This entry was written by Miles:
A while back, there was an opportunity that came up to visit Nepal with a group of people I know from Dhaka. It included a multi-day trekking experience and time exploring Kathmandu. I was very excited, but it was clear from the itinerary that this would not be a trip to bring toddlers on, and knowing Lizzie, this wasn’t her idea of a good time. I am very grateful that Lizzie gave me the chance to go on this adventure solo to recharge my battery as we come to the end of our first 90 days on assignment.
The trip was centered around trekking the paths in between the mountain towns of Lukla and Namche. The sheer beauty and peace of the place were amplified in the contrast of living in a busy city with nothing resembling even a hill, to literally seeing Mt. Everest as we flew to Lukla from Kathmandu in a helicopter. As we readied for flying to Lukla, I learned it is considered by many to be one of the most dangerous actively used airports in the world. As we approached landing, I could see why: the end of the runway is the side of a mountain, leaving no option for a “go-around” if a plane were to come in at the wrong angle.
The hiking wove in and around smaller villages with guest houses for weary travelers as well as what seemed like endless views of waterfalls, rivers, valleys, and mountain ridges worthy of a thousand selfies. All kidding aside, the combined views I saw in the 48 hours of trekking may have been the most natural beauty I have seen in one place at one time. However, it came at a cost as we covered ~12 miles in two days with a climb in elevation of over 2700 feet. A few of us decided to go a bit further on the last day and climbed an extra 1400+ feet to the Everest View Hotel, which is iconically set above Namche at the base of Mt. Everest. It is the first time I have ever felt the effects of high altitude on the body, which increased my respect for mountain climbers greatly.
I could go on and on about the technical aspects of the trip, the things we saw, and so forth and so on, but one unexpected treasure I experienced was the warmth and strength of the Sherpas who guided us and carried much of our gear. Ignorant before going, I assumed Sherpa referred to sherpas, or those who carried a climber’s things while going up a mountain. What I learned is that Sherpa is actually an ethnic group from the Himalaya region. The trekking company we went with is a family business where our guides, porters, and lodge owners were related through a tight family web revolving around taming these steep mountains. They served us from the moment we saw them in the morning to the moment we departed to sleep. They prayed over us before our journeys (apparently, very relevant when flying into and out of Lukla), donning on us traditional thin white blessing scarves, and they filled our cups and plates with delicious food until we could finally convince them we were truly full and couldn’t eat anymore. One man I befriended has a daughter and a son, with the latter only being a couple of months younger than my son. On the last evening, he and his family hosted us at his house. We were able to see that the warmth they showed us on the trails was a warmth radiating from the love they had for their family and home.
While it was truly an epic trip, the solo time in nature and seeing the happiness of another young family made me want to eagerly come back home and hug my wife and kids, as well as get back to the mountain of work waiting for me. Living and working here can indeed resemble climbing a figurative mountain at times, but doing it with my family and overcoming hard things together makes for many beautiful moments of gratitude and growth that I am very grateful for.
