For the past month I have either been with very little time or very little internet (and it was wonderful).
From Rishikesh I travelled to Varanasi, for the sole purpose of having a good connection towards Nepal. I relaxed a day and then crossed the border to the town Birgunj. There I did a 10 day "Vipassana" meditation retreat. I could write pages about the experiences, but instead I will just summarize: it was terrific. To anyone thinking about doing it, I can highly recommend it. To everyone else: think about it. No previous knowledge about yoga or meditation is needed. We all left the Vipassana center happy and I went on to Kathmandu.
There I went shopping for trekking gear, got the necessary permit and then went off northwards. Together with the two Germans Felix and Yannick we started our trek in the Langtang national park. At first it went along the river through pleasant forestry areas. What looked like an easy slow ascent on the map turned out to be a strenuous up and down. I felt exhausted that day after having climbed 1500 metres in altitude. We stayed in a really nice wooden hut (as usual for free if you ate there). When we got up the following morning it was as if we had moved into a fairytale place. Snow suddenly covered the area. It looked pretty magical.
That day we had a beautiful first part of the walk. Later the sun warmed up the snow and it became more and more slushy and muddy. As we got close to our destination 3800 metres above sea level it got colder again and we got into a mild version of a snow storm. I was glad to reach the hut and warm up at the chimney oven. Even though it was that high up, Kajin Gamba was still in the valley. One had a great view of the six or seven thousand metres high mountains around. The next morning, we climbed a 4300 metres high "hill". From there we got a greater view of the valley. Felix and Yannick decided to head back down that day, but I liked it so much that I stayed another night.
My first trek alone just took me further along the valley and it offered fantastic views. The next few days I made my way down and then up a different path towards the Gosaikunda lake. After fighting myself from 1500 back up to 4000 metres Laurebina offered a great reward. Starting the trek from below the clouds, we were in the clouds in one village and then in Laurebina above the clouds. Together with Will and J’rae, who I had met on the way, we watched the clouds moving around and gobbling up the hills. The end of my route was the frozen Gosaikunda lake. It was nice, but just couldn't compete with the spectacular show we had gotten from Laurebina.
Then I trekked down for the second time, this time taking a bus to Kathmandu at the end. I had enjoyed each and every day of this 10 day trek. The tea houses and "hotels" were really cosy and I met many interesting people. The views ranged from beautiful to absolutely stunning and it was great to see how quickly the scenery changed completely. I thought a 30 day visa would be enough for Nepal, but I've now learned it has loads more to offer.
