20 May 2017 – Damascus, VA

Mon: feeling blessed watching my first-born in the serenity with her new toy on the lake.

Tue: an efficient day – getting a phone and tkx to Brian@Walmart for his patience for setting this flip-phone to working mode for me (now I have 2phones and do not really know how to use them?? but tkx to Katy, I might now know how to text 🙂 ); driver’s license renewed@DMV for US$12.50/S$18 and sorting out bank matters. Appreciations to Linn for the use of her car.

Wed: hurra for 17mai from us in the US. Had to make a quick run to Walmart to pick up a new US flag, the old one was torn and it would be disrespectful to have it next to the Norwegian one! Being a weekday and with L&J having a meeting to attend, did not celebrate to the full extent, but marked the day with the colours!

Thu: 0930hrs headed for Trail Days Festival in Damascus/VA. Lunch@BT’sBurgerJoint***Biltmore Park Town Square Asheville. Had the low-carb burger with loads of onions, yummy! Taken by iphone, forgot to charge battery in camera.

MoFo, the Trail Angel@Sam’sGap with Sky&Spontaneous, a soon to be triple-crown from S-Korea.

Tkx to MoFo, we got into Damascus 1500hrs and he got the chance to do whatever he needed to get his gears ready for his PCT hike and I got my 12yrs old GraniteGear pouch fixed. This is the location most of us thru’-hikers get our camping and hiking stuffs repaired, thus known to us hikers as the friendliest trail-town.

Appreciations to One Way Ministry for the Hiker Feast@The FireHall with MoFo& Whamo, good chicken and coleslaw. A good time was had by all and everyone had their bellies filled

Fri: TGIF after a good night sleep@Alpine Motel/Abingdon, ready for a lovely morning and a delightful 13k/8m (3hrs) walk from Alvarado to Damascus with MoFo&Whamo on the Virginia Creeper Trail with the flow of South Fork Holston River.

Plenty of wide-life including having the privilege to witness a turtle (have been told by Yung from KCH that it is a alligator snapping turtle) laying eggs on the side of the trail – bringing back childhood memories of watching the big sea-turtles laying eggs in Kuantan/Malaysia and felt sad. To learn now that the crying with egg-laying (that’s the only time they come ashore), and that they cry in the sea as well. The tears help flush sand from their eyes – knowing this, I can now feel happy&appreciate that memory more.

Lunched@The Old Mill***where I had my first decent meal (steak&a glass of red wine) during 2005 AT-Thru’hike! Appreciations for yummy Chicken Alfredo dinner to the Shaws from ME.

Neal Steeno & Tim Keenan’s presentation Naneek@the Rock School. Ended the day with MoFo, Whamo, Miss Wiggy, Lizard, Loon, and Rising Eagle for a beer@The Mill again. Looking forward to seeing HiHills&Franklin tomorrow.

16 May 2017 – Time To Listen To The Body…

Fri&Sat: L&K@SC High School League/SCHSL and Track 2017 (pix credits to L&K). If the memory serves me correctly, those were long-drawn out meets when I was cheering and supporting Linn in her high-school days! Congrats to IrmoHighGirls 4×4 for breaking their school record, from 3.59 (35yrs ago) to 3.57 (2017- pix from IHS Track Banquet taken after this posting).

Sat: a walk to the lake in the surroundings of this lovely peaceful neighbourhood. Ellie&I were planning salmon and shrimps for the Mother’s Day menu and in walked Jeff and said that he has shopped and bought food for Mother’s Day and guess what he had with him, great men’s mind think alike but fools seldom differ – lol

Enjoying and taking time with the shopping at WalMart and Krogers (1-7/24hrs) for their choices, conveniences, selections, space, prices –

when you have recently arrived from Norway, everything seems inexpensive and reasonable here, even a tank of gas for the Volvo was less than US$30!

Nice to be able to roast marshmallows on this beautiful cool evening and a seldom time to get a family pix on the eve of Mother’s Day. The only grandchild I got up to feed nightly the first week of her life – Sophie has now got her new front teeth and chewing happily on her S’mores 🙂 One of the coaches stopped by to chat and was up until pass 0200hrs, not usual for me!

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, Mother Earth and Mother Nature. Shandon Baptist Church, but do miss Rev Dick Lincoln who retired in Mar after 38yrs on the pulpit. There were enough cup-cakes for the whole congregation today!

The power of playing a musical instrument! To my parents, especially mother – tkx for the encouragement&patience (been playing since I was 5 and still at it); grandchildren – do not stop; ex-students Claire&Audrey – keep at it; Simplicius&Rit – stay with it and to others who plays, play on 

https://www.facebook.com/VICE/videos/1528273777224381/?pnref=story

Church services are not what they used to be like when my maternal grandfather was a minister then!

Would usually sit outside during the loud noises but wanted to be with the family today and boy, it will be the last time sitting inside – hope that the heart has not gone Afib and the eardrums are in tact!!

Katy’s presentation for the starter – smoked salmon&lobster’s claws (seldom manage to get a pix of this lovely teen in action 🙂 ) and Ellie’s yummy Luscious Lemon Cake for dessert. Lucky to have a family who likes food as much as I do. Good to catch up with Cindy. Was too tired to join the gang on the boat later – the mind is so willingly but body says no.

12 May 2017 – From MIA/FL To CAE/SC

Wed: 1150hr – MIA was the first station on this train journey. Station#14 1950hrs, hi to all my Orlando and 2015hrs hi Winter Park friends in the neighbourhood of station#15. Passing by on the Amtrak and was greeted by this glorious sunset. 2100hrs, DeLand station#16 – after that was too tired to keep tab of the stations and fell asleep.

Last heard on the announcement was that JAX will be in an hour and that the lights will be dimmed and no more announcements after 2200hrs. For REAL, but last heard in raised voices from 2men (1Caucasian and 1AfricianAmerican, about my age) just in front of me – see that line here, your butt is on my seat and you have crossed the line!!! And I who thought that the seats are quite spacious. That was when I decided to put on ear-plugs and eye-shades! Welcome on board the Amtrak 🙂 and believe me, experiences on the Grey Hound is another chapter… lol.

Thu: up about 0230hrs and did not have a clue as to which station but knew that we were somewhere in SC. By 0415hrs we pulled into CAE on a bright full moon night. Tkx Linn for arranging Albert, the cheerful Uber driver who got me safely here by 0500hrs. Thank goodness Zuno did not make too much noise – had a good 4hrs of a well-needed rest.

0930hrs: woke up to a quiet house, got a treat for Zuno to get him to post for me 🙂 Found these creative colourful mask – what a cheerful welcome! My precious family here certainly more than rocks and all that travel is worth the while.

Tonight starts one of the school year ending events – Ellie playing@The CrossRoads Cougar Orchestra year ending concert. Like her outfit for the theme from Peter Gunn by Henry Mancini, the finale piece with delightful appropriate drumming.

Bravo to Ms Murray for getting such a large group of strings in time&tune. Encore to the principal Mr Hutchinson for his drumming. Best of luck to their performance at Universal Studios next weekend.

Fri: TGIF – am worn-out just listening to Linn’s schedule for this weekend, unable to keep up or even remember! Jeff is on call, so I will stick around and make myself useful, ie do some laundry and cook for the family.

11 May 2017 – Norwegian Airlines

Tue: bye for now, Olai but will be back next month and looking forward to seeing how much colours the USA-map has gotten before his USA road-trip. This beautiful sunset with the ski-jump in the far background reminds me of the sky in Munch’s Scream! (latest news about the sky on the link below).

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-39697256

Good 9hrs flight on Norwegian Airlines (budget airline) having 3 seats to myself and 3 screens to view movies (so-so selection), touch-screen to order F&B (by CCpayment of course!) and the route-map. This 787 Boeing Dreamliner is quite amazing – with a push of a button the windows can be darkened, but still not so effective as the old-fashion ones.

1900hrs on schedule into FLL, had to park on the tarmac and was bussed to the airport! So Spirit Airlines were the culprits as to why there were no jetways for our plane!! First time@US immigration where no questions as to how long I have been away from the US! Instead a lovely warm Welcome Home handsome smile. Made my day 🙂 A shared-cab to the hotel – waiting for transportation and dropping off the other person took more time than immigration.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/05/09/spirit-airlines-cancels-flights-fort-lauderdale-fight/#.WRGwQWiCoeA.facebook

Happy to be able to check into a clean room+attached bathroom@Ramada Hialeah/Miami Airport North (pix taken after checking out!). Was dead tired and hungry, but just a fast shower to wash away the airports&airplane dust and crashed.

Wed: up bright and early to soak in the bath tub. Welcome back to the world of plentiful and convenience. Time to head down the road for some breakfast and shopping. Hialeah is an area inhabited by Spanish speakers and many in the grocery store could not speak English. No problems getting what I needed at any of the stores, and No, yo no hablo español…

What a nice surprise to hear from Sammi – have not seen her for 20+yrs, ie when she was a little kid. Good of her to drive an hour to have dinner with me@Red Lobster. Lovely to catch up and hear about her life.

She is the only person I know of who has 2Bengal Cats as pets and also the first time I have heard of Bengal Cats looking like mini leopards! They are only kittens now, but she will have a handful when they reach full size.

Thu: soaked again in the tub this morning before heading out to the MIA Amtrak St. The luxury of a bath-tub, something I do not have! Contentedly on the train passing thru’ places flashing back a previous life in FL 🙂 When there is no rush, the train is definitely a pleasant way to travel. F&B I like ready-packed, a book, WiFi on board, comfortable&spacious seat, nap whenever my eyes are tired – what else can one ask for more where public transportation is concerned…

8 May 2017 – A Wonderful Weekend With Family

Sat: somehow, managed to be here again on Markedsdag, – Hegdehaugsveien og Bogstadveien, the bi-annual sales that never failed to squeeze money out of me, especially@Sprell…

which I already checked out yesterday taking the tram to Pilestredet and walking across JosefinesGt where there are some interesting houses and sculptures on the corner of Bogstadveien.

The excuse to shop being that I can now do all the missing Birthdays and Christmas gifts 🙂 Got him this giant USA colouring map (6’x3’/11.8mx1m) for the whole family and his friends to colour as they are planning a USA road-trip for the summer.

May&I were there before 0900hrs to avoid the crowds and by 1045hrs we have had enough as the crowds were moving in.

Probably missing some good deals, but unable not handle the all these ppl Could not resist to post in this Batman-Mobil, but it was not easy to get in and out of it, hahaha!

Bought a black light-weight blazer at Moods of Norway at a sale price of NOR300/S$48. The clothing inside the shop were on 25% discount and the road-side items like the blazer were good deals (up to 70%discount) if you find something of your taste and size.

The sizes of some of the cars here are what I would like to have, but have been told that electrical cars are more expensive than the normal ones! Living in any city with decent public transportation, there is no need for a car!

Sun: a night and morning of rains cooling down and gathering most of the pollen, waking up to a less runny nose. The garden looks greener and fresher. The grill is up in the balcony. It took 3men for this new oval marble dinning table fitting perfectly here – good for the preparations of fattigmann julekaker! Slowly but surely, this house is getting its owners’ beautiful personalities.

Nice to see Ellen who will be 94 in Oct. She has lost weight and her hearing is poor, otherwise am impress with her mind, her interest in history and her upkeep of her family tree and garden which as usual has beautiful blooms. This must be one of the last pix of John before he passed on.

Mon: packing just a backpack to fly off to the US later today. No check-in luggage etc (a fee for everything extra, including food) on Norwegian Airlines (budget airlines), the basic fares from OSL-FLL-OSL US$350/S$488. Lucked out with these reasonable fares which fits perfectly into my dates for this year due to the medical check-up here in Norway. Beautiful day to be leaving OSL with the colourful flags all ready for the 17…

5 May 2017 – TGIF

Sun&Mon: bye-bye Apr and welcome Spring. Happy May Day, a public holiday here in Norway – an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival too. Also International Workers’ Day, known as Labour Day in some countries. Pix downloaded. Good to catch up with Ingrid&HansK.

The weather here can really turn from winter to spring overnight!  It was snowing the day before I arrived – now just happily sitting and relaxing in the garden watching Olai play by the jacket-eating tree 🙂 This cute wooden concept here attracts bugs and insects.

Tue&Wed: yesterday Spring was officially in the air here in OSL/Norway.

Today it feels more like Summer that even the duck found its way to the flower-shop! Quite delightful listening and watching the birds – with weathers and ambiance like this, one can only feel blessed being alive to enjoy, experience and marvel Mother Nature at her best.

Thu: an afternoon@Ullevål sykehus/hospital for my check-up and the good old ticker is back to normal – enjoy this as long as it last! BP normal and looks like I will live for this round 🙂 🙂 🙂 Glad that I did not push myself to the max when in Nepal, as the heart might have gone Afib or stop! and was not willing to challenge or take that risk. Accepting the reality of life when the mind says Yes, but the Heart says otherwise is the time to listen to the Heart!

https://amylamsg.com/2011/09/09/karma/

Fri: looking forward to seeing the result of Bjørn’s hard work in the garden. He has been working very hard building this shed, replanting strawberries on the roof-top and digging a trenches on the 2sides of the shed for the blueberries. He believes that anything worth planting should be edible…

Shopping for Norwegian chocolate at different stores where the best deals are available. @Søstrene Grene for 17May stuff to the US family.

Food tasting and shopping@my fav grocery shop Jacob’s, especially the seafood.

It has so far been a peaceful and restful week watching Olai baking, colouring, playing, etc. This perfect weather brings back fond memories of someone I greatly admire and respect, L&M paternal grandfather John, who used to say ‘Amy you know that we worked very hard to get this glorious weather to welcome you’– he died Aug 2008 age 85 and is still dearly missed.

1 May – Happy May Day/Labour Day

5 May – Happy Cinco De Mayo

6 May – Happy Bdays WONG Wai Kit & Jan SOSA

10 May – Happy Bday Andrew LAM

13 May – Happy Bday Susannah LAM

17 May – Happy Bday LAM Poh Chee & hurra for 17 mai

18 May – Happy 50Wedding Anniversaray to Lawrence&Mabel. Happy Bday Helen VICKERY-YEO

23 May – Happy Bday Yasmine AMEEN

27 May – Happy Bdays LAM Sui Chang & Karen LIM

28 May – Happy Bday Vanessa LAM

30 May– Happy Bday Hans Kristian HUSTAD

30 Apr 2017 – Updating Transit In SIN & DOH

23-26Apr: not a time I want to remember as the coughing was bad but good to be back in a familiar place where reliable doctors and medications are more accessible. Antibiotics, cough and running nose medications were all prescribed and feeling like a walking drug dispensary!

Tkx to Les&Ivy for dinner and for their concerns for my condition. Great to catch up with cousin Wilki who is visiting from HI. A cleaning robot@SIN airport, first I have seen.

Thu 27Apr: 0715hrs on schedule 8+hrs full uneventful flight on QatarAirways to DOH. Listening to an interesting audio-book, The Brain with David Eagleman. Arr DOH before 1300hrs – what a change compared from the first time here in 2012. Discovered that my connecting flight to OSL was not until 0705hrs the next day – thought it was 1905hrs, ie 7.05p!

Took the free city-tour into DOH and it was an educational and interesting one, so some things are meant to be.

Ppl out having a good time eating, smoking hookah/shisha, getting their hands painted, etc on a Sat evening. Enjoyed the ambiance and the flavours@the old market.

Fri 28Apr: arr on schedule into OSL, again a long wait at the immigration like last year, but slightly better this year as they tried to get the ppl who did not need visas into another line.

Good to see Olai, May & Rich waiting at the train station. After a yummy cod dinner prepared by May, 10hrs sleep, clean air and in Olai’s company, I feel whole and human again, coughing less.

Sat 29Apr: Astrup Fearnley Museet where Olai was attending some kids program with the Buddhism in Art.

Beautiful day to be out and about welcoming spring. Yeah finally managed to catch up with the dates in these postings. It is still Sat here in OSL, but Sun in SIN and laptop is set to SIN time.

Here comes the sun 
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right

26Apr 2017 – Updating KTM – Pokhara

16-17Apr: 3extra nights@Hotel Marshyandi KTM. All flights out are totally booked for the week and looks like there will not be any chance to change tickets. Bought some books to pass time at the hotel courtyard while waiting for Calvin&Sam.

They got in safely and yeah and hats off to them. As a group again, we headed to Pokhara=pool or lake 900m, 30mins flight, 200k west of KTM – 1250hrs flight was delayed until 1515hrs! With a pop of 414,141 in an area of 464.24km²/179.24sq mi, far from the earthquake epicenter, and almost unaffected by the 2015 disaster.

Into our accommodations@Atithir Resort&SPA by 1600+hrs  and out exploring and dinning@Chilly Restro&Bar by Phewa Lake.

Tue 18Apr: up up up on hair-pin-bends on a van to Shanti Stupa/World Peace Pagoda (1999),  a monument to inspire peace, designed to provide a focus for people of all races and creeds, and to help unite them in their search for world peace.

Heading down to the lake was stressful on the knees on these narrow stone steps, need to concentrate on every step and good to have our guide Kumar to save me if i fall. How on earth did Dipak managed to walk is his city loafers??

The group in action, not the seniors! contributed with the peddling of the boat around Barahi Island Temple before heading to land.

Quite an amazing scene upon landing – vendors selling their brilliant colours accesories, women in their beautiful colourful saris were having the giggles with the life-vests on.

Bamboo-trees overloaded with birds.

A stroll thru’ town for a bite before heading back to the resort for a massage. Mural-painting, not too common.

Thank goodness, not a real snake. The fruit store is right opposite our resort and surprised that hand-made shoes are still in existence!

Dinner@Fish Tail Lodge, situated on a peninsula with the Fewa Lake on one side and a forest-covered hill on the other, spectacular views, like the idea that you need to pull a boat to get there!

Relaxing cocktails with Harry who knows his birds!  The panorama of Annapurna range and Mount Machhapuchre/Fish Tail were over-power by Mother Nature.

Wed 19Apr: the waiting game@Pokhara Airport where flight was supposed to take off for KTM 0930hrs, delayed flight but action going on with movie making of some teary departure scene. By noon the flight was cancelled.

With 3 extra passengers, we headed back to town for lunch@Thakali Kitchen. 1300hrs on the 200k Prithui Highway to KTM, arr after 2000hrs!

With the conditions of the road in addition on top of bad traffic, it is no wonder that it took 8hrs.

Thu&Fri  20/21Apr: a tourist in KTM.

The golden Swayambhunath Stupa, most commonly known as the Monkey Temple, is the oldest and probably one of the most revered holy shrines in all Nepal Its construction dates as far back as the 5th Century. Was not able to do the 365steps, coughing was bad.

Khokana 8k south of KTM, damaged by the 2015 earthquake was mainly known for the production of rich mustard oil since ancient time. It was also the first town in Nepal to be lit with electricity in 1911.

Durbar Square/Basantapur Darbar Kshetra in front of the old royal palace of the former KTM Kingdom is one of three Durbar/royal palace, Squares in the KTM Valley, all of which are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 2015 earthquake destroyed many buildings.

Farewell home-made dinner hosted by Dipak&family. The most tender mutton curry eaten and the rabri rasmalai to die for. The best meal I have had in Nepal, thank you.

On the way to Kumar&family to say our farewells. Thank you for the Tongba तोङवा a millet-based alcoholic beverage found in the eastern mountainous region of Nepal and the neighbouring Darjeeling and Sikkim. It is the traditional and indigenous drink of the Limbu people of eastern Nepal. Have been wanting to taste this for some days!

2100hrs flight from KTM on SilkAir to SIN delayed to 2230hrs.

Sat 22 Apr 0530hrs: S&S in SIN. Appreciations to Calvin for the evening celebrations@CC. Reflections and food will be updated. There are just sooo much info online and these are just short personal notes for the memory.

Sun 30Apr: edited reflections and food –  getting out of KTM helped with the breathing and the lungs. Dust was really getting to me and started coughing. Trekking was tough as both heart and lungs are not in good shape – feeling blessed to see Everest under the best conditions in spite of not reaching EBC! 3rd world countries are not on my travel list, it saddens me to see conditions where I feel so helpless. Just goes to show how much I wanted to see the world’s tallest mt!

Additional days in KTM&Pokhara did not help the coughing but that too shall pass and no regrets to have had the opportunities to visit.

Nepalese cuisine: Dal-bhat-tarkari दाल भात तरकारी dal is a soup made of lentils and spices. This is served over boiled grain, bhat—usually rice with various varieties of veg, curry, pickles etc.

Momo—Tibetan style dumplings with Nepalese spices. Chinese-style stir fried noodles but Nepalis have given it their own twist. Plain Tibetan bread which I liked.

The best meal was all the above food, home-made by Dipak’s family. Another thing I tasted a bite of was this wild-picked mushrooms with local potatoes made by the owners@Kyangyump but for their own dinner. Was lucky to get a taste of it.

Would not be fair or objective to comment on the food as my cough and running nose were the culprits to a poor appetite during the entire trip.

‘If the devastating April 2015 earthquake dashed your hopes of visiting Nepal, think again. A year later, this struggling Himalayan country urgently needs tourism, which pre-quake included 800,000 annual visitors and contributed 8.9 percent of gross domestic product. Rest assured Nepal’s rich history, infinite hospitality, and majestic beauty are still there’.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/asia/Nepal/high-time-for-nepal/

It’s time to say goodbye, but I think goodbyes are sad and I’d much rather say hello. Hello to a new adventure – Ernie Harwell

25 Apr 2017 –  Updating Namche – Tengboche 

Sun 9Apr 0656hrs: Namche 3,450m/22,318ft – Tengboche 3,860m/12,664ft 12k. Leaving Namche with views of farms and the museum. Spectacular views of snow-capped mts in clear clear blue skies.

Ups and downs crossing more suspension bridges and the river, thru’ rhododendron forests.

Lunch break down the valley@Paradise Lodge&Restaurant, a newer place and nice to be able to take an early lunch and nap before heading by the water-wheels and check-point and then up up up for 4k.

Met someone playing the flute during a break and he had a nose-bleed. Gave him all my tissues and wet-naps supply for the day.

After the last 4k of ups ups ups (took me 4hrs) was finally@Tengboche Monastery&Hotel Himalaya 1600hrs, where we will be spending the night. Was sooo tired that all I wanted to do was sleep, but did pay a visit to the monastery first.

Managed to get a few shots before the sunset. Was even too tired to go outside to take this sunset scene, so imagine how bad a shape I was in to miss a good shot of the sunset. Oh well, even with the reflection of the window, Sagarmatha will hold a special place in the memory.

Mon 10Apr 0930hrs: after a poor night sleep with the heart and head not feeling happy, it would be wise to turn around here. As the Norwegian saying goes – det er ingen skam å snu. Looking at the itinerary planned, it would have been unlikely to make it any further and I needed to conserve some energy head back. Lum made the same decision as he was coughing. Calvin&Sam pushed on with Kumar and the younger porter. My fav pix of Sagarmatha and the closest I will ever get.

Such spectacular views will remain as long as the memory is in tact.

Heading slowly with our older porter Samip and Lum from Tengboche to Kyangyump arr 1430hrs after 10k . still above the 3,000m for a night. Nice to have the time to take many Kodak breaks to cherish the moments. One picture is worth ten thousand words – Chinese Proverb

Tue 11Apr 0815hrs: proceeding to Namche arr 1030hrs after 8k where Lum was so out of it that I thought a chopper had to be called. Fortunately he slept for hours and felt better.

Wed 12Apr 0830hrs: Namche – Pkakding 1630hrs 7.4k where I first tasted green chilly sauce@Namaste Lodge where the owner’s son is studying in Dublin/Ireland.

Thu 13Apr 0800hrs: Pkakding – Lukla 1400hrs 9k staying the night@Tara Lodge.

Fri 14Apr: being in the Buddhist country, nearly forgotten that it is Good Fri. Checked into the airport and flight was supposed to take off after 0900hrs. A few flights took and then none after 0930hrs. Airport closed due to wind, but did not effect the choppers. Hiring a chopper cost anything from US$1,600+

Waited and watching life goes by was more affordable!

Left the airport to have lunch@Everest Mt Home, only a few steps away and has a view of the landing strip where I could see any plane or chopper landing. All’s well that ends well – the airport opened after 1500hrs and we were back in KTM by 1600hrs. Goodbye and thank you Sagarmantha.

Feeling blessed to have been able to trek 34k to an altitude of 3,860m/12,664ft in 6 perfect weather days (including 1rest day) was more than I would have hoped.

24 Apr 2017 – Updating Phakding – Namche

Fri 7Apr 0645hrs: Phakding 2,620m/8,595ft – Namche 3,450m/22,318ft 12k.

Still along DudhKoshi, up thru’ rhododendron, fir, Himalayan pine, cedar forest with the view of Kusum Kanguru/Kangaroo 6,369m/20,895ft & Thamserku Mts 6,623m/21,719ft.

Long suspension bridge, and wow! the first sighting of Sagarmatha/Everest 8,848m/29,018ft world’s tallest mt and I survived to see it with my own 2eyes!! (even when it is from a distance).  Another bucket list item accomplished.

Passing by the village of Monjo. Break@Buddha Lodge for lunch and to air my feet.

Long lines@Namche checkpoint, smart of Kumar to call one of the porters who had arrived@Namche with the group and our baggage. He came to stand in line while poor Kumar had to accompany me so that I could slowly but surely reach the ups ups ups to Namche by 1630hrs.

2 nights here@Kongde Lodge to rest and acclimatize. Met up with a Norwegain, Ulrik Hoksnes Karlsen, hiking solo who works in Shanghai and knows Magnus – small world. He also has a twin bro working in SIN!

Sat 8Apr: a visit to Namche Market and the museum before heading another 400m to acclimatize.

The group was flying their kites and scaring the birds 🙂

They proceeded on to Everest View Lodge while our guide Kumar, porter Samip and I decided to nap instead of climbing. Headed back to the lodge for another night.

Only pix I have of the whole group@Namche Bakery where the older bro Samip (24) so touchingly cut up the food for his younger bro (14). Clockwise: Sam, younger porter, me, Lum, Calvin, Kumar&Samip. Sam bought a pair of mittens and I, a pair of booties (booties pix credits to Calvin).

What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals – Zig Ziglar