Nepal

The plan was to spend a day acclimatising once again here in Dingboche (Sophie's group was doing the same, before heading up to Lobuche via Dughla the next day). I had decided to carry on with them for the next day or two and to skip the high-altitude pass of Kongma La since the pass was not on the GHT pass list. This meant that instead of trekking up to Chukhung from Dingboche, climbing up Chukhung Ri and then

I woke up early to join a group of other hikers that were heading to the Tengbouche Monastery (Nepali : ट्याङबोछे गुम्बा) for the morning puja, an act of devotion that involves acts such as bowing, making offerings, and chanting. As we approached the monastery, a monk leaned out one of the second-storey windows and blew on a huge conch shell called a 'sankha' - a trumpet that is customary to be blown before the

Even though it was bright and sunny that morning, the temperatures outside hovered just above freezing - a sure sign that winter was just around the corner. Despite the cold, I quickly packed up my gear, eager to get back out on the trail and on to Tengbouche. After making my way up the narrow shop-lined alleyways to the northern side of Namche Bazaar (Nepali : नाम्चे बजार) (elevation : 3440 m), I turned right

The day started off slow and relaxed with a bit of coffee and lemon tea (NPR70+150) before I went out to look around the quaint little shops that were scattered around town. Namche Bazaar (Nepali : नाम्चे बजार) (elevation : 3440 m) is considered the business capital of the Khumbu region and is the site of a weekly market where you can find all sorts of goods and trekking paraphernalia. I ended up stocking up on quite a

Today I witnessed the mountains come to life! I woke up at 04:30 and went outside to do some stargazing in the crystal clear mountain skies, braving the brisk temperatures that were as low as -10 degrees Celsius. After setting up the intervalometer on my Nikon D7000, I stood watching the constellation Orion and Jupiter (then situated just above the Hyades cluster in Taurus) slowly set behind the mountains

I had been looking forward to the flight to Lukla for quite a while as all the things that I had both read and had heard from others travelers made the journey not only sound dangerous but also immensely fun. As such, I awoke that day bright and early and very eager to go. I had paid USD282 (NPR29000) for the return flight from Kathmandhu to Lukla with TARA Air and had decided on the return date of the 27th of