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La Vida Colorida

November 2018 - March 2020
From fire spewing volcanoes, festivals & tacos in Central America to the wilderness, wine and adventure of Patagonia.
504 days, 12,096 hours & 725,760 minutes together. Read more
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  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida

    London, United Kingdom

    November 1, 2018 in England ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Day 0.

    And so the Adventure begins...

    Looking as fresh as we likely will for the foreseeable future! Coming up for a 8 hour flight to Dehli followed by an overnight in Dehli airport for 13 hours then a swift onward flight to Kathmandu!

    Worth noting we spent £42 on a Heathrow Breakfast with bloody Mary's here, the best we will likely eat for a very, very long time! And it was worth it!

    Ellie very much enjoyed the announcement that Chicken Korma would be on the in flight Menu.

    Note: Experience from sleeping at Dehli airport so far is that the Indian people are super polite, in fact regardless of the hour they are more than willing to stream music outloud on their phone for you to hear, even if you don't ask..    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 1

    NEPAL Kathmandu - Sparkling Turtle!

    November 2, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Day 1 - 5.

    Our base for exploring Kathmandu was the Sparkling Turtle slightly out of town. Great people - questionable Buffalo burgers and showers (see below) but a great hostel to start exploring the chaos that is Kathmandu!

    Potentially not to be noted as the hostel for successful mountainerers however as we quickly learned a number of guests had either been airlifted to rescue or come down violently sick in the mountains. I did my best to diffuse Limbsters concerns but I feel this is sadly not the end...

    Lucky enough to have experienced Diwali festival in this city in all its glory - Xmas lights and party celebrations on every corner, crazy atmosphere! Certainly a way to readjust to the backpacking lifestyle, senses overload all day long!

    Diwali Thoughts.

    All for celebrating the crows but wouldn't mind if they dropped the dogs next year.

    The coloured paint on sale in the street is not for a paint party (sadly) but merely for decorative pictures outside your home.

    As expected we instantly fell for the bright colours in this city and therefore quickly found our bags (Craig's bags) overflowing with excess clothing, we will be looking at sending some boxes home in no time to unload I'm sure!

    Positives - Diwali, First Momos, Durbar Square, Bargain trekking gear and lots and lots of people!

    Negatives - Cash machine robbed £172 off us today, bastards. Don't trust Green buses, they don't exist, literally take any other bus!    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 6

    Nargakot

    November 7, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Day 6 & 7

    Two night trip to watch the sun rise over Mt. Everest in the quiet hill town of Nargakot.

    First local bus experience was certainly memorable, intrigued to see if this is the standard we should come to expect going forward - me cradling a locals new born baby in one arm, with a second child asleep on my right shoulder all whilst a lady leant across us to chunder violently out of the moving bus as we climbed the cliff. I'm still grateful she made it to the door and that we had a seat for the ride mind, most didn't!

    Nargarkot was well worth the bus ride however, great comfy bed with sunrise views and the best sunset so far, alone on the roof with a warm mug of ginger tea & 360° mountain peak views, plenty of 7000m + peaks in sight here! Note to us, we need to haggle better and improve our poker face.

    Will remember for a long time the feeling of sheer fear as we leapt half dazed to our feet, fully tangled in our brightly coloured duvets when a large baboon like monkey landed right on our balcony during sunrise. A real shock and I've never seen us run so fast, except maybe from dogs - we seem to run from them a lot lately also, bloody love animals.

    Top stay all in all, now back down that hill. Note it's best to ride on the roof of the bus for amazing views and an unforgettable experience. I wouldn't know of course because it's dangerous but for whoever is reading this.    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 8

    Boudnahath

    November 9, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Day 8.

    Today was a monumental one as it was the first Tour by Limby Adventures Ltd, which meant three things; 1. At least half a day off from map navigation for Craig 2. The first time in 8 days Ellie has seen a map and finally 3. That we where bound to get lost / argue / cancel the tour.

    In fact the tour was an overwhelming success in terms of history and sights, less can be said about the ever rotating map, but there is always room for improvement. Result - 4.5 out of 5.

    With Limbster relieved of duty we arrived safely at Boudnahath for the evening - The Biggest Buddhist stupha in Nepal.

    Atmosphere here was totally different to that of Kathmandu - peaceful! We followed the many monks and visitors in walking in a clockwise direction (after some prompting) around the great Stupa, spinning the prayer wheels as we went constantly amazed by the number of prayer flags in sight!

    Spotted a great vegan rooftop restaurant with amazing views over the Stupa and surrounding area so enjoyed a feast as we watched the sunset over the Stupa. As ever we had to find the BEST combination of quality / value food we could.. but I think we nailed it this time!

    Met a lovely Indian Buddhist student on route home who shared a taxi with us, safe to say however he hated 99% of all other Indians which is why we can only assume he has fled the country. Will try not to let this tarnish our excitement just yet.

    Favourite day in Kathmandu so far.    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 10

    Kathmandu - Pokhara - Chame

    November 11, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    Day 9 & 10.

    Quick overnight in Pokhara after a bumpy 7 hour bus from Kathmandu - roads are minimal here so reading during journeys has quickly been ruled out, but the scenery is fantastic!

    Spent an hour haggling for the best bargain sleeping bags in town, apparently we have down sleeping bags but I'm fairly confident if I'd asked for a sleeping bag lined with gold the lovely Indian gentlemen would have told me it was stuffed with that too. Anyway still fairly confident I won't need one but let's pray to god it keeps Ellie alive, losing at least one of those lanky limbs to frostbite is still a real risk.

    Back to the hostel for some rest, Limbster awkwardly hid behind the door tonight whilst I chatted up the receptionist. Not something we want to repeat too often..

    To get to Chame, our starting point, it was a 6 hour bus plus a 6 hour jeep climbing 2500m. It needs to be a jeep as there are virtually no roads, at no point in 6 hours did we exceed 5mph, we met Dieke and Wouter today from the Netherlands after clubbing together to haggle the very aggressive young jeep drivers, if only they where nice Nepalese ladies they might get their asking price! Shared lots of laughs during the jeep ride together and also met Susan today (awesome Nepalese local who hitched a ride) - "too much dust..!"

    Super scary edges followed by warm apple pie and tea to finish the day around a much needed fire.

    Quickly dodged a bullet here and avoided sleeping at what could only be compared to a scene out of the movie 'Hostel'. Don't trust young Jeep drivers or cold dark cabins.

    The trekking fear has begun to settle in now coupled with a little excitement! Tomorrow it begins!    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 11

    Upper Pissang

    November 12, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Day 11.

    Our first day trekking, a solid 4-5 hour trek which was an absolute killer after months of no exercise but the high of being in the mountains for the first time kept us going, trekking poles were a life saver also!

    Crossed epic foot bridges (albeit somewhat shakily on my part) over the huge valleys today, I think it'll take me a while to get used to these after seeing how most Nepalese structures are built but whilst it's the only way up the mountain I have no choice!

    Arrived at Mandela lodge in great time with awesome mountain views and fantastic lemon tea with no plans to move for a good few hours! Genuinely appear to have been the fastest people on the Annapurna circuit today, this can't be all that hard right?

    Amazingly no blisters from our shoes today, which is a real achievement, we might be seeing more of these boots yet.

    Note - Don't leave limbster alone in a store to hire a trekking gear, it appears we have rented a sharp peice of steel with a pocket attached designed purely with the purpose of causing a great deal of pain. Not much we can do now. On we go.

    Now at 3000m.    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 12

    Bhraka

    November 13, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Day 12.

    Ellie's worst day to date. This was a big 7 hour walking day in the freezing cold, but we made it! Solid 1 hour vertical climb only made worse by an optimistic porter getting our hopes up early on. Tougher than anticipated today for sure, carrying the bag is certainly starting to take its toll.

    However reunited with Dieke and Woulter today plus new companions including Crocidle Dundee and Spanish couple Max and Annie, walked as a group with big plans to utilise our new found bargaining power at the next Tea house..

    Few photos today as we focused on the cold - the gloves rarely came off! May have been a bit turtle and hare about the whole thing yesterday, it's starting to get tough!

    Much needed hot meal tonight whilst tutting the fellow travellers drinking beer over dinner.

    Many, many prayers were said over these wheels today ->    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 13

    Ice Lake!

    November 14, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ -4 °C

    Day 13.

    HOLY SHIT. Certainly the hardest trek so far (and an optional one at that!) - A 1100m ascent in 4 hours at highest altitude yet hitting 4600m, I'm now genuinely worried Ellie is going to turn back and charter a helicopter out of here!

    I'm beginning to pant heavily due to altitude, much to Limbsters annoyance apparently who obviously prefers peace and quiet over hearing the alarming sounds of me slowly dying. Views however the best so far and good to know we can handle the altitude okay ...ish, great walking as a 4 too and really kept each other going (we chased Vouter and Dieke up the hill and they chased us down).

    Enjoyed some fresh citrus fruits at the top courtesy of some generous Koreans then began the steep climb back to Manang after the cold really kicked in, literally a sprint to get back into our sleeping bags!

    Ellie smashed her downhill fears today given we basically ran the whole way down 1100m.    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 14

    Manang

    November 15, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    Day 14.

    One rest day at Manang. Exhausted after Ice Lake and we are both super cold.

    Enjoyed the makeshift cinema tonight (even if the movie didn't live up to the hype (Into the Wild was not our first choice). Nights like this strongly reaffirm Limbster is my soulmate by the fact we hate with meticulous detail the same things and people, bodes well for two years together 24/7.

    The placement of a rare electric fire right at our feet however quickly got us over our dismay at the movie choice - we will go on without seeing 7 years in Tibet if we can stay this warm for 200 rupees.

    Veg burgers were fantastic at our Tea House but the fire less so therefore it was an early cold night to get some rest in! Legs feel like jelly going to bed - note to self stretch next time!

    Back on the Trail Tomorrow!    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 15

    Yak Karga

    November 16, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C

    Day 15.

    It's the penultimate day before the pass - shorter walk today but lots of games with Dieke and Woulter passed the afternoon at Yak Karga! It is starting to get super cold now so lots of layers are coming into the sleeping bags 2 - 5pm is now regular sleeping bag time until the fires get lit at 5.

    We're also now using Yak dung for fire - No more inhabitable villages at this height, certainly different.

    Games learnt today to remember:
    Hunting Hearts
    Whole 9
    51

    And obviously some good games of Irish snap which we already comprehensively know the rules of.    Read more

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