In March this year, I was lucky enough to have won a place on a trip to Nepal with Geckos and Thai Airways. Never had I thought that I would travel to Nepal, as I never thought I would be fit enough to trek through the Himalayas. But I surprised even myself!

Our first glimpse of the magnificent Himalayas was on our descent into Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. They stand like a defensive line running East to West along the length of Nepal. We even managed to catch a glimpse of the summit of Mt Everest – the worlds tallest mountain standing 8850 metres above sea level. Snow covered year round, they are a spectacular sight not to be missed.

We spent a few hours after our arrival in Kathmandu, being hounded by the local shopkeepers, selling everything from tiger balm to the most stunning locally made jewellery. Kathmandu is the largest city in Nepal, but is unlike any capital city I have ever visited before. Most of the roads are unsealed and there is a constant battle for road space between pedestrians, cars and bicycles. But for all its frenetic activity, Kathmandu is a city of peace and quiet, where beautiful people live together. We met our group leader Nima here – and he became an integral part of the group, full of information and good laughs when they were needed.

From Kathmandu we went to a point on the Trisuli River where we started our white water rafting experience – 2 days rafting down the river with a night camping on a gorgeous beach on the banks of the river. Our team of rafting experts, 3 local men - were very experienced and made us feel comfortable straight away. The next 2 days were a combination of gently floating down the river interrupted by the shouts of our raft leaders of "harder, harder" and "left paddle, left paddle, right paddle right paddle!"

After the rafting we started our trek through the Annapurnas – the real work begins! I cant really describe how hard the walking was – it was different for every person on our trek, but the general consensus was any pain we experienced (and there was plenty) was completely forgotten about when we got to see the most stunning scenery of being in the Himalayas. We walked through many villages, which are dotted throughout the mountains, and walking through these showed exactly how simple and fulfilling the lives of the Nepalese people are.  While we had lovely weather, it was very hazy and for the first two days of the trek we didn’t get to see any of the peaks that we were promised – but on the third morning, after walking through rain and slipping on wet and muddy paths, we awoke to the most stunning sight of an 8000 metre peak looming in front of our lodge. Snow covered and stunning.

After four days of trekking, the end was thrilling and disappointing at the same time.  Lucky we were headed to the beautiful Chitwan National Park where we were hoping to see the elusive Bengal Tiger and sloth bear. Unfortunately, after and elephant ride and a walk through the jungle, we were not lucky enough to see either, however we did get up close and personal with a rhinoceros mother and baby. They are quite threatening in the flesh and I was certainly glad to be on the back of an elephant at the time!

Back to Kathmandu for an afternoon where we visited the local Buddhist and Hindu temples – Bodnath Stupa for Buddhists and the stunning Pashupatinath for Hindus. Both hold very important religious meaning and it was great to see them and experience the intense spiritual beliefs the Nepalese people have.

Overall Nepal was an amazing place, the people and the scenery were what made it all so special. I would highly recommend Nepal as a destination – it had everything! Amazing people, scenery unparalleled anywhere in the world, great food and an experience unlike any other Asian country. I hope to get back there to walk the entire Annapurna circuit, and spend more time in Kathmandu.