the ravelment is complete

the Himala crow
is replaced
by the magpie


the yaks of the Khumbu
are now
gone

Dal baht is now lentil and rice


mountain pheasant
now

geese




the letters all opened
and answers sent
the adding up is finished
and the boundary fences checked


all is good

in my nows and tomorrows












the sacred ones have headed home

Markna

adjusting to 100% oxygen

it's nearly done

is this adventure


















the incense hangs in the air
the Khumbu is forever

foot fall on the glacial sand makes a sound that lasts
it sounds like this...

but, I have many interesting photos to sort
and
memories to unravel
some to re-ravel as well
I must get on to it straight away....



there will be more soon

but I must bury my teasure in a secret place in the garden ( not near the big tree)
and make my maps of where my mind and thoughts went
and
stick my stamps to my letters

and then

I must make Dahl
so many things to do
soon...

all the creatures

Been awake since 4.30 am tuesday in the "Du"
It is 24 hrs later in the plane and must be getting closer

The khumbu was real
The light
The sky
The staggeringly high mountains
The bells on the ponies
The bells on the yaks
The water
The whispers in the pines
The herds of cabbages in the stepped fields
The majestic infinite endlessness of the place the snow lives
It is easy to walk tall when you rise above it all.
And the spirit flags flutter in the breeze

leaving lukla

We flew out of Lukla
It was an absolute blast
Down hill runway
As about as steep as the soft side of myrtle mountain
and then straight into the nothingness
peopje cheering and vomiting
engines screaming
and
The mighty mighty khumbu waiting,all around
God, whom ever
what ever
thee be
I love Nepali Sherpa culture
It has been a long day

From tengboche

This is a bit of the conversation I had with the donation collector
at the tengboche monastry this morning,..
He said
Tell me what you know?
I said
The sparrow ate from my hand at kalapatar
A yak looked ne in the eye
He said
So now you know
I said
Tell me the difference between the yak and the sparrow
He said
now you know
I replied
As do you ringpoche

As I left the temple
the ponies











were being let out of their stable,
one sniffed my outstretched arm and hesitated
for a moment in time,

I could see sagarmarta and ama dablam
and a blanket of fog covered the valley below



It is early Friday and the Namche bazaar is stirring stirring to life, the trinkets and the sellers call
Today we descend further to Phadhking,
it is the amount of walking down
that makes you realise the amount u went up.
Breakfast is scramble oggs on chappartti

Yesterday
I meet an Englishman called Allan who lives in the scottish highlands.
His surname is a a palindrome i think.
He too had seen the tengboche cloud blanket
He too was lost for words
We talked about the indescribability of the Himala
He had a soft accent and a lovely sweater without any visible namebrand
I think the Himala had him
I think it has us all
It is just when you get here that you find out.

I had a dream

Marknapassang

On the way down the mountain

From kalapathar I can see Rocky Hall
A Tibetan sparrow ate from my hand at 5550 meters

It is late Tuesday night at Lobouche high in the himala.
Much excitement today.
A chopper crashed a few hundred meters from our tea house
A miracle
No one injured
The problem
One morbidly obese American needed to be airlifted out and the chopper did not have enough grunt to get him up up and away so the captain aborted during lift off and they tipped over.
The nepalis think it is hysterical and are busy syphoning the fuel out of the still warm chopper as a " safety" measure.
They are magnificent.
More sable Bharat for dinner tonight.

Wednesday morning
Leaving Lobuche
Heading to meet ringpoche
at the Tengboche monastry
He needs guidance

The blue bluer sky was at  my fingertips
Sagamartha was just there
I closed my eyes
I could hear the crashing of the snowfall ( not avalanche )
as the late morning sun warmed the mountains

Yesterday was base camp
This morning we did Kalapattar


After lunch, we start the walk down
I have patted a mountain pony 

Today I meet with ringpoche
He was impressed

The sparrow in my hand was up there with when the yak meet my eye.

love
and
peace

this is me at EBC
yesterday

this morning when dark meets the light
I headed frorn kalapattar
I could see everything
it was truly truly amazing
we have been as high as we can go
we now make plans to descend
some of us are a little unwell
but I am now practically Sherpa
the room i type from is sub zero
the glacial sands freeze on the floor

I love this place

more about yaks

I love yaks,
the yaks have all of history behind and before them
they are so fabulous and serene and regal
even thou they be beasts of burden
they just glide the mountains
with powerful grace and humility.

More walking up and down this afternoon
everest is unbelievable
khusum kungaru is my favorite
it is like a another world
the glacial sands are like diamonds
the air is relentless
the heavens are almost in reach

we are at gorak shep
about to walk to EBC for the afternoon
we are all travelling mostly well
heads ache
tummies and minds grumble
but the fabulousness take care of us
as does our loyal and faith full retainer,
Namesh

• the enthusiasm of exuberance

• the wisdom of a mystic

•  the strength of a bear

we are here overnight
it is beyond the wolrd up here
I would probably trade diamonds for a lettuce leaf at the moment
but dah bhat has subtle differences  depending on the elevation
and did you know that cleanliness is a western thing.....

I have trinkets and stories
I will try to up load a photo
Soon we go high into the mountains for about ten days with worse comms than here.
Until I descend
I will go tell the mountain some more

love
and
peace

this is what the mountain said

my world is vast and curious
the yaks
they truly understand
evrything in the himala has a purpose

this is magnificent
I am high in the himala in a gert
with a solar powered lap top
it is weird
the keyboard is in nepali
my fingers are in english
and it is cold

this morning we walked to gokyo re 5360m
we saw the sunrise on chumba longa
fucking fantastic

i built a stone tower

We head for the hills

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

spiritual enlightenment

I am

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Himala

Today we walked to the roof of the world sort of
I saw the Nepali eagle,
the mountain goat.
The wild ( but never angry) yak, the rhododendron forest, the himala pine forest
and everything up magnificently  upwards towards more upwards
The lungs do scream a little from time to time but everything is worth another step upwards.
We are back at our tea house
The moonlight it is called

We have been to the lookout
I have seen Everest with my own eyes.
It is a giant mountain of spirituality
and godly at the same time.
No wonder people climb it.

We have had dinner.
The Sherpa invented two minute noodles i think
 

 

 

 

we walk to another monastry in the clouds tomorrow morning and should be home for lunch and a free afternoon, all part of the aclimatisation thing

  

 

This is the lookout at Namche bazaar
In the background is a big mountain.
Natalie and Caitlin are there too.
We are now above the elevation that starts to get you.
So far so good.

I have patted so many yaks that the ones I meet on the trail already have heard of me and grace me with a,gentle snort as we pass. 

I love them. The donkeys are so good and go the way the master sends them.
The mountain goats lurk in the shadows of the himala pines.
The hawks hover and the mountains touch the heavens
The evening air descends with a blanket of crisp cold that is like nothing I have experienced ever 

so it too, is superbly fabulous.
We had a visit to a monastry. I  have donated money to the monks,they gave me some yak bone prayer beads for my kindness.
I have spun the prayer wheels,the right way, I have not accidently sat on the wrong mat
We are so lucky.

Marknanamchebazaar

Walking walking at last

What a day
Helicopter ride with captain huntankil
I am somewhere in the Kathmandu valley

it is surreal
Touched down on a grassy knoll
Wait for porters
Start walking up hill
Then some more up hill
lunch at a tea house on the way to ghat
Lunch was the best egg noodles I have ever eat up
It was fantastic
and now
we are surrounded by stone houses and
Goats and a mule train
and a man carryibg 50 kg of rice
and the gardens are full of tree dahlias and nasturtia
and beer bottle gardens and magic inscriptions on the sherpa culture temples
and it fabulously fantastic
i just
love it

The place is Phadhking
Which means way of the yak in Tibet culture

More walking
The yaks appeared
I have patted a yak:....
Life will for ever be more meaningfully
peaceful

yak train drivers
Are in demand here in the himala

I am in monjo
We stay here tonight and do some sightseeing
This is fantastic
absoluteky amazingly fanatastic

Marknapurra

I turned the pray wheel three Times
I circled the painted rock clockwise three times
and apparently i am a god because
I know it is 3068 in Sherpa calendar
I am at Nameste guesthoustimirtiw
we head for nameche bazaar
We walk to 3700 m
Our first real test


I have patted many many yaks
And befriended the digsi
had a Sherpa dog walk with me holding my hand in its mouth
 Xxxxxx
Marknasherpadogpatta

Mark & Team are doing great in the Mountain - Sarba

Namaste!!! (Hello)

I'm Sarba & I'm writing to you on behalf of Mark.

They are doing all right in the mountain as they have flew to Lukla
(Surke close by Lukla by Chopper little 5 seater helicopter today morning at 7.30)

Tonight they are at Phakding 2660m., tomorrow at Monjo at about 2885m
& on Sunday they will reach at Namche 3440m by 12.00 - 13.00 hours local time
& whole day on Monday.


Sincerely Yours,
Sarba Jit Thapa Magar

more waiting

We are back at airport waiting for chopper
People come and go
except to or from Lukla
There is too much foggy even for helicopters
The authorities get involved when it gets fogged in/out
They don't want to have to manage a mishap ( their quaint term for air disaster)
Apparently not good for morale.....
Talking of morale we are in quite good spirits despite the waiting.
The noise of people waiting is deaf making,

My new hairdo is a little rustic
Note to self
Nepali hairdressers don't also have a day job for nothing.....

I am still in sensory overload
The streets, the temples, the haves and the have nots are magnificent
Everything becomes clear in this brilliant chaos
There is no answer
there is no question
there just is

I live it here

Marknadeparturelounga

there is a god

last night was first night I have slept through 

until the phone call from our tour master Sarba

it looks like today is the day

We go by Russian Helicopter......

$300 cheap at half the price..

 

yesterday I went to the gardens

at Durbar Patan

they are grand and decadent 

with not very much refuse 

and dead things lying around 

so quite elegant in a Himala sort of way

 

We had the most terrifying taxi ride back from Patan last night

I am sure the Russian helicopter will feel like lying on the beach in the warm sun compared to it

it was just pure terror

speed, traffic beyond belief, Hindu musics blaring, 

driver practicing his Australian accent at fever pitch,

dusk quickly becomes the night in Kathmandu

as the day becomes tomorrow

 

we survived and collapsed at the foot of the buffalo shrine  

the god of transport 

in Divine gratitude

or something like that anyway

 

markna

 

 

Yak fur is very very fine

I am looking for a yak

We are still waiting waiting
but having a fab time
the streets is fabulousnatha
I have found an artefact shop and a goddess store
We go from one temple to the next
the Shiva birds follow me
Ganesh is around the corner

I am the master of dal bhat now
I can even speak to Nepalese cats
and they don't run away
the traffic here is beyond description
crossing the road be not for chickens

A word of wisdom from a shopkeeper on New road
Do no deals with the soul sellers
they are the door to banishment

I bought a bag from him
It has everything I need in it

Later this morning we have another go at flying to Lukla
if the weather be so kind

I will go tell the mountain for you
an ancient nepali saying

markpattheyakna

what a day

walking and shopping

no monkeys or yaks still

but we have been to freak street and to dinner with real Nepali upper class

we ate at a restaurant with soap in the bathroom and a toilet with plumbing...

 

we are again booked on a flight to at 8.30 am tomorrow

hopefully we will get to fly and land

the weather could yet let us down

 

I went to the dream ponds today

they are opposite the Kings palace which is no longer the kings House

they would have been magnificent in their day

they still have fresh water 

and giant koi as big as an elephant's trunk........

 

the beggars don't go there

they have nothing to dream about

the rich and fabulous do

they have dreams to live

 

the water boys steal the water

the coconut seller feeds the fish the scraps from his table

the traffic surrounds the ponds

the fish just are

the ponds just be

 

tomorrow

the call of the wilderness is calling

the mountain is 

tomorrow 

 

Markna

the monkey temple

At the monkey temple rooftop
a garden of a million monkeys
amidst the milling throng of humanity
I  held a biscuit  in a upturned closed hand
and the monkeys came to me
one had calm in its eye
and with cool and suprising
tenderness,
deftly unfolded my fingers
and ate the biscuit
it was a milk arrowroot

we were both
forever
changed

Markna

born again

I go now to witness some pre dawn shrine sweeping
as the monkey has given me blessings
Tomorrow the yak
To find and make  mine

Love and happy life to you

Pattheyakmarkna

We are still in the Du
12 hours in the areopirtobhat yesterday
Was a little taxing but still the adventure is a superb thing
We did actually go for a plane ride into the clouds of the himala but landing was not an option
we must away to our next attempt at fitting all us and all our bags into a Suzuki swift for a 25 minute terror ride through downtown  Kathy for another go at plane catching

we did yet not fly

the weather is no good for the landing

you can take off from the du

but not

land at Lukla

or you can take off from Lukla but not land in the du

 

today i throw marigold into the royal palace bathing ponds,
i walk with holy men
i go again to the airport to the sky
the clouds are low but my thoughts are high


it is all of everything
the walls of the temples are covered in the meaning of life
the streets are covered in life
the air is thick with the results of a million whirling shivas all who know the path to enlightenment
but are yet to get there
it is Florentine in its beauty and as mysterious as tomorrow

i love the himala

Markna

ps

real men always have their crampons

being there

I am in Kathmandu
It is incredibly incredible
the milling throng is mesmerisingly addictive and almost sort of compulsive viewing
We have just arrived at our hotel after a full day of planes
and it is fantastic
I am in a state of awe
This  place is beyond the senses
Everything  is in decay apart from the lust for life which is indescribable
Dirt filth beauty decadence and nothingness are each others companions always it seem
and always the sound of a tooting horn or barking dog and a bird that must be Shiva itself
It has the strangest call.....




I ate Nepali style last night
my right hand is my friend at the dining table
today we go on a sightseeing tour
Comms are going to be non existient after lukla
there is a problem in the mountains
No internet no phone apparently
I am having a fab time
The thamel district is waking up as I write.
The houseboys are shooing the creatures of the night from the doorways as they do the world over it seems
Some of them do not appreciate the shooing
the street temple things are just  fantastic
The atmosphere here has a resonance/timelessness of ancient places
there is just this sense of being
that somehow makes you feel connected
Oh my god ( I just saw another one)
I think I am a hippy


M

getting there

am at Changi airport

we have just said farewell to Vincent

after spending the last 4 hours with him at the aero

we played a dice game 

that I bought him for his birthday 

along with a pkt of mint slices

he looks fabulous and

it was fabulous to see him

how strange to be chatting with him in an airport in Singapore

in the dead of night

we got here at midnight local time 

there is hardly any one around 

and most of those that are here 

are asleep on the floors and benches

Tdawg and Caitlin have bought matching l love Australia tshirts

Am nearly on the plane

the khumbu

नमस्ते मेरा नाम मार्क है

fare il giro

well
it is done
the horsey has gone home

the vista has been viewed

I have surveyed the near and far

 the strictly forbidden jump was jumped
the younger one first
the elder
a little later
the memory still makes a shiver

 the doges of venice wagged their tails
they were so happy
to see me







then marco went home on the wings of wonder

and tended his garden
it is doing well

per ora
arrivederci
il mio tesoro
ed i miei amici

amore e di pace 
Marco

tours end almost

hello
they come to greet me
did you bring me a suprise they say
 are there dogs in italia and shanghai they ask


Ok, back to me
I have a few loose ends to ravel before secreting passporto in the vault.
1.
During my this abroad vaccatzionio
I had a sing song  in my head
I can't remember the words or the orchestra and I only heard it a faintly in crowded sleazy bar in downtown Padua or Firenze

I even tried humming it to soundhound but couldn't get it right
You will work it out I thought to myself
So
la domanda il mondial?

What is that song from recently
is a band with the word squids maybe in their name and they sing spell a word
is not the telly savalas classic song either...

It is redolent of the blood buzz ohio song by the national and is one of those conversational songs
maybe I make this all up

the number 2 task is to do some editing for Collins
I send them a terse letter
I check the book twice yet still i nearly have embarassment in ristoranto the bookio dont know how to say a difference in a machiato and the new drink of padua
il piccolo cafe latte
thank god i did

these my last two jobs for tour
oh, and to get the cartographico done
i have some scale maps and drawings of routes up the canals I discovered
when escapio the touristco crush

I'm well thanks

verrai Waltzing Matilda con me

the paddocks call me












since arrive domestica  i do a bit of this action

 through mio paddocks
of kungaruga grasses
is a so antipodean

then still under italia influence
i must write in the old fashioned way a poem

is beautiful yes ?

ritorinio adjustomentio

foto A

mio viaggio was shanghai'd
i waiting waiting for the suitcase full di salumi to arriveio
other than that and
amazingly
it took no time to readjustio ( whoopsio not perfecto yetio) to the Australia

foto C

i have invented a technique that works like the smoke and mirrors
first take good self portraits of self ( easy for mio to take good ones)
then think of four first things that come inside u head when you see the pictures
and give each foto a name of that thing you think

Foto B

write down your own answer ( keep hidden from view like at ATM machinia in far away places)
to match you foto to the captiononio ( italia speak for picture name i think)
have a
try

then put the readjustio to the test
ask a stranger
to match them also
here the captiononio
in no particular order
1. Firenze.
2. Adriatic.
3. luce di sole
4.Orchidea

foto D

now here in bloggio is the foto
in no particular order.
send me your matchings
the first correct entry will win a valuable regalo

foto F

 if the stranger has the same answer as you
you not readjustio yet
if you clever you notice something else

my goodness is that the time....

I still call Australia

A domain italia no more
Una cafe du pedrocchi arrivedercihhhiii

i have found the will to leave the seamstrss

 i did a stand up gig on the traghetto again today 

at the turn around point of mio walk back through the canals I now know so well

i sang

old man river

they absolutely fucking loved it

it was hilarious.............

I look like a young johnny depp at the moment

I had some work in Padua.................

i am even enjoying being a few hours early for my frankenfurter flight 

just had half a thing of prosecco at Marco polo aeroporto

and found a intergoogle desk

.10 euro cents a minutiae

in an hour i will eating sausage dogs and speaking duetcsher

i have shaved mio mustachio into an

nice omaggio

god i a love an airport lounge

home some

Mio ritorino
Ciao
Xxxxxx
M

più della giornata

This an accurate map
Of what happened
It does not include the ride of the perimeter of old padova
I did later in the day
I will do that when I have had a piccolo eyes down

M

the day unfolds

Anyway

Back to me

I go the coffee shoppe of history at pedrocchi
Been operata 34 ore a oggi every oggi for ever
Not even Benito or the Americans could close
Him during the problems back in the the early 1940's
The Italian historic di warfare readz bit like Australian history of explores
A celebratzionio of spectaculare
Catastrophicaa
Magnifico

Mio macchiato in zee grand salon de caffe
I never look so good as I do when in a grand salon
The wall length mirrors called for me to pout
I resist
and just a smile I give to them

Then
I go the
Palazzo del Monte pieta
I see Gli angeli di Guariento
Again the beauty is almost
Haunting
The no foto thing was a challenge


Thus the Croce statzione
Bellissimo maximotot

Time for drinks in the orto botanic
Then I have appointment at st Antonioni

I went the gnocchi shop between religious experiencio
Quite filling

St. Antonionio does blessings
And yes
I have been
At the instanzo the holy water shaker was shaken my way
The bells started ringing

I gave more
I think mio now own an orphanage in a shadow country

I have just collected mio telerlscopio and now I scarpa pronto le specola
No body best me this timeio


Me have victoriuosi la specola
There is an dungeon there
By the the time I had endured integration monologio in English about di instrument di celestials
I ready for the dungeons
It a most incredibilli bori thing in all italia
Then
A miricole
We get out....
I go straight to a drinks statzione
Is a paradisio

They play covers of
Fever
Downtown
Only you
River deep
And barry white
All in eytie


I am saved
There's is even a Map of the dolomite
On the wall
With Pieve di Cadore drawn on ( now )
they let me, don't worry

Only having two drinks here


Let's hope so
Going pretty well
Sd card fullio
Is bellissimo

Kussypoo
M

Domenici

visit duomo

Caffe pedrocchi
Aperitif
Museo navagazzione
Prosecco
Pallazzi del motte pieta
Spritz
Orato botanica
Sewing lesson
Le specola d astrologicia
Prosecco

Sono così occupato
Xxxxxx
M

my fashion journal

a new day dawns

Fashion suggestio's

I think the subtle shirt works best ?

 

 

btw

And I have bought a lipstick

Just gloss

No color.

Marco

po 'di informazioni

Amazio

Iere notte mio in the plaza playing la pianoforte

I have to borrow a suit but I was pretty good

I play some old scuola Classico

Here a schizzo by the seamstress ( si, she still around)

 

This before the dance party but it did put me the atmosperio for the cut the rug

Markio

Polish people can't dance

Yo
The bump and grind
Them lech Walensa folks might have straight blonde hair and much older uncles but they  just don't dig jive
They just shoulder dance

I an inferno
Pump up the jam mr musico

The house and the white boys are losing their bitches

Here comes more ink

Snoop dog is here
We are swapping the word
He no good at italianio
Just as well I got the power

Gotta slide
Dance floor mio casa

Padova venerdi nottre

In a padovian bar
Is hip
Marko is in the house
The beat goes
Down
The night calls
Groov'n like ali

I smoke

Sabattio stay away
This so much funio

Xxxxx
Save the last dance
Marco

Follow your nose

 



I thought I was going to a cowboy funeria
Until I got to a big building with strange symbols and a man In a full length heavy worsted overcoat asked me to get off my bici and show him my mans part
He said he needed to handle my credentialias
Well
Being a long way  from mio casa I thought to myself what's the bruto that can happen
Then I remember

The last time a bloke with beard and coat asked me that i was at a bus stop in Chadstone
And the polizia turned up
What is it about blokes in coats in estata anyway?

The blackamoors here have the vocce of angels
They strum lutes as the sit on the ponte and sing for poveri
(I wish I had never written that poem about giving my money to the poor
It has cost me all the gifts i planned)

The fish come to the surface during the refrain
I gave the singer a poem
He sang it
The women swooned
The men
They look at the arbori
and shift their feet

The lovers
They see the fishes
and they
whisper their
wishes

Can you hear me they say

Anyway
We shared the profits
The singer and I

I got drink money
He got tomorrow
His name is Fabian
He is the prince of the crossing of the bridge

He called me brother

I now have a tribal marking
I am sure that the cuts made by his seamstress with a sharp bone
will heal up nicely as soon as I can take the voodoo blessed chips of wood out of the delicate incisions
Blood is such a mesmerizing colour at sunset
Anyway

Then I go a genuine rustico enoteca for regional specialist mangiare
Some wogs can cook
Some wouldn't know a cacca from terra firma
But then again
I am in these shortsiosios

just loved the scrivegni
It is religious
Giotto a true genius that took the piss out of everyone
He is fabulous
The weeping women painting makes you
weep


Xxxxxxxxcc

Can you smell the fresco

What an oggi

I get mio bici ( a belludi 37 )
I the pantalone negozi
I buy a quiet  pair
I look ridiculously foreign now
Then because it caldi I have a spritz
Signorina say first one on mio
I trick her I only have one
Then I ask her she know the upside down monkey bar joke
She still laffing a lot
Anyway
Then by bici to arena romanya and Enrico's church
Is magnifico
But just my fortuna
They doing some intervezioni
A lady from the instituti central di restaurati see me do a quick sketch
See below

You nod gonna believe what happens then
17 fat blokes and two scaffoldi erectionio's are told to make mio sketch into a restorati
Right then presto
They make this

I am there all day with the mixing the plaster and the tempera
and reinventing the fucken wheel but hey
Why not say sono

Can you believe some more?
While me and me painter and decorator mates are working working and whistle whistle the americano god bothered girlie students that tour the chapel to see the giotto pictograms of  what happens  to you if you love money over charity purity and God
and, particulaly if you play kiss chasey before you marry
Anyway
The touristos try to take the foto of the insides the chapel
I say to them
You stupids
They stop and scurry out
My men clap me again

Now I go the botanic
I have flora to finger and getta historical roots

The bells ring with joy for mio a padova

Mio happy
So far I meet half of padova
They all love mio


Now mio presto



Markio