trek

Last Himalayan trek and walking through the fearsome canyon, the monastery with the 1000 years old wall writings and the mummy nobody knew about

Parang River

26.08

Last day of rest before the final seven days of the trek. We spend the whole day at the beach, enjoying the sand, reading books, bathing in the nearby lagoon where the water is warmer. I know bathing is supposed to be something mundane, but we couldn’t take a normal bath in the last ten days. The only thing we could do was to wash one selves rapidly here and there. It is known that Tibetans don’t bathe for months, but now I totally understand them. It is just impossible – even in August, which is the warmest month here, it is still tricky to do it. Continue reading →

The long truck ride in the mountains of Kashmir, the good nun and the transition from Tibetan Buddhism to Islam

01.08

It is really hard for us, but we manage to walk for three whole hours and reach the Phugtal monastery. In total we have walked for 12 hours, but it is totally worth it. Right before the monastery there are wine red cliffs and the region is very beautiful. The monastery itself is built in the cliffs and the temple complex is in a giant cave. It belongs to the “Yellow hats” sect – Gelugpa and is really impressive. Dates back to 14-th century. Continue reading →

Mystic rituals at amazing monasteries, golden Buddha statues, secret magical temples and sleeping on the swampy wet ground before Sisir La Pass

Views from Kashmir

14.07

After some intense cooking and a freezing bath in the river (it is absolutely necessary to wash oneself even in the cold water – 4-5 degrees Celsius (39-40 Fahrenheit) where I almost got hypothermic) we are ready to start hitchhiking. We go to see the monastery for one last time and we find a room with some very old writings on the wall which up to now was always closed. Continue reading →

Trekking with indigenous people and the presumable one-hour “easy” walk that turned into an eight-hour hardcore march on ice

Views from the trekking

Continue reading →

Entering the alien looking Hunza valley and how to transport one’s jeep by a motor boat

Peaks in Hunza Valley

08.05

Apparently we led too luxurious and easy life the past few days and to counterbalance today was full of hardships. As soon as we prepared to leave the hotel the owner said we owe him 500 Rupees (5$) for the tent, but we refused to pay him. Later the hitchhiking was slow but after waiting for a while a guy took us to Battagram (around 20 km.), he treated us to tea and cookies at his office and it was hard to explain to him that we want to continue hitchhiking.