Leave Approved

We were welcomed at the airport today by Elsie James and Rakesh, from Ecological Treks and Tours. Elsie has been corresponding with me via email for almost a year now I think, and it was lovely to finally meet her. She is an energetic retiree from Canada who fell in love with Nepal in 1995 and has been half living here since then. She still treks avidly, and went on the Annapurna Circuit again last year.

Their office is above the Tashi Deleg Tibetan restaurant, where I enjoyed a bowl of thukpa (soup noodles) this time last year. We were very impressed by the professionalism of their company. Rakesh is married to a Korean woman, and speaks the language fluently, as we found out today when he was conversing with a Korean couple that came in!

We met our guide, Pratab, and our porter, Kaji, today. I think we will be very happy with them. We are off at 6am tomorrow on our first trek!

There are a myriad trekking shops here. We were directed to Eco Trekking Outdoor by Elsie, and the owners Ram and Mr Pandey promised us good prices. We spent an afternoon in their shop trying on waterproof pants and jackets and looking at down jackets and sleeping bags. You can buy almost anything here, but as they are all imitations they are unlikely to last for longer than a season. I would probably buy the essential and frequently used items like hiking boots, thermals, trekking pants and fleeces at home.

Today we bought some items that we may never use on our trek, but which would be highly desirable to have should it snow or rain heavily. We did bargain a little bit, and overall I was happy with the prices that Ram quoted us. We bought:

“Gortex” (imitation) waterproof pants 1500Rs each (AUD 30)

Fake North Face rain jackets 1000Rs each (AUD 20)

Trekking poles, adjustable,  with “anti shock” – 1300Rs for a pair (AUD 28)

“North face” down jacket – 2200Rs (AUD 40)

Negotiations were amiable, and took place over a cup of chai.Our total bill came to about AUD180 for 2 rain jackets, 2 waterproof pants, 3 trekking poles and a down jacket. Ram says he will buy the items back from us for a lower price when we return, and send them to a shop that hires them out.

We didn’t see a lot of socks or thermals here, but you could certainly get most of your gear like windstoppers, fleeces etc (Sizes tend to be rather large) though the quality of them is not guaranteed. Down sleeping bags go for around AUD65.

We leave Kathmandu tomorrow to travel to Besi Sahar by bus, and will start our trek on Wed 11 April. By Monday April 16 we will be in Manang at 3535 m and will have a rest day in Manang on Tuesday April 17. On the weekend of Sat 21 April we will be crossing our biggest hurdle – the Thorung La pass at 5400m. After Thorung La it’s all downhill, and we get to have another rest day at Tatopani, a hot springs town, on April 26. We finish our trek on April 27 and pass through Pokhara on the way back to Kathmandu, arriving there on Sunday April 29.

Spare a thought for us next weekend, when we brave the snowy high pass of Thorung La!

As I went about on my last minute chores today, it was an unusually fine autumn day in Melbourne with a startlingly blue sky and a pleasantly mild temperature. It is strange to think that everything will be the same here tomorrow – the same traffic, the same early morning trucks, the same TV shows, the same trams, the same people going about their business – only we would have left to go on our adventure in Nepal and our little apartment will lie empty for the next two and a half months. The annoying thing about going on short to medium trips is that the bills keep rolling in even if you’re not in the country – Yes, unbelievably it’s not possible to suspend even your internet connection even if you’re not going to be downloading nary a byte!

We are all packed and surprisingly well prepared for this trip – Our last trip was planned at the last minute, and we didn’t book anything before we went – No accomodation, no trek, nothing! This time we are being picked up at the airport by our trekking company and will be taken to the “Hotel Tradition” to soak up our last bit of relative “luxury” with an ensuite bathroom, before our foray into the mountains. But before this, we have four days of an eating extravaganza in Malaysia.

Watch this space for an update!

A huge thank you to our family, friends and their family and friends, for their overwhelming support in donating money, toys, pens and more. Our inventory goes something like this:

Donations $1279

Toys 6 bags +

Pens about 600!

Clothes 3 bags

We have had to turn many kind offers away as we are unable to bring more than half a backpack’s worth. In particular we would like to thank (in no particular order):

Eugene and Tatiana Ee
Jenny Ee
Felicity Cotton
Sel and Ambiga
Heng Ee
Peter Wong
Aunty Serene
Mrs Masten
Aunty Elizabeth
Aunty Mary
Ted Locke
Elsie Chua
Deric and Wendy Chi
Tay Kay Beh and family
Alfred and Soo Chi
Glenda Chi
Lucy Chi
Lucy Yang and Lilian
Ted Ong
Rodney da Costa
Gerald Lim
Cheryl
Rodney’s friends
Suzie and Laila Salloum
Kennii Hee
Christine Grech
Evie Nguyen
Bala Rasaratnam and family
Mary Le
Maria Le and Tony Vo
and those who offered but were turned down!

Thank you on behalf of the people of Nepal, for your kindness and generosity. We will ensure that your donations are put to good use and will go directly to where they are needed. Thank you also for your prayers and well wishes, we feel very privileged to have so many people thinking of us!