The plan

Gulp- it's the day before D-Day, and I'm 3/4 packed. But I have a TON of administrative stuff to do still, plus photos to print out, an itinerary for mum so she can follow our progress, parcels to prepare for the PO, etc. I'm quite impressed that I'm packed already- it's usually a last minute panic the night before. I guess I didn't want the cat sleeping on (or getting lost in) the pile on the bed in the spare room- he could've ended up coming with me. And I'm trying to be gentle on my back: I found out a couple of weeks ago I have a bulging disc, more commonly known as a slipped disc. I now have a corset to wear when it starts playing up!

So the grand plan is this: we fly to Delhi first, stay one night, fly to Kathmandu, stay 2 nights, fly to Lhasa (capital of Tibet), spend 3 nights there, and then begin the long journey west to the Mountain. Takes about 5 days by land cruiser (probably takes the same time in any other vehicle too) and we'll be camping for part of it. Tis a real adventure. I've been reading quite a few books on the subject- lots of people who've been there have published their journeys, probably out of relief that they made it (see list to the right).

Then we wend our weary way back to Kathmandu, stay one night, fly back to Delhi where me, Tim & Tom part from Rik and catch an overnight train up to Dharamsala (or Pathankot, the nearest station), stay a few nights, pop into Bir on our way back to teh station on Saturday to say hi to my Tiblets, then head back to the Capital to fly back home. I'm guessing we'll be quite knackered!

And just in case any of you are wondering what Tiblets are, they're some Tibetan children whom I met several years ago and have sort of been adopted by them. I visit htem every time I go to Dharamsala and spoil them rotten, if I can. They're not children anymore either, the older 'boys' are in their early 20s.
Tiblets and me a couple of years ago