It is D-day today; my flight will leave at 3.30 so check-in after midnight.

I wake up at 7 am and contemplate what to do on my last day in Dubai. “Prepare!” springs to mind immediately. I come up with two options;
1) go for a run together with Sam, Katja’s dog, and
2) go to the spa for ultimate pampering.

Of course I choose the wisest option; the spa! Several hours later I have had a full body mssage, facial, nails, etc. I am happy… if there is a Yeti on Mount Everest then my radiating rosy face and radical pink toe nails will for sure be enough to distract him.

As for Sam? He got his cuddles anyhow… But no running. I think this decision may led to some suffering on the mountain later on, but why not procastinate while we can… Let’s see!

Today I did what was needed but what I did not expect to have such major impact….. I booked my first flight. It will be from Sharjah (UAE) to Kathmandu, Nepal, at 3 am on Sunday.

I am going to roam around Kathmandu’s word heritage sites on Sunday – did you know that the majority of sculptures are ‘kama sutra style’ so some are rather mind blowing…. don’t quite know how to one could achieve those :)/

On the 29th I am going to fly to Lukla, where I will start my Everest basecamp hike. I will join a group that will spend another 3 days to summit on Loboche  and I am still contemplating if I should do that too. It is a peak at 6,200 m and it requires some easy mountaineering, I am not sure if a crash course crampons and rope at 6,000 m is the best idea ever….. What do you think?

, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Awa2jYmmqU

 

Today I learned that I am no different from any other traveller…. I packed FARRRRR to much. Even with a 70 liter rucksack (whereas most travel blogs suggested that 60 liter is MORE then enough) I managed to not be able to zip my bag anymore, and that was after I already took all my sleeping equipment out to tie that clumsily to my rucksack itself.

That conclusion of course called for action… I met up with my good friend Katie, who is a frequent hiker and I cried for her help. Together we went through my stuff, and you can imagine all the comments that I got, at the friendliest for example ‘do you REALY need THAT MUCH medicines (and semi-meds)’. Ehm, no, I guess not actually, because as a guiding principle I don’t take meds unless absolutely necessary (to my mum’s great annoyance). So Katie and I managed to reduce the volume to such extent that I can now actually zip the bag without breaking the zipper (bonus!!). We did conclude that I need another day pack and I know exactly which one I fancy…. the one from the UAE military shop (YES!!!). Pics will follow soon…

So I guess I am almost ready to depart. Funny feeling

I cannot yet comprehend it it fully… I actually have my own website… The director Intelligence…. who (in honesty) had to watch hours and hours of tutorials to understand HOW the heck one creates such a website. But I did it. LOL. How rewarding!

So ok, this is the place where you can read about my experiences during my travel marathon. I will embark on my journey on Sunday around midnight and I intend to travel for about 4-5 moths. I hope I will gain some amazing experiences, ensh’allah, and that you will enjoy reading my stories and watching my pics and videos.

I should be relatively easily reachable through e-mail, whatsapp and Skype too… so please reach out if you feel like it ((contact me via this page)

Speak or see you soon 🙂
Linda