Mar 9, 2015
The ride there was insane! I think our driver was worried that we might not catch the sunrise in time. The scenery was beautiful but I couldn’t really enjoy it since I was too worried we were going to fall off the edge. We got to the hotel. I think it was called Hotel at the end of the world. Or something along those lines. It reminded me of the movie The World's End. The sunrise was amazing! Too bad we couldn’t figure out which mountain was Mt. Everest.
Took the obligatory photos and then headed back down for some breakfast. The view while we were eating was just beautiful. It took me a while to actually realize that I was looking at the Himalayas.
After breakfast Michael, Raj (our trek guide) and I headed back to our minivan and got ready for our short trek down the mountain. About 20 minutes into the trek and Raj stops us and tells us to look around. I look around expecting to see something amazing but all I see are shrubs. I look back at him thinking I must have missed something. He tells me to look closer. I look closer. I still don’t get it. And then it hits me. Those weren’t just any shrubs. It was marijuana!
Right on the side of the road. Just growing like it was nothing. Raj told us that there is an actual field of wild weed just growing. I’ve never smoked weed but I can imagine what it might have been like for someone that does to see weed growing freely like that. I imagine it would be if ice cream grew out of trees and they were free for the taking. Haha! We didn’t see the weed field because it wasn’t on our trek path. Oh well. Seeing them sporadically on the side of the roads was enough. The trek wasn’t too bad. It took us through small little villages every now and again. The view of the Himalayas was constantly to our right and it was just stunning to look at.
After every turn, we would end up facing them and it was just another photo opportunity. Halfway through we came across a slightly bigger town and it was at this point where we could have stopped and gotten back on the minivan and drove the rest of the way back. We didn’t do that of course. We had a mini break where Raj informed us that the next 20 minutes were going to be uphill and a bit strenuous. Man was he right! I was short of breath and wheezing by the time we reached level ground again. I slightly blame the altitude. We were pretty high up.
After that it was smooth walking the rest of the way. By the time we got to the last check point, it was around noon and we were starving. We gladly boarded the minivan and were on our way back to the hostel.
Grabbed some lunch with Michael and Conner (he was still waiting for his check-in bags to arrive). Did a bit of shopping before heading back to the hostel.
