In my late 20s, at the end of medical school my stomach was always upset. One day I ‘got the idea’ to go eat at an Indian restaurant. The menu was vegetarian and delicious.

As I sat there surrounded by photos of the Himalaya on all sides a little voice told me ‘go there to be healed’.

As it turns out, I did feel better after that meal -even though I tried to eat well most of the time. And I also decided to visit the Himalaya. Here’s a story about my first trip.

Since I had a boyfriend I invited him along and planned the trip using Lonely Planet, Fodor’s and a couple of other travel books.

As I wanted to go on a trek but didn’t have too long as I was due to start internship in a month or so, I decided to visit the Annapurna Side. I didn’t hire a guide or porter. I planned on carrying a backpack.

It was my idea, if I l’oved the trip, meaning it ‘added value’ my life, I’d return to visit Everest region later.

My plan was to hike up from Pokhara to Jomsom and Muktinah, then fly back to Kathmandu. This starts one out a few hundred meters above sea level and ascends to 5400 meters at Thorong La, the highest point of my trek and where I toasted my class with a class of rakshi moonshine.

Before I went I needed to get Visas and permits; I barely started my many immunizations in time as several were required – regardless of what I thought of them. Because I wanted to go – I submitted. I got a shot of pooled IgG which I might be more reluctant to do now.

My arm was really sore after the first set, I could barely lift them. I think it was from the typhoid injection. Luckily this cleared pretty quickly. I found doing pushups really helpful!

Just when I was setting up my hotel accommodations and buying a ticket, my then-boyfriend backed out citing a slightly paranoid reason but probably wasn’t the more I know… so he stayed and in my heart we broke up.

Meanwhile, I redoubled my efforts to navigate the many particulars. Besides getting ready to graduate medical school (an actual ceremony I would observe from high in the Himalaya), and wrapping up my clerkship in radiology (which I barely passed), I crossed my ‘t’s and dotted my ‘i’s. I made lists and plans.

The trip was ~three+ weeks long. That included a week in Amsterdam, 10 days in Nepal, and a week in India.

Every part of the trip has its own mini-adventure. I met many very kind-hearted people.

In Netherlands, I really enjoyed walking around the canals, taking photos of random stuff, and visiting a cannabis shop.

The pot shop really freaked me out as pot was still very illegal everywhere in the US even though I could get it with much surreptitious behavior. To sit and smoke publicly felt taboo. Everyone was trying out their own type. It was slightly thrilling.

The flight on KLM was quite pleasant but I forgot to ‘choose’ my extra empty bag so it didn’t initially accompany me to Kathmandu.

In Nepal in particular, I found most people were very sweet -as in untarnished by harsh words. There was no wide-spread media exposure. I heard no TVs. Although mid-trek, in a particularly wealthy village, the guest house had a VCR.

Along with an audience of about 30, we watched “The Fly”. This seemed completely out of place but was entertaining at the same time.

Many children had a rudimentary knowledge of English; I hardly got to practice my Nepali but I remember “bistaadi” – which means “go slowly” but relentlessly. And “dunyabhat”, which means “thank you”. I barely used my guide book otherwise.

The trek often felt like an endurance test. One where I got to learn about going up, up, up, all day long, then down, down, down, all the next as I slowly ascended in Annapurna’s shadow. One day was just marble stairs- hundreds it seemed. People passed me carrying heavy loads with everything needed to build structures and furnish a home. There were no cars or automated vehicles.

In Jomsom, after walking for ~6 hours, along with more steps, I arrived at the tea house dusty and tired. I had barely sat on my bed when the hostess came in and told me there was a celebration to go to- including me. Even though I demurred, they persisted, and also insisted I dress up.

For the next twenty minutes they tugged and trussed and finally I was wearing a full Nepali garb with ‘slip’, dress, apron, and headpiece. Only then did we all make our way back to the stone stairs to sit and await a flushed bridal party on their way to the ceremony. As they passed everyone gave them blessings.

The trek was the peak of my trip in many respects.

As I had come at the end of the typical spring season, the villages were quiet. Mostly I ate Tibetan bread and tsampa porridge, and drank cha tea. Being the start of the monsoon season, I got up early to see the mountains before the clouds set in then walked all day. The paths were packed hard clay.

I lost a few pounds and had very mild dysentery.

Besides doing the trek, I visited a several stupas, spun countless prayer wheels, and along with dozens of other pilgrims, surveyed a huge carved Buddha figure topped with fresh gold paint next to a popular monastery.

In Chitwan National Park, I went on a picture safari with a naturalist and rode an elephant. I saw hippos and rhinoceros but no tigers.

Later I continued on to India to visit Varanasi, Dehli and Agra. These were completely different experiences each wonderful in their own way.

I loved the sacred stillness of Varanasi – India’s death capital. Everywhere you go there’s a lingering aroma of Frankincense and jasmine. Many wear jasmine necklaces – probably to block out the scent of decomposition, like Fabreze or peppermint does the same thing.

A few times I witnessed the dead wrapped in white shroud being purposefully borne towards the river for their final ceremony by small groups of somber men. That is a site I won’t forget nor see elsewhere.

Along the Ganges many religious sects have specialized areas to bring their dead for cremation (Hindus), vulture picking (Jains), and other choices for a body being ‘processed’ after death.

There are also a series of sacred ghats where one can spend a day ritually washing at one after another as the Gange’s waters are considered holy. I went on a river cruise and saw a dead animal floating. I didn’t drink the holy water.

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Delhi had amazing mostly pleasant bustle though it was hot – around 112+ degrees in my room on a higher floor. Luckily there was a fan and a shower. I didn’t sleep much but took quick showers a lot. Then lay under the fan’s gust trying to catch some shut-eye. Sometimes I succeeded.

Sure there were beggars, but that’s part of the experience. I gave the kids bananas and kindness -even though they wanted money.

(I hate supporting more of what I don’t want in any form! Sadly there is little that is healthy to support- at least until now.)

Throughout my trip got to try all kinds of vegetarian food. Even did a little (mostly unsuccessful) bartering. Found some wonderful silks and tapestries, I arranged to have mailed back to me.

I visited the white tiger at the Delhi zoo. It was magnificent; in retrospect I got way too close while I was taking pictures. I’m glad his coat was still on him.

In Agra, the Taj Mahal with its fine marble carvings is a massive tomb built by Shah Jahan to celebrate his beloved wife Mumtal Mahal’s parting. It was once loaded with gemstones but now you have to use your imagination to see the emeralds, rubies, and sapphires though they left the crypt underneath intact- or a facsimile thereof.

In Agra, the sun was red with thick haze. You could almost look right at it. This was mostly dust and smog. The pollution was impressive. I should have worn a mask but didn’t.

There I had a fancy vegetarian Indian dinner with many specialty dishes; the bill was ~ $25.

Three months after I returned home, the tapestries landed on my doorstep. They were rolled up and sewn into a round muslin package and sealed with red wax. And were perfectly intact. That was a very pleasant surprise! I made a scrapbook with photos.

In addition to many new wonderful cuisines, vistas, and meeting lovely people, I l’oved that there were places on the planet which routinely considered the nature of unseen spirit and celebrated it regularly with places to give casual but meditative homage on ~every corner.