Nepal

As many of you know, Buzz had the opportunity to spend three weeks in April on a trek through the Himalayas with his dad and brother.  Since his return, he's had to jump right back in to residency, so I'm not sure when he'll get a chance to write something of his own about the trip.  I'll share some picture highlights now and maybe some day he can add stories of people he met and experiences he had.

Bonus - while on a seven hour layover in DC, the boys left the airport and did a bit of sightseeing.  They did the same in Qatar on their layover there.

Their first couple of days in Nepal were spent visiting with people that their dad had met on his previous trips to the region.  They visited a hospital and rehabilitation center for people with leprosy and met with a man who ran an orphanage in the area.

This guy offered to show Buzz some cobras.  Little did Buzz know that the guy would start piling the snakes on his head and then charge him for the experience!

 Ready to start their Trek!  Buzz, his dad, his brother, their two porters, and guide.

 One of many suspension bridges that they crossed on their journey:

 Buzz said that this was one of the most rickety.

 Check this one out, made out of bamboo:

 Starting to see some "baby mountains" as their guide called them:

 Sitting down to a meal:

 On a bridge:

 Aww... don't they look cute in their matching gear?  ;)

 Dad

 Nepali Mac N Cheese:  Deep fried shell pasta with goat cheese sprinkled on top.

 That's my husband, standing under the waterfall in his rain gear.  He felt confident doing this because before he left he climbed into our shower in full gear to see if his clothes would get wet.  They didn't.

 Getting their first glimpses of the big mountains through the clouds:

 Dad making his way down the trail:

 Yikes!  

Another big mountain in the distance.  Their trek was along the Annapurna range.  Buzz could tell you which mountains these are, but I have no idea. 

 We got an email from here!  We were surprised to hear from Buzz while he was on his trek and it was quite a treat!

 Good view of the mountains on a clear day:

 Along the trail:

 A fairly sturdy looking bridge, covered in prayer flags.

 Annapurna 3

 Annapurna 2 and 4:

 Buzz on their "rest day"... they did a day hike to acclimate to the altitude before they crossed over the high pass the next day.

 Sharing some Nepali berry juice:

 The pass:

 Snow day:

Yak!

 Base camp:

 At the pass.  Buzz and his brother were the first to get there and blazed the trail.  They were quite proud.

 These are called "yak mo-mo's" or something like that.  Buzz assures me that they are not what my imagination labeled them to be...

Sunrise in the mountains: 

After their trek they caught a sightseeing flight and saw Mt. Everest from the air.

 Supposedly if you sit on these stones (in Kathmandu), your debts will be forgiven.  We're trying to figure out who to forward this photo to in the student loan department.

 This cute girl befriended Buzz on the street and asked him and his brother to buy her a book for school:

 How could they refuse?

 Buzz doing the dancing Yak.  :)

At a school that they visited:

 And another orphanage:

Here they are at the end of their trip, determined to never, ever leave their families for this long again.  You can see the homesick misery on their faces, right?  Right?

Their dad says that their desire/"need" to do trips like this is a genetic defect and I must say that I agree!

I tried to keep all photos in order, but I think that I may have messed something up at the end.  Buzz can set us straight later if there are any glaring errors.  Stay tuned for pictures of our time while Buzz was away and for photos of what three weeks of patchy beard growth looks like!