Book of Records

This is a list of things I did during my traveling which were a bit ‘special’ especial for someone who hasn’t done anything like it. I don’t mean to say that I’m a special tough person because I was able to accomplish theme. While you are in those parts of the world it almost seems normal crossing a pass of 4500 or 5000m because you start up at about 3500m or even more. I more wrote it down so that I don’t lose track of the tings I did.

Highest pass I trekked

These are the passes I crossed while trekking in those areas. All the passes involved trekking for at least one day before and after crossing the pass since there were no roads or other mean of transportation to get there. The crossing of the Droelma-La and Digar-La were made with a fully loaded backpack and for the crossing of the Thorumg-La and Snigutse-La I carried just a partly filled backpack since we slept in Guesthouses on the way or had horses how carried some of our equipment.

1.
Droelma-La, 5630m, Mt. Kailash, Tibet, 9-11-2002
2.
Thorumg-La, 5416m, Annapurna-Circit, Nepal, 20-9-2002
3.
Digar-La, 5250m, Leh to Nubravally, India
4.
Snigutse-La, 5050m, Across Zanzlar, India

Highest camp spot

As mentioned in the highest pass chapter, crossing the passes always involved trekking for at least one day. For the case we were on the way with our own tent, we had to camp before crossing the pass. The highest camp spot therefore respond to the highest pass I trekked.

1.
Below Drolma-La, 5400m, Mt. Kailash, Tibet, 08-11-2002 (-20°C outside the tent, -10° inside the tent)
2.
Digar-La Base Camp, 4700m, Leh to Nubravally, India, ??-??-2002
3.
??-??-2002, Across Zanzkar, India

Highest road I traveled

Other then trekking over some high passes I also crossed some while I was sitting in bus or, as in the case for the two first once, driving myself a motorbike over them. The Indians clam the …… is even the highest motorabel road in the world but other persons say, that there is a higher road you can drive over in Bolivia, South America and that the height given from the Indian government for the …… is by about 300m to high.

1.
Leh to Nubra
2.
Tanghlang-La, 5300 and something, Manali to Leh

Longest bus ride

All the journeys were ‘one through journeys’ without any actual breakups other then for eating or fixing of the broken down bus (on the first brake down of the bus from Lhasa to Ali we were forced to wait for about 10 hours till the flat tier was fixed). However, by some of the rids – especially the once in Africa – the bus stopped during the night for some hours on the side of the road and you were able to get some sleep in your seat without all the shaking and bumping.

1.
Lhasa to Ali, Tibet, 67 hours, from 6:30 PM 02-11-2002 till 1:30 PM 05-1-2002
2.
Maxixe (Tofo) to Nampula, Mozambique, 50.5 hours, from 3:00 PM 05-03-2004 till 5:30 PM 05-03-2004
3.
Ali to Lhasa, Tibet, 50 hours, from 7:00 PM 13-11-2002 till 9:00 PM 15-11-2002
4.
Jinja Uganda to Dar Es Salaam Tanzania, 28.5 hours, from 2:30 PM 02-04-2004 till 7:00 PM 03-04-2004
5.
Mtwara to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, 26 hours, from 7:00 AM 16-03-2004 till 9:00 PM 17-03-2004

Longest train journey

Like the bus rides, the train rides were all journeys were the train might stopped for few minutes ore even hours during those I could leave the train or even have a short stroll around the town. This was particularly the case for the train ride from Beijing to Moscow since it involved two border crossings and in one occasion the changing of the complete undercarriage. Never the less, all train rides were journeys were I bought a single ticket.

1.
Beijing to Moscow (Trans Siberia)
2.
Xi’an to Guilin, 36.5 hours (from 9:00PM 10-12-2002 till 9:30AM 12-12-2002)
3.
Yichang to Beijing 19 hours (from 4:00PM 29-11-2002 till 11:00AM 30-11-2002)

Longest hikes

The longest hikes were made in different ways. By the Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary trek we didn’t had to carry any food (except some energy bars and Snickers) or tent (though we carried your sleeping bag and Thermorest) since we stayed in Guesthouses along the way and also had your meals there.
For the Across Zanzkar trek we brought food and tent but we had the help of some horse to carry a big part of your load. Our backpacks were just filed with some clothing and other personal belongings.
The trek in Corsica was done with carrying all the camping equipment and food for 10 days by our self.

1.
Annapurna Circuit and Sanctuary, 23 days (09-09-2002 – 01-10-2002)
2.
Across Zanzkar, 21 days
3.
Corsika, North part of GR-20, 9 days

Longest time without shower

The records listed here do not mean that it was not possible to have a shower at all. I mean there is always a possibility to jump in a almost frozen river or buy a bottle of drinking water and shower your self that way. It means more, that I just didn’t feel like to take my cloths of and freeze the a….. of just to jump in a cold river or wasting my precious drinking water just for the comfort of not to stink that much.

1.
Trip to Mt. Kailash, 14 days (02-11-2002 – 15-12-2002)
2.
Annapurna Circuit, section between Manang and Rainpauwa, 3 days (18-09-2002 – 20-09-2002)

The most often eaten meal

It was my sister Pia who had the idea for this rubric as we went once more to the Indian restaurant in Dar Es Salaam and I had my beef-pepper steak with chips. Then we thought that the 7 times I had this meal would be quite in the lead. Now, thinking of the places I stayed a bit longer, I realize that there are quite many meals I enjoyed to eat more then just once.

Because I did not keep exact track of how often I was eating a meal in a restaurant, I had to guess the number. To qualify for this category, the same meal has to be eaten at the same restaurant.

1.
Cheese-Cake at Tashi 2, Lhasa, Tibet, November 2002, about 15 times
2.
Banana curry at Tree House, Koh Chang, Thailand, April 2003, about 10 times
3.
Beef-pepper steak with chips at Summy’s Shop, Dar EsSalaam, Tanzania, April 2004, about 8 times
4.
Coconut-cream-vegetable-curry at ?????, Vang Vieng, Laos, January 2003, about 7 times
5.
Deep-fried chicken breast with boiled vegetables and french fries with mayonnaise at Kailash Restaurant, Lhasa, Tibet, November 2002, about 7 times
This list is not complete and I forgot the names of some authors. I had it written down on a nice paper but I can’ find it anymore. This is also a reason I made this list, so I don’t have to take care of all my little papers.