Back low again

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Wandered down the valley over the past two days and caught a flight from Lukla early this morning so now typing from Kathmandu again.

Last two days on the hills were good fun but tinged with sadness at having to leave the confused idyll of the highest place on earth.

Bought a new football on arrival in Lukla and gathered the teenagers of the village (and a few others) for a great game of football really quite close to the cliff edge. The pitch was riddled with boulders and stones and the game suffered as a result but it was awesome to have a dozen keen and laughing Nepalese to run around with under the snowy mountains. My star striker (Nepalese kid of about fourteen) scored nine or ten goals so I awarded him the match ball :-)

Loud music and dancing late into the night (which is any time after 9pm in the mountains) last night and a tough, heart-felt goodbye from RB this morning. He's been a truly treasured hiking buddy the last few weeks and desperately awaits my return to so we can go and run into a few more snowstorms on the crests of the highest land waves. Karma (one of our porters) awaits my return next year so he can add more altitude to his Sherpa c.v. The pressure for return is building. One last bit is Shaleish - who couldn't get a room in the hotel down here (the trekking season is beginning proper now) so is bunking in with me - he is very keen to organise a 6,000m+ expedition with me. So, there will be some planning to be done but do let me know if you think you fancy a trek out to Nepal next year, some 4,000m+ hikes to warm up, a few 5,000m+ hikes to heat up, and a crescendo of coughing to take us up a 6,000m+ peak. Is that a dream? I dunno, it feels very real at the moment so who knows.

Anyway, last day here tomorrow as I fly out early Sunday morning. Have arranged to go shopping with Shaleish. Yeah, I know what you're thinking - me - shopping? This is different - there's an orphanage here that Shaleish helps out when he can so we're off to the market to buy as many notebooks, pencils, books, clothes, volley-balls, and footballs as my remaining Nepalese Rupees will gain us :-)

It's amazing how noisy life is down here in "society" - weeks without cars or motorbikes has been true bliss. The Solukhumbu is such a magical place but so many humans are trying their darndest to ruin it. The government is in the process of approving the building of a road to Lukla. A direct result of tourists getting stranded in Lukla when the weather closes in and the planes can't fly. Cases are being sited of British people who have been delayed on their return and lost their jobs. So now we must pave over some of the most beautiful valleys on earth because a few people were late returning from their holiday?

Why must we always desire more? Why can't we learn to love what's there without ruining it?

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