Kathmandu and Everest
Trip Start
Oct 09, 2007
1
9
10
Trip End
Nov 30, 2007
Kathmandu, Nepal
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Kathmandu seems busy, hectic but more chilled out than any of the cities in India. I spoke to guy in a bar the other night who put it well... "in Kathmandu you either get travellers who have just arrived from India and think it's bliss or you get them come in straight from home who think it's a nightmare". Walking down the main streets in Thamel is fun where the rule of the road is "see a space and go for it" and that includes cars, cycles and pedestrians.
I already mentioned the pub where I watched my first premiership action in ages - Man Utd drawing away to Arsenal. I spoke to a few other travellers but didn't find a likely candidate to join me on a long trek in the Annapurna mountain range. I did a bit of sight seeing the next morning through Durbar Square and went back to the same pub in the evening with a French girl I'd met at the airport.
On Monday night I attended a slide show presentation by an experienced trekker which concentrated on the Annapurna ranges. I'm tempted to go it alone and hire a guide for the duration but we'll see. His show was great so I'm going back tonight to see the Everest Base Camp trek show.
Talking of Everest, I had a terrific morning this morning. Up at 5.30am, at the airport for 6.30 where I boarded a small plane that did a loop around the Everest mountain range. As soon as we were through the clouds above Kathmandu you could see the range and it looked truly awesome. The plan had two columns of seats only so everyone got a window seat. As we flew parallel to the range I was sitting on the worse side but I waited patiently knowing my turn would come. Just before we turned around at the head of the range Everest itself came into view. I was invited up inside the cockpit where the co-pilot showed me the main event through the front windows. It was fantastic. As I re-took my seat the plane turned around and I got a great view all the way back. It's one of those things where you can't stop taking photos but hey I'm sure I'll only see it once. Just for the record, Everest's peak is on the left of photos 7 and 9. There are 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the world in Nepal which is why it doesn't quite look peerless from these shots!
Lots of people do the base camp trek but I suspect it's a lot of snow, and if you don't get above the clouds you might not see the summit anyway. I'm busy today sorting out this Annapurna trek. If I do the entire circuit it will take three weeks so don't worry if you don't hear from me for a while!
