Khumbu Climber expedition with Jagged Globe took 28 days and was more technical than anything I'd done before. Our group of 12 had appropriate previous experience and and everyone had made efforts to get fit. My tent mate, John, and I got on very well and the weather for the whole expedition was excellent; of course it's cold above 6,000 m but winds were not strong and we only had light snow at Namche Bazaar on the way back to Lukla. Three mountains were tackled in order of difficulty - Pokalde is scrambling on rock with no snow and ice. To reach the top you clip your ascender onto the fixed ropes, and from the peak it's an abseil down. The second mountain was Island Peak and we were surprised how hard it was. One particularly challenging moment was crossing a large crevasse by walking over four ladders lashed together, and the headwall of snow and ice (the final bit at the top) was almost vertical. With much puffing and panting we made it but wondered what Lobuche, the third peak, had in store for us. This was a longer walk over rock and ice. There were six fixed ropes and techniques I learnt on Mont Blanc some years ago came in handy. It was a perfect morning going up the steep slope with crampons and ice axe. The views as the sun came up were magnificent. All in all an extremely challenging trip but fitness training beforehand paid off. Our group were aided by competent sherpas, cooks, porters and a yak herder (9 yaks for luggage).
After waving Gordon off to Nepal early October I set off ten days later for warmer climes, my first stop being Hong Kong. I love Hong Kong. Having family in Hong Kong (David, my older brother has lived there for over 25 years and more recently his son Adrian and wife Karin) I've made several visits over the years so that this time I felt quite at home in this bustling noisy city. October weather is lovely - warm and sunny, without horrid humidity experienced in summer. My good friend Nicky arrived a few days later and we had a fabulous 3 days: rode the ding dong tram, went to Kowloon on the iconic Star Ferry, visited the Big Buddha on Lantau Island and ate dim sum.
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| The cutest pork buns! |
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| Hong Kong skyline |
From Hong Kong, next stop Hanoi, Vietnam. What a crazy place, with unimaginable traffic. Cars, motorbikes, pedestrians, cyclos (three wheeled bicycle taxi) all weave around each other to the incessant sound of hooting and engines roaring. With only nine days to explore Vietnam, we divided our time between Hanoi and Ninh Binh in the north and then flew south to the Mekong Delta region to Can Tho, finally ending up in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Another visit to Vietnam coming soon!
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| Nguyen Shack in Ninh Binh, where we stayed a few nights |
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