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