Bismillah...
I've been looking back at all my travel posts only to realize that I'm like 3 years behind.. When we started traveling in 2012, I was determined to write all about our travels in this blog.. You see, I used to have a diary back in high school. The thing about my diary, I only wrote the things that I want to remember so mostly are pleasant things that make me laugh. So on our last days in high school, I read what I wrote to my friends during prep; the meaningful events that we had since form 2 until form 5. Some of the events had totally slipped my mind and the diary helped me and my friends remember those beautiful moments that meant so much to our friendship. Same goes to the posts in this blog, it's for me to read in the future and to remember~
Today I'm going to write a little bit about our trip to Nepal in September 2014. Well, I'm the one who is obsessed with mountains in the group and I've always been obsessed about the 7 peaks. I would like to conquer them all but for now my wish is only to get a glimpse of the peaks with my naked eyes..
So, initially, I thought about going to the Everest Base Camp because I thought that would be the best place to view the peak. But we changed our mind after hearing about Gokyo Ri from SJ's uncle during her wedding. The Uncle and his wife told us about the base camp being crowded and not so clean and recommended Gokyo Ri instead where there are 3 lakes there and it offers a very nice view of many 8000m peaks. We did our study and decided "Gokyo Ri it is!!!!!!!"
At that time, I just got transferred to a new setting for the umpth time. As usual, I was busied with managing and adapting to the new setting and I had to somewhat juggle between 2 roles so I didn't have time to train. The only training that I did was climb up from level 4 to 7 as much as I could and use the stairs to go down from level 7 to ground floor every day haha But actually, after we've finished doing it, I think jogging would be adequate. The trek is not that steep. The real challenge is actually the thin air so what you really need is a very good pair of lungs.. Cewah!
As usual, I was the one who searched for the tour company. I always love to use TripAdvisor as my guide and emailed all the companies with good reviews for quotation. And eventually, the one who gives the cheapest price will be selected. And Alhamdulillah~ setakat ini choice aku belom pernah lagi mengecewakan~
The total of our trip was 16 days. We didn't do much on the first day since we arrived late afternoon. At Kathmandu airport, we were welcomed with flower necklace by Puru, the tour manager. That afternoon, we just walk around to look at what stuffs we want to buy before flying to Lukla. I think it's best to buy the hiking stuffs there since you can find everything you need there and the price is very cheap and the quality is good too. I got myself two pairs of wind stoppers, a wind breaker, a hiking pole that I didn't use at all, a water bag and some other useful stuffs for only USD 80. To this day, I still talk about my amazing wind stoppers~ They are so comfortable and they kept me warm~ I might have not made it if it weren't for them~ sob sob~
We spared the second day for shopping and eating and depart to Lukla on the third day. We prayed hard for our flight not to be canceled because there were no flights going to Lukla for 5 days prior to our departure due to bad weather. Alhamdulillah, the weather was good that day and we flew to Lukla on the first flight that morning.
I knew that we were going to go on a small plane but the plane was smaller than what I'd imagined. I'm 1.54m tall and I have to stoop when moving about inside that plane, There was a stewardess inside. She came to me and hand a tray full of sweets and cotton balls. I wondered why the stewardess 'serve' cotton balls. And then during take off, I saw the locals who took the cotton balls snugged the cotton balls into their ears as ear plugs! Eureka! So that's what they are for!!!!
I read about hikers' terrifying experience boarding the flight. But our flight was fine, no turbulence at all so I was enjoying the view peacefully from my seat. But when we landed at the Lukla airport, I actually freaked out looking at how short the runway is and the fact that the runway is not flat but leveled to a few degrees~ So when we landed, the plane was actually climbing a slope.. Bole bayangkan ka??
There, we met with our potters, Jolopuru and Songer who are sherpas! Lukla is one of the big village since that's where the airport is located. We only stopped here to get our climbing permits and buy some water before we start off. There are a lot of stores selling equipments but this is not the last spot where you can get them. But bear in mind, the higher you go, the higher the price of each item. We set off to Phakding after all things were ready.. Tapi memang sakai2 la kan di Lukla tu
I've been looking back at all my travel posts only to realize that I'm like 3 years behind.. When we started traveling in 2012, I was determined to write all about our travels in this blog.. You see, I used to have a diary back in high school. The thing about my diary, I only wrote the things that I want to remember so mostly are pleasant things that make me laugh. So on our last days in high school, I read what I wrote to my friends during prep; the meaningful events that we had since form 2 until form 5. Some of the events had totally slipped my mind and the diary helped me and my friends remember those beautiful moments that meant so much to our friendship. Same goes to the posts in this blog, it's for me to read in the future and to remember~
Today I'm going to write a little bit about our trip to Nepal in September 2014. Well, I'm the one who is obsessed with mountains in the group and I've always been obsessed about the 7 peaks. I would like to conquer them all but for now my wish is only to get a glimpse of the peaks with my naked eyes..
So, initially, I thought about going to the Everest Base Camp because I thought that would be the best place to view the peak. But we changed our mind after hearing about Gokyo Ri from SJ's uncle during her wedding. The Uncle and his wife told us about the base camp being crowded and not so clean and recommended Gokyo Ri instead where there are 3 lakes there and it offers a very nice view of many 8000m peaks. We did our study and decided "Gokyo Ri it is!!!!!!!"
At that time, I just got transferred to a new setting for the umpth time. As usual, I was busied with managing and adapting to the new setting and I had to somewhat juggle between 2 roles so I didn't have time to train. The only training that I did was climb up from level 4 to 7 as much as I could and use the stairs to go down from level 7 to ground floor every day haha But actually, after we've finished doing it, I think jogging would be adequate. The trek is not that steep. The real challenge is actually the thin air so what you really need is a very good pair of lungs.. Cewah!
As usual, I was the one who searched for the tour company. I always love to use TripAdvisor as my guide and emailed all the companies with good reviews for quotation. And eventually, the one who gives the cheapest price will be selected. And Alhamdulillah~ setakat ini choice aku belom pernah lagi mengecewakan~
The total of our trip was 16 days. We didn't do much on the first day since we arrived late afternoon. At Kathmandu airport, we were welcomed with flower necklace by Puru, the tour manager. That afternoon, we just walk around to look at what stuffs we want to buy before flying to Lukla. I think it's best to buy the hiking stuffs there since you can find everything you need there and the price is very cheap and the quality is good too. I got myself two pairs of wind stoppers, a wind breaker, a hiking pole that I didn't use at all, a water bag and some other useful stuffs for only USD 80. To this day, I still talk about my amazing wind stoppers~ They are so comfortable and they kept me warm~ I might have not made it if it weren't for them~ sob sob~
We spared the second day for shopping and eating and depart to Lukla on the third day. We prayed hard for our flight not to be canceled because there were no flights going to Lukla for 5 days prior to our departure due to bad weather. Alhamdulillah, the weather was good that day and we flew to Lukla on the first flight that morning.
I knew that we were going to go on a small plane but the plane was smaller than what I'd imagined. I'm 1.54m tall and I have to stoop when moving about inside that plane, There was a stewardess inside. She came to me and hand a tray full of sweets and cotton balls. I wondered why the stewardess 'serve' cotton balls. And then during take off, I saw the locals who took the cotton balls snugged the cotton balls into their ears as ear plugs! Eureka! So that's what they are for!!!!
I read about hikers' terrifying experience boarding the flight. But our flight was fine, no turbulence at all so I was enjoying the view peacefully from my seat. But when we landed at the Lukla airport, I actually freaked out looking at how short the runway is and the fact that the runway is not flat but leveled to a few degrees~ So when we landed, the plane was actually climbing a slope.. Bole bayangkan ka??
There, we met with our potters, Jolopuru and Songer who are sherpas! Lukla is one of the big village since that's where the airport is located. We only stopped here to get our climbing permits and buy some water before we start off. There are a lot of stores selling equipments but this is not the last spot where you can get them. But bear in mind, the higher you go, the higher the price of each item. We set off to Phakding after all things were ready.. Tapi memang sakai2 la kan di Lukla tu
