Trekking,from,Kathmandu,Tibet, travel,insurance Trekking from Kathmandu to Tibet

Torres del Paine is among the biggest of Chile’s national parks, occupying almost 600,000 acres (242,000 ha) of land in the south on the border with Argentina. It is also among the most important, receiving a significant proportion of domes Like any American, traveling occasionally is just what I love doing and I bet you share the same stuff with me. But traveling does not mean that you would be safe. Escaping from our job and other stressful activities is just something that w

DAY TWO: DHUNCHE VILLAGEMorning found us alive and listening to a distant predawn chant of OM MANI PADME HUM (the Tibetan’s favorite mantra) coming from somewhere in the mountains around us. It was atmospheric and set the tone for the day.  Soon we were out looking for our breakfast of chia and biscuits to get ready for the trail.I loved that simple Dhunche Village for it’s colorful Sherpa people in their peaceful eyes. We shot some pictures of a local girl in purple and her small brother wearing a vest and lungi (wrap around cloth for pants). Dhunche was a place that was removed from time. Rock houses with wood plank doors held and air of ancientness that my modern world could not ever offer. It felt calming to be there and elemental. Sun, wind, clouds were all immediate and right next to you. I was inspired. Despite the lack of sleep and thin air I felt euphoric. The village was build on the side of a fairly steep hillside. At the edge of the village we found the source of the chanting. A simple Tibetan Temple was located on an outcrop of rock in a plain wood plank building. Not wanting to intrude, but deeply intrigued we sheepishly entered. Inside was a full compliment of 20 or so maroon robed, shaved head Tibetan Monks. When we entered the Temple, the Monks were chanting a deep throaty base indiscernible mantra while clanging large symbols, banging drums, rattling Damarus (small meditation drums), and ringing bells. It was a cacophony of chaotic sound. It was also magnificent. Here I was, in a authentic shrine room witnessing a tradition that has evolved a thousand years before I was born in the bosom of Tibet. We watched silently and then gracefully retreated. What a good omen to begin the journey!Now (grunt) we have to start climbing. It began easily enough. A nondescript grassy path at the back side of Dhunche wound it’s way upward past picturesque small stone farm houses and sculpted rice patties. A village woman stopped to admire Kirsten’s pink raw silk shawl saying: “Ramro” (beautiful). A couple of young boys were hanging out on path. One boy was a smiling maroon clad apprentice Monk and the other a frowning ragged village kid. That was enough to try Buddhism right there and then.Before long we discovered a large disparity in the map. None of the local recognized the village names when we ask directions. It appeared that there were many different names for the villages ahead. Each tribe seemed to have a different name for each area and nobody had ever heard of the name on our map. Our first day and we were already at a loss as to which way to go. We proceed on with a feeling of confused amusement.Next, our trail abruptly ended at a rock slide. With no trail at all we really had to take a pause for intuitive reflection. It’s funny, but at that moment I realized I wasn’t really going anywhere. I was just Being in the Himalayas. The trek was more or less to BE in the Himalayas, so no matter which way we went we would BE in the Himalayas and hopefully find food and shelter. We headed down to the bottom of the rock slide and picked up a trail by a small stream. From the useless map we tried to figure our which way to head: right or left?OK we choose to head left. The beautiful valley meandered along filled with Himalayan flowers and tall grasses. Occasionally, we would hear the bleat of a goat far off and some shouts of far away herdsmen. This high valley was so removed from the busy world below that it was easy to feel at peace and revel in the natural surroundings. There was only one problem. The direction we headed was sloping down and not up. We were after all supposed to be hiking up to Tibet.We went the wrong way. Before long we realized we were lost,..... Sunset was drawing near. The cool evening winds had already begun and a thick fog was floating up the valley. What to do?It’s a funny sensation in your brain as your reality shifts before your eyes. I’m a survivor, so I was quick to recognize that we might need to improvise a shelter.Fortunately this region had been occupied for several millennium and had give shelter to many a traveler. I saw the remains of a fire pit under an outcropping of rocks. Hmmmm, I thought this would do nicely if we don’t find anything else.We had enough light to continue on and after some distance we saw the smoke rising from a small picturesque rock village not too far away. As we entered the village we past a low Tibetan Temple with faded Buddhas and Deities adorning the wood facade. It had an air of ancient mystic as if it had been there for a thousand years.As we came into the center of the village children came out to greet us. These smiling kids had such a ‘presence’ about them it was as if they were emanating an aura of well-being.This village with no electricity or any modern trappings had evolved with relatively little change over the last 5000 years. It’s name was Shybubensi. It was actually the last village on the road. A road that had only been built 10 years before.Shybubensi was also the next village after Dhunche where we got off the bus yesterday. We had essentially doubled back to the beginning of the Langtang trailhead that we were trying to access via the back way. Oh well, it’s all good.Another surprise in Shybubensi were some new friends Rob & Julie who we had seen on the bus. They were a couple of newly weds from the UK. We had  met them when we boarded our bus in Kathmandu and here they were hanging out in the village for a day to acclimatize to the altitude.Rob was in the street playing ball with the kids. The kids in this village were ‘something else’. They had been raised in this small mountain village with no electricity or running water. I doubt if they had ever seen a television or heard a radio. When you looked into their calm clear eyes it was as if they had been meditating for a hundred years,.... what a difference environment can make.Existence happens. We decided to join forces with our new friends. The more the merrier on this wandering Himalayan adventure. It seem only natural as we were the only trekkers in this entire village.We all stayed in a rough wood guess house room with a lovely Sherpa family who charged us only 10 Rps (about 20 cents) for lodging. I couldn’t figure out why they had put old magazine pages on the wall and later realized this was a kinda decoration/wall paper. We were in a place where magazines were somewhat of a rarity.A shy young girl about 10 years old with big brown eyes and dark hair came to ask us what time we wanted to shower in the morning. This was an important detail as it was her job to heat the water and pour it into the improvised bucket with holes that would drip it on us. Amazingly innovation for a village that did take showers. It was purely a tourist feature and the only time we saw a shower on this trek.For dinner, the guess house family gave us Dhal Bhat (Rice & Mung Beans) with some white radish garnish. It was basic, but warm and yummy. This would be the staple for the rest of the journey. It’s the national dish of Nepal.Sleep came easy after an exhausting day of hiking. It was much warmer in Shybubensi as the rooms did not have big holes in them for ventilation. They had alittle more sensitivity to a trekkers sense of comfort.