April 05th, 2016. Just finished trekking to the Khopra Lodge a hidden gem in the Annapurna Range!

Decide to go for a yoga class in Pokhara before trekking in the Annapurna range.  My yoga teacher seemed surprised that it was my 7th trip to Nepal.  "Wow!  It's your crown chakra trip!"

I had visited the Khopra Lodge 6 years ago and was blown away by the beauty and remote feeling of this lodge.  While there,  I heard a guide say,"there is a village higher than Poon Hill (the famous viewpoint of sunrise over the Annapurnas in which you get up at 5 am and trek for one hour to see the view). While this village was supposed to be higher than Poon Hill and you just pulled back the curtain in your bedroom to see the stunning view!  This became my objective for my trek.

I had been told that this was a  very local trail and yes it was!  For the first three days I did not see one westerner.  The experiences were so genuine on this off the beaten path trek.  One night I arrived exhausted at a village with no guesthouse that I could see.
One lady came out and kept yelling : "ikely? ikely?", as if I was crazy.  Turned out this meant, alone?  yes this was not something  a women in Nepal would do, travel on their own in the mountains.  She definitely thought I was crazy.

Soon her neighbor came out to see what was going on.  She motioned to follow her.  Next thing I knew she was cooking me dinner, rice, green veggies and beans.  I loved sitting in the small kitchen meeting the friends and family.  

The next neight, again I could not find a guesthouse.  A very kind man escorted me to a nearby village where I stayed with  a teacher and his family.  The following day he got two of his 16 year old students to be my porters (these two girls took turns carrying my pack) and they gave me insights into the culture.  They believed in arranged marriages and were not interested in having a boyfriendeven though they were stylish and sexy.

​I ended up somehow not finding the village I was looking for but did make to the Khopra Lodge at 3800 meters on the full moon and spring equinox.  I will never forget the stunning scenery and I will hold dearly in my heart the kindness of the Nepalese people.