While in Kathmandu, we took an overnight trip to Nagarkot. I was hoping to see the Himalayan mountains and do a short trek.

I felt like a loser, coming all the way to Nepal and not trekking. And the air pollution was so bad in Kathmandu that any snowy peaks we might have seen were covered in haze.

Rand hadn’t planned for us to do any trekking. He had done the Everest Base Camp trek 15 years ago and, to be honest, the rest of us (especially Sierra and I) are kind of wimps.

I looked online for easy trekking routes and found one from Chisapani to Nagarkot to Changunarayan. We decided just to do the Nagarkot to Changunarayan section.

We arrived in Nagarkot by bus in the afternoon and settled into our hotel. The view from our hotel overlooked the valley. We could see villages and fields and foothills, but still no snow capped peaks.

At sunset we walked up to a view point and could see the faint outline of the higher Himalayas. Somewhere in that faded distance was Mount Everest.

The next morning we took a taxi to a view point. We climbed the metal tower and watched the sunrise over the distant peaks. We were still unable to pinpoint the highest mountain in the world. The view was lovely though.

A group came and performed sun salutations below us.

Because we are lazy and because the first part of our “trek” followed the road, we took a taxi to where we picked up the trail.

It was a wide trail through pine trees. On the ridge there were supposed to be mountain views, but they were obscured by the haze.

Just before arriving at Changunarayan, we passed through a village and saw some tents donated to those who lost their homes in the 2015 earthquake.

Earthquake damage was also apparent at Changunarayan Temple. Two by fours braced the large temple and piles of rubble lay stacked around the edges of the complex.

Still much of the temple stood as it has for hundreds of years.

From here we took the bus to Baktaphur. I left feeling disappointed by the hazy mountain views and the walk through the woods that couldn’t really be counted as a trek.

Yes, I have been to Nepal. But no, I haven’t been trekking and no, I haven’t seen Mount Everest.

I guess I will just have to come back someday.