Well, we tried

It sounds pretty hard-core.

Juliana and I were trekking in the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal, on our way to see a panoramic view of the highest mountains in the world, including Mt. Everest. Unfortunately, we had not acclimatized enough... even after spending three nights in Darjeeling.. and suffered some pretty gnarly altitude sickness, forcing us to turn around.

In all actuality, being sick was pretty shitty. We had a night of tag-team vomiting that I wish didn't happen.

On the upside.. we did get an incredible view of Mt. Kanchenjunga, the world's third largest mountain... and its surrounding range, which is also known as the Sleeping Buddha. We also spent an extra night in this little house in the mountains, owned by a Tibetan family who were amazing in every sense of the word. The father, who spoke English fairly well, told us about his father's stories in Tibet (who was also living there, after escaping Chinese prison from jumping out of a third story window), and we ate momos and drank fermented oats (also known as Tibetan wine), nursing us back to health.

Getting to know our 22-year old guide, Nashant, was also a huge plus. After he drank three goblets of fermented oats (and to put that in perspective, J & I split one), he told us all about the Buddhist girl he plans to run away with and marry in the mountains (he, being Hindu.. makes this a bit scandelous). We explained to him that WWF was indeed not real, and how American football is actually played, both of which he was very thankful to know.

One of the most memorable moments during our stay with the Tibetan family was when I woke from an afternoon nap and walked by myself to the monastery down the hill, which looked like it were sitting in the clouds. Being there in complete silence, and stillness, left me feeling like being sick was totally OK. Adorned with prayer flags, the monastery was also decorated with little signs... which are certainly making more sense to me post-Vipassana. I took a picture of one of them, which said:

"May travelers upon the road find happiness no matter where they go,
And may they gain, without the need of toll, the goals on which they set their hearts."