Nepal / back in Kathmandu

I went back to Kathmandu to get my Visa for India. It was a hard time. First I got really sick, after eating Samosas, which weren`t the freshest anymore. I vomitted 3 days long and was glad that I could take the bucket with me to the toilet which i could hardly leave, because of diarrhea.

I love travelling alone, but when you become really sick you feel like the loneliest human being of the world. I lost 4kg in 3 days and felt very weak.

I was very glad when I got better and went straight to the indian embassy. You had to get there in the line at 7 30 am. Even when the embassy opened at 9 30. You had to stay in the first line to get the needed formulars. After you have filled them in you have to get in another line to give it to the clerks and paying some money so that they could fax to your homecountry to find out, if your are a criminal or not... but um... why did they need more then 2 hours for 10 applicants.

Then they said:"Come in 10 days again." Time enough to explore Kathmandu a little more.


















After ten days I went back to the embassy: First line: to get the answer of the telex. Uunfortunately there was none. .. but it didn't matter, I would get it anyway they said. I also got two new formulars. I filled them in and handed them out... in another line. After that you had to wait another half day, go to another line and then you get!! After that I was happiest person on earth!!

It was time to leave Nepal and to head forward to India. I' ll never forget the bustrip. I payed the whole trip to the first indian town with a railway station in Kathmandu. But at the border it was only big trouble (like nearly always when you have a crossborder transport arrangement) I was tired, very tired, when the indian men from the bus wanted to force me, to pay extra for my bag. (they wanted luaggemoney only from those passengers, who had the same arengment like me) And it was a bus with 5 seats in one line. Even for Iindians it would had been dense. But the bus was full with western tourists. They said they would throw my bag away, they said (especially one guy), they would not start, before i have paid. It took a while to convince him, but after a while of arguing the bus started
One day later i was in New Dehli.

to be continued....

Around Nepal

After some days of resting with some beers and yak steaksI decided to continue my journey through Nepal by bus. Next stop was Tansen. It took 6 hours for 120km. Unfortunelty there was nothing to see from the famous mountains, because of heavy fog. But i had great views at vomitting people in the bus. That happens often, because the people are not used in travelling like that. And it gets really nasty sometimes, when those people dont have a vomitting bag right in time. Tansen was... a remote city. Nothing special ... and that was the reason why i decided to go there. Just a nice little town, no tourists, a small market. Perfect for a short stop.




Next destination was Naryangath. The trip in the bus was simmilar then the bustrip before. Imagine a lot of vomitting people in the bus...the strong smell of the vomitts.

The first night .. I was so lucky to get a small hotel room along the river...sounded very romantic, but at sunset the biggest moscitos I ever had seen so far invaded that beautiful place. I stopped there to make a daytrip to Devgath, one of the holiest places in Nepal.Three rivers are connected there. You can reach the village only by a long suspensionbridge and many old people go there to die and a nursing home is taking care about them.















Jankpur:

The most indian town in Nepal. And the most popular town to get married. It is said that the god Rama married the goddess Sita on that place. It's also the place with the biggest moscitos Ihave ever seen in my life. (Even bigger then in Naryangath)









It`s also the place to see the one and only railway in Nepal. It has a length from 36km and is always very crowded.

Around Pokhara

Tipetan Refugee Camp

I came to the refugee camp, when they made their sandmandalas. They are used to symbolize the persishability of everything in the world. 5 monks need 3 days to make these beautiful pictures... In a cermony they put them into the river. As a symbol, that everything is vanishing, nothing exists for ever

Near Pokhara

That was a wired place. I went there with a rented motorbike and the last kilometers were on a dirtroad. Because it was a former small commercial town... the buildings where quite impressive. On the other hand when Ii arrived...it feels like the end of the world.

tha annapurna/ the way down

the way down, wasnt like the way up. Especially when we reached Jomosom on 2600 meters it changed. Jomosom has an Airport. many tourists avoid to climb up. they fly to Jomosom and going down. So its much more touristy and also the landscape isnt as impressive then the other side. But nevertheless i is a beautiful landscape!

after weeks only with cold water, it was like paradise on earth to bath in those hot springs

Three great weeks!! It is such a difference, when everything, which has speed up our life, is suddenly gone: No cars, no TV, no telephone, no streets, often no electricity, no radio. You can feel the difference every breath you take. Life is much slower..people speak much more to each other in a much more intensive way, because they are not disturbed by radio etc. I remember very well when two women where talking to each other. they were in two different villages.. maybe one kilometer away. Both were standing on the roof of their houses and were shoutingto each other.. natural telephone. Also distances are getting their meaning back when you have everything to do by feet. It also means open doors: you never know when your relatives are coming from another village.

Not everything is of course as romantic as it sounds like. Infant mortality is high and life in that altitude is very tough.
But nevertheless it seems like, it is easer for them to smile (to enjoy what they have) then poeple like us who seems to have so much comforts, that we forgot to appreciate....even when we have subordinated our whole life to get even more comfort.
sometimes we have forgotten to enjoy life


It was a great time!!!




to be continued....