Now that summer's over and my blogging skills have been pretty sub par, I thought it might be a good idea to share my pictures from another amazing trip, to paradise :)
From Nepal to Qatar to St. John, USVI in less than 36 hours. It was a crazy experience to see so many different (in every meaning of the word) parts of the world in such a short time. And also an experience that included two long layovers, two nights in a row sleeping in a plane, a twelve hour time difference and tested my patience. I also honed my ability to fall asleep sitting up and broke my movie marathon record (five in one flight!)
We stayed in a beautiful resort, got to visit gorgeous national parks, snorkel for hours on end, and eat in pretty great restaurants. I loved every second of the trip but the juxtaposition between this vacation and Nepal was hard to get out of my head. It's crazy how different the lives people live, and what people have is - and the main deciding factor is where they are born....I'm a strong believer in the importance of hard work, dedication, and working to improve your own life, but I could not stop thinking about my class in Nepal and how - without a lot of change in the economic, political, and social circumstances of their country - they would never be able to experience this. I'm not sure if I have any of the answers, but it did make me think.
That being said....St.John's beautiful! Gorgeous. Exactly identical to the idea of paradise that floats around in my head. And it was nice to spend a week with family after being away for nearly a month.
How could you not be happy in a setting like this? Everywhere you look is like a postcard! While we were waiting for our Jeep Rental, we spent the first few days exploring our resort and the biggest town on the island, Cruz Bay. It was a little touristy, but the laid back island charm still shined through.
One of our big excursions of the week was a ferry ride to nearby St. Thomas. This involved a lot of window shopping, swimming in the rain, and meeting some new friends (We received a 5 minute long enthusiastic "blessing" by a man while waiting for the bus)
Around Day 3 we rented our Jeep and got to explore the rest of the island.......WOW. Almost 2/3 of St. John is National Park and it is jaw-dropping. Our first trip was a hike and day of snorkeling at Solomon's Bay. Couldn't snap any pictures underwater but we saw a sea turtle, eel, and tons of fish.
Another highlight of our trip was a trip to the Salt Ponds. First we grabbed lunch at a small restaurant with a few friends.
The hike included some terrifying run-ins with wild donkies (we learned mom has no fear when it comes to wild farm animals) and plenty of photo bombing.
During a conversation with the owner of a mountain side jewelry shop, we learned that he spent years of his life living in Nepal! He was excited to learn that I just came from the country, and offered us free toe rings if we completed the hike to ancient rock carvings called petroglyphs. After some near tears, threats of living at the bottom of the mountain, and resorting to pilfering mangoes of the ground, let's just say we earned those toe rings!
All in all the week was relaxing and refreshing. I'd have to say even with the beautiful sights, clear water, exotic animals, and great food - the best part was getting to spend the week with my crazy family :)
From Nepal to Qatar to St. John, USVI in less than 36 hours. It was a crazy experience to see so many different (in every meaning of the word) parts of the world in such a short time. And also an experience that included two long layovers, two nights in a row sleeping in a plane, a twelve hour time difference and tested my patience. I also honed my ability to fall asleep sitting up and broke my movie marathon record (five in one flight!)
We stayed in a beautiful resort, got to visit gorgeous national parks, snorkel for hours on end, and eat in pretty great restaurants. I loved every second of the trip but the juxtaposition between this vacation and Nepal was hard to get out of my head. It's crazy how different the lives people live, and what people have is - and the main deciding factor is where they are born....I'm a strong believer in the importance of hard work, dedication, and working to improve your own life, but I could not stop thinking about my class in Nepal and how - without a lot of change in the economic, political, and social circumstances of their country - they would never be able to experience this. I'm not sure if I have any of the answers, but it did make me think.
That being said....St.John's beautiful! Gorgeous. Exactly identical to the idea of paradise that floats around in my head. And it was nice to spend a week with family after being away for nearly a month.
How could you not be happy in a setting like this? Everywhere you look is like a postcard! While we were waiting for our Jeep Rental, we spent the first few days exploring our resort and the biggest town on the island, Cruz Bay. It was a little touristy, but the laid back island charm still shined through.
One of our big excursions of the week was a ferry ride to nearby St. Thomas. This involved a lot of window shopping, swimming in the rain, and meeting some new friends (We received a 5 minute long enthusiastic "blessing" by a man while waiting for the bus)
Around Day 3 we rented our Jeep and got to explore the rest of the island.......WOW. Almost 2/3 of St. John is National Park and it is jaw-dropping. Our first trip was a hike and day of snorkeling at Solomon's Bay. Couldn't snap any pictures underwater but we saw a sea turtle, eel, and tons of fish.
Another highlight of our trip was a trip to the Salt Ponds. First we grabbed lunch at a small restaurant with a few friends.
The hike included some terrifying run-ins with wild donkies (we learned mom has no fear when it comes to wild farm animals) and plenty of photo bombing.
During a conversation with the owner of a mountain side jewelry shop, we learned that he spent years of his life living in Nepal! He was excited to learn that I just came from the country, and offered us free toe rings if we completed the hike to ancient rock carvings called petroglyphs. After some near tears, threats of living at the bottom of the mountain, and resorting to pilfering mangoes of the ground, let's just say we earned those toe rings!
All in all the week was relaxing and refreshing. I'd have to say even with the beautiful sights, clear water, exotic animals, and great food - the best part was getting to spend the week with my crazy family :)
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