Nepal - Kathmandu & Pokhara

Back in Kathmandu, we decided to be tourists once again and jumped in a rickshaw to head out to the Swayambhunath Temple, or 'Monkey Temple'.

The Rickshaw ride was fabulous apart from when we encountered any kind of a hill we had to get out and walk!

The Monkey Temple; a fantastic temple on the top of a hill in the middle of the city. Golden Buddhas and prayer flags were everywhere.

As were its namesakes; the monkeys!

Off up the stall-lined steps to the temple.

The steps steapened into a crescendo as we got nearer and nearer to the Stupa.

Nearly there.

Fantastic views of the city.

With prayer flags all over the place it reminded me of our village fete back home.

The huge Stupa with its all seeing eyes.

All around the shrines were buildings, some belonging to the monastery and some housing waifs and strays. People and rubbish were strewn everywhere, it looked little like a place of worship!

And stall after stall after stall selling all sorts.

Before long we had completed our clockwise circuit of the area and headed back down the steps through the monkeys.

To our little rickshaw, which broke on the way back and had to be pushed the rest of the way,

There was always something to see on the streets of Kathmandu, the hustle & bustle was incredible as traffic weaved around and shops spilled out in every direction. We decided to walk down to Durban Square, a famous religious area in Kathmandu.

Durban Square was the main area for travellers to visit and stay in the 60/70/80's where they would settle in for ages and form an almost commune lifestyle. This included lots of 'hippie' drug taking. This temple was the favorite spot for such indulgence and although no one can be seen partaking these days it is still known as the 'Hippie Temple'.

The square is a collection of temples, all very beautiful but teeming with activity.

The Rickshaw drivers lie in wait at the bottom of the Hippie Temple.

This part of the Old Royal Palace was designed based on our very own Buckingham Palace, where (when there was a royal family i.e. before the Prince went crazy in 2001 and shot and killed the entire Royal Family!) The Royal Family would watch and wave on special occasions.


This building houses a young girl who they hail as a living goddess. This girl will live here until she hits puberty, dressed up in special clothes and looked after by a special monks. She is chosen by her birth being under a certain set of circumstances e.g. under a certain moon, in a certain cycle etc, etc. Once she hits puberty she will be returned to normal life and they will look for a replacement.

Ever crazy with activity.

And shops everywhere.

The big bell which is tolled once a year on a special festival day to call the Buddha.

Kenny with a little dressed up man, the man is no one special but makes his living from posing for photos.

Temple after temple.

Inside the Old Royal Palace. It was closed to Westerners at the time we visited, but a bit of smiley chat with the gaurd bought us 5 minutes to take a few snaps.

Outside the temple there was an engraving in many, many different languages (you can spot English in this shot?). This was carved by a past king who challenges anyone to be able to read and understand it.

Tree growing out of a temple wall.

Looking down on Durban Square.

Just off the square was 'Freak Street' this was where all the Hippies resided, famous in the guide books but, to be honest, must have been passed its prime as there was not much to see here.

Freak Street.

We started out on the long bus trip to Pokhara. The bus was basic and a bit cramped but I am not sure why Kenny is looking so glum, as it was me who had the 'incident'.
As the bus had no loo I usually take every opportunity to visit one each time they stop. The roadside loos are, as predicted, not very nice. They are all squat loos, smelly, dirty and have an open drain swilling away our little deposits. In this particular WC, one had to walk through the shallow drain to get out of the toilet area. Upon trying to navigate this dunny drain I lost my footing and fell arse first into it! I hasten to add this was not the highlight of the trip for me and the locals were enlightened to a crash course in English swear words, leaving them in no doubt as to what I was covered in. I was certainly not looking forward to the rest of the bus journey. All I can say is thank god for wet wipes! (Oh and the clean shorts I had in my bag). However 'every cloud has a silver lining' and I was given priority getting on and off the bus for the rest of the day as no one wanted to come near me!

We wound our way through paddy fields to the delightful Pokhara.

Wonderful clean streets.

At the edge of a beautiful lake.

With the mountains behind (behind that cloud is Annapurna).

We found a wonderful guesthouse.

Up a quiet country lane. The whole place was a welcome stint of relative luxury.

We of course hired a boat to go rowing on the lake.

Well I say "we". I did most of it!
(I was busy with the camera. Plus we only had one orr! - K)

What a place, warm but not hot, busy yet peaceful, comfortable yet cheap! Plus they had a massage parlour on every corner!
(That sounds dodgy. It isn't. They don't have those types in the tourist areas of Nepal. - K)

Everything here happens in slow motion, there were no more loud car horns, the cows were free to roam.

Hawkers wandered selling their wares.

Pokhara is famous for its paragliding, as it has beautiful views and an easy 'drive to' the take off point.
A little known fact about me is that about 10 or so years ago I did my training to become a paraglider pilot and hold a Club Pilot Licence. Although I have not flow for a good few years having known the exhilaration of 'flying' in the most natural way possible I was super keen for Kenny to have a go. He needed no pursuasion as he is a flying geek (this came out wrong I do not mean he is a geek who flies but simply a geek when it comes to all things flight related, planes etc....).
(Thanks, dear. Here's a spade! - K)

As predicted he loved it as his grin clearly shows (oh no yet another expensive sport we both want to continue when we get back!)
(My instructor was a hilarious French guy and a brilliant instructor called Serge. He enlisted the help of a team of locals to help out with setting up and packing away the wing. These guys all spoke good English, but with a very pronounced French accent! - K)

The veiw from the flight.

We headed back to Kathmandu for our flight out to Bangkok. Before we left I had to do some shopping, the stuff here is so beautiful. We had been in this shop before, it is run by monks who do these incredible paintings of 'Wheels of Time' (a Buddhist meditation painting). Even a small painting takes weeks to complete as they are so detailed. Monks practice for years to become good at them and the chap we are pictured with here is a 'master'. Most of the income generated by the sale of the picutres goes to support local viallage initiatives, they are currently raising funds for a small village to have a clean water supply and electricity. We decided to purchase one of his smaller paintings (the largest ones cost thousands of dollars and take months to paint), he carefully explained what the wheel meant, how different seasons, etc, were represented and how the monks will focus on this painting to help with their meditation. The purchase of this painting represented everything from our visit to Nepal. Its beauty unsurpassed by anything we had seen before, the spirtuallity which encourages a friendliness and peace, an awareness of those who have less than themselves and the endevours to change this but most of all its colourfulness. Nepal is a vibrant, exciting and exhilerating place to visit, full of suprises and smiles.

Everest Base Camp Part II

After staying in Lobuche, at 4910 meters, we set off on day 8 for the Everest Base Camp day!

The walking was cold and pretty bleak. After stopping in at our tea house, in Gorak Shep (5140 meters) for lunch we continued to walk along a pathway skirted by mountains over increasingly rockier terrain.

Before too long we could see EBC in the distance.

The track became narrower but was an easy ascent.

Before too long we arrived! Grey, uneventful and with no sight whatsoever of Everest!

It is so strange to arrive at EBC as there is nothing to see.

Only very few yellow expedition tents were there as it was very early in the climbing season. It takes 8 days to hike to the Nepali Everest Base Camp, just over the ridge you can drive to the Tibetan Everest BC! (5600 meters)

Not quite a flag on the summit but we were both very proud to have got here. A long-held dream fulfilled. An incredible journey, we were both very tired after little sleep, very cold and fairly weak after not being able to eat much more than a couple of chocolate bars for the last few days. The trekking to EBC is not difficult, no really extreme level of fitness is required. It is how your body reacts to being at altitude for 8 days that determines how well you get there. Many people turn back. In fact we had to pair up with another group as their guide had to return before EBC! We knew what to expect from altitude, having been up to this height before, but you can never prepare for the feeling of such a lack of Oxygen. The best way to describe it is that walking on the flat feels as though you are walking up a steep hill, and walking up a steep hill feels like you are walking up an extremely steep hill (in terms of breathing that is - your legs feel fine)!

The only marker to signify we had made it, Everest Base Camp at 5365 meters.

Of course the temperature means the visit is brief!

A celebratory hot chocolate.

Back in the tea house the exhausted bodies huddled round the only stove are tell-tale of the day.

The following day was a trek up a mountain called Kala Pattar (5545 meters). Being higher than EBC and on the other side of the valley means it is the best place to actually see Everest. Everest is the one at the back, slightly darker with what looks like a white spot on it. Kenny had had a shocking nights sleep (we think he had a tooth abscess) so stayed behind in bed. I set off for the long uphill walk once again with little sleep and little food but armed with my almost bloody minded sense of determination and continued up and up.

I did however have the wondrous sight of Everest to keep me going, which I did have to stop to look at frequently, and which did give me shivers every time I saw it.
It was hard work. I was so tired. When I go running at home with my dad, he sometimes tells me that when you feel like you cannot keep going (for me often after just a mile or 2!) instead of focusing on the bits that hurt focus on the bits that do not. (It really works, I know quite a few people who are reading this and keen runners, so try it next time.) Walking up Kala Pattar, my lungs felt like they were going to explode and I had one of those awful altitude headaches at the top of my neck but, hey, my feet and legs felt fine.

Boy oh boy the hike was worth it! Just to the left of the bend in the glacier is Base Camp and Everest is ............... well ................... the highest one!

Me and Everest. The best feeling ever!

After collecting Kenny from the tea house we decided to walk lower down as his tooth really was playing up and both of us needed some easier sleep. As you can see it snowed.

Kenny looking a little miserable.

It is amazing how quickly you can go back down again! The feeling of getting more and more oxygen is like a tonic and the scenery helps a lot too.

A man and the mountains.

Just before one of the bigger descents.

The mountains become higher above us, and things start to grow again.

Soon we could see the valley once more.

We came across so many Yak trains all carrying summit expedition kit.

Being further down the mountain certainly had the effect on returning my energy and sense of humour. I had read 'Between A Rock And A Hard Place', the book behind the movie '127 Hours', where Aron Ralston traps his hand while in a remote canyon, and has to drink his own wee. Don't worry guys, mine is Mango flavored cordial to disguise the taste of the water purification tablets.

Back in Namche setting off for our last days trekking, it was snowing again.

So behind me were 2 porters carrying boxes of bottles of beer, Kenny reckons they have between 70-80 kgs on their backs! (They each had 6 cases of Pepsi, each case containing 12 litres of the stuff. You do the maths! - K)

Back in the valley bottom and the snow turns to rain.

Nearly back in Lukla! The Rhododendron is the national flower of Nepal and there are lots of them in the valley floor which were just coming into bloom as we arrived.

We made it - thanks to our team. Upendra (our guide), Valkrishna (our porter) and of course me & Kenny. It feels good, and warmer!!!!

When I look at this now it is so obvious how little sleep we got. Tired but very, very happy.

Happy, that is, until I realised that I still had the extreme flight out of Lukla to contend with the follow day.

Kenny took this out of the plane window as I sat with my eyes closed praying to whatever god I thought might protect me at the time.

Finally very relieved to be back in Kathmandu, ready for a glass of wine and a bed.
(By the way, this is the high-tech baggage claim at Kathmandu Domestic Arrivals terminal - K)

Everest beer & Kenny - well deserved!

With it all successfully over it feels strange. I already have forgotten how cold it was. I have forgotten how horrid the toilets and how hard the beds were. I have forgotten how difficult to was to breath sometimes and how many times I woke in a night. I have even forgotten how smelly we were after no showers for 2 weeks.

But, I will never forget how truely magnificiently beautiful the mountains were and how spine tingelingly excited I felt being so close to Everest, the top of the world.