Roaming With the Roddens: April 2015

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Another spring break adventure for Joe, trekking in Nepal and seeing Kathmandu

Once we left Oman and Lindsay had to get back to work, Joe hopped on a plane with our friend Tim and flew to Nepal. Tim teaches at Joe's school and his wife Stacey is the librarian at Lindsay's school, so they were in the same boat regarding the different spring breaks. Tim rides to and from school with Joe daily and they were talking a couple of months before spring break and decided to spend four days at the end of their break exploring Kathmandu and hiking in the Himalayan foothills around the Kathmandu Valley. This worked out perfectly, as Joe was able to do something and visit a place from his bucket list and enjoy an adventure that Lindsay might not have enjoyed as much with him!

So, Joe was only home from Oman for a few short hours before he and Tim took an overnight flight from Kuwait to Dubai and then on to Kathmandu. Some friends from the Harps went in December and had a great experience with the tour company so the boys followed their recommendation and set everything up through Nepal Hiking Adventure company. The first day they were met at the airport by a guide who showed them around Kathmandu. Joe saw most of the top tourist sites, including the historic Durbar Square and other World Heritage Sites that are hundreds and even thousands of years old! They visited the crematorium where the locals burn the bodies of their loved ones on the banks of their sacred river. The site was gruesome and depressing, but they have their customs and it was interesting to see how they deal with death as hindus. Throughout the day they encountered many cows, goats, and monkeys wandering around the city and saw a lot of interesting things. When they finished up the guided tour, Joe and Tim went walking around and exploring on their own and found a lot of cool shops and stores before finding the Irish Pub and having a delicious dinner and a couple of pints of Guinness.

Days two and three were spent trekking nearly 30 miles over the two days, high up above the Kathmandu valley. The boys were accompanied by their amazing guide Ram and another teacher from Dubai who was on her spring break. They climbed thousands of stone steps, many that were very old, scrambled up some steep mountainsides, and walked through many lovely villages while interacting with locals and enjoying the unparalleled vistas that the trail provided. They saw the sunrise twice over the Himalayas and the trip was magical in every way. On day four, they made their way down the mountain and back in to Kathmandu to the airport for the trip home and both Joe and Tim are convinced that they want to return!

***Writing this blog post is very bittersweet. It was an amazing adventure and the people of Nepal are so wonderful, which makes yesterday's news of the horrific earthquake very hard to bear. With heavy hearts we spent the past day waiting for news of the status of the two friends Joe made in Nepal and we are happy to say that both are alive and safe. It is amazing to think that many of the sites that Joe and Tim took in have been damaged or destroyed and Kathmandu and its very rich historical and cultural landmarks will never be the same. Please join us in praying for the people of Nepal and we ask that you consider helping them in any way you can!***

Here are some pictures from this extraordinary place filled with wonderful people, what a grand adventure it was!

Joe and Tim ready to go!

This was taken about halfway through day one.

So many adorable and fun kids in each village we trekked through!

Apparently marijuana grows wild in the hills of Nepal, it was everywhere.

Just a few of the 76,000 steps they climbed on the trek!

We tried to take her home!

Tim and the guide Ram, who was awesome!

Joe, Reina (a teacher from Dubai who joined them for the trek) and Tim.

Sections of the first day were like hiking through tunnels!

Sunset after day one of trekking.

Momos - steamed dumplings with chicken and veggies inside - delicious!

Just before sunrise.

Just after sunrise.

The village of Chisapani, where they spent the night midway through the trek.

Nepalese convenience store high in the mountains!

This little dude was awesome!

We stumbled upon the filming of a Swedish Travel television show being filmed.

Seriously, the trail was amazing!

Double rainbow just after a quick downpour as we arrived at the end of day 2.

Please pray for the amazing people of enchanting Nepal as they deal with the aftermath of the devastating earthquake.

Spring Break 2015 part 2 - Oman

After the tournament in Dubai was over we took a short flight to Muscat, Oman for three days in this amazing city and country! We have heard about Oman since before we even moved to Kuwait and everything we heard was true, it is truly the most beautiful country in the region and a hidden gem that all travelers should put on their list!

The worst part about visiting Oman was getting out of the airport. We had a late flight and there weren't many people working in customs and immigration so it took an hour and a half to get our visit visas and get through immigration. Then we spent another hour waiting for the rental car company to sort out their issues and get us on the road. We were tired and ready to sleep so we could spend the next three days checking out this magical place.

We spent the first day checking out the city of Muscat on the hop on, hop off tour bus and by driving around in our rental car. After nearly two years of driving in Kuwait we can't even begin to explain how wonderful the large, well-built, and free-flowing the roads are in Oman. Drivers were courteous and civilized, pretty much the opposite of Kuwait! It was blissful!

The second day we drove two and a half hours south to Wadi Shab, which many consider the most beautiful wadi in Oman. A wadi is a dry riverbed, though this one had many pools of the most beautiful clear and blue water you will ever see. The hike through the wadi takes you over paths, across streams, beside waterfalls, up many ancient stairs, and even scrambling over some large boulders, but it is well worth the two hours to the top. When you reach the end there is a 100 meter swim into the heart of the mountain where there is a beautiful cave with a waterfall. It was a truly wonderful hike and a day well spent!

After we completed our hike in Wadi Shab we drove back to Muscat and checked in to the Shangri La resort. We decided to spend the last day and night there relaxing and we were very happy we made this decision. The resort was world class and we spent about two hours relaxing and floating in the awesome lazy river that was just outside our room! We had a wonderful room service dinner that night and spent the next day on the beautiful and serene beach before we checked out and headed to the airport.

It was a wonderful trip and one we wish we could have extended. We cannot recommend a visit to Oman enough!