Annapurna vista with Annapurna One in the center
Photo by Myster Darren

One of the first things you learn when trekking in Nepal is that distances are not measured horizontally, but rather vertically...

In Nepal, sometimes going down the mountain, means going up the stairs
Photo by Myster Darren

... and in hours.

People understand hours, although when going up stairs, the reckoning is rather inaccurate

The second thing you learn is that every Nepali has to carry things like ... food for the animals...

A little ol' Nepali lady puts us to shame with her load

... and food for the humans.

We only saw donkeys carrying things down ... not up!

... and more food for the animals.

A young Nepali girl puts us to shame with her load

As you stuggle along climbing up...

Heading out ... and up at 7:00 AM
Photo by Myster Darren

... brave avalanches...

We walked over the results of avalanches, but were spared seeing one.

... get lost in the fog...

The warm sun on the melting snow causes lots of late afternoon fog.

... and find yourself on the side of a glacier...

Okay, its actually just a large avalanche of snow.

... you begin to get tantalizing glimpses of your goal.

The peak of Machupucharre in the distance
Photo by Myster Darren

Some glimpses are so incredible you wonder if there is any point in going on...

Brent stares...
Photo by Myster Darren

Eventually, after a few meals ...

Brent and I enjoy an amazing guest house meal.
Photo by Myster Darren

... a few cold nights and...

After hours of trekking ... UP ... a wooden slat on a concrete floor never looked so good!
Photo by Myster Darren

... and a few cold mornings...

No running water - that is ice in the 'Flush Bucket'
Photo by Myster Darren

... you wake up one day to find that you are almost there.

Annapurna Base Camp is in view!
Photo by Myster Darren

You make a final push for glory, and then you get the nearest Dutch trekker girl to take your photo with your friends!

None of us quite remember the significance of the three fingers!

Then you get one by yourself

You have to have a solo photo for when you are old and grey

and one of the Annapurna Base Camp to remember when you are...

Lots of snow at the top

... on the way back down!

Heading down towards the Machapucharre Base Camp and onward

When you get back to Pokhara after four days up and two days down, you chuckle at all the trekkers who have yet to embark on their upward journey...

Wanna buy something? Need a room?

... and think of simpler things like rowing a small boat.

Pokhara Lake in the late afternoon

Addendum

One aspect of this trip stands out to me as not only a trip highlight, but a lifetime highlight, is the fact that Darren, Brent and I have known each other since Grade Primary, or for you non-Canadians, since we were about 5 years old. Interestingly, we were not in the same class in Primary, and we did not have a grade one class photo, so here we are together in Grade Two. Some other skinny kids that we tried to talk into coming are also in this picture.

Click for larger image

First of all, I want to know how the same civilization that created the colosseum...

Florence is over-shadowed by its bigger brother, and the capitol of the ancient world (and modern Italy) - Rome. Yet, Florence in its heyday rivaled Rome as a capitol of medieval capital, and of renaissance art. Art was often expressed in terms of architecture to the greater glory of God.

The Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore

Spectacular to look at, the Duomo is an archtectural wonder of the world. It was constructed with no interior scaffolding. To appreciate what this means, you will have to read a book called, Brunelleschi's Dome. We climbed up through a passage way constructed inside the dome, between two layers of wall.

Narrow and cramped, not for the faint-hearted - built between 1430 and 1450

Once at the top of the dome, the climb rewards you with views over one of the most famous cities in the world.

Looking towards the Campanile (the tower)

Being the tallest structure in the city, the lantern of the duomo gives unparalleled, 360 degree views of the city.

Annette gazing back in time

No view of the city is complete without a panorama.

Check out the gallery for a larger panorama

We were in Florence just days before Christmas and so the city was festooned with lights and decorations.

Building covered in lights

As noted in the Tuscany blog, we were not quite prepared for the amazing selection of food we found.

I can't honestly say we found this appetizing

Nor this...

This on the other hand...

Yet, we did not go hungry!

Florence sits in a valley surrounded by hills full of luxurious medieval villas and rolling hills full of vinyards.

Florence at 8 O'clock in the morning

Lest ye be forgotten, the best bet is to get yourself buried in the local cathedral.

Da Vinci shares his tomb with Gallileo, Michangelo, Dante and others.

After a long day's walking through the streets, we retired to a lovely restaurant on the banks of the Arno River, which runs through Florence.

Arno in the Evening

After all that walking, and big meal, what I really needed was a great big, lovely, hot cup of strong coffee. What I got was a tiny, half mouthful of expresso.

I mean, is there any point??? Really??

The first of a three part series. By the time you get to read this, you may have already seen the last two parts, which will appear first in true blog fashion.

Click on this link to see the entire Italy photo collection in the gallery.

After all we have read about Italy, and all the research we did and questions we asked, we thought we were prepared for our adventure. However, once we arrived (and finally got our rental car after battling with our bank - ask us later), and set out for the Tuscan hills, we realized that we weren't quite as prepared as we thought.

Being no strongers to Europe, we have seen narrow lanes, but we weren't quite prepared for the hilltop towns.

Orvieto - near the cathedral

Wandering about the town before we had a proper Italian meal, we found ourselves staring at the most marvellous food in the shop windows.

Look at the food!

We knew the Tuscan contryside was spectacular, but we were not quite prepared for the concentrated beauty of the rolling hills covered in vinyards and topped by medieval towns.

San Gimigano from 5 KM away.

After driving around the countryside we stoppped in Siena, home of one of the first universities. Looking around us, it was hard to believe that this was an actual, working city and not a movie set.

Siena from atop the Siena Cathedral

After we finished wandering the streets of Siena, we decided to go for some local Siennese fare, in a local Siennese restaurant - meaning a restaurant full of Siennese people. We asked them to just bring us something good, and this is what we got.

A hearty ribollita soup, made from bread, with more bread to dip, topped with onions and washed down with a fresh, Siennese red.

We did a lot of aimless driving through the countryside. Driving through the vast Italian forests, we came across this sign. How does one wander into the Chianti region without knowing it?

Just another day in Chianti

We knew that we would be getting a small car when we rented it online, but really! We could put this in the back of our Nissan.

The Fiat 500 - a great LITTLE car

The Burj Khalifa

Once at the top, we would enjoy spectacular views over the city.

Looking north and over the Persian Gulf

We would then hang around until the evening when, along with thousands of other people, we would watch the nightly fountain show.

Join the crowd in front of the Dubai Mall

We would then most likely go north to Ras Al Khaimah, where we used to live, and visit the camel racetrack again (view our post on the races here).

Pacing the camels

If you were interested and inclined, we would give you some camel riding lessons.

Not as easy as it looks!

We would even visit the track to meet some of the local jockeys.

Robot jockey

Our next stop would be one of the awesome beaches...

The beach at the Jumeirah Beach Residences

... where we would eat dates, that of course were grown locally.

Dates growing at the Al Ain Oasis

We would then head for the mountains where I like to go hiking. On the way, we would see lots of flora and fauna including this plant...

Sodom's Apple - somehow, I am thinking of pillars of salt, but that is perhaps another story.

... these birds ...

Bee-eaters - we watch them eat dragon flies in season.

... and goats ...

Just a nice goat

... which would follow us up and up into the mountains.

Climbing up though a wadi and deserted village

Finally, we would take you to the world's third largest mosque, on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi.

Sheikh Zayed Mosque

They offer wonderful tours in English where you can see the world's largest carpet, the world's largest chandelier and a prayer room for 40,000 people.

See the Gallery for a full collection of photos

A bunch of guys going to climb the walls

The first section of the hike is a 2-3 hour leisurely stroll through boulders...

Large boulders impeded our path

... and wide open wadi walls.

Awesome scenery

You need to be careful, watch your footing and not stare up at the scenery too much.

Note to self - watch the horns

After a short break in a bowl like area...

Dried fruit and water anyone?

... we started to run into waterfalls which forced us to scale the wall at points and creep along ledges.

We were not the first people here - convenient hut

After 3-4 hours into the hike, we were starting to focus on our feet and try to keep going. After all, the entire time, we were going ...

Going up, but looking down

... up and ...

The dreaded "rope"

... up.

Just when you think its over... 45 minute hike straight up to finish!

At the bottom, you can download a Google Earth Placemark.

Click here to see the full gallery of Sri Lanka Photos

You know you are in Sri Lanka when the local convenience store is a guy on the roadside selling you a fresh coconut ...

Bananas and coconuts

... and they don't try to put it in a plastic bag...

Lop off the top and try not to spill too much down your chin

... Banana grow on trees, not on grocery store shelves ...

Is it my imagination, or are they growing upside down?

... And the poinsettias are growing wild on the side of the road.

Who knew a poinsettia is a tree?

Another sure sign is the widespread availabilty of betel nut wrapped in vine leaves.

Who needs a pub when you've got betel nut?

Sri Lanka is full of spectacular views. You can see lush valleys descending to the southern plains

For a bigger view, click here.

And hilltop villages straddling mountain passes

For a bigger view, click here.

The near perfect climate allows flora of all sizes and shapes to flourish...

Giant Hibiscus

?

Giant Palms

?

And giant trees of all kinds

Most mornings we had a healthy breakfast while peering out across the sky...

Breakfast in Ela at the Ambiente

... followed by some touring around. Some of the more amazing things that we encountered along the way here and there as we peeked out of our tuk-tuk...

Annette peeking

... included a flower so bright it appears to actually glow in the morning dew...

Glowing in morning dew

... and a rather frightening view of heaven perched above a roadside temple...

Madonna, is that you?

One day we visited a tea factory. The Hill country of Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, is one of the most productive tea-growing areas in the world. The countryside is full of plantations, which mark their various fields with these information signs.

50,000 tea plants!
Did you know that all tea (including green tea) comes from only one plant species (this does not include herbal tea, which one could argue is not tea at all.

People like this woman ...

She saw us coming and ran out to meet us

Pick tea in fields like this...

For a bigger view, click here.

Which ends up in the tea factories to be dried to 30% moisture...

As far as the eye can see (almost)

Once it is dried, crushed, grated, and graded, it is fermented in small piles for 3-4 hours.

Grading begins here

It is eventually sorted by the degree to which the leaves have been crushed, ranging from silver tips and orange pekoe, to Pekoe, broken pekoe,? dust and a few grades in between.

I always thought orange pekoe was a tea species

Being a coffee drinker, I wasn`t as impressed as I could have been. Next trip - coffee plantation in Columbia??

Ceylon was originally famous for coffee until a pestilence wiped out 90% of the plants back in the 1860s.

For a more comprehensive set of photos of the tournament, Click here

Taking charge, I set out the rules and called the first teams.

Getting the games started

Dennis' shirt helped to set the mood.

We didn't wait long for the first of many ringers to sound out across the pit.

Bernadette had a VERY good day

Some people had numerous ringers and felt like showing off.

Annette displays TWO fingers

Given that this is the second annual tournament, some unique throwing styles are starting to develop.

Betty gets a good stretch

Competition was fierce and competitors eyed each other up.

Sharon gives the evil eye

One of the reigning champions proves that last year was no fluke.

Ken hammers home number three

Not satisfied with canceling out my ringer, Sharon feels it necessary to push her humble opponent to the ground.

Now, Now ... Play nice

After having injured the competition, Sharon starts to pull ahead of the rest.

Ringer number 5....

At the end of the day, Sharon and Bernadette squashed the competition to become champions for 2011.

Bernadette and Sharon

Once the sand had settled and photos were taken, we all headed down to the upper area to eat, drink and be merry.

BBQs and sunshine to top it all off

My last order of business was to get the (tiny) plaque made and attach it to the long list of previous winner (no 's').

Past and present winners