Where they went: Nepal

Where they went

September 04, 2011|By Diane Daniel, Globe Correspondent

WHO: Kyle Marie Carney, 59, and her husband, Chris Gregory, 65, of Winchester.

WHERE: Nepal.

WHEN: Three weeks in October.

WHY: To revisit Nepal 30 years after their extended honeymoon in Asia.

WESTERNERS GONE EAST: Originally, they had hiked the celebrated but populated Annapurna Circuit, staying in teahouses. “This time our requirements were that the route was off the beaten track and we would see no other tourists,’’ Carney said. “This meant camping, which I don’t love. But if it includes phenomenal scenery and indigenous culture, then, yes, I’ll camp.’’

CREW OF NINE: “We had a guide, two cooks, and six porters, which I arranged through Great Holidays out of Katmandu, a Nepalese company. We met our guide, Tiki, in Katmandu and drove 12 hours in a jeep on washed-out roads to reach the start, in the Shivalaya-Deorali region. The porters were all from Tiki’s town and 14 to 18 years old. It was their first paying job, and they were in heaven.’’

SLIPPERY ROCKS: “We hiked for 2 ½ weeks, and moved every day. We knew it would be rocky, but we didn’t expect a thin layer of mud, so it was very slippery. Tiki had to improvise the route a lot and we got lost a number of times, but then he’d ask the villagers where to go.’’

UP AND DOWN: “Typically we’d get up at sunrise, they’d bring water for washing face and hands - that was the most we washed except for one time. We’d have coffee and breakfast, pack up the tent area and start trekking around 7. Most days we trekked up and down, like 5,000 feet up, then 3,000 down, and up 4,000. The highest point we reached was 10,000 feet, but the mountains in the background were 23,000 to 26,000 feet.’’

LOCAL TRAILS: The only people we saw were locals, like kids going to school, or shepherds herding sheep. There weren’t really villages, just farms here and there. On a given day we might cross mountains, small terraced fields, go over suspension bridges over valley and rivers, and pass flocks of Himalayan goats. We saw women collecting firewood, which they’d hold in a funnel-shaped basket on their back, attached by a band around their forehead.’’

OBJECTS OF WONDER: After we pitched our tents, people in the area would bring greens and potatoes and tell us where the water source was. Many of the locals had never seen a Westerner before. One woman, about 70, sat next to me and put her forearm next to mine to compare our skin colors. She showed me her jewelry, and wanted me to take photos of her (for photos, go to www.kylecarney.com). The people seemed very open and thoughtful, with a lot of dignity and real tradition of hospitality.’’

DIANE DANIEL