Himalayan Odyssey(10)

Tuesday 9th October, 2007 (O2 88%, Pulse 68)

Today we are continuing the journey from Tengboche to Dingboche, having spent the night at Pangboche. The previous evening had been enlivened by an English group from the medical profession while we watched 'Point Break' on the DVD player in the dining room. After all the publicity about smoking being bad for you I am always amazed at the number of health professionals who smoke. This group was no exception with some of them, including young women, taking regular breaks outside to have a puff.

Pangboche is at about 3,900 metres and the morning was brilliantly clear. After an earlyish breakfast we headed off along the track up the valley.

View back towards Pangboche

Continuing along we were soon passing along the way this beautiful autumnal display across the other side of the river.

Autumn colours across the river

The blurred vision issue is fairly constant but, apart from being annoying, is not causing me any significant problems. Both Dominic and I are putting it down to hypoxia.

We passed the inevitable Yak train along the way but there is generally much less traffic of all kinds here than there was over the last few days.

Yak train near Shomare - north of Pangboche

The last part of the track up to Dingboche, after crossing the river (again) is quite steep but fortunately not too long. We reached the village after about 3.5 hours of relatively comfortable walking. Along the final stretch we saw a flock of Himalayan Pigeons as they wheeled across the sky.

As we went up through the village towards our lodge we stopped for a few minutes to watch a couple of young Sherpas outside a shop playing a game a bit like billiards but played by sliding disks of some sort across a board to score points. Ang Nuru asserted that he is a champion at this game - I'm not going to try him out though.

Barry and Shirley were enjoying the remains of their rest day at the Sherpaland Lodge when we arrived. I had chicken soup and a boiled egg for lunch and then a good lie down in the afternoon.

After resting for a while we got Chiring, our porter, to do some washing for us. We can finish drying it tomorrow which is an acclimatisation day for us.

O2 82% Pulse 72, Pedometer 5814.

Himalayan Odyssey(9)

Monday 8th October, 2007

Last night it rained continuously but it was fine when we got up this morning. Breakfast was cornflakes at around 8:00am and then we were on our way to Dingboche.

The first part of the track was all downhill through the pine and rhododendron forest to the small village of Deboche. It was very pleasant walking after the hard slog uphill yesterday but I always have mixed feelings about going downhill when I know that the destination is higher than where I started out.

(l to r) Shirley, Ang Nuru, Barry, Passang, and Dominic
on the track heading north from Tengboche

Along the way there were some very good views of Ama Dablam through the trees.

Ama Dablam from the track near Deboche

After passing through Deboche and a wall of Mani stones, we came to the inevitable river crossing by swing bridge. Fortunately the bridges have all been in good condition and the only issue is dealing with the traffic in both directions. It's relatively easy to pass oncoming porters but I prefer not to be on the bridge when there are Yaks on it.

After the bridge the track rises very steeply and is much harder walking. We arrived at Pangboche (3930m), about half-way to Dingboche, after about 2.5 hours walking and had lunch there. Barry and Shirley were feeling pretty OK but Dominic and I were both knackered so we decided to stop there for the night. I was feeling a bit weak - probably lack of nutrition exacerbated by the belly lurgy of the last few days - and a bit light-headed too.

While Dominic and I lunched - I had chicken soup and toast - Ang Nuru went off to find us a room for the night at Sonam Lodge. Barry and Shirley carried on to Dingboche while we headed for the lodge. The room was comfortable looking out over the river towards Ama Dablam. Reading in bed during the afternoon my vision was a bit blurry which made reading difficult. I had experienced this on the last couple of days while walking but it seemed to clear after a while.

Emphasising the difficulty of the day and that I, at least wasn't acclimatising too well, my O2 was at 72% and pulse at 72. The pedometer reading was 7008 - about 5.25 km.

Himalayan Odyssey(8)

Sunday 7th October, 2007 - O2 85%, Pulse 68

After yesterday's relatively short stint and a good night's sleep I woke feeling like crap - literally! I'd been up twice during the night with the trots despite taking Lomotil and Norofloxacin (antibiotic). The Norfloxacin seems to have had a good effect as the violent internal wind-storms had settled a bit but I wasn't looking forward to the long uphill to Tengboche.

After only a quarter slice of toast for me for breakfast we set off at about 8:00am from Khumjung. The first half of this part of the trail leaves Khumjung and goes down to the Dudh Khosi after about one and a half hours.

We stopped at the tea house at Phunki Tenka just after crossing the river. I was still walking in long pants and feeling the heat, no doubt also aggravated by being a bit feverish with the belly infection. At the tea house I lightened up the atmosphere a bit by cutting off the legs of my trousers to make some very (in)elegant shorts. The operation was carried out while I was wearing the trousers and using a pair of first-aid kit scissors with blades no more than 2 cm long. The result was fairly ragged but definitely one of a kind designer shorts.

From the tea house the track to Tengboche zig zags up the south-facing hillside very steeply. We took it pretty slowly and also stopped many times to let yak trains and porters past in both directions. The extra cooling provided by my shorts was very welcome although there were frequent patches of shade provided by the pine and juniper trees covering the slope. There were many other trekkers on the track going in both directions. We stopped briefly to chat with a couple of English guys who had been as far as Tengboche and then were on there way back. We had met these two in Namche and they only had a few days to spare before leaving Nepal so Tengboche was as far as they could get in the available time.

Tengboche was reached at about 12:30pm and the Gomap Lodge was a very welcome sight. Dominic and I headed for our room and had a very welcome lie down. Later on I went for a walk back up by the Monastery and took a few pictures.

Monastery Gateway at Tengboche

Gompa at southern entrance to Tengboche

Lhotse from Tengboche

Late in the afternoon back in our room, I managed to get a shot of Everest from our bedroom window.

Everest from Tengboche

The cloud just dropped sufficiently for the late afternoon sun to show us the magnificent sight. Barry and Shirley, who were in the room to our left, also spotted a musk deer just outside their window.

In the dining room that night they had fired up the Yak-poo powered cast iron pot-belly stove. It was so hot in there that I had to go out into the chill evening air to cool down otherwise I would have passed out. On going back in I went to the furthest point I could get from the stove - sitting with strangers rather than repeat the experience. The others joined me soon afterwards as they also began to succumb to the extreme heat.

Pedometer 12811, O2 85%, Pulse 85.

Himalayan Odyssey(7)

Saturday 6th October, 2007 (Pulse 58bpm, O2 87%)

Today we continued the trek with a relatively short stint to Khumjung. Unfortunately I woke up with diarrhoea so wasn't feeling crash hot. Unfortunately stomach upsets are not uncommon for tourists - despite taking almost paranoid precautions with hygiene. Thankfully we are carrying all the necessary medications to deal with such problems as and when they occur.

After settling the bill (1500/= Rs each for 2 nights including food) we sat outside waiting for the porters to be ready as I didn't feel up to visiting the Saturday market as previously planned. However, it was so warm sitting there that I was getting very over-heated and had to go inside again out of the sun.

We finally left for Khumjung at around 9:30am and, of course, it was up - up - up out of the Namche cirque heading toward the landing strip near the top of the hill. On the way I saw a small, tan, marmot-like creature scurrying away at high speed - probably to avoid being eaten. Barry and Shirley split off to take the track to Khumjung via the Everest View Hotel while Dominic and I took the more direct route.

After a short rest at the landing strip it was up a bit more before the track levelled out taking us down to Khumjung at 3780 metres. The track leading over the top and into the village was very picturesque with a steep mountainous backdrop. On either side of the track the land and vegetation was quite reminiscent of Scottish glens although the illusion was spoiled somewhat (although pleasantly) by a couple of Sherpanis coming towards us from the village.

Khumjung from Namche Bazaar track.
The Hillary School is in the middle foreground.

We reached the Hidden Valley Lodge near the village centre just before midday with Barry and Shirley arriving soon after. The rooms on the ground floor were quite comfortable with the usual appointments - twin beds and space to lay out gear on the floor. Also - reasonably close to the inside toilet!

After lunch we went out for a walk through the town 'streets' - narrow walkways between drystone walls between the small fields and houses. There are no street names or directions so it's just a case of 'follow your nose' but it is quite interesting to see ordinary Sherpa people at work and play.

For a while we sat outside during the afternoon talking to some guys from a Spanish party which we had come across previously. Most of the foreigners we have met are very friendly and eager to share experiences of this and other treks they have done.

Later on I wasn't feeling good at all - aching eyeballs, mild temperature, and no appetite, all exacerbated by more diarrhoea. Hopefully Noroxin will help to get rid of it reasonably quickly.

At the end of the day, my pedometer registered 7301 steps - about 5.5 km with about half of it steeply uphill.

Himalayan Odyssey (6)

Friday 5th October, 2007 (O2 @ 88%, P 61bpm)
This was a very welcome rest day at Namche Bazaar after the long hard walk up the previous day. It rained most of the night and there were lots of dogs barking throughout the night. They must have tired themselves out because they were quiet when we woke up! (Grrr!)

After breakfast we went for a walk down into the main part of the village. There are lots of shops selling clothing and equipment for trekkers - it's the last chance to buy on the outward leg. There are also grocery stores, banks, bookshop and several internet cafes.

Barry and Shirley in Namche Bazaar main 'street'

The only thing that I bought was a plastic water bottle for carrying around on days like this and also for use in the room at night time (for during the day when trekking I have my trusty Platypus 2 litre hydration bladder). Barry was still trying to contact his parents but without any success. He is still able to maintain contact with his son Matthew thanks to the Internet.

After such a strenuous morning(!) we returned to Hotel Norling and zonked out on our beds for a while listening to music (MP3) and reading (You don't want to overdo things. We're on holiday after all!)

To aid our altitude acclimatisation Dominic and I decided to walk up to the Museum which is located near the track leading out to Tengboche just over the top of the cirque. Barry had gone up to Everest View Hotel with Passang but that was way too strenuous for us - really! The track up behind the hotel was very steep and because I wasn't warmed up I had a bit of an Angina attack. It was not unexpected and went off quickly enough once I was warmed up. We missed the correct path along the way so ended up traversing fields and climbing dry stone walls until we were back on track.

Rock inscribed with Buddhist prayers at the
top of Namche Bazaar.

The museum is set up as a typical traditional Sherpa home with furnishings and household implements. Entry at 100/=Rs (~$2) was not an issue but the lights were turned off when we went in and I was completely blind - Dominic having to lead me up the stairs until we got to a glimmer of light. On the way down into the village we met up with a couple of English guys who had been up to the Everest View Hotel where they ate 'the best chips ever'.

Ang Nuru had previously told us that Saturday (the next day) is the weekly market day. When we got back to the hotel we could see early traders already setting up their tents and stalls. Occasional roars of laughter went up as street entertainers performed their acts for the appreciation of the crowds of porters and others.

Traders setting up for weekly market - Namche

At bedtime, O2 was @85% and P @ 65bpm. The figures show why all treks have a rest day at Namche on the way up. Namche is at 3440 metres and it takes the body a while to adjust to the lower oxygen content in the air. The pedometer registered just 6004 but that's not too bad for a 'rest' day.

Himalayan Odyssey (5)

4 Oct 2007
We were awakened during the night by a very heavy rainstorm but, fortunately, it was fine we arose just after 6:00am. Checking the vital stats before breakfast my HR was 62bpm and O2 at 90%.

After an early breakfast we started off at around 7:40am heading to our day's destination - Namche Bazaar. The pathway begins on the western side of the river and undulates a bit before it crosses a swing bridge over the Dudh Koshi between the small villages of Bengkar and Chumoa. We had a good lunch at Jorsale just after the Sagarmatha National Park entrance, after crossing the river once again. The scenery looking back down the river was great as shown in this picture.

Looking back down the Dudh Koshi towards
Bengkar

After crossing back over the river slightly north of Jorsale we crossed again where the Bhote Koshi joins the Dudh Koshi near the start of what is a long slow climb. There were many other trekkers, some in large groups of about 20 people, who were sometimes quite pushy to get past us. Also many heavily-laden Yak trains in both directions made for some exciting moments. Ang Nuru had already instilled in us the safe way to deal with Yak trains - get off the track if possible on the high side (you don't want to be pushed off as a Yak blunders past) and watch out for the hooves and the wide-spreading and very sharp horns. The Yaks are not aggressive - they are naturally large and made much wider by the loads that they are carrying. On a few occasions are horn embellished head came close to me and I just grabbed a horn and pushed it away without difficulty. Still - we had to be wary.

We found ourselves leapfrogging some of the pushy groups who had already passed us. As I expected - I was quite slow and happy to count out 50 or 100 paces, depending on the steepness, and then stop and let my heart rate subside from about 120+bpm to something more sensible before continuing. On very steep sections I was down to 25 paces between rests but we weren't in a hurry so taking it a bit easier was no big deal. We arrived in Namche Bazaar just after 3:00pm - about 6 hours and 20 minutes after starting out - quite weary and ready for a rest.

Namche Bazaar from the southern entrance.
Shirley, Barry and Passang in the foreground.

From the southern entrance, everything in Namche Bazaar is above you - a fact not lost on our weary bodies. Namche Bazaar nestles around the sides of a large cirque with the village centre about halfway up and in the middle of the valley. In the picture above, our hotel - Hotel Norling - is slightly left of and above the centre of the picture.

After arriving and settling into our rooms we went down to the dining room and had coffee etc, staying there until dinner time at 6:30pm. After the long hard day - about 1000 metres ascent - we were in bed early, albeit reading and listening to our MP3 players. We again measured our oxygen etc after leaving the dining room for bed and my HR was 70bpm, O2 at 86%. My pedometer reading was 14629 for the day but I'd say my pace length was probably closer to 50 cm rather than 75 cm as normal due to the steepness of the climb making a total distance for the day of somewhere between 7.5 and 9km.

Himalayan Odyssey (4)

3 October, 2007
We were packed and ready when Ang Nuru arrived with the minibus around 6:50am and the trip to the domestic airport was quick and easy in the early morning. Ang Nuru smoothed the way for us through the expected chaos at the airport which made life much easier for us. Our Yeti Airlines flight scheduled for 8:00am eventually took off at around 8:50am on a Shangri La Airlines plane. In the three seats-per-row passenger accommodation Dominic and I were just to the right of the narrow aisle in the row immediately behind the cockpit. This gave me an overview of everything that the pilot and co-pilot did as well as an almost unrestricted view through the windscreen. The 180 km flight takes just under an hour and along the way there were spectacular views through the side windows and also, at times through the windscreen.

View through the windscreen - Kathmandu to Lukla

On arrival in Lukla we were quickly off the aircraft after the short uphill landing. Ang Nuru quickly had our other guide, Passang, and porters Chirring and Block (probably a nickname) organised and carrying our baggage to the restaurant of the nearby Shangri La Hotel. Since we'd had such an early start we didn't have time for breakfast in Kathmandu so made up for it here with black tea, chappati and jam or honey (I used Dominic's emergency jar of Vegemite!). While we had breakfast Chirring and Block organised their loads which are typically carried with a tumpline over the head rather than with shoulder straps.

At around 10:00am we eventually got going on the first leg of the trek. All the months and weeks of planning had got us this far. Now it was up to our bodies to do the rest.

The first leg of the trek is generally to Phakding (sometimes spelled Phakdingma) which is actually about 300 metres lower than Lukla which seems a bit strange - losing elevation on a trek which is going to go up quite high. The track winds through the river valley through numerous small villages and over the occasional swing bridge. At least most of these are now constructed of modern robust materials so the only major hazard is the possibility of yaks coming the other way.

Shirley and Barry behind a few well laden porters on the first swing bridge.

On this stretch, from Lukla to Phakding we encountered many other trekking groups along with their porters and guides. There were also yak trains laden with baggage or goods going in both directions.

Passang's house also lies along this track and we stopped there for a very welcome hot lemon drink before continuing. Unfortunately Dominic was feeling a little bilious so left the contents of his stomach beside the track before we carried. It was probably exacerbated by the exertion on such a warm day too.

A little further on and toward the middle of the day we stopped in Ghat for lunch at Ang Nuru's aunties Guest House. Her potato soup for 80/= Rs was particularly good. After lunch it was another 40 minutes or so to Phakding where we crossed another swing bridge across the Dudh Khola (Dudh means river) to the Phakding Star Guest House where our baggage had already been taken to our rooms waiting for us. The rooms were clean and quite spacious with two single beds so we expected to get a better sleep there than in Kathmandu.

A cold shower enabled me to clean up to treat some chafing in tender spots with the "can't be too highly recommended" Lucas Paw-paw Ointment. We also established a pattern for the rest of the trek - walk, get to the overnight stop, rest for a while before dinner, then an early dinner generally around 6:30PM followed by an early night to read and/or listen to MP3 player until sleep came.

We now started monitoring pulse and O2 saturation levels to get some idea of acclimatisation to the altitude. So at the end of this first day, my pulse was 62bpm and O2 was 90%. Another check in the morning would reveal how well we recovered overnight. The general rule being - if you are worse in the morning do not go up any higher that day.

I was also wearing my Pedometer during the day and for this first leg the number of steps was 12485 - about 9.3 km.

Himalayan Odyssey (3)

Last night's sleep was broken due to street noise continuing throughout the night. It seems that even when there is little other traffic on the street the drivers have to periodically lean on the horn to reassure themselves that they are still alive and awake! Of course this is pretty much like Bangalore was too. Of course it makes no difference that much of Thamel is a restricted area for vehicular traffic and there are signs at the entrances proclaiming it as a 'Horn Free' zone (no jokes please!).

Breakfasted at Brezels Bakery after an easy morning stroll through Thamel's alleyways. It's easy to understand the attraction for tourists with all of the competing shops with souvenir and other goods ranging from pure kitch to the utterly desirable.

Meena from the Sherpa Society came to the hotel at 10:30 to brief us and set us up to depart for Lukla tomorrow at 6:30AM - meaning a very early start from the Hotel - oh goodie ;-(. We also met our main guide - Ang Nuru who is a nice young Sherpa guy (24) but with good experience. He will fly with us tomorrow to help sort out the fun getting onto the flight etc. While we were doing all of this meeting and greeting etc along with tea drinking, the restaurant guy got chatting to us also. He asked where we come from and what kind of animals we have. We described a Kangaroo and I hopped across the Restaurant to show him how it moves - to howls of laughter of course!

Later we wen out walking but on arrival back at the hotel there were some notes pinned to Barry and Shirley's door for us and them to call home urgently. Dominic and I just went down the street to where I could make an ISD call (100/= Rs per minute at this one) and I spoke to Garth. It turned out that Barry's brother had died so that had immediately followed up through all of the contact information which we had left. Even though we weren't in the hotel we had planned to stay in the system worked well.

Barry got through to his son Matthew without any problem but could not get through to his parents in Brisbane at all. Not good news but not a lot Barry could do from here apart from support Matthew through the period.

Before leaving Australia I had decided to hire a down jacket for the possibly cold evenings while on the trek. Having been told that there were dozens of places to hire gear I couldn't find one of them so ended up buying one (with North Face label) for US$47. Later, of course, I found an outdoor gear hire shop - ho hum!

Being our second and last evening in Kathmandu before the trek we wanted a nice meal so we ended up seven floors up on the rooftop at Helena's where had a really nice curry dinner for about US$7 each. There were great views as the sun was setting, including some tantalising glimpses of snow-capped peaks to the East (Everest direction).

On arriving back at the hotel we had the good news that our flight to Lukla has been rescheduled to 8.00AM so we don't have to leave the hotel until 6:45AM - much better ;-)

Himalayan Odyssey (2)

Eventually we settled on some dates and booked tickets for Nepal well in advance. This was just as well as we discovered that closer to the time of departure, which we had settled to be September 30th, tickets even for the end of October were impossible to obtain. Then there was the usual round of visa application, necessary vaccinations, and refilling the gastro and medical kits. A few last minute purchases included a couple of new tech tops, walking socks, and a 100 litre duffle bag to carry overnight gear and clothes etc on the trek.

After what had seemed like a very slow start, departure day seemed to roll around very quickly - September seemed to rip past at a phenomenal speed.

So on Saturday September 29th Dominic arrived from Canberra and Barry and Shirley arrived on Sunday so that we could all go to the airport together. Check-in was uneventful apart from a rather sour-faced business-class check-in attendant who called us to her line for check-in and then seemed put out that we had a fair bit of baggage! The only other event of note(?) was that we all had to disembark the plane at Brisbane due to security regulations - ho hum! On the Brisbane to Bangkok leg I spoke to the young bloke next to me. He was off on a year backpacking holiday in Europe starting off with Oktoberfest in Germany. I didn't say anything but I thought to myself that it might have been better to end the trip at Oktoberfest but, hey - what do I know.

A couple of hours to wait in Bangkok (new) airport was boring and emphasised again, for me, how inane the security arrangements are at this particular airport. At every other international airport I have been to, you go through the second level of security to get to the gate areas and then you can still buy essentials like bottled water. Not at the new Bangkok airport though! After going through security there is NOTHING except the gate check-in, toilets, and seating in the gate-lounge area. There is nowhere to get a drink of any kind and they will not let you take in water bottles or even an empty container to fill up. If your flight happens to be delayed you can get very thirsty and even quite distressed from lack of fluid intake. After this trip I vow that I will avoid Bangkok if at all possible on future overseas trips - at least unless they do something about this ridiculous situation. I have no problem at all with the security requirements but the way they are implemented at this particular airport is just plain silly. OK - got that off my chest but I do intend to write to the Bangkok airport authorities about this.

The short flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu is over quickly and then it is out into the mad melee at Kathmandu airport. Baggage trolleys are free at Kathmandu but they are all commandeered by porters who want money for handling your gear out to the waiting chaos of the taxi rank. Finding and getting to a suitably sized taxi is a perilous undertaking and it would be quite easy to lose ones baggage if one became separated from it. However, we managed to find a mini-bus which could take all of our gear and ourselves to the Tibet Guest House where Dominic had made our initial hotel bookings.

The journey into the Thamel area of Kathmandu was very reminiscent of the traffic chaos of Bangalore. All of the road is used by vehicles travelling in either direction and the horn is used continuously. Traffic moves slowly and any vacant piece of road is quickly filled with a vehicle of some kind. Like Bangalore there are rules: Trucks have absolute right-of-way due to their size, then large buses, smaller buses, cars, motorbikes, motorised trishaws (these are bigger than motorbikes but generally much slower), pedalled rickshaws, cows, bicycles, and - last of all - pedestrians.

Eventually the driver navigated us through the narrow and even more chaotic streets and lanes of Thamel to our chosen hotel. Ah but! The hotel cannot find our booking (done by e-mail) and in any case has no rooms available! Fortunately Hotel Yanki right next door (and coincidentally owned by the brother of the owner of Tibet Guest House!) has a couple of rooms available at US$20 per night so we are not stuck for long. The room that Dominic and I are assigned to is on the first floor and overlooks one of the main 'roads'. The picture below, taken from the balcony of our hotel room, gives some idea of Thamel 'roads' (and this is one of the wider ones since it is pretty much on the Southern edge of Thamel).

Thamel from Hotel Yanki, near Chhetrapati Chowk.
Note the interesting wiring systems in front of the Hotel.

We were due to meet up with the Sherpa Society rep the following morning at the hotel so Dominic rang her (Meena) to tell her about the change of hotel. After stowing our baggage in the hotel room we have our first wander around the lanes of the Thamel district. Practically all of the shops are aimed squarely at tourists and selling souvenirs of many different kinds - castings, carvings, clothing, etc. Many shops are also catering to trekkers who need to add to their clothing or equipment before heading off into the 'hills'.

We stopped at Brezels German Bakery for a chai and then on to Pilgrims Bookshop for a browse. Dinner that night was at KC's - a mixed veg curry and rice with roti, lentils and Aloo Jeere for about 300 Rupees - about AU$5.50 (approx 55 Rupees to the Australian dollar). Bedtime at the hotel was early after a shower following nearly two days of travel etc.

I had decided to wear my Unisys pedometer just to see how things were stacking up exercise wise. At the end of this day, counting from Australia, the reading was 5395 steps.

Himalayan Odyssey (1)

A chance remark from son Dominic started this one. We were having a Yum Cha lunch in April in Canberra the day after Martin, John, Garry and I had completed the Lone Pine Hut walk in Southern Namadgi NP the previous day. Dominic had joined us for Yum Cha but had not been on the walk having just arrived back from Beijing on the day of the walk. In conversation he just "happened" to mention that he was planning another trip to Nepal for around mid-September timeframe and, this time, to do the Everest Base Camp trek. My attention was caught immediately as his previous visits to Nepal (5 of them) had all been to the Western, Annapurna side which had not been of any interest to me. However, I had thought about doing the EBC walk as far back as about 1986 while living in Tasmania but had never got around to doing anything about it. Now here was an opportunity to 'fill in the hole'!

On expressing interest Dominic showed willingness for me to come along. The group to go on the walk had not yet been finalised although he had a couple of other definites (Barry and Shirley) besides himself - the only issue being timing as they were due to start building a house on a farm block that they own. Anyway he said he would send me some info on the proposed itinerary and I could make my mind up along the way. From my point of view I thought that I could give it a good shot, the only potential issue being whether I could perform well enough at the high altitudes involved (up to around 5, 500 metres). The timing would also give me about 4 to 4.5 months to boost my fitness levels over the winter.

Wife Patricia also questioned whether I would really be able to do such a strenuous trek having had a couple of angioplasty's and suffering mild Angina during exercise while the muscles are still cold. I based my decision on the full-day walk we had done a couple of years previously around the Snowy Mountains Main Ranges track which had seen us walking in temperatures of -6C to -8C which, with wind chill, put the effective temperature down around -28C. On that occasion, even although it was only a one day walk, I was very pleased with my own performance in extremely trying conditions. For the EBC project I thought that I could make a good fist of it and, if needs be, I could stop at a lodge along the trek and await the return of the others, or even just turn around and make my own way back down to a lower altitude (but with a guide/porter).

Anyway, thus the idea was born and the only thing left was to start the planning - always the exciting bit working out possibilities etc.

Finchs Line, Wisemans Ferry

As part of preparation for a slightly longer walk at the end of September, I organised a walk along Finchs Line at Wisemans Ferry. This is not a long walk, about 9.5 km, and it follows the line taken by one of the original routes of the Great North Road back around 1825. It was constructed by convict labour and winds steeply up a ridge from the Hawkesbury River plain. Undertaking the walk were Alex, his wife Tanya, Elgan, and Santosh from Bangalore. We had arranged to meet at the beginning of the walk around 8AM. It was a very foggy morning and rain showers were likely but was ideal conditions for walking - at least while dry.

Having started up the ridge, along a moderately easy stretch of the track we came to a steeper section after about 20 minutes. Easily visible here was one of the original dry-stone reatining walls erected by the convicts.

From a little further up the view down over the Hawkesbury was a slightly misty atmospheric scene.
On progressing further up the ridge (the total ascent is about 130 metres) Alex and Tanya had stopped to admire a pair of Black Cockatoos, which show some brilliant flashes of red tailfeathers when they fly. A little further on the ridge levels out and it is easy walking westward on undulating ground along the Northern side of the ridge.

Santosh and I were lagging behind the much quicker Alex and Tanya with Elgan bringing up the rear. Santosh related an experience which he had in the Indian Himalaya with his father when he spent a very cold night on a glacier!

Eventually the path crosses back to the Southern side of the ridge where a lookout allowed us to watch the vehicle ferry making a crossing toward our side of the river.
The township of Wisemans Ferry can be seen from the same viewpoint.
Progressing westward along the trail we came to another lookout point just above the Northern ferry landing place. Here are Alex, Tanya, and Elgan trying desperately not to take the quick way down to the ferry landing!
No rain had eventuated yet and, at this point, it was quite sunny and pleasant.

A little further on and there is a marker plaque with the single word 'Abandoned' above a short explanation. Shortly after Finchs Line had been completed Major Thomas Mitchell (of cockatoo fame) proposed and started another beginning to The Great North Road - Devines Hill. This avoid the steep, tight bends of Finchs Line and was constructed to very exacting standards with buttressed banks and extensive drainage control.

Continuing along the track we eventually joined up with the road at the top of Devines Hill. While we took a little breather there a few Mountain Bikers passed on their way northward.

From the bottom of Devines Hill the walk back to the cars is about 3.5 km along the river road which is fairly boring. Alex and Tanya decided that rather than do that they would head back along Finchs Line and meet us back at the cars.

Elgan, Santosh and I headed down Devines Hill which didn't seem as steep as I had been led to believe. Several other mountain bikers passed us on there way up, breathing heavily with the effort. I amused myself by greeting each one with a 'Gidday' - it is almost impossible to resist the impulse to respond when greeted - unless one is a total churl.

We paused several times going down the hill to view some of the examples of the engineers and convicts work like this low wall. A little further on we came to Hangman's Cave.


Some of the buttresses were put together like some of the examples of Mayan Temple stonework one sees.

Elgan atop a buttress and Santosh
contemplating the height of the wall

Evidence of the convict's work abounds on the other side of the road too with vertical drill holes - made laboriously with a triangular bar and sledgehammer - readily visible. Also visible on top of the buttresses were the marks made by convicts dressing the stone.


Being spring wildflowers abounded and many shrubs were also in flower,
At the bottom of the hill, Clares Bridge is reached - apparently one of the oldest bridges in Australia and then the walk back along the ferry road is uneventful.

Alexa and Tanya were enjoying a coffee when we arrived back at the cars and after a change of footwear we were on our way home and not a moment too soon. We had just arrived back at the ferry landing to wait for the next crossing when the rain began - now thats good timing!

Journey to the Mountains of the Moon - 1994(18)

Kenya, Nairobi – July 28th
After breakfast we walked into the city to change our flights at South African Airlines to go home a week earlier than we had planned. We had allowed the extra week with the idea of possibly climbing Mt Kilimanjaro but after the Ruwenzori trip we decided against it as neither of us thought we would be able to do it. With a reasonable period of rest in between it would have been possible but we didn’t have the time available to do that. Pierre and Til were doing it so we hoped to hear from them about their experience in due course. So instead of going to Mt Kilimanjaro we decided to head up to Lake Naivasha for a few days. Lake Naivasha was a favourite Sunday picnic outing when we lived here so we thought it would be good to revisit some 'known territory'.

Down in the city we went to Accra Road to see about ways to get to the Lake. A matatu would have been possible but then we would be left with the difficulty of having to find some way back to the city after the visit. We found a Peugeot driver who offered to take us for Ks7000 But after we calculated it back into US$ (132) decided it was too expensive for a 100 km journey.

On the walk up to Westlands we stopped on the way to look at some handcrafts. Dominic bought some batiks and banana-leaf pictures and I bought Patricia a dress for Ks950. At Westlands we looked at more handcrafts and the prices were better there so we decided we would go back there for any remaining gift purchases. We bought a samosa each for Ks15 at the Oven Door for old times sake then bought some eatables at the Uchumi Supermarket and at a health food shop. We were shattered to find that we could have got all of our noodle-type dishes for the walk at the Health Food shop – ah c’est la vie!

Westlands was much changed and developed compared to 20 years previously. The market was still there but there were many more shops than there had been. When we lived here we bought all of our meat at the local butchery at Westlands for very reasonable prices - especially since we couldn't actually afford much in the way of meat in the UK. We also bought vegetables there from a greengrocer. The greengrocer kept a Cockatoo in a cage at the front of his shop and it was very fond of raw chillies.

After returning to the Fairview and lunching we arranged to hire a car to drive to Safariland Lodge at Naivasha and spend three nights there, returning to Nairobi on the following Monday.

Kenya, Nairobi to Naivasha – July 29th
Our hire car arrived promptly at 9:30am so we checked out of the hotel to start our journey to Naivasha – approximately 100 kilometres northwest of Nairobi (toward Uganda) in the Rift Valley. On our way out of Nairobi we detoured through Hurlingham and Kileleshwa to see the house we lived in from 1974 to 1976. The front gates, which were four-feet high steel pipe and cyclone mesh when we lived there had been replaced by high solid steel gates. The Kai-apple hedge was still there but from the little we could see through the hedge, what used to be the front garden was now full of maize.

We drove past the Lavington Shops and also the Valley shops, neither of which looked to have changed very much. Braeburn School, where Leonore went to school, had been massively developed. We made our way out past the back of St Mary’s School where Dominic and Garth were students and out onto the main road to Naivasha and Nakuru. We wanted to go down the old escarpment road so took the Narok turn off. The road down the escarpment had been recently sealed and was in good condition but the view from the top of the escarpment was quite different to twenty years previously. What used to be open plains on the valley floor with many freely roaming wild animals was now completely partitioned into farms large and small. The larger farms seemed to be growing mostly wheat – a cash crop, while the smaller farms were more mixed and growing mainly subsistence crops possibly with small surpluses for sale.

The valley road from the escarpment base to Lake Naivasha had not been in a great state twenty years previously with the edge always broken and a bit if a hazard. Now, however, it seemed that no maintenance whatsoever had been done on the road in those twenty years. It was a nightmare of continuous deep potholes reducing our speed to between 10 and 20 kph. We vowed to return to Nairobi via the main road - which was the road we had taken by bus on the way to Uganda so we knew it to be in good condition!

Arriving at the Safariland Lodge near midday we checked in and had lunch. After lunch we drove along the South Lake Road to the Crater Lake Sanctuary where we had a walk down into the crater to the contained lake. Black and white Colobus monkeys abounded in the trees and we also saw Thompson’s and Grant’s gazelle, Eland, and Guinea Fowl. On our drive back out of the sanctuary we also saw Baboons and Giraffe. The area around the southern end of Lake Naivasha is extensively farmed for cut flower production and for seed production - mainly for the European market.

On our way back to the lodge we stopped in at Elsamere which continues the Lion conservation work begun by Joy Adamson. The Elsamere Lodge contains a museum which is interesting and we watched a short film of Joy Adamson’s life. Tea and scones were included in the Ks200 entry fee. They continue to run conservation projects and at that time they had five active projects running.

Leaving Elsamere we drove to Hell’s Gate Park gate to see if it would be possible for us to walk in the park. It was possible and there was a safe place to park the car at the Ranger Station. This was in marked contrast to our experiences of around 19 years ago when we went to Hell’s Gate for a picnic with the Holdsworth family and some other friends of theirs (see sidebar below).

On arrival back at Safariland Lodge we found that a group of tourists, mostly northern Europeans, had arrived for an overnight stop. At dinner they attacked the buffet as if they hadn’t eaten in a month echoing remembered experiences of twenty years previously. Night time was quite cool near the lake and we had to wear slacks and warm jacket to go across to the main building for dinner.

Sidebar

After our picnic lunch most of us including the kids had gone off for a walk around the top of the gorge. Patricia stayed back with one of the women who had a small infant. While the woman with infant was just having a local stroll away from the cars, Patricia was attacked by a couple of Masai who wanted what was in the vehicles. She got bashed on the head with a Simi and the thugs broke into the vehicles taking what they could, and also some clothing which contained the keys for one the Holdsworth’s VW Combi people-mover. It was a very traumatic experience for Patricia as, apart from being bashed, she had feared for her life. One vehicle was intact and they eventually took as many as they could to the Safariland Lodge and also reported the incident to the police. Bill Holdsworth and I took a long time to defeat the steering lock on the VW van and hotwire it so that it could be driven. It was dark and cold when eventually we were able to start back to Nairobi. It was made even colder by the VW windscreen having been broken by the thugs.

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Uganda, Kampala to Kenya, Nairobi – July 27th

We had an early 5am start in order to leave for Entebbe Airport at 6am. Mukasa - our taxi driver from the previous evening arrived promptly and we reached Entebbe at around 6:40am. The check in was very slow but eventually we were on the plane which took off at 8:10am. The onboard light refreshments were quite interesting – a bread bun, croissant with butter and marmalade, and two sugar (lady finger) bananas.

On arrival at Nairobi we checked with the Fairview Hotel by phone to find that our reservation was all OK, the only downside being in a room with a shared bathroom. The allocated room was in an old cottage within the hotel grounds and was pleasantly cool. We were able to watch a sunbird busy in a Bird-Of-Paradise flower just outside the window.

Sunbird - outside bedroom window at Fairview Hotel

After getting our baggage settled in, including what we had stored there while on our Uganda adventure, we walked into the city to get some traveller’s cheques changed. I had to replace the clip on my sun-glasses as they had suffered in the mountains. I also had to get some more books as I had run out of reading material. After getting back to the Fairview I called home to let Patricia know that we were back in Nairobi safe and not too much the worse for wear. Lunch was a nice turkey sandwich and some samosas.

After lunch we rang Marjorie and Frank to invite them out for dinner but they declined as they were in the middle of a panic return to England to sort out some problems with misuse of their house. Marjorie was also to have a minor operation for skin cancer on Friday.

That evening we went to dinner at the Minar Indian Restaurant at Westlands. It was very good with main courses of Chicken Tikka, Mutton Kebab, Garlic Mushrooms, Aloo Mattar, Naan and rice for Ks1395 including drinks.

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Uganda, Kasese to Kampala – July 26th

Early in the morning I had to shoot out of bed with another bout of diarrhoea – probably a result of all the fruit juice the previous day. I decided to knock it over with Flagyl and Lomotil (aka Loctite) as we would be travelling to Uganda by bus. After breakfast we went down to the bus stop and met Mr Singi - a very pleasant Mzee who was a fount of information about the attractions of Western Uganda. We found a bus leaving for Kampala ‘soon’ so headed back to the Hotel to check out and take that bus. We got on the bus at 9:20am and didn’t leave Kasese until 10am. Before leaving the town the bus did a cruise around the streets touting for passengers – what a service!

The journey back to Kampala was pretty much the same as the journey out only in reverse. Again we saw Impala, Buffalo, Baboons, and Uganda Kob in Queen Elizabeth Park. We came across an amusing sign just outside the town of Mbarara. It was a normal black-and-white painted Zebra crossing with a sign proudly proclaiming ‘Donated by the Lions Club of Mbarara’. We could just imagine a pride of lazy, hungry lions waiting in the long grass by the side of the road for the Zebras to cross. Maybe we were still light-headed from lack of food!

Bus stop scene - Kasese to Kampala

Along the way there were several stops at which refreshments could be bought either through the bus window or from some of them who came aboard while the bus was stopped. These were colourful sights with lots of activity going on.

"Meals on Wheels!" - Kasese to Kampala

During the bus ride to Kampala I took the time to look at the architecture of houses seen along the way. One incongruous design was a mud-walled hut with a corrugated iron roof and the ridge of the corrugated roof capped with clay tiles.

Summing up the domestic architectures encountered, there appeared to be a progression from the simplest/cheapest to the more technologically intensive and thus more expensive designs. The simplest was undoubtedly the traditional round, mud-walled, thatch-roofed hut. Next in sophistication, if that's the appropriate word, was a hut built to a rectangular pattern with the walls constructed of mud formed on an armature of saplings. The roof was again of thatch.

Next again up the ladder of sophistication was a rectangular hut made of mud bricks. This may have a thatched roof, or one of corrugated iron. The corrugated iron roof probably denoted a slightly more sophisticated sub-classification of this style.

A variation on the previously described style was the use of baked mud bricks but with otherwise the same construction. And then last of all were huts constructed of fired clay bricks and possibly concrete floor and corrugated iron roofing.

The method of baking or firing mud bricks was similar to the making of charcoal:
* Build a stack of mud-bricks – hollow in the centre
* Build a fire in the middle
* Seal the outside and leave it to cook and cool.

There was some very nice-looking basketry for sale along the roadside but no opportunity to stop and check it out. We eventually arrived in Kampala around 5pm into the midst of traffic chaos. When we were eventually able to get off the bus we got into a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel but they had no rooms available so it was on to the Fairway where we were able to get a room for US$89. Then we had to check out flight availability from Entebbe to Nairobi as we didn’t want to spend another 15 hours on a bum-numbing bus ride. We managed to get a booking for 8am the following day but had to go straight to the Uganda Airline office to pay the US$110 each for the tickets.

The TV in the hotel room seemed to have only one channel which varied between CNN and CTV. There were some amusing cartoons on CTV including "Duck Tales, Zoo Olympics". Dominic phoned the Fairview in Nairobi to reserve a room for our return but they couldn’t confirm it. We were to call again from Nairobi Airport on arrival. This was probably a standard practice due to the uncertainties of travel in Africa.

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General Impressions of the Ruwenzoris and Our Trek

The Ruwenzori Range is, without doubt, a very beautiful area with a unique and vast array of flora. Most of the time, the peaks are shrouded in cloud and this deepens the mystery surrounding the ranges. When the cloud does rise briefly there are tantalising glimpses of the peaks.

While we heard many different bird calls we were not often favoured with views of them but, had we had the time to linger would no doubt have seen more. We saw no signs of animals and from what our porters told us this was a legacy of the Tanzanian invasion several years earlier.

The Lonely Planet Guide, and the other route descriptions we had read were too brief to really do justice to the trek, or to really give us any idea of how hard it was. Three days of the trek are at altitudes at or above 4000 metres which was very tiring. We were unprepared for there being so many bogs although this is probably affected by recent weather. Both Dominic and I had experienced the vertical bogs of Mt Kenya but that was all over in a couple of hours whereas some of the bogs on this trek went on all day and sapped all of our strength in struggling across them. There is no doubt that high altitude trekking of this type is very hard and not to be taken too lightly.

To cope with the bogs a pair of old discardable sneakers would have been useful and would have allowed us to have dryer and warmer feet in the evenings.

It was very worth while making the side trip up to Elena Hut, even though we didn’t go up to Margherita Peak. The views were spectacular when the cloud lifted.

Food wise – we should have taken much more care over food selection, especially as we didn’t have to carry it. It was very demoralising to reach camp exhausted and then have to prepare a meal.

Our guide, Denisi, was very good and kept Dominic and I company and guidance all the way on each stage even though we were much slower than Pierre and Till. I think he took pity on Mzee! The Bakonzo porters, and the Zairean porter we had were all very good and willing to help. The oldest Bakonzo porter, Jerome – another Mzee, was very fit and wiry. All of the porters ran up and down these mountains as if they were level ground. I’d have liked to see some of them in the Sydney to Melbourne super marathon. I think they would have knocked the socks of some of the competition – including Cliff Young.

Bwanas Day Out

(Bwanas = Bush Walkers and Nomadic Adventurers)

Last weekend a depleted group comprising Gary, Martin, John and myself went for an overdue walk in the Southern ACT - the far south of Namadgi National Park. In selecting a walk for this adventure I wanted to choose something mildly challenging but interesting. The walk we chose is an anti-clockwise loop walk from a turn-off near the Mt Clear camp ground turn off on the Boboyan Road heading West towards the Old Boboyan Road and then South toward the ACT border before looping back East and North to complete the loop. The interest is that the loop passes close by the ruins of three old homesteads dating from before the area became National Park. Son Dominic and I had done this walk twice, the first time overshooting the turn back to the east and ending up down on the Yaouk Road - considerably further than we had intended to walk. I had also done it in the clock-wise direction with friend Pia and an ANU walking group so I thought I knew the walk pretty well.

On the Saturday morning of the walk, which I remembered as being between 4 and 5 hours duration, Canberra and the southern ACT was experiencing its first decent rain in quite a while. So much so that, as I waited for Martin, Gary, and John at our agreed meeting place of Namadgi Visitor Centre I was wondering if we would be walking at all. However, once we all met up we agreed to head down to where the walk starts and then make a decision.

When we arrived at the turn-off to the beginning of the walk it was still raining heavily. The gravel road which we travelled on past the Gudgenby Homestead was quite muddy and slippery in places making the journey a little slower than usual. The consensus on reaching the locked gate at the start of the walk was to kit up in our rain-proof gear and start off. We could always turn back if things became too extreme, so we duly headed off. The track was quite muddy and slippery but walking wasn't too bad. I was walking in shorts as was John, although he was wearing gaiters. Gary was wearing waterproof long overpants, and Martin was wearing long pants which were anything but waterproof. In the first kilometre of walking Martin's lower trouser legs became very wet and cold.

The first 5 or 6 kilometres of the walk are across open 'farmland' with flattish plains to the north and wooded hills to the south. After about 2-3 kilometres the ruin of Boboyan Homestead is reached. There is little more than a chimney there now.

John, Gary, and Martin with the chimney of the old
Boboyan Homestead in the background.

Continuing westward, the track forks near where it meets up with the section of the Old Boboyan Road which heads north toward Gudgenby Homestead. Our way was now to head south along the Grassy Creek track toward the ACT border. At the track intersection we took the opportunity for a short break. The rain had eased up to just the odd droplets by this time and we were all feeling much better about the day.

Gary and Martin with some of the 'locals' in the background.

We had passed several grazing mobs of Eastern Grey Kangaroos on the walk thus far with largest mob comprising between 30 and 40 animals.

From this point we headed south where the track now proceeds to rise up a series of low hills. After the first rise the ruins of the Lone Pine Homestead are reached. Little remains of the former homestead except the fireplace which has a large eucalypt growing through it. The 'pine' after which the homestead was named has been long gone.

Remains of Lone Pine Homestead. The fireplace is surrounded
by exotic deciduous trees which have deposited a thick layer of
autumnal leaves.

By the time we reached the homestead we had been walking for a little over two hours, it now being just on noon, so we decided to make it our lunch break. By now it was quite sunny although the threat of rain was still there in the South-west.

Near the homestead we say a rock to which someone has affixed a metal plaque. It is in memoriam to the homesteaders infant sun who died there in 1915. Being so remote, medical help would have been hard to come by and would have required most of a day's travel whether going north or south.

As we headed on toward the south John and I, walking ahead of Gary and Martin, startled a Gang Gang Cockatoo which departed noisily overhead. From the Lone Pine Homestead to the point where the track loops eastwards near the park/ACT border the walk is pleasant but uneventful. It proceeds up a series of low rises interspersed with small open, tussocky plain areas. As we reached the eucalypt forest again just before the park border it started to rain again so it was back into raingear before continuing.

We had no trouble spotting the turn-off left to take us back to the east as it has been the subject of National Park attention to make a more robust and open firetrail along this boundary of the park. Dominic had mentioned this and my impression was that they had just opened up the original track for fire access. However, it turned out to be not so as the new track runs along the border although dipping and weaving to avoid rocky outcrops. They had also put a log across the original track to discourage anyone from going that way - possibly to preserve the more fragile ground of the plains. With this new track being our means of completing the walk, I estimate that it added about 5km to the original 20km estimate. But anyway, apart from the occasional rain squalls it had turned into a great day for walking and we were all feeling pretty good. Perhaps becoming a little footsore but without any major problems developing.

Along the newly bulldozed track there were some significantly steep ups and downs but fortunately each lasting no more than 100 metres with ascents/descents of up to about 20 metres. All of this, of course, leads to a relatively slow pace. After about two and a half to three hours of walking from Lone Pine Homestead we eventually reach th epoint where the track turns once again northward. The GPS which I was carrying in case of emergence confirmed that we were near to the south-east corner of the park so we knew that our destination was not too far away. At this stage the bulldozed track leaves the eucalypt forest to emerge onto the open plains. A little more walking had us overlooking Westerman's hut. This, and Brayshaw's Hut are in significantly better condition than the two ruins we had encountered so far.

Westerman's Hut, Namadgi National Park

By this time it was just after 3PM - approximately the time I had estimated we would be back at the car! Looking at the map we could see that there would be still another one and a half to two hours walking ahead of us. The late afternoon sunshine, however, made for superb walking so even though we were all a bit footsore by now it was not an overly daunting prospect.

Just north of Westerman's hut, the track takes another dive toward the east where it exits from the park onto the Boboyan Road. Just before we got to this point we watched a pair of Wedgetail Eagles majestically take off toward the south. When you get up to close to these birds you get to appreciate how big they are. With a length up to about 1 metre, when standing on the ground they are almost a metre tall. The outstretched wings of a fully grown specimen reach up to 2.3 metres. Dominic and I once drove towards a pair which were feeding on carrion by the roadside. One of them took off as we approached and flew closely over the top of the car, its wings spanning wider than the car's width. The other, still on the ground, was just below eye height as we went past.

Reaching Boboyan Road, which runs from Gudgenby Homestead to Adaminaby in New SOuth Wales, we now faced the trudge along the undulating gravel surface to Brawshaw's Hut on the last leg back to the car. Along the way, Bush Wallabys kept pace with us just outside the forest fringe.

Brayshaw's Hut in the late afternoon sun.

After a short stop at Brayshaw's Hut to take a picture, we embarked the real last leg of the journey whcih was, fortunately, 'downhill on average', arriving back at John's car just before 5PM in the fast-fading light.

While our 5-hour walk had turned into 7 hours and had started off in rain, it had turned into a brilliant day and I was pleased that, although footsore, everyone said that it had been a great walk.

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Our departure from Guy Yeoman Hut for Nyabitaba Hut at 9:30am was with very mixed feelings. This was the second to last leg of the trek and we were already completely knackered. Dominic was in pain from his dislocated/broken finger and neither of us was keeping up enough food intake to cope with the daily stresses. Nevertheless, waking up in the mornings and looking out at the wondrous views was enough to invigorate us for another day’s effort.

Pretending to fly at the top of one
of the steep descents - Guy Yeoman Hut
to Nyabitaba Hut

This day’s route again went through many bogs and also down some very steep rock faces. We had many slips but only gathered a few scratches and minor cuts. My trekking pole saved me from a couple of potentially nasty falls and ended up with a permanent bow in the middle which it has to this day.

Denisi helping Dominic down one of the steeper
parts of the gorge - Guy Yeoman Hut to Nyabitaba Hut

After the steep descents it was again through more bog. Eventually we reached the Nyabitaba Ridge and then there was only 30 minutes of walking to reach the hut. Along part of the ridge section was a small stream and the stream bed provided the easiest walking. It certainly made no difference to our moisture quotient! The total stage time was around seven hours and we were very tired by now. Before we could rest however there was the now-daily ritual of washing boots, gaiters, and socks.

Till made some minestrone soup which was very good and most welcome. Afterwards I played a bit of harmonica which seemed to be appreciated by all, including the four Austrians – or perhaps they appreciated it more when I stopped? Whatever. But then early to bed again to get some rest for the final day of the trek.

Final Leg - Nyabitaba Hut to Nyakalengija

Till and Pierre had said the previous evening that they wanted to be up early on this final day. I nearly died laughing as they had not shown any inclination to get up early before this. The one exception was their ‘summit’ day at Elena Hut. In the event they showed no inclination to start moving when I announced 7am.

Dominic and I packed up quickly and then started down to Nyakalengija at around 8:20am. It was a warm and sunny morning to walk down and the steep descent was very hard on our thighs which we used to control our speed. But joy of joys - there were NO bogs. We were, of course, overtaken by the others and the porters but we didn’t care.

After the main descent even the few short uphill stretches caused us to tire out but we reached the Park Gate after two hours having seen many colourful butterflies on the way. It took us another hour from the Park Gate to Nyakalengija where we met up again with Pierre and Till. As we arrived another two parties of four were preparing to go up. I had a very welcome ‘Coke’ while the others signed out and then it was into the pick-up truck around 12noon to go back to Kasese.

Pierre and Till were heading straight back to Kampala so we saw them onto the bus and made arrangements to keep in touch. Dominic and I planned to head off to Kampala the following day so we checked into the SAAD Hotel again for the night. We headed straight into the dining room and downed a litre of fruit juice each and then some sweet tea. We arranged for our washing to be done for Us3000 each which was very good value as our clothes were in a revolting state.

We had a back room this time and it overlooked a sort of courtyard in the hotel. here was a huge over-lander tourist truck parked just below us and it looked in pretty knocked around condition. Talking to some of the people from the touring party we heard tails of horror roads through the Congo causing very slow travelling.

We had dinner in the hotel restaurant and it was good to be able to eat properly again. We had both lost quite a bit of weight over the week but that wasn't really a concern as we both had a bit to spare before that anyway!