Apr 30, 2020 - Lukla to Kathmandu

April 30, 2011 Day 21 Lukla to Kathmandu It was a restless night for Nancy and I, as we both had stomach issues. We awoke at 6am and watched the fog outside - it doesn't look good for flying today. We got up and went for breakfast. I had toast, peanut butter and honey - yum. Shortly following I felt ill again so went up to the room for a wee nap which felt good. The porters came to visit and Jagat brought his sister to meet his Canadian 'mom' and 'auntie mom'. He is such a cutie! I went on to the internet and cleaned up my email. The power...

Apr 29, 2020 - Phakding to Lukla

April 29, 2011 Day 20 Phakding to Lukla 2860m - 3.5 hours Woke up at 5:30am and fell back to sleep until 6:30am. We packed up and went down for breakfast. We started hiking by 7:30am. The morning was beautiful and fresh and it was a wonderful hike. I was tired so moved slowly which was nice. We took breaks and the porters walked with us the full time. We arrived into Lukla at 11am and walked to our hotel. We had lunch and waited for the owner to return from the airport to get us our keys (he is also the GM for Tara Air). Our rooms are huge...

Apr 28, 2020 - Namche to Phakding

April 28, 2011 Day 19 Namche to Phakding 2610m - 4.5 hours Around 20C today. I awoke at 4:30am and couldn't go back to sleep. At 5:30am Nancy woke up as well and we chatted. At 7:30am Doris and I went to the market for last minute shopping and rushed back for breakfast. Once breakfast was over we left at 9am and stopped at the police post to get our certificates for EBC and Kala Patthar. We moved quite quickly and reached Jorsale at 11am. It was a bit early for lunch but Phakding is still 2.5 or 3 hours away so we decided to have a little...

Apr 27, 2020 - Phunki Thanga to Namche via Khumjung

April 27, 2011 Day 18 Phunki Thanga to Namche via Khumjung From 3250m to 3785m in Khumjung and 3445m in Namche; 22C enroute I woke up at 6:30am and wandered out to the dining room for some tea. We packed up, had breakfast and said goodbye to the darling little girl. We spoke with three people from Kelowna/Vancouver who had been part of the BC group (Rob) we met at lunch in Lobuche. He had HAPE and then a stomach bug in Dingboche so had to descend. We left at 8:00am and crossed paths with the Canadian trio and their cute porter that Charlene...

Apr 26, 2020 - Pheriche to Phunki Thanga

April 26, 2011 Day 17 Pheriche to Phunki Thanga 3300m Charlene and I slept right through from 9:30pm until 6:45am!! It as absolutely delightful. We got up, packed and ordered breakfast. It was again yummy along with seabuckthorn juice tea. This is a local berry that is full of vitamin C and other great properties. At 9:00am we left and started walking to Pangboche. We arrived shortly after 11am and had tea. We left again at 11:45am and headed on to Tengboche. Enroute Bikesh pointed out one of the porters was carrying a wheel of yak cheese -...

Apr 25, 2020 - GorakShep to Kala Patthar and then Pheriche

April 25, 2011 Day 16 GorakShep to Kala Patthar and then Pheriche 5556m to Kala Patthar - 4.5 hours Pheriche - 4240m Most of the people of the Yeti Resort got up at 4am so we were half awake long before our 5am alarm. At 5:20am Charlene and I had tea and then we left at 5:39am for Kala Patthar. It was about -10C or colder with the wind and lots of snow. Thankfully we had our microspikes on which really helped navigate the steep hill. It was a tough slog today but we made it in less than 2.5 hours at 8:03am. We took a lot of pictures and...

Apr 24, 2020 - GorakShep to Everest Base Camp

April 24, 2011 Day 15 GorakShep to Everest Base Camp 5364m - 6.5 hours with 1 hour lunch/photo break Happy Birthday Charlene! Doris and I woke up at 6:30am and were nice and toasty and didn't want to get up. We packed up and joined Charlene and Ann in the dining room for breakfast. We sang happy birthday to Charlene and handed out Easter candies to the group, Bikesh and the porters. Charlene's family had sent cards for today so she was very pleased to get them. Bikesh gave her a lovely gift as well. We left for Base Camp finally at 8:20am....

Apr 21, 2020 - Dingboche - Acclimatization Day

April 21, 2011 Day 12 Acclimatization Day at Dingboche 3440m to 3650m - 3 hours We were up around 6:30am and had breakfast and got ready for our acclimatization hike. Ann had been up most of the night so was not feeling well - everyone else seemed to be doing ok. We finally left at 8:20am and climbed up to the Stupa at 4500m and up the hill to 4650m.

Apr 20, 2020 - Pangboche to Dingboche

April 20, 2011 Day 11 Pangboche to Dingboche 4410m - 5 hours including 1/2 hour break 15 to 20C Daytime, 5C night We woke up around 5:30am and a good thing as my alarm was set for 7am instead of 6am. We packed our bags and went upstairs for a yummy breakfast. I had rice pudding and shared hash browns with Charlene and both were excellent! Today Doris and Ann aren't feeling up to par, however Nancy is doing much better. We departed at 7:40am and walked slowly, slowly towards Dingboche stopping every so often. We stopped at a traditional...

Oct 19, 2019 - The final countdown

Here it is, the end of another trip and one which we all feel really sad now that it is finishing. It hasn't gone out quietly though which isn't a surprise as Karma was involved this morning. The national sport is archery with competitors firing at targets from 140 yards, there are inter-valley tournaments, as well as local village tournaments. From Karma's description gamesmanship of the highest order is in play to, so confirming our description of Sunday morning football, and lines like "my daughter could shoot it further than that" are...

Oct 11, 2019 - Kathmandu

So after a lot of sitting down in airports, on trains and planes we have arrived at our first destination, the wonderfully chaotic city of Kathmandu. Arrived at Heathrow early having avoided the extinction rebellion that was taking place in central London (the pollution from the increasingly static and frustrated traffic was way above usual levels). Met up with the group, a couple of whom I have met previously but typically it seems like a good mix of people and ages (I'm not the youngest unfortunately!). Flying with Emirates, got to fly on...

Mar 29, 2019 - Return to Kathmandu

Long drive back to Kathmandu today. Actually only 200 km but took 7.5 hours. Winding mountain roads all the way and then major roadworks in Kathmandu causing chaos. Relief to finally reach our hotel and god to find we have been upgraded to a suite. Pity we are only here for a night.