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Manaslu Circuit Trek, Nepal
My dad and I went on a trekking trip to Nepal in October/November of 2021. On our trip we spent a few days in Kathmandu and hiked the Manaslu Circuit. Here is our itinerary for the entire trip. *These miles are an approximation. You’ll find varying mileage on different websites. The Manaslu Circuit is about 97 miles long, climbing from 2,289 feet up to 16,697 feet and back down to 6,419. In total we probably climbed 20, 000 feet as the route had a ridiculous amount of up and downs. Day 1: Arrived in Kathmandu Day 2: Spent the day in Kathmandu Day 3: Took a public bus from Kathmandu…
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Kathmandu, Nepal
In October/November of 2021, my dad and I went to Nepal. On our trip we spent a few days in Kathmandu and hiked the Manaslu Circuit. Here is our itinerary for the entire trip. We had a total of about 5 days in Kathmandu. Day 1: Arrived in Kathmandu Day 2: Went over the legal documents and equipment needed for the trip with the trekking company and wandered around Kathmandu. Day 3-Day 16: Manaslu Circuit trek Day 17: Day in Kathmandu Day 18: Day in Kathmandu Day 19: Day in Kathmandu Day 20: Day in Kathmandu If I tried to talk about both Kathmandu and the trek, this would be…
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Fes, Morocco
For my third weekend adventure I went on a day trip to the city of Fes! (Side note: As I have been to several different cities in Morocco, I can now confirm that if you are a cat lover then Morocco is the place for you. There are cats absolutely everywhere!!! I think I see on average 10+ cats every morning on my walk to school. The city of Fes was no different and I have included a few photos of said creatures at the end.) After last weekend’s experience with the taxi kabir, my traveling companion and I opted to take the train instead of a taxi as our…
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Ifrane, Morocco
My second weekend adventure was to take a day trip to the city of Ifrane (pronounced if-ran), with the other girl independent study student in my program. Transportation We started our morning without an exact plan in mind. Our goal was to get to Ifrane by taxi, but we had been told that a taxi kabir (a large taxi) might cost us 400 dirham (40 USD) each just to get there. Neither of us were very keen to spend that kind of money, so we set out to find another option. We ended up in a taxi that took us to a taxi depot of sorts just outside of the…
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Volubilis, Morocco
As part of my study abroad program in Morocco we had a weekend morning excursion to the Roman ruins of Volubilis (or Wahlili which is the Arabic name). These ruins are located about 20 miles (31 km) outside of Meknes (the city I live in) and the drive takes just under 45 minutes. In order to enter the site you will need to purchase a ticket. Our tickets were purchased by the program so I have no idea as to the cost of them. While you can wander around on your own, you can also get a guided tour of the ruins which is what we did. It was just…
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Valdez, AK
This past summer my family and I took a trip to Valdez! The drive took us about five and a half hours. This was in part due to delays by road construction. From Anchorage, the drive to Valdez is 299 miles (481 km). The drive from Palmer to Valdez is very pretty and on a clear day you can see the mountains near the road and those far off in the distance. If you are visiting Alaska and want to drive a long and beautiful scenic route, then I would highly recommend driving to Valdez. An interesting fact is that Valdez is known to be one of the snowiest towns…
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Israel-pt.2
In May of 2023, part of my family and I went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This post details the second half of our time in Israel. In order to read about the first part of our trip in Israel, in and around the Sea of Galilee, visit this page. To read about out short stay in Jordan, visit this page. Itinerary Day 6: Cross border back to Israel, Jericho, Mount of Temptation, Jordan River, Church of St. Lazarus & tomb of St. Lazarus; (night in Jerusalem) Day 7: Chapel of the Ascension at the Mount of Olives, Church of the Pater Noster, Dominus Flevit, Garden of Gethsemane, Sanctuarum of…
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Jordan
In May of 2023 some of my family and I went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which not only includes Israel, but also parts of Jordan. For a majority of our trip we were in Israel; however we did spend a few short days in the middle of our trip in Jordan. Jordan, named after the river, became a country in 1921. From 1921-1946, Jordan was controlled by the British government. The currency in Jordan is the “Jordanian Dinar”. The current exchange rate is 1 JOD to $1.41 USD or $1 USD to 0.71 JOD. Itinerary for Jordan: Day 4: cross border to Jordan, Mount Nebo & Tree…
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Israel-pt. 1
In May of 2023 some of my family and I made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The two countries we visited were Israel and Jordan. We ended up booking a trip through George’s International Travel. This travel company deals directly with the Franciscan order; a group of Roman Catholic priests/friars that have been the custodians of the Holy Land for over 800 years. During our pilgrimage, we were able to have Mass every day in a different church. Some days we said the Morning Office and other days we said a rosary whilst driving to different sites. Whenever we visited a site that was mentioned in the Bible, which…
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Powder Mountain, Utah
Earlier this year in March, my family and I went on a ski vacation to Powder Mountain in Utah. Powder Mountain is a ski resort located about an hour drive north of Salt Lake City, UT. We all flew in to Salt Lake City then rented cars to drive to Eden. Powder Mountain does not have its own little town or resort surrounding it like most ski mountains have. With very few exceptions, most people stay further down the mountain in the little town of Eden and drive up to the ski area daily. This ski mountain is also different in another way, instead of immediately getting on the chair…
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Katmai National Park, Alaska
Earlier this summer, in July, some of my family members and I took a trip to Katmai National Park to see the Brooks Falls. Brooks Falls is most famous for its brown bears, which hang out there in the summer catching salmon. If you have ever seen a photo from Alaska of bears catching fish in the water, chances are that the photo was taken at either Brooks Falls or the McNeil River. Every summer, brown bears gather at the falls to catch the sockeye salmon that are swimming upstream. We took off from Anchorage for an hour long flight. When we landed in King Salmon we took a quick…
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TWA Hotel, New York
When we flew to Egypt earlier this summer, we had a 12+ hour layover in New York. We decided to leave the airport and get some sleep at a hotel. The hotel we stayed at was Trans World Airlines or TWA. Trans World Airlines (TWA) was an airline company that existed from 1930 to 2001. The whole hotel is set up as an airport terminal from the 1960s. It was really neat! They had everything from an old flight board in the lobby to old manual dial phones in the rooms. If you ever have a layover in New York, I would highly recommend staying at the TWA hotel!