All Entries Tagged With: "Tiger Balm Tales"
Tiger Balm Tales E-book – Annapurna Circuit with my Father
Father’s Day was last Sunday; what better time to reflect upon my recent travels with my father.
Last October I traveled to Nepal to hike the Annapurna Circuit with my 73 year old father. We hiked for 21 days with many ups and downs…quite literally. I blogged about each step of that journey here on my [...]
Best and Worst of the Annapurna Circuit
Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 22
Best and the Worst of the Annapurna Circuit
Near the end of hiking the circuit, my father and I reminisced on some of our best and worst experiences over the past 21 days. We compiled a list of the best / worst of our Annapurna Circuit experience. Remember…this [...]
Kathmandu – A Personal Tour
This week is a special week – I’m devoting my posts this week to Kathmandu. However I don’t feel like being as ‘wordy’ as I normally am – instead I want the photographs to do the talking (However, this post is the exception!). I’m going to abandon my normal posting schedule; instead each day this [...]
Visa Required
Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 21
Visa Required
Even though I didn’t start traveling internationality until I was 30 years old, I’ve done a lot of traveling; some people may even consider me an ‘expert’. I’m not real sure if I deserve the ‘expert’ title, but there are certainly a few things I’ve learned about international travel.
You [...]
Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round
Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 20
Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round
The clutch and part of the transmission area lying on the ground next to the bus. I hear the sounds of a wrench taking more of the vital organs of the bus apart. This is going to be a long trip back [...]
Coming Down to Reality
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 path first led us through the ‘enchanted’ Rotadendrum [...]
Going Up…AGAIN
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 [...]
Danger! Curves Ahead
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 [...]
Carbo Loading – Annapurna Circuit
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 [...]
A River Runs Thru It – Annapurna Circuit
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 [...]
Motorized Travel – Annapurna Circuit
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 [...]
The Longest Day – Annapurna Circuit
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 those footseps are [...]
Beware of Falling Rocks
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 working [...]
A Mouse in My House
Tiger Balm Tales vol. 11
Day 10 – A Mouse in My House
After 10 days of decreasing temperatures and increasing wind my body is rebelling. My lips have become as dry as the Gobi Desert , my nasal passages feel like hard booger craters have invaded it, and my hands are so dry they look [...]
No Room at the Inns – Annapurna Circuit
Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 10
Day 9 - No Room at the Inns…
By some miracle I woke up on Day 9 with a small trace of a headache, aches, and pains of the day before. Apparently 24 hours of sleep and antibiotics were just what the doctor ordered. I woke up feeling about 80% well; [...]
Paralyzed on the Annapurna Circuit
Tiger Balm Tales vol. 9
Paralyzed
What started as a slight headache the night before had manifested into my complete paralysis the next morning. My head was throbbing, but worse than that, my body had felt like it had gone through a medieval bone crusher in the middle of the night. Every movement I made [...]
On the 7th day, we rested – Annapurna Circuit
Tiger Balm Tales – Vol. 8
And on the 7th day, we rested.
I woke up in Manang; I didn’t have to roll up my sleeping bag, repack my backpack, tend to my blisters, or put on my dingy hiking clothes. No, this morning we rested. I lay in my bed listening to the [...]
