• Day four and five: Sete to Junbessi (rest day) with a high point at Lamjura La 3530m

The upwards slog from Sete continued for a long long time. We knew these past two days of steep uphill trekking was going to be tough but we were always welcomed by fantastic views. After a sturdy porridge and ginger tea breakfast we made our way through some of the higher villages on the climb including Goyam where we stopped to enjoy some hot lemon and were entertained by the hyperactive children.

When we left Goyam we went higher still and eventually we came across snow and ice on the path. At Lamjura-La (3530m / 11,581ft) which was for both of us the highest point we’d ever trekked to, we were greeted by a large Yak or Nak and a fantastic Stupa dressed in prayer flags. It was really cold on the pass, misty and atmospheric with a lovely dog following us all the while. Just before the pass descended we stopped for some noodle soup and poorly made chapatti at the last tea house on the pass. We were ripped off when she told us our bill was 900 rupees! Ah well she was an entertaining chef to watch.

This was a long day of trekking, we were on the go from 7.30am until 4pm and the long downward walk to Junbessi felt like it took forever. We did pass some fantastic mani walls and stones and the weather was nice and moody by this point. We certainly welcomed the sight of Junbessi though and with school children singing their way up the valley on their way home we were enchanted by this beautiful place. We already knew at this point that we would have a rest day in Junbessi.

Thanks to KEEP (Kathmandu Environmental Education Project) we’d made some notes prior to the trek whilst we were staying in the capital. They have notes from trekkers recommending places to stay on the trek, gear, porter and guide advice and so on and we’d jotted down a few of the recommended tea houses and lodges. In Junbessi we wanted to stay at the Ang Chopka as it sounded rather special from the write up. We were welcomed in and actually stayed in Sir Edmund Hilliary’s room, which was so far the nicest room we’d come across.

The family are really welcoming at Chopka and on our first night we were joined by Joshua and Amata who we’d met the day before in Sete. Little did we know they would be our trekking companions for the rest of our trip. We enjoyed some fine food in the family kitchen and by the time our rest day came along we were well and truly fitting in with the furniture. Even more so on their sunny veranda! This is where we spent most of the day in fact, washing clothes, eating, drinking tea, reading and chatting with our new buddies. More trekkers joined us that night including the Singapore lads and a few other solo hikers. There was a good little vibe going on at Ang Chopka.

• Day six: Junbessi to Nuntala with a high point of 2930m

By this point we felt like our bodies had enjoyed a good relaxing day in sunny Junbessi and after a fairly early start we journeyed off with Amata and Joshua for the day. This was perhaps one of the easiest and quickest days of trekking as we pretty much chatted the whole way and time just flew by.

We enjoyed an excellent Nak cheese and crackers stop at the first official place where Everest can be viewed from. The only thing for us was that Everest was in cloud, still we had a really good taste of the vast peaks awaiting our presence in the distance. Plus the little lady at Everest View was very sweet, how could we not buy cheese from her?

Along the trek we stopped in Ringmo for lunch as the wind blasted by us and each of us picked up a mars bar for a later treat. We enjoyed this straight after the pass on our way to Tragshindo. The monastery at Tragshindo is a nice place to stop for a little while along the way. We picked up on the fact that we were probably a little slower trekking with our new friends, mainly as we were chatting about food…A LOT! And we were taking in more sights (and mars bars).

We got to Nunthala at 5.30pm and stayed at the Shangri La Lodge. It’s American/Nepali owned and one man runs the place which did mean that the food service was slow, especially for those ordering momo’s. Our fellow Singapore trekkers were also staying there the night. It’s a pretty over the top colourfully decorated place.

• Day seven: Nunthala to Bupsa

By this point we were undoing a lot of the uphills we’d been trekking earlier in the trek by going down! Much of the trek was averaging at around 2-2500m but on this day we hit a low of 1676m, lower than our starting point in Jiri! However all of the training and going up and down was great for acclimatisation and we knew it would be helping us later on in the trek. After leaving the bizarre Shangri La Lodge we carried on along the easy to find path and criss-crossed through more terraces, tribal villages and donkey trains. We enjoyed more of the wonderful Nak cheese and milk tea before stopping for lunch at the top of Kharikhola.

Kharikhola is a lovely largish village with many options for accommodation. We wanted to continue further though to Bupsa which we could see perched on top of the hill in front of us. So we went up from 2072m to 2350m in a one hour or so hike steeply uphill. We had another long day of trekking and arrived at The Kwangde View Lodge at 4.15pm to the sun going down all around us. It was a lovely golden light across the valley.

Our hosts here were super friendly although the macaroni dishes were a little poor, should have stuck to the Daal Baht! Joshua gave us a great tip about using duct tape in the boot or on the back of the sock for Dave’s bad blister that was taking quite a battering from all the walking in his boots. The evening’s were getting pretty cold, perhaps at around 2C (36F) or so and our down jackets were getting lots of use. Dave also worked out for us that evening that we would be trekking around 170-190km on the trip and by the end of it all of the meters climbed would equate to over the height of Everest!

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

After no apparent escapes by our spider friend from the bathroom overnight we sampled the continental breakfast at Karang Sari which consists of fruit and toast (warm bread) with a local jam/preserve, tea and coffee.

More training was needed for our Himalayan trek in a couple of weeks so we loaded up a rucksack and headed for the local waterfalls a few KM out of Munduk. It seems that most accommodation will provide a map which was hand drawn and not the clearest, but you can also get a guide, we opted to explore on our own. It was pretty easy finding the paths but staying on them and getting to the waterfalls wasn’t quite so, but we did make it to the biggest in the area and we also stopped off at Rizka & Indra’s Coffee Corner, along the way which was a lovely place to sit drink tea and enjoy the views. They also provide Balinese cake which came in the form of deep fried banana and palm honey…nice cake!

Further along the trail we came out onto the main road and passed by homestays, warrungs and a few shops. We enjoyed a good meal of noodles and vegetables at one of the local warrungs on the main street with the bill coming to about $3. As we continued to walk we bumped into our hosts from Nirwa, a little random but a nice surprise, they were taking some of the other guests out on a similar trip as we did the day before. We walked out towards some views across the rice fields and mountainous valleys and then decided to head back, it was extremely muggy. On our way back to the guesthouse we booked a drive for the next day to take us to Padangbai via a route heading north first and south, we managed to bargain him down to 400,000 IRPS for the day.

On our last evening in Munduk we once again enjoyed dinner looking out across to the moutons ahead of us. We were happy we’d spent the time we did in Munduk, it’s a very charming place, with not too many tourists around within a community who are happy to welcome us.

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

Up, breakfast, pack-up of the tent and we were off, our destination for today was away from the coastline at the Hoh Rainforest. As we had some fairly light-weight camping gear we wanted to do some hiking and over night wilderness camping. The Hoh Rainforest has a great hike that takes you through the forest on a clearly marked path which can go as far as the Glacier Meadows 18 miles from the car park / visitor centre. We decided on a 5 mile walk along the Hoh River to break us in gently to the 5 mile island wilderness camp site.

The hike with all our gear took us 2 hours and we arrived at our beautiful camping spot in the middle of nowhere. We set up and figured out how to use the bear wire; a pulley system to raise food bags etc up high out of the reach of furry paws. After a stroll for one more mile along the river we headed back to camp and cooked, well rehydrated, a Backpackers Pantry Kathmandu curry. It was surprisingly really good and we both enjoyed our travellers meal.

A few other campers arrived and before long it was dark and time to entertain ourselves with a game of poker in our two man tent. Betting with ear plugs, head torches, maps, money, mobile phone etc ensuring lots of laughs emanating from the tent! A quick visit to the privy, a clean of the teeth and time for a night in the wilderness. After a surprisingly comfy night we emerged at 6.30am, ate breakfast and then started the five miles back at 8am. After a brief encounter with an angry looking Elk Stag we made it back in 1hr50. A spot of lunch and a hot drink in the car park and we were ready to get back on the road. Cheekily we stopped at a campsite with paid showers and nipped inside, a shower can make the world of difference, especially after 4 days! Brand new!

Lake Quinault was the destination for today which was nice enough although the weather was grey. We stopped at a beach along the way which was very foggy, but provided some interesting photos. A corner shop at Lake Quinault provided some beers, bread and hot chocolate. $20 for the pitch with a nice spot by the lake and a fire pit to keep us warm. For something to do we went to the local attraction which was… The worlds largest Sitka Spruce tree. Back to camp after all the excitement, a delivery of firewood and a spot of photo editing before eating dinner. Bedtime arrived quite quickly after our long day. Portland is our next destination.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We woke up early to the sound of eager cockerels the first going off at around 4.30am. It wasn’t the best night’s sleep with a very hard mattress indeed and snoring echoing throughout our eco-shack. We had a cooked Laos style breakfast in the form of noodle soup, eggs and fruit, Helen was getting her appetite back and starting to feel a little more like herself again. We left the village at 8.30am and began to trek once more through forest land, past more karst peaks and made our way up and down a hilly terrain which required a little more effort than the flatness of the day before. We had a few descriptions of plant-life and the area and we walked for a good 4 hours before arriving at the second village for a home cooked lunch. We sat inside someone’s home at the back of a shop and chilled out awaiting more food, it was really kitsch inside with old wardrobes, bright wall colours, retro tiles and clothes everywhere. It was a good little stop for photographing! More rice, more soup and stir-fried egg and we were all ready for a nap. No time for this though as we were waiting for a pick up to take us to the Blue Lagoon.

On the usual itinerary there is a tractor ride involved whereby you get pulled along on a cart by one of their home-made style tractors; not like ours at home. This didn’t happen for us because there were 8 in our group and the tractor wouldn’t cope with all of the western weight. So we had a mini-van take us to the lagoon instead with music blasting out of the over-hyped stereo. It took around 15 minutes to drive to the lagoon, packed in on a bumpy ride. The lagoon lives up to its name and is a very intense copper sulfate looking colour, it’s hard to believe that the lagoon is natural as it seems more like a chemical phenomenon. There were no scientific descriptions available from the tour guides only spiritual ones. It’s quite deep and plays host to shoals of large fish. Most of the group plunged in for a cooling swim after we walked around the edge of the lagoon, we both decided to photograph and observed from the sidelines. We hope the photographs show the intensity of the colours and the subtle reflections that glowed.

After a group photo we continued in the minivan to a point from where we walked a further 2 km to meet our pick up trip. At around 3pm we met our pick up back to Tha Khaek and we were back in the town at just before 5pm with an en-route detour to the bus station so that we could book bus tickets for the next day of travel. Back in Tha Khaek we checked into the Travel Lodge along with the rest of the group and settled in for a relaxing evening of food, chat and planning. It’s a really good spot for meeting other backpackers and they have a good outdoor seated area. We would recommend staying there and the dorms are good value for money if you’re on a budget, we paid 50,000 kip for a double with shared bathroom.

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