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I have been reminded that I seem to have made more posts on my blog while I was in the wilds of Tibet than I have since I got back - reason being is that not much has happened since that is blog-worthy, but figured I ought to try and make some effort.

So what has been going on in my world lately? Well, back at work which is same as ever, now trying to plan my next holiday but might be able to combine work with a holiday in september as I'm trying to get on an expedition medicine course in the Lake District which looks like good fun, and is sort of relevant to work as I do have to do medicals on people for diving and travel purposes. Would be a good chance to catch up with all my friends in the North too. Trying to sort out some ski-ing for next year but problem being with the plan to go at Christmas/New Year is that I don't get a whole week off starting on a saturday so might have to try and organise it ourselves and go midweek somewhere. Waiting to hear about the Xmas rotas at work though so can't do much about it for the moment.

Spent last weekend in London, reminding myself why drinking vodka and red bull is never a good idea for last orders, especially when you then decide to get some more from the offy and continue at home... cue waking up on the sofa at 3am wide awake from the red bull and spending the next morning incapable of doing anything other than lie on the sofa and moaning. All good fun in the end though.

Am fed up with all the rain, but at least I don't have to water my tomatoes. Rather disappointed about my apples which I mentioned in a previous post, they seem to be splitting apart rather than getting bigger, as if their skins can't stretch enough. So maybe I won't be able to eat my own apples this year after all, but there are tons of tomatoes and a few chillis so should be able to get enough for a curry at least.

I keep meaning to send Steve his prize for winning the diet competition, although I have continued since I got home and have dropped about 8 lbs in total now which is all good, but means I will have to go shopping as all my work trousers are too big now and I worry about flashing my pants whenever I bend over. I thought it might be an idea to share "Hannah's Patented Diet Tips (TM)", as there's not a lot to it really:

1. Go on holiday somewhere where you will be fed nothing but soup, curry, and yak butter thus removing any appetite you may have developed.

2. Then climb up Mount Everest, or maybe just to the base camp if you can't be arsed to do the whole thing.

3. When you get home, continue to live off soup, and instead of cooking things you really like, have meals you are indifferent about then you'll get bored and won't want to eat so much. It so works, this evening I had an organic vegetable and lentil green curry that has been languishing in my freezer for ages, it actually was nicer than I was expecting, and I had to spend ages picking out the bits of sweetcorn that I don't like. I'd much rather have had a pizza, but needs must, and I am determined to eat what I have in the freezer and cupboard before I buy any more meals. And, I have managed to have breakfast every day since getting back which is very good for me as I never usually bother.

That's about it. And I'm able to go back to the gym next week, having put my membership on hold this month because of the holiday, so that will help too. Debating whether to apply for the London Marathon again as I didn't get in this year, it would be a great thing to do sometime but getting in would mean I'd have to take up running and do it seriously. Anyone else want to do it with me? As long as I did better than Jade Goody who ran a mile then walked for a bit before collapsing, I'd be happy!

I'm back!

Just managed to stop myself falling asleep when I was lying on my bed (just to test it out in comparison to the hard beds I've endured on holiday), but remembered I had promised a blog so thought I'd better do a quick one before I crash out. As you can see, I got back safely from the Himalayas this morning and made the comment when chatting to Steve earlier that in my photos, Everest "doesn't look that big, actually" - so see what you think of it here! No plans to climb it anytime soon though.

Had a bit of a trauma this morning when I got back as my mobile phone had been cut off! After being on hold for 30 minutes to the company, it transpired that the phone shop where I sorted out the new contract a month or so ago had neglected to pass on the direct debit details so I am going to have words with them tomorrow as I was rather pissed off at not being able to contact my parents who were collecting me from the airport! But on a more positive note, I also had a letter from Skoda waiting for me who have kindly agreed to pay for most of the repairs to my car when that thing in the engine broke recently, despite it being out of warranty I wrote a cheeky letter asking if they'd cover the parts if I paid for the labour, and they've said yes - so the moral is if you don't ask, you won't get!

Going back to the holiday, I managed to spend the last of my money in Kathmandu yesterday on some suitably tacky things, and Steve will be receiving something at some stage for guessing closest in the diet sweepstake - the scales said that I lost 5lbs, but remarkably my body fat percentage according to them has dropped by 8%! Reckon that's wrong though, probably just cos I've been drinking loads of water, but will see what happens over the next week or so. The flight back was ok without any major problems, although I was rather surprised at the way the airport staff did the body searches, we all had to get patted down three times in total at various stages in the check-in/security process, and I was most surprised when one of them was a little too enthusiastic about squeezing my chest! One of the others did however point out that I could feasibly be smuggling stuff in this area, although we did agree that the transportation of melons was not in itself a crime...

Haven't done much today aside from go to the supermarket and start the washing, but I have managed to put up a selection of photos on facebook so anyone who wants to see them can go and check them out, with the direct links here and here for those of you (Steve) who have not yet signed up. Have a look and see what you think! And I'm also going to add a few photos to the entries from when I was away to make it look nicer, apart from the one about toilets which I feel has to be suitably illustrated to convey the awfulness of what we had to put up with...

Shower bar...hmmm

Ok, final blog post from holiday as it's the last day and we leave this evening. Got back from Tibet the day before yesterday having had a great time there and enjoyed some spectacular views of Everest, on the day we did the trek to base camp we had clear skies although the camping at the base was bloody freezing and we woke up to ice on the tents - don't think I'll be planning any mountaineering expeditions anytime soon. The roads were mostly dirt tracks, and the last day of the journey back to Nepal was pretty hairy as it was alongside a gorge where the were building the road and we saw one overturned lorry which has misjudged the bend but luckily had wedged in the corner so's not to have fallen down the ravine. We also ended up having the second medical emergency of the trip which didn't involve any of our group, but on the windy road about 15km from Kathmandu we encountered a motorcyclist who had just collided with a lorry and had smashed his knee, wrist, and chin, the locals didn't really seem to know what to do and were trying to get him to stand up (impossible with an open fracture) so the other medic and I ended up patching him up as best we could using what was in the group's medical bag and dispatching him to hospital in an ambulance which was a landrover with no equipment aside from a padded bench in the back, but hopefully he should be ok.

Spent most of yesterday shopping as trying to get rid of the rest of my money, only got about 10 quid left now so will see what sort of tat I can get for it. Had a fun meal last night where we all had to sit on the floor traditional style and people did local dancing while we did endless toasts with the local rice spirit, then a few of us wanted to go out afterwards and in one of our worse decisions ended up in the nearest place to the hotel that was open which was called "Lips Shower Bar" which probably says it all, but it was good fun, then 4 of us ended up in the Full Moon bar in the backpacker area til goodness only knows what time this morning, was great for people watching in terms of all the people who had properly tuned in and dropped out, man!

Almost managed to avoid tasting the notorious yak butter tea in Tibet, but we got made to have some on the last morning, and it actually wasn't quite as bad as I'd expected, although still pretty rank. Imagine milky tea with melted rancid butter and salt in it, and you're pretty close, the smell is worse than the taste as yak butter has a distinctive aroma, and I only managed a sip, but I suppose it had to be done. Yak cheese on the other hand is quite nice, like a strong cheddar. The food we had when camping was generally very good as we had a Nepali chef with us so it was mostly yak curry/veg curry and stuff, but they obviously ran out of provisions by the last day as we ended up having spam curry which was actually quite good but messed up a few stomachs I think. Have survived pretty much unscathed so far, but keeping my fingers crossed that I manage to stay out of trouble today as got 14 hour flight ahead.

Going to go now as a couple of the group are leaving early to fly to other destinations (lucky gits) whereas the rest of us have til 5pm to hang around before we leave, so going to start packing and do the last bit of shopping. See you all soon!

Gayest photo - ever!

I think this is going to be the last post on the blog for a while, as tomorrow we leave civilisation (relatively speaking, given the location), and head off into the wilds of Tibet to go camping and trekking en-route to EBC (that's Everest base camp for the uninitiated). Today we are in Shigatse which is the second biggest city in Tibet, and in a rather funky hotel full of tacky gaudy red dragons and stuff. Yesterday we were in Gyantse which was a small rather nondescript place, notable mainly for the fact that it looks exactly like Kazakhstan as portrayed in the Borat film! Like, people were driving horses and carts down the main road where we had to dodge them from our land cruisers, and some of the local sleazy men were giving us come-hither looks and asking for sexytime. We ended up saying "jagshemash" in return to anyone who said hello... We did have a wander through the old village area which was amazing, cows walking all over the road and it was like stepping back in time were it not for all the filthy children who were everywhere but very cute at the same time, unlike the aggressive beggars in the big cities they were happy enough to pose for photos in return for being shown them in the camera screen rather than demanding money and trying to open your bags as soon as you step off a bus.

Also yesterday we went to nearly 5000m altitude over one of the high passes and had some stunning views of a lake, and also took the most gay photos ever, which involved some of us riding on yaks. I will probably stick that one up on here once I get home as it's a classic! Had a bit of a headache when we got that high so started back on the diamox and feeling much better now, am planning on taking it probably until I get back to Kathmandu.

Also of note is the fact that there is a lot more talking in comedy Chinese accents amongst the group, mainly as we are seeing far more Chinglish signs that make very little sense. I'll put some pics of those up too. One of the girls and I went shopping and bought these really funny t-shirts which have a picture of a rocket-shaped ice lolly on them (like a zoom, for anyone who remembers them), and the slogan underneath "comfortable hot icy pole in solution" which we thought was just hilarious! Been wearing them, much to the amusement of some of the others.

Had a bit of a medical emergency today when one of the group fainted - luckily he was in the landcruiser with both us doctors in! He had to get the driver to pull over, then bent over at the side of the road before toppling over, so we all rushed out and did our thing which involved basically standing in the way of the hot sun and waiting for him to recover. He's fine now, combination of heat, dehydration and stomach upset we think. But as a downside, I burnt both my knees from kneeling on the hot road while doing my thing, they have large red patches on them so I will be having to put cream on for a few days I think.

The hotel is playing piped love songs through the lobby at the moment, presently it's "unchained melody", but it's much better than the jangly Chinese stuff that gets played everywhere else. I think I must have said something controversial on this blog as whilst I can add new posts via the site, I can't view it myself. So I could see how controversial I could be by talking about the Dalai Lama, the political situation, and the Chinese occupation and how it's not a free country at all, but that would be counter-productive! So I'll carry on writing the usual sort of crap.

When talking about crap earlier this week I also forgot to mention the constant sound of the Chinese men hacking up phlegm from their throats and spitting it out on the street, so you have to dodge these little piles of phlegm as well as all the wee. It's really grim. I am so looking forward to some proper toilets again where you can flush the paper down and wash your hands afterwards, I'm getting through tons of alcohol gel as there are never any sinks there.

I am very pleased that tomorrow we visit the final monastery of the trip. I think we must have been to about ten so far, and whilst individually they are beautiful, they are all blurring into one and I cannot stand much more of the aroma of burning juniper and melted yak butter which permeates all through. I am totally monasteried out.

Anyway, going to go and have some dinner now, probably will involve yak in some form as usual, for lunch I had yak momos which are like small steamed dumplings with yak meat in, and some potato soup which was lovely. Had delicious indian tomato soup the other night which had coriander and spices in it, so will be trying that one out when I get home along with some noodle soup using the noodles I bought in the supermarket. I think having soup with every meal is the way forward as it's filling without being too unhealthy if you make it yourself, I have no idea how the diet sweepstake is going but my trousers are a bit looser so there is still time for people to enter if they wish as the result will be posted when I get home. So no more blog until the end of next week if at all as don't think EBC has internet access, will try and do a bit when we're back in Kathmandu which should be next wednesday or thursday if all goes to plan - wonder if anyone will miss me?!

Tibetan Toilet habits

Warning - contains scatological material, if you think that's disgusting then don't read on...

Quick one tonight, but thought I'd do a bit on the general awfulness that is the Tibetan toilet. Bar a couple of places, it's all holes in the ground and squat loos which in itself wouldn't be too bad but for the fact that they never seem to be cleaned and only occasionally have partitions between them, and if they do, the partitions usually have poo smeared all over them. So, in general people avoid using these by pissing in the street whenever the fancy takes them. I'm talking about men here, us girls have to try and be a bit more subtle and find a rock to pee behind, and on the long landrover journeys we have all become experts at weeing by the side of the road no matter how many people may be watching. Thankfully, as it's generally pretty remote when we do this, there are only a few yaks and the rest of the group. What's also weird is that Tibetan toddlers all have the gussets cut out of their trousers so they can have easy access so they can be positioned over a drain when nature calls. Eew.

Gotta go now as net cafe about to close, off into the more remote parts for the remainder of the trip but we re assured that there is internet access in some of the places later this week!

Actually just read this back and it sounds really disgusting, sorry! But that's the reality of life here and it wouldn't be a blog without mentioning it...

Cold and wet

So, we survived the first bit of the camping up by the Nam Tso lake which like most places in Tibet, it seems, is considered holy. The lake itself was lovely, but it rained really hard both nights so we hardly got any sleep, and woke up surrounded by yaks which was quite funny. Re the yaks, think I have eaten some of them every day, last night had a yak cheeseburger with yak cheese, but also had steak, curry, chow mein, stew, and pretty much every variation you can think of.

Today been back in Lhasa and went round another two monasteries, of which I am becoming rather tired of as they all look pretty similar inside and smell of melted yak butter. There may be a mutiny ahead as I'm not the only one! Only about another four to go though. But the afternoon one was quite cool today as it was the one where the monks sit in the courtyard all afternoon and debate loudly using hand signals and ridiculous gestures.

Going to finish now as off for dinner (more yak probably) might do a bit more tomorrow as not sure when I'll next be able to get net access once we leave Lhasa!