Packing

Although the streets of central Kathmandu are busy, they are actually a welcome relief from crazy, disordered Delhi. There is still pollution and people hassling but it is not half as bad or exhausting. Our first impressions of Nepal are in comparison to India, so it seems more afluent, cleaner and friendlier, and it feels great to be able to relax and recover from our chesty coughs.

Our only aim for the next three days is to prepare for the Everest trek, find a guide and beef ourselves up! There seems to be many more influences to the cuisine here, so we are spoilt for choice with variety.. it was absolutely heaven to eat a crispy, stonebaked Haiwan pizza on our first night, with no rice or spice in sight. Happy Days! We have also found a magnificent bakery which sells giant, doorstopper slabs of carrot cake and Andy can get his sugar-rush from the scrimmy chunky, choc-chip brownies. Food for the Gods as Nanny would say!

Purely by chance we stumbled across 'TrailFinders' where the lovely Janitor is an expert on organising treks. Her deal was a lot cheaper and reasonable than the shifty guy at the hotel, so easy peazy, all booked! So, all we have time for now is to sleep and eat! I'm not sure how many of these businesses manage to run efficiently with all these power cuts we are experiencing. Due to the lack of water the hydro electric power souce is low and there is no electricty for 14hrs of the day. It hasn't caused us too many problems because we brought six torches with us - which no longer seems excessive!

After reading through our insurance to check we are covered for Everest - yes, 'Trekking on foot (remote and mountainous areas) tick!, I also noticed there are other 'hazardous activities' which we can partake in throughout our travelling - Tug of War, Polevault, Wrestling, Highland Games, Twirling, Farm Work and War Games. Could come in handy, I fancy a bit of Twirling! ?

We won't be doing anything too strenuous at the moment though, as we have found it a bit too easy to have a little snooze every so often - especially a power nap in the afternoon. This must be what retirement life is like - bring it on!

We have been told the Everest Trek is a well-trodden path and it is very popular in high season, but it will be nice and quiet up there now because it is a lot colder, luckily we have a guide who can show us the way because I will be completely covered to keep warm, even my eyes! There is very few places in Nepal which have not been discovered, so trekking here is not a wilderness experience. Even in the high mountains, small settlements of stone houses and yak pastures dot every possible flat space. People truly live off the land here, something us Westerners find it hard to comprehend.. What!? No Heinz Tomato Sauce?? Outrage!

I am a little nervous about being cold and being affected by altitude, but we have hired thick down, puffer jackets and -20 sleeping bags. All the gear over here has some sort of brand on it... North Face etc, but I'm not convinced of their orginality, they better do the job anyway! The only thing left to do now is pack, and eat, and sleep!