Namche, second day
The costs of phone and Internet here are high: it cost me 500R for yesterday afternoon on the Internet, which is slow; calls to Oz are 150R per minute, and it takes a while for the connection to go through. I made a mistake not buying a SIM card in Kathmandu, as all the tiny villages we've passed through, and Namche, have coverage.
Had my first coffee since Kathmandu today, 70R for an "expresso", in fact a long black. After arrival yesterday enjoyed a shower (200R) for 5 mins in which I also washed 3 tee shirts and 4 undies. Unfortunately they are not yet dry, but should be by tomorrow morning. Put my 3 pairs of socks and trousers in for laundry, which were returned clean and dry today for 140R. Everything here is most expensive: 1 litre of water is 100R (10R in Kathmandu) and beer 200R for a can (70R in Kathmandu). Charging my camera battery (60 mins) cost 100R.
This morning I woke at 5:30am, then watched from my window as the sun rose over the huge snow covered mountain to the west. My room mate, Trent, and I watched fascinated, taking photos every few minutes. As usual, tea was brought to us at 6:30am.
We left at 8am to climb to the top of the mountain behind Namche (2.2km distance, 450m ascent to 3,900m). Spectacular views for 360 degrees, including a beautiful view of Everest with its distinctive plume of cloud, another 8,000m+ mountain (number 5 in the world), and 7 other mountains around us, all over 6,500m. Could not capture it on my camera. Everyone else in the group has SLR digitals, some with multiple lens, plus movie cameras. Was very windy at the top, and even windier coming down, but a delightful morning.
The meals on the trek have been fine, although no meat, and a small amount of tinned tuna at one meal. Lots of variety. Lunch today was the best: a soupy, vegie curry, with steamed dumplings and salad. For breakfast the choice is meusli or porridge, with eggs cooked in different ways each day served on toast. We have lots of tea made by the trek staff.
Had my first coffee since Kathmandu today, 70R for an "expresso", in fact a long black. After arrival yesterday enjoyed a shower (200R) for 5 mins in which I also washed 3 tee shirts and 4 undies. Unfortunately they are not yet dry, but should be by tomorrow morning. Put my 3 pairs of socks and trousers in for laundry, which were returned clean and dry today for 140R. Everything here is most expensive: 1 litre of water is 100R (10R in Kathmandu) and beer 200R for a can (70R in Kathmandu). Charging my camera battery (60 mins) cost 100R.
This morning I woke at 5:30am, then watched from my window as the sun rose over the huge snow covered mountain to the west. My room mate, Trent, and I watched fascinated, taking photos every few minutes. As usual, tea was brought to us at 6:30am.
We left at 8am to climb to the top of the mountain behind Namche (2.2km distance, 450m ascent to 3,900m). Spectacular views for 360 degrees, including a beautiful view of Everest with its distinctive plume of cloud, another 8,000m+ mountain (number 5 in the world), and 7 other mountains around us, all over 6,500m. Could not capture it on my camera. Everyone else in the group has SLR digitals, some with multiple lens, plus movie cameras. Was very windy at the top, and even windier coming down, but a delightful morning.
The meals on the trek have been fine, although no meat, and a small amount of tinned tuna at one meal. Lots of variety. Lunch today was the best: a soupy, vegie curry, with steamed dumplings and salad. For breakfast the choice is meusli or porridge, with eggs cooked in different ways each day served on toast. We have lots of tea made by the trek staff.
posted by Bob at 9:00 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home