Roadtripping With Gina
The Himalayas
The Himalayas, In My Opinion
It’s the home of Mt. Everest and K2, the highest and second highest points on planet Earth. I have absolutely, positively no need to climb either of them, but it saddens me that these are just a handful of the wonderful sights I will never live to see in person. I can’t even begin to fathom how cold it must be. It doesn’t look like anything could possibly live there, except maybe God. Not much grows there. But people have been living in the Himalayas for thousands of years. It is a mountain range so vast that it stretches across Tibet, Nepal, India, Bhutan and even China. But what fascinates me about the Himalayas is that it acts like a drug on certain people. The closer they get to the highest places on Earth, the more compelled they feel to see them, reach out to them and climb to the summit…even if they have to die trying. And only God knows how many didn’t make it. I can only imagine that it’s because it’s the one place on Earth where you can actually see how small you really are in the scheme of things. You are nothing to the Earth…just a speck of dust, in comparison to the Himalayas. They were there long before there were people walking the Earth, and they will be there long after we have all turned to dust.
Exploring The Himalayas
Obviously, the Himalayas are not walkable in the traditional way. It’s one of the harshest places on Earth. The terrain is very unforgiving. I tend to think of this place where Indiana Jones girlfriend went to get lost, hanging out with the sherpas and yaks. But it’s really way more civilized than the movies would have you believe. As with anything, there’s no getting away from commercialization. This is one of the hottest tourist spots on the planet. Look at the Google map below, and you’ll see the Himalaya Lodge and Restaurant sitting on the trail leading to Mt. Everest. While this is the textbook definition of “roughing it”, you don’t get to rough it here unless you’ve got a buttload of money just to get there, not to mention buying all the gear that you’ll need to survive a climb. And even if you don’t climb, there are all manner of tourists traps placed strategically to relieve rich adventurers of their cash. I don’t blame them. This is freakin beautiful! They know they’ve got the goods, and they’re not afraid to make money from them.
Walk The Neighborhood
Move the mouse on top of the little gold man on the map. Hold down the left mouse button and you’ll see blue lines appear. Those lines are streets. Drag and drop the little man on top of the street you want and let go of the mouse button. The picture on the right will change to show you a view of that street along with the street name. Click the arrows on the street to “walk” around. Or you can double-click the street to walk if there’s an arrow under your cursor. Roll the middle mouse button to zoom in and out. That’s all there is to it. Now get out there and explore!