A look back at Travel with a Local in Nepal 2022
We promised food. We promised culture. We promised photography.
We promised an experience of a lifetime. We delivered.
Prepare to manage your face as your mouth waters looking through some of these food pictures from our Travel with a Local in Nepal tour that took you down the roads to explore Nepali food, Nepali culture and with us, some history rich friends and provided lifestyle/documentary photography. We ate foods from many different cultures in Nepal: Thakali, Newari, Tharu, Tibetan, roadside fruit with chili snacks + fusions of many sorts. We even found our way to some excellent Italian pizza + pastas. We learned how to make Nepali dumplings, aka “mo:mos” and the traditional meal of dal bhat thakari (rice, bean soup + vegetable curry). We took cooking classes from a few different organizations that are tackling the all too common social issue of human trafficking. You can read more about these women led organizations here and here. They are doing remarkable work and we’re so honored to be able to support their mission and vision, support conscious travel while learning how to cook traditional Nepali food.
If you feel like seeing another gallery of all things Nepali Khana (khana = food, one of my favorite topics), there’s more to see in this blog post about our culinary tour through Nepal .
We visited seven UNESCO World Heritage sites in the Kathmandu Valley and Chitwan National Park. Imagine experiencing a plethora of temples, stupas, rhinos + elephants over the course of twelve days. It was remarkable, to be truthful, to experience Nepal and all that she offers through other’s eyes. Our travelers found that each site we visited hit a little bit different, every single time. There were some moments that really struck a chord … whether it was an experience of healing, deep grief, deep beauty, uncertainty or a heart melt with the animals/children/nature. As with everything in life, individual results may vary. To see more of the day-to-day aspects of the tour and some of the remarkable sites, stay tuned… a new blog post is coming.
There were an abundance of moments to engage with community we traversed through… cups of tea shared, beers here and there, petting of our furry friends, fist bumps of kids on school field trips, and connecting with our guides on deeper levels than what rhinoceros poop smells like – though, that’s super cool too. (You can see more about those adventures later- blog coming soon).
We traveled – overland primarily – through the hills and valleys to the flatlands and to the Gateway of the Himalayas. The roads were windy and long and gave some of the most expansive views of rice paddies and mountain views.
We toured, listened, learned, shopped to be sure we were bringing things home replicated aspects of meaning we found… whether it by singing bowls that were made under a full moon light, or paintings created by a single mother that just opened a gallery collective or by master thanka painters, or just to the pot store to buy a pan that could cook curry at home evenly. To see more of the magic in the mundane of shopping, walking, cultural immersion, check out this blog. The days were full, spirits soared, tummies adjusted to the newness of it all… and we can’t wait to do it again, maybe with you.
