Today was a really productive Saturday! I woke up early enough. The wind had not yet picked up so it was nice outdoors! I left from home, walked towards the Cap, put on my snowshoes and walked across the hill to J.&M.’s place. I came back via the roads.

After I brought the recycling to the container and did groceries. I also went to the depanneur to rent two flicks, both starring lovely Ryan Gosling.

I took a nap around 11h30. I then watched Drive. And after that I went to the gym for a workout. Did some running on the treadmill (using the “hill” setting, ouch!), some weights with the silly machines and some elliptical.

For supper I cooked cod with tartar sauce, oven potatoes and green peas. I also prepared bakeapple jam for tomorrow morning and peanut butter cookies. I tried to make the cookies healthier. I replaced half of the butter with apple sauce. I also used whole wheat flour instead of the white all-purpose flour. I ate one and froze the others in individual plastic wrappers. That way I will have yummy snacks for on-the-go!

In the evening I cleaned my house a bit. Also did quite a bit of laundry so have tons to fold and the bed to make.

Happy’s birthday is coming up, on February 19th!

Looking at new ideas for a possible career change too. I love what I do, but I don’t see myself doing it until I retire 35 years from now! I want a more hands on job.

2011 is over… 2012 now begins… For the New Year, I just hope I continue to be happy, which means doing things I love, spending quality time with people I love, trying new things and taking on new challenges with a smile!

Yay! I have 5 days off in a row for New Years! I have a long to-do list to keep me busy, here’s what I did until now…

-Cleaned the craft room, which had become a huuuuuuuge mess.
-I cleared the dirty laundry basket and washed my bed sheets too.
-Watched Man vs Wild on Discovery, the episode with Jake Gyllenhaal in Iceland!! (Ok, that wasn’t on my list…)
-Sorted through 1200 emails that were sitting in my inbox, it’s down to 16 now! YAY!
-Ran some errands (bought the materials to make a lamp at the hardware store, groceries at two stores, gas at another).
-I’m cat-sitting so I went to take care of the cat, including the dreadful litter change.
-Cooked cigares au chou and meat balls in gravy sauce.
-Cleaned my house.

I started scanning my childhood pics. It’s going to be a long process, but I think it’s worth it, to make sure to save them for the future. I was a cute kid I think!

Having a few days off for Christmas was great! I relaxed a lot, cooked, watched movies. Today I spent the whole day in my pyjamas! It’s not something I usually do, so I thought it would be fun/different. Tomorrow and Thursday I’m working, but I think it’ll be pretty relax. Most people take these days off.

I have finally made the count of how much I spent in total for my trip to Nepal! Ouch! What killed me is really when I had to buy a new plane ticket not to transit via India anymore, which added a good 1500$ to the already expensive airline tickets… And the tour company wasn’t cheap either.

But here’s in detail how much was spent while in Nepal, from the 16th of November to the 5th of December, about 3 weeks (plane, tour company and insurance not included).

Internet: 1050 NPR (12.74$)
I used free Wi-Fi at my hotel but on the trek I paid a few times for access.

Food: 15 118 NPR (183.51$)
Food on the trek was included in the price of my tour package, but I paid for my drinks along the way as well as meal while in Kathmandu about 6 days.

Souvenirs: 11 070 NPR (134.37$)
I bought quite a few souvenirs for me as well as friends and family, some cheap ones of 2$ or so, and some more expensive, like a nice piece of clothes for mom.

Taxi: 4 200 NPR (50.98)
I used cabs quite a lot (about 10 times, some longish trips) and only haggled a bit for prices… I thought this amount was pretty low considering!

Entertainment: 2 660 NPR (32.29$)
This includes a movie as well as a pedicure and a manicure at the spa.

Post: 500 NPR (6.07$)
I bought 15 postcards and stamps to mail to friends and family.

Supplies: 1372 NPR (16.65$)
This is all the non-food items I bought, like Strepsils when I got sick or toilet paper.

Tips: 223 NPR and 300 USD (309.72$)
The main part of this tip was for my porter and guide, the rest was for the guy who jumped on my suitcase at the airport or the bellhops at the hotel.

Entry fees: 1 500 NPR (18.19$)
To visit certain areas as a Western tourist you have to pay, for example Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur or Patan.

For a grand total of 764.52$.

When I woke up I didn’t look outdoors because it was dark. I went to an early brekky, which was pretty basic. Back in my room I opened the curtains and saw fog! CRAP! If it was home, planes would not have been flying. But I checked on the airport’s website and there were recent arrivals and departures listed. I phoned Provincial and the lady said we were good to go still. At the airport, everything went on track. The flight was uneventful. The first leg to St.Anthony and then the last 15 minutes across the strait to Lourdes. That last little flight seemed to take an eternity!!! But I made it home nice and safe with a ton of memories in my head.

In London I arrived around 22h so I went to Yotel, located in the terminal. It was quite convenient. The room was tiny, but had all I needed! A shower, toilet, bed, tv… And so comfortable after the accommodation in Nepal! I slept until around 4h or so. I watched a movie, surfed the net a bit. At 6h I went to the English pub just near the hotel to have brekky. I had the traditional English brekky (sausage, bacon, egg, tomatoe, mushroom and added toast) with a hot chocolate and glass of orange juice. Yummy! After brekky I went back to my hotel and lounged in bed until 8h or so.

I had to change terminals for my flight so I headed with the train to terminal 3. I checked in and waited in the lounge for my gate. This lounge had quite a bit to entertain you, shopping wise! Wow, the madness of our commercial western world! And Santa! And Christmas cheer! I bought a hand creme at L’Occitane, a delicious lavender scented one.

The flight went well, I slept a bit (again I had 3 or 4 seats, can’t remember, for myself in the middle row), watched some movies… I arrived in Halifax and had just the time to grab my luggage, go to the check-in counter for domestic flights, check-in, go through security and it was onto the flight to St.John’s. I was truly blessed on this trip with flights… Even though connection times were shortened due to delays, I never did miss a plane!

In St.John’s the Comfort Inn’s shuttle came to get me. I got a new room in the hotel I think, was quite nice, with a HUGE comfortable bed!! I ordered room service and went to bed fairly early. Was good to be back in my country, this close to home!

I got up, took it easy, packed my final stuff and a driver from my tour company came to get me around 9h to go to the airport. The ride was a bit chaotic traffic wise, as always in Kathmandu, but we made it to the airport fairly quickly. I had to pay extra for my luggage. Strange, they didn’t make me pay in London. I wasn’t bringing 6 kg more on my way back for sure, not that many souvenirs, but anyways. I had to go to the bank counter, take out money and come back to the check-in counter.

I waited a long time in the secured area. It wasn’t well indicated which gate and what time. And depending where you were in the terminal you would hear different messages, not all. But it worked out and we boarded the plane with just a bit of delay. Inside the plane however they told us we would be leaving 1h15 later…! The flight attendants were very nice listening to me when I explained I’d probably miss my connection if we left with that much delay. But there’s nothing they could do. So I sat back and watched a flick.

The flight went well… And when we landed in Doha I made a mad dash through the airport/security/etc to get to my gate as fast as I could. It’s an airport where you have to take a bus from your plane to the terminal, so that slows things down too. I think I made the transition from one flight to the other in 15 minutes all together, which was pretty amazing. The people at the gate of the London flight said they were waiting for us to leave.

The flight to London was neat, I had the whole row of 5 middle seats for myself, so I laid down and slept for a while.

This morning I made an appointment at a nearby spa, Tranquility Spa, to have a manicure and pedicure done. The lady was very nice and did a good job for Nepal standards. It was soothing. My hands were dirty from the trek and my feet a bit sore from all the walking, so it was good. It cost 2200 and I gave the lady 200 rupees of tip.

After that I took a cab to the Patan Durbar Square, just a bit outside of Kathmandu. It cost 400 rupees. I explored the area a bit, it’s always interesting all the temples, the religious ceremonies going on, etc.

By now it was lunch time so I went to the rooftop terrace of Cafe de Temple. I had their Club Sandwich which was enormous with 3 layers of bread and eggs, tomatoe, oinion, chicken, bacon. It came with fries. Mmmm!

After lunch I walked a bit North of the main square and got lost in a mostly residential area. I eventually found the main street again and walked a bit to the South of the square, in the very shoppy/commercial street. I found a last souvenir, for my mom, a music CD.

I caught a cab back to my hotel, again 400 rupees. The guy was a bit of a language aficionado, trying to speak with me in French, then in Spanish, then in Dutch. And his English was pretty good.

At the hotel I called Ace to confirm tomorrow morning’s pick-up. There should be someone there at 9h to bring me to the airport. But if there isn’t, I did save enough rupees to pay for a cab… Just in case.

I have now 2590 rupees left, that’s about 32.20$. I might splurge for supper and go to Nepali Chulo restaurant, just behind my hotel. Apparently it has mixed reviews of being authentic Nepalese – more touristy geared, but people say the dancing and music is interesting. A fixed menu service is 1100 rupees. Would be a good way to get rid of some of my money.

I didn’t really know what to do, so I just started walking South. I walked along Lazimpath and then Kantipath until that street disappears because of the river, about 1h15 of walking. I thought about stopping at the cinema along the way, to watch Twilight, but decided it could wait until it was out on DVD.

I ended up exploring a very poor area of the city. People don’t own the land and they built makeshift homes along the banks of the river.

Further ahead there was a huge landfill. Cows were eating garbage. Kids were playing in the piles of discarded items and bags. Women and men were working to sort the garbage. I saw what seemed to be social workers with masks on, in the garbage, talking to the street children there, with a paper questionnaire in their hands. A survey of some kind?

I was a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing so I decided to walk back North towards the Thamel touristy district. It took about 45 minutes wandering a bit and getting lost a bit along the way.

In Thamel I had found my appetite back so I went to a resto for lunch, New Orleans. I had “fish and chips” which was actually pretty decent. After lunch I went shopping for some souvenirs… I found something for mom, bro, a friend, another friend and myself. I walked all the way back to my hotel. That evening for supper I didn’t go very far, I returned to the Indian restaurant near my hotel. I loved their naan bread the first time I went, before my trek. I had chicken curry and a plain naan bread, again delicious.

We got up early and packed our trekking bags for the last time! After tibetan bread and a mango juice for brekky, we made our way to the airport. The sky was clear, but a cloudy/fog was making its way up in the valley.

At the airport we checked in with Nepal Airways, although it was supposed to be Tara. They don’t ask to see passports or anything. They do a quick check inside your trek bag and it’s off to security. The lady asked “any fuel or dangerous goods” looks quick inside my backpack. Walking through the scanner I buzzed, but she just quickly patted my jacket.

At the airport we waited by looking at planes arrive and take-off on the amazing runway. It’s also quite entertaining to see them load/unload. The foggy cloud dissipated, which made me happy. At one point our airplane was there, we were all ready to get aboard, but the pilots were awol. Our guide joked they were having brekky. Or playing cards.

After a good 45 minutes of waiting inside the terminal and then by the plane, the pilots finally arrived and we were good to go! This time it was a little Twin plane like home. I sat in my usual left single seat place, near the front. The flight was nice, I loved seeing the mountainous Nepal country-side. Tiny roads that lead to houses and terraces for gardening.

In Kathmandu the landing my ears hurt a bit. It was my confirmation that my little mountain cold is more likely now a sinusitis. I hope it’s the kind that goes away on it’s own and does not require antibiotics.

At the airport we had a driver meet us. He took me to my hotel where I said goodbye to the guide. He did a great job!

I checked in and first order of business was a shower! It was delicious. I must have spent a good 30 minutes in there.

Afterwards I went to a snack place near my hotel to have lunch, some momos. They were way too spicy though!

In the afternoon I chilled at the hotel with my mini-laptop and free wi-fi!

For supper, I walked to the Thamel area to find my trek-mate at her hotel. We went out to K-Too! It was a good meal. I had a gigantic burger with fries and a little salad. I also had chocolate cake and ice cream for dessert. I also had an Everest beer. Mmmmmmm! Good meal and nice way to say goodbye to my trek-mate! She was able to change her flight so she was now leaving the next morning instead of Monday like me. I took a cab back at the hotel.

Today was the first day where we got up and didn’t see a blue sky. It was quite cloudy and foggy. The last big day of walking! I had a good brekky of toast, eggs and hash brown potatoes and we were on our way!

The walk started with a big downhill, about an hour of it. We saw lots of meat porters. They shove the meat in their baskets, cover it lightly with an old plastic bag and it’s good to go! It really smells.

By lunch time the sky had cleared and we had sunshine. We stopped for lunch at our old teahouse in Phakding. It was a relaxing hour in the nice sunroom. But we weren’t done for the day! Still 3 hours more of walking.

The last hour, uphill to reach Lukla, killed me. It was never-ending! Half-way up a grandmother started walking uphill too, from her house. It was funny, we reached the top together, I smiled at her, she smiled at me, probably thinking I was a very unfit person!

In Lukla, after changing from the damp trekking clothes, my trek-mate and I went out for a stroll around town. There wasn’t much to see. For supper I had a good pizza at the teahouse. After eating we went out to one of the “cafés” to use the wi-fi internet. I went to bed relatively early, but didn’t sleep too well. I was excited to go back to the city the next morning. Plus dogs were having a barking party outside I think!

Waking up in Pheriche was a pleasant surprise, it was much less cold than the previous morning in Gorak Shep. I had Tibetan bread for brekky, but it was not good, way too fried, it was all chipping apart!

We said goodbye to our two Dutch friends. They were doing a similar tour/itinerary until now. And often we’d ended up in neighboring rooms. But they were going a different way from today on.

The first part of the walk was on a new path, in the shade, the sun didn’t reach the mountain tops yet.

Then by the end of the morning we had reached the path we used about a week ago to go up. It was different though, a new perspective, looking another way while walking.

We decided not to have lunch in Tengboche, the monastery area, as it was only 11h. So we went one hour downhill to reach a small teahouse where I had fried potatoes with veggies and egg.

We passed through some cute villages after lunch. We also got to see the colourful male bird Danfe, the national bird of Nepal.

The last part of the day was on a beautifully flat and well-maintained stretch of path. We were in Namche by 16h at the teahouse. I enjoyed a very hot shower, the first since a looooong time. It got most of the dirt/dust off of me!

I also went to a cyber place to use the Internet. It was good because they offered free charging as you were using the net, so I plugged in my mini-laptop. I was pleased with the battery on the thing, it was the first time charging it since leaving Kathmandu.

In the evening we taught Dhumbal to a few newbies, some guys that were beginning their treks. Bed time was not late, around 20h30.

This morning was a bit more relax, as my tour mate decided to go up Kala Patthar, but I decided it would be best I didn’t. So I took it easy, got up at around 7h30, had brekky, relaxed, watched the other trekkers coming/leaving.

At about 9h30 they returned from the mountain and we were soon on our way down. The first part was a bit tough, to reach Lobuche. I was really tired. We stopped for 20 minutes at a lodge in Lobuche for a drink/sit. And then proceeded to Thukla for lunch. Getting down to Thukla involved going down a very long hill, the same hill I took forever to go up a few days before. But going down is always easier. Earlier we had seen an helicopter towards the North. Apparently it was going to pick up some Aussie who had to return home to a sick parent. In Thukla, while having lunch, we heard that helicopter crashed! It was ok, no one hurt, crashing just after takeoff.

After lunch (again, spaghetti with tomato sauce and cheese) we walked down to the valley and towards Pheriche. That part of the day went quite nicely, the valley was lovely, it was flat, not rocky. We were following a small group of yaks being led by their owner, with the bells on each animal making a song.

We left the lodge at about 7h30 and walked the mostly rocky/flat way to Gorak Shep. It was cute to see yaks grazing along the way, though it didn’t seem they had much grass/food to eat.

In Gorak Shep I saw some Tibetan roosters of some sort (“komba” according to the guide). They looked a bit like fat partridges, made me want to have some for supper! But apparently you can’t kill them.

After an hour break and eating what’s becoming my classic lunch (spaghetti, tomato sauce and cheese) we left to go to Everest Base Camp. We walked from 11h30 to 14h to get there. It was long, difficult, lots of uphill. I was exhausted and not feeling so well, with a headache. At one point I thought I couldn’t make it, but I did, slowly, each small step getting me closer. I loved seeing the Khumbou glacier and it’s noises. We also saw two little avalanches on nearby mountains. I was proud of myself for making it to the Everest Base Camp!

After a bit of a break at EBC, we made our way back. We were at the Yeti Resort at 16h10. I went straight to my room, I wasn’t feeling well at all. I tried to lay down but I felt really dizzy. I sat up and just took deep breaths. I could feel a bit nauseous. And I felt it… The feeling I get when I am about to throw up. So I quickly put my boots on and rushed to the toilet… Where I was sick. After that one of the two Dutch ladies that have been doing kind of the same itinerary and staying in the same lodges, she gave me a tablet of something to help stop the nauseous feeling. I rested a bit and then went to the lounge/dining area. I really didn’t feel like eating at all, but I forced myself and had a chicken soup and a apple juice. I wrote a couple of postcards, chatted a bit, then it was time for bed.