Ready for Nepal

As I said, I am returning to Nepal after 17 years. I have a bit of a plan, which I will share with you now.

Leaving 10 April, I will make 3 flights, over 25 a hour period , with Kay. Kay is my Kiwi friend who accompanied me last year on some of my Te Araroa NOBO and on Stewart Island. The 11.5 hour flight through the night to Kuala Lumpa will require some alcohol and/or drugs to get through, I think.

We have less than two hours there to transfer to the flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. ( Not Kathmandu, the shop, but the capital city of Nepal). A 5 hour flight will have us arriving at noon Nepalese time, but it will be like 7pm to us. I am sure we will be knackered. It is funny how tiring sitting around can be.

Once in Nepal we will have a day to get sorted with the guide I used on my previous trip. I am looking forward to reconnecting with Puru from Above The Himalayas.

Then Kay and I will walk the Annapurna Circuit over 13 days with a guide and a porter. I did this trek back in 2006 when I was 17 years younger, so it will be interesting to see how I go this time. Altitude can cause issues and we will get up to 5,416 metres. For comparison : Mt Cook, New Zealand’s highest mountain is only 3,724 metres, Ben Nevis is 1,345 metres, Mount Kosciuszko, Australia 2,224 metres)

After completing that I will have a few days with Kay to explore and recuperate before Kay leaves to do a long walk in England. There are many UNESCO Heritage sites to visit.

Then I will join a group of 6 other Kiwis to do a 21 day bespoke 21 Day trek including The Three Passes and Everest Base Camp Trek.”

Most people who trek the 139km Everest Base Camp fly into Lukla, take about 6 days to get to Base Camp then return the same route over about 4 days before flying out again.

However, Grant has come up with a trek that will have us start with a 9 hour bus to trip from Kathmandu to Jiri. We will then take 17 days to get to Everest Base Camp via 3 Passes that are even higher than the Base Camp. This will nearly double the distance but give us more time to acclimatize and to experience more of the highest parts of Nepal.

I agreed to this before I really did any research but that seems to be how I roll.

This group consists of

• Roy, Grant and Roger are 3 real Kiwi blokes from farming, tramping, and hunting backgrounds all about 65 years old.
• Next is a Brendon, retired GP doctor who will be on his 3rd trip to Nepal
• Kathy, retired nurse (66) who did her first trip to Nepal in the early 1970s when the hippies were wandering Nepal in search of good native Marijuana. Since then, she has returned to do a cycle trip across to Tibet.
• The 6th member is Joe, and being in his 30s is the baby of the group. He is another real outdoors bloke.

I checked out one of Joe’s YouTube posts and saw that he carried a box of beers, a 5kg bag of potatoes and a very heavy cast iron pot, along with his tent and other gear, with him on a hunting trip. Following a successful hunt, he would also be able to carry out a deer as well.

So my theory is that if we get into any trouble I will have all bases covered.

• the men will know what to do
• The doctor can treat any illnesses and injuries
• The nurse will take good care of me
• The young guy can carry me out if needed. But he will probably want to gut me and cut off my head first.

I have taken out insurance with World Nomads, which is one of the few companies that will provide cover when trekking up to 6,000 metres. I will climb to over 5,400 metres on about 6 occasions. Hopefully, I will not need to use the policy, but the $950 is a no-brainer with my track record.