Cassie and Avi explore Planet Earth!: May 2011

Creatures of the Himalayas

the Nepali Himalayas are known for their epic vistas, quaint mountain villages, famous trekking routes and diverse wildlife. the most infamous and legendary of all, the 12 foot tall half human, half ape Himalayan Yeti. On our quest to prove the legends true and take the first ever photo of a Yeti, we came across some beautiful creatures.

Apparently only Avi and Cassie realized we were on a Yeti Expedition. Deepak, Maila and Amandine play it cool.

Many species of hawks, eagles and vultures soar high above

the Himalayan yak dominates the lands

Like the jungle rhino, yaks are cool from a distance...

And a little scary up close! Luckily, Cassie survived this close encounter.

Fellow trekkers Ginger and Clay join us for a few days

A local woman with her Buddhist prayer beads

Forgot your light-weight, aluminum, shock- resistant trekking pole? Don't worry, this guy can whittle you a new one... with his sword.

Sweet faces of the Himalayas

Receiving directions to the Yeti cave from the locals

Even in the high Himalayas marching bands take to the streets to celebrate life

While Cassie took a break from the Yeti hunt to search for monkeys,

Avi set out to hunt for the rare Himalayan Cassie!

Deepak exhibits unusual behavior after applying sunscreen for the first time in his life!

And then we found it, the king of the Himalayas. Search complete.

the storm...

We woke to clear skies on the most anticipated day of our trek- attempting the high altitude Gosainkund Pass. We knew that the Himalayas cause some of the most unpredictable, unusual and devastating weather on the planet and that crossing this snowy pass could be challenging in poor weather. But the forecast looked promising...

We set out in clear weather feeling strong and ambitious

By the time we reached the sacred Gosainkund lakes, the clouds had gently rolled in

But in a matter of seconds, the lake completely disappeared.

At this point we were too far along to turn back, so our only hope was to stop and pray to Lord Shiva.

And set out onto the already snowy paths...

the terrain got increasingly steep and slippery

And before we knew it, we were trudging through a snow and hail storm

Our Belgian comrade Amandine demonstrates caution.

Brrr....

Avi and Deepak take cover, as Cassie risks her life to document our expedition

Finally a teahouse emerges from the clouds!

After a warm cup of yak milk tea we stepped outside to find that the snowstorm had temporarily subsided.

the mountain man serving tea told us that we had a solid hour before the storm would pass, so we might as well get comfortable in his abode.

But for unknown reasons, we departed anyways.

Perhaps the altitude had gotten to our heads...

And then the storm came back with a vengeance

After a grueling 60 minutes (exactly), we sat back and enjoyed the sun. Never question a Mountain Man.

Whether or not Jon Krakauer decides to write his next thriller about our expedition, it certainly got our blood pumping.

Back to the Mountains

After saying goodbye to our village and Nepali family, we set off for a final 2 week trek in the Langtang region of the Himalayas.

Our adventure began the moment we stepped onto the bus in Kathmandu for a 80 mile, 10 hour long bus ride up and down winding mountain roads- in a vehicle with no maximum capacity. When we passed an overturned bus that had flown off the mountain edge, we wondered if we were really in Disney Land passing by props meant to scare us before the big drop. It worked, we were actually scared.

Are we there yet?

An oncoming bus hit a motorcyclist. No one was injured. Just another opportunity for the whole mountain village and 6 buses worth of Nepalis to spend 2 hours together in the middle of the street... while we waited patiently...