Continental Divide Trail 2011 close to 3000 miles through new mexico, colorado, wyoming and montana. May 1 start date.

Tony and I just spent about 2 weeks wwoofing on a coffee farm with a family in the remote village of Bhatkuwa, Nepal. I will be processing all of my thoughts and reactions for many days to come. It was like returning to Africa, where I am the only white person and hardly anyone speaks english. The village consists of small plots of land and simple homes on a hillside, an hour's walk from a small town. We lived with a family who collects and processes the village coffee crop for export to other countries. We spent our days cutting leaves and carring loads with forehead straps for the water buffalo and goats to eat during the day. We picked, pulped, sorted, washed and dried coffee side by side with the villagers and our beautiful host family consistind of mother mona, father salikram, and brother krishna. We ate rice and lentils twice a day, sitting with the family on rice mats, eating with our hand and enjoying hours of low-lit conversation in simple english and nepali. We taught english in the local school and were honored guests at the hindi shiva ratri festival and made to dance while the entire village watched and clapped. We went through the cycles of being completely overwhelemed and stressed out by the communication and cultural barrier to laughing with our family as the local dumb man pantomimed his day. It was beautiful and rewarding as well as awkward and overwhelming from time to time. In the end, as we hiked out of the village yesterday morning, we were sad to be leaving, but are now headed out on the 3-week Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary treks with our friend Lauren. We have bought last minute warm layers for our 18,000 foot elevation climbs and some last minute snickers. Time to experience the high himalaya.