MUST DO:
- Kathmandu
- Patan
- EBC trek
- Playing with red-cheek children
NICE TO HAVE:
Destination guide – Nepal
Tag: hiking
Packing list for EBC trek
The most useful advice we got from other bloggers and forums was regarding what to pack for the Everest Base Camp trek. Thought I’d share what we ended up taking and some personal comments:
Getting to the top is optional, getting down is mandatory
It had barely been 24 hours since we had summited Kala Patthar, the climax of our Nepal adventure, and our mood couldn’t have been better. We felt stronger than ever, and had already descended past Lobuche and all the way to Dingboche in a long afternoon (~4 hours). We were on our way to Namche the next morning, on the switchbacks right after Tengboche, when the 3rd earthquake hit. The whole mountain started moving, it felt like a fairground ride…
Continue reading “Getting to the top is optional, getting down is mandatory”
Reaching our goal: Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar
It was our 9th day on the trek, and we woke up in Lobuche, hyper-motivated by what laid ahead. The day was perfectly sunny, and despite the steep, rugged terrain, we made it to Gorak Shep in less than 2 hours. We got a room at the Buddha Lodge, ate a garlic soup (supposedly the best for altitude) and rested until ~10am. Then, it was finally time to go to the Everest Base Camp.
Continue reading “Reaching our goal: Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar”
Namche-Tengboche-Dingboche-Lobuche
I had mentally divided the EBC trek into 4 stages: the first 3 days at lower elevations warming up; the next 5 going up and gaining strength; the key 2 pushing to “the summit”; and the last 3 descending. This is the story of the second stage, between Namche Bazaar and Lobuche.
How to plan a trip to the South Pacific
The South Pacific islands are one of the most desired and challenging travel destinations. Most people believe they can’t afford to enjoy places like Bora Bora or Fiji, and it’s true… unless you plan smartly.
Picking a destination in the South Pacific
First, let’s take a look at all countries and territories (a total of over 20,000 islands) that compose the three key regions of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.
Polynesia:
3 days hiking in Banff
I’m lucky to have a group of friends that loves travelling and hiking. Every year, we do at least one epic trip to explore America’s beautiful outdoors. Mount Whitney, Zion, Bryce and Havasu Falls have been some of our previous destinations… and this year, it was Banff’s turn. About 2 hours west of Calgary, Alberta, Banff was Canada’s first national park. Its landscape includes forests, alpine mountains, glaciers and the most famous, intense blue lakes.
Hiking through rice terraces in Banaue & Batad
We arrived in Banaue by Ohayami bus at 5am, when it was still dark and rather cold. A kid offered to take us to a guesthouse and we followed him… got a double room at the People’s Lodge, in the center of the town, for 800 PHP ($17), and quickly passed out.
At 7am we woke up and enjoyed the Banaue views for the first time: a mesmerizing green valley covered by rice terraces, carved by the Ifugao people 2,000 years ago. After a quick breakfast, we walked to the main square and hired a tricycle (which apparently works on coke ;P) to take us to the top of the mountain, the so-called Banaue viewpoint. Most people drive the tricycle up and down, but we wanted to be dropped off and hike down on our own. As we got higher, the fog wrapped us to the point that we weren’t able to see much of the rice terraces. But as we were trying to figure out the trailhead, the fog started to dissipate and we were able to see not only the paddies, but even a section of the ‘trail’ we intended to follow.
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Beach and more nature in Manuel Antonio
A few more hours of driving, this time on a nice road, and a quick stop at a crocodile-infested river, and we made it to our final stop: Manuel Antonio. The first nights we decided to stay close to the National Park entrance, in Manuel Antonio proper. That way we would be there before most tourists (it gets crowded in peak season), and we could enjoy the local beach. This area was much more touristy than all the other places, more expensive and “Americanized”, though we still found really good food and juices 🙂
Waterfalls of Celeste color
We started the day very early, as it was going to be a long one. Most people go from Arenal to Monteverde, or vice versa, but we had decided to take a detour to hike in Rio Celeste. The drive from La Fortuna (Arenal volcano) to Rio Celeste is ~3 hours (don’t believe Google), on a very bad road, through San Rafael de Guatuso. It gets even worse if you continue further, towards Monteverde, so it should definitely only be attempted with a 4WD.
Bona Travels 