Why We Couldn't Do Everest Base Camp

Our first attempt to do Everest Base Camp (EBC) was unsuccessful - all because we couldn't fly into Lukla which is the starting point of the trek.

Here's a recap of what happened:

We flew Malindo Air from Kuala Lumpur and landed in Kathmandu on 16 September 2016 at around 9.30pm.

We stayed at the pleasant and cosy Hotel Yambu during our stay in Kathmandu.

The next morning (17 September 2016) we met up with Raj the owner of the tour agency and paid him the package fees for the entire EBC trek which covers accommodation, meals, return flights to Lukla, guide, porter, etc. In our conversation with him, he mentioned that the weather has not been good. However he confidently assured us that we will be able to fly to Lukla the next day.

With this assurance, we spent the rest of the day shopping for gear and clothing in Thamel. I managed to buy a nice stretchy trekking pants for NPR2,000.

There're various shops in Thamel selling all sorts of trekking gear and souvenirs too.

On the morning of 18 September 2016, we woke up to grey and gloomy skies. And then the heavens opened and it rained heavily. My heart sank - I knew we won't be able to make it. True enough, we didn't even need to go to the Tribhuvan International Airport (where flights to Lukla depart) as Raj just need to call up Lukla Airport to see whether it's opened.

In case you're wondering why the pilots are so poorly skilled that they can't land a plane at Lukla Airport in a little rain, let me share with you the reason. You see, Lukla Airport (also known as the Tenzing-Hillary Airport) is situated in a valley surrounded by mountains. According to Wikipedia, its runway is only 527m long! The History Channel, in a 2010 programme titled Most Extreme Airports, had rated Lukla Airport as THE most dangerous airport in the world!

Whenever it rains, the weather gets misty and foggy which makes it difficult for the pilot to fly the plane to Lukla, let alone land it at the airport. So to avoid hitting a mountain or something, they will just close the airport and cancel all flights in bad weather.

Raj was still hopeful that the weather will improve and that the Lukla Airport will reopen. So he told us to be on standby till 12 noon. Apparently flights to Lukla even go till 4pm if the weather improves. Kathmandu may be bright and sunny but if Lukla is misty and foggy, it's still a no go. So we kept our fingers crossed.

By 12 noon there was still no sign of Lukla Airport reopening and I was already losing hope.

After lunch Raj broke the bad news to us - that Lukla Airport will be closed for the whole day. He also informed us that he was unable to get tickets for us the following day, i.e. 19 September 2016. Apparently Lukla Airport was closed the entire week before we arrived in Kathmandu. So imagine the backlog of travellers who would have been waiting for their flight to Lukla.

Raj was able to get tickets for us on 20 September 2016. However there's still no assurance that the weather would be good on that day. Moreover flying out on 20 September would mean that we would have lost our 2 buffer days for acclamatisation in Namche Bazaar and Lobuche, which is relatively a big risk.

At that point we decided that instead of working with moving dates and with so many uncertainties, we decided it's best to let EBC go and do another trek instead.

Alas, all the training, planning and money invested in the past 2 years aiming for EBC have become wasted effort.

Honestly, if I had been travelling alone, I would have asked for a refund from Raj and return home to Kuala Lumpur earlier.

Why?

1) Because this was already my third time in Nepal (was here in 2012 and 2014) and I had already seen the majestic mountains that Nepal has to offer (eventually all mountains will begin to look the same, just like temples and churches); and

2) Because my main aim of going to Nepal in 2016 was to do EBC and nothing else. So since we couldn't fly to Lukla, might as well cut my loses and save the money to do EBC at another time, or save the money for another trip. I didn't want to spend money to do another trek just because I was already in Nepal.

But alas, there were 3 of us - one loves trekking and was really enthusiastic to do another trek despite being her third time in Nepal too. The other person was his first time in Nepal. I couldn't abandon them, it had to be a group decision and the group decided to trek to the Langtang region instead, which we did.

Will I attempt to do EBC again?

Well, the dream has been buried temporarily. If I decide to do EBC again, I'll attempt to do it via Tibet to eliminate the risk of not getting into Lukla Airport. And also because I've never been to Tibet.

In my next posts, I'll share with you how to time and plan your EBC trek. Stay tuned ...

Turtle Sanctuary or Turtle Torture at Glory Beach Resort?

I was at Glory Beach Resort in Port Dickson last weekend with my family.

What turned out to be a weekend getaway to celebrate my brother's birthday turned out to be a stressful experience with turtles. 

You see ... Glory Beach Resort boasts of having a turtle sanctuary and conducting turtle conservation activities. 

The resort claims to have release close to 8,000 hatchlings into the sea since conservation initiatives began at the resort around 8 years ago.

Here are some photos of Glory Beach Resort's communication on its turtle conservation activities:

Main display in the lobby informing guests about the feeding time at 11.00am daily and the 8.00pm evening talk held every Saturday and on public holidays.

Buletin board with turtle news. 

 More information.

Glory Beach Resort has a nice beach where turtles come to lay their eggs. When the eggs are hatched, the resort keep the hatchlings in the Turtle Hut until the little critters are older before letting them go into the ocean.

Hatchlings in the Turtle Hut.

This is the water tank which houses 5 adult turtles: 

Saltwater from the ocean is pumped into the water tank. The resort said they'll release few of the turtles into the ocean soon because they're now older and able to fend for themselves. Moreover the tank is not big enough for 5 adult turtles.

Since wildlife always amazes me, I took the opportunity to attend the 8.00pm talk that Saturday evening. 

I must say that the speakers did a relatively good job in creating awareness amongst the guests on turtle conservation. Here are few points from the talk:

a) There were initially 30 different species of sea turtles on planet earth. However there are only 7 species left. 

b) Out of the 7 species, 4 species come to Malaysian beaches to lay their eggs. The 4 species are green, hawksbill, leatherback and olive ridley.

c) We must not throw rubbish (especially plastic bags) around because it'll end up in the ocean and cause death to turtles that consume the plastic bag. 

The speakers also had a box where guests can put in their contribution which will go towards turtle conservation efforts at the resort. The speaker told us that the resort buys turtle eggs (RM2.50 each) from the market so that they can hatch them to be released into the ocean. Donors who contributed minimum RM10 received a key chain each.

After the talk, the speakers said they were going to show hatchlings and turtles for educational purposes. 

What happened next, I didn't expect at all:

I thought they were going to just show hatchlings to the guests. To my horror, they distributed 5 hatchlings for guests to touch and hold.  

I'm no turtle expert, but I do know that turtles (especially its hatchlings) are delicate and need special attention. They are certainly not to be handed around to be touched and manhandled. 

When I asked the lady speaker whether it's ok for the hatchlings to be treated like that, she said it's ok for educational purposes.

Next they brought out one of the turtles from the water tank:

Can you see all the hands touching the poor animal? After the spectacle, they washed the turtle with fresh water before placing it back into the saltwater tank.

Due to popular demand there was another talk on Sunday morning before the 11.00am feeding time. Again they brought out one of the turtles for show and tell:

Must be damn cool to and ego boosting to take photos with wildlife, post it on social media and receive many Likes.

Feeding time. Would have been bitter sweet justice for the turtles if someone got bitten. 

If this turtle could talk, he would have said, "Fu*k off you dumb humans and leave me alone!".

Seeing all these makes me wonder whether Glory Beach Resort's turtle conservation efforts are monitored by the authorities. The speakers claim that they are working in collaboration with the authorities and WWF. 

When I checked, they only had a Certificate of Appreciation from the Fisheries Department of Malaysia displayed in the lobby: 

Doesn't mean anything. 

Don't get me wrong here. 

I commend any turtle conservation efforts including that of Glory Beach Resort. After all, everyone of us has a role to play in giving these beautiful creatures a chance to survive in this harsh and dangerous world.

However I disagree with the way these turtles are treated at the resort.  

If the resort wishes to show and tell, they could just show the hatchlings to the guests, not hand them around to be exposed to so many dangers. What if one of the guests (especially children) accidentally drop the hatchling and stepped on it? Accidents do happen, you know.

As for the adult turtles in the water tank, the resort could just let the guests into the tank area to look at the turtles but don't allow any touching. Placing the animal on the table for everyone to see and touch will cause distress to the poor animal. 

Now that you've read my story and seen the photos, what do you think about the whole incident?

Note: You may read more about sea turtles at the WWF website here.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Uber

I started using Uber only last month. It was a 2km drive from Bandar Baru Ampang to the Ampang LRT station, and the driver was called Adrianne.

Since that day, I had started using Uber almost everyday to work until early last week when Uber fares went up 2.4 times! Before the fare hike, Uber rates were more economical compared to taking the taxi. Now it's even more expensive!

Anyways, here are advantages and disadvantages of using Uber, based on my experience:

ADVANTAGES 

Driver looks for the passenger - The Uber driver comes looking for the passenger, which is convenient especially in locations with hardly any taxis. In the case of taxis, the passenger has to look for the taxi and this is inconvenient especially in locations where there're hardly any around.

Convenient payment method - Payment for the fare is billed straight to my credit card which saves me the hassle of having to look for small change. It's convenient and I like it.

Uber has announced last month that they have started accepting cash payment. By introducing more flexible payment methods more passenges are able to use Uber especially those who don't have a credit card.

DISADVANTAGES

Unfamiliar routes - Most Uber drivers I've rode with use Waze to navigate their way. They're unfamiliar with the route because they're not full time drivers. The problem arises when Waze sometimes lead us through a longer route which not only causes the fare to go up, but is a bloody waste of time especially when I'm late for an appointment. If I'm familiar with a particular route, I'll usually give the directions so that the driver don't need to use Waze.

Most taxi drivers don't use Waze because they know the roads like the back of their hand, including back lanes, fastest route to get to a destination, how to avoid routes with heavy traffic, etc. This is an advantage compared to Uber drivers. In fact, I've learned many shortcuts, 'jalan tikus', etc. from taxi drivers.

Availability of taxis (in certain locations) - In locations where there're many taxis, using taxis may be the better option, because waiting for the Uber driver may take up to 10 minutes especially during peak hours. You may think that 10 minutes is not long, but it is, especially in the morning when I need to get to the office before 8.45am.

Unable to detect my location - Despite numerous times I've used Uber to travel from my condo to the office, Uber still can't detect my exact location, i.e. the name of my condo cannot be found in Uber. And I'm not talking about some condo in a forsaken place - my condo is in a prime location in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. So each time a driver is assigned to me, either one of us will have to call or text the other party to confirm my exact location. Calls and text messages = costs, no?

No insurance coverage - Passengers are unable to make an insurance claim if they get involved in an accident while on a Uber ride. Didn't know about this until a colleague pointed it out. But personally, not having insurance coverage does not bother me much.

Having listed down the advantages and disadvantages of using Uber, I'm still using taxis after the Uber price hike last week.

Will I go back to using Uber? Answer: Only if the fare is more economical compared to taxis, because at the end of the day, I will select the option that gives me the most savings.