riding elephants, yogis in retreat & entering Nepal

riding elephants, yogis in retreat & entering Nepal

If you’d told me it would take me a year to share our travels to Nepal – I would not have believed you!

I don’t know why it was so hard.

I guess because the trip hit me in a place so deep …
It took some time to filter through my being.

A woman in a tie-dye headscarf walking past a prayer-flag-strung hut on the trail to Chumig Changchub, Nepal

Even now, it’s hard to write about it. A little scary. Not sure why.

A year ago on New Year’s Day, we left Varanasi after having been in India for several weeks. We’d been to some amazing places & all of us got sick along the way, with deep hacking coughs. Crazy photos here.

We rented a van to take us to the border of Nepal; Alan wrote about that here.

Driver Arun glimpsed in the side mirror, marigold and rose offerings resting on the dashboard in Nepal

As we wove in and out of mountains, making occasional snack stops & bathroom breaks, our Indian driver, Arun, grew on us. And we grew on him.

Terraced hillsides and forested mountains along the winding road into Nepal, seen through the van window

Straight through, the drive would have been about 15 hours, but we made several stops on the way to Kathmandu, including Lumbini, Chitwan National Park & Chumig Changchub.

Katie Hess presses her forehead to a massive sacred fig tree hung with prayer-flag scraps at Lumbini, saying hello to the trees.

We touched the ground.

We said hello to the trees.

We collected dirt from sacred places.

We eased our way into Nepal with a couple nice guesthouses, hot showers & an occasional chai or cappuccino.

Close-up of an elephant's eye and trunk dusted with pink powder, another elephant grazing behind it in Chitwan National Park.

We rode elephants. It was wild. Gorgeous, beautiful creatures that munched down giant pieces of sugarcane treats like eating a potato chip.

The Nepali guides that led the elephants through the jungle, sat on their shoulders without a saddle, barefoot with only a stick to fend off any possible tigers. Yes, tigers!

Two travelers riding an elephant through the grassy jungle of Chitwan National Park, Nepal

We entered the jungle and it was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

I got the sense that: ‘This is not your domain! You could become prey here. Easily.’

None of us said a word.

We enjoyed the sensation of movement of the elephant’s body under ours, lumbering through the jungle in silence.

A mother and calf greater one-horned rhinoceros pause together in the underbrush of Chitwan National Park, Nepal.

We made our way through the trees. We spied wild rhinos, crocodiles & deer.

A part of me felt bad riding the elephant. I just wanted to let the elephants roam free.

[Here's an elephant refuge in India that someone in our community recommended for learning more about elephants in India. I was in Nepal, but India is right next door.]

Another part of me was in awe of their beauty & wisdom, and so grateful I could be so close to such a powerful, gentle creature. I said some prayers as I patted him lovingly on the back.

A rider's legs visible atop an Asian elephant during the Nepal jungle trek, a second elephant in the background

The following day we made our way through the winding two-laned roads through the mountains with our fearless driver, Arun.

Winding mountain road through forested hills on the drive to Chumig Changchub, Nepal

The next destination: Chumig Changchub, a special place with a natural spring and a yogi who had been in retreat for 12 years consecutively.

We packed up enough gear – in case we got invited to spend the night by the caretakers – and walked our way into the mountains until we were huffing and puffing, hearts exploding out of our chests.

A person climbs stone steps strung with prayer flags on the path to Chumig Changchub in Nepal

Katie Hess and Lisa smile together in matching maroon skirts on the sunlit trail to Chumig Changchub, prayer flags overhead.

A man in a blue puffer jacket rests against a vividly painted sacred rock along the trail to Chumig Changchub.

A traveler in a blue headscarf descends stone steps at Chumig Changchub as sunlight streams through hundreds of prayer flags.

On the way there, we were greeted by beautiful, pinkish-white flowers.

Small white Wild Daphne blossoms with golden centers, blooming on a branch near Chumig Changchub, Nepal

Stone steps climbing through the forest beneath hundreds of prayer flags on the trail to Chumig Changchub, Nepal

We walked under hundreds of colorful prayer flags.

Prayer flags arc above a stone path leading through the forest at Chumig Changchub

Layers of Tibetan prayer flags hang in tiers along the trail approaching Chumig Changchub's sacred spring.

We made flower, smoke, candle & anointing oil offerings.

Butter lamps and candles burn beside ferns and a bright magenta bloom laid as offerings on the red-painted ledge at Chumig Changchub.

A devotee in a blue jacket bows at the stone altar of Chumig Changchub, marigolds and candles laid among the offerings.

Three travelers light butter lamps at a bell-hung shrine wall in the cave at Chumig Changchub, flames flickering in a row.

We did prayers and meditation together.

Lisa meditating beside a fellow traveler under prayer flags, a sleeping dog curled between them, at Chumig Changchub, Nepal

Hundreds of colorful prayer flags crisscross through the forest canopy on the trail to Chumig Changchub in Nepal.

It was cold, and getting colder as the sun went behind the mountain.

Travelers pause beneath a canopy of prayer flags at the cave shrine entrance to Chumig Changchub, backpacks and water bottles in hand.

Parts of the natural spring had turned into ice.

The Buddhist yogi caretaker of Chumig Changchub smiles while holding an armful of white khata scarves among the prayer flags.

We met up with the caretakers of the place - a Buddhist yogi and his yogini sister.

The yogini caretaker of Chumig Changchub laughs in her kitchen doorway, prayer flags fluttering outside in the Nepal mountains.

Lisa smiling with a local woman outside a brick building at Chumig Changchub, Nepal

Lisa had known their father, who had also done decades of solitary retreat in that place! 

An old photograph of a smiling elder in orange retreat robes, seated on a boulder near Chumig Changchub, Nepal

The yogi told us stories of the place, what had happened there and why it was so special.

They offered us a place to stay - a one-room retreat hut that all of us could cram into with our sleeping bags.

Two travelers walk a forest path past the one-room retreat hut where the group stayed the night, strung with prayer flags.

Katie Hess, Lisa, and fellow travelers bundled in sleeping bags, smiling in their retreat hut at Chumig Changchub, Nepal

It was so tight we all had to sleep on our sides like sardines. And that was ok too, because it was freezing, maybe the coldest I’ve ever been! We slept with wool hats, gloves, socks and down jackets under the blankets!!!

Lisa and travel companions bundle together on the retreat hut floor, sleeping bags stacked like sardines at Chumig Changchub.

In the middle of the night, a ‘cute mouse’ ran across Lisa’s face. Luckily, she wasn’t spooked at all. And luckily, I didn’t know until later that it wasn’t a ‘cute mouse’; it was a rat! He was cold too, I imagine, and looking for snacks.

We’d gone to bed without dinner as well; Alan had offered our last bag of trail mix to the yogi and his sister, lol. A practice in true generosity.

Four smiling travelers bundled in winter layers under a prayer-flag-draped rock shrine in Nepal

Two hooded travelers reading prayers beside pale shell offerings at Chumig Changchub's natural spring, Nepal

In the morning, we sat under a cave to meditate together on the freezing mountainside. I was so cold inside, so uncomfortable. Frozen to the core. I breathed through the discomfort.

Lisa and fellow travelers with local hosts and playful puppies outside a stone house near Chumig Changchub, Nepal

Afterward, we went to pay our respects to the yogi and his yogini sister (and the cute stray puppies).

Puppies and a dog resting on a sunlit porch under colorful prayer flags at Chumig Changchub, Nepal

He placed white, silk blessing khatas over our heads. In the meantime, I had collected the Wild Daphne that greeted us when we’d arrived. It was infusing in the sun.

Wild Daphne blossoms infusing in a glass jar of water on stone at Chumig Changchub, Nepal

The Wild Daphne is an interesting flower. It’s small and unassuming, but like jasmine it has a powerful, exotic scent.

Its essence obliterates inner obstacles so we can be the boldest version of ourselves.

I’ve been taking this flower essence in Divine Timing for a year now – and never get tired of it!

It helps us come back to our north star, to what’s most important to us – over and over again. It amplifies our natural devotion to what matters most, so we never lose our way.

We can be fierce, wild, and wield a sword of sharpness. We can flourish and thrive, even in the harshest of conditions and when the path appears to be unclear.

If that sounds like a good way to start 2024, find the Wild Nepali Daphne in Divine Timing.

Love & 2024 prayer flag confetti!
Katie

Back to blog