Experiences as a Development Practitioner: Visits to a Divine Abode

Nepal and the mystique surrounding it seem like a far away dream. Now back in Washington, DC, only the photographs seems to verify my memories and some of the most fascinating adventures trekking through the Himalayas. When I realized that my time in Nepal would be cut short with the start of a new job, I was devastated that my trekking trip through Tibet, kora (pilgrim circumambulation) around Mount Kailash, and Everest base camp excursion would all have to be put on hold until another point in my life when I’d have that much personal freedom and leisure time. I hastily put together a list of the key sites and activities I had to experience before returning to the dull West. One was to complete at least a three-day trek in the Annapurna region of the Himalayas, and another was to receive a glimmer of the Everest’s dharshan on a Buddha Air flight.

The trek began from Pokhara, the city of the beautiful Phewa Lake, which I write about in “A Little Taste of Heaven.” After an early morning flight from Kathmandu, two sherpas, met me at the airport and we began the journey into the Annapurnas. As we started the journey, the Sherpa serving as a porter ran ahead of us with ease as he carried the weight of our entire supplies and personal belongings for the next three days. While not a long period, so the supplies were limited, it was still a heavy load, and I was in awe of the weight that the sherpas have been accustomed to carrying on their shoulders and backs for generations- as much as 500 kilos! We trekked along the Seti Gandaki river for several kilometers before beginning the high ascent into the more mountainous terrain through remote villages amidst lush greenery and the rhododendrons that adorn the trekking route to Ghandruk.

Flowing waters of the Seti Gandaki

Mules bringing supplies into the remote villages of the Himalayas

Sherpa carrying supplies across one of many bridges through the range

Grazing mule along the river banks

Himalayan village

The views from Landruk and Ghandruk over the course of the three day trek were overwhelmingly breathtaking, and I feel blessed to have been so close to some of the highest, monumental peaks in this world. The Annapurna range is crowned by the Machhapuchhre twin peaks (meaning ‘fishtail’) and studded for miles with other captivating snow-capped peaks overlooking the tribal villages laced with the Nepali prayer flags.

View of Annapurna range from my Landruk guesthouse

A closer view of the Annapurnas

Even closer...you can't get enough of this beauty!

Residents relaxing on their stoops in the evening as we walk on

A Gurung woman sitting outside her hut

The morning before my first field visit to Bihar with the Grameen Foundation, I caught a Buddha Air flight that takes a small number of passengers along the Himalayan range up to the renowned Mount Everest before making a full circle back to Kathmandu. While it by no means compares to seeing Everest from its base camp, one can’t help but feel awestruck by the sight of it, even from the cockpit of the plane. The Himalayas, meaning “abode of snow” in Sanskrit, conjures all sorts of magical images in our minds and continues to profoundly shape the many colorful cultures of South Asia and beyond. It is the mother of several sacred rivers flowing through the Asian continent from Tajikistan to Vietnam and will forever be honored as such in our hearts.