Feb 21st-24th

Day 5-8

Hike hike hike

Bare hills, lush foresters, harsh rocks, rapid rivers, high waterfalls, cute settlements and snow covered mountain tops are views that overtake each other along our hike. The higher we get the colder it gets, but when the sun beats down and the uphills are steep I am sometimes only in my t-shirt sweating. Hat, mittens, scarf and many other layers come on as soon as the hike is over for the day…and I feel like very quickly I become one with my hat that is on 24/7.

At times we are walking through patches of pine forest and I feel a bit like home. The smell, the trees, the small soft path, and the fresh spring breeze…but then I look up and I'm faced by giant snow-covered mountaintops…yup, Nepal it is.

I must key in to the cliché of heading up into the mountains to find yourself and find piece. There is something so comforting and relaxing about just walking through the mountains…it’s like nothing can touch you and everything just runs off you somehow. Sometimes I think, sometimes I talk, sometimes I sing to myself, sometimes I’m just empty and mechanically one foot is put infront of the other. It’s peaceful, it’s empowering…it’s Nepal!

There was a point in my life when I used to take a picture in my head by the blink of my eyes, to capture a special moment or feeling. In Nepal I quickly learned that no matter how many pictures I take, there is no way for me to capture the magnificence and feel of the mountains…but I also already know that there will still be thousands of pictures on the camera by the time I leave…but non of them probably half as good and special as the ones I keep in my mind.

Day 5 – a long day of hiking, but not to bad of an incline.

Day 6 – a good hike, incline was tough at moments, but not such a long way to go.

Day 7 – same as day 6, but starting to trek through snow. Layers of clothing for sleeping has now increased to thermals, fleece pants, 2 pair of wool socks, long sleeved t-shirt, hoody, wool jacket, wool hat and mittens...starting to get a little bit cold :)

Day 8 – Winter wonderland. A hard trek balancing on a small path on the side of a steep edge, through a snowy landscape...beautiful.

Just the usual run of bringing chickens up the mountain

There were some steep cliffs (skip this one Nillan)

And cute mountain kids everywhere

Working on a new road. Safety first...or not...

The mules walking across one of many wiggly suspention bridges...amazing animals

Bringing the mules home

Spent some nice evenings playing cards with Domi and Nima

"Super granny" walking down the mountain, just carrying a little bit of wood. They are so amazingly strong.

Hmm, I know a day of walking tires you out and you need a lot of carbs for energy...but 9 potatoes for one person, really?! I gulped 5 of them and then thought I was gonna burst.

The swedish pine forest...with the annapurna mountain region in the background :)

Some truly amazing views

and exciting paths

more and more snow is coming our way

Home for the night. My poor ear had to put up with quite a few very hard pillows...in the mornings my ear would have the same feeling as when you've talked on the phone for waaaay to long

Lower Pisang village...

...where I fell in love with the children that lived at our tea house

Note that the little guy on the right has no shoes on!

Love that playing doesn't mean you have to be able to speak the same language

However, it did sort of make me wanna rub every little bit of me down with hand sanitizer afterwards though :)

A little break along the way

Love how the animals just run around everywhere

The tiny little roads of Manang village were covered in snow