D7 – Chame to Lower Pisang (3,200m) A new year was starting that day in Nepal – and it looked like from one day to the other I have aged quite a bit as they were celebrating year 2070 (Hindu calendar)! So officially I became a granny – 90-year-old granny for that matter! ;) Still it didn’t seem like there were going to be any celebrations taking place around here. I asked Prem whether people were doing something for new year here and he said that it was very family orientated holiday – families would just spend time together, maybe went to a picnic but that would be all. It certainly is a very different way to celebrating New Year comparing to what goes around in Europe, as there it is simply another excuse to spend ... read more

Once you are in Kathmandu and have a day to spare a visit to Patan should definitely be included somewhere in your itinerary. I found this place to be pretty charming from the first sight really – beautiful Durbar Square, narrow colourful streets, hidden temples and shrines here and there, little workshops and most of all the smiling faces of people all around. Everything seems much more relaxed in here comparing to Kathmandu as well – people sitting outside chatting and laughing everywhere, children playing in the streets, happily posing for pictures for passing by tourists. You can wander around the streets and watch the people around for hours really… I know there is quite a bit of history behind all the buildings and temples that are scattered all around Patan as well but watching the ... read more

I was very positively surprised when I found out that I would have a chance to witness Holi festival while I was here! Since there is no fixed date for the festival as it follows the lunar calendar, I was pretty lucky that it was happening at the time I was in Kathmandu! Now it kind of made sense why people (well I’m assuming they were kids actually practicing for the festival) threw water at me the day before when I was coming back from Swayambhunath – I have to say I wasn’t too happy about that at the time as a full bag of water splashed right on top of my head (don’t really mind the water on me, but my camera was in danger!). So when I found out about Holi suddenly the water ... read more

Day 4 – Namche Bazaar to Tengboche (3,860m) When I opened my eyes in the morning I felt quite relieved straight away as was pretty hungry meaning my appetite was back and it looked like my cold might actually be going away as well so it seemed like I was on a good way to full recovery. :) Actually everybody seemed to be in very good spirits and shortly after breakfast equipped with new gear we set off on our seven hour trek. As soon as we left Namche some amazing views appeared right in front of our eyes again! Even though you look upon the same mountain range along the trail, the scenery each day is changing so much that somehow it seems as if you were looking at different peaks each time…That day we ... read more

Planning and preparations… And here I am… In Kathmandu… Honestly it seemed like this day would never happen… Probably because I started thinking about this trip a year and a half ago! So I guess I had quite some time to prepare myself for this journey… Still the more time you have, the further you postpone the preparations… At least that’s how it was in my case… And since I couldn’t really decide where it was exactly that I wanted to go, the itinerary was changing throughout quite rapidly… The more I was reading about different countries and the more I followed the adventures of fellow bloggers, the more confused I was getting and the more chaotic everything seemed… I have to say at no time at all I felt prepared for this trip, neither physically, ... read more