Tips for Future Visitors

1. Bring warm clothings!
Though Deepak told us that there won't be snow... the weather was unpredictable. It rained on our second day and we had lotsa snow at MBC and ABC. Temperatures were extreme - ranged from about minus 5degrees celsius (before dawn at ABC) to 20degrees celsius (day)

2. Very Good Boots are important
waterproof boots was essential in my opinion. we had to cross many waterfalls, streams and with the inevitable rain, the ground was wet. We walked on snow too. So, our dear Kenny who wears his trusty track shoes usu have wet feet. My timberland boots kept me feet dry.

Also, it's extremely important to season the boots before going cos it's real painful to have blisters. Think i didn't secure my boots tight enough, had lotsa blisters. each step was a pain for me. :(

3. No electricity @ Teahouse
We had some teahouses which had electricity but only for the dining hall. Some Teahouses do provide electricity to the room like Kalpana Guesthouse, but there's only one lightbulb. So a handy, bright torchlight is useful. Mine was handpowered so i didn't have to worry about batteries. PTI and Egwin had super bright torchlights which can beam to other mountains. Think it's called maglite. i never figured out where the spare bulb was but i did figure out how to take out the batteries. ;)

4. Water
we ordered hot water for our drinks and filled our bottles during our meals. Some teahouses charge for the hot water when they use kerosene for fuel. Kerosene is expensive cos porters carry them up the mountains. To save $$, we drank water from the tap after putting in a chlorine pill for one hour (when we are at higher grounds). Was nice to drink cos it tasted like singapore water. The water taste different at different place. Some tasted like firewood water. Kenny mentioned that we sld have tried drinking the fountain water without the chlorine pill, so that we can taste the mountain water... ah too bad, it's too late. The porters drank from the tap or small streams... they seem fine.

5. Beware of leeches
Anzana cld spot one from far. She spotted one on my pants once. They bite without any pain but leave you bleeding. They are usu found on wet ground. we saw many of these leeches. My teammates advised me not to stand on the same ground for too long. they climb onto you real quickly. All of us carry Axe Oil with us in case we need to remove any of these irritating pest.