MISSION
Surroundedbysnow-coveredmountains,PhoksundoLakeglisteneda deepturquoise.Pine
treeslineditsbank,andit changedcolorwiththeslightestshiftintheclouds.Satinthe
forest,I tookinthelake'smajestythroughthescreenofmydrone,thewalktoitsshores
toodangerous.Returningalongsidethetreacheroussnowpack,I thoughtthatI would
neveragainwanttotravelsolo.Notbecauseofthephysicalchallenges,butbecauseat
thatmoment,I hadnooneto sharemyexperience.I realizedhowimportantit wasto have
anexpeditionteamwiththesamevaluesanddesireforexploration.Onthewater,I had
a reliableteamthatwassteadilyimproving;yetoffthewater,I oftenfeltalone. Hari had
beenmybridgewiththeyoungerboys,andI felthisabsencekeenly.Thoughwehadsomeconflictin decisionmaking,wewereallhappyto bealiveandpadd-
lingoneofthemostlovedexpeditionriversofNepal- theThuliBheri.Tarjan'sundeterred
confidencehelpedustacklethetoughestwaterdays.Weransectionsthatwereusually
portaged,paddlinginharshweatherconditions:cold,numb,andmiserable,yet,asa
team.OnceI missedmylineandendedupina sieve.It wasthefirstmajormistakeI had
madeonthewater,andmyheartskippeda beat.Luckily,I wasNepalisize,andthesieve
hadenoughroomformeandmykayaktocomethrough.Justaswehadfoundourflow
again,therealitiesoflifeoutsidesooninterfered.Roshanhadtopulloutduetosickness,
and with just Tarjan and I left, we struggled to support each other. He was excited aboutthechallengesofferedbywhitewaterbutwoulddisconnecttheminutea rapidended.I
wantedto explorethevillages,to meetthoselivingin thecanyon.Weneverseemedto find
a balance,sowedecidedto momentarilypartways.WeregroupedwithRoshan to venture
totheFarWesttopaddletheriverstouchingthewesternIndianborder.WerepeatedlytraversedNepalnorthtosouth,movingbetweenhot,humidplainsand
cold,snowymountains.HariandTarjanjoinedusontheSetiKarnali,a riverthatwould
letHarieasebackintokayaking.Bythesecondday,Hariwasthrowingbackflipswiththe
kids.Whena drasticweathereventin WesternNepalcrushedourhopesofpaddling the
upperHumlaKarnali,wedecidedtoexploretheMuguKarnaliinstead.Ina districtstilluntouchedbyroads,wehadthechancetolazeinvillageswheretime
stoodstill.ManywemetthoughtthatweweresurveyorsfortheimminentKarnaliDam.
Theyhada hardtimebelievingthatwehadcomeallthiswayandwouldspendourown
moneytoexploreourcountry.MostyoungmenintheregionworkedaslaborersinIndia,
leavingbehindwives,wiseelders,andplayfullittlekids.Wesharedgoodconversations,
meals,swims,andgiggles.Thekidsmademeyearnformydaughter,whowouldhave
lovedthevillage.Withtime,webuiltdeeprelationshipswiththelocals.Theykepttelling
us how poor they felt, but to us, they lived our dream lives. They owned their land, grewThuliBheri,WestNepal– During
everysinglescout,villagerswould
emerge unexpectedly to watch.FROMEAST
TO WEST