Day 2 Out of bed early after a decent sleep, breakfast at the apartment and then I decide to do the waterfront area. The walk down town is really quick, it's only 10 minutes walking briskly. There's a chill in the overcast air. The streets are pretty busy, it looks a lot safer by day, I guess the number of regular citizens is much greater at this time so it dilutes the homeless numbers. I am surprised at the amount of trash lying around. It's all very grimy. Any way, head east towards Powell and then to Market. Buy a 7 day MUNI pass for $28 at Walgreens. From here I make my way down to the Embarcadero on foot where the Ferry Building is situated. We visited last year but I thought it was worth ... read more

Really looking forward to spending 9 nights in SF (it's just me on this visit) with my youngest son. He has been there for 17 months and has recently been granted a working visa for 3 years. He now works at a cool company called Stripe https://stripe.com/. We spent a few nights in SF in December last year and did a fair bit of sight seeing, so, this trip won'tbe taking in Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, The Golden Gate Bridge, California Coastal Trail or Chinatown. This is the plan; 29/7 Perth to Sydney to LAX to SFO, only 26 hours! Staying at a studio apartment in Little Saigon, owned by an American Vietnamese girl called Hien who happens to be a French trained Patisserie chef https://www.airbnb.com.au/rooms/1039280 The rough lis... read more

Volunteering at Tamakoshi Hospital in Manthali April 4 - 16 After months of trawling the internet looking for a volunteer nursing opportunity that seemed legitimate I happened upon Rural Assistance Nepal (RAN). They provide resources to a number of medical and educational facilities. http://www.rannepal.org/ Some email correspondence ensued and an opportunity to spend time at Tamakoshi Hospital, a small hospital in the east of Nepal, emerged. The hospital was established initially as a health post in 1986. In 2000 it became a 10 bed hospital which has now expanded to 15 beds. The hospital provides in-patient and out-patient health services including reproductive health, family planning, maternal and child health, pathology, ultrasound, ECG, X-ray, primary dental care, primary eye care, 24-hour emergency, pharmacy and ambulance services. The... read more

Samar to Chele (8km) to Chungsar (3.5km) to Kagbeni (14.87km) Second last day. We pack our gear up to the sound of distant drums (from the monastery?), out the window we see the bulls in their pens and chooks crossing the road. The juniper's burning. It's a cloudy morning and there has been fresh snowfall back in Lo Manthang overnight. Second best porridge (with apples) of the Mustang; NPI 9/10. The little kids are running around, they're pretty cute. When we ask the Mum how old the boy is she is busy counting money and absently replies that he is 200! The other daughter quickly chimes in that she is 1200- pretty funny. We leave via the stony track leading out of the village, the plan is to reach Chele for lunch and Kagbeni late afternoon. ... read more

Ghar Gompa to Zhaite I wake up to the prayer flags still fluttering outside my window, it's only 5am and no one else is stirring. I just lie there for another hour taking it in, I am feeling warm, utterly content and happy. My bladder, however, is not content or happy so the long trip to the loo must be undertaken. Pull on some more clothes and tread carefully over the floor boards, opening the big wooden doors I'm trying not to make too much noise. The trip to the loo is interrupted by 2 very big yaks, I take a wide berth and end up being completely distracted by the views- the sun rising over mountains never fails to take my breath away (I hope I never lose that feeling, ever, no matter how many ... read more