Nepal- the food edition

What did we expect of the food in Nepal? Dal...lots of dal. As part of our "training" we were eating dal at least weekly (although admittedly it was nothing like the dal we got there). We also expected to be inundated by yak milk butter tea, a drink that is said to be as grim as it sounds. Being the forward thinker I am I packed Milo (a chocolate drink powder) to surreptitiously add to the tea to make it more palatable. It turns out you don't actually encounter the stuff until higher elevations (because yaks don't live in the low territories). Unfortunately no yak tea was had on this trip. I spent my time at the highest elevation we reached communing with the squat toilet. I'm not sure what Brendan's excuse is.

The biggest food surprise in Nepal was that, like the country itself, it is a blend of the influences of the two major countries on either side of it: India and China. There were lots of curries and chapatis and the like right alongside chow mein and chop suey. Add in a little Tibetan flair and the continental food that pandered to the tourists and it was quite the food fest. Here are the highlights.

Momos (Tibetan dumplings). Really delicious. 

Thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup). Also really delicious. 

The one, the only dal bhat. Lunch of trekking champions. There are many awesome things about this dish, two of which are that a) it is one of the only ways to get a pretty balanced meal given the menu offerings along the trekking route and b) you keep getting refills of rice, dal, and/or curried veg until you cry for mercy (or just say that you're done). Now that is value for money!

Apple pancakes, black tea, and fresh mint tea. Our typical trekking breakfast.

Roadside pastries (and by "road" I mean dirt path). The Nepalis have clued into the fact that lots of their visitors have a soft spot for baked goods and there are now many German bakeries along the trekking route. I have no idea what makes them German, though, as there was nary a strudel in sight. Brendan is showing off his cinnamon bun here. This is definitely the prettiest dang place I ever ate a cinnibun.

Clearly not cutthroat business people.

Everest beer. This is the special Sherpa Nimbu Gombu edition dedicated to the man who summited Everest 12 times. Clearly a beer of champions. 

Nepal videos

Here I am paragliding in Pokhara on a very overcast day. Yes my helmet is too big for my head, and yes that is me yelping as I sail off the edge of the mountain. There is something wholly unnatural about going off the edge of anything so high, but I loved it and B and I are looking forward to paragliding again in Cape Town. Oh, and you'll have to tilt your head for this one...we thought the camera would auto-orient the image but alas that was not the case.

Next we have some Nepali street musicians/dancers. Keep your eye out for the particularly amusing whirling-dervish old guy!

Brendan's original plan was to not shave at all during the trip, heaven help my poor lily white cheeks. The day before we left for the trek he decided to clean up and have a shave at one of the Nepali barber shops. Nature took its course of the rest of our trip, however, and it was a surprisingly good look for him...far better than that horrific mustache.

And finally, a glimpse of the start of our trekking adventure. We rode for 3 hours from Pokhara to Besi Sahar, and then another hour by local taxi to Bahudanda where the Annapurna Circuit officially begins. The bus was overcrowded and the seats were minuscule. I felt sausaged into my seat, so you can imagine how Brendan- who is approximately twice the size of your average Nepali- felt.  While this video is entirely blurry, you get a sense of our jarring, dusty, musical experience.

Nepal pictures are up

At long last we have condensed our 1600 pictures into less than 100. In no particular order, here are a few highlights. In the next few days I will do a post on the food we ate (is anyone surprised that I want to talk about food?) and put up a few videos. Scroll to the bottom for the link to the full album.

Swayambhunath Stupa, Kathmandu

the breath-taking Himalayas

 arriving in Manang, elevation 3580 meters/11,745ft

 

keeping warm whilst reading in our room in Manang (and yes, it really was that cold)

a rainy day rickshaw ride in Kathmandu

Kathmandu, in all its exhausting and colorful glory

Durbar Square, Kathmandu

To connect to the full photo album click here.

Nepal teaser

Thanks for waiting ever so patiently for pictures and stories from our Nepalese adventure. Life has resumed its wonderfully busy pace, and the days since our return to Cape Town have been filled with washing a tremendous amount of particularly odiferous laundry, enjoying the ability to brush our teeth with the local water, the joys of having our own kitchen in which to cook whatever the heck we darn well want to eat (which was a spectacular Egg Benedict-Florentine twice this weekend), consuming as many fresh fruits and veggies as we can cram into our fiber-deprived mouths, and the fun of seeing friends and family and Parker the cat after weeks and weeks away. There was also the small matter of making sure I wasn't still sick from the bacteria/parasite power couple that plagued me for far too much of our trip...but that's a story for another time. Besides, picking our best photos is no small task when there are about 2000 to go through. But today, because the sun has decided to bully the rain away and shine brightly, and because our house smells heavenly thanks to the loaf of homemade bread baking away in the oven, I'm going to give you a quickie sneak peak. Don't say I never gave ya nothin!

Buddha statues at Swayambhunath temple in Kathmandu

with Raj, our porter/guide on trekking departure day

prayer wheels to be spun upon entering and exiting each village

en route

the Himalayas

marigold wreaths to adorn the Hindu statues

overlooking Pashupatinath in Kathmandu

Keep your peepers peeping, more photos, videos, and stories to follow!

Trekking the Annapurna Circuit

The bulk of our time in Nepal will be spent hiking half of the Annapurna Circuit, said to be one of the best treks in the world. We will be completing the eastern half, starting in Beshi Sahar (lower right) and ending in Jomsom (upper left). Sorry this picture is so grainy, but at least it gives a sense of things.

Our directions are northwest and up. We start at about 790m (2600ft), going through the Thorang La Pass toward the end of our trek which is 5416m high (17, 769ft). Don't worry- we have altitude sickness pills packed (as well as two tubs of peanut butter, crackers, peanuts & raisins, Milo- a chocolate drink powder- to add to our yak milk tea in case it tastes horrific, dried guava and peach rolls, and a bar of Green&Black's organic dark chocolate). The days will take us through various Buddhist and Hindu holy sites, and see a transition from tropical forest in Beshi Sahar, terminal moraine (rocks deposited at the furthest point of a glacier) in Manang, and the snow line in Thorang La. When we end in Jomsom (2713m/8900ft) we will rest for the afternoon and book a small puddle-jumper flight for the next morning to take us to Pokhara (lower center) for a few days of R&R and hopefully a massage or seven. The trek should take between 10-14 days, and during this time we will cover more than 120km/75 miles. Yikes, that is actually the first time I calculated the total distance. What have we gotten ourselves into?!

It is going to be a trip of a lifetime and we cannot wait. So please excuse our month of blog silence and get excited for pictures and stories when we return!

Nepal countdown

In a week's time we will be in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.



To say we are excited is the understatement of the year. We will be spending our first two nights in Kathmandu at the Hotel Ganesh Himal. From there we will head to Beshi Sahar to begin our teahouse trek, which will last for approximately 10-14 days...but I'll post more on the trekking part of our trip later in the week.


After our trek we will recover for a few days in Pokhara before returning to Kathmandu. Having minored in religion in college, focusing on Buddhism and Hinduism because it was just so dadgum interesting and beautiful, I am thrilled to be heading to a country full of shrines and stupas and prayer flags and multi-armed dieties. Even our stay at the Hotel Ganesh feels like a great omen, as Ganesh is the elephant-headed deity revered as the Remover of Obstacles.


Love him. I definitely plan on coming home with some cool Ganesh art to keep our print of Krishna and his consort Radha company.

happy days

Four years ago today I went on a date with a really handsome guy I met on the first night of tango class. It was an icy sub-zero day in New Haven. We had Thai food. Later that evening we drank rooibos tea and I was introduced to Johnny Clegg. We saw each other the next day, and the next day, and the day after that. It was bliss then and it still is.


Our days of late have been very full and happy in other ways too. We've spent a few glorious days on the beach, my new favorite of which is Llandudno though we've spent a fair bit of time in Fish Hoek too.


We went for a sunset walk along Hout Bay beach, watching the mountain change colors and the clouds roll in.


Afterward we had a drink at a bar on the beach and watched the full moon rise. Our chairs were in the sand and we could kick our feet up and relax.


There has been loads of family time as well. We've had more time with this little cutie and his brother. I have a great video of James and Brendan that I will figure out how to post and get up here soon.



There was a gathering of all the M-B sibs, their partners, and their kiddies (I'm glad Ant & Kate have two so I could have someone to hold!).


And now we have B's cousin Kate and her husband James here. On Sunday we packed a picnic and parked off at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens for one of their summer concerts.



Sadly the Nepal training has been a bit back-burnered because of my broken toe. I think it is nearly better enough to start hiking and we will hopefully recommence soon. In the mean time, Brendan has been harassing me (I think he would say he is strongly encouraging me) to do wall squats to increase leg strength. I decided that I would do them when Parker did.


While his form leaves something to be desired, I guess this means I need to start doing wall squats. Dang.

domestic danger

Sometimes staying at home can be dangerous. Like the other morning. I was minding my own business, putting away dishes, being all nice and domestic when

GASP

our cutting board became unsteady in the drying rack and

BAM

it fell on my toe and smashed the end of it to smithereens.

These pics are from about a week post-injury because, to be perfectly honest, the dang toe just looked too gruesome up to this point. I'll be hop-a-long Maughan-Brown for the next several weeks. My wonderful brother-in-law Andreas (a doctor) has said it will be about a month until I can comfortably put weight on my left foot, and two months until I am fully recovered. Considering it is only ten weeks until we leave for Nepal this is bad news. I think Brendan is keen to make me eat dinner while doing wall squats to keep my thighs strong. I think I'm keen to have him piggy-back me along the Annapurna Circuit instead. Either way, the Nepal trip just got a little more memorable.

dhal nirvana

I'm not one to toot my own horn, but I would be doing you a disservice if I didn't share my dhal recipe with you. It is simply that good. It is so good we eat it once a week (well, twice if you count the leftovers we have for lunch the next day). Every Wednesday after yoga we eat dhal over jasmine rice and swoon. It also feels incredibly restorative to eat something so hearty and healthy. We also figure it fits in as part of our Nepal training, as the word on the street is that we are going to be eating a whole lotta dhal during our trek.

This recipe is short, sweet, highly adaptable, and nearly impossible to mess up...my favorite kind.

Wednesday Dhal

1 cup lentils (we like the yellow split ones because they cook up wonderfully creamy)

splash of olive oil

1/2 onion finely chopped

1 clove minced garlic

1 generous tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 can of diced tomatoes with juice

1 tbs grated fresh ginger

3 tbs butter

salt and pepper to taste

fresh cilantro (coriander, if you are in SA)

plain yogurt

Put the lentils in a pot and cover with about 2 inches of water. Bring this to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 8-10 mins. Drain into sieve and set aside. Heat the olive oil in the pot and saute onions for a few minutes, then add the garlic,curry, and cayenne. After about 30 seconds, add the lentils, tomato (include the juice), ginger, butter, salt and pepper and let this baby simmer away for up to an hour so it gets nice and thick. You can, however, eat this straight away...sometimes I steal one quick bowl because I can't wait any longer to taste it.

You can add a splash of cream, which makes it rich and smooth (and less healthy and a heavenly treat). You can add other veggies (carrots, celery, peas, bell pepper). You can make this using some other legume. I've been wanting to make one with little pieces of roast lamb in it. Just go wild!

Serve over rice (or not), garnish with cilantro and yogurt and get ready to fall in love.

one walk, two ways

In anticipation of our tea house trek along part of the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal next year (woohoo!), we have put ourselves on a walking/hiking regimen to start training our bodies. We bought a book of the best walks in the Cape Peninsula, and two weekends ago we began with the Silvermine Trail/Elephant's Eye Cave walk. It was a beautiful morning, and we were feeling jittery and excited because the view from the top of this walk was said to be, quite possibly, the best vista in the Cape Peninsula.

But as we kept walking, the sky started looking like this:

As we approached the summit, we experienced this:

It was all very "Gorillas in the Mist", without the gorillas of course. It also started raining and was incredibly cold and windy.

When we got to the top we couldn't see a dadgum thing and decided that we might as well start walking back down. It was a bit of a let down and we vowed to repeat this walk, lest Mother Nature get the better of us. And we did repeat it...last weekend. What a difference. 

It was a bright, hot, sunny morning. 

We went with Lucy and Annabelle, two of Brendan's very best friends and former roommates. I am lucky enough to be working with Annabelle at the University of Cape Town. 

And this time at the top we saw this:

and this:

and this:

It was a glorious day. We were sweaty and happy after three hours in nature.

And certainly made happier by following this up with fish and chips at Kalky's in Kalk Bay and a visit to the Olympia Cafe bakery for a sweet treat.