We reached Kamathdu ( City of Nepal) at around 12pm local time, and was met by our local guide plus the tour agent boss himself. Traffic was good as there was a transport strike. Therefore, only tour buses with foreigners were allowed on the roads. The local guide said that he had walked for almost 30mins to reach the international airport. Weather was manageable, cooling but comfortable.

It was a merry day, with just eating & drinking, and doing some last minute shopping for the trekking. The first meal we had at Kamathdu was at this dining place called The Third Eye. We ordered chicken tandoori, nanns, cottage cheese, and Everest beers. Service was damn slow, waited for almost an hour before the food was served. On a positive note, it meant that food was not pre-prepared and the food had proven to be surprisingly good. Perhaps we were hungry. 

The chicken tandoori was good, but I liked the nanns even better. I particularly adored the fruit nanns and cant help, but to have a few more serving of the carbos even though this was suppose to be a "weight- loss" trip. The cottage cheese in the spinach sauce was nice. Didnt taste like cheese, the texture was like tougher tofu. But together with the spinach sauce, it was really Mmmm. Everest beer, something you must try in Nepal, was smooth and cooling. It was indeed a good meal and we finished the so-called lunch at 4plus.

We proceeded on to bookshop to buy postcards. Me and bf sent postcards to each other, which I have yet to receive. Really hope that it's not lost in transit, coz I dint buy any other postcards.. =_=

Somemore walking in the streets and we were off to have mutton for dinner and more drinks. 

It was a long bus journey to Pokhara, up some winding roads. The bus was small and we were packed like sardines. The bus would swing from side to side, driving so near to the side of the mountain routes at times, while allowing oncoming vehicles to pass by. But amazingly, the bus stayed to its track. I suppose this is part of driving in Nepal, our so called dangerous driving on flat straight road seems like child-play in comparison.

The edge is also an open public toilets for the males. You can see guys standing at the edge, making their relieve into the open. A common sight along the way. Ladies, just got to control your bowels.

Thankfully, we reached a stop-point where there was toilet. It definitely failed its cleanliness test badly if graded in Singapore, but by then, I really heck care already. I just need a hole to do my business. 

We proceeded on further and finally reached Pokhara. There are a lot of trekking stuffs to buy here, in fact a lot of North Face accessories like Gortex jackets, pants, headgear, gloves, waterproof bags etc. I bought one Gortex jacket at about S$80 on the way back from the mountains, as compared to one in Singapore selling minimally at S$300+. I tested the material under running water, and as promised, water simply rolled off the jacket. I'm convinced. Anyway, the real ones selling in Singapore are made in countries such as China, Vietnam etc and I totally believed that they are overly priced. 

The meals were covered by the hotel we stayed and I had beef steak, the last decent meat before my trek. The beef was imported and tasted rather overcooked. In Nepal, the cows are used to plough crops and for the milk, before they grow old and die. Imported beef was merely consumed by foreigners. 

The first day of our trek. We would be trekking to Pothana, from a height of 820m to 1890m. Looking up the rock steps so high up, I cant even see the end point, I was a bit concerned. The rocks were mindlessly piled on top of each others in the most random manner, with no railings of coz. The locals and the porters were walking up and down the mountains so casually that it almost felt like they were walking on normal staircases. Anyway, we were still fresh from our ample rest and good meals, so off we went without thinking much further. 

As I climbed, I realised I dun really have height phobia which I thought I have a little. Maybe I was concentrating too much on the rock steps, figuring which rock was a better stepping stone to rise myself upwards, to even realise that any false step will send me rolling down.  I was too eager to reach my destination, forgetting to conserve energy for the remaining days.

When we finally reached the first rest point, I was already panting and sweating profusely. I should have bring more short sleeved T shirts, but again the long sleeved tops did shield me from the sun. 

We continued with more walking and climbing. For a petite size of 1.5m, some of the rock steps were indeed obstacles as I needed to shift my weight upwards, exerting a lot of pressure on my thighs. But because it was only day one of trekking, I did not slow down to allow my muscles to loosen up. In fact, my body had shown no signs of over exertion of the leg muscles and I was among the first few to reach the destination of the day.

However as night approached, I realised that my legs were starting to protest. When I laid my legs into the sleeping bag, I felt panic, this time because I couldnt feel the lower part of the body and almost felt paralyzed. ~_~

We had trekked for almost 6 - 7 hours, starting at 8plus in the morning and ended the day at 4plus, stopping for water breaks and lunch in between. This was far more walking then I ever done in my whole life in a single day. It was even more tedious as most of the time we were moving upwards, climbing the rock steps. I wondered whether my legs would fail me tomorrow as I became unconscious within seconds...

Early in the morning at 630am, the helpers would make their rounds at each room to serve hot teas. It was then when you felt good just over a simple cup of tea, as the metal cup warmed your hands and the steam greeted your face.

Before I go on, it's out of respect to dedicate a few paragraphs to our group of helpers. To help a group of 15 Singaporeans to mount MBC, there were altogether 12 porters, 6 kitchen crew, 1 cook, 3 assistant Sherpas and 1 Sherpas leader aka guide. We are so "pampered" rite? Keke

The list is also the same for the ranking order, with porter being the lowest rank and Sherpas leader the highest. Obviously, the salaries and tips will also follow the same order.

The porters are basically the heros behind the scenes, helping us to carry our heavy luggages up and down the mountains. Each one will need to carry a minimum of 40kg on their back, supporting the basket of load on their back with their heads, using strings.

The kitchen crew and the cook will prepare our 3 meals. The meals were fantastic, given the conditions - we were served hot soup, main course and dessert everytime. The main course consists of mainly carbos like rice, pasta, pizza, potato etc. Meat were rare as beef is out ( because of religious reasons), chicken is out ( because there's bird flu in Pokhara), fish is out ( Nepal is surrounded by lands). The only source of meat in the mountains were canned meat that the team brought from Singapore, and perhaps just luncheon meat and tuna. Amazingly, the kitchen was still able to dish out pizza and cake ( on the last day) despite the fact that there was no oven available. It is still a mystery how they did it.

The Sherpas are the one that help the team members if necessary. And if we need help with our already super light personal backpack, they will also help to carry. As for myself, I basically "engaged" help from all 3 assistant Sherpas at different times, who will hold my hands as I climbed or descended from the rock steps. Without them, I probably fall off the cliff or break a leg. The Sherpas leader is basically the main coordinator of the team, and keeping check that everyone is okay.