LOL (Lots of Leeches)

By Emma & Ava

Early in the morning, we took a seven-hour bus ride from Boudha to Pokhara to get to the 3 Sisters Trekking Company guesthouse. 3 Sisters is an all female-run trekking company that empowers young women and works hard to make trekking significantly safer for women travelers. On our first night, we were welcomed with lots of food (dal bhat, obviously), fun, and laughter while we got to know our guides for our upcoming five-day trek.

The first day of our trek was pretty easy going, not many leeches (YET) and we all enjoyed ourselves (especially Emma who rode up in style from the hospital in a jeep). Once we were all reunited at our first guesthouse, we celebrated Soph’s 20th birthday by playing cards, eating LOTS of snacks, and having a full-on dance party with our host and assistants. Our host had some seriously deadly dance moves that would put Michael Jackson to shame.

The second day was when the leeches first hit us as we hiked uphill through the pouring rain. They were SAVAGE. (disclaimer: leeches only suck your blood for a hot second then fall off, they don’t carry any diseases and their bites don’t hurt.) Luckily, our trekking guides were very helpful with removing our leeches while we walked.

The rest of the trek was absolutely beautiful as we walked through villages, rhododendron forests, jungle, and waterfalls. We passed the time by chatting, playing games, and listening to Ava’s scary stories. We even got to see some monkeys! On the last day, Soph had a 101-degree fever and this time SHE got the royal Jeep ride, (but don’t worry she was a-okay by the time we got back to the guesthouse). After we finished the trek, we returned to the 3 Sister Guesthouse and were welcomed home with laundry and full body massages!!! For dinner, we had dal bhat (dal bhat power; 24 hours) and of course wrapped up the night with a dance party, as is Tara tradition.

We can’t thank 3 Sisters Trekking Company enough for keeping us safe and entertained on our journey through the Himalayas. We look forward to our remaining time in the ancient city of Bhaktapur as our journey in Nepal comes to an end 🙁

TTYL!!!! ( Talk to ya leeches)