Hostel Guide - Himalayan Hotel, Pheriche, Base Camp Everest

The Himalayan Hotel 

     You wouldn't imagine such a well equipped guesthouse to be situated so far up on the base camp trek, but there is, and it's the exceptionally clean Himalayan Hotel, located in Pheriche. Not only is the guesthouse clean but it is also very attractive and the communal area is kept warm and cozy at night by an iron furnace, which is also ideal for drying socks. The food is enjoyable and the staff is welcoming and the Himalayan Guesthouse would have scored a whopping 5/5 if  only they would have turned off the Backstreet Boys greatest hits, which the staff played without fail on repeat--day and night.

Lust for Eastern Decadence

       During this trip to India, my love for the traditional Indian dress has reached a new height. The women are beautifully dressed and I find myself endlessly transfixed on their sparkling saris and gem- encrusted jewelry. The women even wash clothes in dirty rivers, milk goats and carry large baskets on their heads while dressed as glamorous as an Eastern princess. These glamour pusses have inspired me to infuse some of their style into my limited travel wardrobe because I have felt rather boring compared to them, and as I have limited space in my rucksack I can't buy anything that is bulky, so jewelry is my best option.  Thus, this week I have bought many Indian head-dresses for myself to add some eastern decadence to my limited outfits. But fear not, I have also brought a fab collection of head-pieces for my Etsy store, which will open February 2013.

Vintage handmade gypsy headpiece

Indian Pictures above from www.oldindianphotos.in

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Sneak peak...

     This month I have been busy buying  lots of worldly treasures for my Etsy store. I have spent hours rummaging in shops, haggling with shop keepers, buying pieces I can afford and staring in awe at the items that are simply out of my price range.  Hopefully, most of the items I purchased will actually appear on the Etsy site and not into my own personal collection ...wink wink! Anyway, I thought I would give you guys a little sneak peak at what I have been buying--but sorry, you will have to wait until February 2013 to purchase, when the pieces go live.

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Second time's the charm...

   

     18 months ago I stood on the platform of Amritsar station bickering with my travel companion Louise. We had taken the over-night sleeper train from Rishikesh and had been scheduled to arrive at Amritsar earlier that morning. Instead, we arrived at 4pm because the journey that should have taken 10 hours, took 16, due to, well, I am not really sure-- shame on us for believing anything runs smoothly in India. So there we were, minutes from the Golden Temple--Amritsar''s main attraction--arguing about whether to go or not.  But as we debated, our connecting train to Delhi had rolled in and our flight from Delhi to Nepal the following day had us tied to the train so we had to depart. Thus tired, hungry and upset we boarded the train, swearing to return to The Golden Temple someday soon.
      18 months later I was back, handing in my sandals (no footwear is permitted inside the temple) and queuing to enter the golden wonder. Sadly Louise could not make it this time around, but luckily my boyfriend Johnny accompanied me to temple, even though he hates temples.
     Within there was a feast of colourful characters bathing, praying and bustling about. Johnny and I set up camp under some shade and tried to enjoyed a morning of people watching, but it proved difficult. While observing the spectacle, we were bombarded by Indians who pushed babies into our arms, photographed us, starred at us and sat down with us to have very long chats . For us this was a great way to interact with the people of India and to be in many of their holiday snaps! 

                           

I hope Louise makes it here someday soon.

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