Happy 2nd Birthday Dreadlocks!

On Saturday my dreads turned 24 months old. People without dreads might find it strange that I know exactly when my dreadlock's Birthday is, or the fact I even consider them to have a Birthday. Majority of people with dreads keep track of the age of their dreads for many reasons. For me they have become a part of who I am and each dread has changed over time (becoming thicker, misshaped, twisted or other funky lumps and bumps which I love because you can run your hands through your hair and know exactly which dread it is you're holding!)

I have put together a timeline of my dreads from when I first started them. Unfortunately I don't have that many photos of my hair so you can't see the major changes my dreads have gone through. A few interesting things I've done over the past year was 'tip dying' the ends of my dreads bright fushia pink (I've done it twice in the past - it's all washed out right now), sewing in little charms (yep you can sew them in like in arts and crafts). Some beads have fallen out and now my dreads are getting too thick to add new ones. Another cool thing is because my dreads have become longer I can now braid it back like you could with 'normal' hair - this has come in handy with work because you can 'hide' your dreads and not make them as obvious, although dreads are a lot more common these days and becoming more accepted.

October 2011 - Overnight trip on the Trisuli River in Nepal. My dreads were only a few days old.

November 2011. Orientation day at Coast Mountain Photography in Whistler. Dreads ~ 6+ weeks (Photo By James Allan)

Photo taken by Andrea Hunter during winter in Whistler 2011/2012

Typical Blue Bird day on Whistler Mountain - March 2012

Bungee jumping at Whistler Bungee during winter 2012

Photo boating on the Sjoa River in Norway during summer 2012.

Hiking in some 'backyard' mountains in Heidal with my best friend Erika - Sep 2012

Glacier trekking in Norway - June 2013

Mushroom picking with my friend Anna in Sweden - July 2013

Almost as if the dreads were never there (they are well hidden behind my bandana) - The Hauge, July 2013

Marvelous Marsyangdi!

Chris about to enter the first main rapid below the rafting put-in

Wow! The Marsyangdi was one of the most beautiful, breathtaking rivers I have ever been on. Apart from spectacular views of the Annapurna range, the Marsyangdi is easily one of most kayakers favourite rivers to paddle in the world because of the steep, technical rapids and continuous class IV whitewater.

Chris scouting 'Mammas Big Butt'. A rapid which was a lot easier than it looked when we scouted with a very intimidating hole at the bottom!

Chris entering 'Mammas Big Butt'

Making the move to avoid the sticky hole

Chris more than happy to get down 'Mammas Big Butt'

After a night in Besisahar (and recovering from the 'Magic Bus'), Daz (owner of Pure Land Expeditions), Chris and took a jeep with our kayaks up to the put-in (just a bit further up from the commercial rafting put-in). Our plan for the day was to paddle from here and down to the dam then get the local bus back to Besisahar so we could stay in the warm hotel again as some of the teahouses further down can be rather grim.

At first both Chris and I were a little apprehensive because we had been told the Marsyangdi was 'the river' to do in Nepal and that it was steep, technical, fast, pushy and that the water level was also at medium flow.

Because we had our river guru Daz with us we were able to take our time getting down the river and the stress very quickly went away. Daz spent a lot of time with both of us focusing on reading steep sections of river and choosing appropriate lines down the rapids without having to get out of our boats to scout. We had a few times where we did have to scout but the new approach to reading the river definitely helped me feel a lot more confident in not only where I was going but also in my ability with my skill level to run the river.

Chow Mein lunch stop with a lot of curious kids

Women cutting grass below the hut where we ate our lunch

One of our spectators at our lunch spot

It all wasn't so easy going all the time. There were a few occasions where I found myself having a small surf in a couple of holes and flipping upside down against undercut rocks but I was surprised at how friendly the holes on the river were and dealt with these problems as they arose.

At the end of the day Chris and I were so exhilarated at the fact we had finally experienced this much talked about river.

A very dodgy hat we found a Nepali boy wearing at the take-out of the first day

Daz unloading our kayaking after our first day on the river. Unfortunately 'Prince' wasn't available for this photo

We got the local bus back to Besisahar and found the bus boy had a close resemblance to Prince. We all decided to sit on the roof of the bus with our gear and sing through some of Prince's classics with a bit of George Michael thrown in there.

There was then a couple of hours to spare before dinner and due to being pretty much in the middle of nowhere we weren't quite sure how to entertain ourselves.

We decided to go for a walk in the village. Daz made friend's with a young boy and told him our names were 'Tony Blair' and 'Margaret Thatcher'. The young boy obviously had no idea what was going on and eventually lost interest in us.

Then came the idea from Daz about the Class 5 Street Eating Challenge. Pretty much we would walk along the street, find something dodgy and dare each other to eat it and then give the food a rating like you would in white water. We even made the challenge more complex in the way we could get each other to run it 'blind' with 'no portage' allowed.

We ate probably a kg in sugar in Nepali sweets before dinner then it was time for bed.

View of the Annapurnas on our drive to the put-in below the dam on day 2

The next day we put in below the dam and we had some exciting rapids to start the day off with. After about an hour the river calmed down a lot and we had some spectacular views of the Annapurna ranges.

At the end of the day we hiked out of the river straight to a local dhal bhat place where we had some of the best dhal I've had in Nepal before we parted ways (Daz & Chris heading onto Pokora and myself to Kathmandu).

Last day on the Marsyangdi with a beautiful view of the Annapurnas in the background