India (Chandrashila Hike)

One of the things that pushed me out of my comfort zone the most on this trip thus far was my trek in the Himalaya. It wasn't all that long (4 Days), or all that high (about 4100m), but it definitely was a big push into things I'm less-than-totally-comfortable-with. Like, you know. Camping. And being really cold. Anyways, it was really rewarding and totally gorgeous. Here's a little about the place I was: Chandrashila is summit of the Tungnath . It literally means "Moon Rock". It is located at a height of about 4,000 metres above sea level

Here are some photos I snagged throughout the journey. Shout out to my trekking partner, Mia - she was a great thought and hiking partner during the four days.

The road we needed to use to get up to the trek start had been washed out in some pretty terrible landslides that happened back in June. Entire parts of town and road had been washed away:

This is where I camped on night one (also where that leopard was hanging out):

Some pics of the "Jungle" we trekked through to get to our second camping site:

I was pretty stoked to be out there:

I think this pretty much sums up what most of the scenery looked like on the way to the top: Being the city-slicker that I am, things like campfires truly impressed me. Here's a couple of pics of that plus our awesome guide Rohit, doing his survivorman thing:

We got to a point that the clouds kind of sunk into the mountains around us, it was kind of gorgeous:

Temple near the top of Chandrashila:

Mia and I early on summit day:

The ride back to Rishikesh looked like this the whole time (Bliss):

This is how I looked on the last day of the trek right after waking up, in the freezing cold and not having showered for a few days (I was thrilled with life I swear):

India (Rishikesh/Uttarakhand)

One of my first and longest lasting impressions of Rishikesh is how beautiful the sun hits the Ganga in that valley: White Water Rafting on the Mother Ganga:

On my first night at Seventh Heaven, I got invited to an Indian Wedding (As did everyone else in town, from what I can gather):

Pics from our kite-making and kite-flying event with the orphans from Ramana's Garden:

Right before gashing my foot attempting to "demonstrate" proper kite-flying technique. Lucy was amused, as she often is:

Vini (and Dennis!), my excellent Yoga Teacher during my time in Rishikesh, during the Orphan event:

My Friends @ Seventh Heaven. Enjoying one of our many meals and chats. Quite the Group:The Ram Jula Bridge looked crowded like this most of the time (see if you can spot the Elvis impersonator)

Laguna Esmeralda - Ushuaia

The Taj and I

Jordan Part 3: Wadi Rum

Things I loved about Wadi Rum:

1. Totally Unique and bizarre, beautiful landscape
2. The Rum Stars Beduoin Camp where we stayed
3. The group that was on our jeep
4. Hearing Akmed (the owner of the camp/guide) talk about life as a Beduoin and how that is changing because of technology and tourism. (Over alot of sugary tea of course)
5. The feeling of isolation you get being out there.
6. Climbing up the rocks! They're so sticky it makes walking up these rock so easy and getting to interesting viewpoints really fun and accessible.
7. Facing my fear of heights and climbing up to the arch and walking along the ledge to get the photo below

     

Jordan Part 2: Petra

Petra lived up to my expectations and then some. I loved hiking through the park and challenging myself with some pretty scary (for me) walks on ledges at pretty severe heights. The history there is also just beautiful to explore and experience. It's a magical place. I caught myself smiling for no reason the entire time we were there. Two days was a good amount of time but we could have easily spent some more time. The highlight was definitely entering Petra from behind and hiking up the mountain that the Monastery is on. Tremendous way to see the park. Beyond that, it often felt like we had the place to ourselves, the exact opposite of what I expected going in. Check out the photos below. Good Stuff:  

Wadi Rum Trek

Sunset in Wadi Rum

Epic Day in Jerash

Plitvice Lakes National Park Croatia