Ok, let's move on to the mountains over a colorful windy road
Interesting way to collect stones for house building
My favorite jeep in the Himalaya, it might be a bit slow but in reality the roads don't allow much more than that
Hey ho! That's the trekking crew surfing on the roof of a jeep on it's way to the trekking starting point
Khudi: that's the first part of the valley we will have to climb
First lunch - best lunch! I ate one of those strong black chillies from the tree in front of the "hotel rooms" and I got really angry on myself the next day on the toilets... The landlord was also a good trader, we exchanged some good brown stuff from Kathmandu against his freshly dried green stuff from his garden. Following that we had a very relaxed walking day ;-)
I love Nepal! Compared to India this is a heaven for ecologically aware people. They use solar power to bring water to boil, rooftop black water heater for warm afternoon showers and solar panels for electricity. And 30% of its electricity comes from hydropower.
I present Deepak (guide), Milon (porter), Korbi (lazy trekker ;-)) and... donkey (porter)
My first contact to people of Manang and unfortunately only one of the few not seeing a dollar bill on my forehead.
Buuuh... This is the last picture of me with those beloved glasses which I lost later on in the waterfall behind during a bath
Milon is a happy porter with "just" one big backpack of 15 kg. The proper professional porters carry about 50-70 kg up the hills!
Tashi Delek (Wel Come)!
Those are carved and painted Tibetan stones and while walking left of these mantra inscriptions, you get power for continuing your way up the hills.
That's how you could spell it in our alphabet. More often you see it like: "Om Mani Padme Hum". It doesn't have a direct translation, but each syllab has a significance and many meanings. You repeat this silently as a way of meditation. Om: sacred exclamation "like" Amen. Mani: jewel; which symbolizes the method of an altruistic mind to help to remove poverty, cyclic existence and solitary peace. Padme: lotus; symbolizes wisdom, realized through creating emptiness. Hum: final syllab which symbolizes indivisibility of method and wisdom to finally achieve purity. Saying this helps you to transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha. What makes actually Buddhism so interesting in my eyes is that blessing and power does not come through praying and hoping that god will hear us, but it is believed to be innate and to be inside of our own true nature.
Ouah! Big plants of Marijuana around!
That's how your hands look like after clapping a lot of Marijuana flowers
And this is my first self made hash!!
That's a Mani, with cylinders where Om Mani Padme Hum is inscribed. By turning them you get power
Enjoy Nepal!
Tea break after a steep 400m climb
Annapurna III (about 7500m)?!!?
Typical Nepali kitchen with some dudes drying the goods found on the way ;-)
Also non Buddhist can turn the wheels and feel the power of this ritual
This bridge has been build in 2062 and is 3 years old...
I had nearly most of those symptoms while at 1800m... Strange thing because they didn't reappear anymore while going higher up.
This is a Mani with a huge wheel inside decorated with colorful Tibetan prayer flags bless the surrounding countryside
Fabulous view over Manang valley and the Gangapurna on the left
A little Stupa in Humde
I like how Nepali express them self, it's so full of joy, happiness and peace
This is one of the oldest Buddhist monasteries still in use and one of the cutest villages I've ever seen
Manang... we are at 3600m! In summer all the surrounding of the village turn green while the rice is growing
Turquoise Gangapurna glacier ice lake
Oh what an easy day! We left the backpacks in the hotel and did a little tour to acclimatize to the altitude (3500-4000m). Everybody looks very relaxed and enjoys the cool breeze ;-)
Gangapurna and its glacier and a Tibetan prayer flag in my back
I like this picture. Deepak in his universe
The small village in front is nearly only used for the sheep in summer... the houses roofs are just 1m high
The beautiful ice lake (3600m) and Gangapurna (7500m)
Not much happening in Manang, just some Yaks hanging around on the streets
Let's go up to the highest lake in the world!
It's like walking on the moon! After a very hard steep climb, the steps on the snow/ice were now easy and gave us a big smile
Korbi is hanging our Tibetan prayer flags as a souvenir! Every year they put them all down for a new season... Too many people
Tilicho lake (4900m) and double Dpak
Amazing how people can go diving in these extreme conditions!
Always happy and smiling!
A lot of avalanches around!
On a steep landslide area
Some snow!! but it melted away as soon as the sun came out...
Buddhist fill the air with incense to make the environment convenient for spiritual contemplation
Another really beautiful lake but with green and yellow waters (for the microbiologists ;-))
Be careful we've seen a lot of people being sent down
Feeling like in a fairy tale
We made it! More prayer flags up here...
The highest joint in my life ;-)))
Golfing the Himalayan avalanche melt downs
Oh Tibet! No this is lower Mustang, but a valley with mostly Tibetan as since many centuries Chinese continuously push this peaceful population over the Himalaya
A visit to Saddhus in a temple area. Those guys practice yoga and meditation to achieve liberation and renounce the three Hindu goals of life: enjoyment, practical objectives and duty. The only thing they won't give up is smoking pot out of chillum all day long...
Tibetan stone graffiti
AH!!! Finally meat again! The Tibetan don't kill, so we didn't have any meat for the last 10 days, but where hiking up to 5400m!!!
Those are cute dwarf donkeys carrying goods downhill
That's the way they still plow their rice fields. No cars or even jeeps can come up here, so they depend on the good old animal force for work
Just a little bit before we leave the Annapurna region. A very kind and beautiful women gave us this self made stuff. And just for 2 euros compared to about 50-100 euros at home... What a wonderful world!
This is not a easter tree with eggs hanging on the branches, that's a tomato tree with dark acid tomatoes
So much water in this country! They use it here to make millet or rice flour for bread and MoMo (Tibetan dumplings)
Nice bath and wash in a hot spring one night in Tatopani
Laundry after weeks of wearing the same dirty clothes
A little abstract how people here have problems to spell correctly words in our alphabet...
That's a cheap and easy fitness center
So many different colors of beans!
Nice and peaceful Nepali tags found all over along this part of the track
Panoramic view from Poon Hill (3200m) with Dhaulagiri (8167m) on the left and Fishtail (6993m) on the right and Annapurna I (8091m) on its left
We look very tired by now... This was one of the last climb along this long trek
Smile!
Beautiful Gurung village: Ghandruk
Amazing how steep they can build village with rice terraces around
Last picture is the best picture! All preparing their dirty hair for a picture before leaving on the bus to Pokhara
On roof of the bus
Cool final canoe tour on Fewa Tal at Pokhara and our last day with those fantastic two guys! See you again my friends!
12/4/08
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