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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
    Day 16

    Thorong Pedi

    November 17, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -1 °C

    Day 16.

    The night before the pass. Amazing Tea house considering we're at 4600 metres. Chilled all day with plenty of games and reading. Scary to see the number of people turning back at this point (or giving up and opting for the $110 horse ride over the pass). Early night as 4.45am start for the climb.

    It's much colder now so when the sun dipped the -10° trips to the outside squat toilet during the night in the black ice was certainly interesting...

    Highlight today was teaching everyone perudo (best game) and proceeding to dominate as the winner as expected..

    Vouter arguably saved Crocidle Dundees life at this stage by keeping him at Thorong Pedi with us, we would have a 5 companion for the final ascent tomorrow.    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 17

    Thorong La Pass

    November 18, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    Day 17.

    We finally made it! The pass was a killer 5 hour ascent and we got hit with freezing cold winds at the top, but we pushed through together and made it! All took shelter in a tiny tea shack after some windy snaps.

    For the first time I needed my fingers rubbing for circulation (how the tables have turned) and was willing to pay any price for a mug of burning hot tea to help the issue. Amazing a local was camped up this high selling tea - even kept the tea money he made in a bucket made purely from ice!

    We preceded to devour our remaining snacks for all possible energy, we would need it to get down.

    And that was that the pass was over in a flash! Time to descend, finally! A 1600m descent across 2 hours indicates just how keen we were to get down!

    Limbster especially took off in an almost sprint like fashion, anything to get out of that ice cold wind.    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 19

    Mck - Jomsom

    November 20, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 4 °C

    Day 20.

    Trekking day (short jeep) to Jomsom, checked into a fine looking hotel, only when we sought to investigate the slightly annoying banging did we discover the rooftop yak butchery, that smell will stay with us for some time to come, safe to say Yak meet is certainly off the menu if it wasn't already, can't say the same for everyone we share the story with as they seem to instantly proceed with ordering more Yak!

    Stay in Jomsom followed by a cheeky 13 Hour Jeep ride back to Pokhara, certainly an experience. Met a lovely British couple working for the Nepal embassy who also confirmed this was the worst journey ever. Insane to see the landslides quickly be cleared and a new road built within the afternoon albeit slightly scary!!

    Our first try of unboiled instant noodles too, it was that or starve on the mountain side, our driver certainly wasn't stopping for a lunch break. This was however a local delicacy of Nepal so about time we got involved, a local entrepreneur was quick in taking advantage of the landslide situation but we were starving and therefore grateful!

    Interesting visit all in all, certainly put off Yak meat if we weren't already and will begin to appreciate those rocky roads slightly more, at least it's a road!    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 20

    Pokhara, Nepal

    November 21, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Day 21 - Day 26.

    We spent a total of 6 days in Pokhara, a surreal place vs real Nepal life down by Lakeside but a great place to relax post Trek for a few home comforts.

    Checked into Teeka resort (a lovely 3 star hotel) to celebrate the news of our baby girl (or anniversary nor us or the hotel staff were quite sure). Looked after well here and took serious advantage of that buffet breakfast. After living in our hotel bubble it was back to a hostel, the budget can only afford so many treats after all.

    Had a night out with the dutch couple here, drunk beer, wine and alll the whiskey for the first real time, no need to worry about altidtude any more, or money it seems...

    On the upside we had robbed a lovely store owner of £50 today, so you could say it was a subsidized evening. I swear he took that bloody driving licence, note - not something to mention to anyone else, ever.

    Little hike to the peace pagoda followed by a tough trip down, not distance wise mind just due to the fact Limbster brought a grand total of 0 pairs of suitable footwear on a 2 year trip. It was painfully slow and required teamwork, it was hard to resist lecturing but I did my best.

    Spent many a meal at OR2K, cracking Dhal. We will miss the food here but time to see more of the real Nepal.

    Don't be fooled by the cat in the picture, we still hate all animals, if there weren't people around that cat might not be so comfortable.    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 26

    Bandipur,

    November 27, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Day 26 - Day 28.

    4 Days 3 nights relaxing in Bandipur on route to Chitwan.

    Nowhere else like it in Nepal, relaxing European like streets with amazing 360 mountain views. Not the best agoda booking given on arrival our hotel was still very much in construction, they will forever have Craig Fishers odd shaped footprint well and truly cemented in their hallway however, lucky bastards.

    Everything happens for a reason though and quickly stumbled upon a room with the best balcony in all of bandipur for a bargain price (apart from it nearly killing someone on day 3 with a balcony railing), note to self stop fiddling!

    Enjoyed a great sunset at the mountain viewpoint, temporarily surrounded by 50 Nepalese children intently observing our card game was a highlight if not a tad off putting! Sure I still won mind.

    Found a bargain bottle of red wine here, balcony, snacks, red wine and reading whilst the sun came down was a real highlight of the trip so far. Best times with my Limbster.

    Trekked down to the Siddha caves on our last day, totally unspoilt caves, we got shown around the dark by a local nepalese guide. Some big questionable ladders down into the cave with some ropes for the way up that caused just a few minor injuries..    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 29

    Chitwan - Taras Place

    November 30, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Day 28 - Day 37.

    This was our first Workaway of Nepal and the first one together and what an awesome experience!
    Tara and Anjana where such great hosts and the nicest people. Less so the Kid I have to say but 3 out of 4 is a decent result.

    From Rice harvesting to Potato planting and cement mixing it was certainly one of our highlights so far.

    Was nice to get used to a daily routine of spicy ginger tea at 8.30 as the mist was still settling followed by a 10am lunch - Dhal Bhat every day! (Except crepe days... Sweet Jesus so many crepe days)

    Even managed to get 3 runs in across our time here, hopefully the start of something more consistent...

    Usually relaxing until 1pm then getting stuck into some work out in the sun, rice farming being a favourite for sure and a real learning experience! I think Limbster really bonded with the goats here two, like two peas in a pod I tell you.

    Getting involved with the school was definitely a highlight too, took 3 classes of crazy kids and a lot of scattergries made for a very fun day! Certainly out of my comfort zone too and Ellie very much carried the day, what a natural.

    Best part of the day was always 3 - 5pm, sunset on the roof with limbster, reading, yoga and just taking in the views! Great group too - roughly 10 of us there and met some good friends, shared many a beer / meal and I'm sure we'll see most again in the small backpacking world!

    Sadly it had to come to an end but we left stocked for the bus with our new favourite sweet snack (So so much sugar, but we deserve it after this hard farmwork right) and a new advent calendar album so there's plenty more to come!    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 36

    Chitwan - The Jungle

    December 7, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Day 38 - 41

    A short journey from Tara's Place (3 shorter than usual buses) and we arrived at Hotel Rhino Land at £2.50 per night - whether the hotel would live up to the name was yet to be seen at this point.

    Welcomed by our v friendly host but missed the welcome activities due to our desire for fried rice and a veggie burger, need to get better at this time management thing.

    Later that night we had our first encounter, a sleeping Rhino around the back field of the hotel. Amazing start - this threw us slightly (mainly Ellie) into doubting participating in the jungle trek, this and our money conscious side had begun to come out, I mean we just saw a Rhino (albeit semi wild) chilling around the back of the Hotel!

    To our surprise and after much sunset Rhino hunting we were also able to see an amazing wild Rhino (horn and all) coming to bathe on our final night at the parks edge (we even enjoyed a beer for the moment). Plenty of wild crocodiles throughout our time here too without venturing into the official park whatsoever!

    Chitwan itself was relaxed & had some great food, we found our favourite Dal Bhat here and proceeded to visit 3 nights in a row! Also discovered chips chilly - my god this late discovery will remain one of our few Nepal regrets!

    P.s Ellie would argue that the 3 hours spent hunting for a size 40 grey rhino T shirt rather than actual Rhinos was actually time well spent..    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 42

    Kathmandu Part 2

    December 13, 2018 in Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Day 42 - 43

    Arrived back in Kathmandu ahead of our flight out to Sri Lanka. Totally different to experience the city post Dilwali and after 6 weeks of acclimatising to Nepal life!

    Managed to tick off all last remaining to do's including navigating the interesting Nepalese postal service (very traditional indeed including sewing the old box with material and wax sealing each corner using a small fire in the post office) I think we can only dream that those prayer flags make it back to Bri ....

    Last night was also our official anniversary so we went out in search of happy hour to celebrate in style, plenty of San Miguel (oddly the cheapest beer here) and Masala papad. One of the two didn't sit well with Ellie the next day however and the Imodium has now made its first appearance pre flight..... (Would have bet on Limbster breaking open the first aid kit)

    Finished an amazing night watching over the whole city from the Hostel rooftop net which is our fave city view spot, I think we even drifted off to sleep in no time, same could not be said sadly for our hostel room, does every fucking guy snore or what - plenty more of this to come I'm sure.

    Super sad to be leaving Nepal but we will never forget our time here, what an adventure!    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 43

    SRI LANKA - Colombo

    December 14, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Day 43.

    Arrived in Sri Lanka after cracking flight courtesy of Sri Lankan airlines - remember to always choose vs Air India.

    Short visit here to extend our 1 month Visa to 3, after 4 hours waiting to do so we got out to see Colombo. First tuk tuk ride, stroll along the sea front & plenty of ice lollies to cool us down meant for a productive day!

    Serious increase in temperature here vs Nepal.
    Sweat. Shower. Sleep. Repeat.

    Bought a cracking shirt here mind, note to self to treat Ellie to even out the scales asap.

    Top tip - avoid tour groups of 18 year old Australians, jeeez.    Read more

  • TravelerLa Vida Colorida
    Day 44

    Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka

    December 15, 2018 in Sri Lanka ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Day 44 - 46

    Experienced our first Sri Lankan train ride today - not fully anticipating the resourcefulness of the locals & mad sprinting to the doors meant we were firmly left stood up for the first 3 hours of this ride. But got to meet some great locals as a result, Gamini Jayathunga - very generous with his snacks & great contacts as well as a local medical student.

    Now much wiser to these train tricks and with the help of some locals we were able to commadere 2 actual seats at Kandy - and later upgrade to door view seats for the final 4 hours of the journey. This meant amazing views & was defintely worth the occasional risk of losing both our legs to an overhanging wall or station platform!

    Top top - Utilising the toilet window allows for a great door hanging GoPro snap!

    Later arrived to the Laughing Leopard Hostel - great new place with perfect vibe even if the owner is 24 years old and a total G! We quickly & rather impulsively enlisted on a 12.30am departure to Adams Peak (a 2500m sacred climb) to watch sunrise with Max & Lilly, had intended to avoid more trekking so not sure how this happened!

    Trek was hard, after a bad start (driver hit a horse on route) we made a series of catastrophic wrong turns resulting in a frantic dash for sunrise up 5500 steps!!! We struggled. Hard. And now in danger of missing sunrise we scurried through the trees to the mountain edge and caught a great view - finishing the climb after about 6.30 - tough day. No more trekking - ever. That or I'm worried Limbster might leave me.

    Last day was a rest day, some great local Dosas and one too many Lion beers around the fire. Will long remember the pure crazy that are solo Finnish trekkers, totally nuts.    Read more

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