Off to the Himalayas

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"Why do you want to visit such places?" "It is a rural backwater of China." "For that amount, you could go to and enjoy Paris."

For almost 4 months, I've been plagued with similar questions and statements from a lot of people, all puzzled with my choice of destination. My singular retort: I could go to all other usual touristy places when I am already old (or arthritic); but for now, as long as I could carry a backpack, I would go wherever my foot would take me, off the beaten track.

So, off to the Himalayas, I went. And I thought I was that important to the universe that it would conspire against me seeing the beauty of this side of the world. The strong earthquake in an area near Tibet that caused our contracted travel agency to back out, as well as the bandh (general strike) in Kathmandu surely made me a bit jittery. Good thing it was only fleeting. Eventually, everything simmered my excitement.

I hope this account would provide you a glimpse of the mere fraction that I've seen. This trip took me to Shanghai, Tibet, and Nepal; saw interesting places and met fascinating people along the way. It was not all rosy -- met a few disappointments, uncertainties, medical problems, and freak accident. But, it was indeed an adventure. It whet my desire to explore more places and dip into other cultures. And more importantly, it further increased my appreciation of the Philippines and my fellow Filipinos.

And as Mark Twain said,

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Note: This trip account had been separated into several entries. Please check out the next 4 or 5 entries (or the trip "A Peek into the Himalayas") for full account.

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Comments

[Ritz]

You've got great pictures. Hope you can post some of them here. That's one hell of a story you have there. But in the end, what matters is that you've SURVIVED! lol

[D MJ Binkley]

Simmering with excitement
Our philosophy is similar to yours in that it is a shrinking world. Go to all the far away places now while we still want to and can walk. At some point we won't want to deal with jet lag and squatty potties. We can see our country at that point (although) we've been to all 50 states. The point is ...go far and go often.