We’ve been back home for a while now, and are back into an everyday routine. Having both found employment, there are no immediate plans for another multi-month trip, but we do find ourselves constantly looking back on the last year with no regrets and memories which will surely last our lifetime. Its been an amazing journey and we are glad we were able to share all our stories and photos with all of our followers through our blog.

We have compiled some of our experiences backpacking Asia, the Middle East and Europe into a 4 minute video. We hope you enjoy it.

originally published Jan 16,2011

It might be one of the most overused cliches in the travel universe but the idea of a kingdom deep in the Himalaya’s inspired by James Hilton’s classic Lost Horizon has thousands of backpackers and jet setters alike grabbing their warm coats and hiking boots in search of this mystical kingdom.

The sheer remoteness of the Himalaya’s have certainly been the focus of plenty of mythical tales such as yeti’s, snow lions, and tantric buddhist masters who have the ability to fly but one thing that surely does exist in these mountains are some of the most unique and beautiful cultures which exist on the planet. Many westerner’s fantasize about one day visiting such distant places such as Tibet, Nepal or Bhutan but with each one having its own flavour and attractions it can be hard to decide which one is right for you. I certainly struggled with this and instead visited all three.

TIBET

Ever since I watched Brad Pitt befriend the young Dalai Lama, I had long been fascinated by Tibet and it’s unique culture and have found in conversation with many westerners that a trip to Tibet ranks high on people’s bucket list. When we began seriously researching for a trip to the Himalaya’s, we began reading about Tibet but were put off by many accusations that “Tibetan culture is ruined” or that “Tibet is now just another part of China”. Luckily, we didn’t listen and last year had the opportunity to visit.

While its true, Tibet has certainly changed since the Chinese invaded, sending the Dalai Lama into exile in the 1950′s, those who believe Tibet no longer has any cultural interest clearly have not set foot in this amazing land. For those interested in the most important sites in Tibetan Buddhism a trip to Lhasa is a must. Imagine walking amongst a sea of pilgrims coming as far away as the Eastern Tibet, who circumnavigate the sacred site from sun up to sun down all the while chanting mantra’s and spinning prayer wheels. While the Han Chinese have their section of this sacred city and the Chinese military have a shockingly strong presence, the old Tibetan quarter remains a fascinating place to wander around or perhaps stop in and light some incense at one of the many monasteries.

Then there’s the landscape. Tibet sits high atop the highest plateau in the world in which locals herd their yaks across a high altitude desert surrounded by snow capped peaks. High altitude lakes shimmer bright blue in the powerful sunlight as you look around this great wilderness.

Tibet remains closed to independent travelers and the only way around this is to book a tour with a travel agency which is commonly run by a Chinese outfit and may be quite expensive. Tours can include only a single individual or as many as 4-5 persons (more is uncomfortable in a land cruiser) but includes a guide and driver. Companies such as Tibetan Connections will cater more to backpackers allowing them to choose their accommodation and food so as to cut costs and not be limited to tourist oriented services. Travel agencies can organize permits and train tickets into Tibet, but a Chinese visa will be needed to first enter the country.  Due to the strict regulations tourists outside of the major sites such as Lhasa and Yam drok lake are a rarity.

NEPAL

More of a backpacker and trekker utopia than a buddhist shangri la, Nepal offers almost an limitless opportunity to get up close and personal with the big mountains of the world while trekking day to day with pizza for dinner. In fact, while the scenery from Tibet is completely alien and moon-like, when it comes to admiring the sheer size of the majestic Himalaya, Nepal gets my vote. The reason being that while on the Nepali side you are staring up at the Tibetan Plateau rather than being already at 5000 meters plus looking straight at the great peaks.

While Nepal may be an overwhelming 85% Hindu, the areas bordering Tibet and specific areas of Kathmandu and Pokhara which harbor thousands of refugees offer glimpses into the amazing Tibetan buddhist culture described in “Lost Horizon”.

Nepal offers a kaleidoscope of activities from trekking mountain trails, Paragliding alongside the peaks, rafting down raging rivers, or chasing rhinos on the back of an elephant.  For someone looking for a lot of adventure, Nepal has it. Nepal has a massive backpacker lure and in the peak season Oct-Nov the trails can be busy and Kathmandu and Pokhara can feel a little invaded by the hordes here for months of trekking.

A big positive for Nepal is its ease of independent travel as there are virtually no restrictions on traveling independently as well as Nepal being very friendly on the wallet. A budget of 25 USD a day provide a comfortable lifestyle for most backpacker needs. Visa’s are available for most nationalities at the Kathmandu airport or border crossings.

BHUTAN

Bhutan is best described in one word…unique. Even attempting to visit such an intriguing country requires a completely different approach than any where else in the world. To even enter the country one must pay a visa fee of 200 USD per day…yes…per day.

While this is far out of the reach of anyone even considering themselves a backpacker, the 200 dollars a day fee not only buys you a visa but a driver, guide, vehicle, food, accommodation and really just about any costs you may come across on your trip. While its a shame this country can’t be explored independently, this is exactly part of the reason why Bhutan is so special – It’s almost void of tourists. Every experience is authentic and free of all those negative effects mass tourism can have on a fragile culture. I had the amazing opportunity to visit and while staying in tourist oriented accommodation and eating tourist oriented food was never my style, what I came away with from that trip was of the ultimate goal of the traveler, to experience something completely unlike anything else.

For those with even a little sense of adventure, a home stay in Bhutan can offer a glimpse into daily life and opportunity for cultural exchange. I stayed with 3 families while in Bhutan but it was the family below which was the highlight of my trip as they had only ever had a single western guest many years earlier.   As we sat around their yak dung stove drinking rice wine and talking of my life back home before they allowed me to sleep in their alter room surrounded by butter lamps with images of buddha sending me to sleep.

While the price tag keeping most tourists out, Bhutan has a list of attractions not the least of which is its intact Buddhist culture uninfluenced by a foreign government such as Tibet or parts of India. Imposing Dzongs or Fortresses are still houses of government, not a single building is built in a non traditional manner, a son entering monk hood is still a blessing to a family, and due to strict environmental policies the forests and landscape remain evermore pristine than its neighbors.

Bhutan may be labeled as “the Last Shangri-La” or “What Nepal was 30 years ago” these labels simply fall short in describing this amazing country. Bhutan has recently just become a new democracy but with its charismatic policy still in force of “Gross National Happiness over Gross National Product”, Bhutan is entering the future in its own unique way.

While not a destination for the long term traveler, for those interested in intact buddhist culture and one of the most unique countries in the world, Bhutan may just be for you.

* Not listed here are the Indian areas of Ladakh and Sikkim which are also sometimes lumped into the great Himalayan Kingdoms. We haven’t got there just yet…

Asia as a destination offers a kaleidoscope of religions and belief systems for the traveler to experience. There is certainly no shortage of spiritual places usually alive and buzzing with the faithful who arrive in droves to worship. Often some of our best experiences were simply wondering around these unique and inspiring places getting a glimpse into a belief system completely alien from our own sometimes joined by a knowledgeable local who would explain their faith.

The sheer amount of temples, mosques,pagoda’s and shrines throughout the continent is mind blowing but this post highlights the top 10 that we wont soon forget.

10) The Enigmatic Bayon Temple of Cambodia

9) The Rat Temple of Bikaner

8) Big Dagobas in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

7) Jokhang Temple Lhasa

6) The All Mighty Angkor

5) The Dalai Lama's Previous Residence

4) The Holiest of Holy Rivers - The Ganges

3) Qomolangma or Mother Saint to the Tibetans, Mount Everest to you and me.

2)Beautiful Shwedagon Pagoda of Myanmar

1) Sikhism's Masterpiece, The Golden Temple

Today began with the four of us loading our rucksacks into the Landcrusier for the long journey towards Mt. Everest Base Camp.

After departing from Shigatse, Tibet’s second biggest city, we drove for approximately 4hrs until we reached Sakya Monastery. This monastery was significant due to the fact that it is the oldest monastery in Tibet and survived the Cultural Revolution. The monastery follows the Tantric sect so over the next hour we wondered around the various dark and grim chapels full of protector deities and more chanting monks.

Once back on the road our drive was full of magnificent scenery. As we approached the Himalaya everything turned to high altitude desert where nothing seemed to subsist except for some nomadic families and their yaks. We crossed some extremely high passes including one which was 5248 metres high, that’s higher than any mountain peak in North America excluding Alaska! Passing by some more small village outposts we came to our lunch stop where we were informed by our guide that we would be arriving at Everest Base Camp in the dark.

The road to Everest diverts off the newly paved Friendship highway near the town of Tingri and turns into a awful gravel trail which seems to turn into nothing at all. Our first views came as we stopped for a rest and Everest could be seen forcing its way into the sky. Some snotty nose children came running up to have a look at the foreigners and hopefully sell some of the fossils they had collected in a large bag. The children’s hands and faces were severely weathered like that of the elderly and its clear that this land takes its toll on those who live here.

Our Landcruiser continued to bounce its way up and down mountains and streams for another 2 hrs or so before coming across another vehicle which had some bad news for us. The monastery had been booked up and the only other option for staying in their area was a overpriced upscale hotel which was out of budget for our group and vacancy was unknown. The news was upsetting to our group who now had to face the reality that we might have to turn back without getting an up close view of Everest which we had traveled all this way to see. Our decision was made to carry on to base camp and deal with consequences when we got there.

The light was fleeting fast and when we arrived, Everest could still be made out due to its purple hue from the setting sun. Some pictures were snapped and we were crossing our fingers that we wouldn’t have to sleep in the car at 5200 meters elevation. The staff at the hotel agreed to let us sleep in the restaurant but at a non discounted rate as I’m sure they knew we didn’t have much of an option. Once the 60 or so guests finally left the room, our group set up for a nights sleep in the restaurant and planned to wake up early for sunrise.

Mike and Martin were up first as they had planned to walk the 7km to Base camp in the dark but Lianna and I woke up a little later opting to take the easier option of driving just in time for sunrise. The morning was frigid and as the the wind howled our fingers froze trying to take pictures of the iconic mountain but was worth the pain to view such an amazing site. Strangely the 60 or so other guests who occupied the other rooms were no were to be seen. Once the Chinese military guard arrived we were allowed to get just a little bit closer to the giant and got to hang the prayer flags we had purchased in Lhasa just for this purpose. Once we couldn’t stay outside any longer it was time to tuck in for tea and pancakes in the lodge where we had slept that night before then a bid farewell to the tallest mountain in the world.

Our next day was planned to drive to the border and cross into Nepal early the next day.

On Saturday we departed Lhasa for the rest of our Tibet tour. Leaving early in the morning we drove for about 6 hours with stops along the way to take pictures. The most amazing stop was when we stopped to see Yamdrok lake. The lake and rivers in this area look like turquoise paint was poured into them, or as I said it looks like really thick blue Kool-Aid.

The Chinese government collects a 40 Yuan fee per person to take pictures of the lake from the highest viewpoint, but since we were told it’s impossible to know where that money goes, we opted to take our pictures 2 minutes down the road for free. The money grabs didn’t end there though, once we got out of the car there were big Tibetan Mastiffs lying around and we kept being hassled to take a picture of them for a fee until we finally left. The pictures of the lake alone do it enough justice.

We then stopped for lunch in a small town where I got to play with a little puppy the whole time which was hard to leave.

When we got to our town for the night, Gyantse, we went to check out the local monastery which has a Tantric side to it that we hadn’t witnessed yet. The Tantric monasteries are interesting because there is a much darker side to them that you might not expect in Buddhism. Here monks do an eerie chant that accompanies their drumming in order to summon the protector’s (scary looking guardians) which protect the monasteries and Tibetan people. Without this chanting the protectors grow lazy and fall asleep. Tantric monasteries are known to the Tibetans as they teach a much more powerful practice of Buddhism where in the past monks had the ability to fly and banish demons.

Today we had another early start because we needed to get to Shigatse in time for our guide to get our Everest permits. On the way we stopped to see a local man creating barley flour the very traditional way of using river water to turn wheels to turn the barley into flour. He was a character covered in flour with a huge smile, still practicing this less common and less profitable method which is on the verge of dying because most flour is now factory made. Once we arrived in Shigatse we visited a Monastery with Tibet’s largest Buddha, and witnessed a group of young girls “whistling while they worked” by singing songs to the beat of their tools they used to stamp down a homemade concrete. Shigatse Monastery only holds roughly 100 monks even though it is another one of the six most important monasteries in Tibetan Buddhism. This is because due to tensions between the Chinese government and the religious order, they limit the amount of monks allowed to attend thus keeping the numbers to a fraction of what they used to be before the Cultural Revolution.