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Tag: Nepal

The Snowman Trek

The Snowman Trek

Many people claim that the grueling 24-day Snowman Trek (or Lunana Trek) in the small Himalayan country of Bhutan is the toughest long walk in the world and they might be right. It’s certainly a strong contender for world’s toughest trek. The Snowman can be bitterly cold and many of the daily walks are extraordinarily long and hard, especially in the rarely visited Lunana Valley. There are also eight mountain passes of over 16,000 feet (4,877 metres) to cross. To…

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Fear of Flying

Fear of Flying

I have racked up quite a few air miles in my many years of globetrotting, especially in the developing world. I hate flying the local airlines, especially the many ones with terrible safety records, but for a regular traveller to poor countries there is no other alternative, even when the local airline is conducting animal sacrifices to the gods to help repair its planes, or repeatedly shooing huge, wild animals off their busy runways, if not crashing into the poor…

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A Close Encounter

A Close Encounter

It was a beautiful mid-October day in the Dolpo region of western Nepal in 2014. Under bright blue skies our group of 13 trekkers left the lovely village of Saldang, and crossed the 4,565 metre (14,977 foot) Khoma La mountain pass, before slowly descending to the village of Khomagaon, just in time to witness a wonderful series of horse races, part of a grand and colourful wedding celebration. I was enjoying myself immensely and mingling with the huge crowds of…

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There Will Be Blood

There Will Be Blood

It was the day of the juga. My nearly two-week trek in the Langtang, Gosainkunda and Helambu regions of central Nepal with my delightful and unflappable 21-year-old guide-porter, Pempa Tamang, was mostly fabulous fun, though very hard work because we walked up and down the hills like happy maniacs. With the good must come the bad, unfortunately, and the morning of September 24, 2014, the next to last day of our journey, quickly turned into a Third World horror film…

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