04. May 2025     Cheerleader dancing with pom-poms has its roots in India! For sure!   I don’t think I’ve ever made such a ‘mixed-up journey’ before. In theory it all looked sensible and logical to me, but in practice it didn’t go so well. I’m not dissatisfied at all, I’ve gained important insights. … Continue reading Darjeeling-Sikkim – Afterthoughts → Read more

21. – 25. April 2025     On Sunday, my accommodation provider had organised a porter for my luggage. It wasn’t actually that difficult, but there were two other advantages: the woman knew the best shortcut and also organised a good seat for me in a shared taxi. You have to walk a lot in … Continue reading Gangtok – Dogs are barking in the night → Read more

20. April 2025     The accommodation had set up a stand with catering for crazy runners! A Hell Race was taking place here, the Buddha Trails. The Hells Race offers crazy runs for enthusiastic people in various areas of India. There are usually different programmes for different levels. Here is their website: https://thehellrace.com/.   … Continue reading Trek Gordom-Shrikhola – Little buggers buzz around you like crazy → Read more

18. April 2025     5.45 am: I’m where I had arranged to meet Asish. He isn’t. I look outside: he’s not there either, but there are a few people scurrying around hoping to catch a glimpse of the 8,000 metres. You can see some on the roof in the picture above. There’s also a … Continue reading Trek Sandakphu-Gordom – The red panda was hiding, but a squirrel was hopping around → Read more

17. April 2025     India has the same time everywhere, although it is more orientated towards the west. In the east, for example, the sun rises (and sets) very early. As a result, you often wake up quite early. This time there was also an unpleasant noise when I woke up: The sound of … Continue reading Trek Garibas-Sandakphu – the ducks paddle across the small lake → Read more

16. April 2025     Yay! The morning actually started promisingly! I was able to catch a glimpse of high mountains (unfortunately not recognisable in the picture) and went for a pre-breakfast walk to old little stupas on a hill and came across horses. They have horses here for a few trekking tourists who want … Continue reading Trek Tonglu-Garibas – The birds are chirping between the Rhododendren → Read more

15. April 2025   I quickly learnt that a lot has changed since 1995, when I did the Singalila trek alone.   There is now a road up to Sandakphu, the place from where you can see Everest, Makalu, Lhotse and Kanchenjunga, i.e. 4 eight-thousanders. Someone must have thought that this would be a great … Continue reading Trek Manybhanjang-Tonglu – The chicken is too heavy and allowed to continue living → Read more

13. + 14. April 2025     It was time for a change of location. A flight of just over 2 hours took me to Bagdogra. This is the airport from which you travel to Darjeeling or Gangtok. Everything went great – except that I had the best seat (1A), but the magnificent Himalayan mountain … Continue reading Darjeeling – The Yaks are exhausted → Read more

13. April 2025     The Diamir famtrip is over and I’ve just arrived in Darjeeling. From 40 degrees plus to maybe 12 degrees now in the evening. Sounds exhausting? It was! The 40 degrees, that is. And a lot more besides. 10 people, 9 female, 1 male 1 German-speaking guide from Agra, highly praised … Continue reading Famtrip Diamir- The horse dances at 40 degree → Read more

29. March 2025       I have been to the region 5 times so far: 1995 Darjeeling with Singalila trekking and a short visit to Sikkim 2000 Darjeeling with Singalila trekking, which got shortened in the rain 2013 quite a long time in Sikkim with Goecha-la-Trek 2015 Kamerakidz project in Sikkim and a tourleading … Continue reading Darjeeling-Sikkim – Before the trip → Read more