“Finally, after many years of longing and cancellations.”
The Himalayas have captivated me ever since I got hold of Peter Habeler’s book “Der einsame Sieg” over 40 years ago. Now, finally, after many years it has worked out: 4 weeks of immersion in the culture and in the stillness of the magnificent mountain region of the Himalayas.
Due to Corona, contrary to my initial planning, not in combination with Bhutan or Ladakh, but pure Nepal.
I would like to explicitly thank Mrs. Kolay once again, who, despite the Corona-related cancellations and tour changes on my part, never lost patience and ultimately, through her flexibility and that of her staff, made a “dream trip” possible for me.
The travel time of spring and the first part of the tour was linked to the expectation of hiking through various blossoming vegetation zones, which was also especially fulfilled higher up with the rhododendron forests, so unknown to Central Europeans and blooming at this time.
The first part was planned to the Mardi Himal Base Camp, from 900 to 4500 m, an unforgettable hike through the vegetation zones of this region. Tropical forests up to over 4000 m, mist-shrouded mountain slopes, the Fishtail (Machapuchre) in sight (when the weather allowed), it went up over partly many steps. Great views, especially in the early morning, also of the Annapurna Range, provided plenty of motivation to get up very early and climb ever higher.
The selection of the guides (father and son) and two porters for our small group (4 people) was excellent, so that everyone could walk at their own pace, patiently capture details with the camera, or simply enjoy the deserted stillness in some sections.
For the second part of the trip to the Everest region, it quickly became clear up here that I did not want to spend my further weeks amid throngs of tourists, but alone (with a guide and porter) high up, where there is no light and
noise pollution, where the air is still cool and pure (although low in oxygen). And so, in coordination with the geoDiscovery Tours management, a change to the tour towards Gokyo and then to the Renjola Pass (5400 m) was quickly organised. All very straightforwardly arranged, without further formalities we then flew to Lukla (unfortunately one day late due to weather), walked in several daily stages to Gokyo Lake at 4,800 m, and then early at 5 in the morning, with the first daylight and a (near) full moon, tackled the pass. Already at around 9 o’clock we were standing alone on the pass and could marvel at the king of the mountains, Everest, in peace.
30 min later we were already heading downhill again into the lonely, barren valley to Lungdhe, then Thame, the birthplace of Tenzing Norgay, the monastery there (with a German monk as teacher) and then on to the nunnery in Thamo, where we stayed overnight with a charming Sherpa couple right next to the monastery and immediately experienced two Pujas with the nuns.
After the very adventurous and wild path back to Lukla and another big and powerful Puja with butter tea in the local men’s monastery (well worth a visit), we still managed, after a one-day delay due to the flight cancellation on the way in, to also drive via Bhaktapur, Patan and then to spend a few more days at the Namo Buddha resort and monastery and immerse ourselves even further in Buddhist culture.
Even my complicated return journey via Delhi with the endless formalities, including a PCR test, was handled in a wonderfully focused manner by Mrs. Kolay and her local team.
I can wholeheartedly recommend geoDiscovery Tours to anyone who wants to travel a little more unconventionally, in small groups, or even alone to Nepal (or Tibet, Ladakh, Bhutan).
I am happy to be available for any questions (balling@newballo.de).
Namaste
Lothar Balling
