Nepal - Kingdom of Absolute Beauty

The kingdom of Nepal takes your breath away, both literally and figuratively, though the former can be remedied semi-easily enough through one of the many simple bouts of wheezing whilst keeled over your walking stick, mid-trek.

On a recent excursion to this faraway land, my wife and I counted ourselves extremely fortunate in the timing of our arrival, as a cease fire with Maoist rebels was announced literally days before our flight, as well the rain hitting most of the country ceased providing us with sunny days for the duration of our visit. Not only that, but as this was considered low season, we had the Annapurna trail basically to ourselves for our 4 day trek - beatthat.

During our short stay, we not only were able to glimpse a good portion of the Kathmandu Valley, but also were fortunate enough to visit the serene lakeside village of Pokhara, a travelers Mecca in its own right, due to it being the jump-off point for treks through the Annapurna range of the Himalayas. After four days, approximately 276 remarkable mountain vista photos, three individually eye opening nights spent at tiny hillside retreats in the presence of a wide variety of fellow trekkers, and topped off with an amazing sunrise at an altitude of 3210 meters later, we straggled back to Pokhara, much to the credit of our helpful guide, Niriyan, who could not have had any idea what he was getting himself into, we're sure.

Best advice we can give to anyone with even an inkling of travel adventure: get yourself to Nepal, and soon! When staying in Kathmandu, you can't do better than Via Via Café (www.viaviacafe.com), with cozy rooms adorned in sparse yet fashionable decor for the insanely reasonable price of about $1.80 US, you almost take for granted the warm atmosphere of the adjoining café, complete with fireplace, excellent preparation local cuisine and extremely friendly, helpful-beyond-compare proprietors.