Mar 2006

21st March 5pm.

Namaste! (hello in nepalese)

Surprise surprise! There is internet access here in Kathmandu and its fairly cheap, about 20 rupees an hour which is about 30 cents

Anyways, Kathmandu city is an amazing place. The city itself is surrounded by the towering Himalayas, it really is beautiful. The people are dark skin and looks very much like indians/pakastani/chinese all mixed together. They are nice but I guess they are used to tourists as trekking is or was quite big for a number of decades here until the Moaist insurgence.

The poverty here reminds me of Vietnam but a lot worse. There are kids just wondering the streets trying to sell you stuff, picking up rubbish, or just seemingly lost.The building are old and looks like it will collapse any second. You walk along the markets and there are bulls amongst the crowd, childing playing, contruction workers and anything else you can think of.

Shops here are very small family type businesses. I went into one yesterday and suddenly the lights went off. The owner laughed and said it happens all the time. Great! So he moves all the rugs on display from the widow to let in some light and then continues to talk broken english about how authentic his goods are.

Well, I had dinner last night and the lights went off as well. Was pretty much eating in the dark. It isn't a good thing when you are trying to see if there are any dodgey bits in the food.

I've been pretty much shopping for some more gear for my trek and doing some sightseeing. There is much more to do and a long trek bekkons starting from tomorrow. Its starting to rain now so i better catch one of those rickshaws back to my hotel. Also, I'm feeling quite safe here in the city as there are many guards and army people with machine guns everywhere. However, on the news yesterday they said the Moaist killed 18 army officers... humm... anwyays, i'm ok now and will take extra care when i'm off trekking in the countryside.

till after my trek, seeyas!

phong

Well, here i am, Sunday 19th March 2006. 4pm. Still packing and flying off tomorrow morning at 1.15am.

Managed to push myself close to 70kgs. I'm expecting to lose about 10kgs while i'm away.

ITINERARY:

At this stage, i'm planning to go for 11 months. Managed to save up a fair bit for this trip but depending on how much I spend, I might be forced into doing slave labour at some dodgey asian restaurants..

First stop is Kathmandu, Nepal. Doing the trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp. Its over 5000m so should be intersting how I go with the high altitude and lack of oxygen. As there will be no internet during my time there, I won't be updating until i get to my next destination, London. Lets hope all goes well. I've got plenty of US$20 bills to donate to (bribe off) the Moaist Rebels. And lets hope my Sherpa doesn't run off with my backpack. Apparently it happens a fair bit.

20/3/2006.Day 01. Kathmandu - 1340M

21/3/2006.Day 02. Kathmandu

22/3/2006.Day 03. Fly to Lukla(2840M) & Trek to Phakding(2800M)- Approx.4 hrs

23/3/2006.Day 04. Trek to Namche Bazzar(3440M)- Approx- 6 hrs

24/3/2006.Day 05. Trek to Syangboche, Rest/Acclimatization ,Back to Namche Bazzar- approx ¾ hrs

25/3/2006.Day 06. Trek to Thame Village & Monastery, Full Day Exploration (3 hrs Approx) (+$35)

26/3/2006.Day 07. Trek to Portse Tanga(3790M)- Approx 4/5 hrs

27/3/2006.Day 08. Trek to Dhole- Approx 3 hrs (+$35)

28/3/2006.Day 09. Trek to MachherMo(4470M)- Approx 4 hrs

29/3/2006.Day 10. Trek to Gokyo Ri (4750M) – Approx 4 hrs

30/3/2006.Day 11. Trek to Gokyo Peak (5463M) and Back to Gokyo Ri- apporx. 4 hrs

31/3/2006.Day 12. Trek to Dragnak- Approx 3 hrs

01/3/2006.Day 13. Trek to Cho-la Pass (5368M) & Trek to Dzongla(4860M)- approx 7 hrs

02/4/2006.Day 14. Trek to Labuche(5018M)- Approx 4 hrs

03/4/2006.Day 15. Trek to Gorakshep- Everest base camp (5364M)- Gorakshep(5170M)- approx 6 hrs

04/4/2006.Day 16. Trek to Kalapattar(5545M) & Trek back down to Labuche( 5018M)- approx 6 hrs

05/4/2006.Day 17. Trek to Chhukung and Trek to Dingboche(4350M)- Approx. 5 hrs

06/4/2006.Day 18. Trek to Tengboche(3860M)- Approx.4/5 hrs

07/4/2006.Day 19. Trek to Manju(2800M)- Approx 5/6 hrs

08/4/2006.Day 20. Trek to Lukla- 5 hrs

09/4/2006.Day 21. Fly to Kathmandu & Transfer to Hotel- (Approx.35-45 min scenic Flight)

Following Nepal, I'll be off to London, Canada, Japan, Korea, China, Mongolia, and Singapore.

Better get back to packing... I'll post next when I get to London.

phong