Trekking in a winter wonderland

We have just arrived in the small village of Braga on the 30th day of our epic trek in the Nepal Himalaya. Rejoice, for the Internet has reached these parts and we can give you an update on our travels - just a brief one, mind, as the web doesn't come cheap at 3,500m!

Once again Nepal has given us more of everything. More incredible mountain scenery, more heart-warming hospitality, more gompas, more bites (leaches, mosquitos, and bed bugs), more cranky yaks, more veg-fried potatoes, more daal bhat dinners and more near-death experiences on the local buses than you can shake a broken Leki pole at.

For the first 15 days of our trek, we were accompanied by a retinue of Nepali staff carrying camping and cooking equipment and food: Ram, our guide, Phurbar, our cook, Dharma, the assistant guide and seven porters.

For the past fortnight, we have been staying in teahouses, acccompanied by Ram and a single porter, Sinkhada, who has been carrying both our heavy backpacks.

Suffice to say the trekking has been wonderful so far, and we have made it this far with bodies largely in tact and most of our gear still functioning. We have been busy preparing lots of juicy blog articles for you, so as soon as we get back to civilisation proper, we will be posting regluar updates.

But first the trekking continues! With two 5,000m passes under our belts, we were due to attempt a third as we trekked up to Tilicho Lake, this time without guide or porter. However, we awoke this morning to find a winter wonderland outside our lodge, and snow still falling. The Tilicho trek requires perfect conditions, so we have had to change our plans. We are now sitting it out in Braga to see what the weather does. If it clears we will cross the Thorung La pass for the second time in 5 years. If not, we have to trek down the valley and catch the bus back to Kathmandu. On the bright side, we have have just gorged ourselves on chocolate cake and apple pie, at the same bakery in Braga we first discovered in 2007.

Winter arrives early in Ngawal

Apple pie and chocolate cake never tasted so good

Jen and Chris