A totally different adventure!

Now we've arrived in Chituan National Park after a 5 hour bus ride from Kathmandu. We're staying here for three nights and will go back to Kathmandu on June 3rd. We have a full itiniary while here, including elephant ride and bathing of the elephant, canoe trip and jeep safari.

The temperature is 32-35 degrees Celcius and humidity is high. A total change from down jackets and bivouac boots in the mountains, but oh so nice! If you're going trekking I recommend taking a trip here afterwards. It only takes four days in total and is a complete contrast to what we've done earlier. Photos will come when I get home!

Kathmandu

Now we're back in Kathmandu, flew in from Lukla yesterday. Since we only brought mountain-clothes we spent the day shopping in the tourist district of Thamel. The pendulum has swung and I'm now wearing red nail polish on both my fingers and toes!

We're back earlier than exptected so we're going to Chituan on Safari the day after tomorrow. It will be a total change from mountains to elephants. We're staying there 4 days and 3 nights and return to Kathmandu on June 4th.

You can see a few pictures from our trip here but I'll post lots of pictures when I get home.

Back in Namche

We're now back in Namche Bazaar (3400 meters above sea level) and are going to fly back to Kathmandu on May 28th. That's a little earlier than we reconned but three weeks in the mountains is ok with me. We've had a great time but I'm really looking forward to some modern day comforts like a real shower (I'll tell you about the ingenious ones we've had up here) and clean clothes. Since we'll have extra many days in Kathmandu we've decided to go on a small safari for four days or so before we get on the plane destined for Stockholm on June 6th. Sun, warmth and riding on elephants sounds like the perfect contrast!

Take care, everyone!

Hello from Dingboche...

... the world's highest internet cafe at 4400 meters above sea level.

We have so far been up Gokyo Ri, crossed the Cho La pass and summited Kala Pattar (5550 meters above sea level ) and visited Everest Base Camp yesterday. What a strange place that was with all those tents perched on top of piles of gravel on top of the glacier! We even had apple pie at the Everest Base Camp Bakery.


Things are going well, we haven't experienced serious altitude problems. Y had a headache on the couple of highest days and I've gotten a cold that makes breathing a hazzle when going up hill in the thin air. Apart from that we haven't had any problems at all, really. Stomachs and all have been fine, but I do recommend a vegetarian diet in this area. We have been strongly advised not to eat meat because chances are it's been carried up from the airport at Lukla even if it says 'yak meat' on the menu.

We'll probably be in Kathmandu again on May 31st or so.

We're acclimatizing pretty well

We met our guide / porter P yesterday. He's a nice guy. We went on a small acclimatization trip today to Khumjung and back to Namche. P was walking a small distance in front of us with his hands on his back or in his pockets, humming, most of the way. So the atmosphere is good. We're coping much better with the altitude than yesterday morning, and the hills we walked today weren't much of a problem. You can see a few photos here.

I probably won't be able to update until early June, so have a nice month of May, everybody!

Namche Bazaar

We were coping pretty well with our backpacks for the first day but were repeatedly told by people we met we should hire a porter to carry our load. The second day, on our way from Phakding to Namche Bazaar, we met our contact here in Nepal. Our contact in Kathmandu was his manager, we now met F himself. We have a lot of respect for this guy and when he told us that maybe our packs were ok down here (around 2500 - 3000 meters above sea level) but they certainly wouldn't be higher up. The smart thing to do was to take his advise, and we did. We accepted his offer to send a guide who could also carry for us from Lukla the next day. We also left our tent and the cooking equipment in a safe tea house we'll pass on the way down again. We realized in the hills up to Namche Bazaar that we had made the right decision. Today we're taking an extra rest day here in Namche. We'll be back on schedule tomorrow and do an acclimatization trip before we spend one more night here in Namche. On Tuesday we'll head for Dole. We're doing fine, just a little bit tired. Since we don't have a head ache, altitude sickness shouldn't be a problem.

Take care! We will. We now even have someone to take care of us!

Mount Everest Base Camp

We heard yesterday that Everest Base Camp was closed to trekkers because of the Chinese bringing the Olympic Torch to the top of Mount Everest from the Tibet side. Today we saw in the newspapers that they succeeded last night (photo above). Our contact here in Kathmandu also told us today that they will open Base Camp for trekkers again on May 10th - in good time for our expected arrival there around the 20th. I'm very glad. Of course it is one of the highlights of our trek to visit Everest Base Camp but even more important is the fact that from Everest Base Camp we're hoping to be able to contact those at home and let them know we're ok.

Now we have to go back to the hotel to finish packing. And then, tomorrow morning, we're off to Lukla!

Take care, everyone! You'll here from me again as soon as I have the opportunity!

Life in Kathmandu

I already feel quite accostomed to life in Kathmandu. Things don't feel so caotic anymore and the volume here doesn't bother me like it did the first day. We are receiving our trekking permit from our contact tonight and are flying to Lukla tomorrow morning. I felt more prepared to go to the mountains when we arrived here than I do now. It's quite warm here, probably 27 - 30 degrees Celcius and people absoloutely everywhere.

What strikes me most is the poverty. People are saving money in ways I never have imagined, like only turning on the lights in your shop window at night if someone stops to look at your goods. We're comfortable here now but it I am very much looking forward to going to the mountains. And very excited and nervous too!

Kathmandu

We have now arrived in Kathmandu after three flights: one from Oslo to Stockholm where I met up with Y, then from Stockholm to Doha (Quatar, Arabic Peninsula) and from Doha to Kathmandu. I've never visited a non-western country before and was quite overwhelmed at first. Y has fortunately been traveling in similar cities before so I'm leaning on her.

We're flying to Lukla (the mountains) on Friday May 9th. Our contact picked us up at the airport and will drive us to the airport on Friday. I was really happy to have someone waiting for us as there was a crowd of taxi drivers trying to get a hold of us outside the airport.

Our adventure doesn't start for real until Friday, but I feel quite adventorous here anyway.

Take care! We will.

I'll see you all soon again!

It's now mere hours until departure. I have a few select things to fix before I go but will be on my way very soon. Hopefully I'll be able to put up a post while in Kathmandu before we leave for the mountains. Until next time I leave you with this classic of a song. I'll be back before you know it! Take care, everybody!

The Day Before Departure

I have been escaping my Travel Fever most of the day by wandering around a sunbathed Oslo. Spring is truly here! In the collage of our day above I've even included a picture of myself wearing the blue, stripy dress Mum and I found while searching for treasure a while ago.

I can't believe we're leaving tomorrow!

A Wonderful Card from a Wonderful Friend

Today I received the most wonderful card from an old friend.

You always know how to make people feel great, M! I'm so grateful to know you and I hope everyone around you knows what a fantastic person you are. I'm sure they do! Thank you so much for such fantastic wishes for a safe journey. I'll write you a card. Promise! And I will blow you "a kiss from the dizzy heights!!"

The shopping monster won't rest...

...not even now that I leave in three days for a month in Nepal. Not even now that I should be saving all my money for spending a month in Nepal. Not even now that I won't be able to wear what I buy until early June. Then again, look at the wonderful stuff I found 2nd hand today. To the left is a skirt and the green, floral thing is a floor length dress. The dress even comes with a cute see-through shoulder-cover-thing. I hope I have the guts to wear that too. I seldom shop second hand but this time I found heaps. I guess my taste has changed a bit and I've got UnderbaraClara and Stylebytes to thank for that.

PS. This is the first published photo taken with my new camera!

3 days to go; Fixing Day

I've spent the whole day wandering around, fixing things. The main objective was not getting stressed out and just take things easy. Apart from an angry work-related email received this morning I have succeded my calm plan. The email mentioned was due to my lightheadedness at work the past week. I had totally forgotten to fix the poor guys issue. Still a very bad start to the day. It ended better though.

Having exchanged my Norwegian currency to US $ (great exchange rate these days!) and shopped the last little things I now feel almost ready to go. There's still some things to do, though. My new multifuel stove was sent express today and will hopefully arrive tomorrow. I ordered it weeks ago and they claim it was sent Tuesday last week but it's not here. I have a couple of hours in the morning on Monday before departure to pick it up at the post office if it fails to arrive tomorrow. So I won't let myself freak out about it - yet.

I among other little things purchased the sunglasses pictured above. They are the exact same glasses I've had for six years now; Adidas Elevation Pro. I'm so happy with my old pair I just bought the same ones over again. The old ones are so scratched up it always seems foggy when I wear them. An old friend once said to me; "I'm so glad you're not too vein to wear those glasses". "Well, thank you", I thought. "Or?!?". Coming from one of the most down to earth people I know it was a compliment. And I've taken it as a funny one. And yeah - I do look redicolous in those glasses but they are the best fitting glasses for mountaineering ever.

Backpack-sending day

Above you see my backpack, ready for transportation to Sweden. Y is picking it up in a few hours to take it to Stockholm by car. That way I don't have to worry about it getting lost on the flight from Oslo to Stockholm. Checking in for Kathmandu in Stockholm without my backpack would be a total nightmare. It now weighs 19,9 kg's and the baggage limit is 20 kg's. I'm hoping it will weigh 18 kg's when we leave for the mountains. Even though not everything is coming to the mountains we'll have to do some rationalisation when in Kathmandu. I'll bring some stuff in my hand luggage on Monday, like my camera, some toiletries, an abundance of pills and sunglasses. And probably some more stuff that I have forgotten. We have some tough decisions to make.