Tue 7 Apr: I arrived at Kathmandu today after a three hour flight from Bangkok. I was surprised by the sun and 27 degrees, at an elevation of 1300m i had expected it to be a bit cooler. I was met at the airport by my guide and transfered to a guest house.
Kathmandu is a city of 500,000 people, and all of them seemed to be in my way. The streets are narrow, the cars, bikes, rickshaws and motorbikes seem to go in any direction they like, and all toot their horns incessently! The choking dust and fumes, not to mention the smells from the gutters, are all a bit overpowering.
 
Kathmandu, which dates from the 12 century, is a typical developing world capital rushing into the modern era. It is a crossroads of Hinduism and Buddhism, and modern tourism has brought the gospel of capitalism with it, with seemingly more shops and shopkeepers per 100 meters than Bangkok!
 
Tomorrow i fly to Phaplu in  a little plane, then will start my trek on Thursday by walking to Trakshindo. It will take me six days of walking, including my visit to Cheboche and meeting Passang Dawa and his family, before i get to any of the villages on the map.

Dean.

Sat 18 April - It has been 10 days since I left Kathmandu, and this is my first chance to email. For those doing the 40 Hour Famine, I should have sought sponsorship too. I have been 10 days without computer, phone, TV, radio and junk food. Two days ago I had my first shower - and it was cold! It would have been 10 days without Diet Coke as well but on the fifth day, my sherpa offered me one. I turned it down at first but then when I realised he had bought it in Kathmandu and carried it for five days, I felt obliged to drink it.

Life here is very different to what we are used to in NZ. It took me three days of walking to reach the village, Cheboche, where the Hillary House sponsored boy, Passang Dawa Sherpa (PD) lives. The first night I slept at a place called Trakshindo, at 2950 meters above sea level. The next day started with a two hour downhill trek to Jubing, at 1600m, that's like walking from the crater lake on Mt Ruapehu, down to the Chateau. After a cup of tea I then headed up to Kharikhola (2200m), where I stopped for the night.

Here I visited the high school that PD attends. 450 students and 15 teachers, classes have up to 70 students in each. The classrooms have stone walls so no posters can be hung, one blackboard, wooden bench tables and wooden bench seats. Very different to HIBS!

The next day I took the four hour trek that PD makes every Friday after school, to his village of Cheboche. My sherpa is from that village and kindly let me stay at his house for the night (at 3150m). The next day, many men and women from the village came and visited me. they performed traditional songs and dances, and drank lots of Sherpa tea (made from milk straight from the cow, zoam or nak, butter, salt and black tea - drinkable but not my first choice!)

The next day I visited PD at his house. It is a vertical 500m very steep decline from my sherpa's house down to PD's, with the school halfway in between. I met PD, his mother, brother and sister. His father is a sherpa guide so is away trekking at the moment. PD was very shy but his English is quite good. The school year finished in March and he passed his exam so he is now in Year 9 (14 years old). The Kharikhola school (started by Sir Edmund Hillary), is now building new classrooms so it can teach to Year 12. With our support PD will be able to continue to this level. What we pay for his tuition is the equivalent needed for a good milking cow. If the family had the money, the cow would be the priority as it provides milk. All children in the village grow up with limited options. Once they complete primary school at age 12 they either become a porter, a sherpa guide or, for the girls, a house wife.

I asked PD what he would like to do after high school. He had no idea because he does not know of any other options. His mother hopes he will work in Kathmandu where he can make some money for a life and to support the family.

PORTER: The porter's day starts at 5:30am, walking, carrying loads of up to 70kgs on his or her back, supported only by a rope and band across the forehead. If they can afford it they will have two meals per day, usually rice or potatoes. Sometimes they sleep on the side of the track or under a big rock overhang. I met a 72 year old porter who had been doing the same for 60 years. He was carrying 60kgs of 4x4 timber. All of his sons have grown up to be porters.

GUIDE: Everyone in Cheboche village has the surname "Sherpa", because this is their race. It has been misconstrued to mean guide/helper on alpine treks and expeditions. The guide usually meets individuals or groups in Kathmandu and leads the trek. He also arranges porters to carry the gear, meals, accommodation and helps with any health problems along the way. He must of course speak at least one foreign language as there are many German, Scandinavian, Japanese, Malaysian, Kiwi, Australian, American and Canadian trekkers.

HOUSEWIFE: The housewives are incredibly busy. If her husband is a porter she may see him once or twice a week. If he is a guide he will be away from home for 1 - 2 months at a time. The housewife usually has 3 - 4 kids running around to look after (some families I met had nine children), the cow to milk, the potato crop to weed, and sherpa tea to make for any travellers. All cooking is done over an open fire so there is also firewood to be gathered. As soon as the children are able they are given responsibilities to help out.

The people in Cheboche village were extremely grateful for the shoes, socks and shirts that I brought with me. The airline would not allow me to carry all of the shoes so some are still in Kathmandu, and will be transported later. One boy I saw each of the four days I was in the village. He wore the same clothes each day (and they were already filthy on day 1!) They are short of clothes because a) they cost money and b) they are so far off the beaten track they have little chance to purchase any. I think that as a House we can provide so much more for these people over the coming years.

So far my guide, Lama Dawa Sherpa, and my porter, Ang Ba Boo Sherpa, have been excellent. We are having a lot of laughs along the way. I am learning some Sherpa and Nepali and teaching them some English. Being a Sherpa, Lama Dawa is able to teach me a lot about the culture and the mountains as we go along.

I am glad to be travelling 'alone', I think I am able to experience so much more than if I was travelling in a group.

I am now in Namche, 3500m, and today got my first glimpse of Mt Everest (Sagamartha in Nepali and Chongalongma in Tibetan).

My next report will be in about eight days when I return to Namche from, hopefully, conquering the mountain Kalla Pattar (5560m).

April 24- Well, i have met another of my goals, to summit Kallar Pattar, but that is not all that this trek has been about. Since last writing i have experienced so much more.

Leaving Namche and heading higher you start to feel the effects of the altitude. From he on everything is higher than Mt Cook and your legs start to feel really heavy, especially on steep uphill sections.

The landscape is very barren with not much vegetation, and whatr there is is very short. I have seen mountain pheasants, eagles, thar and yaks, but no yeti. At this higher altitude yaks and zopyoks are used for transporting goods rather than donkeys. A zopyok is a cros between a cow and a yak. The females give more milk than a yak and can survive higher up than a cow.

The weather has continued to be fine everyday, however, in the afternoon a strong, cold wind gets up. We try to reach our accommodation before this time. I have continued to eat and drink like the locals and have experienced no problem with altitude sickness. I have seen a few people suffering and they have to go down to a lower altitude to recover. Three rescue helicopters flew over one morning.

Because i have been travelling so well, and due to accommodation shortages, we altered my plans a little. We could not stay at Gorak Shep because ther was a group of 50 people from London who play cricket and drink together, and had decided to play the highest game of 20:20 cricket in the world there. Both Team Hillary and \team Tenzing were made up of Kiwi, Aussie and Pommy mates. The had uniforms, a roll out pitch, boundary flags, umpires, scorekeepers, a scoreboard, camera men and wags. That's why there was no accommodation.

My sherpa and i set off from Lobuche (4910m), where it had snowed lightly the night before, at 6:30am, in thick cloud, but we soon climbed above it. We got to Gorak Shep (5115m) just after 8am for some breakfast. Team Hillary were going in to bat as we set off for Kallar Pattar. It took 1 1/2 hours of slow paced, medium steep trekking, plus a few stops to adjust to the altitude, to reach the summit (5565m). From there the view was amazing, i took a 360 degree video and could see over 20 peaks including the biggies Everest, Nuptse, Lotse, Lotse Shar, Ama Dablam, Pumori etc. I can now appreciate to sum degree the effort and achievement of the 1953 expedition where Hillary and Tenzing first conquored Everest.

After a rest and photos we came back down to see the Hillary innings finish at 152 for 5 - a good score i thought. We had a bite of lunch then at 12:30pm, as the second innings was starting, we set off for Everest Base Camp. This trek is a lot of up and down betweeen 5100 and 5300m and i was pretty drained by the time i reacher EBC. There were over 40 tentsthere, with more visible further up as there was an expedition attempting an assault at the time. My sherpa was able to explain everything to me as he has summitted Everest before, and will be going again next year with a Malaysian group.

We got back from EBC to see Team Hillary take the last wicket to roll Team Tenzing comfortably. We then continued straight back to Lobuche where we arrived before dark for a well earned dinner. It had been a big day, something we haddn't planned, and something my sherpa has not attempted before with other trekkers.

Since that day it has been a gradual decent back to Namche. The monestry at Tengboche was a real highlight; its location, views, interior decoration, not to mention the chanting, drums, cymbals and horns etc. The track from there to Kumjung school was very dusty and the second half of it steep uphill!!!!! This school was the first established by Edmund Hillary. His influence, and that of those who have followed, have been immense.

Next report from Kathmandu - 'peribettola'

27 April - I am now back in Kathmandu, having successfully and healthily completed my trek. There are a few things i wouldlike to mentionbefore finishing off.
MEAT: I have now gone 22 days without meat. Most people here are vegetarian. Actually it makes sense.Animals are used for transport, milk,offspring, and their dung is usedfor fertilizerand fuel forthe fire.I have nowsat around a few yak dung firesand am impressed with howwell and howling it burns, with no odour.

One guest house had yak steak on the menu. I was tempted to try it but when i thoughthow big a yak is, and how few people eat meat, and the fact that there is no refrigeration, i decided otherwise.

BOOKS: In 22 days i have not seen a local person reading. In fact, i have not seen any books other than mine. The people are very conversational and sit aroundthe fire in the kitchen talking and telling stories. I guess manycannot read , and books cost money and are heavy to transport. I wish we could get some English books into Cheboche school. The new building will include a library....

TOILETS: Okay, I wasn't going to mentionthese but i sawa classic in Debuche. Most of the guest house toilets are the standard, crouch-over porcelain hole in the floor with a bucket of water nearby. Many are outside. In one there was a water pipe gushing water across the floor, between your legs and straight down the hole -a kind of permi-flush i guess you could call it. It did however have a fantastic view of the mountains!!!!

IN the "rural" villages, the toilets are of the "slumdog millionaire" variety, where you do your business and then throwsome leaves on top. This will be used in the garden next season to help the potatoes grow!

The one in Deboche was inside,on the second floor of the guest house. It was a proper white, porcelain, s-bend sit on as we have at home but it was buried sothe top sat flush (no pun intended) with the concrete floor!

GEAR: All students should know from their Outdoor Ed experiences that you should be prepared for anything. I certainly was and fortunately did not need to use everything. However, compared to my guide and porter, i was total overkill. They survived on the clothers they were wearing plus a change of socks,shirtand pants.
BOOTS: My guide had a pair of good boots but my porter did the whole trip in sandshoes, like most porters. Other wearonly sandals, even at 5000m!
While i was preparing for theis trip I bumped into HIBS Oldboy Brad Johnson, who has openned a Hamill's Outdoor store at Kaiwharawhara. I discussed my needs with him and he put me into some VASQUE Summit boots, and they have been awesome. While I'm sure i could have completed the trek in sandshoes, there were times when these boots were invaluable. Comfortable and sturdy with great grip, there were ideal for mydodgy knees and ankles. Also, for the muddy patches (I wont say what made them muddy). After 20 gruelling days they are still in greatshape and i didn't get any blisters.

SOCKS: These make a difference too. When i got the boots,the guys at Ampro got me to try some BRIDGEDALE Trekker socks. Man, did i give them a thrashing, but they have come up roses with a washin the creek. Very warm and confortable.
Mark Seaward from WEFT donated some merino wool/possum fur hats and socks for me to take to the childern of Cheboche. He also gave me a pair of Thermadry socks and Thermerino longjohns and a top to wear. All were very warn and breathable. They took a little longer to dry than polyprops but do not retain the stink of sweat like polyprops.

TREKKING STICKS: I originally thought these were for cissiesbut after the firstmorning i started using them and have used them everyday since. Going uphill they reduce the effort needed from your legsand goingdownhill they help to take weight off your knees and ankles - great for me!

If you are getting ready for the winter skiing or something it would be worth a trip into Brad at Hamills.

Today i have been sightseeing in Kathmandu city. I have seen the major Buddhist and Hindu temples. The city itself is bit of a nightmare to get around. From a sleepy city a few years ago, to coping with an influx of 1million people from the rural areas,refugees from Tibet, migrants and business people from India and China, the infrastructure is in quite a state. Being driven in a taxi is an absolute 'mare; a four way intersection, with two lanes in each direction,and in the middle aflashing orange light- that's it, you go when you feel game enough!! What ever you do, make sure you toot your horn. It is all a little chaotic but so would Wellington be if we dropped an extra 500,000 people there over five years.

Well, i hope you have enjoyed keeping up with my travels. I look forward to telling you more and answering questions on my return.

Mr Rabbitt