From the top to the far edge of the world

09.12.2019
@Nepal 🇳🇵

day 80

31.10.2019

Today, we head down towards Jomsom, going through the town of Kagpedi. The walk is beautiful, but quite painful for my knee because of the slope.

After a break in Kagpedi, we take the road towards Jomsom. A small river snakes through its large bed, reaching all the way to the left side, which is unusual, and also the path we are supposed to use. Change of plans, we head back and follow the actual road towards the town. Some hours of dusty and rocky road later, we reach the town. Happily, we go to our hostel, exhausted by the constant aggression of dust on our face and lungs.

Day	From	To	Distance	Positive elevation	Altitude change	Time
12	Muktinath	Jomsom	19km	-980m	-980m	6:30

01.11.2019

The landscape is still incredible, but after the last week spent on the trail, and the feeling of accomplishment after reaching the pass, the trek feels a bit less magical.

We walk through 4 hours of chaotic terrain, and when comes time to take a break, it seems clear that we won’t make it to our objective. Change of plans, we decide to cross the river bed and stay in the city on the other side for the night. It seemed easy, but turned out to be quite tricky, and when we reached a stream too dangerous to be crossed on foot, a friendly Nepalese saviour helped us. He told us to hop on his John Deere Tractor, and brought us through the stream of ice-cold water. A memorable ride, to say the least!

We end up in Tukuche, where we get a fresh beer and find a quiet place to stay for the night.

Day	From	To	Distance	Positive elevation	Altitude change	Time
13	Jomsom	Tukuche	12km	-130m	-130m	5:00

02.11.2019

On the road again! We walk for three hours through villages and patches of hemp growing freely left and right. I am tired, and Alex wants to get back to Pokhara, so he has time to see the rest of Nepal before heading to India. Lena is still motivated to get the full circuit completed on foot. So after discussing the matter while sharing a meal, we decide to take a bus with Alex, to the next city which is two hours of bus down the road. Alex will then take another bus tomorrow to Pokhara, as I rest, wait for Lena to catch up as she continues walking, and probably continue the way with her towards Poonhill on the following day.

Day	From	To	Distance	Positive elevation	Altitude change	Time
14	Tukuche	Kalopani	10km	-65m	-65m	3:00
	Kalopani	Tatopani				1:30

The bus ride will forever be in my memory. It was the most chaotic, fun, dangerous and crazy bus ride I’ve ever experienced. While the driver rushed down impossible roads, taking over in unexpected places where only centimeters were left between the wheels and a hundreds of meters deep cliffs, the interior of the bus was a party, with people singing, shouting, drinking, sharing apples and dancing. As we didn’t have a proper sitting and we were sitting in the aisle, we found the distraction welcome to make us forget the discomfort of our hurt butts.

Before we knew it, we had to go down the bus, almost sad to leave, but ready to enjoy the delights of Tatopeni, the hot springs, a hot meal and a well-deserved rest.

03.11.2019

Alex departed to Pokhara early. I couldn’t wake up. I’m sick, and my body fights against something with high fever. No way to get up the bed in my state, and my sleep is agitated. I cough a lot. At midday, I go to the pharmacy and get something for my cough. Lena just arrives when I get back to the hostel. She takes the spot freed by Alex in our room, we share a meal, and I go back to sleep. Next thing I know, I wake up in the morning after, having slept more than 20 hours.

04.11.2019

I’m in good shape, what a surprise and a relief! Lena and me share a breakfast, and already it is time to go. I decided that my body was sending enough signals for me to listen to it. It’s time to call it a day, and head back to Pokhara in a bumpy and long bus ride, happy of the adventure, with so many memories to think of. This place is majestic. Magic.

05.11.2019

Here starts my week of holidays! Pokhara turns out to be the perfect spot for that. This neo-hippie neighbourhood is full of yoga classes, meditation sessions, cute little bars, Mo:Mo:, esoteric discussions, interesting people, masala tea, open-air cinemas, motorbike renting companies, paragliding companies, massage centers, small shops and so much more.

They even offer the best Mo:Mo: I’ve ever tasted at Sabina MO:MO:, whether you like chili, mushrooms, friend banana snickers delights or steamed delicacies.

I couldn’t dream of a better place to spend a week. And what better than discovering all this is very cheap! A night in a hostel is around 3 to 4 CHF, and a day’s worth of food in restaurants and cafes can be around 10 CHF. Way under my daily budget. Time to enjoy myself!

12.11.2019

The days pass by, I post some articles, enjoy my time, take care of my knee, meet Alex and Lena for a last time in Nepal, make new friends, and sooner than expected, I find myself in a bus to Kathmandu, to catch my flight to New Zealand, browsing online to find the perfect campervan for my trip! I’m looking forward to meeting Mélinda in Auckland. She is a friend from Switzerland, who travelled by herself in Florida and Peru during the last months and that will join me in New Zealand. We’ll buy a van together, and start a three-month road trip around these islands at the Edge of the world. What better than having company, sharing the driving hours and having a hiking buddy to discover the Great walks?

14.11.2019

Today I land in Auckland, ready to start searching for a camper van. Mélinda meets me there, and we search together. We end up finding our lovely Jacky van after some days of searching and viewing various cars.

This name is inspired by the hosts of our Airbnb that own a derpy little black dog that welcomes us each day when we head back home tired. What a fun little barking friend.

19.11.2019

We’ll have to wait for some more days and the next weekend to pass, before the van is ready to go after passing it’s WOF. Our payment takes time to go through, we have to change the ownership and buy some gear for our trip. So for now all we can do is enjoying Auckland, roam around, walk around the city and do some shopping, waiting for Jacky.

26.11.2019

Here we are! Jacky has now joined our team! We clean it thoroughly, fill it with our stuff, go to many hardware stores and other place to finish preparing it, and head north towards the cape. That will allow us to get to know Jacky better, get used to living inside such a small place, and begin discovering the beauty of New Zealand.

01.12.2019

After driving around some days, cooking various meals, extensively using some apps (Campermate, Rankers camping NZ, Maps.me, Google maps, etc…), having a stone shatter a bit our windshield, driving on the wrong side of the road by mistake and avoiding animals on the road, we feel at ease and ready to go! We head back to the south through Auckland, towards our next stop: Hobbiton Movie Set Tours!