PHOTOS: ANNAPURNA SANCTUARY

Words don't do justice to the stunning beauty and random hilarity delivered by a hike through the Annapurna Sanctuary. For your viewing enjoyment, below are a few photos from the trek:

Some sheep Kip befriended on the trail.

View of the Annapurna peaks from Annapurna Base Camp at 13,549 feet. The strange lines of clouds high above the peaks are caused by high winds, we're told.

Liz with her soul sisters Nada and Sim at Annapurna Base Camp.

Some very camera shy Nepalese girls. They had a great time telling Kip all the English words they knew.

No chicken, pork, or buffalo meat beyond this point of the trail. Not a high point for us non-vegetarians.

Safety first? Not in this hot water shower, powered by a propane bottle and clear plastic tube that remain in the bathroom as you shower. Shockingly, we decided to pass on the gas.

Looking forward to buying some holes at this "hole sale" provision shop.

Considering there are only four lodges in Chhomrong, this sign seems a bit dated.

A herd of goats blocks the road on our ride back to Pokhara. Their horns are painted blue to identify them to their owners. On the dashboard of our car spins a solar-powered prayer wheel. 

MONASTERY ON THE MOUNTAIN

The ornate entrance to the Tengboche Monastery.

What trip to Mount Everest would be complete without the blessing of a monk or two for safe passage?  The famous "monastery in the mountains" is one reason we ended up in the village of Tengboche, the same spot Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stopped by on their way to becoming the first climbers ever to summit Everest in 1953. 

The other reason is the tiny settlement lies at the top of a lung-aching, unrelenting, steep up-hill we had been climbing for four hours, making it the perfect place to stop for the night.

Tengboche (altitude 12,700 feet) offers incredible views of Everest and surrounding peaks, particularly for the early riser (Kip). It also provides great motivation for a strenuous day of hiking. 

After resting our weary legs for the night at one of the two guesthouses in town, we were greeted with stunning Himalayan sunrise views from our window. We are officially spoiled. We know.

Kip and the monk in Tengboche Monastery. 

Up before breakfast, we wandered over to the famous Dawla Choling Gompa (Tengboche Monastery). The fame of the monastery derives from the numerous Everest expeditions that stop to receive a blessing on their way to base camp. 

We figured it couldn't hurt. 

Inside the monsatery, we met a young, bald monk in robes, and a matching red down parka. He invited us to watch the 6 am morning prayer/chanting service, where we watched from the back of the room as 30 monks of all ages chanted from their prayer books, had a tea break, and started again. 

When they were finished, and we filed out of the room, our monk friend then presented each of us with a Tibetan prayer scarf and a blessing for safe passage. 

We thanked him, snapped a few photos, and headed out for what turned out to be the most difficult days of the trek.

A pile of mani stones with Ama Dablam (22,467 ft) in the background.

WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS FLIGHT

The 15,000-foot view from our flight to Lukla, Nepal, home of the world's most dangerous airport.

If you want to trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal, chances are you'll be flying into Lukla's Tenzing-Hilary Airport. Deemed "the most dangerous airport in the world" the airport sits at nearly 10,000 feet, features a single runway less than 1,500 feet long (most commercial runways are more than 5,000 feet) and is built on a 12 percent slope that on one end collides with solid rock and the other falls off steeply into a deep valley. 

It's not exactly leisure travel, but considering the alternative was taking a rickety bus for 10 hours along dangerous mountain curves, followed by four days of hiking uphill, we decided to take our chances. 

A twin-prop plane preps for the downhill take-off from Lukla's airport at 9,100 feet.

However, before we could defy death by landing at the airport, we first had to survive an hour-long, knuckle-whitening flight from Kathmandu to get here. This is the same flight that crashed in late September this year, killing all on board.

Nervous would be an understatement. 

From our seats in the well-used, twin-prop plane, we did see some stunning views of Mt. Everest. Yet we also got unwanted pilot's-eye views through the cockpit, where the captain and co-pilot wove skillfully between swirling storm clouds, dodged soaring vultures, and let the wings skim dangerously close to the peaks of some of the world's highest mountains.

On our flight, one person cried, two passengers hurled, and three on-board screamed out loud when we hit turbulence on our approach to Lukla. We'll let you guess which of us was included in the aforementioned stats.

Upon landing (and kissing the asphalt runway much too intimately), we grabbed our heavy backpacks and headed quickly up the dirt and stone trail into Lukla. In addition to the flight, we had been awake since 5 am, and we had six hours of uphill hiking ahead. We needed a drink.

Our celebratory coffee on making it to Lukla alive and kicking-off the long trek to Base Camp.
Thanks for the drink, readers!

Considering we hadn't yet had breakfast, we opted for two strong Everest coffees and some fresh apple strudel from a nearby bakery (thanks for the contributions, readers Todd and Tori P, Alison J, Ben P, and Lindsay N!)

With our caffeine fix and some time to calm our nerves, we headed up the trail, starting a 12-day return trek to Everest Base Camp. Seeing as Kip refused to buy a map or hire a guide or porter, we'll need all the luck we can get. 

The son of the bakery owner gives us the thumbs up as we hit the trail to Everest Base Camp.

PLAINS AND MOUNTAINS ON THE TIBETAN PLATEAU

On the downhill run from Lhasa into Nepal, roads are lined with arid plains dotted with goats, cows, miles of barley, and the ruins of thousand-year old structures that are slowly melting back into the earth (see two "mounds" in the middle right). The golden fields stretch for miles until they collide with rolling hills that morph slowly into mid-size mountain ranges--in a land where 18,000-foot peaks are "mid-size"--and finally, into the Himalayas. 

It only took us eight days, but we finally got a decent photo that included Mt. Everest (at least, our guide assured us the peak in the background is the highest one in the world). 

On toward Nepal and a trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp. We hope.

PHOTO FRIDAY: STARRY NIGHT IN TIBET

Above, a night view of Mt. Cho Oyu (26,906 feet) and the Himalayas from a frontier town in southern Tibet called Tingri. 

We'd like to say the summit you're seeing is Mt. Everest, which is clearly visible from where this photo was shot. However, in a typical moment of Liz & Kip travel brilliance, we realized at 4 am in the freezing cold on a tiny bridge just outside of town, that we didn't know which of the surrounding snow-capped peaks was the largest in the world.

Sadly, the world's highest mountain is about half-an-inch beyond the left edge of the frame of this shot. 

It looked real nice. Really, it did.

Yes, after six months, we're still the clueless travelers we were when we started.