Swimming.

Today I cannot stop thinking about swimming in a river in Nepal. It was the last little village we stayed in on our trek and it felt so good to be done with those horrible steps and leeches. Those lower villages were so beautiful. Hand built wood fences supporting huge white flowers. Rice growing everywhere. Cool, clear water trickling over the natural gray stones of the pathways. We made our way down to the river thanks to a young boy who guided us. His mother let him stop doing his chores for a while so he could go. A couple of us got stung by plants along the way, but that didn't matter once we reached the river. There was a calm, deep area with a tiny waterfall coming down a big boulder on the bank. People of all ages gathered on the bridge above us, finding us so funny and interesting, always smiling down. Moments like these...