Riz7

It's been a few years since I was last here, but I arrive in Kathmandu off a flight from Bangkok. I've come to Nepal to trek to Gokyo Lakes and Everest Base Camp. I haven't had to arrange the trek as I contacted my friend Khim in Pokhara who has his own trekking company, and he has arranged just about everything for me. The trek is planned to take 17 days and will take me from a start at Lukla to Namche, up the valley to Gokyo, across a high pass to the Khumbu valley, onto Everest Base Camp and then back down the main valley following the main Everest trail back to Tengboche, Namche and Lukla. Khim meets me at the airport, and he has booked a good boutique hotel in Thamel for me. We ... read more

I was cold last night, but the camp looks good in the morning sun. I don’t need to start too early, but the 1st 7.5 km today are uphill all the way to the Eight Mile Gap (1150m) and I want to do this before the day gets too hot. The walk is a steady climb but not too steep so I find I can keep walking without needing too many breaks. It takes me about 3 hours to the gap where I stop to rest and check to see if I have phone reception. While I’m sending my messages 2 couples arrive in 4wds towing caravans. I talk to one couple, they are off to Refrigerator Gap and are volunteers for the Oscar 100 event that is on this weekend. From now it is all ... read more

I slept Ok and there were no storms during the night. I am getting quicker at breaking camp and today I'm off walking at 7:30am. The initial 2km are slightly uphill but on a good track. From there it is a short ascent up to The Nobs which is probably my first real viewpoint of the hike. The track down to the High Cone campsite and saddle is quite steep in places but I reach there at 10am and stop for a rest. I also go looking for the nearby water source but as I expected there is evidence of moisture but no actual water that I can find. The next section of the track is hard work as it is very overgrown with numerous trees down across it as result of bushfires. Though it is ... read more

We left Heyfield shortly after 9am and found the road from Licola to Jamieson was a good 2 wd track so had no problems reaching Mt Skene, but still took 90 minutes reminding me that we were already in quite remote country. At the junction with the Barkly River Jeep track, we pulled over. I shouldered my pack, and with my full water bottles it felt heavy. By the start of the track we found a food drop container, which made me think I might meet some others on the AAWT, though this container was dated for pickup at the end of January. After a photo and J’s best wishes I plodded off up the track. The weather looked good, clear and perhaps a little too hot, but the forecast was for cooler days ahead. The ... read more

An interesting quiz question would be to name a famous Dane (apart from HKA). It turns out we all probably know a few and I stumbled on an interesting sight near to the centre of Copenhagen. My sight is the grave of the physicist Niels Bohr, but in the same cemetery (Assistens) HCA and the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard are also buried. After this we walk via the trendy centre (to embrace the full Scandi life J has herring for lunch) past the Rosenborg castle to the Little Mermaid then along the harbourside to the Amalienborg palace where the royal yacht is moored then on to Nyhavn for afternoon refreshments. We're using public transport here so then back across the city to the main railway station where we narrowly avoid catching our commuter train north instead of ... read more