Hello Everyone!!!

Wow, I have spent the last 7 weeks walking through the mountains...I feel really good. I am back from my second trek, which was INCREDIBLE. My friend Germaine and I went to an area called Langtang...we felt pretty lucky because we started our trek the day before a new law went into effect saying that everyone must have a guide in order to trek. The Langtang area is not quite as popular as the other regions because it does not have the enormous 8,000 meter peaks, but it was one of the most incredible places I have ever been in my life. The Langtang Valley felt so magical. It was a beautiful valley with a glacial river running down it, littered with huge boulders (we were really mad we decided against bringing our climbing shoes) and surrounded with both jagged and snowy mountains. I felt so at peace there. We hiked up to Kanging Gompa which is the village farthest up the valley, and spent about 4 days there exploring. We hiked up to the bases of some glaciers, went up the valley further, and climbed a "peak" (more like a hill among the huge mountains) where we had a really cool view. From there we went back down in elevation only to climb back up to Gossinkunda at 14,500 feet. This is a really sacred place for many Nepali people. It is located in the head of a valley alongside alpine lakes. It was really really cold there (Germaine's contact solution froze during the day in our room). We spent about three days there. We hiked up to the ridge of the valley which was really cool. The two sides of the ridge were like day and night, the other side was covered with snow and clouds and our side was clear and dry....but not for long. When we got down it began to snow, and snow. It felt so nice to be in a snow storm (other then missing skiing). About 4 inches of snow later we went out and had a snowball fight. Germaine and I got our butts kicked by 40 year old men, it was pretty pathetic.
Unfortunatly, the most epic day we had was not on the mountains, but on the bus ride home. We ended up on a bus whose steering went out about a half an hour in. All I remeber is suddenly flying through the air, my head barely missing a metal pole. When I picked myself off the floor, I saw panic in everyones eyes. I knew something was very wrong when the Nepali man next to us was trying to jump out the window. Germaine and I were the last ones off the bus. We were shocked to see that the bus was feet from driving off a sheer drop into the valley below...luckily the brakes didn't go out as well!!! It took a little while to process everything, but when I did, the tears started rolling. That was a really intense experience. Now I am back in Kathmandu enjoying showers, coffee, beer and all that good stuff. I am hoping to do some rafting before leaving. Once again this computer is not cooperating, it won't let me put pictures on. I will try again soon though. Hope you are all well, Much love!!!!