Prior to leaving Kathmandu we had arranged to leave one of our bigger bags at Pilgrims Guesthouse and we also took advantage of their free security safes at the desk and hid away our valuables. The return date written on our bag was for around the 22nd March, 21 days away! EEK!

We had a taxi pick up booked for 5.15am to take us to the main bus station for our Super Express Bus to Jiri at 6am. It was a little confusing in the dark as to which one our bus was but after asking around and a small tip to one of the vendors we found the Jiri bound bus and opted to take the first two seats behind the driver. We mainly did this so that we had space for our backpacks. One thing we’d forgotten to mention was that we weighed our packs the night before and we were at around 15kg’s each, perhaps a little too heavy!

The bus ride to Jiri was actually okay, the driver was perhaps a little crazy but he knew the roads well and we were on the Super Express after all! We had anticipated around 8-10 hours for the 190km journey but we arrived in 7.5, and this was with a fast couple of toilet breaks, an excellent stop for Dhal Baht and a small automotive repair on the roadside.

Jiri sits at 1600m and it’s quite a bustling village and we opted for the Cherdunna Hotel and Lodge which was our first taste of the basic lodges we would encounter on our trek. We enjoyed our brief time in Jiri taking in the Stupa and village overlook whilst enjoying our first trekking meal of vegetable momo’s and noodle soup. The owners are really friendly at this place and even turned on the British commentated tennis match that was taking place on TV.

There were a few French-men on our bus who were ready for a big trek and we knew that when we started out our first day of trekking the next day we wouldn’t be seeing them for a while. The route itself is easy to find and thanks to the Cicerone Everest Guide to trekking in the region we had a really well described guide to the trail. There is a big blue sign and an orange dot that marks the start of the trail and so that was that, we were on our way to Namche in the Mid-hills.

Here’s how we did the first 4 days of our trek from Jiri to Sete:

• Day one: Jiri to Shivalya – 4 hours with a high point of 2400m

Many people go further than this but we wanted to see how we would get on with the backpacks and it seemed like a logical place to stop. This first day of walking was beautiful, we were surrounded by terraces, farmland and views of the valleys around. We walked through more smaller villages along the way and were welcomed by many orange/red circles which indicated the trail. We did get it wrong a few times though and locals came along to point us in the right direction. In particular at Mali when we managed to miss the path completely but were called back by some happy homeowners who sent us on the correct steep downwards path. We also had our first glimpse of snow-peaked mountains in the distance, we had a long way to go yet!

We crossed over a swing bridge and then as we approached Shivalaya we crossed another swing bridge which took us straight over to The river Guest House, located on the right as your enter the village. For 100rupees we had a room and we opted for a deal baht lunch with noodle soup later on. We met a handful of trekkers, some were pushing on quickly whilst others were already dealing with stomach bugs. Shivalaya is a picturesque village and we managed to buy ourselves a few bananas and suntala (oranges) for the next day.

• Day two: Shivalaya to Bhandar – 5 hours with a high point of 2705m

We were up early and trekking by 7.30am after a sound breakfast of porridge and bananas. So far our bills were low and we were paying around 1500-2000 rupees for accommodation and food. The first section when leaving Shivalaya (still accompanied with orange circles for the trail marking) is steep and gave us a good taste of what lied ahead of us. We once again enjoyed fine views back down the valley and to the village before making our way over and beyond to a high point at 2705m for lunch in Deorali. From here we looked down upon Bhandar which was our next port of call.

In total we trekked for 5 hours including the lunch break and we wound up in Bhandar at 1pm choosing the Shobha Tea House and Lodge. The lady owner here is quite a character and a little pushy but we were happy to be led into making our dinner order. This time we had one daal baht and a potato curry, no frills here though and a potato curry is what it says on the tin! We had our first encounter with a group of lads from Singapore and we had a feeling we would be bumping into them along the way. Bhandar village has a lot of charm and the locals are really friendly, the group of girls were more than willing to pose for the camera.

• Day three: Bhandar to Sete – 6 hours with a high point of 2575m

We started out fairly easy on day 3 although we knew some of the worst was to come today! The hike from Bhandar is downhill and fairly easy, especially after some tasty apple porridge for breakfast. We found the trail once more and took a few hours to get to Kenja, this could be another stop over point for trekkers but we were prepared to start the steep climb to Sete in order to break up a big hike over the next few days. We met the Singapore lads again in Kenja who were worried that they were going too slow.

Lunch was at The Buddah Lodge in Kenja, where we sat and watched the locals prepare for a market and we found some more suntala to boost the non-existent fruit intake. The food was good and cheap and we were ready to start more steep climbing upwards to Sete. This is where we would say it got tough! For 3 hours we were hiking up a steep hill which was relentless, dry and hot. We also knew by this point that we were carrying too much gear and so this made us grumble a little! Still you can’t help but be rewarded by the views over the valleys. We passed porters carrying goods up and down hill and again saw some of the Himalaya mountain range far far away.

We opted for Sete as our overnight stay at this point and arrived at around 2.30pm, greeted by a friendly American couple who we’d seen sign in on the check point sheets. They were moving on upwards but we thought we’d see them again also! So the Singapore lads carried on and we enjoyed a very nice afternoon on the terrace of The Everest View Lodge, looking out over the distant hills and close-by terraces. This was accompanied with a pot of milk tea and a warm foot bath. The family at Everest View are really friendly, we enjoyed more Dhal Baht and an apple pie, something that is commonly on the menus in this part of the world. The rooms at Everest View are really basic and we were happy to be the only guests staying as the rooms are packed in with lots of gaps all around.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

There was some misunderstanding between us and Pilgrim’s Guesthouse in Kathmandu; we’d tried to book a room but didn’t have any response and so when we arrived at the airport we decided we would head there first of all to see if they had any rooms. When we arrived they said they had a taxi waiting for us at the airport with our names written on a sign! We were none the wiser, it would have been a free pick up but their forms are way out of date, and we didn’t get an email to confirm this.

Anyway it all worked out okay, we were excited when we first arrived. The streets were busy, full of bikes, pedestrians, cars and buses, and we were back in the land of horn honking! In this part of the world it’s okay to beep your horn at a person, a car, a truck whomever it may be to let them know you’re there. Makes sense in some ways. It’s really polluted in Kathmandu and we noticed this straight away, a soft haze is around all the time with only a 4km point of visibility.

So we checked into Pilgrims and agreed a price for 3 nights with the owner, a frank Nepalese man. We were happy with our room although failed to notice the schedule for electricity and hot water. Every place has a schedule we later learned. It was much cooler than where we had come from and so had our winter clothes at the ready.

For our first 3 days in Nepal we did little but focus on the trek. We were hoping to fit in some sight-seeing but we couldn’t quite fit this into our days of planning. Our plan was to start the Everest region trek from Jiri, the original route from which all Everest treks began before the days of the Lukla airstrip. We were aiming for a 20 day-ish trek taking in the heights of Gokyo-Ri and flying back out of Lukla.

First on our agenda though was to organise our Indian visas for the next month. We were ready for the queuing and thought we would need about a week to arrange this, but as we looked into it and with our time-frame we opted to pay for someone to organise our visas for us. This was obviously the more costly option but it did mean we would be able to start our trek by the end of the week, safe in the knowledge that our visas were being dealt with. It also meant we had to leave our passports behind in Kathmandu with our agent Deepak at Mount Fuji Adventure and Laxmi from the Indian embassy. We were very reassured though that we could put our trust in them and we felt that the steep $90 fee each was enough to confirm this.

So with the visa in hand we had to organise our TIMS trekking permits and find ourselves some gear as well as try to arrange for a one way open flight ticket from Lukla to Kathmandu. Although we were happy to do the Jiri walk in, we most certainly didn’t want to have to walk it out too!

TIMS is straight forward enough, just make sure you know the opening times of their office at the Tourism Board building, 10-4pm we think. It’s (1200rs) for the TIMS permit which is what you need if you’re not trekking with a group or guided tour. There is the 1000 rupee fee for entering the Everest Solukhumbu National Park and we were also told we would need to pay 1500 rupee each for a permit to trek in parts of the Jiri region. We didn’t have any knowledge otherwise and so paid for all 3, perhaps the Jiri one can be avoided, but hopefully it all goes to preservation and conservation of the local areas so for a small fee its worth it.

We rented some down jackets from Guide Himalaya Trekking Shop in Thamel and were happy with the standard of the jackets. We also bought some thicker gloves, a snood each and splashed out on a steri-pen, something we’d been advised to buy if budget could stretch to it. Little did we know how good the steri-pen was until we started using it and so it was well worth the $45 splurge.

Lastly our bus tickets to Jiri and the open flight ticket was bought through another agent who was working at Pilgrims. They don’t work for the hotels’ they’re just agents who pop in to see who they can sell their services to. Most of them are ex-guides and so have extensive knowledge of the system. We thought we would get our tickets through one of these men, he had a fairly decent deal on the table and it was easier for us to organise the tickets in one go. We were booked onto the 6am Super Express Bus from Kathmandu leaving on the 1st to Jiri, and we were told it would only take 6 hours! Hmmm we had our reservations about that one. We also paid $135 each for the open flight ticket from Lukla to Kathmandu, if you arrange a fixed ticket the price should be around $116 if bought in Kathmandu.

Our photographs from our first time in Kathmandu are a handful of street photography images, as we were gathering information, ideas and equipment for the trek. This was for either of us the biggest trek we had done in one go and we decided sight-seeing in Kathmandu would come at the end. We mainly enjoyed food at Pilgrim’s and during the day at other restaurants around Thamel. Very soon we would be venturing out into the mid-hills to start the trek of a lifetime.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)