Flora on Kuari Pass Trek

We are used to hiking on our own, living on oatmeal, pasta, nuts and chocolate. A three-course dinner and a staff to wash the dishes is not really our style but on the Kuari Pass Trek, “you get what you pay for” took on a completely positive connotation.

Kuari Pass Trek Experience

The Dalai Lama greeting attendees on Jun 1, 2013

Just before 9 AM, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama made his entrance. Everyone stood up. There was a hush, that particular sound of hundreds of people holding their breath. A few people around us started crying. Practitioners of Buddhism bowed in prayer.

The One with the Dalai Lama

The Great Wall of China runs on as far as the eye can see

Our fondest memories from our trips are often of navigating byzantine bus routes, miming our desired destination and generally making a mess of things to get from point A to point B. The Great Wall became one of our stubborn quests. We took our chances that the 919 bus would get us to Badaling…

To Badaling on the 919