Heading back to where we left off… It was mid-June and we were wrapping up our visit to Hong Kong and heading over to mainland China. China was not really a place on my travel bucket list but Ashraf, my brother, and his partner Aneta are currently living in Shenzhen and we wanted to visit. …
I’d always wanted to visit Hong Kong. Something about the coupling of its unique history and importance as a global financial hub intrigued me. Surprisingly, the Hong Kong Express plane we were on from Chiang Mai had craft beer available on its in-flight menu, which I took to be a good sign. Off the plane …
Thailand was a stop-over for us between Nepal and Hong Kong. We couldn’t sort direct flights that would work, so we decided to take a few days of layover and check out one of its major cities, Chiang Mai. We flew Thai airways from Kathmandu to Bangkok, and had what was probably the best airline …
After finishing our trek in Sagarmatha National Park, we had just under three weeks left in Nepal before our flight onwards to Thailand. We considered heading east to the Annapurna Region for more trekking but ultimately decided not to, mostly for financial reasons. The info from our guidebook (Lonely Planet’s Trekking in Nepal from 2016) …
We took one last day to relax and enjoy the culture of the mountain region before deciding to head back down to the landing strip at Lukla to fly out. The lodge owner, Mingma Sherpa helped us organize plane tickets for two days time to wrap up our trekking adventure. Fun fact – apparently in …
Now that we had conquered Chukkung Ri, we had our sights set on visiting another mountain we had noticed on our way up the trail to EBC, Ama Dablam. As one of the more distinct and recognizable peaks in the region, it was also the one that I quickly found to be my personal favourite. …
We took an impromptu rest day in Chukkung because we were so tired. We made a deal that Steve could pay for internet to watch the latest Game of Thrones episode on his phone and I could take a hot shower (they were the same price lol). The next day was clear and sunny – …
After a relatively sleepless night thanks to my freshly acquired sunburn, we were awake in decent time and all packed up, ready to start our journey back down the trail. Just prior to leaving, a long and somewhat heated discussion ensued with the lodge owner, as he had conveniently forgot a promised discount for the …
We’d set our alarm for 5:30am so that we could be up with the sun for our run to Base Camp with as much time as possible. In true mountain fashion, a freak spring snowstorm had blown in overnight, covering the ground and trails in about a foot of snow. It was still active that …
One of my favourite aspects of this part of the trip was the opportunity to get up close and personal with Bos grunniens – the domesticated yak. Heading from Dingboche to Dughla we made our way past some abandoned houses and pastures with crumbling stone walls – former yak farms. These former homesteads were something …