By Ann Lindemann ·
Antonia “Toni” Neubauer in Kathmandu with a friend and her grandson ·
Like the Himalayas, there are peaks and valleys in Antonia “Toni” Neubauer’s travel recollections. And not surprisingly, it’s the missteps that often make the best fodder for storytelling.
Take for instance this nugget that occurred in an early trek to Nepal. After leaving a temple, Neubauer rested on a large rock to put her leather hiking boots on. A temple guard spied her and his face darkened with fury.
The Puthang Library in Puthang, Nepal. | Richard Sobel
“He started screaming and pointing his gun at me,” Neubauer recalls. “The guide came over to see what the commotion was about. ‘Toni,’ he yelled, ‘get off that rock! You are sitting on Vishnu!’ I almost got shot because I sat on a god that looked like a rock with red dust.”
What’s worse, Neubauer later learned Vishnu is one of the three great Hindu gods and one never wore leather in his presence.
“Much less put on leather boots while sitting on him,” Neubauer says, chuckling at the 30-year-old memory.
However, for Neubauer this blunder represents more than a funny story to share with friends.
“For me, who taught languages and cross cultural education, such a serious faux pas was horrifying,” the Incline Village resident recalls. “I resolved when I came home to learn the language and understand the culture and religion in as much depth as possible.”
Toni with a friend from Merak, Bhutan ·
Back in the States, Neubauer realized that learning Nepali might not be quite as easy as her other second languages – French, Spanish, German and Italian. Still, she was determined to figure out a way to keep the stunning Himalayas and Nepal in her life.
The solution came from a source close to her then-home in Philadelphia. Neubauer had a chance meeting with a Bryn Mawr College student from Nepal who was flummoxed by American laundry methods.
“I told her ‘I’ll teach you how to do laundry, if you teach me Nepali,’ ” Neubauer remembers.
Toni with Julie Conover in India ·
Fast forward 31 years and Neubauer is considered a preeminent travel expert for Nepal and Bhutan. Neubauer launched her company Myths and Mountains in 1988 with a mission to design adventures highlighting cultures, crafts, religions and holy sites in Asia, Southeast Asia, Antarctica and South America.
“I like to think of these trips as classrooms without walls,” Neubauer explains.
She says that the experience can be intimate, especially on rural treks. Sitting around a campfire — sans modern technology — offers an opportunity to connect with native people.
“You get to talk to people about their lives … like what is it like to be a woman living in Nepal,” Neubauer explains. “You get to know people at the very fundamental level of their existence.”
Not surprisingly, Neubauer has developed an amazing network abroad. Although do-it-yourself Internet travel sites have changed how people travel, Neubauer believes the company’s deep knowledge base of Third World regions is unique.
Neubauer is particularly proud of a nonprofit arm of her company that gives back to the locals in regions where Myths and Mountains travels. READ Global (Rural Education and Development) focuses on improving rural education and infrastructure in Nepal, Bhutan and India. To date, the organization has build 65 rural library/community centers, trained village librarians and supplied more than 250,000 Nepali books.
“There’s no question it has changed Nepal,” she says, adding the key to the success is giving the villagers ownership of the projects.
Meanwhile, Myths and Mountains continues to thrive and Neubauer, who jokingly describes herself as “too old,” doesn’t anticipate stopping anytime soon.
“I plan to continue as long as joy outweighs the aggravation and it’s still economically viable,” says Neubauer, who travels abroad for 10 to 12 weeks a year.
Neubauer admits that the lion’s share of her time is spent in front of a computer or on the phone planning a customized travel itinerary. Her office is located steps away from her Incline Village home and Neubauer wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I’ve been here 20 years, I love it,” she explains. “With a business like ours it doesn’t matter where you are … just close to an airport. I would love to live in the Himalayas, but that’s a bit far for the grandchildren, isn’t it?”
For more information on Myths and Mountains or READ Global, visit mythsandmountains.com
