It was on November 3, 1977 that the Swedish trekking group made it up to the top of the Thorong La pass in the Annapurna range, Nepal. Sixteen trekkers from the group - including me - came from the east along the Marsiyandi River, and seven trekkers - including Surain - came from the west along the Kali Gandaki River. Chance had it that the two groups met on top of the pass, a chilly but warmly welcome reunion. How perfect to meet up here near the top of the world, with snow-capped peaks all around us.

Surain and I had chatted and enjoyed our company quite a bit before, but it was here that she asked me to travel with her to India. So it was here it all began.

February 2002: We discussed different pilgrimage sights. It was easy to decide to make this one of them. And make it on the 25th anniversary.

Surain and I had trekked in 1977 shortly after this area was opened for foreign tourists. Thus we met hardly any other trekkers. In 2002 our dear friend since January 1979, Elizabeth Berg, accompanied me on this strenous trek. It had now become one of the most popular trekking areas in Nepal. There were lodges, hot water showers (in theory at least), restaurants and other amenities. You no longer need to carry a tent or your own food (but sleeping bag!), which where essential in 1977.

In 1977 I was not aware that there was any major difference in difficulty hiking from the west or the east side. But in fact it is much harder to hike from the west (like Surain had done). Virtually everybody hikes from the east, and most hikers follow organized tours. When we crossed the path from the west side, we met 30-40 people.

I wanted to follow the same path Surain had taken. So Elizabeth and I started at Nayapol ("New Bridge") from the west. We followed along Surain's steps, except that the trek is now some three days shorter due to road construction. We carried our own packs 5 days and used porters - including the difficult crossing of the path - 9½ days. Including 2½ days of acclimitization in Mukthinath before crossing the pass it tooks us in all 17 days.

Despite these changes, it really did not seem that different. It was still an outstanding experience meeting the Nepalese people and getting a glimpse of their lives, watch the porters struggle with up to 80 kg (175 pounds) loads (I tried an 80+ kg load - it was extremely difficult even to get it off the ground for a second); be amazed at the Himalayan scenery with Buddhist monasteries, rivers, waterfall - and above all, the amazing peaks way above everything else.

The day we crossed the pass was unforgettable. The afternoon before we had hiked up 400 meters (1,300 feet) from Muktinath to spend the night near the last tea house. It was still dark when we left at 5 AM the next morning. A glistening half-moon showed us the way behind our porter and we needed no flashlights. In an icy cold serene, stark landscape we moved ever higher and higher. Our hands and feet were getting numb from cold. We had hoped for warmth when the sun finally came out, but it seemed to get even colder at the higher elevations.

Five hours later we had gained more than 1,300 meters (4,300 feet) to reach what seemed like the top of the world, Thorong La ("La" means pass in Tibetan) at 5,416 meters (17,771 feet). Spreading Surain's ashes here was the most moving ceremony - surrounded by high, snowy peaks, but above all remembering how Surain and I had first gotten together at this fantastic place. We could have stayed much longer, hadn't we started to worry about our frozen toes.

So we trotted down the other side and stopped at the first little village. There was snow on the tent and the thermometer showed -5°C (23°F) inside the tent vestibule the next morning.