We made it!

Luck was on our side and yesterday we got to MBC and this morning we got up at 5 am to trek 2 hours to Annapurna base camp! There had been a bit of snow during the night so we had to find the path again and really stick to it as the snow on the sides was metres deep.
Thankfully there were two guys from England and a couple from new Zealand walking with us, would have been to scary to do it on our own!

The trek in the dark, among the massive snow covered mountains was amazing. It was dead quiet and we felt very small in this big valley, surrounded by some of the world's biggest mountains.

So at the moment we're in bamboo, was just chilling in bed writing this blog when we heard something from the empty bed next to us where we had put our stuff - next thing we know a mouse comes running out! We started screaming and hysterically laughing, open the door and the mouse runs out. So we calm down, go back to writing and just now I felt something next to my head and there's the mouse again, on my pillow!!! GREAT. So we obviously started screaming and the guy who works here comes again to look for it but couldn't find it. So now we got moved to a little dorm type room, but we're the only ones here so it's ok. Slightly more cold and a little damp but hopefully mouse free...

Anyway, mouse drama over and we can hopefully sleep here. The guy from new Zealand we've been hanging out with started feeling a bit weird and dizzy when we got back to MBC for breakfast, and on the way down he got worse. The six of us were walking together down too, so one of the other guys took his backpack and we slowly made it to a village 1000 metres lower down. He probably got altitude sickness so we wanted to get as far down as possible but he wasn't able to continue. Fortunately they had insurance that would cover a helicopter ride down. We left with the two English guys to get to a village further down for the night, but we saw a helicopter flying by later so hopefully everything worked out for them!

We now have one night and two days left of our trek. My knee has been really bad for the past two days, but these last days will be pretty slow so hopefully it won't get too much worse. Tomorrow we're heading for Jhinudanda for the hot springs and we're also planning a stop in Chomrong where they apparently have an amazing chocolate cake. Treating ourselves after completing this 9 day trek!

It's been an absolutely amazing experience, and we are so happy we made it to the top in the end! It's a very special feeling being so much in nature, and completely left to mother nature. Walking through the valley where there is risk for avalanches makes you realise how powerful nature is, and how small you are in the midst of these huge mountains covered in heavy snow.

I have never felt more alive, more at peace or more humble and in awe of the amazingly beautiful but unpredictable nature surrounding me every day here. The feeling of being just where I am meant to be. 

Chiule - Chomrong - Himalaya

Yesterday was relatively uneventful. Malin got sick the evening before but felt better in the morning so we still managed to trek to Chomrong. Fortunately it's not that far, so despite having to take it very slow we still got there in around 4-5 hours.

Stayed at a nice guest house there which had the BEST shower so far! A month of bucket showers in Rishikesh has really made me appreciate showers on a whole new level.

By this morning she felt fully recovered and we set off at full speed again. The scenery has changed quite a lot today and we have gotten more and more full views of the mountains as we come closer. The scenery is absolutely amazing, we're basically walking in a painting - so beautiful!

Made it to Himalaya today, some people decided to continue on to Deurali but we were quite tired and it started getting cold so we decided to stay here. My knee has been hurting for the past few hours too, we taped it up after lunch which helped a little but all the walking downhill has taken its toll. Hopefully a nights rest will help.

Tomorrow we're heading to Deurali first thing in the morning, where we will find out if it's possible to continue to Machhapuchhre base camp. We're pretty sure we won't be able to get all the way to Annapurna base camp but  MBC might still be a possibility. If the avalanche risk is too high we will probably turn around straight away and start heading down.

It would be very disappointing if we don't even get to MBC but we have already had an amazing trek with beautiful views and it's not worth risking getting caught in an avalanche.
We will see what tomorrow brings.

Day 3: Ghorepani to Chiule

Today we got up early at 5 am to trek up 300 metres to Poon Hill, to see the view. As you just go up and down we could leave the backpacks in the guesthouse and come down for breakfast after.

So we walked up a million steps in the dark, finally reached the top after about 45 min-1 hour. Unfortunately it was very cloudy so we weren't expecting much of a sunrise - and we didn't get one. Instead we got snow. GREAT. It was still beautiful but normally you can see all the high peaks of the Annapurna region, and now we could barely see one. It cleared up a little by 6.30 but at 6.45 we gave up and went down for breakfast. Had a delicious oat porridge with apple, and boiled eggs. All the food at that guesthouse was soooo good.

We set off at around 8.30, today's trek was mostly downhill which is surprisingly hard. Shaky legs and tired knees. Going down is not great either as you know you'll have to climb back up at some point again. Reached Tadapani slightly quicker than we thought, and as we had lunch along the trail just before we decided to continue one hour to Chiule and stay there instead.

Now we're sitting by the fire again, as it is absolutely pouring down with rain outside. Hope it clears up tomorrow.

Got more bad news as well, some of the guides who are walking with some other people here are saying it has been snowing heavily at the base camp again and we might not be able to go all the way. The risk for avalanches is too high. We're going to Chomrong tomorrow anyway, and fingers crossed we will get better news there. We are still 3 days away from the base camp so if we are lucky the weather forecast will improve!

Day 1

We are now sitting on the little rooftop of our guesthouse enjoying a ginger tea after our first day of trekking!

We got the local bus to Nayapul and started walking from there. It was super hot and sunny, thank god for our trousers that zip off to shorts - yes we are looking very trendy these days...
First stop was Tikhedungga, which we reached in 2 hours. Slightly less than what our map and people had estimated so I guess we kept a pretty good pace. Had lunch there and then started ascending the infamous steps to Ulleri where we would spend the night. About 1.5 hours of steps going up up up up later, we finally reached Ulleri with very tired legs. Although the worst part was probably the mental bit, only seeing steps as far up as we could see and not knowing when they would finish.

But we made it in the end, and tomorrow's trek to Ghorepani is only meant to take about 3 hours, and we will spend the night there to see the sunset at Poon Hill the next day. So tomorrow should be an easy day!

It's breathtakingly beautiful up here, the air feels so clean and you can spot the snow covered mountains every now and then. Looking forward to see what tomorrow brings!

Day 2

Actually have WiFi here at the guesthouse so will publish what I've written so far since we've been trekking!

Ulleri - Ghorepani

After a pretty good nights sleep in the softest beds so far (no more bruises on my hips woop) we had breakfast at 7.30. Big bowl of porridge and two eggs set us up for another day of walking, and another day of too many steps.

We had a slightly shorter day in front of us, the trek to Ghorepani was estimated to around 4 hours. We left Ulleri just after 8 and arrived at Ghorepani at noon, more or less exactly 4 hours.

The walk today was more in a forest, beautiful rhododendron trees and many small streams and waterfalls. The view from the top of Ghorepani is amazing as well, you can see a lot more of the mountains now. We're currently on 2800 metres, so already pretty high.

Again we didn't have to pay for the room if we had dinner and breakfast here. We were a bit worried that we didn't bring enough money up, as we calculated on pretty much exactly 2000 rupees a day like we had been told, but so far we haven't spent nearly that much.
Feels good to have some spare money for when we get higher and we will probably need more snacks in between meals as the walk gets harder. As it gets colder we might want more tea too.

Prices here are ridiculous though, for a dal bhat (standard Nepalese meal) we paid around 80-100 rupees back in Pokhara, up here it has been between 350-500 with higher prices as we get higher. But I guess its only fair enough as a lot of the ingredients have to be transported up here by Sherpas and horses.

Tomorrow will be an early start to walk up to poon hill for sunrise, then back here to have breakfast and pick up our backpacks to head to Tadapani. But for now we're sitting down in the dining room in front of the fire heat - it's getting a lot colder as we get higher although we still trekked all day in t-shirts.

Trek time!

Today is the day! We're having a quick 'trekkers breakfast' at a place in pokhara now, with eggs, toast and porridge to try to stock up on some last minute protein before we set off. Vegetarian food in Nepal has been a bit of a challenge as most just consists of noodles or rice but not much else so we've been feeling low on energy the past few days. Not ideal before a 10 day trek up the Himalayas.
We bought protein bars, snickers and peanut butter yesterday to bring up so hopefully that will keep us going!

After our preparatory shopping yesterday, we are now fully dressed in "north face" haha, hopefully it will have some of the real quality. Thank god we brought our own hiking boots at least!

Assuming internet won't be great up on the mountain so this will probably be my last post in the next 10 days. We're hoping to finish in 9 days, if everything goes to plan! Super excited and ready to get some fresh mountain air and stunning views!
Annapurna base camp here we come!

Adventure part 2

Second half of our adventure has begun! Met up with Malin on Wednesday in Agra, after a 9 hour train journey. I was quite happy I got sleeper class in the end so that I could at least lie down and sleep and read. Although it was pretty dirty, and the train got really full after about 2 hours. Thankfully I had the top berth so had that to myself, while the bottom ones got crammed with people sitting there. Got stared at quite a lot as usual of course, as I was the only foreigner there too - but wasn't too bad.
Oh and the best part, the guest house in Agra had a working shower with lots of super hot water!! First non-bucket, standing up shower in a month! And I could even just stand in the hot water for a while after I had rinsed my hair without it going cold. Oh the small pleasures in life.

Anyway, saw taj mahal on Thursday morning, it was absolutely beautiful!! Looks like a painting even in real life. But despite that Agra doesn't have much else to offer and we were happy to leave early next morning.

The plan was to get the train to Lucknow and spend the afternoon and night there, then catch a train the next morning to Gorakhpur and then the bus to cross the border to Nepal.
However, Friday was Holi festival which means it's a holiday but what we didn't realise was that even some hotels in Lucknow were closed. After dragging our backpacks around in the heat for way too long we decided to go back to the railway station and get the train to Gorakhpur straight away instead. We were pretty exhausted and really hungry at this point as all restaurants were closed too. Had a kinda disgusting meal at the train station and got on the train, which was quite nice and relatively empty. We were really looking forward to getting to a hotel and have a shower and sleep, but turns out Gorakhpur hotels close to train station are disgusting and very overpriced. We basically ended up sleeping in our clothes and just got up at 5 to get the bus to Nepal.

Now we're finally in Lumbini, and FINALLY had a shower and changed clothes. Needless to say we've been feeling pretty gross wearing the same clothes and no shower, with long travels for the past two days.

Lumbini is really nice, this is where Buddha was born and there are just lots of temples in a kinda gated area like a national park. We are staying at the Korean Buddhist monastery, so peaceful. Very simple (back to bucket shower, and a cold one at that) but we love it. After dinner there was 30 mins worship and meditation, the monk leading it had the most stunning voice, was so beautiful to listen to him sing the chants and prayers.

Tomorrow we are spending the day here, looking around all the different monasteries and temples and just recovering a little from the past days of travelling and no sleep.

It's 8 o'clock and we have just had showers and are ready for bed. Breakfast is served at 5.50 after 50 minutes of worship and meditation. We love it here and are really hoping we can find similar monasteries/ashrams to stay in for the rest of our travels too.

Anyway, end of this long update. Will hopefully be able to publish it tomorrow as we don't have WiFi in the room.

Good night from beautiful Nepal!

End of a journey

These last few days have been an emotional rollercoaster. Crying, laughing, so much love, sadness, happiness, peacefulness, stillness, craziness, dancing, talking, sharing, fearing, friendship, connection and the list goes on.

I can't even start putting it into words. The oral exam we had on Friday was one of the most amazing moments I have ever experienced. So many people chose to tell their personal stories and experiences linked to their topic. I don't normally cry, and definitely not in public but after one of the girls performed a song we just couldn't hold it together anymore.

So much love and positive energy in the room - this will forever stay in my heart. Everyone sharing very personal stories and fears to a room full of people we had never met 4 weeks ago.

Graduation yesterday was also wonderful. A few of us went to buy sarees for the ceremony, beautiful but very impractical to wear. The teachers all had very special things to say, they all said that this was a special group and again it was all very emotional. Our meditation teacher who held the oral exam said she had never experienced anything like it before, and that she was so grateful she got to share it with us.

They are all such amazing teachers, truly beautiful people.

Again, I don't even know how to describe these past few weeks. It has been challenging, both physically and mentally but I have also never before felt so much at peace. Content and happy. Surrounded by love and happiness.

And I don't think I have ever before written a post that is this emotional, very out of character for me I know - but it had to be done.

On Wednesday I leave Rishikesh - for this time.

Exam day

The last week of our teacher training is coming to an end, absolutely insane that we only have three days left! Feel like we just arrived, and I am definitely not ready to leave yet.

Today we have our exams, and on Saturday evening we have our graduation ceremony. So by this time in three days I will be a certified yoga teacher. CRAZY.

This morning we had our practical exam where we demonstrated some different pranayama (breathing techniques) and we also had to recite one mantra each. It wasn't very serious, and pretty easy. Written exam in an hour, so just in my room trying to cram in the last bits of Sanskrit. Such a difficult language, the words are just not relatable to any language. 

But apparently the exam is pretty easy, we only have to write a few lines on each question and we have been given the questions we need to know. So I'm feeling ok about it. Tomorrow we have a 5 min oral presentation each, on a topic we can choose from a list. And then we're all done. So little time left.

I'm glad I have a few more days here after, getting the train to Agra on Wednesday morning to meet up with Malin again and see taj mahal before we head to Nepal.

Hopefully I can try some other yoga and meditation classes next week, and I really want to go to our Hatha teachers other classes that he has outside our school.

We are also doing a lot more teaching ourselves now, I really enjoy teaching even though I feel like I still have sooo much to learn. But I guess that will never change! We will always be students. Got good feedback from teachers and the people in the group I taught, so I'm happy about that!

Should get back to some last minute studying now, next time I update I will hopefully be certified!!

Sunday

It's 7 am on Sunday morning and I have already been awake for an hour. Not because I have to but because I woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep - feeling rested. What has my life become?!
Ashtanga class doesn't start until 8 so was really looking forward to sleeping in until 7.30 but apparently my body clock wasn't as excited as me.

A few fun things already happen in this early hour though. Got up to go to the bathroom, turned on the light and discovered a new roommate! A tiny little mouse ran past me...! Not the best thing to wake up to, but I guess I'll add him to my collection of monkeys and cows - animals everywhere here. He hid under the bed for a while, tried to chase him out but now I've lost him. Maybe he's still here, maybe he's out - who knows.

Also left my laundry on the roof last night as it wasn't fully dry. Heard a strong wind this morning so went up to check on it and found my socks spread out all over the rooftop. Found all of them though, so all good. Enough excitement for an early Sunday now, so decided to do some more laundry before my yoga class.

Judging by this morning I guess you can say my life has changed pretty drastically in the past few weeks. But I love it. Wouldn't mind if it was mouse free though, but I'm learning the practice of "ahimsa" (non-violence) which primarily focuses on not having any thoughts of violence, hate etc (naturally violent actions won't happen if you don't even think it) so I guess accepting my little room mate is a good step in the right direction.

Yesterday we had a beautiful trip to Vashistha cave, where sage Vashistha (the teacher of lord Rahma) lived. We meditated in the cave, pretty amazing. Then went to the river for a dip in the holy Ganges to become purified. I only went in with my legs  as we were driving further to swim in a waterfall later and didn't wanna get my clothes wet before. So annoying that guys can just strip off while we have to wear a top and like leggings or something.
Hiked up to the waterfall later which was stunning, and had a swim in the cold water there. Such a beautiful day and I feel so grateful to be here and share this experience with so many wonderful people.
The third week has come to an end, and I am not ready to leave in a week!

Cleansing update

Today's update on the tube through the nose; still not happened. It's easier than I thought to get it all the way up the nose but then you kinda hit a wall before going into the throat, and this is where the difficulties start. Not the most comfortable sensation. And it doesn't help that people around are coughing, sneezing and making vomiting noises as they try to get it through. Euughhh.
Some people have managed though, so maybe I will too.

Had a Sunday "off" yesterday, but at 7 we did 108 sun salutations - about 50 mins of continuous sun salutations, pretty intense! Once you'd done the first 30 or so it got a lot easier, just doing one after another without thinking. Very meditative as you MUST focus only on your breath to have the energy to keep going. Felt amazing afterwards, great start to the day even though it meant I could only sleep in until 6.30.
Oh and it was optional... Yep I got up at 6.30 on my one day off to do over 100 sun salutations...what have I become.

Rest of the day was spent getting a massage (amazing), visiting the ashram where the Beatles stayed while writing their white album (even more amazing). It's such a massive place, but is now completely abandoned and just left to decay. Such a shame, it really is beautiful with little huts with separate meditation rooms, massive halls gardens etc.
Stopped by the puja (fire) offering ceremony at Parmarth Niketan which is the biggest ashram in rishikesh. Such a beautiful and positive atmosphere, everyone offering their blessings to the holy mother Ganges.

Third week of teacher training has just started, and its already more intense. I love everything though, wish I had time to stay here longer. But I will definitely be back to do my 300 hours next year. Now time for philosophy class!

Cleansing time

So I've just been inhaling some almond oil up into my nose. Just your average Thursday night in rishikesh...
Tomorrow morning its time for a new type of cleanse where you put a thin tube in through your nose and pull it out through your mouth. Then pull it back and forth a few times... Eugghhhh. Doubt I will be able to do it all the way, but will give it a try. So we were told to put some almond oil up our nose the night before to make it smoother. Really doubt that will help haha.

We are also trying completely silent meditation tomorrow, with earplugs. I get very easily distracted by noise around me so that should make it easier to focus. It's getting easier to sit still in a cross-legged position as well although I still cant manage more than 25 mins without moving.

I'm still feeling really good, body is aching somewhere constantly of course but I feel more alive than ever (yes I know that sounds cheesy) haha.

Off to bed, gonna need some mental preparation for this nose tube thing...

I'm lovin it

Haven't had much time to update the past few days, long days and quite a lot to study. Sunday is our day off, felt amazing to sleep in until 8! Although I still woke up at 5 first. Went to a kirtan concert with Krishna Das, so many people and the energy was amazing. Never been to kirtan before so it was a great experience.
Then time for massage, acupressure where she basically just pushed my whole body around and stretched and massaged everywhere. Felt so good after!
Other than that not much new, can't believe it's already week two - time flies!

I am loving every second of it, the people, the teachers, the atmosphere, the place, the food -  heart chakra is wide open here ;)

Day 4

Quick update today as my arms are too tired to hold the phone and I am dying to go to sleep! The first few days of "easier" classes seem to be finished and we are all suffering from muscle pain aaaall over our body!
The hatha class today was pretty intense, thought I was gonna face plant on the mat a few times haha. The hatha instructor is great but crazy. He'll come and basically slap you into position if you're doing it wrong or not deep enough, hilarious and slightly painful, but I feel great afterwards and I'm learning lots. He came and pulled my back with a strap today, into a deeper backbend, my spine cracked a little and my lower back feels sooo much better now! My back has felt really stiff the past few days and it all just went away.
Will see if I can walk tomorrow though...! The ashtanga class tomorrow morning might be a struggle.

Time to sleep, 5.30 start with some cleansing where we pour water (with a neti pot) through the nose to cleanse before breathing exercises and meditation. Livin the high life here ;)

The app won't let me upload any photos, but you can check Instagram for photos (search malinhagman)

Namaste

Second day of the teacher training is over and I'm still alive! They've been going quite easy on us so far but the last yoga class today was pretty intense so will see how tomorrow goes...
Hardest thing at the moment is to sit so much on the floor with straight back! It's crazy how used we are to sitting in chairs or having some kind of back support all the time. We are all taking every chance we get to sit against a wall or lie down. But they say we will get stronger soon and be able to sit for longer... Can't wait til that happens!

My days currently consist of morning meditation at 6 am (or 5.30 three days a week for 30 mins cleansing before) followed by 1.5 hour ashtanga yoga before breakfast. Other classes during the day are anatomy, yoga philosophy, pranayama (breathing techniques) and mantras and chanting. The day ends with 1,5 hour hatha yoga and 1 hour meditation class before dinner at 7.30.

Its all really interesting and I feel like time is gonna fly by! Everyone here is really nice, people from all over the world, mostly my age or slightly older but also some younger and older! Nice mix of people.

My room is not great, but I don't spend that much time there anyway so its okay. I'm currently waiting for the water to heat up so I can have a shower. Which is done with a bucket...or squatting down under the low tap combined with using the bucket. Good times. Washing my hair is not a priority these days.

I absolutely love Rishikesh though, it's beautiful with the river and the mountains and the whole place is full of yoga ashrams, temples and organic and ayurvedic cafes and shops and cows walking everywhere. It feels extremely safe, only thing to worry about are the monkeys who can be quite aggressive. They always come when we have breakfast and the guys who work here have to chase them away with sticks! Saw a jacket hanging up in the tree the other day that they probably had stolen...!

To conclude this super long post, all is great! Will need to go to bed in a minute so I can get up at 5!

Delhi life

Third day in Delhi and we are starting to get used to constant honking, crazy streets and being taken around to random places despite saying you want to go somewhere else.

Yesterday we met quite a few different people who come up and try to "help" you, while some are genuinely nice and helpful, some are just trying to make money off you. We first wanted to go to the official tourist info in Connaught place, so the rickshaw driver took us to Connaught place but to a different (probably his friends) tourist information. They then tried to convince me to buy train tickets there because there are long queues at the train station and its closed on Saturdays. When we later found the actual place, she told us to always buy train tickets from the international tourist office at the train station which is open 24/7 and caters only to foreigners. Spent quite a while in the train station trying to find this office as well, as there are a few fake ones as well, but finally got my train ticket to rishikesh on Sunday morning.

We were also followed by another man who promptly wanted to put us in a rickshaw and take us to some kind of shopping "mall". When we didn't want to go straight away he just stuck around and we eventually just had to tell him to leave. Then guy nr 2 comes and shows us around to other shops, all identical tourist traps and while they had really nice things it was pretty expensive. In the end we just left him too and went to get the metro home. It is so annoying that you can't trust anyone, and there are so many people who are just genuinely friendly but we have already become very suspicious towards everyone which is really sad.

Picked up a nice, big and warm scarf around here instead for no money. And then had another 1 pound, delicious dinner in a random little " restaurant ". Prices are ridiculous here, we could probably live  on less than a fiver a day.

Went to an amazingly beautiful monument today, Humayun's tomb, will try to upload some photos but the blog app won't always let me.

Train leaves at 6.45 tomorrow morning so will be an early start for me! I should hopefully get to rishikesh some time in the afternoon. Will be nice to leave crazy Delhi behind!

Touchdown

So after almost four years this blog is finally back! Feels good to be reunited with my backpack even if this will be a slightly less "backpacker" experience than my last trip to Asia.

So after a pretty easy journey from Gothenburg to Delhi we landed around 5 am. It took a while to do the visa paperwork and when we finally got our bags we noticed that mine was covered in some antiseptic smelling liquid. It basically smelled like toilet cleaner...great. Anyway we left the airport and got the metro to the city, super easy. And then the difficulties started. We knew we had to cross a bridge at the rail station to get to Paharganj where the hostel we had looked at was located. But when we got there we were told that the bridge was closed as it is election day (which it's not) so that we had to get a permit to enter the city.

This already sounded a bit strange and when the guy (who supposedly worked at the train station) said we had to get an auto-rickshaw to get there we really thought something was not right. So we ignored his advice and went to the bridge anyway where we asked the police if we could cross - no problem! Met a Norwegian guy who had had the same problem and was also meant to stay at the same hostel! So together with him we managed to find the hostel without getting tricked again! So annoying that you can never trust that the information you're getting is correct, and not just for them to rip you off!

Since we had to wait a few hours to get access to a room, we joined a guided city tour. Went to a few different temples and sights - absolutely beautiful!

Back at the hostel we got a room, and started unpacking a bit, when I realised most of my clothes stunk of the antiseptic , cleaning liquid thing. Disgusting, such a strong smell. Trying to air it out now cause I don't really have much to wear otherwise...might have to get it all cleaned somewhere. Such a paaain.

We spent the evening wandering around, bumped into an English guy who took us to a good place to eat. Prices are ridiculous here, for lunch we paid about 40 p each and dinner was about 2 pounds each (with lots of naan)! And so so yummy.

Back at the hostel now and we're super tired after staying up for 24 hours. Plan is to stay in Delhi until Sunday when I go to rishikesh and Malin goes to goa. So far so good, and we are slowly getting used to the absolute madness that is Delhi!