Nepal

In January and February we hiked in the Nepalese Himalayas, marvelling at the locals walking the same route as us in thongs carrying three times our load, with weather that started out as wonderful warm sunshine at the lower altitudes (remember this is winter in the Himalayas), to freezing hands and feet as we hiked through blizzards at the high pass (we turned back at approx 4800m due to deep snow and bad weather).

As it turned out, we were attempting the high pass (at 5400m) at the same time as the weather system dumped the first snow in Kathmandu in 62 years! It took a few weeks for feeling to return to our fingers, and left us with an great deal of respect for the high altitude of the Himalayas and those people who climb the 8000m+ peaks.

Nepal itself is a fascinating place that has such a vibrant and visible past that it tumbles into the present – it is a place of living history.