Twenty Thirteen, thanks for being part of mine

Call me turtle- I'm still lugging this around and still can't do a single press up.

Twenty thirteen, what a year! 365 days ago I did not have a clue how it would turn out! 20 countries, countless adventures, more terrible meals and overnight bus journeys than I care to remember… plenty of fun nights I wish I could remember! More importantly than the sight seeing, partying and travelling was the incredible people I met and the friendships I formed.

laughing in Budapest

Beach with the girls; Vama Veche in Romania

before a night out in Kyrgyzstan 

Don’t get me wrong I met plenty of dickheads but on the whole it was fantastic to see the world as such a beautiful, friendly and helpful place. From the children’s home in Nepal that showed me what it meant to have so little and yet be so happy and content, to the random family in Bulgaria that picked me up hitchhiking, to the people that have let me crash at their place (including plenty of family-thanks mum for that couch in Kyrgyzstan!) this year has been so wonderful.

childrens home in  Kathmandu

An italian, an aussie, a canadian and a kiwi on a Turkish boat cruise

I saw a wild tiger, trekked to Mt Everest Base Camp, made it to Gallipoli, experienced political uprisings in Nepal, Bulgaria and Turkey among others- the passion of a country enraged with their government is so exciting to see. Auschwitz was indescribably painful to visit. For the first time I was in a country where I felt truly unsafe (Kosovo). Got lost countless times, saw sunsets and sunrises. I discovered I really suck at maintaining a blog. I skyped more than I thought possible and learnt that my true friends would always be there for me even when we are so far apart.

wild tiger crossed the road in front of me

Everest Buddies!

Christmas Day sunset parasail in Thailand

Thank you to everyone who was part of my year- especially you who made me laugh and shared in my joy.

To an amazing 2013 and even better 2014!

Lots of Love,

Tracy xx.

HUGS!

Trek to Mt Everest Base Camp cont. THYANGBOCHE

You can read part 1 & 2 of my trek here and here

yak in the snow

prayer flags

Day six, we arrived at Thyangboche as it started to snow! I hadn’t expected it to be this cold as it was technically Spring. Snow isn’t ideal conditions when you’re in sneakers but it was SO pretty. I’ve never been in proper snow before unless you count the couple of millimeters that fell on my balcony in Wellington two years ago.

SNOW

There is also an incredible monastery up in the mountains, it's the home of the Rimpoche of Tengboche  and the four of us were able to have the experience of sitting in on a two hour ceremony. Obviously it wasn't in English, but you could grasp what was happening. I'm not buddhist but it was still an honour to have yet another experience I couldn't have imagined, plus since I hadn't really read the itinerary it was a surprise! 

3867m in Nepal's spiritual center of Tibetan Buddhism (no pics inside allowed)

At this altitude I was starting to get mild headaches but the altitude sickness was nothing like some of the other trekkers that we met. A few were seriously unwell and one guy decided to turn back. The only thing with the height that bothered me was the cold. Since I’m neither outdoorsy nor do I live in a cold city I had to purchase a fair amount of gear, from my pack to clothing to walking sticks to metal drink bottles, and as the trip was last minute I hadn’t been saving and didn’t have time to shop around or wait for sales so I was trying to limit my spending. I decided that instead of spending $150+ on a sleeping bag I’d use the one at home. If I had throughly read my packing list I’d have known I required a four season bag that was comfortable at -10°C  … My bag was three seasons, none of which were winter! Waking up to ice on the inside of our cabin was all part of the adventure. I can honestly say that I considered attempting the remainder of the trek in my (pitiful) sleeping bag.

2 pair socks, 3 pair pants, 4 top half layers, puffer jacket, neck warmer, beanie & 2 hot water bottles

a pony that came to frolic in the snow with Karen & I

The next day, was one of the most beautiful walk’s of the trek, it was no longer snowing but we left quite early in the morning to avoid the other groups, and the resulting mud from the melting snow. I think this was the day that we saw quite a few other people, it wasn’t as crowded as it can get in the peak season though. The hike was chilly but not freezing as the snow had stopped falling. Our group had a few laughs with whacking snow laden overhanging tree branches so the snow dumped on each other. Admittedly I did muck it up and managed to get myself once! Didn’t make that mistake again! ..or did I? :-(

Karen and I

Trek to Mt Everest Base Camp cont. KHUMJUNG

PART TWO: The morning of our “rest day” we were to go and see the National Park Museum at the top of a hill behind Namche Bazaar at the break of dawn... Before you get to the actual path there are a few stairs. Definitely my most challenging steps of the whole EBC trek. It was early morning, pre pancakes, –we'd had a huge day prior, (more exercise than I do in a month squished into a day) and I was puffed by the 50th 6^th step. Fortunately, against all odds I survived and lived to watch a gorgeous sunrise up over stunning snowy peaks.

   

  

The following day we headed to Khumjung, on the way we viewed the Kunde Hospital built by our very own Sir Ed! Further a long the track is a school, also founded by him! It’s always awesome to be so far from home and to be blessed with opportunities be reminded of the incredible Kiwis that NZ’s produced! The school was built back in ’61, it was only a couple of classrooms back then but now it has nearly 400 pupils! The yeti skull (or scalp) displayed at Khumjung Monastery was a legitimate disappointment, I was well aware that yeti's aren't actually real, but somehow in my oxygenhotshowersleep deprived state I was expecting to see the bones of a monsters skull. Khumjung was a pretty chilled little village, we saw BABY YAKS, and the lodge was really quaint, it was the first time I was cold enough in the common room to get excited by the addition of dried yak dung being added to the fire. In the lodges/ tea houses that we stayed at along the trek there is a dining area and in the centre is a large pot bellied fire for heating. The yak dung stinks, but when it was that cold I was ready to go collect more poo and add it to the fire myself!

Boy playing at the Khumjung school

 In the late afternoons after the days walk we usually hung out as a group, to be honest it was all rather tame and not at all like my Contiki tour though Europe (I didn't that the trek would be overly similar to the Contiki, but I had hoped for the occasional themed dance party) Totally different story, turns out due to the altitude you can't drink alcohol at all, incidentally after all that walking and fresh air we were so tired that dinner was at 6pm sharp. The food was pretty terrible, the tea houses steamed their pizzas (yup, that makes them soggy) and as wood/gas are limited most of the food seemed a tad undercooked, my trick was just to get it down as quickly as possible before my poor tastebuds had a chance to notice what was happening! Food (even after we'd just eaten) was the main topic of discussion, quite torturous really. Prior to the trek I'd expected late nights, the reality was the four of us sneaking hopeful glances at the clock waiting until it hit 7pm- the earliest we felt we could fall into bed without feeling too geriatric!

Next stop: Thyangboche, where it SNOWED!