Shivalaya

Today, we finally kicked off our trek, taking the first steps hopefully towards the slopes of the world's tallest mountain. Not a long day as of itself, but at least personally, a difficult one, and not on account of the mild 9.5 km distance, 600m ascent or altitude, but out of feeling so weak for illness and lack of having eaten for two days.

Still, we had plenty to appreciate, enjoying witnessing quiet rural life in the foothills of the Himalayas. As suspected, Thomas marvelled at the array of exotic birds, rhododendrons and every tidbit of biology he could feast his eyes upon, while the locals have been incredibly friendly, trading us a modest 'namaste' and pointing us in the right direction at every available opportunity. One thing we found particularly interesting was just how many tiny settlements are dotted all about: small farmsteads and tiny communities too insignificant to be classified as villages or even be granted their own names stretch almost continuously along the trail. It really does feel like if you slipped away to live a life as a humble Nepalese farmer, no-one might find you ever again. Perhaps also surprisingly, it's just SO quiet, with us seeing barely another western trekker the entire day, and so far we've been spoilt for choice for empty teahouses to choose between.

Shivalaya, our day one destination, is named after Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction amongst other things, and perhaps by fate of name was devastated by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred here in 2015. It's clearly been rebuilt since, and is a colourful but sleepy stopover, where we've bought our entrance through to the Gaurishankar Conservation Area for tomorrow's section and cooled off by actually eating something (me) and trying to ring his Nan twenty times (Thomas).Read more