Good Bye India!

Ha! :D I made it!! ..back in Delhi and already taken care of the bike. I sold it to a friend of a friend and I’m happy there was such a smooth solution! In the end,  it cost my less than 500 USD to have this bike for over half a year (2.5USD/day) and I rode it for about 14 600km (too bad didn’t reach the 15 000 ;) but I rode as well 3400km on an Enfield and that makes up to 18 000km, what is a pretty nice number ;) all of this used approx. 430lt of petrol, what makes a bit more than 500USD spent in fuel. Yes, it’s expensive to ride around here, but otherwise there would be even more crazy drivers on the road ;) The bike has a very good range with over 40km/lt! With a fully filled tank you get as far as 700km.. what I consider extremely far! :) The Karizma was the right choice! A very good and reliable bike and not to kill (I can claim that after what I’ve been through with it ;).
I managed to get a 2 month Visa for the Philippines and all the paperwork here is done! :) ..a friend helped my to get two different didgeridoos from Mumbai to Delhi and I’ll be testing those in the next days. I’m also scouting the market for another third type of didgeridoo that I haven’t found yet (the one I’m actually looking for.. the ONE! :) but yes.. so far all my attempts were fruitless and I’m running out of time here.
I finally managed after four days of running around (and taking Rishaws and Metro in Delhi) to get all my stuff together and send it off. I found some nice items and clothing to do Life Roleplay back home. It’s gonna be awesome!! :D I bought more that I really intended too, but got a good selection of things now for decoration and gifts. Won’t be showing up here so soon, I guess.. was a great time, but after India, I’m open for all the other things in the world! :)
nearly 40kg of gear and equipment and all kind of stuff that might come in handy one day or fulfil a purpose not known yet ;) feels good to have gotten rid of this burden. Now it’s just a few kilos, easy to strap on my back and ahead lies another chapter of this journey that I gladly take after I have so successfully finished this one!

Nepal Wrapup

It’s week ago that I’ve written something in my blog and I think most of the past events just slipped away, but let me give you some of them.
today I crossed over from Nepal. There is a strike going on for the last eight days because of the elections. Pretty chaotic, but it worked out for me, because traffic was banned and I got the roads mostly for myself! :D today I had to call the guy from the Emigration office and he just showed up to stamp me out :) all the police and military along the way was friendly and helpful and I passed in no-time! Now I’m spending the night in some village town (in the best hotel I could find) and the next 2 ½ days I’ll make my way to Rishikesh, where Delhi lies just one day away. Yes.. this is it, the end of my bike trip. I’m happy and relieved, but was also a bit nervous about all the coming change. Well, I should embrace it! Beach instead of mountain and some good exercises and some diving.. it’s about time! It will be close to 18 000km when I sell the bike.

Yesterday I had a 12 ½ hour day.. way too long, but brought me to the place where I wanted to be. After leaving Bardia National Park, I had two super long days, making a last loop in Nepal to explore the roads and the places along the way. It was great riding!! (and roads just for me ;) nobody was bothering me along the way.. everybody super friendly! :) was a great experience! ..only thing was an oil patch behind a curve and I realized too late what it was. Have never dropped a bike at this speed and was sliding for some meters before everything came to a stop. The bike suffered just a bit (some more stuff broken to lower the resell value :P but I don’t have a single scratch! :D HAHA!! Finally the investment in the bike gear paid out! The knee guard did its job well. I’m happy to wear all this stuff :) so I’m an experience richer and pray for nothing more happing on the last 1000km.

The whole Everest experience was just amazing!! I found myself first a bit short on money, but in the end it worked out well (then we spent a lot and I had to borrow some more ;). I have been to Everest Basecamp, Kala Patar, before that at the Island Peak Basecamp (in a snow storm) and have marched a lot around the mighty Sagarmatha (Everest). I got a nasty cold that finally seems to pass (same my Ex got last year). But despite it, I climbed all these peaks and passes and played Didgeridoo at high altitude! ;D ..yes, it was an epic and unforgettable trip. (unfortunately had no one to share the bed with at night :( ..but hey.. I met Kevin, a cool guy from the States and we had great times together! In fact, we spent a whole month together after we met on the trail. It was very inspiring for both of us and it made my Nepal experience so much better!!
for the passes were closed after the snow storm, I went down after the EBC and hiked up the Gokyo valley (where I met Kevin along the way). Climbed Gokyo Ri and then over Renjo La down to Namche Bazar (where I met Kevin again.. he took the less crazy route). Then we went together to Luklah and figured out that there were not enough planes flying to get back to Kathmandu. So we decided to hike out (3 days to where you can get a jeep). Well.. I decided this for myself (didn’t want to wait) and Kevin joined me and it was a really nice trip that bonded us pretty much :) We got ourselves a porter the second day and it turned out to be a 15 year old kid (did a great job) that carried our stuff out ;) yes.. sounds a lot like child work, but they marry also very early here and we had a hard time to keep up with him :) after a lot of up and down (Kevin already walked in the long way), we reached the road (isn’t barely a road, but jeeps drive on it). So we got this very, very long jeep ride out (luckily I got this audio book to trip away) and after a lot of shaking and knee pain and staying one night along the way, we reached Kathmandu. I got my India-Visa shit done and went straight away to extend my overstayed bike papers. Didn’t get a fine for it (lucky me! :) and went to Pokarah, where I met again with Kevin. We went for a bike trip to Tattopani and I visited three days in a row the hot springs! (love them!! And I’m good playing Didgeridoo soaking in the hot water ;). Was a tough road to  get there and after we continued a bit, we decided to turn around. Different bikes (250ccm XT Offroad bikes) would make this much more enjoyable. With our touring bikes it was a lot of work and Kevin already did a lot and showed great riding skills! So we left it there.. would have been worth the effort though! I’ve seen some pictures from a friend who went beyond this point with a group on a bike tour and the pictures are great!! (furthermore it’s the place where I and Nadia came down last year after the Annapurna circuit. So I wanted to see it again). Maybe next time ;) ..but actually.. I think, I won’t be back again so soon. I find I’ve seen all I wanted and much, much more. I’ve ridden everywhere where there is road and it’s sensible. It’s much nicer on paved roads, because you don’t get shaken to death and you have more time to enjoy the landscape and don’t have to deal with the rattling noises of your bike ;)
I spent two days playing the walking dead game and really loved it! was great to just do nothing for once! ;D  Then I hiked around the lake of Pokarah with a Chinese girl and after that we were off to Bardia National Park. It took us two days to get there, but for me it lied pretty much on the way and I was happy to have Kevin with me. It’s just more fun! :) We went for a one day jungle tour, but didn’t get to see the exiting stuff. Still, was a nice day out and my (our) last trip on this journey (pretty colourful ;). We saw some kind of otter and lots of deer and monkeys. For a moment I thought, I saw a tiger (was really exiting! ;D but turned out just to be a monkey when it showed up later again). still.. was an exiting moment ;)