Mountains!

When I was a 6 years old, my parents took me on a trip to Sofia by car. We lived in Varna, at the seaside, back then, which is 420 km away, so that we had to cross the entire country to get to the capital. In Bulgaria, this means traveling all along the mountain Stara Planina (meaning Old Mountain). I was not in school yet, but traveling through the beautiful, wild and lonely countryside made me feel older. I dreamt about visiting those places with my future schoolmates, on my own, without my parents. This is my first memory about the mountains. And this is how I fell in love with them.

Later on, when I joined school we used to travel to the mountains at least once a year, usually in wintertime. Those journeys definitely inspired me for the rest of the year. Even back then, as a child. I love the way I get lost in the mountains wildness, its shadow greenness, how little and unimportant I become among endless hills, how gratuitous language and speech get on the narrow paths. Since that time, I have dreamt to visit the Himalaya. To breath in its dry odour, and look out from the roof of the World.

The first time I had the chance to fulfil this wish of mine, was last November. In the last two weeks of my thirtiest year...

Thorong La for beginners - Heading to the mountains (üBERGlücklich)

15. November 2013, 14:55 Terminal 2, Munich Airport Franz Josef Strauss

We started our journey at the Munich airport at noon. We were booked a via-Doha-flight to Kathmandu with Qatar Airways. A giant Boeing 787-8 Dreamline was accurately waiting for us to board in. At 3 p.m. we slowly took off towards Doha.

It took quite a long to get something to drink at first. Around 2 and a half hours after the start, we were served some lentils salad, noodles with chicken and a chocolate cake. Afterward I watched Blue Ginger. By that time, I did not know how many awards the film was predestined to receive, but if anyone had asked me back then I would have granted it.

Shortly after midnight, we arrived at Doha International airport. It is currently being moved to a new terminal so that it feels really basic. We were pretty tired and had to spend 4 hours until our next flight on the terminal. The premium lounge would have cost around 35 € per person. It looked like a café however with no real option to stretch feet. We decided to pass and take a look around in the terminal.

It was really small, a two-floored, temporary building of no charm at all which offered a couple of very expensive luxury goods stores, 3 mosques, 1 female and 2 male, and 4 fast-food restaurants. We went for a veg curry and then moved to one of the numerous chairs in the sleeping area.

Soon after that, we were called for boarding on our flight to Kathmandu. After we were served bread and butter, and a poisonous omelet with sausage, I decided to skip the meal and fell asleep.

16. November 2013, 10:30, Tribhuvan Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal

We arrived in Kathmandu in the morning next day. The Tribhuvan Airport is a relatively small airport and was very well organized so that we could be in our hotel room just around an hour later. We were welcomed by our guide with a flower girdle of fresh odorous marigold. After a short husband and wife dispute, we decided to use the time to rest instead of going for sightseeing. Having left the wintery German weather, it was easy to relax and fall asleep at almost 30°. And so we did.

We woke up at 3 p.m. and went for a walk in the area of Thamel. Countless little shops for trekking equipment, clothing, traditional and not so traditional Nepalese arts and souvenirs shaped the little streets where pedestrians, automobiles, and bicycles fought for distinction. It was not a chaos, but a riot out there. In less than 2 hours we were tired and decided to head to dinner in the recommended restaurant Mandap. And for the first and last time for the upcoming 2 weeks, we ordered a Nepalese Strong Beer and a veg curry. Exhausted from the jet leg, the huge temperature amplitude and the long flight we went to sleep at 7 p.m.

We had booked our trekking trip with Himalaya Fair Trekking which turned out to be the dream tour operator for me since we were neither organized in any massive or inconvenient way nor did we feel somehow lost in any particular way throughout the whole trip. I can recommend the company to everyone who is heading to Himalaya. After picking up from the airport, we were asked for our documents. It turned out that we lack 2 pictures each for the Trekking permit. Everyone walking through the mountains in Nepal needs to hold a valid one. So we went and made pictures in one little photo booth for 1000 rupee. We also found and bought a cover lid for our Canon camera which we had lost a long time ago and could never buy in Germany. Back to the hotel, we realized that the lid does not fit and were disappointed at first. But surprisingly enough the photo shop owner was very kind and exchanged the lid against another one with a smile on his face.

17. November 2013, Kathmandu (1400m) to Bhulbule / Beshisahar / Khudi (790m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitutude	Go to sleep	Food
06:30	07:45	15:30	160km	840m	19:30	Breakfast: Omelet and Coffee Lunch: Dhal Bat Set Dinner: Curry rice

Early next day we settled by feet to pick up a private bus for our group of 5 travellers. The adventurous vehicle with a Bob Marley poster on the inside was waiting for us at 1 km distance from the hotel. The journey could begin.

With a population of 27 million, and area half the size of Germany, Nepal is a huge country. 50 languages are known to be spoken in the country. Most of the people live from farming. The landscape we drove through looked accordingly. The vastly underdeveloped infrastructure was evident even at the lower altitude of 500 to 900m. For 160km to Bhulbule we needed around 7 hours. Beshisahar is a small village around 15 km from Bhulbule.

The next days belong to the real experience so that I will skip the numerous stories everyone should experience oneself and just list the data. Good luck on your journey and give me a sign when you return.

18. November 2013, Beshisahar (790m) to Jagat (1300m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
06:30	07:40	15:30	20km	1300m	19:30	Breakfast: Tibetan Bread and Coffee Lunch: Fried potatoes Dinner: Dhal Bat Set and Masala Tee

19. November 2013, Jagat (1300m) to Dharapani (1860m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
06:30	07:30	15:00	20km	1860m	19:30	Breakfast: Tibetan Bread and Coffee Lunch: Fried rice with potatoes Dinner: Momo and Masala Tee

20. November 2013, Dharapani (1860m) to Chame (2700m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
06:30	07:50	14:45	18km	2670m	19:30	Breakfast: Champa porrige Lunch: Fried noodles with Tanchhok Dinner: Spring rolls and noodle soup

21. November 2013, Chame (2700m) to Pisang (3200m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
06:50	08:00	14:30	16km	3240m	20:30	Breakfast: Tibetan Bread and Coffee Lunch: Fried pasta Dinner: Dhal Bat Set and Masala Tee

22. November 2013, Pisang (3200m) via Nawal (3660m) to Manang (3400m) 

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
06:30	07:40	16:15	19km	3550m	19:30	Breakfast: Noodle soup Lunch: Spring roles Dinner: Chyomen and Masala Tee

23. November 2013, Manang (3400m) to Ice Lake (4220m) to Manang (3400m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
06:30	07:40	15:30	10km	4600m	19:30	Breakfast: Vegetable Thanthuk Lunch: Sandwich with fried potatoes Dinner: Fried rice and Jasmin Tee

24. November 2013, Manang (3400m) to Latar / Yak Khark (4000m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
06:30	07:40	15:30	5km	4750m	19:30	Breakfast: Noodle soup Lunch: Curry and Chiapati Dinner: Fried Rice and Mint Tee

25. November 2013, Latar / Yak Khark (4000m) to Thorong Phedi (4500m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
06:30	07:40	15:30	20km	3960m	19:00	Breakfast: Tibetan Bread and Coffee Lunch: Fried potatoes Dinner: Fried potatoes

26. November 2013, Thorong Phedi (4500m) via Thorong-La (5415m) to Muktinath (3800m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
04:00	04:30	16:30	22km	5460m	19:00	Breakfast: Potato soup Lunch: 2 boiled eggs Dinner: Dhal Bat Set and Masala Tee

27. November 2013, Muktinath (3800m) to Jomsom (2730m)

Wake up	Departure	Arrival	Distance	Altitude	Go to sleep	Food
07:00	07:30	15:30	15km	2730m	19:00	Breakfast: Potato soup Lunch: 2 boiled eggs Dinner: Dhal Bat Set and Masala Tee

28. November 2013, Besichtigung der Tempelanlagen, Jomsom (2730m) to Pokhara, Aufenthalt in Pokhara, Flug nach Kathmandu

A holiday breakdown

Being back home after a 3 week long leave is a great thing! I especially enjoy knowing where on the wall exactly light beams break at a particular time. Not that piece and calmness, fresh underware and my own pillow do not matter! But there is something inspiring in light beam prediction. Even though light in itself is fluid, inconsistent and inpredictive. At home it bulgralizes at similar soft spots turning them into color. Coming back from a journey I sometimes close eyes and try to imagine how do the light spots look home now. Knowing where to expect them makes this place mine.

But vacation time is over, there is so much to do, as if I've never been away. In fact it's become more, because I was. To start the new year consciously and in good fate I arranged a quick rennovation, putting a couple of additional storage racks and shelfs here and there. Pragmatic comfort is very important for productivity in everyday life. Then I donnishly placed all the newcoming file folders on their new places. I loved to see that the New Year has come with new obligations. That life hasn't lost its ability to constantly demand more of myself.

I wish you all a great new year! Notice the lights spots and learn seeing the many different colors they consist of. A breakdown ability one can deploy in daily routine, too.

Digging deeper

Investigating the problem in more detail I came up with several principles supporting happy traveling. As a matter of fact those can surely be applied also in other spheres of life depending on the final goal. But let's concentrate on traveling since I don't want to ruin your career plans by advising you in total optimism. Actually total optimism wouldn't help you traveling, too. What would though are a proper trip preparation, an adequate attitude and a set of rules of thumb depending on where you travel. Yes, it sounds easy and it is, and for this reason I will dedicate some of my time in the next months to extracting the greatest common factor for all different types of traveling. Because I wish that people would travel happier.

In my research I will involve the outcomings of different psychological studies and scientific papers. I have also prepared a survey to support my thesis. Week for week I will publish the results in separate posts and will be looking for your comments. My goal is to color your memories, cause every journey is worth its time. Take your time for positive thinking, cause life is too short to rely on destiny to bring one happiness.

Why this blog?

Lately, I was appointed a listening ear to a long travel story of one of my friends, about how her honey moon turned into a disaster, leaving everyone involved permanently frustrated and with a negative impact on their willingness to travel abroad (again) in the next future. Somewhere between the crappy buffet food and the lazy hotel personnel, I asked myself a question: Why are there so many unhappy travelers around? Is it really missing luck or bad service, every time!?

Me and my husband travel quite a lot to many different destinations, and journey types as well. We are good to go on a sailing trip, a cultural excursion, or a mountain bike tour. We have stayed in self-service ski chalets, best luxury hotels, campings, all-inclusive resorts, cottages, tents, very old sailing yachts and many more. Of course, sometimes there have been terrible surprises, suspicious food, and people, but we have always traveled happily anyway.

To reveal the mystery of happy traveling, I invite you to discuss with me its principles. What are the small rules that can save families from divorce (indeed 50% of separations take place after a common travel trip), rescue the value for money, give meaning to the CO2 wastage, and simply turn us into happy travelers?