From Taiwan to Nepal to India

„Great white mother“ is how the Nepali call the Annapurna region in central Nepal, the residence of the Himalayas, the residence of the most relaxed people on this planet and since two months also my residence.

The Nepal story started in a small surfing hostel in the south of Taiwan. I was working in this place called „Rainbow Wave“ about three months ago, surrounded by a group of awesome Taiwanese friends who either also worked there or who just came there everyday to chill out. It is a shame that I haven’t been writing anything about Taiwan so far: I had such a great time there that I forgot time and duty. Originally arriving for a week or so I stayed for two months to explore the whole island and I began to like the Taiwanese people and culture much more than I would have ever imagined. I will do a blog post only with pictures from Taiwan in the next days but first have a look at some pictures from Nepal:

The owner of the hostel is a passionate photographer and he has a fable  for Nepal. Rainbow Wave is covered with beautiful pictures he shot in Nepal. Pictures that made me come here. Without too much expectations and with even less knowledge about the country I booked a flight from Taipei to Kathmandu and jumped into the next great adventure.

Instead of climbing the Mt. Everest on day one I got soaked up by Kathmandu for a few days and did a first short hike near Kathmandu before I escaped by bus to Pokhara, base camp and temporary home for expeditions in the Annapurna region and a travelers hub that brings the right people together. You can easily spend some weeks in the small town itself, go with a boat on the lake, hike the surrounding hills or do everything from paragliding to yoga. But the real deal are the mountains in the north and the endless tiny villages that you find hiking in whatever direction…

From Pokhara it is not far away to the Begnas lake, a much more quiet place with a perfect view of the Annapurna range. I went there together with Antonio from Costa Rica to visit the Vipassana meditations center located close by a small temple up on the hill. Meditation and yoga are the center of Antonios life and while he had already attended a number of meditation courses, I didn’t knew what to expect – but I trusted the whole thing because of the positive talk about the place from people I’ve met.

Getting up in the morning at 4am. Meditating for more than ten hours every day – without moving. Eating only two simple meals per day. No words. No eye contact. No book. No mind. Nothing. No prison has harder rules and without knowing why people do this, it might sound horrible. But for everybody I have met so far who finished a course, it was not only one of the most challenging experience but also one of the most rewarding things they have done in their lives.

The course is over since a few weeks, I am back in Pokhara and many things have changed since then. I never questioned to travel alone in the last nine month and when I was prepared the least, life decided to start a new chapter.

Only minutes before the beginning of the meditation course, when the sun just came back after a little rain, a beautiful girl from Columbia arrived at the place and introduced herself to me with a smile and with the words „Here I am.“ Apparently she is still here, so am I. Since then we catch stars, climb mountains, build castles, we walk together, we fall together and we get up again together. Is there anything better than to be in love?

Still slightly stunned from what is happening to us we decided to travel together to India. We are still waiting for my passport with the indian visa and meanwhile the indian visa from Vanessa is already running since weeks. The time we have in Nepal is just too good to believe, and it is getting better every day 🙂 When we where again in the mountains a few days ago we asked ourselves, why the hell we ever wanted to go to India. The beautiful Rhododendron forests, the endless jungle, the lush green valleys, the cute little villages in the hills, the amazingly relaxed and lovely Nepali people, 8000m high mountains around us… Every 5 minutes here are worth a 5 minute story. Every moment is worth a picture, even if there is bad weather it is still beautiful….

Today it is raining since the early morning hours, whatever comes down in Pokhara as rain will be snow a bit up higher in the mountains. People say it is a bad season for hiking and the stories of travelers getting trapped or lost in the mountains are getting told. At 6am I get up to see if the weather looks stable enough to go on a one day hike to Sarankot, the mountain where all the Paragliders start from.

Thunder and clouds are announcing the coming rain and I go back in our room to make a tea. The warmth of the camping cooker is not enough to heat up the room and I sneak back into the warm bed. Sikkim, Varanasi, Rishikesh… Before I fall asleep again pictures of India come up in my head, stories from travelers I have heard turn into dreams and when I wake up again I need a moment to realize the we are still in Nepal.

Finally I am writing again a bit on the blog and together with the motivation to write again, the idea to create, to „give back“, to „take part“ is in both our minds. While India is not exactly the country you would choose to make money while traveling, our motivation to be part of a social project will soon be supported by the need to stop spending money. We don’t know yet for how long our indian visas will allow us to travel India, we just decided yesterday spontaneous to change the route again and more than one time we almost needed to forget about the idea of traveling together because of a complicated circumstance called „life“… We both know that the challenges waiting for us in crazy India are even bigger but our curiosity and faith are much stronger than any doubt could be and we are following again the call for adventure. Mother India, we are coming!