Namaste!

Welcome to Nepal, one of the most interesting countries so far! A country where the right and the left hand have two totally different meanings... The right hand is used for shaking hands and eating (yes.. no knives and forks for the Nepalis).. Now the left hand is used for just one thing in Nepal; cleaning your behind after a visit to the toilet… yes, the Nepalis do not use toilet paper…

With this great prospect in mind I boarded the plane to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, with about 200 Nepalis who had absolutely no concept or previous experience in flying. The Nepalis were totally confused about the fact that their ticket had a seat number. In Nepal, when boarding a local bus, you just make sure you arrive at your preferred seat first making yourself as big as possible to prevent others from arriving at your seat first. After the stewards finally gave up on directing the locals to their designated seats we were finally ready for takeoff… with again Nepalis running around the cabin during take-off and landing…

Kathmandu is one of the nicer capitals in South East Asia, filled with Buddhist and Hindu temples right next to each other (most Nepalis prefer to pray to both Buddha and the Hindu Gods, you never know which one will help you that day)

Most people arrive in Nepal to go trekking the Mount Everest or Annapurna Himalaya, I on the other hand decided (ok, also because of my present form, probably not being able to make it up there) to pick the first random tourguide from the Kathmandu streets and follow him to his local village in the mountains, named Katunge, to experience the real Nepali life.

With a backpack filled with hand sanitizer, toilet paper, water purification tablets and ORS I followed Mr Ram (short for Rameshor) on a full day trip to his village, where I was going to stay at his parents' place. After surviving two local busses, a 4WD Jeep ride through the mountains (Jeep got stuck 2 times so we all had to exit the vehicle and start pushing it through the mud) and an hour walk passing waterfalls and rice fields we finally arrived at the accommodation. When I reached my bedroom, situated above the cow stable, the first thing that caught my eye was the huge snake sleeping under my bed… and when the father told me I should not worry because it was an honest snake (he saw me but did not attack..) I really believed I ended up at the local crazy house.

Even though the whole homestay-experience was one crazy ride I enjoyed every moment of it. Living with the locals, eating with the locals (mostly rice with lentil curry three times a day and sometimes a local yoghurt made from Buffalo milk), seeing the beautiful sights over rice fields and mountains, interactions with the children living in the mountains and getting used to giant spiders in my bedroom and goat and pigeons walking around in the living room.

After 4 days it was time to move on and ride for Pokhara, the second biggest city in Nepal and famous for the amazing views over the Annapurna part of the Himalayas. Reaching Pokhara was not easy; after waiting for 4 hours for a bus/jeep in Katunge guide Ram informed me that the bus most probably had an accident in the mountains and we had to walk… 4 hours later, and covered in sweat I was finally at the highway, said goodbye to guide Ram, and boarded a small minivan (with about 20 locals in it..) to Pokhara.

Pokhara, being one of the most touristic places in Nepal, was quite relaxing after such an amazing but also very intense adventure in Katunge. Enjoying the mountain view from the lake, drinking beer again after the hundreds of milk tea I drunk in the village, Paragliding over the mountains (video coming soon if Nepali internet allows..) and meeting Tibetans in the local refugee camp.

Tomorrow I will be heading to Chitwan National Park with a chance to see rhinos, crocodiles, elephants and, if very very lucky, the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger.

And, should I survive the Chitwan jungle, meeting up with Nils again for his birthday on Bali in ten days! See you there brother!

Namaste!