I've been spending a disproptionate time worry about what's going on in Nepal, and not worrying about what I'm going to do on the rest of my trip. I've been told that booking plane tickets for domestic flights is cheaper in Thailand than outside of Thailand, so I've kind of been putting off any planning at all for that leg of the trip, which probably isn't too smart. I've also been told that booking domestic flights for within Australia is cheaper outside of Australia, so I have been planning that leg.

It looks like I'll be hooking up with my friend Oliver in Sydney on May 15 or 16. Then we'll fly to Alice Springs on May 17, do a 3 day tour of that area (the 'red-centre', Uluru, Ayer's rock, etc). Then we'll part company, he'll go to see some relatives and I'll go on to Cairns. From there I'll spend then next 10-12 days on the north-east cost of Australia, trying to get the Whitsunday Islands where I can do a 2 or 3 day sailing cruise of the Islands. Then I'll fly from Townsville to Sydney, and head off to NZ.

Does anybody have any advice for what I should plan to see in Thailand? I think I'm going to try to get to Siem Reap in Cambodia, but I still need to figure out the whole visa situation, but the last time I looked I think it said that it only cost US$20 and I can get one in the airport.

I made a decision. I paid the remaining balance to the tour operator, so I'm committed, at least financially, to going to Nepal. I've done as much research as I could, talked to people who've been there recently, etc, and I think that right now things are completely safe, and unless things take a drastic turn for the worse, things will remain safe. There is, and was before the state of emergency and the latest crisis, a good possibility of complications arising from a nationwide strike, or other blockade, but this is kind of par for the course in Nepal, and shouldn't impact me too much.

In other news, I put an order in for the Beothuk sleeping bag. They don't have any in stock, but should be getting more on Feb. 25.

I was talking to the tour operator about bringing money, asking him the most convenient way to bring money to Nepal, and elsewhere. He suggested that that Canadian traveller's cheques were the way to go. He thinks that ATMs are too expensive (local bank service fees + Canadian bank service fees + high exchange rate) and getting American traveller's cheques is not smart because you're exchanging currency twice.

Any thoughts on this from people who've travelled? What's the best way to carry currency?

I've been doing further research on the sitch in Nepal, and here's what I've learned:

Lonely Planet issued a warning very similar to the Canadian travel advisory. I tend to trust Lonely Planet slightly more than the Canadian government because they don't have to be quite as conservative. The US government has a travel advisory that was last updated on Oct. 26, 2004 which also says that you shouldn't go to Nepal.

However, if you read between the lines in these advisories you'll notice that they all say that Kathmandu is very safe, except for the odd bombing, and the Khumbu (Everest) region is never mentioned as having any problems.

What this means is that if I had to go right now I think things would be fine for me. What I'm most worried about is getting to Nepal, doing my trek and while I'm there another crisis or full blown revolution occurring, and me not being able to get out. Historically there have been interruptions in flights, but these usually don't last for more than a day or two, and I have interruption insurance, so it probably won't be a big issue, but there's a remote possibility it will be.

The bottom line is that I think that in all likelihood things will be fine. If I decide to cancel my tour up until 8 days before I go I can get 30% back. So, really, this is an expensive gamble, but I'm going to go for it.

Some more fun news: yesterday I bought my pack, and a day pack. I ended up getting the Arc'teryx Bora 65 and the MEC Brio 25. The Brio 25 is very similar to a pack I already have, but it has a few more pockets, a crampon patch (elastic mess on the outside hold crampons) and it's smaller so I can wear it on my front comfortably while I wear my big pack on my back. I also bought a simple compass and some wool socks.

I made a list of everything I need yesterday. The only big ticket item left is a sleeping bag. I'm going to be renting a -20 C bad for Nepal, but I'm going to bring a summer bag for Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. I'm looking a the MEC Raven 0 C and the Western Mountaineering Beothuk. The Beothuk is more than twice as expensive, but it's only 3.5 L and 485g, which is pretty tiny. I think I'm going to go with the Beothuk, but it's currently out of stock.

I've decided I'm going to go to Nepal. After doing some further research, talking to the tour operator, and talking to a friend of mine who was in Nepal in September, I think that this latest coup and instability is really more of the same, and shouldn't cause me any more than minor inconveniences.

Over the last 9 years 11 000 people have been killed in the civil war in Nepal, but not a single tourists has been killed in the violence. Neither side has any particular problem with tourists, and in fact both sides wants the economy, and therefore tourism, to continue unhindered. Apparently the Maoists will stop tourists and ask them for a 'donation' of about $15. But when you give a donation they'll give you a receipt that you can show to anyone else asking you for a donation, and they'll leave you alone. Apparently the receipt is kind of formal, with a hammer and sickle on it. I kind of hope I get one.

The travel advisory that I thought was issued Monday was in fact updated Monday, and was pre-existing. So if I was planning on going before, the travel advisory shouldn't be a reason not to go.

From what I understand, Thamel, the tourist district in Kathmandu where I'll be spending my time is quite safe, and the Khumbu valley, where I'll be trekking is super safe. I think this is a case of high perceived risk and low actual risk. I think I'm much more likely to get indiscriminately killed or assaulted in Brazil or South Africa than Nepal, and I'd go to those countries.

So, I've decided to go, though I didn't pay the tour operator. I told him I'd wait until next week.

Some facts about my trek: 3 other people will be trekking with me: a couple in their late 20s/early 30s, and one woman from Alberta who's about 40. Only Leona, the woman from Alberta, will be doing Island Peak with me. 2 other guys might also be going the trek. This means that I get a private room in Kathmandu, and my own tent on the trek. Usually a 'private' costs US$160, but they cut it in half since I would share if there was someone to share with. They told me about that up front, so I don't feel so bad about it.

So, does this sound very unreasonable? Thoughts? Opinions?

I looked into it a bit further, and the region of Chile that has the travel advisory is the region I visited: the Magallanes region of southern Chile, between Punta Arenas and the Torres del Paine National Park, and on the Tierra del Fuego. However, the danger there is landmines, which apparently are well signed and don't move, not maoists that roam around the country side.

Also, I should mention that the Nepal Tourism Board issued a statement saying that "After the Royal Proclamation life in Nepal has become more peaceful. There is a greater sense of peace". I think I'd be kind of dumb to believe the propaganda of an illegimate government trying to prop itself up. I've done that one too many times in the past.

As of Monday the Canadian government has issued a travel warning for Nepal. Check it out here and here.

I really hope things pull together there, and I REALLY want to go, especially recently as I've been reading more about it, but it looks like I'd be foolish to go to a country with a travel advisory. That said, the Canadian gov't says you shouldn't go to certain (uspecified) parts of Chile, but I've been there.

I'll talk to my tour company today and see what they say. But I think I might have to start making alternate plans.

It looks like things are really going in the toilet in Nepal. In case you haven't been keeping up, last Tuesday (Feb. 1) Nepal's king disolved the parliment and put the the senior members of the government under house arrest. He also cancelled all flights in and out of the country, cut all communication lines and put a ban on the media critisizing the government. Since then flights have been restored and communications have been paritally restored. You can read a good article about this here.

This raises the question: should I be going to Nepal? For the last nine years things have been quite unstable there, but this seems to be much worse than the normal problems. Nepal's main problem is that they have a maoist uprising that currently controls 30% of the country. The King obstensibly is trying to put down the uprising, but by eliminating the legitimate government he is only going to give support to them. They probably won't ever take over the country, India won't allow it, but things look very uncertain.

I still haven't paid for the trek in Nepal (about $4000), but I have to pay in the next few days. I'll probably pay, but I'll try to get a credit or something if things fall apart in Nepal.

Nepal really has a good reason to get it's act together: April, May and October are it's biggest months for tourism, and it makes a lot of money from tourism. Hopefully the King will realize this is what's good for his country and get his shit together.

I found an excellent site of some photos of Island Peak, otherwise known as Imja Tse, the peak I'll be climbing in Nepal at the end of my stay there. The climb goes up gently over a glacier, then up the very steep headwall, and along a ridge to the summit.

Here's the site.

If you don't want to look through all the photos, here are some of the highlights:

A good shot of the glacier, the start of the climb up the head wall, and the summit ridge
Climbing the headwall
Looking up the ridge
Photos of Island Peak on it's own make it look huge, and it is very high, only 5m lower than Mt. McKinley, the highest point in North America. But checkout this picture. Everest is obviously the biggest mountain in the world, and Lhotse and Malaku are the forth and fifth biggest in the world, and the all just dwarf Island Peak.

I just got back from the travel medical clinic. It turns out that I needed Hep B (I already have Hep A), typhoid, and I got prescriptions for Malaria medication, antibiotics and anti-altitude sickness. I've got some Cipro, but apparently in Thailand half of the bacteria are resistant to it, so the doctor gave me a prescription for Zithromax. The malaria medication is only required of the borders of Thailand and Cambodia, and not anywhere else, so if I don't go to Cambodia I won't have to take it.

All in all it'll cost me about $200 for medication and doctor's fees, $250 if I get the Zithromax.

Oh, I just posted some photos of my trip to California. Check 'em out here.