Day 4 Walk up the hill and into the future

Today we did a day-hike. Up to Magengoth 3260m high. It was a fun and challenging hike. I was still suffering from a cold but determined to join, keeping in my mind that this was a test for my longer Manaslu hike later on. Plus I had never been that high before and wanted to see if I would feel altitude sickness. And so up we went, singing and chatting with the boys. We learned Nepali songs, talked about books and our lives. When we reached the top of the final stairs, my throat hurt from the heavier breathing. The rest went up to a view point but I decided to give my body a bit more rest and go to the lunch place with one guide. I relaxed, with the nice view of the national park Langtang (the very beginning of the park). There were some other trekkers who shared their stories, always fun hahaha Travelers are interesting people. We had a great dal bhat lunch and made our way down again. I was together with 4 boys and the guide in the front and when we arrived back, the sun was already setting. Apparently, this was a bit later than expected and Hedda, who stayed behind, asked if I was ready to go into a next exercise so off we go. With a cup of tea in my hand, Hedda coached me into my future. I realized things I hadn’t noticed before and enjoyed it and feared it a bit. For me, I don’t want a set future. The exercise however helped me to create a pretty clear picture of the next 5 years. Beautiful for some and also a bit for me and, also a bit scary although I do have a good future if true hahaha. Another big insight is that life is not black and white, there are a thousand different colours of white and a lot of difference in darkness of black, in other words; the other side of powerful is not weak, the other side of going is not standing still.

Day 5 Back to the civilisation

Today we hiked down, back to cars and big roads, shops etc. It was a long way down, and it was a lot of fun. The little paths in between fields, shortcuts on the side hills of roads, in between little houses and rice fields we walked down. And during the walk we discussed within our coach groups the next steps. The QuestTrek was coming to an end. We all had our individual process together and now we would return back to our lives. For me this felt different, normal life kinda ended when I went to Nepal and it won’t be back till after my travels in Australia… yet the questions were not about ‘normal life’ necessarily, it was about keeping the process alive, keeping the insights with use, keeping the connection. So, while walking we talked, we shared and we supported each other. We arrived at our final destination, a lovely sort of farm with a beautiful flower tree. The room was a bit dark but there was a hot shower and three nice beds. We went to the river near by, tipped our toes in (some boys went for an actual swim hahaha) we enjoyed the sun and the warmth after the cold mountains. We were celebrating that night. Today was filled with joy and I didn’t think about ‘the ending’ of this trek, this experience. We had all grown closer together and the atmosphere was happy and lovely. And we did a lovely short exercise with the following outcome; I am the MoonSparkle who will show you the little things, around you and in yourself, to make you shine!

Day 6 The Ending and the Beginning

Only today I realised what the end of the QuestTrek meant. It meant that Gemma would go home to the Netherlands and that she and Anne would not see the boys ever again. It also meant that I would, if I were lucky see them only one more time at their first QuestTribe. Spending 6 days with each other in a process of personal development creates something special. It hurts me to not stay in that connection and it is also the reality. The boys motivated me so much to make the QuestTribes the best programme possible to support them. Their insights, their values, their lives inspired me. They have taught me a lot and I love them all. I only wish them all the best in the world and that all their dreams may come true. This last morning was spend with a possibility to share these wishes with each other. I was very grateful for this. Everyone on the trek was absolutely beautiful and I am very happy to be a part of that group.  One final hour of hiking and that was it. We reached the bus and had one more stop for lunch. I collected all of their names to connect on facebook. The ride home was long and everyone almost fell asleep so I moved to the back of the bus where people were still awake haha. I had a great chat with JD Dai and when the boys woke up from their naps, we all sang songs till we were back in Kathmandu. And then we had to say goodbye to each other. We exaggerated crying fake and laughed loud while giving hugs and a final wave when we got dropped off at the side of the road. The end of a beautiful trekking.