Back again in Kolkata after some wonderful days in northern India and Nepal. As we mentioned in our last blog we got the opportunity to do three days of trekking in the Himalayas thanks to our partner The Trekking Company. Our guide, Wangchuck and another Sherpa showed us around in their neighbourhoods and we were absolutely stunned of the beautiful surroundings. As most of you know Nepal has been politically unstable for some time due to disputes between the political parties, the king and Mao´s. We were informed about the worsening situation by our expedition support in Sweden that it was an increased treat of civil war in Nepal. This message came to us as we were to enter the border of Nepal! But our kind guide told us about the situation and also that the army will be informed by letter in advance to an attack which made us feel a bit more safe…

Walking up in the Himalays requires some muscles and a lot of patience. The hills are very steep and it is not the mountains as we are used to in Scandinavia. The last night on our walk we stayed in a cottage on 3600 metres altitude where we could see the third highest mountain in the world and also a glimpse of Mt Everest, the highest mountain in the world! We learnt that there are 14 peaks in the world that stretch above 8000 metres and 9 of those are located in the Himalays.

Dinner in the Himalays!

Second day in Nepal

Along the trekk we stayed in Nepelists home which gave us some historical flashes as we lived with no electricity, tap water or heat. The heat source being used was an open fire stove that the whole family gathered around at night. Mountain people live with the sun which means early nights and early mornings. When Nepalists socialize they meet in their villages at lunch time so that the people can walk (!) back to their villages afterwards (in daylight).

The Nepalist families provided us with nice dinners consisting of noodle soup, rice and potato. Breakfast was very good and included mashed rice in milk, rice bread and tea.

Everywhere you walk you see the prayer flags that symbolizes the five elements; water, fire, wood, air and sun. Our trek went from Phodrey, Tonglu, Gairbans, Sandakphu, Gurdum to Rimbik. More than 40 km of walk in very rough terrain!

Great experience and thank you Sheila and Mohan. Tomorrow we are heading for Chang Mai in Thailand - we are currently just waiting for the flight permit!

Written by Johan

Posted by: Joy Thompson
Hi guys! I work at Beltone Better Hearing in West Vancouver, Canada. I have been hearing impaired for over 20 years. I am so thrilled to read about what you three are doing - it is wonderful! Keep up the good work, and happy travels!
Joy

Posted by: Denis Tucker
Bravo! Show the hearing world that the deaf pilots can do.
Keep flying safety and good.
Denis

Posted by: Hubert Trunzer
I wish you a good trip to Thailand and welcome to the land of smile. I am looking forward to meeting you in BangPhra
regards
Hubert