2007-05-12 Saturday Katmandu -> Lukla alt 2840m Lukla -> Monjo alt 2830m

04:00 start, in order to do our diaries; have breakfast; have our luggage collected; and be driven to the airport to catch a local twin engined Beaver to Lukla. These planes only took about 14 so we needed to use two planes. The one I was on was flown by Yeti Airlines - I was so taken with the name that I retained the boarding pass.

Once we got to Lukla, we went to the Jagged Globe depot, where we met the Sirdar, Sherpas and porters. We had tea, sorted out our day sacks, and eventually started out trekking Lukla is a ribbon town, on the main path up the valley. Most of the shops seemed to be selling trekking gear, or tourist souveniers, or both. The group spent some time purchasing odds and ends before moving on. The trekking was downhill for a considerable way, and then lots of ups and downs, ending up at virtually the same altitude we started at. I found the trekking very tiring, and by the end of the day I was extremely tired, though I had no aches or pains for my trouble.

2007-05-10 Thursday Bahrain -> Katmandu

The expected delay in Bahrain was six hours but there was a further delay (again!) on top of that with multiple changes of gate and expected arrival time. Eventually got off about 02:00 local time and arrived Katmandu 08:45, which was only about 1/2 hour later than scheduled. Summit Hotel is pleasant enough with swimming pool and outside veranda stocked with chairs and tables, and is used for meals as an extension to the dining room. This provides feeding for the resident hooded crows. If one left a meal for only a minute or two, they would swoop down and pinch food off the plate. Turned down an opportunity to go into the shopping and tourist area as I was sufficiently tired that I thought it would be a chore rather than a pleasure. Spent the afternoon reading, taking photographs and lounging about.

2007-05-09 Wednesday Heathrow -> Bahrain

Up at 05:45 and caught the Hoppa bus to Heathrow. Met up with the trekking group and checked in. Bought a replacement alarm clock at Heathrow. There was nothing notable about the flight to Bahrain, it was the usual long haul flight - long, tedious and boring.

2007-05-08 Tuesday Boat -> Heathrow

Left about 09:45 - later than I had intended, but not too bad. I woke up at 06:00 and did many of the jobs I intended, including writing to my sister, and to a friend in Norwich. I need to record that I did 1 1/2 hours Tai Ji for yesterday - I ran the class at Braunston with only 5 people. Managed to leave my travel alarm behind after all my mental notes to the contrary.

Extreme Everest Trek

I am posting my trek diary, now I have returned from Nepal. The entries will be dated according to the original date my diary entry refers to.