Nepal

Before we returned to Europe after more than a year and a half of travelling through Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Geert made a solo stopover in Nepal. And what a stopover! In Nepal, Geert went on a 3-week trek through the Himalayas in the second half of April and the first half of May of 2024.

In recent years, the hiking virus, especially when it comes to hiking in the mountains, had increasingly affected Geert. And in the course of 2023 the opportunity arose to sign up for a trek through the Himalayas organized by the Dutchman Tom Boerman from the Nepal Specialist.

After attending a webinar, Geert decided to register immediately and the preparations could begin. These preparations were mainly about physical preparation, mental preparation and what items and materials to take with you.

On April 18, the time had come and Geert flew from Perth in Australia via Kuala Lumpur to Kathmandu in Nepal. And after a few days of acclimatization in Kathmandu, the group of 10 people and three guides left for the Himalayas for the trek on April 22. Read the summary of the trip below with the highlights and click further for a number of specific blogs about this trip.

For almost all treks (and expeditions) to the Himalayas, you first travel to Kathmandu. That is where most groups gather before travelling to the specific region where the trek takes place. Kathmandu is an excellent base and the Thamel district in particular is designed for tourists who are going on a trekking or expedition, or are just travelling.

I arrived in Kathmandu 2 days earlier than the group, I had created that space for myself and those days came in handy. The rest of the group came from the Netherlands because we travelled with a Dutch specialized travel organization. Because I had been on the road for a while, I came from Australia myself, and Nepal was unconsciously quite conveniently located "halfway" on the way back to the Netherlands.

I used those two days to explore Kathmandu and make the final preparations for the trek. Kathmandu is a city with many faces, I will write about this in detail in the blog about the city that will be published soon.