Nepal - Part 1

Nepal - Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and first Trekking Days...

Exactly one week ago I came back from my Tour in Nepal and India. Everything went well (except for the part of staying healthy) and last week I was working on my pictures. Here are some of them I shot during the first couple of days in Kathmandu, Bhakatapur and during the first Trekking days.

12th of October I left Germany and flew with Air India from Frankfurt via Delhi to Kathmandu where I joind a tour group for the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek. But the first days were a little of sightseeing in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur.
In Kathmandu I visited Swayambhunath (the monkey temple), Pashupatinath (one of the most important Hindu temples in the world), and the Stupa of Boudhanath (one of the most important buddist sites). The second day we went to Bhaktapur an ancient city (Unesco World Heritage) where we stayed for the night. That was very nice, a lot of Tourists just come for the day and don't stay for the night, and especially in the evening hours a lot of locals were around.





 








The following day was a very long bus ride to Pokahara (200km) that took almost 7hrs. The streets were in horrible condition, partly only on one side and it is not advisable to sit in the first row and look how the bus is overtaking other buses in corners or when there is traffic...

In Pokhara we just spent the night before going on the Sanctuary (Basecamp) Trek. Unlike the Everest area (Yaks) here only Porters carry the luggage. The first two days the route was mainly uphill (more than 2000m) to Ghorepani, which is the Town just below the world famous Poon Hill, from where you can get one of the nicest looks in the Himalays, especially for sun rise, what we did.

You can see two mountains > 8000m. Annapurna 1 (8091m, 10th highest peak in the world) and Dhaulagiri (8167m, 7th highest peak). On the picture (left of this text) Annapurna 1 is the mountain on the left.

From Ghorepani we followed the route to Chomrong for 2 days. A lot of ups and downs... and a very nice place in between - Tadapani. Such a nice view from the Lodge in the morning.
Chomrong felt like a modern place. In the Lodge they had a Internet Cafe, vacuum cleaners and even a washing mashine. And the Pizza was suprisingly good - a little change to Dal Bhat or Fried Noodles.

The Tour will continue with the next blog entry...

Nepal here I come

Finally the waiting time for the next big holidays is almost over. Only a half day of work tomorrow. My flight will be around 10pm Friday evening from Frankfurt to Delhi with Air India and from Delhi to Kathamdu were I will arrive Saturday in the afternoon. After some sighseeing in the Kathmandu valley I will go by bus to Pokhara where the 11 day trekking will start. Highlight of the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek will be the Annapurna Basecamp and Poon Hill. Right now is the best season to go trekking. So I hope for nice weather and pictures.
Here is a small overview of the Tour. The Trekking is the left part connected with lines. Not the exact points but about the area.

Nepal 2012 auf einer größeren Karte anzeigen

After the Trekking Tour I will fly with Yeti Airlines (I flew them before and I am still alive ;) ) from Pokhara to Kathmandu and with Air India back to Delhi. Here I will go on a 1 week tour "The Golden Triangle". Highlight will be the Taj Mahal. This is the last of the 7 New Worldwonders I have not been to. So if everything goes will have visited them all :). After that tour back to cold Germany.

Fall time at the Bodensee

The good weather is following me. The view is from the Gehrenberg close to Markdorf. Sadly the weather was not clear and we could not really see the alps. But the sky was clear and the milky way was visible.

Hamburg

What a weekend. First to mention of course is the 1:0 victory in the Bundesliga vs Hannover with the world largest choreography for the 125th anniversary of the team, and second to mention is the fabulous weather. I can not belive we had 2 days of sunshine and 1 day cloudy but warm. The last times I was there it was always raining or it was bloody cold.
Of course the first thing we did was the harbour cruise to get an impression of how big the harbour is. I did it at least 5 or 6 times but still I like it. Also I have never walked the old Elbtunnel that is not in use anymore for cars but for pedestrians and bikes. Saturday afternoon was the football match - 57000 people sold out. Sunday there was lots of walking - Michel - Hafencity also the sailing ship Rickmer Rickmers. Monday I went the second time into the miniature wunderland which is still amazing. Especially the new airport with planes starting and landing. WOW! After some time in the museum we took the ferry down to Övelgönne for a walk at the Elbe to Teufelsbrück. Check out the pictures. Many more are on my homepage (www.jsbpics.de)

Gargellen at summertime

Another hiking trip to a skiing area - this time to Gargellen. Destination was the Riedkopf at 2552m. Especially in the afternoon it cleard up and the view was good. Probably this will be the last hiking trip to the Alps this year. But the Himalaya is coming soon :)