Category: Latest
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Nepal Day 12
11th November: Letdar (4,176m) – Thorong Phedi (4,440m) I had to get up for the inevitable pee in the middle of the night. Although it was freezing, the stars were out – a good sign. After the few flakes which tried to fall earlier, we had all been afraid of snow falling higher up and…
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Nepal (Day 11)
10th November: Manang (3,535m) – Letdar (4,176m) Somehow, we had been led to believe that this was a short leg. I’d heard rumours of 6km flying around. I don’t know if this was correct but steep tracks at high altitude don’t make for easy walking and it certainly felt a lot further than that. Anyway,…
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Nepal (Day 10)
9th November. Manang (Rest day??) Ha! So much for our supposed rest day – we ended up walking just as far and climbing considerably more than on any other day so far. I guess this is all good for acclimatisation purposes. It was gloriously warm in the cocoon of my five-season sleeping bag in which…
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Nepal (Day 9)
8th November: Ongre (3322m) – Manang (3535m) There were no three-bedded rooms at the Maya Lodge so I was sharing with Beth and Eugene with Narayan. Narayan lacked a sleeping bag and usually slept by the fire with the other porters so he found the guest bedroom chilly. Beth and I were woken at the…
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Nepal (Day 7)
6th November: Bagarchhap (2160m) – Bradan (2850m) I awoke at about 2am feeling that I had to pee. My sleeping bag was warm and outside felt very cold. I remembered that my torch batteries were dead. Damn! I lay half dozing in my bag until I heard Eugene get up muttering curses under his breath.…
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Nepal (Day 6)
5 November: Chyanje (1400m) to Bagarchhap (2160m) We enjoyed the hour or so walk to Tal far more in the freshness of the early morning than we would have done at the end of yesterday. It was cool and shady to start so Eugene was happy and I less so, but I soon warmed up…
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Nepal (Day 3)
2 November (Kathmandu –Besisahar) The alarm rang at 5.00am after very few hours of sleep. Eugene provided an extra alarm call with several long farts. ‘Sorry.’ He leapt out of bed and legged it to the bathroom. He emerged rather soulfully several minutes later. ‘I think I’ve got giardia!’ Since the incubation period for giardia…
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Nepal (Day 2)
1 November – Kathmandu I slept well, suffering remarkably little from jet lag and lack of rest. We got up at 8am and went down to breakfast in the guest house. We had fruit porridge and pancakes washed down by a massive pot of very strong tea. This all took ages to arrive but I…
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Nepal: Prologue
Prologue In the autumn of 1994, following eight semi-nomadic years teaching for the British Council, I decided to return to the UK and see if I could try a more settled life. I packed up my home in Tunis and found myself back at my parents’ home with a bit of cash saved and a…
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The Sandstone Trail (day 1)
Wednesday 21st May 2025 “I’ve got a stone in my shoe already and we haven’t even left the house yet.” We were half way down my father’s drive en route to the bus stop. Grounded so far in 2025 by the hospitalisation of my elderly, seriously ill father, Nye and I have cancelled a train…