Nepal can hardly be summed up in a single blog entry, however I have finally gotten a portion of the pictures upload for you see some fraction of our experience there.  I took over 1200 photographs, and the combined total of the group was probably near 10,000 photographs.  This is a mere 200, as paging through even that many can become a drawn out affair.

 

The trip was in-tents!

 

Don't be too fooled by the beautiful scenery, most of the trip I spent looking at the ground trying not to step in anything that might carry a pathogen.  However, when we did stop to look up, it was an impressive sight almost everywhere.  I could only describe it as an asian fairy tale world come to life.  Think Hobbit, but in Asia instead of England.  Most of the villages we visited could only be reached by foot, donky, yak, or otherwise.  As such these areas showed little impact of cars, trucks, and modern machinery which reveals just how beautiful this country is.  There isn't much usable land, but what is there has been used to the fullest.  Whole mountain sides have been painstakingly terraced over the last several centuries by hand to increase crop production.  Most of the villages are several centuries old and a mix of farming and vending for trekkers.

 

Nepal has a very high poverty rate, and it's especially evident in the cities.  I personally preferred the rural areas for their tranqulity and sparse population densities.  The cities still lack proper drainage, sanitation, plumbing, and electricity.  Kathmandu is home to a mere 1.8 million people, but it feels like it's far more than that.  So if you visit, land in Kathmandu for a day, and then get into the mountains where the real beauty is.