Pokhara’s peaceful Phewa Lake
This is the second post in a series where I’ll be sharing my photos and memories of my time in Nepal.
Following orientation in Kathmandu, Badri accompanied me on the scariest bus ride of my life on the treacherous Prithvi Highway 200 km west to Pokhara, the country’s second-largest city, where I spent the remainder of the summer.
Hands for Help Nepal headquarters
It was one week ago today that disaster struck the beautiful country of Nepal. I spent a summer volunteering there with Hands for Help Nepal way back in 2003, a whole year before “Thefacebook” came to be in Mark Zuckerburg’s dorm room. Since my photos of that special time in my life have just been sitting in a weighty scrapbook on my living room shelf and have never seen the light of day on social media, I thought I’d start sharing a few of the digital files that I do have to shine a little light on the Nepal that I got to know and love. (Needless to say, the photo quality is not the best, as these images were taken on film – remember film? – and then converted.)
It brightened a cold and dreary day to find out that three of my Instgram photos from India were selected for this bright and beautiful Matador Network photo gallery: 29 Instagrams that show how vibrant the world really is. (It’s actually very hard NOT to take colorful photos in India, so I had a significant advantage.)
Tuesday night was my first-ever travel-related speaking gig (well, I am always doling out travel advice, but I’ve never before been asked to do so in an “official” capacity). It was the first Meet, Plan, Go! New York City meet up of 2015, and the topic was how to set a travel budget and stick to it when you’re on the road. Here are the questions I was asked, along with my answers – most focus on the lessons I learned while planning my fall 2014 trip to Southeast Asia.
In our day-to-day lives, most of us can’t imagine being too far away from our smartphones. And while it’s good to take some time and “unplug” while you’re on the road, smartphones can be incredibly handy tools for navigating foreign lands.
Before you leave on your trip, it’s a smart idea to delete extraneous apps off of your phone, since you’ll want the extra space for photos and music, and you’ll likely be in situations where you need to find information quickly (and where wifi connections are weak/Internet access is slow).
The most famous “love locks” of them all… in Paris, of course!
To celebrate, here are some “love locks” from around the globe. If you haven’t encountered love locks, they’re a popular sight on bridges and other structures in many cities. Couples write their names on the locks, attach them to a bar or railing, and then throw away the key to commemorate the permanency of their love.
The average width of the beach is 1,000 ft.!
Now that I’m back in the land of the snow and ice, it’s hard to believe that just a week ago I was strolling along Marina Beach in Chennai, one of the longest beaches in the world. I also made a stop at San Thome Basilica, which is built over the tomb of disciple St. Thomas. St. Thomas spent 20 years in India, from 52 to 72 AD.
During my recent travels to Southeast Asia and India, there were a few items that made life on the road so much easier and more comfortable. Here they are (with links to where you can purchase them):
Game of Horns selfie
Want to see what a typical day was like on the Rickshaw Challenge? Check out my post for The Rickshaw Times blog: Ride Along with Game of Horns.
Shore Temple
I arrived in India on the evening of December 28, 2014, to spend nearly two months on the road in South India, handling social media for two “rallies” organized by The Travel Scientists: the Rickshaw Challenge and India’s Cup.
We were out early the next morning, since it was the first official day of the Rickshaw Challenge Classic Run 2015. It was definitely the coldest day I experienced while in India, but it was memorable for other reasons as well. Check out what I saw in my post for The Travel Scientists’ blog: Along the Coast to Pondicherry.
