Kalilandia

Chame - Upper Pisang - Manang New notions of Cold It is above 3500m. I have been on the trek for a few days, but it feels an eternity. There is no salvation from the cold. Cold has a new meaning for me, a new power, too. I hear myself using indecent words more frequently as I successfully build my lifestyle in the cold. I see my breath while falling asleep in the room, my phone cannot stay turned on outside of my sleeping bag, I have become intimate with my water bottle, which I fill in with hot water to put inside the sleeping bag every evening. I have overpassed all personal records for speedy teeth brushing, figuring out how to take a shower with some different heating solution in every lodge, and running outside to my room wet after a shower in 5-10 degrees below zero. If one surrenders to the unusual conditions, where one is entirely dependent on the nature, the basic sanitation and the lack of distraction, they end up connecting with part of their primal nature. So do I - ...

We are sometimes naive enough to think that we can get prepared for anything, if we try hard enough. The truth is, we are never truly prepared for any experience until we actually face it.  I did read a substantial amount of blogs and guides about trekking in the Himalayas, I even did short treks in the Bhutanese Himalayas a few years back. However, nothing could prepare me for doing the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal - neither for its challenges, nor for its marvels. Kathmandu - Besisahar - Chamje - Dharapani - Chame  The perils of riding Nepalese vehicles The first few days of my journey are mainly marked by excitement. I am cheerfully approaching every part of the beginning. As I leave Kathmandu at 4:30h in the morning, we already have a little accident - my taxi hits a motorbike on the street..."bla bla bla Namaste bla bla bla Namaste", everything is arranged peacefully between the drivers. I find myself in a local van, where I am the only foreigner, except for...