Latest travel news – Canuck Duck lands in Asia

Canuck Duck checking out the view

Today I sit outside the Khumbu Lodge in Namche in the sunshine.  It was been an amazing trip so far.  Our definition of luxury changes every day.  At first it was Business Class and a nice hotel at Hong Kong Airport.  Then it was a day in Kathmandu without a power outage.  Now it is the Khumbu Lodge – a room with electricity, hot water and a western toilet.  I think soon it will be a room with a roof over our heads. Makes me think how wonderful my room is at Accent Inns.

The trip has been amazing so far.  Each day has offered challenges, amazements and we are loving every minute of it. The flight from Kathmandu to Lukla was everything we had ever heard about.  Look for it on You Tube if you’ve never heard of it.  It does not seem possible to land but we did – safe and relatively sound.

Accent Inns Regional Sales Manager Karen England waiting for a plane

From there we walked for about 3 hours up and down through villages with the barest of necessities.  The trail is busy – trekkers going both up and down, local people just moving their stuff from place to place.  There are no roads or vehicles and these amazing people carry everything on their backs.

When we arrived in Padaking we were tired but felt that we were ready to take on this mountain.  Then came yesterday.  The walk started at 7:00 am and we did not arrive at Namche until 3:30.  With the exception of a few quick rest/toilet breaks and a lunch break we walked the whole time.  The first 4 hours were great – sunshine, beautiful scenery and a trail that ran up and down.  And then it happened….We started going up hill.

Canuck Duck hitching a ride

This was the most physically challenging thing I have ever done in my life.  Hour after hour of zigzagging up a mountain.  The path was not only rocky – basically it was uneven rock steps built into the trail.  I felt like I kept walking up Mt Doug and when I got to the top I had to turn a corner and do it again – over and over.  Time seemed to stand still and I wasn’t sure we would ever get there. We were really slowing down.  In fact we were travelling at the same pace as the couriers with 6 sheets on plywood on their backs.

Karen England enjoys the new food

Karen is also happily eating her way to the top.  She loves the food and is eating Momos and chapatis and dalbhat and everything in sight.  She may be the only person to gain weight on this trek. There is so much to say.  Our guide Chandra is amazing and so are our porters.  The people are kind and friendly.  I like it here