Back to Oz !

Wed been doing it real tough at the Sheraton Sengiggi making decisions that even Bear Grylls would have struggled with - how many of the available 75 courses for breakfast could we possibly stomach, how many hours could one swim in the Hotels tropical style swimming pool without becoming a prune and how cheap could we possibly get an Indonesian T shirt for !

In search of the answer to the latter we decided to leave our hotel by the beach front heading into Sengiggi noting previously that hawkers had been kept to a certain point on the beach front by the hotels security guards.

We soon found out why that exclusion zone existed when we were accosted from all angles by people selling everything from pearls to sunglasses sadly though for us at a price higher than that at the nearby shops we'd visited yesterday.

Not wanting to discourage the local black market economy though we bought up enough tee shirts to allow us to make a gracious escape with a number of shirt hangers indicating they'd look out for us on the way back !

Even at 9.00 the heat and humidity was oppressive with the sweat just rolling down your foreheads forcing us into a quick retreat back to the hotel and of course the swimming pool - what else !

Having checked out we spent most of the afternoon poolside before finally jumping into our prebooked car for the 1plus hours journey back to Lombok airport. While our outgoing driver delighted in sharing historical and geographical Lombok facts our returning driver seemed more interested in the macabre- "see that pool of blood / smashed motorbike - the rider is dead our driver said bluntly - " no helmet no licence no rules" he remarked as a general comment about the thousands of scooter riding Indonesians who ride accordingly while compressing 5 lanes of traffic into one !

Back at Lombok airport we coincidentally had the same guy who dealt with our missing luggage a week ago checking us in - "hope you don't lose your bag this time" he said with a wry smile !

Having met up with Mark and Katrina who'd also been luxuriating at a Senggigi resort for the last couple of days (read bored with nothing to do) we progressed through Customs to the departure area where I realised with some aguish that I'd left my i pad at the Sheraton Resort

In an amazing act of customer service a phone call soon had them racing to Lombok airport with my IPad making it just 5 minutes prior to our boarding - Wow with a big W !

Now back in KL it's one final lazy day of more relaxing (did we really trek Nepal) before we head back to OZ tonight courtesy of our midnight flight - after a week of oppressive heat were looking forward to it !

R&R Days - Gilli Air & Sengiggi Indonesia !

A pre requirement (Monika & Katrina) to trekking in Nepal was that we'd spend some days recovering doing "nothing" prior to our return to OZ !

With that in mind and a number of Thai and Malaysian Island destinations off the list because of the extreme weather conditions pre monsoon we thought we'd try the sauna like conditions of the reputedly beautiful Gilli Islands a 3 hour flight from KL in Indonesia !

Gilli Air has a reputation for being quiet and we couldn't have picked better - no motorised transport (donkey carts , push-bikes and a few electric scooters) no activities other than swimming, drinking and eating and you guessed it after 2 days I was starting to go stark raving mad ! The beaches were OK the locals were great (so was our accommodation) but the average age of those on the Island was a little over 16 - just under our age group !

From Gilli Air we escaped back on to the Lombok mainland to the Sheraton Sengiggi a resort where against doing nothing is the main aim !

The Sheraton though has offered us some unique firsts -

- Where arriving cars and luggage are checked for bombs - makes you feel a little less comfortable!
- Where the hotels gym has the most unneeded attraction a sauna where simply stepping out into the sun (32c and 100% humidity) is enough to have you sweating bucket loads in seconds !
- Where I sighted my first full sunbathing burqa covered woman - yep you guessed it she had to put sunscreen on her nose and her feet the only uncovered bits on her whole body !

Needless to say both Gilli and the Sengiggi have offered us a chance to relax and add back a few of those KGs lost from Nepal !

I will progressively update the blog with trip photos - in the interim have a look at how tough were doing it post Nepal !

Some Nepalese Moments !

The Eastern European plastic surgeon in Pheriche on his 15th visit to Nepal - "its the only way I can lose weight I love coming back" !

The sight of 4 helicopters at Gorakshep waiting to evacuate some of the AS sick Indian contingent - pity their insurance company at $7,000 US a flight !

The amount of trekkers completing unfinished treks from 2015 - Earthquake interrupted !

My brother Mark and Katrina on the high bridge near Namche confronted by a herd of Yaks with nowhere to go - nearly the first people in Nepal to bungy jump without a bungy ;!

The average wage of a Nepalese worker -  just over $3,000 per annum

Average cost of accommodation of a tea house on Everest trek - $3-5 per night !

Number of permits issued to climb Everest and Lhotse during the 2016 season = 320 plus !

The number of nose and throat clearing events while trekking at altitude = lost bloody count !

The amount of bacterial germs in Nepal according to my brother = way too many to avoid dirrorhea !

Day 19 /20 - Warmer "Climes” - Kathmandu

After the rigours of nearly 3 weeks of trekking it was nice to relax in the calm cosmopolitan city of Kathmandu the city that invented the euphemistic term "load shedding" to describe regular and lengthy power cuts and where crossing any road requires a security detail of people ready at any moment to sacrifice their life on your behalf !

Still it was good to be back - the friendly smiles of our hotel staff the friendly questioning by our tee shirt man Ahktar who wanted to know how many dozen people I'd  signed up and the  mainly friendly staff at the million and one trekking shops we'd visited in search of brand name sunglasses that cost $5 or less !

With our touring out of the way we hung around to meet up with Birbal - first of all do some Wholesale shopping a bit purchasing a heater in the middle of summer before taking a taxi to the outer burbs of Kathmandu to check out the progress on Birbal's new house being built courtesy of a govt loan - having to currently share 2 rooms with 5 members of his family this will be luxury !
From here the Taxi bounced oiver roads similar to those paths encountered on the Everest trail before touching base with Birbal's family his wife Bishnu, his very likeable son Birbek and Birbals mum who treated us to a great family dinner where we were able to discuss the ins and outs of each other's society !

Saying goodbye till next we bid a fond farewell to Birbals family making our way back to the Manaslu and generally happening a slack last day in Kathmandu before our 11.30 p.M. flight to KL with Mark and Katrina

Nepal had definitely left a lasting impression on all of us for Mark, Katrina and Monika for not all good reasons but for self the lure of adventure to some of the most beautiful mountains on this planet will have me back at some point in the future !

We said a farewell to Nepal and boarded our Malaysian Airlines flight grateful to have purchased seats with extra leg room and not so grateful to have found out on boarding the that our check in person had instead decided to seat us in about the smallest width seats on the plane - an issue ill definitely be taking up with Malaysian  !

For the moment it's time for so e well earned r&r on the Gilli Islands in Indonesia !

Fwd: Day 17/18 - Back to Luxury - Lukla / Kathmandu

If there's doubt about the fitness of the locals then consider the upcoming EBC - Namche marathon, what had taken us 2& 1/2 days to descend is usually completed in 4 hours by a local of course!

From Phakding it was a breeze to Lukla despite some testing uphill segments - those red blood cells were finally kicking in or just maybe it was the thought of finally having a hot shower after 7-8 days of using baby wipes !

We finally entered the memorial arch at Lukla with Monika running up the last 10 steps as you do !

Our accommodation on the airport provided for its usual great views. There was little left to do but have an evenings celebration with Birbal and Tilak over a few Sherpa beers recounting some of the trails and tribulations of our 17 day trek- and there were many believe me !

Celebration was limited though (so was the sleep) as we limped out of bed the following morning at 5.00a.m. for a 6.00a.M. assembly at the airport all of a 20 metre walk away !

With Lukla's position next to some pretty unmovable mountains - flights are commonly delayed because of weather the most recent record being for 9 days when the town not only run out of beds but also food because of the backlog of irate trekkers

For us it was an initial delay of an hour when we went to board our aircraft before being immediately pulled off because this time the weather in Kathmandu was up the creek !

Roll forward another 2 hours and we were finally under way undertaking that thrilling Lukla takeoff where the runway disappears into a cavernous hole !  We then progressively dodged extensive cloud build ups arriving in Kathmandu 50 minutes later after what is normally a 30 min flight

We traversed the wet streets of Kathmandu arriving at our hotel saying goodbye to Birbal (till tomorrow) and making a b line for the showers to scrape off 2 weeks accumulated dirt before arranging laundry to and rescue our walking clothes !

After some catch up sleep in our AC room we wandered into the Thamel where I caught up with a barber / masseuse / healer who proceeded to turn me back into a normal human being or least looking like one !

As so happens I caught up with Mark and Katrina successful EBCers who'd returned a day earlier and we arranged for an evening Raddison buffet style to make up for a week's worth of soup & rice !

While successful their story sounded like hard work enduring AS, fever, dirrorhea, cold and the Khumbu cough to somehow make it to EBC - or at least they think they made it as their photos showed - they can't remember as they were in a daze !

With much reminiscing I think we both agreed that the trek was a lot harder than what it looks on the surface although my biafran looking body is a bit of a give away clue !

Day 16 - Back to Phakding - Phakding 2400 metres

If there were Olympoic events for weightlifting with your neck or carrying loads with your nose 6 inches from the ground the Nepalese would clean up big time based on the evidence of what is seen on trail - these guys are just phenomenal !

We had it easy descending from Namche to Phadking taking 4 hours compared to the 7 hours heading up so had the opportunity to observe close up the amazing efforts of these human oxen as they managed their 50-100 kg loads seemingly without even breaking into a sweat. A good Aussie friend of ours (bulky 6 foot 2) attempted to carry a 40-50 kg load by neck strap on our trek in 2009 and not only fell straight over but to this day still suffers a neck niggle !

Our descent gave us a final view of Everest (clouded) and the usual just less than terrifying views from the high suspension bridge (opening to Everest movie) which swings precariously in anything more than a zephyr of a breeze - disarming to say the least !

We even had the luxury of an ice cold sprite courtesy of about the only working fridge in Nepal near Monju before racing into Phakding close to midday

Monika's desire not to stay at our crappy accommodation (we stayed here on the way up) in Phakding even had us momentarily contemplating going all the way to Lujka but an ominous build up of cloud which soon became an afternoon thunderstorm resulting in pretty solid rain put a kibosh on those plans !

It was hard to believe that just a week ago we were at Base Camp congratulating ourselves on our effort while also wondering how Burma's climbers attempt to be their country's first ascent of Everest would go (attempt due in the next week)

For us it was time to recover by doing little other than play cards, listen to the rain and enjoy umpteen cups of hot lemon drink to help repair our dry throats caused by continued exposure to high altitude and in Monika's case her persistent asking of Birbal "are we there yet" !

Roll on Lukla !

Day 15 - A Joint Force Again ! - Namche 3450 metres !

After consecutive days of less than ideal weather the sun finally made an appearance providing for great views of nearby Thamserku (6,800 metres) as we set about to complete our descent from the Goyko Valley en route to Namche and civilisation !

The steep downward trail contained virtually all the way back to Phortse as we gave up over 1,000 metres in altitude from Goyko luxuriating in the oxygen rich air after yesterday's breathless ascent of Goyko RI at 5360 metres !

Near Phortse we begun a steep climb to Mongla at 4,000 metres (it had taken Monika 2 painful hours a few days previously) providing for magic views down the steeply sided valley !After an hour's punishing climb it was time to celebrate the fact that this was the last of our major climbs on trek

From Mongla it was a little short of 2 hours to Namche crossing the track that contained not so distant memories of ill health and rampant dirrorhea !

Back again in Namche it was great to catch up with Monika who thankfully had just about fully recovered from her AS symptoms although having nearly gone crazy after 4 nights in Namche (spare a thought for Tilkak our Porter who'd taken to carrying wood and fetching water after a full days porterage to avoid boredom!)

We took to one the amazing cafes in Namche to celebrate wary this times of having anything other than Coffee!

With the hard parts done we are now only. 2 days from Lukla and dare i say the relative comfort of Kathmandu !

Day 14 - On Top of the World - Dole 4200 metres

At 4.30 a.m. it was all systems go at 4.31a.m. it was a complete whiteout and mission abandoned and at 6.00a.m. it was mission back on as the early sun started to lift the heavy mist - needless to say I was exhausted and we hadn't yet climbed a damned thing !

With some gluggy sustenance supposedly resembling breakfast Birbal & I embarked upon our climb to the peak of Goyko RI a 2 hour incredibly steep climb on a path of switchbacks that progressively unveiled an amazing panoramic vista of the Himalayas.

First came the Emerald coloured Goyko Lakes followed by the expanse of the Ngozumpa Glacier then the mountains bordering the Renjo La Pass before on arrival at the 5,350 metre peak an amazing vista of the big players Everest, Pumori, Lhotse, Nupste, Cho Oyu, Makalu and many others sitting above a sea of low lieing cloud

This was as good as it gets in Himalayan panoramas

After my sensory overload it took an hour of knee bracing to descend to Goyko where we stocked up on some soup and tea before heading back down the Goyko valley !

I was ready for asleep after the 4 hours on Goyko RI but we still had nearly 5 hours of trekking to go first returning to Machermo in the biting conditions before continuing further down the valley to Dole arriving close to 4.p.m. pretty much fully stuffed !

A hot lemon drink and it was time for a reast before returning to the dining room to catch up with Birbal and a Russian couple and their adventures !

As per usual there was little on the calendar other than dinner and bed with Birbal getting pretty damned good at winning two handed 500,!

With another section of downhill we are now only a solid days trek from Namche and catching up with Monika and our porter Tilak.