Want to go straight to the tour and not read the below info? Go for it!

Well, it's been a minute, hasn't it? A little over a month to be more precise. My excuse? It was the holidays, I was traveling (Belize, Montenegro, Fairplay). But, if I'm being 100% honest, it was more than that: I needed a break. A break not from you all, but a break from trying to create - to be creative - in a world which currently seems dark, bleak, devoid of inspiration.

So, I took a break - at least a break from publishing, putting things out there, out here.

That said, I didn't stop entirely, and have kept working on things behind the scenes, including the Nepal Tour I shared in December. (I've also been trying to reignite the inspirational flames. That's still a work in progress, but getting there.)

The tour, which draws from two trips (2023 and 2024) to the Mundhum Trail through Mahakulung and then to the "new" Mahakulung Muddhi-Kongmedingma Trail, went only to the village of Chheskam when I shared it late last year. I also found there were many glitches and issues in the skin I built, elements that weren't working correctly - or at all. So, I worked to fix those issues (complex coding and logic blocks and more that is definitively not my forte) as well as adding the next section of the route to the tour.

It is now live - and fully functional (I hope) - and living on its own page to make it all a bit simpler. The tour begins in Kathmandu at Bodhanath Stupa, travels to Tumlingtar and through Bhojpur. Then we go up Silicho Peak for arguably one of the best views in all the Himalaya before descending to the three villages of Mahakulung Gudel, Bung, and Chheskam.

And, that is where the new immersive experience begins as we travel northward along the Hunku Khola on the Mahakulung Muddhi-Kongmedingma Trail. This trail, used for centuries by locals, saw maybe a couple dozen foreign footprints over the years, often accidental. But now it is a bonafide trail, albeit one with no villages, no teahouses, no cell phones or internet or the luxuries of Khumbu. This is rustic, old-school trekking, through remote country, dense forest, and towering peaks. My 2024 journey up the valley was honestly one of the best - maybe the best - trip out of 30+ adventures in Nepal over the years.

In the virtual tour, I tried to bring out the substance of the region, the sinews that make it full, complete, amazing. It's not just sweeping views and high peaks, but the smaller things which are often missed that make this such a special place. To that end, there's a lot of data in the tour, contained in clickable hotspots on nearly every image, and links outward to learn more.

I'll be adding the next segments - from Kongmedingma further up the Hunku to the Amphu Laptsa pass and into Khumbu - over the coming days/weeks, so stay tuned for more. But, for now, take a fun, immersive, interactive journey with me into the Hunku!