Erin & Nate's World Trip

Grab a cup of tea, a glass of wine or a cold one for going through this update - it's long! Nate and I have been on a road trip for the last 3 weeks through Turkey. We are back in Istanbul enjoying the last few days before we fly home to Colorado on May 16. But, let's not get teary-eyed now....we would love to share our last few moments before the sentimentalism sets in.

First stop - Saffranbolu
So, we rented a tiny Peugot from a rental place in Istanbul and cruised out of the city on April 21 around 2:00 pm....not bad with a city of 14 million (Nate, was that fun?) Our first stop in Saffranbolu, a small town known for its excellent restoration of Ottoman houses. We stayed in a great little old Ottoman house/pension and the first morning we were walking around, getting our fix of the local saffron Turkish delight and checking out some of the shops when we ran into two brothers, Mehmet and Ahmet. Well, we were invited to Mehmet and his wife, Semra's house for dinner. What a fun night of eating, laughing and Nate vs. Mehmet in FIFA soccer video games. The red scarf I'm wearing in the picture was actually given to me. It was part of Semra's dowry and I tried to refuse, but no use; there just can't be enough words to be said about the hospitality in Turkey.

Second stop - Amasra
We wanted to see the Black Sea so we drove from Saffranbolu to the small coast town of Amasra. The highlight was eating some mullet and enjoying the beautiful views from breakfast. Speaking of, we are currently trying to wean ourselves off the massive Turkish breakfast...

Third stop - Amasya
Some old Pontic kings decided they wanted to be buried above this old Ottoman city, so they made holes in the side of the mountain and now 5 of them are happily resting above the rest of the town. Beautiful place to wonder around the back alleys, along the brown river-side and enjoy a load of tea.

Fourth stop - Cappadocia (Goreme)
My dear friend, Ana Rosa, and her husband Jose Antonio gave us two nights at a pension in Cappadocia as our wedding gift....I don't think I've ever stayed somewhere like this before. Kelebek Pension is an amazing oasis set amongst the fairy chimneys of the unique (and Utah-esque) landscape in Cappadocia. Nate and I spent hours on the terrace drinking tea, coffee, wine, eating breakfast, reading, writing all while looking out at the impressive landscape. The highlight was staying at Kelebek and taking runs and walks through the many valleys that surround the area. It is something like a mix between Bryce Canyon and Canyonlands (Needles area), but imagine old societies and civilizations making these houses in the landscape and painting beautiful frescoes in the caves. It is truly amazing and one of the highlights of our trip. We were originally supposed to stay 2 nights, but ended up with 6 because we loved it so much. Thanks, Covarias!

Fifth stop - Sirince
A small village in the hills set amongst olive trees and orchards, we spent a few days here meandering through the cobblestone streets and taking it easy. We stayed at a small pension where we had too many cups of tea every morning along with the huge spread of cheese, olives, bread, tomatoes and cucumbers that made up our breakfast. It was also a great spot to day-trip into the old ruins of Efes (Ephesus), an old Greek/Roman city dating back almost 2,000 years. Think Rome, but this site has not had to compete with a huge city; its true vast expanse is completely incredible, especially the old library.

Sixth stop - Alacati
Old cobblestone streets lined with beautiful stone houses. Alacati used to be a Greek settlement back in the day and has now been amazingly preserved and has some amazing restaurants and cafes where you can easily while the day away. It was the perfect place to relax before heading back to Istanbul.

By now you can probably tell that one of our major loves of travel is food...so here is a little summary of what we have indulged in so far in Turkey:

- Turkish Cay (pronounced like chai in India)...they even have vendors who sell it at the parks. What a nice way to spend a spring day.
- Turkish kaveci (Turkish coffee)
- Kebaps (chicken, meatballs, beef)
- Baklava
- Pide Doner (meat sandwich, think gyro minus the sauce)
- Cheese, glorious cheese!! (from feta to cheddar to salty mozzarela)
- Olives
- Sweets (from rice pudding to keskul, which is a yummy white mush of sweetness)
- Ayran (yogurt drink)
- Stuffed veggies
- Simit (bagels sold by street vendors)
- Fresh fish (from sandwiches to squid to sole)
- Dried fruits and nuts
- Stawberries!! Everywhere...
- Turkish delight - our new favorite we found in a small village that has saffron flavored T.D.

I could go on and on, but it`s about time for another cup of tea about now...

First, we would like to thank so many of you for helping with this part of the trip. We could not have done it without you all for your ideas, recommendations and hospitality (thank you especially to Michael & Dominique for hosting).

We are now on a tour of Turkey with our little Peugot rental, but we spent about 10 days in Istanbul and loved every second of it. From walks through the city to exploring the wonderful markets to the sights (Blue Mosque, Aya Sofia) to dinners with new friends to beers on the Galata Bridge (cheers to Ana Rosa) to a Turkish bath....it is really hard to sum up, but after a couple months of being completely dirt bag, we found Istanbul to be a welcome contrast (staying with friends, hot showers, some new clothes - out with the hiking pants!!) to the last couple months. The best part of the city, though for us, was sitting down at the parks for picnics of cheese, bread and fresh strawberriıes and watching the world go by. It is such an interesting place to visit and the tag line `Where East Meets West´ is totally true and fascinating. And, I think the only other place that could rival in hospitality could be Japan. The Turks are truly wonderful and willing to help in any case. In fact last night we were invited to a total strangers´ house in a small town of Safranbolu to have dinner with him and his wife. Here are a few pictures to sum up the wonderful 10 days we had in Istanbul. We are excited that we get to go back for a few days before heading home to Colorado on May 16. And, after a very fun experience with a Turkish doctor, I also got a clean bill of health....here we come Baklava.

We're in Istanbul now, finally recovered from our trek (rest-wise and health-wise), and ready to write about our experience. There are a ton of pics that follow the text, so we hope you enjoy them (and watch Seven Years in Tibet if you're wondering about Erin's "Himalayas" accent)!

We arrived in Kathmandu after a good final week in India, and immediately set to preparing for our trek. We had researched the different treks in the country for some time, and the Annapurna Circuit was to be the one for a variety of reasons. For starters, it isn't an out-and-back (nice for those of us who are perpetually retracing our steps on the trail). Second, road building is drastically changing the face of the region, such that now is definitely the time to go before many of the medieval villages start to grow and develop.

The first question in our planning was whether or not to do the trek on our own; there are a myriad of trekking companies in Kathmandu, all telling you that it's "dangerous, difficult," and that "you'll get lost in the jungle." We were fortunate enough to stumble upon a slide show presentation on the trek by a British guy, who assured us that route-finding would not be a problem. Still, we weren't totally convinced. When an outfitter from whom we bought some gear told us that it's "the yellow brick road," we made up our minds - grab our packs and go. To combat the cold we bought some down pants (and gloves and mittens - think the Michelin Tire man and you'll know exactly what we looked like).

We had met a nice couple, Bryson and Megan, at the slide show (who, incidentally, are also moving back to CO), and
after a few meals and drinks decided to make it a group of four. Down jackets packed and bus tickets purchased, we were on our way. After a five-hour bus ride and then an hour-long jeep ride where Bryson and I were thrown onto the roof with about eight other Nepalis, we finally made it to the trailhead. It was around six in the evening, so we decided to spend the night in the village (Bhule Bhule) and leave the following morning.

There are a variety of ways to do treks in Nepal, but we decided to hike village-to-village and stay in small lodges and tea houses. Our reasoning was pretty simple: no tent, food, or cooking food to carry! We also hoped to meet and interact with more locals, if only by virtue of that fact that we would be staying with them along the way. This plan would have us passing several villages each day, stopping for lunch when a good looking spot presented itself. 28-days was the original estimate (we planned to do both the circuit and the Annapurna Sanctuary back-to-back), which meant starting at 2600 feet, slowly climbing up a major valley to a maximum elevation of 17,700 feet over the course of twelve days or so, climbing 3000 feet and then descending 5000 on the actual day of the pass, and then slowly working down another valley to approximately our starting elevation.

We could give descriptions of each village, but instead we'll just give some of the highlights and lasting impressions:

RELIGION:
From the lower elevations to the higher elevations, it was interesting to watch predominately Hinduism give way to Buddhism. Some of the pictures below show some of the Buddhist practices such as: Prayer wheels (to be turned in a clockwise direction), the script 'Om Mani Padmi Om' - 'Hail the Jewel in the Lotus' written over and over (also written on the prayer flags), and animism (the picture of the horns).

MOUNTAINS:
For the first few days, the valley we were walking up was quite narrow. As a result, we didn't get into the mega mountain views until 3-4 days in, when the valley opened up. The most magical part of the trip was when we got a foot of snow one night and woke up to trees, houses, swing bridges, horses, dogs, all blanketed in white. The day after this was great because it was like snowshoeing, only without snowshoes (hence, the hilarious gaiters we're wearing!). From that point the valley opened up and we had gained enough elevation to really start seeing the giants of the Annapurna Himal. We felt like we could literally touch the mountains from the terraces of the little lodges along the way, and at the same time felt smaller-than-small next to them. The most impressive mountain was Annapurna II (elevation: 26,040 ft) as its ridge lines and glaciers were unlike anything we'd seen before...plus, can you imagine how tall that is??? The feeling can best be described as follows:

"It is said that all human activities seem futile and insignificant against the backdrop of the mighty Himalayas." M.K. Limbu

ELEVATION:
We decided to carry our own packs on the trail (budget style!!), but come day 11 when we climbed from 13,000 ft to 14,000 ft we were dragging ourselves and decided if we both wanted to avoid Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and actually enjoy hiking Thorung La Pass, we should find a porter. So, we got one for two days, but couldn't convince him to hike down the pass with us (knee breaker!!); however, it was such a great decision because we climbed the pass without getting sick (only cold).

VILLAGES AND PEOPLE:
Unlike most hikes, on which we're trying to get away from all civilization, this trail is like a highway through people's lives - as the main trade and commerce route in the mountain country, it literally is the vein that connects the entire area. Along the way we saw donkey-trains, porters carrying everything from food to metal roofing and steel pipes, yaks, children going to school, drunk old men, and lovely villages. The villages themselves range from a purpose-built cluster of trekking lodges (not as interesting), to large groupings of medieval homes that are literally clutching the mountain side. It's an odd feeling to walk along the trail and see the latter of the two, because in a very cliche way it is as if you are walking back in time, seeing places that are essentially unchanged since the stones were first stacked to build the houses and the terraces were first cut into the side of the hills.

Because there were so few trekkers this season, we were often the only group staying at the lodge. On one particular occasion we found ourselves in an incredibly rugged and old mountain village, staring across the valley at the monstrous mountains in all of their glory. It was very cold that morning, and rather than waste wood to heat the eating area we asked if we could join the family in the kitchen. Wood is the primary source of fuel for those who live outside of the population centers in Nepal (which has led to an extremely high rate of deforestation), so we joined around the stove and warmed our hands while the family prepared our breakfast. That they were generous enough to let us sit there was a true highlight, in that we could both interact with them and experience such kind, generous hospitality from those who really don't have much.

FOOD:
If you like Dal Bhat (boiled lentils over rice with a small serving of curry and pickled vegetables), then you will love Nepal. Nate dared to go the Dal Bhat route much more than me. I tended to try varieties of potatoes (boiled, fried, chopped and mashed) and eggs (boiled, fried, omelet) wanting something more, but always wishing I had gone with the staple. Vegetables and fruit are lacking. But, somehow we always found enough energy (thank you Mars bars!) to hike and then sit down with a nice cup of black tea/milk tea.

LODGING:
I think we set the record for days without hot showers on this trek (total of 15 days). We got two, I think....but most times we either used baby wipes or showered in cold/luke warm water. Again, the deforestation thing is partially fueled by trekkers wanting hot showers; however, they are making efforts to supply lodges with solar heaters. As for the beds, they are fairly simple - wooden beds with a foam mattress. We really got to loving our sleeping bags on this one!!

WATER:
Iodine, anyone? It tastes great!! And, if you're lucky, you may end up with Giardia (rotten eggs, anyone??)

We could go on and on (oh, wait! we already have...), but we hope the pictures will tell a better story than what we've written. Even though we didn't do the addition with the Annapurna Sanctuary, we felt completely lucky and amazed that we were able to do this trek. We're already talking about when to go back to Nepal.

Hey everyone! We arrived in Kathmandu a couple of days ago, and now are getting ready to head out on a 28-day trek on the Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary. The trek will have us staying at small lodges and tea houses in the equally tiny villages of Western Nepal. The scenery looks to be amazing and the people apparently are wonderful, so it should be an incredible experience and the perfect way to mesh culture with our favorite activity. We won't have much in the way of internet access for quite a while, but those of you who are interested in more info should check out the following site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapurna

Love you all!