Harvey Scholar Travels- Jordan P. in Nepal

Nepal

            My sophomore year at Mines I was able to travel to Nepal with the Invictus Initiative, an organization emphasizing humanitarian engineering with a focus in building sustainable projects and long-term relationships with communities they’re working in.

            Initially, our trip was intended to be split into two parts. The first was the be spent hiking through the Himalayas, experiencing the culture of our Sherpa in his home village, and the second spent working in Kathmandu. However, storms rolled in, and our plans definitely took a turn. The Lukla airport, the only airport flying into and out of the Himalayas, is considered the world’s most dangerous airport, meaning that pilots can only fly there early in the morning if the weather and skies are clear and favorable. Unfortunately, with the storm occurring, there was no chance helicopters would be transporting us to and from Lukla. Because of this bump in the road, though, we were able to experience a few more days in the breathtaking Himalayas, while staying in small village hostels until finally being rescued and flown out by helicopters.

            Once we made it back to Kathmandu, we had a day left to work on the second half of the trip’s project. We took a treacherous bus up a mountain to rural Kathmandu where we painted and fixed up small parts of buildings, viewed the village’s water sources, toured houses, and played with and met the children of the community.

            The trip, while not what anyone expected, turned out to be one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had. Staying in our Sherpa’s village and seeing their culture while getting the opportunity to hike throughout the Himalayas for days was unreal. My trip to Nepal ingrained  in me memories and images I’ll never forget or be able to experience again in any other way.