Kongma La is the easternmost pass of Nepal's Three Passes Trek and is generally considered to be the most difficult of the three (but don't let the word difficult scare you). The Three Passes is commonly hiked in a counter-clockwise direction (although it can be hiked clockwise as well) which
Bicycling Around Biwa-ko (琵琶湖), Japan’s Largest Lake
Name: Biwa-ko Japanese name: 琵琶湖 Location: Shiga Prefecture (滋賀県) Shore length: 146.1 mi / 235.2 km Area: 258.8 mi² / 670.3 km² Difficulty: Easy-Moderate Lake Biwa (琵琶湖) is the largest lake in Japan and is located in Shiga Prefecture. It's 8 mi / 13 km east of Kyoto (a city in Japan you've
How To Get Through Nepal Immigration, Quickly and Easily
Imagine you're playing a game where you need to name adjectives describing the immigration process for arriving in Nepal. You go first. Your answer? Efficient. Guess what? You lose. If you're flying into Nepal, you will be arriving at Tribhuvan International Airport, KTM, in Kathmandu (at
Thru-hiking The Japanese Alps
A lot of my hiking endeavors began with me thinking to myself, "Hmm, that thing would be cool to do," and last November, I thought to myself, "Hmm, traversing the entire Japanese Alps would be cool." I got super into planning a traverse of Japan's Alps for exactly two days before I gave up,
Island Peak (Imja Tse) Gear List
Island Peak (Imja Tse) is technically classified as a "trekking peak", but it requires much more gear than what you would expect from your typical "trek". Why? Because you have to climb, not walk, to the summit of the 20,305 ft / 6,189 m peak. First things first, I paid 90,000 NPR (~$900 US) for
Travel Like a Boss Podcast Episode 192 – Trekking and Travel Tips, Pacific Crest Trail, and Kathmandu
Morning two in Kathmandu and I am hard at work attempting to be hard at work in the official breakfast eating area of my Thamel guest house (Thamel is the tourist center of Kathmandu) when I am approached by a man calling himself Johnny FD. Having seen the Pacific Crest Trail sticker on my
Three Passes Trek Day 13: Thame to Lukla
Today may very well be the final day of my Three Passes Trek. Before setting out on this adventure, the sometimes not-so-trusty internet indicated that I should budget approximately 19 days to complete this trip; the internet was wrong (shocking, I know). Honestly, if I was really motivated or
Three Passes Trek Day 12: Renjo La (Gokyo to Thame)
This morning I am happy to find that the clouds responsible for last night's snow have vacated the area and left blue skies in their wake. Despite my originally wanting to put food into my mouth hole at 6:00 this morning (and then compromising for 6:30), nothing emerges from the kitchen until
Three Passes Trek Day 11: Dragnag to Gokyo
I wake up and head to the common area for breakfast where I find the lodge-keep asleep behind the bar. It's already eight o'clock, late for the Himalaya, and whilst standing and deliberating whether I'm going to rouse the sleeping sherpa, he gets up on his own. A few groggy moments later and he's