Camilla Minge Strand experienced a Nepal holiday recently that clearly shows you don’t have to be an adventure travel enthusiast to enjoy Nepal.
Recently Nilla and I were in Peru where we meet up with a beautiful lady called Camilla.
During one of our conversations Camilla shared her Nepal Holiday experience.
Camilla was very fortunate to take some extraordinary photo’s of Eagles.
She claimed the photos was good enough for National Geographic, now you can be the judge.
I asked if she would mind sharing a couple with you…along with how she was feeling at the time.
Camilla has generously shared her travel experience from Nepal with us.
Namaste
In the Right Place At The Right Time.
At an early age I started searching for important answers in my life.
The older I got, the more impatient I got by finding more questions than answers.
Even when hitting some dead end tracks I was able to learn and boost my self-confidence and gain greater trust in my abilities.
A few times I had looked for places to learn meditation, read books, and followed it’s “Easy step by step” CDs, only to find a noisy mind and loose the feeling of my legs.
My spiritual journey took me to Nepal.
It was a masterfully planned trip to connect, elevate and energize us in order to better function on heights up to 5500 m.
Perhaps you can relate as I am constantly finding more people like myself or more I find myself more like others.
I was totally unprepared for Kathmandu city.
I would describe this city as having brought Mumbai up in the mountains.
The dirt, the cold, the barely clothed children made me sad and homesick.
I saw a lot of desperation OM was sold and not a part of peoples lives.
This was the Nepal I had come to see! In every room at the resort there was panoramic windows, which allowed you to follow the light moving over the chain of mountaintops.
Even though I was visiting during wintertime and it was freezing cold I could not justify eating any of my meals indoors.
My Olympus and I sat on the balcony spying for a good shot.
Every minute the landscape looked different pending on where the landscape got lit up by the sun or shaded by the clouds.
It was so beautiful.
There was a group of three to four eagles that were gliding fairly close, while 30 something was further away hunting around the forest grounds.
I was following them with my lens just admiring their beauty, I felt so connected to them and in sync with mother earth and the ecology of life.
I was counting my blessings in meditation, learning to open up to all multi faceted events of life.
Such a powerful moment for me!
In such a grand environment it’s impossible not to get touch and connected to the majesty of nature and what mother earth is providing for us all.
I love to observe life and feel blessed whenever I am able to see the beauty of ongoing life.
It makes me feel connected and in the right place at the right time.
Macchu Picchu is one of the must see travel places for many people when they visit Peru.
Take a look at this short video animation Nilla made for members of our group.
Once I viewed it I said let’s share it as it shows some nice shots of Macchu Picchu. There is also shots of Mt Veronica from a location few tourists will have visited.
Plus a number of nice people pictures as they happened which capture the feeling and sense of togetherness our group enjoyed.
Nilla will be posting her day by day dairy starting next week so if you want to learn some insights into travel in Peru, Macchu Picchu, Lake Titikaka and local village life then you will want to stay tuned.
This day was particularly difficult and very tiring for 2 reasons:
We had only had 3.5 hours sleep before driving the 5 hours to Perth.
Secondly, we were on day 4 of a vegetarian diet in preparation for our Peru experience.
Imagine being a keen meat eater and then going to a food and wine show unable to partake in the abundance of food and wine on offer.
I still wonder how I got through that!!!
Now in case you are asking what was I doing there in the first place if I could not enjoy the many wonderful delights on offer. That’s a fair question and the answer is that we had booked this long before we had booked our trip to Peru.
Tonight we are on a Qantas flight to Brisbane and then onto Sydney where we will stay for 2 days before connecting onto Lima via Buenos Aires.
Stay tuned especially if you would to see the Sydney harbour bridge from the bottom up.
You are invited to follow along with Nilla and I as we share our own person travel experience to Peru.
We will share it as it happens…along with many insights that we hope you will find valuable for your own travel.
Some insight will captured on video each day others will be photo’s with a commentary. We promise to share good and bad as it happens.
So please check out my first short 59 second video as we are about to leave our wonderful home here in Albany. We know from past experiences that our home comforts will not always be afforded us as we travel through some very undeveloped countryside in Peru.
What lies ahead is a very long couple of days flying with Qantas and no doubt more than a few delays before we get to experience wonderful places like Machu Picchu.
I am excited and apprehensive…but you will have to wait for tomorrow post to learn more.
So please stick around…I promise it will be interesting, informative and quite probably have some valuable life insights which I just know third world countries always offer travellers. Hence the attraction of such places.
It is incredible to think that airlines lost or miss handled 25 million pieces of luggage between them last year.
The good news is that was 23.8% less than the previous year…or if your math’s is not so good that is a huge 7.8 million less lost or mishandled bags.
What a relief!!!
Now if it is not bad enough losing or mishandling your luggage consider this…
…the cost to the industry was a whopping $2.5 billion dollars.
Yip and guess who pays…You and me…the traveller.
So what can you do to prevent your luggage from being delayed or lost?
Well not much really as it is out of your hands…you could though make sure that your luggage has nothing of value in it. Hopefully any lose or delay will not be too devastating.
Secondly I urge anything of value purchased on your travel’s to be sent home by either a courier service or registered post. That way it is much more likely to arrive and in the condition you expect.
Warning…don’t think it won’t happen to you, because it is not a matter of if… but rather of when!!!
A spare set of underwear is a good inclusion in hand luggage. Everything else can usually be purchased at your destination.
That’s it for today.
Please feel free to share your comments or travel tips so all our friend scan benefit.
PS. Have you checked out my pick pocket video yet? This is a MUST see to give you piece of mind when travelling and in my eyes is pretty much 100% guaranteed to work.
Three weeks ago I said that I was excited and heading off to Singapore for singing classes.
So what happened in Singapore and why the delay in me getting back to you?
Firstly, I certainly enjoyed my singing classes…in fact I loved everything about the Singapore trip.
I will share how and what happened to me which could be of benefit to you someday.
As you know I advocate doing something different for part of your travel that you would not normally consider in your home environment.
Why you ask?
Well to me travel is the best educational tool out there that allows for you to explore yourself and still gives you the comfort of knowing you can always return home to set ways.
So let me share my experience…
Nilla my wife asked me if I would join her on a learn to express yourself singing course with Deborah Torres Patel. Who has over 22,000 hours on stage in Broadway productions and other stage work.
Now you need to understand I have never sang a song in my life…but have always thought it would be good to sing.
Deborah guarantees anyone can sing with the right coaching so I thought why not what the heck.
Next Nilla tells me she has organised to stay at a friend she meet over the internet who is part of a course she is doing. Talk about staying at a stranger’s house.
This worked out much better than we could of hoped for and frankly opened my mind to other possibilities when we travel in the future.
Our 6 days in Singapore were truly amazing and very rewarding as I learnt that in fact I can sing and with some practice will be able to sing well. And the good news is anyone can sing no matter what your voice. Personally it has set me free to being able to express myself better and the surprising extra benefit is that singing makes you feel happy and cheerful. What a great way to start your day with a nice song you love.
Oh and did I mention that on my next visit to Singapore I have been offered a gig to sing my song “The Gambler” in a local band who do a lot of work for charities…how cool is that?
On reflection by being prepared to step out of my comfort zone while traveling has been so beneficial to me both on a personal development level but also for my confidence.
An interesting side benefit is that I can now hear and feel the rhythm in music which will no doubt be good for when I do my dancing lessons.
My point I want to get across is that thanks to travel I am now gaining new skills and experiences which I can share with anyone interested.
Early on I said it has been 3 weeks since my last post…well I ended up developing an extremely sore throat on my return which robbed me of heaps of sleep and created a continuous dry cough which I am still to fully shake. I just have not been feeling up to writing as my concentration was constantly challenged with trying to relieve my cough.
Thanks for your understanding.
Perhaps you have a interesting travel experience you would like to share with us. If so send me an emial on john@travelwithjetset.com with the details.
My next post will reveal the Top 10 safest countries in the world so be sure to check back in regularly.
Thought I would give you something completely different today.
When I first say this video I frankly did not really comprehend what I was seeing.
Then I noticed that the intensity of the yellow dots (which are in fact aircraft in the air) changed.
As London dimed I watched in awe as the USA light up.
Go on take a look for yourself.
Now you have watched this video… I wonder if you had the same thought in your mind as I did?
My thought…
“I find this hard to comprehend as whenever I have been in an aircraft I rarely notice other aircraft while in flight,” And according to this video there are certainly a huge number in the air over any 24 hour period.
I just tried Google to see if they could shed some light on this thought…and I could not get a definitive answer.
If this interests you and you are prepared to share please let us know by leaving a comment in the comments box below…Thanks
Last Sunday I while I was out fish down here on the beautiful South Coast I got inspired to shot a short travel video.
I had packed up my fishing gear and was taking in the magnificent view when it just kinda hit me…the thought that is…not a wave!!!
I know I am out fishing and here I was thinking…travel… I just can’t get it out of mind.
So as we almost always carry our video camera whenever we go on outings. I said Nilla come on mic me up. I feel inspired to share an insight that just may help you when you next travel.
Now when you view the video please understand that we are on location beside the ocean and that there is a decree of wind noise in the mic. Also we had to play around with the video as there was some issues with Youtube when we first tried to upload it.That means the sound and picture quality are not as good as I would like.
But please don’t let that detract from the powerful insight…and those of you who know me personally…well lets say you are going to be shocked at what I reveal I am about to do...
John Woodbury is a local AlbanyCharter yacht skipper who assures me that no one need ever get the horrible sea sickness feelings again!!!
As a long term 26 year travel planner myself I could not begin to count how many people said they would love to take a cruise…but would not even consider it as they get sea sick in the bath!!!
John explained to me just what causes sea sickness and why it is preventable…so if you suffer from sea sickness and are feed up with being restricted to land base activities then please check out this short video where John shares a couple of valuable tips on using Kwels.
Later this week I will be posting a new longer video where John explains and then clearly demonstrates a 100% natural cure anyone can utilize immediately…and the good news it is just as effective for car or any other motion type sickness.
So be sure to check back in a couple of days…John can guarantee that this is original and 100% effective.
Nilla walking down a street holding the hand of a local ophan.
Over Easter…which I hoped you enjoyed…Nilla and I traveled to attend a wedding of an ex employees daughter in Perth.
She is now 27 years old. When she was 13 her and her mother moved to Albany as their family was going through a painful separation.
Soon after we offered her mother a job and over the next 5 years we did our best to be supportive and be there for them as they adjusted to life in a new town without a father and husband.
You are probably thinking what has this got to do with travel. Well let me share what happened at the wedding…
First the bride thanked Nilla and I for all that we had done to help her in life…it was a teary touching moment for us. Frankly we had no idea just much an impact we had on her life. It was a very gratifying moment for Nilla and myself.
What stood out to her was that we gave her many insights into life from our own experiences and of course from how we lived life. Remember she was only 13 and going through all the things that teenagers are faced with and we were unknown to her until her mother started work with us.
To state she had challenges is understating her situation.
Shortly after the speeches began.
To our great surprise her mother publically thanked us. This time she was teary and choked up with emotion.
So why have I shared this with you…
Simply because what we have become as people is largely come about from the experiences we have gained from travel… good and bad over the last 27 years.
Travel is arguably in my mind the best form of education available to everyone.
But it is much more that that…
I believe life gives us opportunities all the time to better ourselves and I don’t mean in a financial sense.
Let me share this real life example to show what I mean…what follows is the type of experiences that DO impact you for the better. Read on…you be the judge.
John Spark and a local Orphan at Summer Camp in Mongolia
4 years back Nilla and I were in Mongolia where went spent time with Dee Dee who is an Australian working with orphans of all ages. To witness the conditions and resources DeeDee had to make do with was truly an eye opener.
But what really struck me was how she had a team of people who in most cases had little more than the orphans they helped so willing and cheerfully going about giving of themselves.
This experience was so touching to the people within our select group who had never considered they could make a difference to others lives suddenly realised that their lives were about to change. I knew this by how excite everyone got as they spoke of the many ways they were going to start helping DeeDee.
What happened which had never happened to them in the past was that they now thanks to being a part of this special occasion knew within themselves they could not go back to their old mindset. Being present when this happens to a person is so rewarding.
Let me finish because I think this is enough for now by asking you to think back to a time when you traveled…and think now of a moment when you did something or witnessed for the first time something that made you really sit back…
As you recall this moment see how it has influenced you, your life or how you now interact in a better way with those around you…
Now ask yourself are you better, wiser or a more understanding person as a direct result?
That is the true power of travel…image setting a mindset intention that is open and prepared for such arising…what could it do for you, your family, the community, the planet?
Thank you being with me today. My next post I will share even more insights that travel can bring to anyone’s life..especially yours.
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There are many tours planned with the first being to my homeland Italy in May 2010, this journey encompasses all of my passions which I would love to share with you, walking, cooking, culture, people, scenery and history.
We commence this Gourmet Walking journey in Florence staying in a villa just outside of San Gimigiano, walk amongst the vineyards and olive groves, learn how to cook a Tuscan feast, then we walk the Amalfi coast and attend a cooking school in Sorrento for 6 days where we will learn how to make Limoncello...
If you would like to know more about this trip to Italy, visit here
