nepal | kuzemkas abroad

In Nepal, there were prayer wheels everywhere. People in the villages visited them early. In some villages, women brought offerings (pine and incense) to the religious sites where the prayer wheels were located.

Prayer wheels are cylindrical wheels made out of various materials. On the wheel, there is a mantra so that when spinning the mantra is repeated over and over. This is believed to have the same effects as reciting a mantra orally. Spinning the prayer wheel is a lot more fun, but the sound of the mantra being recited orally is like that of waves washing over you.

Some wheels are incredibly small and others are enormous. They range from the size of my palm to larger than Michael. The larger wheels were inside a small building only big enough to house the wheel and a few visitors. When visiting, you would walk around the large prayer wheel three times. The smaller ones, usually in a line, would be passed by only once.

Michael sneaking footage of me and the prayer wheels…

We’ve been MIA for about two weeks now, but with good reason. We decided it would be a good idea to use some of our vacation days and travel to the beautiful country of Nepal to trek the Annapurna Circuit. So that’s precisely what we did.

The trip was more than I can describe. The people were warm and welcoming. Many cups of tea were shared with locals who refused our money and only wanted our friendship.

The landscape was almost too beautiful to seem real. Autumn changed the colors of the trees and the smell of pine trees filled the air. The air was so fresh and the sky the bluest of blues.

The food was homemade, from scratch and delicious. Cinnamon rolls, soups, breads… Real homemade goodness.

The weather seemed like the perfect fall day, until we reached higher land where the weather became cold. The cold didn’t seem to matter much because there was snow! I may or may not be guilty of throwing snowballs at Michael. Jury is still out on that one!

We overcame fears of long suspension bridges, yaks, and altitude sickness.

We hiked around 8 hours each day, carrying our own packs and achieved our goal of reaching the Thorong Pass at a height a little over 17,000 feet. No blisters, no altitude sickness, no problems. Not to bad for our first trekking experience.

A little look into our getaway…xo