Penultimate training day

Thanks for all your emails of support. I'm glad you have enjoyed the blog so far. Some answers to some questions:

I leave this Sunday for Nepal - Intend to do a +/-10 day hike somewhere around Annapurna to begin my acclimatisation. Have not had much of this as I have for the last 6 weeks been on contract in The Hague (I think I'm below sea level at present). Thereafter I join Jamie’s Sherpas for the adventurous drive from Kathmandu to Tibet (via Zhangmu & Nyalam) on the 5th September.

Here is an extract from Jamie’s diary when he did the trip in 2000 “Anyway, so thru seas of mud we plunged, thru swollen side creeks, our 280kgs (mine is 35kg) of gear was hauled and portered and tossed onto trucks, and we were treated like proper sahibs. God, what a privilege, and I don't mean this lightly. The stout legs, the straightforward, proud smiles when we acknowledged a job well done. The locals knew we were tough, but since they were getting paid (even if fairly minimally), we were not allowed to ride in the back of the truck. Hell, the destruction we passed thru. There were three major landslides before the border, then the forms were brought to us, while we filled them in over lunch. The Chinese official scrutinised us much more thoroughly, but everything was in order and we trudged up a road that had become an ankle-deep torrent, to be greeted by utter destruction, a stream had brought down stones and debris, taking out some buildings and a vehicle or two that had gotten in the way. Nature, like anywhere, has little mercy.” – Sounds interesting… I have budgeted plenty of the time for the climb and only have my return ticket booked for 15 October.

Yes, very bad timing with all this Heathrow nonsense! As you can see from my equipment list, flying with "normal" luggage allowances is impossible. Even though I have begged the airlines (Qatar), they have not budged. I will have to resort to paying for extra luggage – at least it will come with me, as there is not really anything I can leave behind.

Yes I think it's a good idea to support some charity - I had been thinking about doing something for the NSPPC - http://www.nspcc.org.uk/. Claire and I have supported them since we came to the UK (now 10 years ago). I will put something together – perhaps x£ for every meter I climb above BC? What do you think?

Today was my second last day of walking up an 18% slope with 23kg on my back on a treadmill – it sure is going to be a pleasure to rather do this with some fantastic mountain scenery. I’m feeling ready!

Google Earth – see http://earth.google.com/ – if you have broadband it’s amazing…