Without giving much thought, we decided to do the 3 Passes trek ‘post-pandemic’ (though we’ll never know when the next major wave is going to be!) and before we turned half a century-years old! Trekking in Nepal is not new to us, and although we knew that the 3 Passes trek is not an easy feat, we went ahead with the decision simply because the Himalayan ranges are really hard to resist! Ramesh, the owner of Nepal Holiday Treks and Tours, and our long-time guide-cum-friend has been urging us to take up this challenge and together, we worked out a well-paced itinerary that spanned 25 days, an immersive experience that allowed us to soak in the beauty of the Himalayan ranges at our own time rather than just checking a meaningless bucket list. Without a doubt, the 3 Passes trek has been the most challenging experience todate but our moans and groans paled in comparison to the beauty of nature that surrounded us throughout our trek. We did not follow the popular route but took a 12-hour jeep ride instead to Ringmo as our starting point. It may seem like wasted effort to many for us to hike through these villages when flights are readily available to Lukla, but no one can really put a price on the rich experience and the people we met along the way. It was also a great way to slowly acclimatize our way to the 5000m high passes and on the hindsight, it was a wise decision to make. Any treks would have its own challenges, but a good and experienced guide could ease one’s doubts and worries away. Ramesh has been the pillar of encouragement and he would not stop at anything to help us achieve our mission to cross the 3 Passes safely. His knowledge and familiarity with the trails, mountains, villages and the people made our experience richer and hearts full. He is very good-natured, calm, humble and sincere. I could be a little bias as I’ve known him for quite a long while, but he remained the same old Ramesh that I knew since being a guide to owning a trekking company. And lastly, a huge thank you to our porters who have each touched our lives in different ways. Very often not being recognised for the incredibly heavy loads that they carry, we appreciate your efforts tremendously. You made hiking seemed like a walk in the park! A special thank you to Barak Kumar, as it was a blessing to have known such a determined, strong, responsible, kind and humble porter. He was truly our superhuman porter! Ramesh, let’s have dudha ciya when we meet next!