Tiger Balm Tales vol. 19 Coming Down to Reality Down Dooby Doo Down Down, Comma comma Down Dooby Doo Down Down, Comma comma Down Dooby Doo Down Down Leaving Annapurna is Haaarrrrdddd…. tooooooooo…. dooooo… I couldn’t get this tune out of my head.  Probably because… There was nowhere to go now but down. Our downward [...]

Tiger Balm Tales Vol 18 Going Up…AGAIN We had been on the trail now for 18 days. We no longer had that rookie look in our eyes. We were no longer surprised by cold showers, the same menu, donkeys squeezing by us on the trail. We were old timers. We had 4 days on the trail [...]

Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 17 Danger! Curves Ahead How do you define a road? It’s all relative – right? I had long ago left behind my vision of what a road should be once I started long term travel in places like Kenya Mongolia, Laos, and Vietnam. Shoulders are for sissies and horns are an [...]

Tiger Balm Tales Vol 16 Carbo Loading Whoever said carbs aren’t good for you never hiked in Nepal. When hiking for 2 weeks, carbs become your ally. This is probably the one time when you can get away with eating carbs at every meal, so my best advice is – enjoy the hell out of [...]

Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 15 A River Runs Thru It The sign read Welcome to Marpha! Delightful Apple Capital of Nepal. I wondered if Johnny Appleseed was the mayor of this little town along the Annapurna Circuit. Aside from the Thorung La Pass, Marpha seemed to be the highlight of the circuit. We had been [...]

Tiger Balm Tales vol. 14 Motorized Travel It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from our brains. For the first time since we started hiking the Annapurna circuit – I was free of worry and it was a beautiful feeling. It’s amazing how much anxiety the Thorung La pass can cause internally [...]

Tiger Balm Tales vol. 13 The Longest Day KLOMP, KLOMP, KLOMP The sounds of hiking boots on wooden floor echoed outside my door. I poked my nose out of my warm sleeping bag cocoon, breathed in the cold air, and let it out only to see my hot breath evaporate into the darkness. I’m aware [...]

Tiger Balm Tales vol. 12 Beware of Falling Rocks All I heard was Bishnu yell “Runnnnn!” My heart raced and I felt as if I were moving in s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n. I sort of knew why I was running, but the gravity of the situation was fuzzy to me; it felt as if my mind were [...]