Day 4. 12.9.07. We arrive in Lhasa. 3490 m. 11,450 ft.

A 1 hour flight over the Himalaya brings us to Lhasa and these giant Buddha carvings on the outskirts.

It was at this point that the Tibetan guide said that 'Naomi' was too hard to pronounce so she was renamed 'Didi' for the rest of the trip.

We stay at 'The Himalaya Hotel' where there is an oxygen machine in every room. Stairs and bending over are tricky. Lifting a beer causes little trouble.

In the evening our final trekker, Neil, arrives at the Himalaya Hotel having spent 2 days on the train from Beijing.

Day 3. 11.9.07. Still in Kathmandu.

To Bhaktapur for the day. A nice old place. We were with the other KE Expeditions group including Hugh & Clare (Huge Eclair) from the UK.


In the evening, to the Roadhouse Cafe in Kathmandu for a pizza before 'the off'. Tibet tomorrow!
Phil, Naomi, Hugh.


Mike, Tom, Mike.

Day 2. 10.9.07. Kathmandu

To Pashupatinath Hindu temple in the morning where the funeral ghats were especially busy. On to Bouddhanath to the massive stupa, then in the evening, out to dinner.


The team consisting thus far of Naomi, Tom & Phil (backs to camera) and a bunch of old blokes mainly called 'Mike'.

Thank god for Margharitas!

Day 1. 9.9.07. Kathmandu

Having arrived the day before, over to the 'Buddha academy' to visit my friend Dorje Lama, the principal, and to see Jhunnu, the 12 year old that we are sponsoring. She is very cute and her English is extremely good.

In the evening my cousin & fellow trekker, Phil Crozier, arrived wearing his favourite marigold necklace.

The 'KLIMTs" arrive

The two paintings we saw and ordered in Vietnam arrived last week and have been got through customs and quarantine with minimal fuss and maximum expenditure.
They are sensational but need framing.

The first is the 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. No.1'. This was sold to a museum in New York last year for US $135,000,000!


The second is an oil painting done from a Klimt watercolour, so there aren't many of these around. I think she'll hang on a staircase somewhere.

Sun. 2nd September. Father's Day in Australia

George, Madeleine, Me, Paula & Jake. (Nicola had to work)

Father's Day, so off to lunch with the crew. Paula arranged a restaurant in Hamilton called 'Vagelis'. Very pleasant food - always a steak for the boys - but for me chicken washed down with a nice Pinot Gris.

Sat. 1st September. Charity Dinner at Restaurant II

The night of the Riverfestival in Brisbane with all it's fireworks and fighter jet flypasts. This was an annual charity dinner attended by the Governor of Queensland, Quinten Bryce, and with singing by 'Opera Queensland'. Food as usual excellent.
Many friends there. The usual fun wait for taxis later.

The Training

So August has gone and I was only able to run 80 km and walk - as above in my 'weights & backpack' outfit - for 89 km. A total of 169 for the month - 669 km as my training for Tibet, with a week to go! I'll nail 700 km in total and feel like I've made some sort of effort to 'go high' as they say on Rum Doodle.

11th August. The Green-Burgess Wedding

Paula & I to the wedding of Clare Burgess, Jenny & John's daughter, to Lachlan Green.
The wedding was held in the Great Hall at Brisbane Grammar School and then later at the Customs House - a nice old building on the riverside in the city.
We got together with plenty of old friends - inc. Dave & Regan Sykes, Pete & Kerry Whittaker - at the 'Pig & Whistle' just before the reception.
John hosted a superb evening with excellent food and wine and a series of good speeches.
Interesting going to a wedding and being one of the old fogies and not a contemporary of the bride & groom.

Lachlan & Clare


John & Jenny - old friends from Guy's Hospital days.


Myself & Paula, settling nicely into the festivities.

The Exercise

Cracked the 500 km. mark in preparation for the climb.
To be honest, June & July were light months because of the Vietnam trip and then my northern-hemisphere-aquired cold which lingered here in our southern winter.
Anyway, with a combination of morning runs and longer energetic walks with backpack and 5kg. dumbell in each hand the months are;
March - 83 km. April - 86.5 km. May - 155 km. June - 90 km. July - 86 km. - 500.5 km!

This month is already going well and I'm trying to crack 200 km for August.
I leave on the 8th Sept. for Kathmandu and Tibet.
As they say in Little Britain, BRING IT ON!!!

24th July. More reading

Just finished Harry Potter. Very enjoyable.

Also read 'White Limbo' by Lincoln Hall. The story of the first Australian ascent of Everest in 1984.
Two of them, Greg Mortimer & Tim McCartney-Snape, got to the top without oxygen and by climbing straight up the North Face and the Norton Couloir. Quite amazing!

Only 6 weeks to go until the Tibet jaunt.

20th & 21st July. A Rock Wall for Chartwell

Before & after pictures of the rock wall lining the drive-way at the Maleny house called 'Chartwell'. It took 4 truck-loads of rocks from Toowoomba and 2 days to build it.
Next step is to get the tarmac down within the next year before the weeds take over.

Recent Reading 2

I re-read the Phillip Pullman Trilogy - 'His Dark Materials' in the last week. I'd forgotten how good it was but was prompted to re-read when I heard that the 1st movie is on the way. It's being done by the same people who produced 'Lord of the Rings' and stars Nicole Kidman as Mrs. Coulter (very evil character) and Eva Green as Serafina Pekkala, the glamorous witch queen.
The book has strong anti-Christian church undertones so I can't wait to see how the American Bible Belt inhabitants kick up a fuss, given their reaction to the Harry Potter movies.
These books are a recommended 'good read' and have possibly the saddest ending of any story I've ever read.

Recent Reading 1.

I was in Maleny last week and dropped in to my friend at the second-hand bookshop. What a find! I bought 5 books - all in pristine condition. They are;
Mountaineer. 30 years of climbing. Chris Bonington
The Boardman Tasker Omnibus. A hardback comprising Savage Arena, The Shining Mountain, Sacred Summits & Everest the Cruel Way.
Everest. Walt Unsworth. 3rd Edition. In hardback for only $25, about £10.
My Father Sandy. A biography of Wollaston by his son who was only 4 when his father was shot dead in Cambridge by a student!
Finally, Mountaineering by C.T.Dent. Published in 1892! It contains everything we need to know on getting fit, ice techniques, health in the mountains etc. albeit from 115 years ago.

Work

I don't want to put too much medical stuff on the blog, but this case was exceptional as a photo opportunity!
I was on-call last night. This poor guy works in a saw-mill. He was by himself when this stick was driven through his arm. It was so long he had to saw it off with his left arm then get help. Luckily it was a 'low velocity injury' so the wood bounced off the bone without breaking it and also pushed it's way between muscles, nerves and arteries without tearing them. He will make a full recovery. Lucky guy.

GOLF!

It has always astounded me how popular golf is. I could never work out if it's meant to be a sport, a hobby, a pastime, an excuse, a wank or what!
Almost every aspect of it irritates me - the gear, the expense, the fake exclusivety, the frank snobbery, the time consumption, the fact it is on television. The fact that it is often a major item on the News for gods sake!
I thought I was alone in this world.
I am aware that it was that great American, Mark Twain, who said 'Golf is a good walk spoiled'.
Now another American has driven a great stake through the ugly heart of that most monstrous and perverted of human occupations - golf!
I would recommend that anyone with even a hint of antipathy to those who like to stroke small white balls with a stick view the blog of my fellow blogger, Mr. Dirtbagger on my 'Friends Blogs' link to the right.
He gives these poseurs in baggy pants a little something to think about AND THEN SOME MORE.

GO GET THOSE STROKERS!

TIBET in 2 months!

So the holiday is over. Nearly time for the next one. Only 8 weeks to get even fitter and to GROW THE BEARD again.
Last time the beard was invaluable. My co-trekker Michael's face just about shrivelled and fell off but the beard was protection.
Currently sporting a mean 3 day growth!

3rd July. Vietnam. 12th & Final day

Our last day in Vietnam and time to stock up on a little art work. There is a talented bunch of artists who copy anything - old masters, new stuff, photographs. All done in oil on canvas. Paula & I added to our Gustav Klimt collection.


- BUT I NEVER GOT ROUND TO TRYING THE FANNY ICE CREAM!!

2nd July. Vietnam. Day 11

A morning trip to the 'War Remnants Museum'. This was known until quite recently as the 'Museum of American War Atrocities'.

It is a most sobering place. It is accused of being propoganda but it is clear that it simply serves to show that both sides do seriously bad things in any conflict, the vietnam war being especially unpleasant. The really spooky thing is the undeclared but obvious similarity to Iraq. You leave the place asking 'why are the Americans doing this to themselves all over again?' Nearly 4000 Americans and a much larger number of Iraqis will never learn the outcome of this one, but the outcome for Vietnam seems to have at last become good for this generation of young Vietnamese.

1st July. Vietnam. Day 10

A walk to the Reunification Palace. On 30th april 1975 a tank crashed through these gates signifying the end of the Vietnam war.


In the evening, a meal at 'Lemongrass' - another great restaurant. Looks a lot like a Margarita to wash the meal down.

30th June. Vietnam. Day 9.

A rainy day this one.
It is the monsoon season so it's about 33 degrees.
A day for shopping & drinking.

29th June. Vietnam. Day 8.

To see the Water Puppet show at the History Museum. Very clever & very entertaining.

After a meal at one of our other favourite restaurants, 'Restaurant 13', we stopped off in one of the many new bars in Saigon for yet another Margarita (See. It wasn't all Pina Colada).

28th June. Vietnam. Day 7.

The City Hall, formerly 'Hotel de Ville', next door to the Rex.
Ho Chi Minh's statue in the city square, simply marked 'Bac Ho' - Uncle Ho
Outside 'The Vietnam House' - one of our haunts.
A serious shopping day this. We stocked up on shirts, jeans, shoes, bags,..then we had to buy extra luggage to bring it all back in!

27th June. Vietnam. Day 6.

A 2 hour morning flight from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) found us very much relaxed in our old haunt - The Rooftop Bar at the Rex Hotel. Probably my favourite place in the whole of south-east asia.