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 them, 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 felt like it had gone through a medieval bone crusher in the middle of the night. Every movement I made ached […]
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 heavy […]
Changing Rhythms on the Annapurna Circuit
Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 7 Day 4-5-6 A routine is formed. Get up at 6:30 AM. Pack up everything by 7:00 AM. Eat breakfast. Begin to hike from 7:30 AM to 4 or 5 PM. Unpack and change out of sweaty clothes. Choose dinner from the same menu as the night before (even though it’s […]
Porters of the Annapurna Circuit
Porters in Nepal don’t use any fancy equipment to carry their large loads. You see them wearing hand-me-down clothing and shoes from trekkers past. Flipflops and shoes that don’t fit; but it doesn’t matter because everything is appreciated here. I bet Converse never designed their canvas sneakers to trek to 17,000 ft. in the Himalayas, […]
Road Work Ahead
Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 6 Day 2 & 3 Bahundanda to Dharapani What is it about growing older that changes us? Not only do our feet get bigger, but we tend to also develop more irrational fears. I’ve been aware of it for some time now; my growing fear of heights. As each year goes […]
Breathe Through Your Mouth
If blogs were scratch and sniff…you’d really be in trouble with this post. I found myself chanting the mantra, “Breathe through your mouth, not through your nose.” – while completely naked.
Oh, sorry, I got ahead of myself; let me go back to the beginning.
Annapurna Itinerary
Tiger Balm Tales – vol. 3 Start from the beginning! Tiger Balm Tales – vol. 1, vol. 2 We saw the first glimpse of them from the plane window – the rigid, snowy Himalayan peaks. They were practically at eye level with our cruising altitude; you could reach out and touch them as if they […]
Preparing the Parents
Tiger Balm Tales – vol. 2 What’s that – you missed vol. 1 of Tiger Balm Tales? Go back and read it now! Tiger Balm Tales Vol. 1 “Dad, you NEED to get a hepatitis shot.” “Do I really? I’m strong, I should be ok.” “Dad, your strength has nothing to do with it – […]
