking about our experience and pulling together a narrative to include with the spreadsheet.

The time flew by!

Entering our data onto a spreadshee

Midday, Neeru invited us to join her and her sister in the kitchen for a cooking lesson. They made a particularly delicious chicken curry and vegetables, honoring their brothers. I can’t wait to try making it. They used exotic ingredients that I never heard of. It was delicious! We enjoyed the meal for lunch with her family.

Cooking lesson

In the afternoon, each of us had a massage in the cottage. It was wonderful.

Before dinner, Neeru spread out her sweaters, scarves and other pieces of pashmina from her business. We each bought a couple of things and she gave us good prices! I bought 2 sweaters and a gorgeous scarf. Steve showed all his guests the Imax movie about Everest. It stimulated alot of conversation over dinner that night! We are thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

Before bed, we sat around the dining room table in the cottage wrapping up our report and sharing our new ideas about our businesses and our lives. I’m thrilled that my vision has materialized. I am working with 3 women who are interested in uplifting others in the world. We put our heads together and finished the narrative. Carolyn emailed a copy to Steve and Christine!

This was a break through morning. I realized I could boil water for tea myself, before anyone else was awake. It is blissful, sitting with a cup of tea, watching the sun come up. After another wonderful yoga class and breakfast, we headed off to Dadagaun Village for our second day. We were a little late and Bhulla (one of the teachers in the school) had been eagerly waiting for us at the gate for 30 minutes.

Children in the orphanage

We started the day with a visit at the orphanage. These children a attend the school in the village. Their school is kindergarten to 8th grade. They were thrilled that we came to see them! We were welcomed with marigold necklaces and red powder for our foreheads. They enjoyed the simple gifts we brought them and interacting with us. I had a lovely exchange with 3 teenage girls who were shyly standing to the side of the yard.Everyone is anxious to practice their English and enjoyed our attention. We wished we could have stayed longer.
Today, Bhulla translated for Michelle and me. Neeru went with Mozella and Carolyn. Again, it was a fascinating, deeply rewarding experience. We enjoyed comparing notes and stimulating each other’s thinking. More information and videos of our interviewing are available by writing to to sydneyfrymire@thetrekofyourlife.com

Neeru did a great job translating

Steve met us for lunch before we headed back for another quiet afternoon before dinner. Carolyn worked on setting up an excel spread sheet for us to enter our data. In the evening we joined the other quests and family members for a particularly festive evening. Steve had fireworks that he bought in China. The children and adults were delighted. The merriment lasted until the morning all over town. We went to bed relatively early.