Today we finally found a wifi and was able to check out what our local newspaper Sundsvalls Tidning wrote about us the other day. We realized that they had us on the front page, a big picture of us in the bed watching a movie. On top of that there were two spreads inside the paper, one with the picture of the elephant blessing our car and another spread with some other pictures and stories. Wow, that was a lot!

During the afternoon we started the climb of the steep and winding roads up towards Katmandu. The car drinks a lot of petrol right now, much more than we expected. We had 45 liters and only 150 kilometers left to Katmandu, and that is more than enough we thought. But the car takes 2-3 liter per 10 kilometers in this terrain and the roads are so bumpy that we can only drive on the 1st gear. There are no petrol stations up here - at all. Now we really are getting worried that we will make it all the way to the civilization.

This morning when we passed the hilltop at 2 460 meters, the reserve lamp turned on. We have still 100 kilometers to Katmandu! The petrol we have left will for sure not last all the way to Katmandu. We stopped in a small village to ask where the next petrol station is. They said in 20 kilometers. We tried to just roll down the hill to make the petrol last as long as possible. When we finally arrived at the petrol station – they were out of petrol. Next petrol station was 80 kilometers away just outside Katmandu. When we arrived there they were also out of petrol. The third station we found finally had petrol but then we already were in Katmandu. We managed to go this far since we rolled down the hills to save petrol for hours. We rolled slowly about 40 kilometers!

Yesterday we went strait to Monkey Temple and the place we camped at last time, a small oasis of a garden. But now there were a Korean restaturant there. We talked to the owner and she let us stay there anyway. Great! But we felt like we were intruding a bit and decided to look for a new place to stay today.

On the road to the center of town we found several stores selling fabrics. We bought 25 meter wind and rain persistent fabric for only 15 Euro. When we come home we will make a new sun/rain roof. The one we have will probably be worn out by then.

Then we visited Monkey Temple, since we are moving tomorrow. There are monkeys absolutely everywere! Monkey Temple or Swayambhunath that is the real name is a big, well known Buddhist temple on the top of a hill in the outskirts of town.

Finally a real supermarket! We have not been in a well stocked store like this since we left Turkey. We got excited and bought a full cart of things we needed. But how were we supposed to fit all this in our car, we really don’t have a lot of storage.

Next stop was Irwings Garage. A place all overlanders talks warmly about. Arriving there we realized that this was the same place we were 10 years ago, but we didn’t know it was called Irwings Garage. It was great seeing him again, and he recognized the Saab. We talked to him about getting new tires and possibly get diod lights for our Toppola.

Today is the celebration of the god Shivas birthday. Holy men from all over Nepal and northern parts of India gather here to celebrate by running naked and getting high by the Hindu temple. But we ended up in a gigantic traffic jam and did not manage to get there. Instead we went to the backpacker place to get there before it got dark. Also there they were celebrating Shivas birthday by lighting a big fire in the garden and to drink special tea – bang.

Now we finally have got our Paki- and China visa. Puh! Next step is to send pictures of our China visas to the agent in China and to pay for the 4 day China transit, 800 Euro.

We will try to get the passports sent here to the Swedish Consulate in Katmandu, instead of the Embassy in Delhi. This would be much better for us since the only reason for going to Delhi is to pick up our passports.

We need to start preparing for our Everest Base Camp Trek. It will be cold – for sure. In the night it is 15-20 C below zero at 5 000 meters, and we are going to stay at simple tea-houses were heating is scarce. Usually only one small room in the house is kind of heated. The bedrooms are usually freezing cold.

We have not much warm clothes. This means we need to go shopping. Today we checked out the stores. We bought thin gloves, Bert a windproof vest, Catharina a pair of soft shell trousers and a pair of fleece long johns. This we knew we needed. Now we have to go home to check out what else we need to buy.

Today it is Losar – the Tibetan new year. We took the bus to Bodhnath, about 10 kilometers outside Katmandu. At Bodhnath Stupa there is a large Tibetan community and monasteries for several hundreds of Buddhist monks and nuns.

There were lots of people at Bodhnah Stupa to celebrate Losar. Many of them was dressed in their traditional clothes and burst out in singing and dancing, lit candles and incense and just hanged out with friends and family.

Now we have made an inventory of what we have and what we need to buy. Backpack and sleeping bag we will rent, because we have no storage for them after the trek. But some more warm clothes we will need later on too when we go the Karakorum Highway and the Pamir Highway in April and May, at high altitude too. But then with the car.

Since Catharina still has a really bad stomach, we cannot go trekking just jet. Instead we have to work on new Indian visas, the ones we got expires in two weeks. To get a new one we have to visit the visa centre at least 3 times and to wait for some hours every time.

Before the first visit we need to fill in a visa application form at their website. But the website crashed all the time and it took us all afternoon to finish it.

Now we have shopped some more warm clothes. We were running the stores until it got dark. But now we have bought extra warm layer one clothes for sleeping, mittens, a hat, socks, merino wool long sleeved sweater, baklava, trekking towel etc.

We also bought water purifying tablets and pills to prevent altitude sickness. But we don’t know if we are going to take the pills as prevention to altitude sickness. It does not feel right. Then we do not have any option at all if we get problems. We need to think about this and speak to some more people.

Today we arranged with the TIMS Card – a sort of trekking permit. We have to register before going trekking; name, nationality, contacts for a close relative, where and when we are going trekking.

We also need to pay national park fee for the EBC-trek, about 50 Euro per person. But the office was closed so we have to do it at the park entrance instead.

The weather forecast predicts snow almost every day for the coming fourth night. On top f that they predict a blizzard for two days approximately when we plan to be on our highest altitude.

Better safe than sorry, we thought and headed out for more gear; sticks, gaiters and spikes. If the conditions gets bad we will be lucky to have this and if the blizzard hits we need to stay at a teahouse a day or two to let it pass.

Today in town we ran in to Till and Linn who we hanged with in Goa. It was great to see them again. We told them about our guesthouse and they decided to move here.

In the evening we all went out for a meal with another overlander couple – Marc and Petra from Netherlands. They had met them in Lahore some time ago. Katmandu is the end of their trip and they are flying their motorbikes back home this week.

Now we are packed and ready to go the Everest Base Camp trek – at least we think so. Seeing the weather forecast we wonder if we have enough warm clothes. But no more stuff fits in our backpacks, so we just have to do with the things we have got.

The air tickets is booked and ready, return ticket 300 Euro per person. We fly out 7.15 AM tomorrow morning. Lukla is one of the most dangerous airports in the world. When going in for landing it is a big mountain wall in front and the weather conditions can be very difficult. We googled Sita Air, that we are flying with, they have not a very good track record…

Now we are moving our car to Irwings garage. Then he can work on our car while we are out trekking.

Oh my god, what an airport. Lukkla is one of the most dangerous airports in the world. When we see it we understand why too. It is a 500 m short uphill strip ending in a vertical mountain wall. The strip is 22 m wide with a 12 degrees tilt. Completely crazy!

Today is the first day of our Mount Everest Base Camp Trek (EBC Trek). We estimate it will take 12-14 days and we will stay at tea houses in the small villages along the trek. We also decided to make the trek on our own and not to have a guide or a porter.

We wnet from Lukkla to Toktok after we landed. It was 10 kilomters and it took us about 4,5 hour. The trail goes up and down, up and down all the time. There are no roads or no vehicles here. That is why we had to fly in to Lukkla. Everything that is going up to the villages has to be carried by porters or transported by donkeys or Yaks.

We were in our sleeping bags, fully dressed and with thick blankets on top for extra comfort. This means we kept warm enough during the night.

After breakfast we started walking to Namche Bazaar at 3 530 m. As long as we stayed at the sunny side it was quite nice, but as soon as the sun disappeared it got freezing cold. The last part to Namche Bazaar it was a 700 m really steep and exhausting climb. The snow mixed rain in the end did not make it any easier - only even more freezing.

On the trail we passed several cool suspention bridges, (movie) and lots if donkeys yaks and porters. The porters say they carry about 100 kg!

Today we have had an acclimatization day here in Namche Bazaar. The best way to acclimatize is to take a trek up to higher grounds and then to go down to the acclimatization ground to sleep.

We went to the Sagarmatha National Park Museum and to the Everest View Hotel at 3 880 m, where we had a cup of tea and gazed out in the thick fog – without seeing any mountain tops.

After that we took a stroll in Namche Bazaar, a village completely dedicated to the trekking industry.

Today we moved on from Namche Bazaar to Pangboche at 3 930 m. It was a 14,5 km stretch that took 8,5 hours with a 500 m climb. After a couple of hours it started to snow and since it was quite cold the snow stayed on the ground and the trail started to get a bit slippery. Even though we only have made a 500 m climb today, the trail is going up and down all the time and the total climb we have made all day is much more than that.

Sometimes the trail is smooth and nice, but most of the time they are narrow, bumpy and steep. There is a man who has made it his task in life to make some of the worst trails around Namche Bazaar better. The reason is that when the Yaks meet on the narrow trails they tend to push each other over the edge. Good thinking and good work we thought and donated some money for the project.

The first thing we saw this morning looking out of our window was a poor Yak covered in snow. During the night we had about 20 cm snow. But even though it was snowing horizontal, we had to move on. We were lucky to have the strong wind in our backs. And thank god we bought gators; otherwise this could have been a wet, cold and not so very nice day. (movie) But still it was kind of pleasant to just move on. We were properly dressed – not too cold or not too warm.

Halfway to Dingboche at 4 410 m, the wind picked up even more and the visibility got even worse. We started to lose the trail in the snow and there are absolutely no signs along the trail to follow. It got a little too much exiting for us, to spend the afternoon in the wild in a snow storm was really not our idea of fun. (movie) But we could see a small group with a guide far ahead of us. Even though we were a bit tired by now we had to move faster not to lose sight of them.

Acclimatization day again. Made an 2,5 hour tour with a 240 m climb. It was sunny and nice in the morning, but when we got up on the hill it was already cloudy.

Everywhere in the village the sun cookers were out as soon as the sun showed up. It takes about 15 minutes to cook five liters of water. We also checked out the starting point for the trail to Loboche tomorrow.

What a lovely day, perfect that we got this fantastic weather today (movie) when we are completely surrounded by the really high peaks of 6 000-8 000 meter. Even though it has been quite cold, the sun has been nice and warm and we have had nearly no wind at all.

We went from Dingboche to Loboche at 4 910 m. It took us 6 hours. During the day we passed the memorial site for climbers and sherpas that has died at Mount Everest during the years.

Arriving in Loboche it was +16-17 degrees C in our room. We could not believe this. But it did not last long. As soon as the sun disappeared, it got cold again with a bunch of degrees below zero indoors. The tap water was frozen, and they had a barrel of water by the toilet and a bucket to flush the toilet with. But before flushing we had to kick to bucket loose from the frozen floor and crack the ice in the barrel to get to the water.

Today we reached the Mount Everest Base Camp, 5 267 m after seven days of trekking. This has been the hardest day on the trek this far. Not much of a trail. The trekking difficulty is like a 4 of a 5 scale, lots of stones to climb.

We are spending the night in Gorak Shep, 5 140 m and when we passed the tea house we left our back packs there and headed on the last hours to Mount Everest Base Camp without 10-12 kg per person on our backs. Lovely! The climber season do not start until a couple of weeks. Right now there was only one expedition there. But it is still fun to see the place we have heard so much about.

Now we expect a bloody cold night, yesterday it was -21° C outside, the houses are completely uninsolated, have 1-glass windows and no heating. And 21° C outside means -21° C inside too...

To not freeze to death last night we dressed really good; sleeping bag, 2 thick blankets, long johns, fleece pants, 2 pair of woolen socks and down socks, sweater, 2 fleece sweaters, 2 hats and gloves. We survived, but not much more than than that.

After breakfast we climbed the Kala Pathar, 5 550 m. (movie) This is the highest we ever been. It was a steep climb about 500 m. And at 5 000 m or more we really can feel the altitude getting to us. We take a few steps and then rest for a while. It took us 3 hours to climb the top. But it was so worth it. What a view! From the top we could also look down at the Mount Everest Base Camp, a couple of hundred meters below.

Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), can be a really serious condition. When we came down to Gorak Shep for lunch a young couple stumbled in. The guy was in a really poor condition and he got oxygen immediately. They discussed ordering a rescue helicopter, but there seemed to be some problems with the guys insurance.

When we were heading down to Lobohche we met a AMS doctor who had been in Gorak Shep to check on two people with AMS. He had sent them down with the rescue helicopter. But the guy from our tea house had stayed in Gorak Shep, against his recommendations. He told us that he sends 5-8 people down every day during the high season by rescue helicopter from Gorak Shep. And Gorak Shep is a small village. Right now it was maximum 100 trekkers there.

Today was a long day 9,5 hour including lunch. We have dropped 1 050 m in altitude. This means that the temperature also get about 10 degrees warmer. But it still come smoke out of our mouths and the drinking water bottles freezes during the night.

It is clear that the trekking season is starting. Just in a few days we can see a big difference. There are big groups of trekkers with guides and porters going up the trail now. This also means that more stuff like food and supply have to be carried up the mountain by Yaks. (movie) In the village today it was a traffic jam of Yaks.

After a super nice breakfast in Tengboche with real coffee, we dropped 1 100 m today down to 2 760 m. When we passed Namche Bazaar we had the best lunch on the trek Sherpa momo buff in chili sause.

We continued down to Chhumawa to spend the night there. Today we have seen fully loaded Yaks all day going up the trails with food and equipment. The address tags say Everest Base Camp and Lhotse Base Camp. The climber season starts in a few weeks.

We are starting to get exhausted now. This was a heavy last day that finished with a 300 m climb (movie) up to Lukkla and the air port. We arrived in time to change our flight tickets at Sitas Office, so that we could fly out tomorrow morning.

We also got our first shower in 12 days! We have been holding up until now with wet wipes and freezing cold water. Not so nice, but still better than the alternative; a shower in a shed where wind and snow blows right through and -10 degrees inside the shed.

We were at the airport already 6.15 AM to fly out at 7 AM. This means that we had plenty of time to study the things happening on the runway. The runway is only 500 m long and ends with a 600 m drop. Check this out when the small airplanes disappear down the slope/runway. Looks crazy! (movie)

They are superefficient loading and unloading passengers and cargo. Within 3 minutes from arriving they are ready to tax out again. They do it skydiver style!

When landing in Katmandu we took a cab to Irwings garage to get the car. He had not done a shit while we were gone. Now we are pissed and we go somewhere else instead.

Summary of our Mount Everest Base Camp Trek: Cost in total for both of us: 1 200 Euro, including air tickets, TIMS-card, national park fee, food and lodging, but then we did not have a guide or porter like 97 percent of the trekkers have. We were lucky with the weather but we got all kind of weather, snow vertical and horizontal, rain, ice cold winds, clouds, sun and blue sky. And we got sun and blue sky when it mattered the most – at Everest Base Camp and Kala Pathar.

But it was fucking cold – all the time. And it was difficult to keep warm since they only had a small stove in one room of the teahouses. And the Yak shit they burnt in it didn’t give us much warmth. We had to fully dressed all the time with jackets, gloves and hats even inside the ”warm” room to keep reasonably warm.

The trekkingfood is boring and expensive. It is rice, pasta or potatoes. And we mean only rice, pasta or potatoes. Hardly any veg or protiens. For example we had to pay 7 Euro for pasta with grained cheese, a Dal Bhat or a fried rice with half a carrot and 4 Euro for a teabag in a pot.

Altitude Mountain Sickness (AMS) is dangerous and do not seem to be taken seriously enough by the trekkers. The rescue helicopters go back and forth all morning to take the sick trekkers down to lower grounds.

Today is was time to take care of all our dirty clothes after out trek. We left 10 kg dirty clothes for laundering!

We also had time to go to the Indian Visa Center to leave our passports. It sounded like we were going to get a new Indian visa. We will see tomorrow if it works out all right.

Then we got information about that our second passports had arrived at the Swedish Consulate here in Katmandu. But it was more expensive than we were told at first. We had to pay 250 Euro to get them sent here by Embassy post.

A Kinder egg - three new visas in our hands on the same day. That is for sure a new record. This morning we were at the Swedish Consulate to collect our passports with the new Pakistani visas and Chinese visas sent from Sweden. In the afternoon we went to the Indian Visa Center to collect our other passports with the new Indian visas. Thank god that we have two passports. Otherwise this would have been a big problem.

We are faaar behind in our blog by now. Friends and family have started to wonder where we are. But during the trek we have kept notes and now we have written it all down, translated it in to English, prepared the photos and film clip for uploading. It is a lot of work.

Here at the Vanderlust Guesthouse we have ordered take away from their restaurant when we didnt feel like going out for a meal or cooking ourselves.

But today we wanted a big juicy steak. It is possible to get one here in Nepal – if you know where to find it and we got a really good recommendation. A very nice 300 gram steak for only 7,5 Euro! And on the way home we grabbed some Yak cheese.

Now we finally leave Dustmandu as Katmandu is called now days. We go to Pokhara about 200 kilometers west. In Dustmandu we cover our mouths when walking the streets to protect ourselves from the dust flying around from the water works constructions all over town.

It seems like a very a very important work to be done. When we turn on the tap the ting coming out is a brownish yellow mess – if something comes out at all. It looks like a mix of pi, mud and rust and this we use for showering. But what to do? This is the only water there is.

Today it was time to do some practical everyday stuff like filling gas, do some laundry and buy new sheets for our 160 cm wide bed. After some looking around we found white bed sheet fabric of a good quality. We bought 2,5 meters and got it sawn in the backroom behind the store, and we paid 7 Euro for it all.

After that it was time to get our gas bottle filled. We always look for places to fill gas. Rumor has it that there was a place in Pokhara where they could fill the international gas bottles – and that turned out to be true! Now we can get by for another two months. Bert also bought some connections for filling gas. That maybe come handy the next time we need to fill it.

We rented a motorbike today and went to Pame a few kilometers outside Pokhara. We stayed in Pame for a couple of months with 3 other overlanders when we were here the last time. That was a great palce to stay. Newly opened at the time. But now the land was sold and the place closed. It seemed to be a big disagreement between the owner of the campsite and the villages behind the closing.

The tailor was in the same place as ten yeras ago, but with a new hat and a new sawing mashine. He looke a bit more tired now.

When we leave Pokhara we start our journey slowly back to Sweden. In five months we will be back home again. This means that we need to read up on Central Asia; Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. We do not have to do planning in detail, but we need to have an idea of a route, where to spend most of our time, where they have ATMs and where we need to bring cash to get by. In the evening we had hot-pot dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

To get by in some of the Stan countries, for example in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan we need to bring cash in US dollars or Euro. Even if there are ATMs there we cannot expect to get any cash. Rumor has it that they are scarce and usually empty. Now we have gotten some US dollar and Euro. We have to get it at private exchange offices since the bank do not exchange money.

Now we are starting to get really sick of the boring weather here in Pokhara. Grey every day, yes nice and warm + 29 degrees C and the sun come out now and then, but still the rain is pouring down during the night and in the day it is really damp. Actually, this boring weather we have not had since we left Europe six months ago. We are fed up. Now we leave Pokhara for better weather in Indian and Amritsar.

Now we have left Nepal for India. Usually the border procedure is fairly quick and easy. But at the Indian border they took out the book of rules and read it very carefully, counted days and checked our stamps for entering and exiting countries in our Carnet de Passage. Since we return to India within six months the time for our car in the country add up and the total time cannot exceed six months – even if we have visas valid for longer time than that. We had enough time since we only needed 14 days in India before entering Pakistan.

At the Indian side of the border there were complete chaos. Hundreds of busses were parked all over the place and thousands of locals from India and Nepal just sitting there waiting. For foreigners the border crossing is open 24 hours, but for the locals the border is open only a few hours in each direction every day.