What is the absolute opposite of India? I'll find it in a few hours. In Doha, the capital of Qatar. One of the richest countries in the world. Largest natural gas reserves in the world. Rich. Infinitely rich. Farewell But I'm still here, the TukTuk to the metro station in the direction of the airport is just picking up speed, it's...
Oh, yes think twice, it's just another dayFor you and me in paradiseOh, yes think twice, it's just another dayFor you, you and me in paradiseJust think about it, just think about it… I'm not a big fan of Phil Collins, but some of his best songs belong on every best list. For example, Another Day in...
When the gods want to punish us, they answer our prayers. A wisdom that always becomes present when the answer to prayers comes to an end. When you realize that everything beautiful, exciting and interesting is inevitably heading towards the end. That's how I feel today, this morning, which, like every day, is first gray, then white, then...
Jaipur is not only entertaining and funny but also a monster. It is the city with the most foreign tourists, which is not surprising given its special highlights. But in the meantime over 3 million people live here, the air is polluted by the exhaust fumes from thousands of buses, motorcycles, rickshaws and...
When it comes to applying shrewdness and determination to a successful business, Indians' talents in this regard are unmatched. But today's anecdote, called Love and Kisses, represents the absolute highlight of all the charades. But more on that later. Because now it's almost 350 kilometers in the government bus, i.e. an estimated 8 hours from Bikaner...
“Brothers and sisters, the time has come for each and everyone of you to decide whether you are going to be the problem or whether you are going to be the solution. You must choose, brothers, you must choose. It takes five seconds, five seconds a decision, five seconds to realize your purpose here on the planet. …
Let's see if the first of Rajasthan's colorful cities is actually as blue as it is claimed. Jodhpur – the blue city. Or is it another ploy to attract more tourists? I'm curious to see whether my friends' euphoric eulogies are true. Rajasthan is said to be significantly different from the rest of India, more than any other...
Sometimes I wonder if there is order in chaos. Whether an invisible hand holds the threads together to prevent the fragile house of cards from collapsing. This question arises as soon as you step out of the hotel door in the center of Old Delhi and face the chaos. And the noise. The smell. The people. …
What is so enchanting about the mountains, the empty, quiet, lonely places where your own breathing is the only sound? Is it the view into nothingness? Or the beauty of nothingness? The mountains are just a memory, already distant, already unreal. The look in the early morning, after a night of fainting, instinctively goes to...
The spirits of the mountains have remained silent. We expected all sorts of dark dreams. We wouldn't have been surprised if the spirits of the mountains had taken revenge on the insolent intruders. With nightmares of deep abysses, of smashed cars, of near-crashes, of falling and crashing. Nothing like that. They remained silent. But it's still...
Have you heard of the most infamous and dangerous road in the world, the “Camino de la Muerte” or, translated, the “Road of Death”? It is located in Bolivia, is a good 80 kilometers long and is described as the most dangerous road in the world. An accident on July 24, 1983, in which a bus skidded into a ravine...
The last day in Leh, sad but true. Already noticed last night: more and more shops are closing, the shutters stay down all day. Could these be the first signs that the season is coming to an end? Or like in Game of Thones – Winter is coming? The arrival of the White Walkers? …
Every 12 years a large Buddhist festival takes place in Ladakh, a gathering of thousands of believers. Hemis, a small village about 60 km from Leh, will be the center of an important Buddhist event for a total of 15 days starting tomorrow. Pilgrims from all over the world come together to celebrate a big festival. The Buddhist...
Mission Impossible in Nubra Valley? The last film “Fallout” from the Mission Impossible franchise with Tom Cruise takes place towards the end in Nubra Valley, which is of course a false statement. The shots in the supposed Nubra Valley were filmed in Norway and New Zealand. However, a certain similarity cannot be denied. For us it's not a mission...
“All great things are simple, and many can be expressed in single words: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.” (Winston Churchill) As always, the walk through the early morning, barely awake streets shows a completely different side the city. Most shops and restaurants and agencies are still closed, hardly any traffic, a few sleepy travelers...
Any Idiot can run, but it takes a special kind of Idiot to run a Marathon. Today the Leh Ultra Marathon is taking place, one of the worst things imaginable (but everything is relative, see the section after next). The Leh Ultra Marathon The start is in the Nubra Valley on the other side of the Khardung Pass at a good 4500 meters, ...
The woman's face shows a lack of understanding. Fear. Humiliation. Stinginess and cold hearts Like a bunch of aggressive teenagers, a few tourists stand around the landlady, gesticulating. It's obviously about the price you have to pay. The equivalent of 16 francs for overnight stay, dinner and a packed lunch. A few of the boys are of the opinion that the...
It's early in Hemis Shukpachen. I imagine that I smell freshly baked bread, even though I know that there will be all sorts of delicacies for breakfast, but definitely not freshly baked bread. The morning is beautiful. The flowers on the roof smell fresh and green. A bird whistles somewhere. Beep beep beep. …
When I wake up, which feels like rising from a deep, muddy swamp, I hear my grandfather's murmured songs. With a dazed head, I slip into my clothes and, out of habit, check my iPhone for messages, but in vain, of course, because there is no internet reception in this remote area. Very good! That's what it's called - when...
This morning the sky is a sea of the bluest blue. A very welcome greeting on this special morning (which is actually not that special at all, after all it's just the first stage of the baby trek). Nevertheless, I am immediately wide awake because, despite the baby, I have a strenuous task ahead of me. At least we are high enough...
A trek for babies? Today my trek begins, more precisely the baby trek, i.e. a trek for babies, because it apparently doesn't have any major demands compared to the “real” ones like the Marka trek. So for once I'm being modest, content with the simplest, and hoping to combine the pleasant with the demanding...
Do you ever think about a possible scenario that describes a complete collapse of the Internet? Barely. As it turns out, this sandbox game can be tested as a live experiment in Ladakh. And as a note: In his latest novel “The Second Sleep”, Thomas Harris described in great detail how the dangers of a global collapse of the Internet infrastructure...
In Ladakh you are constantly caught up in a feeling. It seems as if one has fallen out of time, this is called a dischrony. For a moment you have landed in a time that has long since passed (a feeling that I know from Burma), but the now makes itself felt. Monks, dressed in robes, the same...
Tomorrow we'll first go on a monastery tour. Not exactly cheap, but I'll have a driver all to myself all day, and he'll take me through the Indus Valley from one town with a monastery to the next. And then I finally want to go on a trek, to start with the so-called “baby trek”. It lasts three days, leads...
Incredible 150 meters. This is the height difference that you have to climb up the hill to the royal palace and the old castle ruins. So an incredible 150 meter difference in altitude. The dark-skinned receptionist at the hotel, probably a South Indian, has round eyes as he explains the matter to me. If you believe him, this corresponds to nothing more and nothing less than one...
The first impression after a 10-hour sleep – the headache is gone. In the morning, after a somewhat strange sleep, interrupted by unfamiliar noises from outside (are they sleepless birds? unknown animals?), I wake up with a heavy head. From my room window I hope in vain to be able to see high mountains and desert-like slopes, but...
Will it be the fulfillment of a dream? Or is it more of a nightmare? Actually, the infinity of the mountains in Nepal was originally a little closer to me, but postponed is not lifted. I'm on my way east, once again towards India, but this time to the north. To Ladakh in the Indian Himalayas. The weather …