Next stop Kathmandu

Well, I blinked again and another 2 months went by. A couple of breaks with family, a week in London and some local hiking is about all we've done over the last 8 weeks. However, in that time we've packed No 2 son off to a new job in Scotland, packed the old man off to work 4 days a week on a temporary contract and poured over world maps and travel guides wondering where to take the next vacation.

We decided on a 3 week trek at altitude between 2800 and 5300 metres through the Khumbu Valley in Nepal, with a week in Kathmandu first. We like to sail close to the wind - we booked it last Friday and leave Tuesday! The itinerary can be found here if anyone is interested.

After some fun in the capital, we will start the trek off with a hair raising flight into Lukla, with its runway on a 12% gradient. The gradient is to ensure the aircraft landing there stop in time before hitting the mountain, as the runway is only 1500 feet long!!! Ultimately the trek goes to Everest Base Camp at 5300 metres, with an assent of Kala Pattar at 5545 metres before returning to Lukla via a slightly different route. It's a tough trek but we've been out and about here regularly doing some long hikes and I've been putting in some extra training. Ultimately the altitude is likely to determine whether we/I get to EBC, but we'll see all the big mountains: Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse etc. anyway. Can't believe that 4 days after we return I will be back at work though!