Below is a list of Notworkrelated ‘Awards’ which we allocated during our trekking adventure, some of them were reached with the aid of our trekking partners Joshua and Amata and were loving called the ‘Rutcoe-Urdan’ awards!

Here we go:

• Best Accommodation/Lodge/Teahouse – Ang Chopka, Jumbessi
• Best Dal Bhat – Moonlight Lodge, Namche
• Best Finger Chips – Moonlight Lodge, Namche
• Best Ra-ra Noodle Soup – Unknown lodge in Puiyan (left hand side further on from The Sun Shine Lodge)
• Best Breakfast – Ang Chopka, Jumbessi: Porridge
• Best Apple Pie – Worlds Highest Bakery, Khumjung 3780m
• Best Milk Tea – Ang Chopka, Jumbessi (masala milk tea)
• Best Bed – Gokyo Lakeside, Gokyo (great blankets) and Ang Chopka, Jumbessi (although we cheated and doubled up the mattresses from one of the other unoccupied rooms!)
• Best Shower – Moonlight Lodge, Namche
• Best Views on a Hiking Day – Machermo to Gokyo and Gokyo Ri
• Best Lodge Terrace Views – Everest View, Sete (No view of Everest but a lovely valley below)

Bonus:

• Hardest Trekking Days – Lamjura Pass (Steep and Hot), Chaurikarka to Namche (Long distance, relentless up hill to Namche) and Namche to Lukla (Exhaustion and distance)
• Most amount of time without a shower – 6 days
• We worked out from our guide book (the excellent “A Cicerone Guide: Everest: A Trekker’s Guide (Trekking routes in Nepal and Tibet) by Kev Reynolds”) that we in total for the entire trip we… ascended 9297m, descended 7358m and walked for a total of 173km.

Top tips:

We realise some of you may be well read on what is useful and or what should go in your trekking backpack. We were pretty organised and as well planned as we could be incorporating a trip like this within our World travels. That is until we met a few other trekkers who were way more organised and weight conscious than we!

We want to offer some advice on what to bring, what not to bring, a few top tips and so on. Here’s what we feel would be a sensibly packed trekking backpack for the Himalayas in the Spring:

• A good, lightweight rucksack; we opted for Osprey but there is so much out there. Our friends had packs weighing around 20 pounds total (9kg’s), that’s good weighing skills! Ours weighed at least 15kgs each (33 pounds!!) way too heavy, which is why we left items behind in Namche before heading to Gokyo.

The rest of the list…

• Well worn-in trekking boots
• 1x pair of flip flops
• 2x thermal long sleeve tops: 1 for trekking, 1 for sleeping
• 1x thermal trousers lightweight
• 2/3 pairs of wool trekking socks perhaps making one pair a thin pair.
• 3 pairs of underwear and 1 thermal underwear
• 1x fleece
• 1x windproof lightweight rain jacket
• 1x feather down jacket (it’s very cold in the evenings from early on in the trek) We hired one from a supplier in Kathmandu for 50rs/day per jacket
• 1x thin woollen gloves, 1x thick waterproof gloves
• 1x snood/scarf
• 1x buff
• 1x good UV protection sunglasses
• 2x t-shirts (ice-breaker/merino wool)
• 1x warm hat, 1x sun hat
• Sunscreen, lip protection
• Earplugs
• Travel towel
• Sleeping bag liner
• Sleeping bag – Duck down at least 700 Loft (it can get very cold at 5000m+)
• Water purification – we had a steri-pen (Èbought in Kathmandu for around $45) which was well worth the investment and aqua-tabs for back up – no tummy problems at all.
• Books/ Kindel (there is plenty of time to read and Kindel’s can be a little unreliable in extreme weather climates)
• Guide Book – A Cicerone Guide: Everest: A Trekker’s Guide (Trekking routes in Nepal and Tibet) by Kev Reynolds.
• Shoe laces (use as a washing line, a belt)
• Screws/nails (use to tack up a washing line in the room)
• Trekking poles (we only had 1 each but most people tend to have 2)
• Padlock and keys (in case there are no locks on the doors)
• Refillable water bottles (we chose Platypus and a metal Sigg bottle) The Platypus bottles are excellent, light-weight and squash down when empty, the Sigg bottle doubled up as a hot water bottle

Female advice:

• Try to get used to using a Shewee, it’s more discreet than squatting
• Take some wipes for those times when water just isn’t an option
• Take own Tampons and panty liners
• Take some moisturiser, this perhaps is a luxury item but it works when the dry skin sets in!

We also picked up some parcel tape along the way but our friends had Duct Tape wrapped around their pole in case of blistering and repairs. The duct tape can be strapped onto the inside heel of the boot to prevent foot blisters, or on the sock; Dave found this to be extremely helpful when it came to aiding his blister problems.

Things that helped us along the way:

• Nak Cheese – cheap and very good for a mid-trek snack
• Chocolate: Twix, Marsbar, Snickers, Toblerone, you name it we got it. We couldn’t believe how much chocolate we got through but the energy fix it gave us each time was well worth it.
• Own tea bags – for when it gets pricey higher up.
• Cinnamon and raisins from Kathmandu – helped with the porridge in the mornings.

Our budget:

We calculated that we would need around £20 ($32)/day taking into account that it would get more expensive the higher we got. Sometimes we went over budget, and by the end we had to borrow 3000rs from our friends (Thank you!!).

So we estimate that 55,000 Nepalese Rupees would be sufficient for a 22 day trek in this region. That equates to around £500 which when you break it down is roughly £22 ($35)/day. Not bad for the both of us. You could be even tighter by bringing more of your own tea bags and hot water from the teahouse and basically eat the cheapest things on the menu.

We hope that some of this information is useful to anyone considering or planning their very own trek. Any more tips or advice please feel free to add in the comments section.

Hello and welcome…

This is part three of our top tips for travelling which we learnt whilst on our first five months away in Asia. Not long now until we head off to Los Angeles USA for some yoga teaching training workshops and exploration of Venice Beach. New travelling posts will start appearing in August. Here’s part 3 of 3! We hope you find something useful…

Whilst on our travels we heard tales of survival and health remedies from lots of fellow comrades and we wanted to share the hints, tips and advice that we now take for granted. Part 3 of 3!

Bus Journeys!
Throughout your travels you will travel overland using buses, as these are a great way to see the country and also save some pennies as they are normally cheaper than trains and definitely planes! Vietnam has a good value ticket that allows you to travel the whole length of this surprisingly long country. This open ticket allows you to choose from a selection of places along the way you might want to stop at and then jump back on and head to the next destination.

We went from north to south (Hanoi, (Hue – a few hours stop over waiting for the next bus), Hoi An, Nha Trang, Mui Ne, Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City) for $49 USD. You give them 24 hours notice and if the bus isn’t full then you can normally get a seat for the following day! The ticket is valid for three months.

From our experience in many places in South East Asia buy the cheapest ticket that you find. There may be two options for a slightly better “VIP”/”King of Buses” bus, but at most times you will buy a ticket and no matter the price from various sales offices you will be on the same bus as everyone else! Bus journeys that advertise breakfast included – Avoid!! Also your ticket does not guarantee you a seat, sometimes when the bus is oversold or they ram the bus with locals, you may end up sitting in the aisle on a plastic stool or your backpack!

Security!
We did not have any issues whilst travelling through Japan, China, Vietnam, Cambodia or Laos. Common sense will get you through most situations without too much fuss. Thailand, relatively well off in financial terms compared to some of the other countries, was the only place we had a problem. At Surat Thani, where you get a short bus journey to the port to access Koh Pha-Ngan, Ko Samui and To Tao islands, the bus drives suspiciously slowly and when we got to the port we realised that our backpacks in the underneath luggage hold had been tampered with.

Confrontation of the bus driver, assistant (thief) and port staff just made them all do a vanishing act and loose all memory of the English language. On the boat across to the islands we learnt of other peoples fate, £200 missing and a gold ring missing! Luckily our bags had padlocks and any valuables were in smaller backpacks which we kept with us at all times. A document wallet which goes around your waist keeps passports and money safe.

Exactly the same happened on the way back after we had visited the islands, same bus driver and two assistants this time. Be careful and don’t leave anything expensive in your main backpacks when they are separated from you.

Hiring a scooter.
Make sure that your insurance covers you for the power of the scooter as it can be less than 125cc only etc. Also make sure that you wear a helmet and follow all the rules of the road and local laws. Scooters are a great way to travel around the local area, although we did see lots of people in bandages and hobbling around so be careful.

The only issue that we had was during TET, Lunar New Year in Vietnam, when we got pulled over by the police. No speeding, helmets on heads and driving safely we proceeded to stop when instructed to. The bike was impounded with the reason that the UK licence was not appropriate and we should have a Vietnamese licence (all excuses under the sun come out)! We had to walk back to the hostel luckily only about 3km.

We soon learnt that three weeks before TET and two weeks afterwards the police stop lots of people and impound bikes to basically get beer money. Lots of people were driving around, we were just one of the unlucky ones. Frustrating at a $50 USD fine which we split $25 each with the owner of the bike!

Mosquito Net.
A simple one this but take your own net that can stretch over a double bed, lots of provided nets have holes and tears in which most mosquitoes will find!

Re-hydration… (Tip from Corinne Walker)
It is possible to make your own rehydration solution. Put four teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of salt in one litre of water. It is very easy to do and the ingredients are easily accessible from almost any guesthouse. (Good for a hangover cure too!)

Part 1 is here! Part 2 is here! Do you have any top tips? Comment below or drop us an email and we can add your suggestions to this post.

Hello and welcome…

This is part two of our top tips for travelling learnt whilst on our first five months away in Asia. Hopefully some of them will also come in use for our next adventure which we have planned for August 2011. More to come on that. So here’s part 2 of 3! Hope you find something useful.

Whilst on our travels we heard tales of survival and health remedies from lots of fellow comrades and we wanted to share the hints, tips and advice that we now take for granted. Part 2 of 3!

Japan Rail sites.
Japan was our first destination back in October 2010. As relative novices to this travelling lark we were thrown into the deep end with a non Latin character country such as Japan. Everyone here is refreshingly friendly and will help you as much as possible. Just a look of mild confusion upon oneself will be enough of an excuse for someone to lend a hand. Two sites that proved really useful for planning the train journeys around Japan are japantravel.co.uk and hyperdia.com.

Japantravel.co.uk has some great information on the Japan Rail Pass, unlimited use on all Japan Rail operated trains, valid for either 7, 14 or 21 days. We had a 14 day pass and travelled from Tokyo to Mount Fuji to Takayama to Kanazawa to Nanao back to Kanazawa to Kyoto to Koyasan to Kyoto to Osaka and finally to Kobe. Even use of the bullet train is permitted! As long as you travel far enough to make it worth while then it’s a great way to see Japan.

Hyperdia.com is a great resource which allows you to plan your journey on the trains around Japan with lots of routes and precise timetables to maximise the Japan Rail pass.

Tokyo subway.
Keeping with the Japanese travel theme there is a golden rule to remember when using the subway in Tokyo. Two companies run the whole network. This can easily cause a problem as we found out the first time we attempted to use it early one morning on our way to the Tsukiji Fish Market.

Tokyo Metro is a privately run section of the subway with 168 stations and 9 lines. TOEI is run by the government and operates 106 stations over four lines. Both are roughly the same price. Just check where you are going and make sure you buy the correct ticket, it is easy, just remember that’s its not all the same network.

The subways are indicated by station name, number and line colour/name. There are English Fare charts near the ticket vending machines. Some lines have adopted female only cars so check when you board to make sure you’re allowed on that cabin. If you traveled further than the ticket you bought allows, pay the extra fare at a fare adjustment machine located near the fare gates. At the exits of the station are really detailed maps that show you which exit you need to continue your journey.

Travellers diarrhoea, rehydration sachets and charcoal tablets.
Travellers diarrhoea is eventually going to happen at some stage on a round the world adventure. We found out that as well as taking a medical bag with the usual essentials (don’t forget an assortment of clean needles from dental to hypodermic etc which you can give to medical staff to use so you know they are safe) you will need plenty of rehydration sachets and possibly constipation and diarrhoea tablets to cover various eventualities. We were informed that pure charcoal tablets can really help when taking anti-diarrhoea tablets. They were quite pricey and huge in size, however they help to kill the bugs that are been held inside your gut due to the firming up medication! Oh and rehydration sachets are amazing at helping to get you through a hangover! (Do check with a pharmacist first…we are not medical experts!!)

Hot water everywhere, noodles, China.
In China and South-East Asia it’s normally not safe to drink the local tap water supply. Remember not to have drinks with ice and also clean your teeth with bottled water. Drinking bottled water may seem expensive, but in China is is relatively cheap to buy and they have plenty of boiling water supplies at most public places, hostels, and even on trains! The locals don’t drink the tap water, they use boiled water for making tea in flasks and for their favourite travel meal, rehydrated noodles which come in a vast array of flavours. They are actually quite nice and much better than the chicken feet they munch on! So get yourself a seal-able thermal flask for hot and clean water along with a box or two of noodles for no fuss, easy snacking.

Sleeping bag liner / pillow case.
A lightweight cotton sleeping bag liner is a must if you can squeeze one into your backpack. It means that any dodgy looking mattresses or blankets can be forgotten about, sleeper buses and trains are much more comfortable as you just don’t know how well they are cleaned, they are easy to wash and quick to dry! A pillow case does the same job, just stuff it with a hoodie etc and you have a makeshift pillow. Also with both of these, they can make great section dividers in your backpack which are easy to grab, e.g. dirty washing can be stored separately from everything else and all washed together / cooler climate clothes can be kept out of the way in the sleeping bag liner so not to get mixed up with everything else.

Part three will be coming soon! Part 1 is here! Do you have any top tips? Comment below or drop us an email and we can add your suggestions to the next post.

Hello and welcome…

As you may or may not know we are currently residing back in the UK! This has given us some time to catch up with family, friends and start sorting through the thousands of photos that we have taken on our five month journey through Asia. We are both hoping to submit some of our photographs on stock libraries and also create some prints which will be available for people to purchase.

Whilst on our travels we heard tales of survival and health remedies from lots of fellow comrades and we wanted to share the hints, tips and advice which we now take for granted. Part 1 of 3!

A strong constitution?
We have no proof of this, however we were informed that Pro-Biotic yoghurts and drinks really help with the good bacteria in your stomach and gut, thus helping to combat travellers diarrhea! Just a spoonful or so each day keeps you topped up with these helpful bacteria. In Asia it can be hard to find Pro-Biotic yoghurt so look out for Yakult style drinks. David had only one slight “issue” so he swears by it. Helen had a few rough days and occasionally weeks, but it could be worth a try.

A weak constitution?
On the same topic as above we heard that flat Coca Cola can help with settling an upset stomach. Get a straw and blow bubbles through it to remove the fizz and then drink it down. Medicine never tasted so good.

The language barrier!
In China generally speaking the hostels are great, some of the best accommodation that we stayed in during the trip with the majority of staff speaking English, which you can easily take advantage of. Train and bus ticket sales people seldom speak English and having the translation written down from your hostel receptionist is a great help. Using websites such as Seat61.com and Chinahighlights.com give good indications of time tables in China but surely this technique can be used anywhere in the world.

Making the journey go that little bit faster!
When you are on a train or bus for sometimes over fifteen hours it can be tough to keep the mind active once the excitement of looking out of the window has faded. Therefore we would not set off without a good book (be careful of travel sickness, hold the book at eye level in front of you) and an MP3 player with both music and some podcasts from your home country. This keeps you, if you desire, in touch with current events and/or laughing along to your favorite radio comedians etc. Our favourite pod-casts are The Daily Bacon on 5live, Desert Island Discs BBC radio 4 and The Adam and Joe BBC 6 music show.

A sense of safety!
We fortunately had no real issues with safety at all throughout Asia. We travelled through rich and poor nations and the only problem we had was in Thailand with bus assistants riffling through the baggage in the compartment underneath the bus. This occurred on  the journey from Surat Thani to the boat crossing for the islands such as Ko Phangan, Ko Tao and Ko Samui. The bus drove unusually slow and our bags were blatantly opened. On the boat people were talking and soon realised things were missing from a gold ring to 8000 Thai bahts (£160). Keep anything valuable on this journey and really any journey with you at all times in a locked bag, with vital items (passports, tickets, money etc) in a hidden money belt with your common-sense always in tune with your surroundings.

Lost and found?
We lost a lens cap for one of the lenses which we didn’t have a lens bag for as most of the time it was attached to the camera body. For some added protection when floating around in your bag use a sock to protect the lens, it actually works great!

Part 2 is here! Do you have any top tips? Comment below or drop us an email and we can add your suggestions to the next post.