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chantal mueller

chantal mueller

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  • chantal muellermange, tu aimeschantal mueller

    russian sauna after long drive

    12. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    8:50 rdv in front of the hotel. The big truck waited already and under steady rain our luggage was fixed on the roof of that monster truck. After some time we were tucked in and we drove off. With us a driver, a cook, Christina and Anja for translation and Vitaly, our chief master. During the drive he explained about the history of Kamtchatka, why esrthquake, how many volcanos (there are more then 200, 29 or 30 of them active, more on the eastern range then the western range (there onyl two)). First stop was in Miloko, a town 300km north of Petropalovsk, famous for pies. We had coffee and mum and I got a pie (oh, a rime 😊) for later. We continued our journey north until we had lunch around 2pm. We walked a bit around in town, we were five of us. I bought four apples and the guy gestures around and I had no clue until I understood that he tried to tell me that I hadn’t bought enough for all of us! Of course I couldn’t explain why not five but it was funny. By the way our group is very fun and we have a nice dynamic aready. The third stop was just very short and the fourth one at Kamtchatka river where they built a bridge over it in 2011 only, before it was a feeey in summer and in winter - no cars. If needed helicopter. We arrived at around 7:30 in a cute little village in a guesthouse with even cuter little houses for two and a russian sauna. Perfect. Afrer a walk we went seating for a round until the delicious diner was ready. We had a debriefing from Vitaly and we stayed for quite some togehter talking. I was tonight with Karin, Laura, Marcel and Walter, the latter is Swiss, has seen the world trough job and travel, for example he did Panamerica in 2.5years in the early 80ies, Galapagos included. Very cool! Now it is 11:30pm, alarmclock goes at seven for another long journey into the national park near the first volcano we wanna climb! I am so lucky!Les mer

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    fudleblutt wahnsinn

    11. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We were picked up for the helicopter trip at around 8:15 and we were driving to a little airport. There we checked in, got a tag (number 423) and waited for our call. There were approximately 10 helicopters at the base waiting for us tourists. Then it was our turn. I’ve never been in a helicopter before so it was exciting! We were all seated vis-à-vis on a bench with the back to the windows, had a seatbelt and ear protections - and off we were! Luckily we had somehow good weather so we were able to fly. First we overflow the city, then some green, forests and soon came the volcanic fields. What a sight. And then the first highlight, the volcano with the phreatic eruption. So so cool! We were so close up and the view was just stunning. It didn’t end here, we flew to the next valcano with a acid lake, turquoise. Unbelievable. After 1:40min flight we landed in the valley of the geysir where we had a walk on wooden planks, very well made. We saw a lot of mud holes and one big geysir, that one was even more impressive then the one I saw in New Zealand. After more then an hour there we were in the helicopter again and were flown to another plateau which was once a volcano and now a potburrie of chemistry. Beautiful colors, cute mud holes but then! Then the highlight of the highlight of the highlights of all highlights: A mother bear with two cubs. Oh my dear was that cute! I could now explain how cute and everything, but I won’t because I won’t stop. We said good bye to that overly cute sight and took again the helicopter to the hot springs, where we had a bath and lunch. Then we flew back to the airport. That whole excursion was expensive but worth every single penny - or rubel. We flew more then 2.5h and saw many things, we were all ecstatic. Diner was delicious and off we went to bed for the adventure tomorrow!Les mer

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    so so so so far away

    10. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Somehow I feel like yesterday and today are one same day since we flew away from the night and landed at around 10 at the airport of Kamchatka. It is a tiny airport. There is just one baggage claim roll-thing and logistically I can say there is potential for doing better. We were expected by Christina, one of our translater for the trek, together with Matthias and Walter I (there will be 2 Walters, 2 Martins and almost 2 Christine/a). We are 15 in total and only 10 of then have their luggage, two are Austrian, one is Australian, three German and the rest is Swiss. We all came from different directions and somehow luggage got lost in translation. Hopefully it will be here tomorrow for everyone. Otherwise mum and me fighted successfully the jetlag and we are now in bed. Petropavlosk is along a 24km bay at the sea. Not the prettiest city and the amount of Maibach seen here is zero (my dad said yesterday that the density of Maibachs in Moscow is as how as the density of Subarus in the Canton of Uri). We booked spontaneously a helicopter flight to Geysirs and this is actually so exciting but I am a bit too tired so excitement will come tomorrow. But all in all, I almost can’t believe I am here. Yippee!!!Les mer

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    one way, two cars

    9. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Last day with dad in Russia! We met fir breakfast at 9 again and went in a little fancy coffee shop where we had the best croissant in Moscow so far. Since I let the soles of my trekking shoes at home we went for a hunt. We found some in a Pharmacy just next to the café but didn’t buy them right away for carrying reason and we want to have a look if there are some other ones. We headed again for the centre, we checked for soles in other pharmacies, they had the same one, just 300 Rubel more expensive. So it was clear for me where to get them. Our goal for today was a park just next to the red square. It is just at the Moskva river and beautifully designed. We enjoyed again the sun there and eachothers company. We ordered the cab for 13:30h to have enough time at the airport. A not at all talkative driver picked us up and were on our way to the airport. On a kind of highway with four lanes our driver got slower and then stopped- and told us he had a problem. Obviously. Hahaha, that was funny and also a bit dangerous since we were in the middle of the road. After maybe 20min another guy in a black car without any cab sign came and we transferred our bags on that busy road. Everything went well and we were on time at the airport. Since dad was at another terminal we had to split there already. That was not so easy especially for my parents, they haven’t been away for so long for years. It is wonderful to see your parents get along so well. Now it was just my mum and me and we had to drop our luggage at the oversized counter, not because of the size but the shape of it. We did that, went through security, had another coffee and waited with some other couple of hundreds passenger to go to the far east. Let the adventure begin!Les mer

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    round we go

    8. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Today’s highlight was a short break for something to eat at a trainstation called Kiev where suddenly the russian anthem was pouring out of loudspeaker and the fountain in the front was doing a little ballet to the music. Crazy. Otherwise we walked around Moscow in a nice circle of a lot of km and explored another metro station. We found a beautiful little café, had nice weather, discovered a lot and were just blissfully happy to spend time together.Les mer

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    time flies

    7. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We were confused since for the first time we had to be ready at 9am instead of 10am. But we managed and were picked up by a private driver and Marina (I asked 😊). The drive out of the city to the monastery was quick and we could visit that holy place for the orthodox believers. We laerned some more about religion, walked around and had lunch in a touristy russian restaurant that looked like a puppet house. First they had a table for three and one just for Marina so we asked to put the tables together, no way she would eat alone. And she didn’t want to, it isn’t like in Nepal, where the guides leave you alone for eating. So we had a long and interesting discussion about how politics work in Switzerland. She was amazed about the possibility we have as citizen and I realized again, how lucky I am. At some point she asked: And the result of the counting is correct? We Swiss have sometimes just no idea in which paradise we live in. When we told her that at the last vote of our district we had only 1/4 of the person who have the right to vote went indeed voting, I was almost a bit ashamed of us Swiss just not using our rights more.
    On the way back to Moscow we had traffic jam since many were heading back to the city after a weekend at the dacha, which are little houses in the country side. Moscow is huge. It has almost 13mio people, roughly every 10th Russian is living here.
    After saying our goodbyes to Marina we went visiting the Gulag Museum. Worth a visit. It is very well made, it starts with a exhibition of 16 original doors, some from prison, some from ministry buildings, some from citizens that were deported. It makes quite an impact. We learned a lot about those correction and forced labour camps that started under Lenin just after the Revolution in 1918 and had their peak under Stalin until the end of the fifties. That is just such a long time, I wasn’t aware of it. Some were convincted several times, some just after the revolution and then again some years later (if you survive the camp, there was in general a mortality of roughly 15%, at peaks up to 35%) but in the end, under Stalin, most of them were just convicted for 25 years. 25 years. Unbelievable the fear they had to live with next to all other difficulties they had during those hard time.    Les mer

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    so much history

    6. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Moscow! First challenge was to find a breakfast place in the morning since we are staying at a Hostel (my parents feel just a couple of years younger now). We succeeded and had like half liter of cappuccino to start the day with. Tomorrow we’ll try to order less. Many do not speak at all or only just a little bit of English, also the young people even if they learn English at school. Anyway, we were picked up at 10 from Milena (I think. It is so embarassing when you forget the name along the day and then it is so awkard to ask for it again....). She is very interesting and smart, she studied economics and was in the team that had to organize the voucher-system for privatization all the goods in the former UDSSR after the end of it. So interesting. We went first underground and had a look at different metro stations then we went up again, walked Arbat street and she told us a lot about buildings, architecture and politics. That city is packed with history, i have a similar feeling being in Berlin. We then entered the Kreml, a city in the city. Again we were lucky with the weather and the amount of people. The biggest number of other tourists are Chinese btw. We ended today’s guided tour on the Red Square, which isn’t red but named like that because red is similar to beautiful in Russian. If I undestood it correctly they have the same word root. Again, sitting there and just watching that place is amazing. If walls could speak, right? There is also the Lenin Mausoleum and the grave of Stalin. Otherwise portraits of him (many of them were in mosaics or other pictures of the metro stations) were replaced by different sujets. We decided to walk back to our hostel, had the obligatory coffee on the way and also a bit rain just as we arrived at the hostel. Perfect.Les mer

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  • chantal muellermange, tu aimeschantal mueller

    moscow!

    5. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Last morning in Saint Petersburg. We all really loved that city. We went out for a walk, had another coffee in the French Café, I got myself a Gadget in the ‘Pont Rouge’ mall, a very fancy thing. I wanted to have a look at the floor with only Russian Designers, but that floor with three others (out of seven) were empty. I had then a designer thing from Italy which will stand on my nightstand and always remind me to those wonderful days. We had a cab for the trainstation at 1:30pm, arrived at 2pm at the trainstation and we were in the train to Moscow at 2:30pm. Wonderful train, even more as the weather was really wet and sitting in the train for the next four hours was just wonderful plan. At some point we had coffee and some lunch and quickly we arrived in Moscow. The ipad of the lovely man picking us up showed our names this time from the beginning and he brought us to the hostel. From there I found a Restaurant that appealed to me with the name, I read some reviews and off we were. Wow, I guess i have to stop mentioning the food and how good it is but - poah, so so good! Only next time we will skip the one dessert with estragon in it. A taste not used to in sweets - otherwise? Perfect! Tomorrow we will explore that big city with another guide and i have to hurry up, meeting with my parents is at 8:30 already, looking forward to it!Les mer

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    golden

    4. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    So the Russian know how to show off. Really. We were at the Katharina palace today in Puschkin. And again the golden roofs were shining under the sun, it looks like out of a Disney movie. We started the day a bit lazy since we had the excursion only at 3pm. We went for a walk in direction of the Isaac Cathedral. We decided not to visit and rather walk around. Nadja recommended New Holland, an island with stores and a garden and café and a lot of art. The visit was worth it, then I found a café called ‘The Idiot’, very appealing but actually named after the novel of Dostoevsky. We went there for coffee but had a lunch not before cuddling a incredibly fluffy and big cat. The grumpiness of the picture is not representative. We went back to the hotel and then with Nadja to Puschkin, named after the guy, that founded the first school for nobel boys. Until then they were homeschooled. There is also the Palace of Katharina. Another Prunk-building rebuilt after the war and just a thing out of a book. Really. So beautiful. And so much gold. The visit was pleasant. There was a long line waiting to visit the different rooms, we were close to a Taiwanese group and some schoolkids, teenagers, from Russia. At some point they started to interact, a Taiwanese guy giving them some essential oils to smell and put at special places on the face and the hand. Big fun and laughter so the waiting was over quickly. We soon had to say goodbye to Nadja, unfortunately. What a cool woman. I liked her right away.
    I looked up another restaurant, typical Georgian, it seems to be very trendy in Russia these days. That Restaurant had 8 reviews on google, all in Russian and apparently good. So I suggested that one to them, they are really cool and open for such things. And we had a feast. Communication was improvised but at the end we went home with another delicious meal in our tummies and lots of great memories in our hearts.    Les mer

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    hermitage

    3. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    What can I say. The day was again perfect: We were pickedup againby lovely Nadja (with a ‘j’), the best guide there is. We went straight to the Hermitage where we would spend the morning at. We could again skip the line although we wouldn’t have mind to wait since the sun was out even if there was rain announced. We were quite quickly inside this beautiful building, respectively buildings, there are five and they are all connected and you can cross them by going from one room to another. Nadja guided us safely through the labyrinth and the mass of people. We learned about art and the building. After 2.5h we were ready for some coffee and Nadja showed as a café at the Institut français in a backyard of the mainstreet. Perfect. After a croissant we said our goodbyes for the day and went to the Peter & Paul Festung from where that marvelous city was founded. We had icecream at some point, I put my feet into the Neva river and we were still enjoying the beautiful weather. The golden roofs look just a bit better under the sun. Just before we got home rain started - we didn’t mind, had a nap at the hotel and went out for some Italian food. It was deliciously delicious. Really mouthwatering good. And so went another day here in Saint Petersburg. I am so grateful to spend that journey with my parents. They are so lovely and we have such a good time. Unforgettable.Les mer

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    peterhof - human craziness

    2. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We started our day at 10 with Nadia picking us up. She is a beautiful, lovely woman from Saint Petersburg and we are lucky to have her as our guide for the next three days. We first took the Metro, the subway, the tickets are coins, I like that. You could, if wanted, stay at the Metro the whole day with a single coin. Then we continued by bus to Peterhof. It is a beautiful palace with a big garden. And a lot of other tourists. I mean really a lot. There was a long queue and since we are a small group, Nadia asked if we could overtake them and be faster then the bigger groups. We were allowed but that was not at all appreciated by some. Then we had to wait as well to give the backpack to the locker room. I don’t know but I think everyone would organize that differently. Bit it wasn’t so the line was long with people going the same way, four times in total, to get rid of the bag and to get it back. It was so crowded. Uiuiuiui, I think while waiting you can see the true character of people. At some point there was a guy that said out loud ‘now it is enough’ and just pushed forward. As if that makes it going faster. At least there was no panic and luckily most people are patient. The palace itself was beautiful, incredible what they built and rebuilt, since the whole building was distroyed after WWII. After the visit we went through the garden and then back to the city by Tragflügelboat, a boat that if it is fast gets somehow out of the water. We were really lucky with the weather since they announced rain but we had sun. So after saying byebye to Nadia we went for a coffee in a lovely café and then we took the Metro to Begovaya. Irina, our host told us that there is a beach where people from the city go to to relax. So we went there, enjoyed a walk at the seaside and crossed a pedestrian bridge to the new Gazprom Stadium of Zenit Saint Petersburg (we think). We crossed another park and then we were at an attraction parks. There were some attractions and some nope-attraction. Really, one was a Kettenkarussell like they have in Vienna just way worse. So nope. We enjoyed another coffee and some icecream and watched the nope-attraction in the evening sun. We headed back to the Metro station near our hotel and had diner at Teremok, a fastfood company with Russian food, recommened by Nadia. It was nice but not comparable to yesterday. Yesterdays food was yammy, I want to go there again. Tomorrow the Ermitage awaits us together with a whole lot of tourists, I am looking forward to it - and I mean it, observing human behavior when a situation is unpleasant but purely harmless is golden.
    Oh and no selfie today. We are just failing completely at that but it is big fun and they are so funny. I try to convince my parents that I can post them here.    Les mer

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    off we go!

    1. juli 2019, Russland ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    The alarm clock went off at 4:30am. Waaaay too early - but if it is for catching a plane, nothing is too early. My parents picked me up first, then my big brother, he would take care of the car after dropping us off. We changed to the train in Bern and had coffee and croissant during the journey. Traveling to the airport is such a good thing. In Zurich we quickly got rid of the luggage (I had 10.5kg, my mum 22kg - now I am seriously wondering. But firstly she has my sleeping bag and secondly, if I have forgotten something, I am quite positive that mum will have thought of it.) After security my mum missed her cellphone. Uiuiui. A little bit panic at the aeroport. We quickly figured out that dad didn’t take it out of the basket because he didn’t know it was in there and he couldn’t have seen it not knowing. Anyway, we found it under a pile of other baskets and we were all happy again. The flight was delayed but we had some wind support so we arrived on time in St. Petersburg. Security was unspectacular and we were out quickly but no one in sight to pick us up. There was actually a guy waiting for a Sonia I dont remember how and then somehow that same guy after maybe 15-20min looked up his sheets, fumbled around and changed them for Mueller. Hahaha, very funny. We arrived at the (yes, I know) SwissStar Hotel, a very little, very cute Hotel run by a Russian Woman speaking very well German. After a change of clothes we started walking and we were surprised by the lovely weather and the nice temperatures. And what a beauty that city is. We had some russian sweets, a drink on a boat and a wonderful diner with dishes that were delicious but I forgot the names already and it is just wonderful!
    Oh and yes, I agree, concerning the selfie, there is potential for improving especially in not cutting half my dads head out.    Les mer

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    one day to go

    30. juni 2019, Sveits ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Lucky me! I am once again one night before an adventure. This time it is Russia with my parents. Russia! With my parents!! So exciting. We will first spend a couple of days in St. Petersburg, then another four nights in Moscow. My dad will fly back to Switzerland and mum and me will fly to Petropavlovsk. It is (with a European view on the world) very very very very very far away and we will do a trekking together. I am so looking forward to it!
    I worked the whole day, I am exhausted and of course I hadn’t packed a thing before work so I did it just now. My luggage is so light and very modest I wonder if I forgot something essential. Anyway, now off for some sleep.    Les mer

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  • chantal muellerno hurry, no worrychantal mueller

    green, green, green

    16. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    What a wonderful drive that was back to Paro. We started at around 2600m, went up again to a pass at 3600m, down to 1400m almost to Punakha. We had lunch break there after visiting the temple of the divine madman Drupka Kinley. That was a lama in the 16th century from Tibet, teached very unconventional and he had a magic penis to fight against evil spirits and witches. Again a lama with thousands of stories around it. I really like that about this culture, for everything is a story or even two and it isn’t about wrong or right, it matters if you believe it. Because of this guru there are a lot of phallus painted on the houses, you can buy penises in all seizes, forms, colors, some are even the body of a bhutan air- plane. No limits to that. The phallus stands for harmony, good luck and the erect penis is supposed to drive away evil spirits. The explanation Tenzin gives here is that the spirits have a mind of a five year old and then they laugh about all the penises and forget why they came in the first place.
    After that visit we walked up again to the village trough rice fields. I love the green of these fields. Also the whole drive was through forests that are incredibly dense and they seem untouched and are in different greens, incredible. I couldn’t look enough. We arrived at around 3:30 at the hotel that is vis-à-vis from the airport and a couple of planes took off or landed, very cool. Bhutan has in total two helicopters. When I told Tenzin and Phub on the trek that in Switzerland injured cows are evacuated by helicopters, I could really feel the gap between my home country and Bhutan.
    I don’t want to leave. I think a bit of my heart will stay here. It is a incomparable country. I have the feeling that Bhutan can do it right, does it right with the whole environment issue. They charge people that want to visit the country. I don’t have the feeling here in Bhutan that I come as a tourist and go away again and leave a big pile of problems that I caused by just being there. I think they can handle the carbage, the dirty water issues and all that. Not like it was when I was in Bali, Thailand or Mali. Bhutan is also the only country to have the Gross Happiness Index. It is since 2008 in the Constitution of Bhutan. There is also criticism about it of course and Bhutan is still a poor country but making a lot of progress (https://thediplomat.com/2018/08/bhutans-unique-…) It isn’t all fairytale and I am the last to see things like that through pink glasses. Nevertheless because of the late opening to the outer world at least in terms of tourism I have the feeling they have the big opportunity to make it better then many did before. Money isn’t everything, I get the feeling when being here. But as said, easy for me who can afford 250$/day to visit this country for three weeks. I leave with a feeling that in this country, people do care more for eachother, for the place they live in, for the environment - it’s not just about themselves- and I think we all should be more like that.
    Oh and I think I’ve never used the word penis as much as I did in this post 😊.    Les mer

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  • chantal muellerno hurry, no worrychantal mueller

    up the hill

    15. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Today the last hike of that journey was on the list. I was picked up at 9 and we started a bit lower then planned and under rathr cloudy conditions. It started to rain a bit, it was such a beautiful hike through the forest full of rhododendrons. They are marvelous. We had lunch at the top of the pass where we were supposed to see a lot of mountains but there was fog. We went down quickly, Tenzin doing every couple of hundreds of meter a sound to chase away bears. We didn’t cross one but some very colorful bird, one a big bigger then the blood fasan on the Jomolhari trek. I was back at the hotel at 3 already and had again a whole lot of time just for me. Splendid!Les mer

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    the valley of black-neck crane & patato

    14. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Today we drove to the Phobjikha valley, a journey of around three hours for the 80km over a pass of 3500m and then down to 2600m. The valley is famous for the black-neck crane that arrive in November to spend the winter here before heading to Tibet in spring. A festival is taking place when they arrive so the little village has quite a few accommodations. I get to stay again at the best one, called Dawachen, which means wisdom of true happiness. The night before I was staying at the Hotel with the name of heaven. So from Heaven to Happiness, no wonder I am so in a Hakuna matata mood all the time here in Bhutan. After lunch we took a quick walk up to a monastery, had a quick visit (we couldn’t visit it all since under renovation because of earthquake damage) and then went back to the hotel.
    Tomorrow I’ll hike up another pass and drive around this beautiful valley. It is very remote, on the way here we crossed way more cows, dogs and horses on the street the cars. It is also the black mountain valley, the name coming from the dense forest on the top of the mountain. Btw, the amount, that goes to the government, is 65$ and not 200$ like written in the German tourist guide. At the moment tourist from India do not to buy this visa / entry fee per day and the Bhutanese are confronted with a increasing number of Indian tourist which often visit the country on a low bidget. They are afraid of over tourism.    Les mer

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    where my red rice comes from

    13. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    l was picked up by 8:30 from Tenzin and our driver, then we went up to a temple. It was magnificent weather, sunny and very hot. The colors are incredibly and the sights just wonderful. We spent a bit time on the top of the temple with a grandiose view on the valley. Later on we drive to a village, where Tenzin’s dad comes from and we would stay in a farmhouse for diner. The way up there was over bumpy streets, winding up the hill, beautiful. That it is the village of Tenzin’s Dad is a coincidence. Tenzin was so kind to get us some red rice and this red rice is harvested by a family on Tenzin’s land where i was heading to. Very cool. I was greeted very friendly and i sat down on the floor in the traditional way and had milk tea and roasted rice with sugar and butter - from the cow next to the house. Delicious. So was diner, eaten by the right hand. What a nice experience. We said our goodbyes, walked a bit in the fields and headed down to the Punakha Dzong. What a beautiful building from the outside, inside was just more fabulous. We were too early so we went over the longest suspension bridge of Bhutan. Tenzin was so kind to buy icecream and then we were finally in the Dzhong. Wow, as a said before. We stayed for an hour since we had to wait to enter the temple. They had a ceremony going on. Tenzin and I went up a staircase and then had a good view on the groups waiting to go in. Incredible how they just took pictures of some monks right in the face. I always ask myself why would you do that. Anyway, we could then enter the temple and i got the story of the Buddha in 8 pictures. Then i got already back at the hotel, had electricity and then not and again enjoying the time I had.Les mer

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    byebye lilli!

    12. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Today is gonna be the day where we say byebye ti Lilian. We drove to the airport and then off she was. How lucky was I to spend that adventure with this wonderful woman. I am sure we will see eachother again in Switzerland and laugh again tears over peach wine. Looking forward to that! So it was just Tenzin, the driver and me. We drove up in direction to a pass with 108 little stupas and a big one. We quit the asphalted road and drove to a monastry. On the way we stopped for an eldery woman. She said that she didn’t mind to walk bit was afraid of the monkeys. Tenzin was happy that someone else has to step in for the picture today since Lilian was on her way to Delhi. We started to climb up to a temple and my legs did not want to do the effort. It was hot and I was breathing like a heavy smoker. The walk was again beautiful and it was wonderful to move again more. Up at the temple we had a picnic, walked down to the pass, had a look at the Stupas and drove down to Punaka. The pass is at about 3100m and this city here at around 1200m. Here I am staying at a pretty hotel with a grandios view over the Dzhong which I’ll be visiting tomorrow.
    I had a candlelight diner with some American ladies that were here for botanical and cultural reason. Candlelight because the electricity goes out every now and then, funny.
    I also had several phone calls with Lilian who had a stay in Delhi for a couple hours. All in all a very entertaining evening.    Les mer

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    Thimphu II

    11. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Today we first visited the memorial stupa that was a dream of the third king, but he passed away before fulfilling that. So his wife did it two years after his death in 1974. A wonderful stupa, we could even go inside and see the figures. As in all holy sites you are not allowed to take pictures and you have to take off your shoes. After that we went up to see the big buddha overseeing the town. It was built and sponsored by the Chinese and honestly, it didn’t feel like being in Bhutan visiting that place. Nevertheless impressing sight. Then Tenzin made us see the oldest Dzong constructed in 1626 a bit further out of the city. Beautiful building with so much detailed paintings and woodcraft. The highlight of the day for me were the Tarkins. We went up to the reserve that was a zoo before. They didn’t like the idea of having animals in captivity so they closed to zoo. Since the Tarkin stayed around they decided to do a reserve. There are also other animals in the park but just few of them. The Tarkin is a very unique animal. In their belief one of the guru (I’ll tell more about that particular guru later on) after a meal took the head of a goat and the body of a pig and made the Tarkin. It is the national animal and it really looks funny. We went then for lunch, had a chat with another Swiss couple on tour with the same treking company as we were and visited the weekend market. That one was in the old days only open on weekends, since the demands grew higher it is closed now only on monday and tuesday. Bhutan banned plastic bags so you get everything in a stoff-bag. We could do that in Switzerland, too. After the market we were again free. We went for a last shopping trip, a coffee and a little walk. It is the last evening of Lilian since she is flying back tomorrow. I have another five days in that amazing country. I will have to take my own picture now since Lilian did the job for me. I am a very lazy photographer as Tenzin pointing it out very accurately. After diner we had a cocktail at our favorite spot in Thimphu.Les mer

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    Thimphu I

    10. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ 🌬 25 °C

    Thimphu I
    After a good night’s sleep after no waking up tea we had breakfast at the hotel. We already miss the food of Nima, our cook on the trek. We are still amazed what delicious meals we got served during those 9 days. We were picked up by Tenzin to visit different museums. The first one was called ‘simply Bhutan’, it was a some houses where the bhutanese culture were explained. For example, house building is with mud, so they stamp the mud. Since they will inevitably kill insects by doing it they sing a song of forgiveness. We could taste Ara, the local wine made of rice and also butter tea. During the tea session they danced and sang for us. We were the only tourists in this big room and we felt akward. Tenzin said later he had fun watching us because we looked a bit lost. I guess we were. The dancing was lovely. We then could perform some archery, I failed particularly, Lilian was a natural. I like this kind of museums. Next was the handcrafts museum, or more showroom since there are young people learning one of the 13crafts that are existing in the buthanese culture. Quite impressive. The funniest moment was when a Indian lady stopped Lilian and me. First we thought she wanted to take us a picture of her, but no, she wanted a picture with us. That was a comical situation.
    The afternoon was lazy and full of time to spend and just wonderful.    Les mer

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    overwhelmed

    9. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Again sunny day, delicious breakfast - a wonderful day ahead. Tenzing said the way would first be a climb, then all the way down and again a climb. He was very right. We got up through again forest high above the river to a dzhong that was under renovation. We passed again a prison camp. Oh yes, we slept once just next to one and then passed already one yesterday, with one guy getting his hair cut. Anyway, we walked allllll the way down to the river again and then after maybe 3.5h we had the last waterbeak and then up we went again. Gosh it was steep! And hot! And long! But as you know it is just a matter of time that the ascent is done and we reached the street. The government plans to biuld streets for sll the villages. We heard them working with dynamite. The part that we were walking on had been constructed already 10 years ago but not really being useful because not finished. We had lunch at the side of the road and then no idea how long to walk until the car. It seemed long. Since after every ridge maybe it would be there - but not. Wel walked for another 1.5h until we heard our horses and saw the jeep. A table was again installed for us, we got snacks and drinks for successfully finishing Jomolhari Trek 2.5. We made a picture of all the crews, gave the tipps and then said goodbye to the horseman first, he would return in three days walk back to Paro. The jeep was loaded with the whole stuff, Lilian and me in the back and the rest of the crew on the rooftop. I can tell you, the road was anything but smooth since the second car had to wait further down. We switched car and said our goodbyes to the cook Nima, Phub who served tea in the mornings and Zanpho who carried our lunch. All of them including Tenzing did way way more then that. You feel that they are a good team and it was amazing what they all did for Lilian and me. I am in awe. The car ride took about 1.5h down bumpy toads through forests, little villages and then again down at the Thimphu river in direction of the capital. Tenzing suggested to open the windows so the car wouldn’t smell like there were yaks in it. I had no idea what he meant ☺️. We were dropped at our hotel and then welcome back to people, cars, houses, noise, we were a bit overwhelmed being dropped back into civilization. Even though Thimphu is not New York. But after those 9 days where the only sound you hear are either dogs, yaks, birds or the river it was quite a change. Shower was heaven, coming out of it the smell of the dirty clothes way more intense, huiuiu. Laundry it is then. We went then for a coffee in the very fancy cloud9 café. We felt
    like on another planet. The feeling still clings. It didn’t get me like that in Nepal. Probably because it was more populated, being in lodges and not that exposed to nature like we were during those days. We were so lucky that Zyklone Fany didn’t hit as strong as thought. The timing was just perfect. Lilian and me, the whole crew made the trek without needing that heavy first aid kit. It feels like those days were taking place somewhere else. I guess they somehow did. Again a incredible time I got to spend with wonderful people    Les mer

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    maybe the last tenty-night, maybe not

    8. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

    We were both awake at 5o’clock because the yaks were thinking that the grass around our tents looked yummie. In a tent it sounds like the yak is in your tent. Lilian thought about getting her stifks, i was more fatalistic, in cause the yak decides to walk through my tent, there is not much to do anyway. Well, nothing happened at all so we had our normal morning routine, just with the change that we would leave at nine since the day walk was not that far. Again under the morning sun we strolled out of the valley, passed a nomads house where there was supposed to be a dog that likes to bite. We didn’t see him, luckily. Coincidentally I had dreamed last night that a cat had bitten me in the finger. But nothing happend and the path was an up and down sgain in the forest, with rhododendrons blooming and the river once left hand sided, once on the other side. Now the Adele song Hello pops in my head, I had songs in my head the whole trip while walking trough that wonderf scenery. We were again very alone. At the campsite everything was ready including our toilet-tent. It is the small blue one, with a zipper to get in and then it is a whole in the soil and voila. In case you wondered. It was very moist in the tents most of the time and with the cold you had no idea if the things are wet or just cold. Now at 3500m the things start to smell with more intensity, Lilian and me are often discussing if it is worth to put on clean stuff since, well, we are not that clean. It is actually a very good sign that this is all we have to worry about. Diner was again a feast with chocolate cake in the end and even some peachwine. I got almost drunk, well, not drunk but a bit tipsy. We had a lot to laugh about. Tenzing came to tell us what the plan was fo tomorrow and it turns out that we would walk all the way to the street, having a car picking us up and the back to civilization aka SHOWER! No, actually there is no problem with not showering for 9 days. That probably counts just when you are with people who also do not shower for 9 days 😊Les mer

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    stopped by the snow

    7. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ 🌧 5 °C

    Huiuiui, it is cold tonight. We are a staying in a secluded valley in dircetion the the pass we were supposed to take if the fourth would be open - or passable. It isn’t, and so was the one today. We got up again like all the other days, first tea then warm washing water, breakfast and then ready to rumble. We turned right instead of straigt ahead taking a trek only nomads use. It was a beautiful walk under the sun,
    even if this early morning Tenzing thought it would rain. We are really incredibly lucky with the weather, let’s cross the fingers that it stays like this the next three days! We ascended but were blocked at around 4600m by snow that the zyklone brought. There hasn’t been anyone yet crossing and we didn’t know how deep the snow was up there. There was already a lot where we were so we decided to turn around since we just wanted to reach the top and come back. So we had an early lunch and then were back at the campsite at 1:15 already. I didn’t mind, we could read in the sun for an hour, then the wind got too chly and the warm washing water arrived. At around four coffee and some
    biscuits, and then the temperature dropped. It started to rain a bit, too. Tenzing asked us if we wanted to combine the two next days in one very long day so we would have a day more in Thimphu, but we decided to stick at two other walking days with around 18km tomorrow and 13km on the last day. We will sleep in lower grounds so it will be warm again, yippie!    Les mer

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    i'm on top of the world

    6. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ ☀️ 6 °C

    Apparently there was heavy rain and wind in the night, I slept through. In the morning the sky was clear and the sun not yet over the ridge but made his way slowly so we started around 8o’clock in direction of the next pass. The first 1.5h was walking slowly up the stream, again followed by the two dogs (I named them Chuck and Norris) and our path was commented by the whistles of marmots. There was also a griffon watching something/us? from a stone nearby. You realize their grandeur only when next to them. Impressive. Like the male yaks on the other side of the pass. Huge things with long horn. One made a appearance to come towards you, nothing you want him really to do! Anyway, we ascended first what Tenzing called the little pass, very steep but I felt I had good legs. Up there we crossed a field, had a juice break (we get some Tetrapak- juices and chocolate in the mornings) and saw our path and the pass 300m higher. It looked like a heck of a ascent! Tenzing told me that this pass was his Kryptonit, he doesn’t really know why. So we started, each of us in our own speed, since you can just go one speed at this altitude and this steepness. It was beautiful, challenging, in the end just going up through snow ad then, finally, the top. And again, what a marvelous view. Breathtaking. We are so little. Since wew were up there before noon it was quite warm and without a chilling wind. We watched five yaks and the horses making their way up to the pass, impressive sight. The way down was very smooth, we had a lunch break and then another 1.5-2h descent to our camp, a bit further down so the horses have more food. After diner Tenzing told us that the last pass wasn’t to be crossed. So tomorrow we will climb up the next pass as planned, come down the same way, sleep at around 4300m and then reach the traditional Jomolhari Trek for the last day. Very cool! Lilian and me will not miss the night at 4600m. we are both a bit tired today, feeling colder then usual. Now I am in my sleeping bag, it is 21:15 and I am looking forward to sleeping and then another long day of walking ahead! Yippie!Les mer

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    always the sun

    5. mai 2019, Bhutan ⋅ 🌬 12 °C

    ooooh wow! The sun was out! And what a view! We were all a bit confused but apparently that zyklone took another route and somehow we got lucky. We could see all those big big mountains, had breakfast in the sun and soon we were starting always following the electric poles in direction of Linghsi. Of course we decided to continue our trek as planned. What a big surprise. We climbed up first very steep and then crossing the marmot field it was much smoother. We saw a lot of marmots. Cute animals. And baby yaks again. Soooooo schnuslig! We had like yesterday a dog for company following us until were we sleep, a bit later another one from the camp of yesterday joined. One tried to catch marmots, but they warn eachother, it is very funny to watch them. Blue sheep which aren’t sheep at all but goats were in a big group grazing at the mountain. Soon we were in the snow and it got muddy. Still under the snow, the view while ascending just astonishing (I used wonder-/beautiful already too often. Behind us was the Austrian couple but we didn’t cross them later one and they do another trek. Otherwise we just saw locals or no one. At our campsite there is just us, the horses and the two dogs. Incredible. We made it on the pass shortly before 11 since we were so fast we went up until the peak at around 5000m. We were very happy I think you can see it on the peak-selfie. Quickly we went down to have lunch where there wasn’t snow and continued down the valley. We took a longer way where we stayed longer above the river for nicer views. We saw again marmots and bluesheep and the view, just wow. It took longer then Tenzing though, there was also a river crossing and then after a curve into another valley we saw our campsite far away, down at the river. We arrived there quite quickly and did some washing as usual, dragged bags around and made ourselves comfortable for another night in the tent. It was very windy first, with the nightfall the wind dropped, now it is raining again. It is 21:00 and I am in bed, looking forward for another pass crossing tomorrow for Shodu, then still not clear where we go next, we don’t seem to run out of option. I am very happy we could continue and now touch some wood for a dry and safe journey tomorrow.Les mer

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