If you’re planning to enjoy the local customs and culture on your Bhutan treks, one unique experience to try is the national sport of Bhutan – archery. Though you might think it strange for a Buddhist nation to practice a sport that had its origins in ancient warfare and hunting, in Bhutan, the bow and arrows can only be used for practice and competition. Even when making the arrows themselves, only feathers that have been found on the ground can be used.
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Many travellers on Bhutan tours are somewhat surprised upon arriving in Paro; encountering a city whose inhabitants, whilst maintaining a deep cultural pride and traditional values, are not afraid to embrace a progressive approach to education and technology.

Bhutan tours and treks remain the mainstay of the country’s economy, and Paro is home to the only international airport, playing host to large numbers of tourists arriving for their adventure of a lifetime in the Himalaya. However, many of the local youth are now looking beyond their own front door and are eager to explore career opportunities which, not so long ago, would not have been available to them.

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Conquering Everest is certainly viewed as one of the toughest challenges a person can put to themselves, and not everyone is cut out for it. Rigorous training is required and as much mental as physical preparation is needed to fulfil the dream of summiting the world’s highest mountain. The much more accessible Everest Base Camp trek is often a more viable option than aiming for the top and is just as rewarding. But there is another way to experience the grandeur and sheer magnitude of the mountain that can get you to the top of Everest without even getting out of breath. And it all starts in Nepal’s largest city, Kathmandu.

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“Let me tell you something, you have not partied till you’ve partied at dawn in complete silence with Buddhist monks”, said Cameron Diaz when reminiscing about her Bhutan trekking holiday with Eva Mendes. The two Hollywood A-listers were sent to the hidden kingdom in the Himalaya by MTV to highlight the conservation work carried out in the area by the WWF, and the difference it was making to the lives of the local people.

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Those lucky enough to be on a Bhutan trek in May of this year who had a keen interest in the myths, legends and folklore of the region would have had a wonderful opportunity to be a part of the inaugural Mountain Echoes Literary Festival. The first of its kind in Bhutan, the birth of this event follows the outstanding success of two previous literary festivals in South East Asia; the Jaipur Literary Festival and the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka.

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Thyangboche is absolutely tiny. It’s quite desolate and there’s not much here apart from a large, striking monastery. A prayer ceremony began at 3 and we were able to sit and watch. In front of the monastery is a beautifully impressive archway covered in vibrant colours and carvings of Buddhist gods.

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I had a veggie fry up this morning which was a great start to the day - even though the baked beans were strangely spicy and tangy. After the rest day, I felt much more energised and happy to walk up the mountain. The first half of the day wasn’t too difficult and we saw some great things such as the Rhododendrons - Nepal’s national flower. Apparently it’s rare to see them in bloom in June, they’re normally in full bloom in February - so we were lucky!

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When I woke up and looked out of the window I was speechless. I couldn’t see a thing out of the window; the whole of Namche was enveloped in a cloud! For this reason the gallery below shows photos from the day before; our approach to Namche Bazaar.

Today was an acclimatisation day AKA “the rest day”. It’s built in to the trek allow the walker to acclimatise to the altitude and reduction in oxygen. On this day however, you don’t completely rest as you might expect. We were told that it’s a good idea to climb up high and then come down again and sleep to help with the affects of the altitude.

We climbed up to Namche’s Everest museum which had all sorts of information about porters/sherpas/the history of the mountain and people and loads of photos. For example: we all thought we’d been seeing yaks all over the mountain carrying loads of luggage but we had in fact been seeing cross breeds - ½ yak, ½ cow called Dzopchoik - male, or Dzoom - female. They were smaller than yaks with shorter hair. They are also better at handling warmer climates. We’ll apparently see some real yaks as we climb higher.

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It’s morning. Already, we had grown accustomed to hearing the retching/coughing sound of the locals, where they would quite literally cough up muck from their lungs. This is due to the dust/thin air of the mountain. At first we were slightly put off by it, but now it’s a familiar sound! After a porridge breakfast, a massive jug of boiled water was brought out and we all filled up our bottles before setting off for our morning trek.

We walked for 3.5 hours up and down a mountain, stopping at Jorsale for lunch which was very similar to the day before. We went past some beautiful waterfalls. The sun was very strong and I made sure I wore my factor 50 on any part of uncovered skin, but I had to take off my hat as my head was getting too hot and I found out later that my scalp got sunburnt!

We saw the most spectacular view of what I thought was the summit of Mt. Everest, but after asking the guide (who laughed at my naivety) we discovered that it was Thamserku, a mountain which stands 6608 metres tall. It was hard to imagine a mountain over 2000m taller!!

After lunch the walk began to get much harder. It started off medium-difficult but ended up being incredibly challenging! We got to a point where we were walking up steps for hundreds and hundreds of metres, never stopping. The views continued to stun us with their beauty. We got to a suspension bridge where two rivers join, one river running from the top of Everest, the other from Tibet; they join at this point and run into the Ganges. The wind was getting stronger and the flowers were becoming scarcer.

Very gradually, the Everest Base Camp Trek was becoming more and more challenging, every few steps we’d have to stop to breathe and I felt exhausted all the time. The climb was getting steeper and there were times where many of us just wanted to turn back! I was told today that someone actually thought they would burst into tears they were that fatigued. My toes began to hurt a lot. My boots have never been a problem before I’ve had them for about 5 years, but I think they may be too small! A combination of wearing thicker socks than usual, and my feet being constantly swollen. I’ve put on blister plasters underneath my big toes to reduce the pressure on them.

The walk was about 4 hours long, when we finally saw Namche Bazaar (3,500 m) in the distance (our next destination) it felt incredible - but it still took what seemed forever to get there as we were moving so slowly! Namche is in the cloud line - we were literally level with the clouds!

When I finally got to the hotel, I collapsed in bed and slept for 2 hours unable to move. My back felt very sore as did my feet. After eating a fantastic Dhal Baht we fell asleep looking forward to having a lie-in before our rest day that would follow.

Today’s walk was a gentle amble to get used to the terrain and walking. One of the first things we went past was a Starbucks on the side of a mountain - I was disgusted!!

However, after that the sights became incredible. We passed Buddhist good luck symbols everywhere! Across the suspension bridges were colourful prayer flags blowing in the wind, every so often you would come across a large, colourful, revolving cylinder memorials called Mani Wheels which contain Buddhist prayers that get stronger each time the wheel is turned. Doing this is meant to cleanse your body from any sin. There are also huge rocks known as Mani Stones carved with a single Mantra (chant) or a complete prayer to the God of compassion. They’re very impressive and beautiful.

(click on the images to enlarge)

On this first trip up the mountain we were struck by the beauty and lush vegetation everywhere, the amazingly fresh air and breathtaking views. Whoever you passed on the mountain would stop to say Namaste “greetings”, and the people were all very friendly. Herds of yaks went up and down the mountain with bells attached to their collars. The sound of the bells ringing as the yaks move up and down the mountain is almost magical. We also crossed our first suspension bridge - an prospect that was daunting to many in the group. However, the bridges were sturdy and not half as scary or unstable as we expected.

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When you’re trekking the strenuous Annapurna Circuit you’ll find that filling up on carbohydrates is pretty much de rigueur. All the exercise that you’re getting on the trek provides a great excuse for filling up en-route and it may surprise you to find that, in the foothills of the Himalaya, fried apple pie is a popular treat amongst hikers.

The Kagbeni-to-Marpha section of the Annapurna Circuit is particularly renowned for its excellent baking and every teahouse here offers their own home-made apple pie. Once you reach Marpha, the pies are considered to be the very best in Nepal. With fritters, crumbles and momos featuring on the menu of every teahouse in town, it’s clear that this is a town that loves its apples. So much so that some backpackers admit to choosing their teahouse strictly based on how good the home-made pie is!

However, it isn’t just sweet deserts that the locals make with the juicy apples of the Himalaya. The town of Marpha is also home to an old distillery selling apple brandy. A bottle of this liquor will set you back just 70 rupees, but if you like your alcohol strong prepare to be disappointed, although the liquor has a strong herby taste the alcohol content itself is pretty low. Fresh apple juice costs the same in rupees per bottle and is slightly more refreshing to drink whilst you continue walking the Annapurna Circuit.

There is another reason that the Annapurna Circuit is known as the Apple Pie Circuit and that’s because, whilst it is generally a strenuous trek, some of the more enjoyable parts are, as the old slogan goes, “as easy as apple pie”.

This amazing photo was taken by mckaysavage1 and posted on Flickr. Many thanks.

Click on the image to navigate in a light box.

image by mckaysavage on Flickr

This is the view from Kala Pattar: the sharp peak of Nuptse and Everest rising mistily behind it.

Hi.
This is a video I found showing what we can expect Rosanna and David to be seeing and doing between Day 8 and Day 10 of the Everest Base Camp trek.

This video was posted on Youtube by wwwcelticvideocom. I quite like the narrator’s accent.

After a week, Rosanna and David and all the others on the Childreach trek will be well on their way now. Everest Base Camp Trek routes. The latter stages show the Kala Pattar variation of the Everest trek where you climb to the summit of the neighbouring mountain to overlook Everest base camp. I just posted this video really to give a sense of Kathmandu and the first few days of what Rosanna and David will be seeing.

Here is a video I found showing the opening locations on one of the

Thanks to justindav1s for putting this up on Youtube.

As it’s the anniversary of Hillary’s famous first summit success on Everest, I thought he deserved a mention.
Sadly, he died last year, but he left behind The Edmund Hillary Trust.

I think it’s important to remember the local community and environment when making a journey like mine, especially when I’m associated with a charity. We will rely on the Sherpa people and thier kindness so much, but without groups like The Edmund Hillary Trust, their lifestyle will only be damaged by our visits.

Since inception the achievements of The Edmund Hillary trust have been wide ranging. They include:

• Two hospitals and thirteen health clinics have been built.
• Over 30 schools have been built
• Over 100 students receive grants annually from the Trust for further and higher education. A programme of women’s Literacy Classes is evolving into Adult Education.
• For Sherpas, improvements in life expectancy have been achieved through programmes to control tuberculosis, smallpox and other life-threatening infectious diseases. Stillbirth and infant mortality has been reduced.
• Almost 100,000 young trees were nurtured each year and more than 1 million have been planted in 25 protected sites.
• Several Sherpas have gained degrees following training in forestry and in national park management in New Zealand and Canada.
• A three-year Primary Teacher Training project in Solu Khumbu attracted 200 teachers and is seen by HM Govt. of Nepal as a model for other rural areas. This has been so successful that it has been extended for another three years.
• A three-year Secondary Teacher Training project was grant aided by the The Community Fund with the grant matched by the UK Himalayan Trust.
• A pre-University Campus has been established in Solu district and attracts a high proportion of young women.
• The re-building of Thyangboche Monastery after a fire was helped mainly by the Himalayan Trust.
• The building of a new monastery at Salleri was achieved by the Trust matching money raised by local people, mainly by those who now live and work in Kathmandu.
• Isolated communities are helped to re-build washed away bridges and tracks; drinking water systems have been constructed.
• HM Government has been encouraged to create National Parks and has been advised on their management.
• Sherpas trained with support from the Trust are wardens of Nepal’s National Parks.
• Above all, the Sherpas are being helped to overcome some of the harshness of their environment and to work for a better future, whilst retaining their independence.

I found these photographs on Flickr taken during the Everest Base Camp trek by a photographer and trekker called féileacán. Thanks féileacán!