31st - Namche Bazaar

Today we had an acclimatization day in Namche. This meant that we in the morning left for a 4 hour walk to a nearby top, 400 meters above. It was a short walk which made the path extra steep. The weather was nice and warm, but working ourselves upwards we began getting hit by some chilly winds.

Reaching 3800m we had a great view of Everest and Lhotse (8501m), and even a couple of griffins were seen flying around.

Coming back down we passed by a monastery, and back in town we had lunch before the rest of the day was to our own disposal.

Everest to the left, Lhotse to the right.

Namche Bazaar seen from above.

30th - Phakding (2610m) – Namche Bazaar (3440m)

With breakfast served at 0730 we left the hotel at 0830 starting our walk towards Namche Bazaar.

Getting further up into the mountainous environment we began getting some great views of the distant peaks. With clear weather it was close to perfect. After 3-ish hours of walking of varying up and down we stopped for lunch. Up to this point we had passed several booths selling a broad selection of goods, but from after this point there wouldn’t be any until reaching Namche.

After walking the first bit after lunch it was easy to see why; narrow paths following the river and steep ascents gave little room for building anything along the way, and it did make navigation difficult at times when meeting groups going the opposite way. We ended up in the shade a lot of the time as we were walking around in valleys, and with the occasional wind it was without a doubt getting colder. During the afternoon walk we had our first view of Everest in the distance.

After almost 4 hours we arrived at Namche Bazaar. Built up the mountain side, it surprisingly had everything one would need; it’s basically Kathmandu at a smaller scale, no cars and better views. Pharmacies, restaurants, wifi, an Irish pub… Whatever you’d need on a trek, it’s here.

We’ll be staying here two nights, tomorrow we will do an acclimatization walk preparing us for the upcoming days.

Waiting for a pack of yaks to cross the bridge so there is room for us.

Entereing the national park. Sagarmatha is the original/local name for Everest.

What a view!

First view of Everest.

29th - Kathmandu (1400m) – Phakding (2610m)

The day started with departure from the hotel at 0800 and driving to the airport. Here the group (15 people (1 Dane, 1 Swede, 1 German, 1 Aussie, 2 Canadians, 3 Americans and 6 Brits), 2 guides and a stewardess (!)) were crammed into a small plane that took us to Lukla.

Lukla is generally considered as one of the most extreme airports in the world. The runway is 460m long and has a gradient of 10%. Down we came, quite rough, but otherwise fine. Probably the worst I have experienced in a motorized plane, but flying in a glider plane you do at times get rougher landings than this, so in the end it wasn’t as bad as I had been afraid of it would be.

We started off with having lunch in Lukla after which we started our trek. It was a relatively short day, 6,5km and app. 3 hours of walking before arriving in Phakding and checking into Hotel Shangrila.

On the day’s trek we basically passed a hotel, guest house or similar every 10-15 minutes and the same time also stores selling everything from soda and chocolate to backpacks and model cars (!). I assume that when going further there will be less choices, but right now it doesn’t feel much like walking around in the wild mountains of Himalaya due to the dense traffic and all the buildings.

Tomorrow is a 7-8 hour walk with an ascent of 600 meters to Namche Bazaar where we will spend two nights. The town is considered the main town for the sherpas so it will be quite large compared to everything else in the area.

Landing at Lukla.

Plane taking off at Lukla.

The group before leaving Lukla.

24th-27th - Tangalooma

Tangalooma is a resort on Moreton Island just outside Brisbane – a short one hour boat ride gets you there. The island is mostly national park so, with a few exceptions, the resort is the only thing built there.

The NP has a wide range of animals that generally are not afraid to get relatively close to humans, so you can get into some pretty close-up situations, even if they are all wild animals. The resort has a bunch of activities that covers most of the wildlife on the island; feeding, walks, presentations, cruises, whale watches, tours, etc. And there are facilities for snorkeling, diving, walking on your own on most of the island, ATV tours, helicopter rides, massages and so on. The big thing on the island is the nightly dolphin feed where a small group of wild dolphins come in at night to be fed by the tourists under strict supervision of the staff. A very popular activity which any visitor can only do once every visit (unless you know the right people… *cough*).

We spent three nights here; me taking in all the sights, Ina showing me around the first day before she had to work the last 3 days.

Due to low numbers in tourists there were no whale watches until the last day we were on the island. This was also the last day in the whale watch season which must have been why they chose to go out, even though they didn’t manage to fill up the ship at all. But lucky for us – I would have been sad if I came down there in whale territory and didn’t get to see a single one. Success!

Late the 27^th we went back to the main land as I was on a late flight out to Kathmandu. Big thanks to Ina for having me there and showing me around!

Looking down on the Tangalooma Wrecks from a ridge that goes behind the resort. The resort is right below us to the left.

A kookaburra ready for food during a feed. 

A cormorant.

A whistling kite.

A sea turtle.

Dugong.

Tinkerbell with her calf Tangles.

The dolphin feed.

Feeding Bella - and old, half-blind, almost toothless dolphin. This meant that you had to be prepared to be bumped into a lot while standing there trying to feed her.

Feeding Tinkerbell and Tangles (yup, two dolphin feeds in one visit... All about who you know... ;) ).

This parrot-things were seen quite alot.

22nd-23rd - Lamington NP

I arrived in Brisbane Sunday the 21st where I got picked up by Ina at the airport and the following morning we drove to Lamington NP where we would spend a single night. This national park is known for its bird life so our hopes were that we would be seeing a large variety of birds - and getting some good shots as a bonus.

The weather wasn’t quite as we had hoped; overcast some of the time and not too warm. But it didn’t get too bad, either, so we did get to see a few birds during the afternoon after we arrived, especially because they weren’t too shy and got quite close to the resort where we were staying.

The next morning we had a small tour around the resort where we were introduced to the less visible birds. After breakfast we went for a long walk – the weather wasn’t too optimistic, and the bird sightings were limited, but we got a good impression of the surrounding areas and nature, and that wasn’t too bad either.

After this walk we drove back to Brisbane, readying ourselves for an early departure to Tangalooma, a resort on Moreton Island just outside Brisbane, the next morning.