The World is Ours: Nepal Pt. 1- Making Friends for Life and Exploring the Kathmandu Valley

Sat, Nelson, and Uwe

We've said it time and time again, the best thing about travel is the people you meet along the way. Sometimes God winks in your direction as he weaves the paths of complete strangers in a way that creates lasting bonds for years to come. Sometimes these strangers you meet serendipitously, you feel like you have known your entire life. That's how we feel about Sat and Uwe.

How did we end up in Kathmandu, in a local's home, with his extended family, eating a traditional meal, sharing stories and being embraced by all the family members like we were long lost cousins from the US?

...The story goes back to our stay in Zanzibar 3 months prior. We met Uwe while staying at our 4 bedroom guesthouse. Uwe (pronounced ooo-ver) is a doctor from Germany. We had a wonderful time together in Zanzibar and shared many meals and travel stories with us. He is truly a kind soul and we felt 'at home' speaking with him. Uwe told us that every year he travels to Nepal where he does some trekking and volunteer work. He visits a local village in a remote part of the country and treats the people of the village, bringing supplies, prescription drugs, medical devices, and has treated hundreds of patients over the years. He brings home his stories every year (usually through his amazing photos) and shares his cause with fellow Germans in hopes of promoting awareness of the need in Nepal. He told us he was going to be in Nepal in February.... it just so happened that we were going to be there in February too! We soon realized the best thing about the guesthouse in Zanzibar was not the view of the ocean from our room... but the timing.

...Rewind several years back, Uwe visited Nepal for the first time in decades. He met his trekking guide, Sat (pronounced Sut). Sat has the kind of soul that is one big smile. He is always laughing. His personality is infectious. He is one of the most genuinely happy people we have ever met. When he took Uwe out for his trek, Uwe expressed interest in seeing Sat's village. When Uwe arrived, he knew he had the medical expertise to really make a difference in this small corner of the world. A corner of the world that would soon mean so very much to Uwe.

Over the years Uwe and his friends and families donations have assisted Sat and his village in building a new school, providing medical clinic supplies and guidance, as well as a way to 'adopt' a child from the village.

We are incredibly inspired by the work Uwe does and the incredible graciousness of our host Sat. Their friendship is a beautiful bond and they treat each other like brothers. We would not have had the experience we had in Nepal without those two very special men.

While in Nepal, we traveled to Pokhara, a beautiful lake town 8 hrs by bus from Kathmandu. While Nelson accompanied Uwe and Sat on a 14 day trek through the Langtang valley, Allie stayed in Kathmadu and took up yoga, meditation, and cooking classes. After the trek, we stayed at the Kopan Buddhist Monastery where we lived among the monks and observed their way of life, while learning about Buddhism.

Over the next several posts we will share pictures from one of our new favorite countries: Nepal.

Enjoy the photos of Nepal Pt.1 - Pokhara and Kathmandu....

The air pollution was real. We wore these around Kathmandu almost all the time.

Within an hour of meeting Sat, we knew we had a new friend.

Bus ride to Pokhara was not for the faint of heart with steep cliffs.

Boats on the beautiful lake town of Pokhara

Old woman on the street.

The electrical nightmare of Kathmandu.

A peek into a local barber shop.

Chickens to go? That dog is about to snatch one!

Sat hosting us for dinner with his family. Fries and gorkha beer to start!

Sat and his wife hosting us in their home.

Traditional meal of chicken, a variety of veggies and the rice for the dhal bat! Dhal bat is eaten at almost every meal in Nepal. Its essentially rice with lentils poured over it. Every dhal bat is the same basic ingredients, but depending on the cook, tastes very different each time you have it.

Selfie with Sat's daughter

Thukpa! This delicious warm Tibetan soup was a staple. How does something so simple have so much flavor?

Momo dumplings with chili sauce

Regular daily traffic

Allie's yoga and meditation studio.

Prayer flags in the streets of the Thamel neighborhood of Kathmandu

Sat's daughter and nephew spending time with us.

Tongba! A traditional Nepalese alcoholic drink we were lucky enough to try. The fermented millet is put into the cup and warm water is poured over it. The metal straw is pinched at the bottom so the millet will not be sucked up the straw, only the warm alcoholic drink. As long as you keep pouring warm water over it, you can keep drinking! The drink that never ends??

Nelson and Milano!... Nelson and Milan became friends during the 14 day trek. Milan was the porter for the group of three guys. Milan is also Sat's nephew. Here they swapped hats for a photo. The green sash Nelson is wearing was put on all of us as we entered the home as a welcome greeting for the guests.

On the trekking trip, Nelson introduced them to one of our favorite road games... UNO! They fell in love. As a thankful gesture, we gave them our deck of UNO cards.

Fun fact: The flag of Nepal is one of only three country flags that are not rectangular.

We took a boat ride to the opposite side of the lake to begin a day hike.

Views of the Annapurna range from our hike in Pokhara.

Fish tail mountain

Prayer wheel at the Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu

The Boudhanath Stupa is a very religious place for Buddhists in Kathmandu.

The colors of the stupa were incredible. The worshipers would walk around the stupa in a clockwise fashion while saying their prayers.

The day Allie happened to visit was the Tibetan New Year. Many families were celebrating at the stupa.

Each color is a different prayer.

A local spinning the prayer wheels as she walks by, holding her mala beads.

Mother and Daughter writing prayers on each flag to be hung.

Young girls giving their offerings.

A sherpa woman holding her mala beads with her grand daughter.

Young boys hanging out at the stupa.

Beautiful flowers in the 'Garden of Dreams' in the heart of Kathmandu

Social Tours is a group that promotes sustainable tourism, benefiting the locals who partake on the tours and classes offered.

Allie with her cooking instructor. Lucky her, she was the only one in the class that afternoon!

At the market with the instructor purchasing ingredients.

Mushrooms the size of your face!

Fresh produce

Ingredients for momo's! (Dumplings) Yes, that is a snickers bar!

Cooking up lots of momo's.

Definitely an art to crafting these!

Some filled with chicken and veggies, some with cheese and spinach, and dessert momos with snickers and steamed to perfection!

The Kathmandu Durbar square is a UNESCO heritage site and also a major tourist attraction to the city. Unfortunately the earthquake in 2015 severely damaged many of their heritage buildings. They are still trying to rebuild.