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Touchdown in Paradise, La Digue Island

La Digue is an island just a twenty minute boat ride from Praslin, so it worked perfectly to go for a day trip from there, arriving with the first boat around 7 and going back home to my AirBnB in Praslin around 6 in the evening.

The island is small, and there are only a handful of cars there so everyone travels by golf carts or bikes that you can rent for 100SCR/7USD a day. There is only one main road, which doesnt go all the way around so you should be ready for some hiking as well if you want to see all that the island has to offer.

First off I cycled to the far North where there were not much except small, empty beaches, some bungalows with small bars and kiosks. Up to the top of the island and back down took me less than an hour, and already my body was running with sweat. Seychelles i March is incredibly humid and hot!

From there I cycled down to the point furthest South that my bike could being me, which was Grand Anse, and from there I hiked 15 minutes over a mountain to get to Petit Anse, and then 20 minutes over another mountain to get to Anse Cocos. These beaches were all some of the most beautiful beaches I have seen in all of my travels.

Anse Cocos- with perfect sand and clear water

Grande Anse- very accessible but still empty

By the time I has walked through all the beaches and was cycling back to the center I had gotten so dehydrated that I was desperate for a drink. So desperate that I stopped at a juice stand and paid almost 10$ for a juice! A normal daily budget for me which I finished drinking up in a couple of minutes.

The juicebar was strategically placed where the uphill would start

On the way back to the “city” I cycled throgh the Veuve Reserve where they had signs with facts about the different trees and plants in the park.

Last up was L’Union Estate Farm which was a big park where you could see how they were growing cinnamon, making coconut oil and building houses like they used to do in the colonial times. It normally costs 10$ to get in, but instead of paying I parked my bike next to the church and walked through the waist high water around the helicopter landing site to get in to the property for free.

The highlight of the farm visit was feeding the many giant tortoises that live there. They were all between 30 and 100 years old and were mostly just sitting hanging making grumpy breathing noises as they were eating.

The beach inside called Anse Source d’Argent is one of the most famous beaches on the island, but that just meant that there were more people and I think it was not even nearly as nice as the ones on the South East Coast.

The rock formations, white sand and clear water makes these beaches my favorite in the World and my pictures dont even do justice of their beauty. Did you ever see beaches that were more beautiful? Let me know in the comment field below.

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Maha Shivaratri celebration 2019

Maha Shivaratri is one of the biggest festivals in Nepal, and the name literally means the night of Shiva. It is celebrated throughout Nepal and India for 24 hours where people generally smoke a lot of mariujaha to honor the Hindu god. It is believed that the stars in the Northern Hemisphere are positioned optimally for raising peoples spiritual energy.

It is said that up to a million people would visit the Pashupatinath temple on this day. There were thousands of people queuing outside the temple, but foreigners were let past the queues, which is not fair considering how much more important this celebration is to devoted hindus but I didnt complain. The Pashupatinath temple is considered one of the holiest temples in hinduism and the Guardian and protector of the Kathmandu Valley and Nepal.

Sadhu babas meditate, some of them naked, and most of them smoking weed from their chillum pipes. People chant together with them mantras such as “om namah Shivay” and “mahamritunjaya” all night as a way to pray that the light will conquer the darkness.

One thing that was special with this was that children were making “toll roads” literally everywhere raising ropes across the streets and demanding small change from the bypassers. Also smoking cannabis is seen as holy on this day and people were cooking up “bang lassi” (Milk boiled with mariujana) and smoking everywhere. An ancient tradition from thousands of years back that still is practiced widely today by tourists and locals alike.

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Hiking the Gorepani Poon Hill Trek

Early morning we set off with the local bus heading up towards the trails leading to Annapurna Base Camp which we had decided that we wanted to walk to.

The roads took us almost the whole way to the new bridge, where we just had to walk a couple of hours until we reached village where we had decided to spend out first night. We were then told that the Annapurna Base Camp trail had been closed due to fatal avalanches, so we just chilled out by the hot springs for a day and decided to do the Gorepani Poon Hill trek instead.

Each day of trekking brought new and better views of the 8000meter tall mountain range and every day we did a casual 4-5 hour hike stopping for tee and food on the way.

My favorite part of the trail was the sunrise at Tadapani, where we were standing at almost 3000meters elevation watching the sun come up behind the so called fish tail mountain.

The whole way was scenic and peaceful. The lodges usually cost just a dollar or two as they wanted to compete of who would get the few tourists who chosing to trek in the low season.

We reached the top of our hike at the Deurali pass which had an altitude of around 3200meters. From there it was just a short walk to Gorepani, and the short poon hill trek to get a 360 degree panorama view of the mountains.

On top of Poon Hill it was very snowy and cloudy so we didnt get the best views, but going back down we got some good views from inside the valley and finished off with another steaming hot natural spring bath in Tatopani before hitchhiking our way down from the mountain.

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The Lakeside of Pokhara

Pokhara is a backpackers paradise full of hostels, bars and adrenaline filled activities. All in the beautiful setting surrounded by the mountains of Annapurna National Park.

With my host I borrowed an 350cc Royal Enfield motorbike and drove around the city, first to visit schools that were under construction doing research in hope to one day build a school of Plastic bottles here myself.

Prash and Ohm, two guys who have made a plastic bottle school before and want to do it again.

After that we got to do some sightseeing where the fort stop was the World Peace Pagoda bhuddist Stupa which was built in 1973 and now probably is the most famous tourist attraction in the city.

After that we drove down to see the Gupteswor cave and Davis Falls which were both near each other and equally as unimpressive.

Gupteswor cave on top and Davis Falls on the bottom

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Sylhet- Highlands and Tea Farms

After having visited the East, the West, the center and the South it was about time to head North, towards the border of China, to a region called Sylhet which is famous for its many tea plantations.

Walking around in a couple we talked to tea farmers, tasted local food and drink specialities and had some fun climbing and flipping of some trees.

One nice place near the tea plantations was the Madhabpur Lake where lots of locals came to have picnic in a peaceful, quiet environment. The place is also famous among locals for having a tea with seven colored layers.

On the way back we also got to stop at Lawachara National Park where we rented a guide and went on a three hour walking “safari”, spotting monkeys, squirrels and birds.

We also went to a small village where there were descendants from Mongolia nomads living. You could tell from their round faces, different language and churches instead of mosques. Quite interesting to see and also to taste the crispy but sweet indian plums they were selling there.

After the day trip to Sylhet we went back to the village of my friend where we launched some 50cent chinese lanterns to celebrate my last day in Bangladesh and make wishes that I would one day return to the country.