Poachers

When we were in Bardia in Nepal, we saw the awful things that poachers do to kill animals, like poisoning their waterhole. They kill protected animals and then sell various body parts to people that want to buy them. 

We went to some shops here and mum showed us tiger teeth that were for sale and in another shop elephant tusks. I really wanted the tiger teeth, but mum explained that if we bought them, then the poachers would think people want them and would kill more tigers.

My suggestion is; don't buy protected animal parts, then poachers will have to get an honest job and stop killing animals!

From Taiga

New Friends

Today we met some people from Israel. They normally live on a Kibbutz, which is a little bit like an ashram. They were really nice and let us do some painting with them. I painted a pirate ship and tree. They have given us their address and invited us to visit them. I can't wait! Their country sounds beautiful. Mum gave them her email address. I hope they come to visit us.

From Cody

Missing the Muay Thai Mark

I have to admit I am a closet fan of Muay Thai boxing. I even have a favourite boxer, John Wayne Parr. So, being in Bangkok I figured I'd take the boys to a little Thai boxing ring that I have visited in the past. I even talked to them about us doing Muay Thai training for the next couple of weeks. They were completely psyched. That is until we got there.

They stood there open mouthed and couldn't believe that I wanted them "to play that game." That's o.k. we can't all like the same things.

x Lisa

12th of the 12th

I am finally 10!! Today was my birthday and we are in Bangkok.

I got two dinosaur fossils, 1 Dzi stone still attached to the agate and amber with a scorpion in it.

I got to choose the meals for the day.  We went to Ranee's for breakfast and we had burgers for lunch. Mum and dad weren't feeling too good after lunch so we went back to our hotel. We had ice-cream instead of cake the day after.

Thank you to everyone that sent me happy birthday emails.

From Taiga

If it’s too good to be True, It Is!

Having finally made it out of Tibet and onto Nepalese soil, we had to track down the visa office in order to make our time in Nepal legal once again. Taiga's visa was free as he was still under 10 years of age, $25 for Steve's and my visa and Cody's visa? Well that cost $40. Go figure!

We were told by our Nepalese friend Kul that the cost of a jeep and driver to rent from the border to Kathmandu would cost 4000 – 5000 rupee. Being foreigners we expected to pay closer to 5000 rupee.

You can imagine my surprise when I started haggling over the price that I got the cost of the jeep down to 3000 rupee. One proviso, we shared with another man and we needed to leave straight away. Remember we had been traveling since 1pm the previous day; it was now about 10am the following morning.

As the jeep started up, there was one more catch, there had been a landslide rendering the road impassable. We would have to walk some of the way, but our driver had already organised a jeep for us on the other side.

As we climbed into the waiting jeep on the other side of the landslide I noticed the excessive amount of luggage our new companion was carrying with him and the care and attention he was receiving from the driver. Who was this guy?

After much questioning, I was none the wiser. His story was that he owned a restaurant in Tibet and was on his was to Kathmandu to visit family. Neither Steve nor I was buying it, but what could we do, we were exhausted and we were now making perfect time to catch our flight.

We went through numerous checkpoints, each time this guy gave varying stories and reactions. Sometimes he was very familiar, sometimes he hid his face and at one point when the police pulled us over he gave a story that we were a foreign family traveling together.

It wasn't until we were in our hotel room, that I noticed little round green seeds all over one son's bag. My son's justification was that the nice man must use these herbs at his restaurant. I think he was on the mark with it being a herb, however it wasn't one that was used in any restaurant we had patroned.

Coincidentally that 9 year old son was searched extensively at the airport.

x Lisa (now safely in Thailand Mum)

Landslide!

Steve's Diary Entries 5 -8

Day 5, December 4th.

Lhasa Bound

Best breakfast so far, sends us off on a long drive to Lhasa. Nine hour drive.  Another cloudless day so with the crisp temperature it makes for some spectacular scenery. The bus travels through 5000m elevation. Plants can't grow at this elevation so the barren landscape looks like the surface of the moon. The lovely blue sky offsets the mountains and glaciers. Luckily the bus is stopping regularly for us to get out and take a good look. We stop for lunch and accidentally order something for Taiga that costs 10 times that of the next dearest item on the menu. Some quick negotiation gets the price back to acceptable.  Despite it being a long drive today, it is an easy drive as we have plenty of stops (including Yak photo stops) at the top of various passes.  We descend for over half an hour, after going through a 5000m pass, on a very tight switchback road.  Near the end of the journey, we cross the Brahmaputra river which originates from Mount Kailash in Tibet.  We are amazed that to hear that this goes on to India and gets renamed as a little river called The Ganges.

Just before sunset we arrive in Lhasa.  It certainly is a big city, and contains many significant monasteries and temples.  We are impressed with our hotel.  It was the residence of the main teacher of the Dalai lama.  That doesn't impress the boys that much, but the electric blankets on the beds certainly do!

Day 6, December 5^th

The most important temple in Tibet - Jokhang

We have three nights in Lhasa so we can spread out in our hotel room.  It is very authentic Tibetan decoration and architecture which just adds to the experience.

In the morning, we went to a monastery and palace up on a hill (Drepung monastery).  We had lunch there which was an experience!  Lisa described it as a monastery mosh-pit as she lined up to get our momos for lunch.  She had elbows flying and people trying to push in but she held her own.  After lunch we went to Jokhang temple which is a pilgrimage site so there were thousands of people.  We went inside and it was quite an experience visiting the temple which has so much religious history and significance, particularly the activities of the various Dalai lama.  We observed the chanting ceremony which was quite haunting.

In late afternoon we used our free time to get in some retail therapy.  I found the "Internet Computer Market" and the boys had fun looking at all the product (Apple was the most sought after).  We had a long walk to our hotel so ate in the local restaurant then crashed into our nice warm beds with electric blankets on high.

Day 7, December 6^th

The Palace day

Another hearty breakfast and then we head off to the Potala palace, the residence (if he was here) of the Dalai Lama.  It is 170m tall, atop Marpo Ri Hill which is 130m tall so it certainly gets a good look over Lhasa.  It is known as the most significant monumental structure in all of Tibet.

As usual at these monastery and temple visits, we walk up hundreds of stairs.  In the palace there are 999 rooms and 200,000 statues.  There is a high Chinese security presence inside the palace and they keep everyone moving through the various chapels.  We take the bus back to our hotel  for a lunch break and then go to the last monastery of our Tibet trip, Sera monastery (the second largest monastery in Tibet with 600 monks – we went to the largest the other day).  The highlight of the Sera monastery visit was watching the monks conducting a philosophical debate.  This was a very animated and noisy experience.  We were also shown their printing process which was completely manual.

This is the last day of everyone on the tour together so the hotel restaurant is busy in the evening.  The Corbett's are spending it trying to resolve our travel agent issues.  We have paid for a private jeep to get us back to Kathmandu in time for our flight to Bangkok, however between various travel agents the funds have gone missing so we don't know what tomorrow will bring.  Oh well, it keeps it exciting.

Day 8&9, December 7^th & 8^th.

Seven Years in Tibet?

We get a phone call from reception asking if we are checking out today.  We have to advise that we really don't know.  A flurry of phone calls doesn't resolve it, so we go and have breakfast and have a great chat with Koen from Holland.  His travel plans are up in the air too.  There are eight people from our tour left at the hotel, and no on knows when and how they are getting back to Kathmandu.  In our case, we have paid for a "private jeep" to which one of the agencies has added an extra two passengers.  So much for private!  There is also an issue with our travel permits (China has this place locked down and you can't travel within Tibet without a travel permit).   Luckily our agent in Kathmandu sorts everything out and we are lucky enough to head off just the four of us, with a driver and a separate guide, in our Toyota Landcruiser (they are everywhere).  We find out later that the other four people have huge problems getting back to Kathmandu.  We drive for 15 hours, stop at a hotel just short of the border, get up the next morning and eventually get through customs (after surviving another bureaucratic issue).  We purchase new visas once we are on the Nepal side and then hire another private jeep to take us for 5 further hours through to Kathmandu.  Overall it was a difficult journey to return to our Kathmandu hotel which is starting to feel like "home".  We were stopped a total of 24 times from Lhasa to Kathmandu to have our visas, passports and travel permits checked.  A tough job to get back, but absolutely a worthwhile trip to see what Tibet really is like, first hand.

Steve.

Friends in High Places

In Tibetan Buddhism, you are asked to remind yourself daily that you could die. The idea is that you then choose a more sensible option to your choices and in turn help yourself to keep safe.

Leaving Tibet proved quite a difficult experience. We as a family were travelling on one set of papers, however beside our four names was the number six. An unlucky number as it turns out for the Corbetts. This made our paperwork invalid and therefore impossible for us to travel back through Tibet to Nepal.

I had also paid for a private jeep to ensure our quick return to Nepal. However, it appears some Tibetan had decided to pocket that cash for himself, leaving us with no transport either. The only other option was a bus that left too late for us to catch our flight from Kathmandu.

We contacted our friend Kul, in Nepal, he in-turn brought in "the problem solver" called Dobla, aka Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel from Pulp Fiction) in Tibet, or "The Wolf" as he is now known.

He arrived with a jeep, a driver and was working on our paperwork. 6 hours behind schedule, we left Llasa with everything we needed.

The driver didn't speak much English, all he knew was we needed to get to the boarder by morning. He took a lot of 'vitamins' and drove like a mad man. I couldn't help wondering if he'd prayed and reminded himself that he could die?

He finally slowed down and by about 9pm he even turned on the car headlights so we could see the road in front of us.

After passing through 15 checkpoints and having showed our passports and papers at each one, we finally went through passport control at the Tibet/ China border, however just as we were about 8 steps from no-mans land about to cross onto Nepalese soil, we were stopped and told our papers were missing one stamp. We couldn't travel any further. The stamp we needed had to come from Llasa. Seriously! We were stuck. We couldn't even use the toilet as that was back on Tibet/ China soil.

We thought up various ways to end this story, however, most would have ended in jail or death. Fortunately, "The Wolf" managed to organise a phone call from a high ranking official, and had us making those 8 steps to freedom within the hour.

x Lisa

Sky Burial

Most Tibetans are Buddhists. Buddhists believe in rebirth. They don't need to keep the body when it dies, as it is no longer important. When you die they chop up the body into pieces. Then feed the pieces to the vultures. So the idea of the sky burial is simply to dispose of the body. Most of Tibet is too hard and rocky to dig a grave, and fuel and timber are very hard to find, so a sky burial is more practical than cremation.

From Taiga

Assembly

Today we went to the Potala Palace and watched all the monks chanting. It was very interesting. Mum said it was just like a TSS assembly because some monks were chanting, some monks were talking and some monks were day dreaming.

From Cody

Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

The Potala Palace is breathtaking in beauty and spirituality, so when we were offered the opportunity to eat there, we jumped at the chance of sharing food with all the Buddhist pilgrims. There is no breaking of the bread here, it is steamed momos. Bite size pieces of yak wrapped in dough.

One son and I quickly scanned the kitchen to work out just how to purchase our momos for lunch. I followed a Tibetan pilgrim in front of me. I got my small recently washed plastic bucket, emptied the water out of it. And helped make an orderly line where the momos were being steamed. It seemed civilised enough. I was second in line.

More and more peace loving pilgrims lined up behind us. A few cheeky ones had jumped in front, but that was o.k, we were after all in the presence of holy people. However as the huge lid was lifted off the bamboo steamer indicating a couple of hundred momos were cooked, there was a sudden surge of hungry Tibetan pilgrims and we were caught up in a mass of pushing, shoving, yelling and arguing. Now at this stage I was shoved with fully open palms back down the line. I was totally bewildered. But not for long!

I handed the money for our momos to my accompanying son, and yelled to him to cover me from behind. Elbows out, I began waving them back and forth and in and around the bodies that had so unceremoniously shoved me back. Plastic bucket in my right hand held over the cue jumpers in front of me and counting out twenty with my left hand, the Momo Master filled my bucket.

Obtaining the accompanying chilli sauce was just as traumatic an experience.

When I arrived at the table where we were seated, bits of momo dough hanging from my recently pulled hair and chilli sauce spilled down my disheveled clothing and splashed over my shoes, my husband's first comment was "awh, you forgot the chop sticks and tea!"

With as much sweetness as I could muster I replied "Oh I'm sorry, could you be a love and go and get them please." A wife's small revenge is sometimes rather sweet.

x Lisa

We Are In Tibet

We arrived in Lhasa yesterday and I finally got to eat some chicken last night. It was great. The trip has been good because we have got to see lots of mountains and rocks and fossils. The Tibetans we have met along the way look like cowboys from the Wild West.

We played with a very cute goat. It is the size of a small dog. We really want one as a pet.

From Taiga

Gyantse

We went to the Phalkhor Monastry in Gyantse. It was built in 1416. That's nearly 600 years old. Gyantse was good because the people were very friendly. They all wanted to shake our hands and touch us.

From Cody

Steve's Diary Entries 1 - 4

Day 1, November 30th

A Long, Long Day

We were up at 4:45am to finish off packing, store bags and be met downstairs. A short walk to the bus where our bags were loaded on top (lets hope they do a good job of tying them on!). For some reason there was a delay (first of the day). We have a good mixture of people from all over the world, so it should be a fun trip. We drove for just over an hour then had breakfast at a restaurant with a lovely view of the mountains. Luckily the bus has four wheel drive as the road gets progressively worse (this is the route to the border between Nepal and Tibet!). There are trucks and people everywhere, it is chaos. After about four hours of driving to cover maybe 60 km, we reach the border. There is no special arrangement for foot traffic, here at Kodari and we have to battle it out with trucks, goats, you name it. The Chinese immigration is very bureaucratic and takes quite a while. We had been told that we weren't allowed any printed material expressing views about Tibet (even the Lonely Planet is banned). Because of the volume of trucks trying to get across the border there is a huge traffic jam on the Tibet side. We have a 15 minute uphill walk to the bus. We then have to physically move an unattended car to extricate our bus! The rest of the day proceeds along the same lines; blockages, delays, ridiculously slow progress. We fall into bed, tired but wrapped up warm as the temperature is below zero, at 10pm at Nyalum, 60 km on the Tibet side of the border.

Day 2, December 1st

Another long drive

We got away early today and as the roads are better we make good progress. Thanks to sending the boys ahead yesterday, we have good seats on the bus which helps for those with dodgy tummys. We get our first glimpse of Everest from the Tibet side, quite impressive. Tibet looks like the wild west. Barren landscape, people driving vehicles like the Clampetts, animals roaming the streets, and it is very cold. With windchill it was minus 20c when we stopped the bus at 11am today!

We really are on the rooftop of the world, today passing through 5220m elevation (basically as high as Everest base camp where we were last week).

We have some characters in our group. The Spanish couple are taking around 1000 photos a day. Both cameras going non-stop. We have the obligatory loud American who I nicknamed Ed (after Sir Edmund, a beekeeper), because of his dorky hat that makes him look like a beekeeper. He does pushups in front of the bus every time we stop and compares everything to Nevada, California or anything American. He is entertaining though. We have plenty of 20 something lads from Holland, Canada, Russia and Sweden. We chat lots with the couple from Melbourne doing six months overseas and also with the Swedish couple that have also done volunteer work.

We covered 400km today and are ahead of schedule. We now have two nights at quite a nice hotel with hot showers and nice toilets. We have two rooms booked but we just use one so we can be together. The hot showers get a thrashing, but the trick is to get dressed quickly otherwise you get cold again. We are in Xigatse.

Day 3, December 2nd.

Yay, no bus today!

After a particularly uninspiring breakfast, it is good not to be getting on the bus again. For morning tea we head further afield and find some tasty pork dumplings. Back to the hotel to continue to freshen up. One son has a lingering cold so we are trying to get him right for the guided tour this afternoon.

No such luck, better to keep him in bed so both boys stay in the hotel room with Mum whilst Dad does the tourist thing.

Pre 1959 Xigatse was the second largest city in Tibet so it has a lot of history. The huge monastery was one of the few that survived the "cultural revolution" albeit with significant rebuilding. It is very cold here so the Corbetts had another quiet night in. More bus travels tomorrow.

Day 4, December 3rd.

The Fortress

It is still dark at 8:30am as we head down for breakfast, resplendant in jackets, hats, gloves, the works. Bus departure is at 9:30 for an easy two hours. Enroute we stop at a wheat factory (everything very manual) and then on to Gyantse by lunchtime. Best hotel we have had so far and the day is glorious. We walk for a couple of hours to check out the streetside markets and buy local things for lunch. At 2:30 we head off for the guided tour of the local monastery, which has an extremely impressive fortress bordering it. Not a cloud in the sky so the afternoon is downright pleasant. This city is quite wealthy with street lights, many beauticians, perfume stores and a good sized market. It is geographically at a point where the British invasion was repelled and it is known as a hero city.

Steve.

All Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I have waited now for countless years. Tibet is one of those holy grails to travellers in Asia, the roof top of the world, land of snow, Shangri La and all that.

We have come over land, having now discovered we all have a love of mountains and topography. We have not been disappointed, the landscape is awesome. I can only describe the beauty of this barren land, like an old friend. It is full of warmth amidst its freezing conditions, both embracing at times and yet distant in others. The changes in rock formations and mountains are like the curves on a perfectly toned body.

Then amongst its serenity and perfectness, we discover that our dear friend is not well. She is ill, sick with a cancer. This cancer is China. Sadly China has infiltrated even the most remote places of this majestic land and its people.

Please don't mistake my comment for a dislike of Chinese people. I have spent time in China before, studying and working and even on part of my honeymoon. The Chinese people are lovely and I have always enjoyed my stay in China. When I refer to cancer in this context, I am referring to the government and its atrocities it has imposed on the Tibetan people.

We as foreigners were banned from bringing reading material into Tibet, any images or anything to do with the Dalai Lama. We are not even allowed to speak of the Dalai Lama. For two boys aged 9 and 10, this has proven an impossible task as they have had many questions about the Dalai Lama. I have tried to answer them as truthfully and as unbiasedly as possible. Although I think my feeling on the matter are pretty transparent.

However, that all said, we are enjoying our stay here very much. The boys have created quite a stir where ever they have gone. I don't think they get a lot of foreign kids here.

x Lisa

Steve's Diary Entries 13 -18

Day 13, November 23

Rest Up, and Hike Up

Everyone needed to freshen up so we decided on a day of movies and card playing. We were at the foot of Mount Ama Dablam so I convinced Pemba to take me to base camp. Dawa had estimated 5 to 6 hours round trip. I'd promised the boys I'd play cards with them so they put it on me to be back in under 5 hours or punishments would be in order. Given Dawa's estimations the day before I was quite worried. Just what I needed after 10+ and 8+ hour days, a 5 hour race up a mountain. Anyway off we set with Cody clicking go on the stopwatch.  About an hour in I felt like I was doing well and really putting pressure on my Nepalese race mate. We were going up a really steep section and I thought I had him struggling. He then had the audacity to pull his cell phone out to phone his wife and ask how the kids were! At another point, obviously my loud gasping was annoying him so he played music on his phone quite loud. Anyway we were treated to a coffee at base camp by the cook, I gifted some muesli bars and we headed back down, running all the way. It nearly killed me but much to the surprise of Cody and Taiga we were back in 3:36. Over 5 hours of cards followed and even some dancing led by Cody. After all that I slept very well.

A nice hot coffee at Ama Dablam base camp having walked through snow to get there.

Day 14, November 24th

Pringles, Pringles

Today we trekked from Pangboche to Namche Bazar, around 6 hours. This is our last long day as we've decided to spread the remaining time over the distance quite evenly. The boy's set a cracking pace (unbeknownst to me incentivised by Pringles). It was a nice sunny day and the improvement in altitude is making trekking a lot easier and the temperature warmer. We arrived ahead of schedule so Mum shelled out for the Pringles. During our trek today there has been a mountain marathon in progress. Consequently there are many foreigners in Namche Bazar. A special Tibetan market was being held so we popped in for a look. We had the same big room at the Tea House as on our way up the mountain so we knew the ropes and for the first time in a while we all had several hours sleep.

Day 15, November 25th

Dance Away

The Tibetan markets were still in full swing but we couldn't find much to buy. These merchants sleep outside in rudimentary tents (a tarp over a cross-brace) in the freezing cold. Even the ones selling shoes are in bare feet. Today was a short walk day, so we decided to leave after lunch as Namche Bazar is such an interesting place. The female owner of the tea house presented Cody & Taiga with prayer wheels, bracelets and then all four of us were presented with Khada scarves (quite an honour). They had heard about our dancing, so wanted us to perform. Our final act at Namche Bazar was the Corbett party (us four plus our two porters plus one guide) dancing to the Black Eyed Peas whilst being cheered and videoed by the locals. We left in high spirits and did the easy walk through to Jorsale, staying in a very nice tea house (where the boys were presented with chocolates. We are now meeting people on their way up the mountain, marvelling at the success of Cody and Taiga.

Day 16, November 26th

Would you like sugar with that?

We were due to depart at 7am but once again it is an easy day so we were in no rush. Lukla airport has been closed so we are a little concerned as we are due to fly on the 28th. We strolled through to Phakding where we had lunch. The walking is now getting very easy given our altitude training. Lisa and I lay in the sun whilst the boys played cannon ball. Lisa had felt like a salad for lunch and for some reason they dressed it with copious amounts of sugar! We had great rooms with sun and a view. Early dinner then early to bed.

Day 17, November 27th

Lukla Airport Open?

Somehow leaving at 5am with no breakfast translated into getting up at 3:30am and leaving at 4:20am. We all had lights but given the full moon it was actually quite light. Taiga seemed in his element and led the way. We made Lukla by 7am to give ourselves the best chance of getting on a flight a day early. Breakfast at the Lukla lodge and then we waited, and waited, and waited. Cloud issues at Lukla as well as Kathmandu but flights came and went all day. At 2pm we were told it would be tomorrow for us. Off to Lukla Starbucks to use the internet. It is very cloudy so lets hope it happens tomorrow!  First meat for a while for dinner.  Three chicken sizzlers for parents and Stig, plus Cody had spag bog with buffalo meat.  The chicken was like it had been left on a BBQ all afternoon, but better that than under cooked.  We all enjoyed our dinner.

Day 18, November 28th

Tick the box

We were due to check in to the airport at 6:15am so it was a relatively early start.  We are past experts at breaking camp now and didn't take long at all.  Thankfully both airports were open and we were on plane number 3.  A trouble free transfer to Kathmandu and then our hotel.  Lisa and I reflected on a wonderful trek with all the boxes ticked.  We had met an Italian lady who was overflowing with her admiration for the boys.  She had also looked enviously at us as a loving family doing the trek together, and sharing the experience.

The moon peeking through as the last of the sunset hits Everest.

Two days turnaround and we are off on the next adventure - off to Tibet over land.

From Steve

Peak Freaks!

The boys have become somewhat local legends having made it all the way to Everest Base Camp at the ages of 9 and 10 years old. They have caused quite a bit of attention with locals and other trekkers. A lot had plans to reach base camp, but didn't for various reasons.

The climb was difficult, with high winds in parts, slippery ice, snow falling, dropping temperatures and land slides, but after 11 days of trekking to get there, they weren't going to be deterred. What a great lesson in determination!

They already knew about Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse and the Khombu Glacier and Ice fall. We'd done a bit of reading.

It has been tough going, physically dealing with the effects of altitude and trekking for up to 9 hours some days, but they made it!!!

Disappointingly, we didn't see any live Yeti's. We made our way to Kunjung to see a Yeti's skull and hands, but mysteriously they had disappeared in 1991. We did however; see a photo of a Yeti's scalp in Lukla and we did find a hairy ear on our trek that the boys are convinced belonged to a Yeti. Are Yeti's fact or fiction? We have decided to keep an open mind to the idea.

x Lisa (couldn't be prouder Mum)

The boys at Everest Base Camp

EBC

Today we trekked to EBC (Everest Base Camp). Dad did a nudie run through some of the Khombu Ice Fall. We had a snow fight. We put up some prayer flags for our family and Taiga and I put up an Australian flag. It was really hard, but really fun!

From Cody

Mum and I at the Khombu Ice Fall

The Big E

We made it! We climbed to EBC (Everest Base Camp) today! We had to walk really quickly through one part because there were avalanches.

We got to play in the Khombu Ice fall. It was a really tough trek. We ascended and descended for 5 hours. The winds were so strong in some parts of the trek that we had to hold onto each other so we didn't get blown off the range. It was awesome!

From Taiga

Our family at the Khombu Ice Fall

The Big Freeze

It was so cold in Lobouche last night that our drink bottles froze, the door couldn't open and the toilet froze over!

From Taiga

The ice is on the inside of our windows!

Lobouche

It was about -15 degrees celcius last night in Lobouche. We had to trek in -8 degrees to leave Lobouche. It was a very cold place. There were big chunks of ice on the ground.

From Cody

Steve's Diary Entries 7 - 12

Day 7, November 17th

What to do?

What was planned as a reasonably easy day turned out a little tough. We are now a day ahead of schedule. This afternoon we had a big meeting with our guide and Cody and Taiga to decide the best plan ahead. Using the day to acclimatise later in the trek isn't smart as the idea is to not hang around above 5000m. Having said that we would be happy to get the trek finished a day early in order to increase our chances of getting a flight out (Lukla airport has been closed for 6 days now). All the advice we have received is to take it quietly on the way up as altitude sickness can hit quickly. We have resolved to take the wise, cautious approach and still take our acclimatisation day tomorrow, albeit with a hike up several hundred meters then back to where we are, Dingboche, 4420m.

It was lovely and warm in the sun this afternoon, so most people had an outside wash, I shaved and reckon I smell like a flower. Meanwhile the boys made snowmen (amazing how their energy returned once the snow was in sight). The goal is to really freshen up before the last few days attacking EBC. Having said that, today we basically walked around what has become our favourite mountain, Ama Dablam, or I'm a Dumpling as we say. It is a beautiful mountain, not as high as Everest but it is the most technically difficult mountain in the world to climb.

Day 8, November 18th

Cards anyone?

To help with the acclimatisation we hiked about 250m up in an hour then the boys tried to build comfortable chairs out of rocks for an hour. We returned to our Dingboche accommodation for a restful day. The highlight, though, was that it started to snow at 3pm today. Very light so we shall see if it continues. Everyone staying here has retired to the communal dining room as the fire is going and it is freezing. Cody, Taiga and I have started playing cards with a group of "30 something year old" lads from NZ, and I have now left them to it. C & T are having so much fun and it is funny to be hearing them referred to as "Codes" and "Taig" in the cards session. The room has around 30 people in it, either huddling around the fire, reading, or observing the young boys battling away at cards. As the sun goes down, it is a nice place to be.

Day 9, November 19

The big freeze

We were scheduled to do an easy day but decided to set out early and see how we felt at our destination. We were there by 11am and charged on to Lebouche. My tummy complaint has returned so I'm a bit low on energy. We hit the sack at 6:30 pm and were to be greeted to our coldest night. Inside our room our drink bottles froze solid. The toilets froze over! I got no sleep after 9pm. At this altitude, your normal rate of relaxed breathing just doesn't get enough oxygen into your system so you keep having to take a deep breath or two, otherwise you feel like you are drowning. This isn't conducive to getting to sleep.

Day 10, November 20th

Top Base

Today we hike from Lebouche to our top "base" of Gorek Shep. It was quite a tough trek as it had a lot of up and down. I'm struggling a bit and we are trying to establish what the cause is. I have a splitting headache. A couple of panadol will do the trick.

We are now in Gorek Shep sitting in the sun room, chatting with people from Belgium (Cody and Taiga are teaching them card games), the US, Wales and Aussie. Out the window I can see the highest cell tower in the world. Nikki from the US teaches the boys a new card game called Yaniv. They proceed to learn it rather too well and beat her. We are mulling over the plan for the next two days. Dawa our guide is keen to not spend too much time at this altitude. We have two goals; EBC as well as summitting Kala Patthar, higher than EBC and allowing better views of the mountains.  There is debate over whether the sunrise or sunset views from Kala Patthar are better. Anyway, EBC is the main goal so we will do that first thing tomorrow.

Day 11, November 21st

Top Day

Today was a top day for several reasons. The boys goal of EBC would be achieved at a height of 5320m, their Top Spot. It had been a warm night, well as warm as you get up here. We set out at around 8am and a combination of the incline, the low temperature and the high altitude meant it was no easy feat. But achieve it we did, including two, year four boys from TSS on the Gold Coast, Australia. Lots of people on our way down congratulated the boys. Several things had to be done at EBC including leaving some prayer flags, sticking the 1001 journal sticker up and photographing it, getting some good EBC photos, putting up the Australian flag etc. We actually lingered for a couple of hours as it was fun and no one else was there. As we started back it looked like we had left it too late to make an assault on Kala Patthar. We made the hasty decision that Pemba and I would "give it a crack". We ran all the way back to Gorek Shep (I was quietly pleased as I actually had him puffing a few times). 15 minute turnaround to eat, repack our bags, change some clothes and head for three hours straight up. We summitted (ie the classic very, very top) Kala Patthar 5540m and took a few photo's. We then had to wait until sunset to get the best Everest shots. It was absolutely the coldest I have ever been, but it was worth it. We high-tailed it down in 40 minutes sharing one headlamp. We stopped on the way to get some more photo's as the moon peeked out. I wished I had a tripod but probably would have struggled to set it up given the cold. We entered the communal eating area to a cheer from my family. Over ten hours of hard yakka so comparable to an Ironman race. Lisa had ordered me "Sherpa stew" and it really hit the spot. The family were happy with the photo's too which was nice.

Day 12, November 22nd

5 does not equal 9

Time to head down the mountain. One son has had a bit of a chest complaint so we thought we'd just see how we went, with the ideal goal of Pangboche, where we had stayed before. The estimate was five hours. It took us more like nine, mostly due to poor estimation. We were not happy trekkers arriving at our destination, despite the eating area being nice and warm. A day that was far too long and a rest day might be in order for tomorrow.

From Steve

Highest Hotel in the World

We had an acclimatisation day in Namche Bazar because we ascended 800m in one day. If you ascend more than 500m in one day you have to have an acclimatisation day. Dad was sick, so Mum, Cody, Dawa, Pemba, Sonam and I all ascended another 200m to Kumjung, where the highest hotel recorded in the Guinness Book of Records is listed.

I also nearly got run down by some yaks, luckily Mum pulled me out of the way just in time.

From Taiga

Mum, Cody & I above Namche Bazar

Slippery Paths

Today we trekked for 4 hours. The paths were very slippery because they were completely iced over. When we got to Dingbouche we found snow and made huge snow balls.

From Cody

Judgment

It is day 7 of our 18 day trek and none of us has had a shower yet. It is not so unusual, as most people trekking don't shower. It is just too cold. We are at an altitude of 4420 metres above sea level and most available water is still frozen well into the afternoon. This also narrows washing clothes down to the bare essentials.

The other issue is things just don't dry. I had grand plans of attaching washed items to the back of my backpack with safety pins. This would just be an exercise in futility. It is just too cold!

Instead, we have had to sit around a yak dung fire in a tea house holding our washed personables chest height pulled taught between two hands, kind of like score cards in a game show. I can tell you now; I haven't seen any 10's !

It is amazing how opinions and judgments can be formed sitting opposite a man holding pink undies chest height. I'm hoping they were his girlfriend's.  

x Lisa

Yeti !

Yeti – abominable snowman; mythical hairy mountain man of the Himalaya.

Of course no trip to the Himalayas would be complete without keeping our eyes peeled for the hotly debated Yeti. The boys and I have continually asked Nepalese friends during our stay as to whether the Yeti is a myth or in fact a real entity. More people that we've spoken to claim to have seen a yeti, than have seen a yak!

Considering we've seen heaps of yaks, we think we are contenders to see a Yeti.

There are countless cases of local sightings. Sir Edmund Hilary even led an expedition in 1960 to track a Yeti.

In 1998 an official police report on a murder of a Sherpa woman near Dole on the Gokya Trek sited "Yeti Attack" as the cause of death!

Whilst the Rolwaling region seems to be the heartland of Yeti sightings, it is closely followed by the Khumbu Region, which is where we are trekking around. So there is hope!

x Lisa (eye's peeled Mum)

Yaks

I really like yaks! They are much bigger than cows. Their hair hangs down to their feet and their long horns curl inwards. They can only live in high altitudes and they are used to transport food supplies to high villages.

We have passed quite a few yak trains, whilst we've been trekking. We have to stand on the mountain side of the track because they are unpredictable and might bump us off the mountain.

From Cody

A Yak at Kumjung

Debouche

We are staying in tea houses on our trek. This morning when I woke up there was ice on the inside of the windows and ceiling of our room. The ponds were all frozen over. It is very cold!

We are currently at 3860m above sea level. Yesterday was a really hard day trekking. We trekked for 8 hours and only ascended 420m. Then we took another ½ hour to descend 200m to sleep.

From Taiga

Aah Families!

It is under physical pressure that you often see your family's traits shine through. It is probably no secret, but our entire family is so damn competitive! The first few days we powered and vied for lead position of the trek.

However, it hasn't taken long for altitude to put an end to that. The views and trek are literally breath-taking.

We have all agreed that Dawa, our guide should take the lead and we now all fall into line, no speaking, taking penguin steps and being conscious to breathe.

Yesterday we saw the rescue helicopter do four flights taking seriously sick (altitude sickness and one dead) to hospital and passed two donkeys carrying out moderately sick (again, altitude sickness).

This was a great wake up call to all the Corbetts, that we are in fact not invincible.

x Lisa

Steve's Diary Entries 1 - 6

Day 1, November 11th

Bring it on!

We were up bright and early and off to the airport. Very busy airport, so busy that our flight was an hour later than scheduled. We knew to get on the left hand side for the best view. You couldn't wipe the smile off Lisa's face and the rest of us were equally excited. Simply amazing views. Cool landing on the uphill airport at Lukla.  Quick cup of tea then off with our two porters and one guide. Having flown into altitude, the plan was an easy three and a half hours and a chance to get used to what we were carrying, pace etc. The boys didn't drink enough and one in particular talked too much. Amazing lunch on the way. Lisa's spring roll was huge and full of lovely fresh vegies. Warm guest house, (well, warm with all the warm clothes we brought). We lay in bed listening to the river running outside and the rats running in the roof. Lisa still smiling. One son requesting to go to bed at 5:30 pm so we were all well asleep by 7.

Day 2, November 12th

This is awesome!

After another great breakfast we trekked to Jorsale and we stayed at the Buddha lodge. The boys spent a couple of hours in the bar playing cannon ball with the locals including our porters. It must be cold. Sonam, one of our porters carrying most of the load has actually put a jacket on. He wears copy crocs (put socks on for the second half of the day), track pants and a light shirt. Always smiling he bounds ahead of us whilst trekking and then sits and waits. He has virtually zero luggage and we haven't seen him eating a lot. Our other porter, Pemba, is from Kathmandu (travelled with us). He also has essentially no luggage although he has good boots (gifted by a client we find out later). He too bounds along effortlessly with a big smile. Dawa is our guide. He is older and wiser. He is definitely taking care of us, telling us when to rest, put buffs and hats on, when to go inside, and what to eat. He tells us about the various places we pass through.

We cracked open the first box of chocolates today (thanks Nonna). Such a great treat when it is cold. We gave some to Sonam, Pemba and Dawa. The last of the box was rationed out for pockets for tomorrow, a tougher day elevating 800m.

Several people are taking a second glance when they see little Taiga and Cody trekking along. A man asked today how old they were and if they were struggling. We resolved later that he must have been struggling to have asked the question. They are doing well and learning the do's and don'ts. After today's fun at the bar they will be looking forward to getting to our destination each day as they love cannon ball.

Day 3, November 13th

Sore tummy

It is 4:30 am and we'll be up soon to get an early start. Our destination is Namche Bazar and they have a weekly market today. We chatted with some Americans last night and they told Lisa that the shopping is good so she is keen to get there. Dawa has advised us to wear warmer clothes today as it is getting colder. The chance of snow is increasing which is only increasing the excitement in the Corbett trekking party.

The food we have been having has been delicious. We have been told that garlic soup is "mountain medicine" so we all smell of garlic! Luckily the soup is really tasty and good for warming you up. Taiga and I had pizza today for lunch at Namche Bazar and it was outstanding.  We probably should have listened to the advice not to eat the cheese.

We wrapped up warm and hit the markets. Lisa has her eye on a particular hat which will no doubt be purchased before we leave. Well, we aren't sure if it is the altitude, the cheese in the pizza, or the cold wind but I have got sick. Confined to bed for the rest of the day with no appetite.

Day 4, November 14th

Acclimatisation

Today is a rest day which includes a 3 hour hike up (400m vertical) and back to continue the acclimatisation. I didn't manage all of it as the vomiting has continued. Lets hope I'm OK for the eight hours tomorrow.

Yesterday was cloudy so we hadn't noticed the view outside our window. Lisa looked out the window and exclaimed "wow". A huge snow capped mountain range staring straight at us. Today has been a good chill out day. The boys are playing cards, Lisa is planning her next shopping expedition, and we are all very happy and in good spirits.

Part of the fun of this trip has been the people we have met along the way. We've just been chatting to a Melbourne guy on his way down the mountain. He has expanded on the things we can expect. He has pointed out how cold it is further up the mountain so Lisa has just headed out to buy more warm gear.

Day 5, November 15th

Penguin Steps

Early start as we have our toughest day so far. Four and a half hours solid walk to lunch then three and a half hours up and up. Dawa has been trying to teach us "penguin steps", nice small slow steps to conserve energy. If you stride out when the track is basically going up at 45° you make it much tougher on yourself. It has taken until today to really master the penguin steps.  Very glad to get to our destination today, Debouche. It is 200m vertical, down from our highest point today so quite sheltered. A couple of easier days ahead of us to recover and continue the acclimatisation. We are at 3700m now and all going pretty well.

We were blessed with a clear morning today and had our first really good view of Everest. We could actually see four peaks clearly all morning; Everest, Lhotse, No. 38 and Ama Dablam. Lhotse looks the most impressive and the tallest given it is closer. We made a donation along the way to some people responsible for maintaining a section of the track. They were making a wonderful job of it too.

SHORT PEOPLE: Lisa and I had a laugh today at how things are set up for short people here. I gave my head a fair crack last night when I went to the toilet and I must have woken everyone up when I shouted out what I had gone there to do. In the entrance area to our current lodge, I reckon I would knock the light bulb out with my nose!

FOOD: Whilst the food has been tasty, it is a bit limited. We have been warned off caffeine, dairy and meat products. Just today we have been talking about the food we have been missing. Some good salads, a wagyu roast, salmon with capers, french cutlets, Nonna's ham and corn muffins with sweet chili sauce, Nana's fudge with a strong coffee.

COLD: It is starting to get pretty cold, particularly for some Gold Coasters. Ice has formed on the ceiling of our rooms. I ducked outside this morning in my thongs to check out the frost. This was a mistake and I am now reconsidering my planned nudie run at EBC (Everest base camp). Darn cold. Taiga has just brought in a clump of ice taken from his window sill. Its midday and the puddles are still iced over.

SOUNDS: Bells clanging on the yaks and jokbei as they go past with their shepherds shouting at them, Dawa's accent as he explains what we are going to be doing today, Pemba and Sonam singing and dancing on the track whilst the rest of us try to catch our breath, "Jam jam" - Dawa telling us to set off on the next stage of the trek, "Lisa maam" and "James sir" - how Dawa addresses Lisa and I, "Namaste" in varying accents, the best being the little Nepali toddlers that shout it out to us, "Slowly, slowly" - Dawa trying to ensure that we don't over exert ourselves. "EZ peesy, lemon eeskoo easy" - Dawa telling us we have an easy section ahead.

Day 6, November 16th

Intervals

Nice easy three hours today. We made our destination before lunch. We are now right in the middle of the mountains, with peaks out each window of our lodge. This will be a good chance to really freshen up. We plan to have a good chill out afternoon. Today I realised that taking ten quick steps on an incline is like running 200m intervals on a long run. Your heart rate spikes, you are completely out of breath, you hope you will recover and you can only do a limited number of them and sill finish your run. We found out today that Lukla airport (where we flew into) has been closed in with bad weather since the day we arrived (5 days). If we had deferred arriving by a day it would have completely scuppered our adventure. We just need it to be open when we get back down so that we can still do our Tibet trip.

From Steve

Lukla

The worst kept secret of this trip has been our plan to climb to Mt Everest Base Camp, (EBC) or The Big E, as we now call it.

We flew into Lukla in a tiny twin engine plane. If you truly believe your pilot can navigate his way through the awesome Rolwaling Himal Range, it is the absolute all time adrenaline rush of flights. Thankfully ours did.

The Lukla airport is the third highest airport in the world with a runway that is probably about 800m long and what feels like a 45 degree angle. Upon landing, you fly directly at a mountain and god willing you should stop just short of hitting it head on.

We all managed our first day of trekking quite well, however one son literally talked himself into a state of sheer exhaustion.

The air is certainly thinner than we are used to, so hopefully with care we can all acclimatise successfully.

x Lisa (fully pumped Mum)

A view from behind the pilot

All in the Name of Education

In term one of this year, one of the year four dad's spoke to the boys during their 'Natural Disaster Unit'. He spoke about Mt. Warning in Northern New South Wales. Both my boys came home enthused enough to want to climb it. We did, and on our descent, the question was posed, as to what was the world's tallest mountain and could we summit it. Steve and I agreed to Mt Everest Base Camp.

After a gruelling 11 days to ascend EBC (Everest Base Camp), we turned to leave and one son proclaimed, "That's The Big E done, bring on Kosciusko!"

Both boys have received much accolade from local Nepalese, Sherpas and foreigner climbers. One son was asked how he found Base Camp, his answer was golden; "easy, Mum and Dad showed us the way!"

What follows are our thoughts on the 18 day trek up and back from Everest Base Camp, Kala Patthar and Ama Dablam Base Camp.

x Lisa

Kanti

As you may know from reading our blog, we made a wonderful friend on our first day in Nepal, her name was Baba. She had a friend, Rupa who is a doctor at the Kanti Childrens’ Cancer Hospital in Kathmandu.

At that time we had toys to distribute, however we didn’t have enough to take to the hospital, so the boys and I had made the very difficult decision to take them to the COTS Orphanage instead, where we did some volunteer work.

Thanks to the generosity of the staff from the Gold Coast City Council, my husband, Steve arrived in Kathmandu with more than enough toys for the sick children at the hospital.

The hospital is a government hospital and the children have come from poor villages outside the Kathmandu Valley and all have cancer. They are far from home, away from family and friends and are very sad and sick. Except for today, Baba, Steve, Cody, Taiga and I, took juice, jelly, cookies, sweets and beautiful toys to give to the children. Today most of these children managed a smile.

Rupa explained to us that the cost of saving a child from a childhood cancer here is $1000. Can you believe it; $1000 can save the life of a child! Due to Nepal being a developing country it is exempt from a lot of medical taxes and given subsidies. According to Rupa, 80% of childhood cancers are curable with the correct treatment.

Since arriving in Nepal, the boys and I have been exposed to so many sad stories, that I thought we had become a little immune to the hardships some children face. However, today after we did the rounds of the children’s wards and went back to Rupa’s office, I wept. I wept for the sick children, for their concerned families and in thanks for the health of my own children.

This was one of the most touching days I have had in Nepal. Thank you so much to everyone that donated their toys to these sick children. Your beautiful gifts have given these children something to cuddle and to find some comfort with tonight.

x Lisa (blessed Mum)

Steve giving out some toys

Thank you

Cody giving out some cookies

Close your eyes, it is lucky dip

Giving

Choosing a toy

Giving out toys

Steve the entertainer

Cody, Steve, Rupa, Baba, Lisa and Taiga

Steve and a new friend