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The Manaslu Diaries: Days 14-16

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March 19: Day 14
Chymche to Bahundanda
Alt: 1310m
Hours: 5
Distance: 14km

Yet another uneventful, dreadful day of walking on roads! Jan didn’t sleep well so we had a really slow start to our day and didn’t depart until after 9:30am. And of course, today was the earliest me and Travis were ever ready! It was just a short five hour walk, but the first three hours were awful – all on shitty Jeep trail roads. We ran into so many trekkers on the circuit (we were now at the start of the Annapurna circuit as the Manaslu circuit merges with it), and I swear 90% of them were Israeli! We were playing a game where as we walked, we would all pick a nationality of who we thought the next people we met on the trail would be -without seeing them. Our game came quickly to an end however, as pretty well everyone was Israeli! Continue reading →

The Manaslu Diaries: Days 12-13

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March 17, 2018: Day 12
Bimtang to Tilche
Altitude: 2300m
Hours: 5.5
Distance: 20km

As much as one would like to say all is well now that we’ve made it down the pass, there was some drama last night. We were heading to our little cabin to call it a night, when we heard yelling. We saw one of the guides who had gotten very drunk, harassing a woman, hitting her around her middle, as she screamed back at him, struggling. And out of no where, our guide Tek the hero steps in to help her. The other guide kicked Tek and they really got into it, the woman too – she wasn’t sitting back while this guy caused trouble at her tea house. I initially thought there was a chicken involved because there were feathers everywhere, and I thought perhaps he was stealing a chicken and they were trying to stop him? But it turns out that the one guide had grabbed Tek’s jacket and ripped it, causing the down filling to spew out everywhere, feathers filling the air. At last Tek got him down and one of the porter’s, Chen Ho Susan came out and helped to hold down the struggling drunk guide. He had to be held down for a half hour while he screamed and hollered. And then cried. And then puked. And then was finally dragged limp to his bed. Good lord! I guess he let his celebrating get out of hand and he drank too much Raksi, the local moonshine. Some people just shouldn’t drink. He was of course deeply ashamed the next day and didn’t even remember what had happened. I was just glad Tek was around to help the woman! Continue reading →

The Manaslu Diaries: Days 4-6

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March 9, 2018: Day 4
Jagat to Dyang
Altitude: 1800m
Distance: 19km
Hours: 9
Elevation gain: 390m

What a day. It’s so hard to recall all that happened; it all becomes such a blur so quickly when the mind settles down after the long hard day of trekking. Let’s see what I can uncover. I guess I should introduce our crew a wee bit better since you’ll be hearing all about them. Travis is my partner. We’ve been travelling together for the last 5 months, in Mexico. Jan is Travis’ Auntie. She trekked in Nepal the year before and fell in love, so it worked out perfect that we could meet up here. Travis and I were both relieved to have someone along who knew what the heck they were doing! Bhim is our porter turned friend (whom was all Jan’s porter on her last Nepal trip!). And Tek is Bhim’s older brother, and he is our amazing guide for this journey. Okay, onwards with the adventures. Continue reading →

An African Diary, Part IV: Stinky Seals And Stone Carvings

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Day 9: Friday, November 27, 2015

The plan was to sleep in, but Rug awoke at 730am and thanks to FOMO I couldn’t stay in bed. So instead of lounging in our gloriously comfortable beds, we had a yummy breakfast, teas, showers and took our laundry in to be done.  I had connected with Leah Von Hagen and she invited us out to lunch that day, so we met at Bojo’s cafe at noon. It was so nice to see the Von Hagen’s, and it was great to touch base as I was going to be staying with them for a week at the end of my Namibia adventure. Kern, Rug and I were all sold on the waitresses suggestion of the waffle with bacon, banana and cheese – and a solid choice it was! We sat talking about life, travel and Yellowknife for hours before Leah had to head back to work. Kern kindly offered to show us around the town and take us out to Walvis Bay as we missed it coming in and Leah suggested ordering Indian food for dinner and invited us over. Once again, the outstanding generosity of people always touches my heart so deeply. They don’t just offer you information on the town, which is what I had originally asked for – they take you for lunch, drive you all over the city and the neighbouring city whilst giving you a full detailed tour – and they invite you over for dinner – giving up their entire Friday evening for two long lost faces from Yellowknife. The generosity and hospitality that I’ve received on the road from beautiful people like the Von Hagen’s is what I will remember the most about this journey. It’s the people- it always is ❤ Continue reading →

An African Diary, Part 1: Camping & Canyons

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Day 1: Thursday November 19th, 2015

Well, it was a blasted long 30 hour journey with another sleepless night in another airport, but I at last have touched down in the Motherland. Africa. Windhoek, Namibia to be exact. Since I was a little girl I can recall feeling the desire to one day visit Africa. I have no idea where it started or what fuelled it, but it’s only grown stronger and stronger as I grew older and older. When I decided to travel around the world, I knew  without a doubt that I would find myself in Africa. Ten months into my journey and I am finally here. I don’t know what it is about Africa that has always called to me. But, being a desperate lover of nature, the vast expanse of her epic wilderness no doubt beckoned me more than anything.  And the unknown, the mysterious, this land so drastically different in every way from my own. I suppose I’ve always been pulled to that which I do not know, the enigmatic and exciting. To say this is a big one on my bucket list just doesn’t do it justice. It feels like a satiating of my very soul – not just food for my soul, but life for my soul. And now at last, I am finally on those strange and extraordinary soils of Africa. Continue reading →

Cappadocia

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With some flight delays and missing baggage, our little jaunt across the country wasn’t entirely smooth, but we didn’t let that dampen our moods. Our first day ended up being a freebie because no one had their bags, and thus the warmer clothing needed for our tours, so we instead got the full tour of the Michelle Dream Cave Hotel. When Butch and Brenda first came to Turkey in 2002, they had no idea they would fall in love so quickly with this incredible country and end up buying a condo and spending their winters there.  They also happened to make an amazing business contact and now life long friend, Ahmed. Before they knew it, they began making plans of purchasing land and building a cave hotel. If Cappadocia is known for anything, it’s the caves! The hillsides are peppered with caves. From hundreds to thousands of years ago, these caves were carved into the mountain sides as houses, refuges, stables and pigeon houses.  Today they are used as storage for lemons (the temperature remains the same in the caves year round even with the changing seasons), but mostly – they are turned into cave hotels. Continue reading →

Kas, Turkey

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With only a quick overnight stop in Selçuk to see Ephesus, it was back on the road after the ruins tour for a five hour drive down the coast towards Kas. Brenda and Butch had visited this charming little town 13 years prior and had bought a condo by the end of their few day trip – that’s how outstanding this little getaway is! I knew we’d be getting a great experience here since they had lived seasonally here for the last 10 years or so, and knew all the best places to eat and things to see and do. We arrived late in Kas, darkness already blanketing the land around us, so we headed straight to our hotel, which had a beautiful pool over looking the Mediterranean ocean. We got settled in and met for a family dinner to talk about what we’d like to do for our three days on the coast. Our itinerary mostly involved eating far too much delicious Turkish food, renting a boat to hit the sea, and doing a little shopping!  Dinner was fabulous, as always, and far too much food, as always! Before bed, Rug and Leah showed me how to play Wizard and I lost to a level beyond pathetic, but had a great time learning about the game. Continue reading →

The Cats Of Ephesus

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It was a brief flight from Istanbul down to Izmir. My illness was holding off thanks to the Pepto, but I was terribly weak and desperately tired. We all piled into the huge family van and our driver safely got us to Ephesus, where we checked into our lovely little bed and breakfast. It was a free afternoon, with suggestions of what to see and do – but I kept thinking all I wanted was a nap. Instead, I powered through the feeling and joined a few others to head down to the beautiful little market and explore the quaint city streets filled with shops and restaurants. But in the end we had an early night because in the morning we had our Ephesus ruins tour lined up. Continue reading →

Istanbul, Turkey

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Feeling rejuvenated and ready for adventure, I hopped on a plane and touched down hours later in Istanbul, Turkey (after another lovely airport overnight in Athens). Before I left Yellowknife, my good friend Mike (more commonly known as Rug) and I had made plans to go on an epic six week adventure together. It started with him joining me in Africa. I had settled on the country Namibia and I still to this day cannot recall how it was I chose Namibia out of all of the countries in Africa, but I believe it was one of those ones that the universe seemed to be sending me subliminal messages about, over and over. Experience has taught me it’s best to listen to the universe, and so, without knowing anything about Namibia, I decided this would be my African destination. I was interested in Turkey as well and he told me his mom and step dad owned a really cool cave hotel there, and that maybe we could check out Turkey together as well!  Jordan had of course been on my wish list from the start and after some planning we figured we could spend a week in Turkey, a week in Jordan and then use the rest of our time down in Africa. Continue reading →

The Colours of Venice & Burano

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Burano is the most colourful city in the world. I’m sure of it! This place will instantly bring a smile to your face and uplift your soul. Venice is undoubtedly unique, with its lack of ‘roads’ and cars – all travel is by foot or boat through the renowned water canals. These islands will steal your heart (and your camera battery!). Take a look at some of my favourite shots from one of my favourite places! Continue reading →