The Himalayas

"...Late in the afternoon I reach what I think is the pass at Daman. I ask a man there in the village and he's says it's another twenty-eight kilometers to Daman. I don't believe him but continue down a wide valley. It's almost dark, but I'm too tired to continue without a rest. I stop in a small village at the bottom of the valley. I eat bread and drink some homemade schnapps and milk tea. I continue in the dark after half an hour. I have to go extremely slowly. I can hardly see anything. There is supposed to be a guest house just a couple of kilometers up the road.." (From October 27 below.)

August 18-19 - Golden Temple

(Amritsar)
There is less hassle on the Indian side of the border. I buy a bottle and water and keep cycling as soon as possible. It's still hot. There is not much traffic. I follow a tractor for ten kilometers. A few locals on bicycle ride with me for a while. They smile and try to get me to race them. It gets horribly crowded as soon as I get close to Amritsar. I find the Golden Temple after asking about five people. This is the holiest shrine in the Sikh religion. It's popular to stay in the temple dorm. It's free of charge, and so is the food. This is Sikh hospitality.

August 20-27 - Lemon Pie & The Holiness

(Daramsala)
I catch a bus up to Daramsala/McLeod Ganj, the home away from home for his holiness the Dalai Lama. Many Tibetan refugees live here. There are also plenty of Indians, Indian tourists, Western tourists and hippies. There are restaurants, hotels, cafes and shops for all budgets except the largest. I try to get better, and gain weight by eating lemon pie, chocolate cake and drinking beer. I think it works.

August 28 - September 1 - British Council

(Delhi)
I'm fed up with cycling and still don't feel strong enough. Cycling in Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh has to wait till next trip. I go by bus to the Indian capital. I develop photos, use internet, and spend a lot of time reading English and American magazines in The British Council and the American Center. I didn't think I would miss reading the Economist when I left Sweden.

September 2-13 - Clubbing in Nepal

(Pokhara)
I go to Pokhara, Nepal by train and bus. I get ripped off on the bus ticket from India to Pokhara. I bought a combination ticket because I was lazy. I ended up riding in a bus full of stinking goats and paying quadruple fare.

I meet Jörgen, the same day I arrive. It's nice to see him again. We have a good time on the Lake Side. We eat and drink, play pool, and even go clubbing.

September 14-25 - The Plan

(Katmandu)
When Janne, Karl (a Belgian Adventurer) and I realized it was not to expensive to get a climbing permit for Hiunchuli (6441 m), we started shopping for ice and snow gear. In a couple of days we were ready to go.

September 26-28 - Finding an Ice Axe

(Pokhara)
I have only two more items to purchase when I arrive to Pokhara. An ice axe and crampons. There are plenty of trekking shops, but it turns out to be very difficult to find what I need. Karl, Jan and I end up buying the only three ice axes in town. I rent an old pair of crampons that I'm not so sure about. They are the only ones that fit me, so there is no choice.

September 29 - October 1 - Hot Spring and Leaches

(Jhinu 1800 m)
We start our trek from New Bridge. The walk is hard on my legs with all the equipment on my back but the excitement of getting to high altitude was enough to push me up there in three long days. It's cloudy most of the way.

October 2 - The British Expedition

(Annapurna Base Camp 4180 m)
The weather is miserable in base camp, and the bad news hit us like heavy rock fall. The mountain is no longer what it used to be. The easy route up has collapsed (the route where only crampons and an ice axe was necessary). A more technical route which involves rock and ice climbing and plenty of rope is now the only solution. A British Army expedition have put up 1800 meters of rope on the north face but have not managed to reach the summit yet. None of us are climbers so there is no way we can get up to Hiunchuli.

October 3-7 - Internet

(Chomrong 2215 m, Pokhara 900 m)
We return to Pokhara in two long days. I'm totally exhausted when I return to our pension. My legs ache for another five days.

October 8-26 - The Burma Mission

(Katmandu 9244 km)
I soon get into a new plan. The Great Millennium Peace Riders (a group cycling around the world for peace) are on the way to Myanmar (Burma). They have managed to get a special permit to cross the country overland. This is not normally possible (at least not from India to Laos). We (me, Hadewych and Patrick) think we have a chance to go with them. We arrange visas and try to contact the peace riders. It takes a long time before we here anything. Finally I get a message from Jan (a former peace rider). They have had a terrible loss. One man in the has fallen off a train and died. We give up the idea about Burma.

October 27 - Himalayan Panorama

(Lower Daman 9315 km)
I cycle toward India on my own a few days later. It's a good feeling to be on the bike, and on the way again after a lot of resting, and doing other things. There is a climb to a low pass just outside Katmandu. I catch up with an Englishman just before the pass. We have a coke together on the top, and continue down the switchbacks on the other side. The views are good here but I have to concentrate one hundred percent on the road. It goes fast. I overtake a few trucks and even a bus.

At the bottom of the valley we turn left and start climbing again. I loose the Englishman in the first turn when he stops to fix something on the bike. He passes me later when I talk to a man in a road side teahouse. It's a long hard climb and I'm not sure about the altitude and distance to the pass. I stop a few times to rest and take photos. Manaslu (8136 m) is the first high mountain to be visible as I get higher. I also spot Ganesh Himal and the Annapurnas. Late in the afternoon I reach what I think is the pass at Daman. I ask a man there in the village and he's says it's another twenty-eight kilometers to Daman. I don't believe him but continue down a wide valley. It's almost dark, but I'm too tired to continue without a rest. I stop in a small village at the bottom of the valley. I eat bread and drink some homemade schnapps and milk tea. I continue in the dark after half an hour. I have to go extremely slow. I can hardly see anything. There is supposed to be a guest house just a couple of kilometers up the road. It takes twenty minutes to get there.

October 28 - The Backdrop and the Drop

(Hetauda 9384 km)
I start around nine. It's steep the last ten kilometers up to Daman. The man was right yesterday. It was 28 kilometers from the first pass. Daman is a small village just before the actual pass. I stop to buy some biscuits in the only shop. The view from here is amazing, but even better from the fancy resort further up the road. I stay there two hours just to take it all in. I also eat a good, but expensive lunch in the restaurant. From here I can see all the high mountains in The Nepalese Himalayas and a few in Tibet. From the left we have Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Manaslu, Himal Chuli, Ganesh Himal, Langtang Himal, Xixabangma Feng, Rolwaling Himal, Cho Oyu, Everest, Makalu, Kanchenjunga. Nine of them are over 8000 meters.

I cross the pass and leave the snow clad peaks behind me. I'm in for the longest continuous drop on this trip. I reach Hetauda in the evening and only my hands and arms are tired.

October 29-31 - Capital of Bihar

(Patna 9446 km)
I'm already down on the lowlands. The cycling is easy and fast, but boring after the Himalayan mountain roads. I cross the border to India in the evening without noticing. The Indian immigration officers send me back to the Nepalese side to get a stamp there first. The Nepalese officers laugh when I turn up. They say they have shouted to make me stop. I didn't hear a thing. Back in India I get on a bus south. I arrive to Patina in the middle of the night. It's easy to find the little alley with all the cheap hotels. The last one has got a free single room. There are lots of mosquitoes and the mosquito net has got holes. The bathroom has no door, and that's where the mosquitoes come in. I eat brunch in a fancy restaurant the next day. Then I walk through the town to find the only internet cafe. Maybe the only one in Bihar Province. The city is boring but I find a good restaurant in the evening.

I manage to get a ticket (but no sleeper) to Calcutta the next day. Finding out where to buy it, how to get my bike on the train, and book it takes most of the afternoon. I leave Patna in the evening.

November 1-13 - Indian Trains

(Calcutta 9554 km)
I try to buy a sleeper ticket from the conductor, but he doesn't have any. I sleep on the floor between the bunks. My fellow travelers try to make it as comfortable as possible for me.

November 13 - February 5 2000 - Fever and Holiday

(Bangkok - Cambodia - Koh Chang - Stockholm 9601 km)
Back in civilization. Well, everything is relative. I eat fish from the river and get an infection in a tendon in my hand. It gets worse during a five day period. In the end I can hardly walk without screaming with pain. I and end up in a government hospital in Bangkok. It takes a lot of intravenous antibiotics and seven days to get better.

I spend Christmas and New Millennium in Sianoukville, Cambodia.

In January i spend a couple of weeks on the beautiful island Koh Chang.

In February I'm back in Sweden.

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