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Holiday in the USA

2009-04-15T00:33:00.011+01:00

After 3 weeks of wrangling I actually managed to get two weeks off work all in one go. A good amount of time to make my first visit to the States. We flew into Chicago for the start of our trip. During our two and a half day stay we had a look at some of the local sights including the aquarium and Sears Tower. However perhaps the most impressive were the sculpture called Cloud Gate and the view from the pier. Cloud Gate is a piece of modern art that I actually like and judging by the number of people looking at it, so do lots of others. The most difficult thing about it was getting a photo that does it justice. The pier where the aquarium and planetarium were gave brilliant views of the cityscape which were uninterrupted across the lake. So impressive in fact that we thought it worth a visit in the dark to see it all lit up. Even if our taxi driver thought we were mad, it was worth it.

From Chicago we drove in a hire car East towards Buffalo. The idea being to take four days and stop at anything interesting along the way. We soon discovered that interesting things were lacking so apart from a night in Cleveland we decided to speed up this part of the journey and got to Buffalo in 2 days. Perhaps the most eventful part of the drive was getting a flat tyre which had to be changed and then swapping our rubbish Chrysler for an almost as rubbish Hyundai. Oh well.

Once in Buffalo we made the trip to the Canadian border to see the Niagara falls. There was still snow on the ground when we were there so some of the best look out points were closed. Unfortunately there was ice in the water too so the famous Maid in the Mist was not running trips for tourists to see the falls from the bottom. Still worth seeing though. Strangely enough there seemed to be a lot of static on one of the viewing posts, mine wasn't the only hair standing on end. Of course as were were on the Buffalo part of the trip, we had Buffalo wings for lunch.

A day early we made our way to New York City on a night bus. It seems they have the Megabus in the States too. In our five days in NYC we made a point of seeing all the sights including the statue of liberty from the Staten island ferry, the Guggenheim museum of art, the Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, Times Square, China Town, Little Italy and of course Broadway. By the time we had finished in New York our feet well and truly ached. I did manage to get James to watch Chicago so I can now say I have seen a Broadway show! We also met up with one of James' friends from his time living out in the States. It was a fun night and ment we were able to see part of NYC that was off the tourist trail.

To See more pictures click on this link.

From New York we caught a second Megabus to Philadelphia. We struck lucky and were upgraded to an executive suit in our hotel which acted like a cherry on top of the cake. Whilst in Philly we visited the Liberty Bell, the museum of modern art and the Mutter museum. Of course at the museum of modern art we had to walk up the steps from Rocky and stand in Sylvester Stallones footsteps. The Mutter museum was put together by a doctor who thought the only way to study medicine was to see real diseases. Therefore it was full of jars of specimens, just on a much larger scale than the old library at university. I was surprised at how clean everything was in philadelphia. Considering it was a large City it didn't feel it. We also met up with one of James' old work collegues for dinner which was good too.

In summary,I think the most impressive thing I saw was the skyline of Chicago at night. The best meal was some amazing ribs in a small brewery/pub found in a back street in Philly - I only had the starter but still couldn't eat it all. The nicest thing was how friendly everyone was and how willing they are to help, e.g the guy who insisted on helping change the car tyre. The funniest thing was how people didn't understand what I was saying unless I spoke slowly. Seems they don't hear our accent that often especially outside of the cities. I only got an "I love your accent" once.

Prancing On Ice

2008-11-27T15:53:00.005Z

It may be the last place people think to go to in the winter but recently James and I went walking at the beach. It was freezing cold and really windy but a good excuse to dust off my walking boots from Nepal. Still had to tog up with lots of layers though. Probably looked very silly driving down there in a roofless car with hats, scarves, gloves and thermals on. However the sky was clear and the sun was out. Thats out excuse anyway. There were an surprising number of people out walking their dogs and sailing their yachts. Having bought himself an new camera on the way back from Amsterdam it was a good chance to get in some practise. Luckily the sunset gave a very pretty background to the scenery.

The beech has not been our only walking destination recently. A few weeks ago we went for a mini trek up to Kingly Vale, a hill with some impressive landscape around. While we were up there we decided to go up over the top on the hill. This meant wandering off the normal path. However it also meant we got to see a herd of deer. Initially we only saw three. Two females and a stag with huge antlers. Once they saw us more were revealed as they ran off into the woods. There were probably about ten in total. Amazing.

Last weekend was the coldest by far yet this winter. So cold that the Mill Pond in Emsworth froze over completely. This obviously gave a chance to go ice dancing, well sliding anyway. Slightly nervous at first that we would get wet feet the confidence quickly grew when a couple of 16st ish guys jumping up and down didn't make it crack. The whole town seemed to make the most of it by playing ice hockey, curling bricks with garden brooms and dogs skidding in all directions.

Last Minute Holiday

2008-11-24T21:47:00.009Z

What should you do on a long weekend? Skip the country of course. This was exactly the idea James and I had when we decided to book a last minute get away. Having surfed the interweb to find the best deal possible we made a snap decision to take a risk and go for a short break in Amsterdam in a mystery hotel. Risky you might say. However we got lucky and ended up staying in pretty nice hotel not far from the Schipol airport and a short train journey into the centre of Amsterdam.

A picture of one of the canals with an example
of some typical architecture in the background.

Once in the small city centre we made the most of being able to walk to most places though on several occasions we came close to being run over by bicycles. We went on the obligatory canal trip to get an overall view of the city sampling views of the strange tall houses they have there. We also wandered down to the Van Gough museum and had a nose around some botanical gardens.

Amsterdam is a city full of museums and loads of tourists. However it does also live up to its name. It is a very forward and liberal city and mixed in amongst the houses and shops were the brown cafe's and red lit windows it is now famed for. All very bizarre. All in all our weekend was a short trip away but definitely worth while.

My Summer

2008-09-15T22:14:00.007+01:00

Well as it has been so long since my last blogg several things have happened. The first of which was my friend Ashmai's hen party followed by her wedding. For her hen do the theme was 'the wild west' which of course meant that we all had to dress up as cowgirls complete with hats and cowboy boots. However there was one big surprise and that was Jez, who as the token male at the party, decided to go all out and dress up as an Indian including the long black wig and giant feather head dress. We must have looked ridiculous as we caught the tube to the comedy club for the evenings entertainment. Though it was all good fun.

Ashmais wedding was on the 8th August and was held at the conservatory in the Barbican center in London. Ashmai looked lovely in her dress and Ted looked great in his suit complete with blue swede shoes. Lucy and I along with some others were her bridesmaids and it was our job to make sure the isle was sprinkled with rose petals as she walked down the isle. The conservatory made a pretty backdrop for the wedding photos and when I finally manage to get mine off my camera I will put some up for you to see.

I suppose the biggest thing that has happened in the past month is that I have started work. I have moved up to London once again and am living in the grotty doctors accommodation at Epsom hospital. I have been lucky though, my surgical firm is fairly quiet compared to the medical firms that I will be doing later in the year so it has been fairly gently getting used to having to work. It is strange though finally being able to sign the prescriptions that I write rather than getting someone else to sign them for me. As a speciality urology is not bad. Very few patients seem to have post op complications and are quite often very cheerful which is nice.

Working full time (well on average just over 50 hours a week) means that I have tried to make the most of my weekends. A couple of times I have been out on the water trying to learn to sail. Its really hard, when the wind gets up I get very nervous. There are lots of expensive boats on the water I don't really want to crash into to. Lets just say that I'm not a natural, I am determined to get there though and hopefully will be able to do a sailing course during some of my holiday next year. On one of the windier days I let James show me how it is done. I'm not sure I want photographic evidence of how poor I am at sailing just yet.

The next exciting thing is I have a short week this week as I have taken a few days off work so James and I can go to Amsterdam for a short break. Hopefully it will be good fun. It is our last minute alternative to camping in Devon and going surfing. Didn't fancy our chances with the great British weather.

Graduation

2008-08-01T14:38:00.004+01:00

Well I have finally done it. I graduated on the 11th of July in the grounds of Charterhouse square which is the original setting for the St Bartholomew's medical school. In a ceremony held in a giant marquee a few hundred of us collected a certificate after a nervous walk across a wobbly stage in heels that were threatening to go over any second. Possibly the most impressive part of the day was the correct pronunciation of every ones name by the lecturer calling us to the stage.

To see other photos click here

The final part of my university career came today when I received my degree certificate through the post. So that's it then, I am officially a doctor who is registered by the general medical council and who is on call for her first ever day at work. Just my luck, I have been landed with a extra long shift where I will be on my own in the evening covering the surgical wards. Well at least I will find out fairly quickly if I can put all that training into practise.

Holiday in France

2008-07-10T11:39:00.006+01:00

I have just returned from a nice relaxing holiday in the South of France. James and I were lucky enough to spend a week in a huge house based in the Dordogne region. In the very peaceful setting of a beautiful golf course, Maison des Pruniers was large enough to sleep 6 people and had its own swimming pool, though we had it all to ourselves. Our first day there was a Sunday and we discovered very quickly that nothing was open so we were forced to sit by the pool and catch up on some fiction reading ... such a hardship... a lovely change from all those medical text books.

Maison des Pruniers

During that week we made several trips, driving into the surrounding area. We spent an afternoon in St Emillion, a hill top town that is at the center of Bordeaux's wine making industry. There we climbed a tower to get a great view of the town and some of the surrounding vinyards, followed by a tour of one of the local vineyards. We had an introduction into the process of wine making, the history of St Emillion as well as a chance to taste some of the local wine.

Looking over St Emillion

We also made a trip to the prehistoric caves at Les Eyzies-de-Tayac-Sireuil where we had a tour of the cave Font de Gaume. The cave was discovered in 1901 and is believed to have been first inhabited by stone age people approximately 25,000 BC. The tunnel like cave is now the only cave still open to the public that contains multicoloured paintings. The paintings included pictures of mammoths and bison. Some included carvings into the rock, others followed the natural shape of the rock to highlight features of the painting but all were more like artist impressions of the animals rather than the stick animals I was expecting. On the way back to the house from the caves we made a quick stop into Bergerac to have a short wander around the city.

Another afternoon we hired a canoe and went for a paddle along the Dordogne river. It was less hard work than we were expecting due to the fast current, thankfully we weren't going in the opposite direction. The river is wide and enclosed by all the trees on the banks so you feel enclosed from the roads running along side it.

On our final day in the South of France we made a trip to Bordeaux, where we parked the car and then caught a tram into the city center. We had a wander around the city, saw a strange fountain which sprays water onto the pavement to reflect the surrounding buildings. We also went on a climb up over 200 steps to get a view over the city from a bell tower and ate lunch in one of the cafes which spills out of the restaurant onto the street.

The fountain in Bordeaux

After packing up and leaving the house we decided to make two stops on the way back to the ferry port at Caen. First was the port of La Rochelle, a small town with lots of posh looking yachts in the harbour. There were a huge range of fish restaurants and creperies to choose from so we sampled one of each and followed them by watching the Wimbledon final in an Irish pub. Yep those pubs are everywhere!

The second stop on the way back to Caen was at the town of Vannes. In the center of Vannes there are some really old looking streets which are cobbled and have what can only be described as Tudor esk. They looked almost cartoon like as the architecture was so different from everything else we had seen around France.

It was a lovely and much needed holiday, though I have to admit although James and I made the effort to try with the French language we don't feel we have improved much. Quite often we spoke in French and got replies in English. Sometimes we managed a combination of French and English, accidentally using English words without realising. At least we tried.

Have a look at some photos from our holiday.

End of an Era

2008-06-24T15:55:00.006+01:00

Well the time has arrived. After 20 years of full time education I have finally finished with school and am about to leave the East end of London and enter the grown up world. Things have changed a lot since I was learning how to make bubble pictures by blowing through a straw into a cup of paint and washing up liquid. Three schools, one college and two universities later and I have found myself with a degree in medicine.

Admitttedly I did use the long route to get here. It may seem that I have avoided growing up and going out to work, however I think that my first degree put me in a great position to cope with the medical course. Being that tiny bit older certainly seems to gain you that extra bit of patient trust.

The last few weeks have been a little sad though. First I had a BBQ at my student house as a leaving celebration with a few of my friends. Then my family came to London to help me move most of my possessions out of the house. I am now rattling around in my room without much in the way of furniture and only the bare minimum of essentials.

It will be a shame to have to leave however it is also exciting. I will be moving onto the next stage. I have a job at Epsom hospital so I will finally be able to put a use to all that knowledge I have spent the last 20 acquiring. So amid all the promises to friends that I will keep in touch (and I will) there are mixed feelings. It is sad, exciting and nerve racking all at once though I feel it is definitely time to move on.

It is the end of one great era but happily the start of another which I am sure will be just as challenging but hopefully just as enjoyable too.

Louises' wedding

2008-06-08T14:48:00.003+01:00

Well lets just say I have been to two weddings this year and the weather couldn't have been better for either. First was Lucy's where everything was covered in a blanket of snow and then yesterday I went to louises' for which the sun came out and it was lovely and warm.

The wedding was held at Portsmouth registary office where there was a short service. Louise wore a lovely pink dress having chosen not to go for the tradidional white. However Louise always great in pink and it suited her perfectly. Following the service Kelly Charlotte and I threw some matching pink confetti over her and her new husband and then lined up for some photos.

We then all moved on to Portsmouth sailing club for some drinks, food and the speeches. The cake was made by a relative of Ed's and each tier was different to keep everyone happy. Having tried the fruit it quite upsetting that I didn't have room to try the chocolate or the madiera as it was delicious.

Congratulations Louise and Edward Goodenough.

Click here for photos

How to leave a comment

2008-05-23T09:07:00.002+01:00

I have noticed that people who comment on my blog do it by email or by text. However there is an easier way that is built into the blog. If you press the comment link at the end of each blog entry the form below is opened.

Third world hospital

2008-05-20T10:02:00.005+01:00

Having had the opportunity to spend a short while in a hospital in Nepal I can be sure when I say that if I had become ill whilst out there I would have flown home for treatment. On the day the others on the same placement started they were given a talk by the president of the hospital who mentioned that he hoped that at some point in the not too distant future they would be able to offer surgery for medical tourists. That is, people from other countries would pay to go and be treated there.

Well it only took about an hour for all of us to realise that his plan may have been a little far fetched. The standards were so far behind what is the norm and what we have come to expect in the west that it was a little shocking. All of the doctors in Nepal speak fluent English and have completed their MBBS which is the same medical degree I have from the UK. The Library even contained the same books, though several editions behind what we use here. However hygiene standards and doctor patient consultations allowed for vast improvement. The mixed male/female wards had no curtains between the metal beds and any screens were woefully inadequate, often not shielding the patient at all. Any adjustments to the bed positions were done using bricks and patients appeared to have brought a lot of their own bedding from home. I only very occasionally saw a doctor or nurse wash their hands and gloves were a rarity.

Medical discussions often took place in English and all the medical notes were written in English however I didn't once see a doctor on a ward round take the time to explain to a patient what was happening and include them in any decision making process. If the patient couldn't understand what was going on this would mean they would have no idea what was wrong or how they would be treated. Having said that I also never saw any patient complain. It was what they seemed to expect and they trusted the doctors rather than question them.

The outpatients department was another thing all together. There are no GP's in Nepal so patients go to the hospital for all sorts of ailments. However there also seems to be no queue system in Nepal either. The outpatients rooms often consisted of a doctor and an intern surrounded by patients jostling to be seen next. This of course means that everyone could hear the consultation taking place and see any examination being carried out. So much for privacy!

Perhaps the most shocking thing I saw was when I spent time on the gynaecology ward. A lady had become very sick with an infection. Yet again there was only a screen to shield her from other patients, and I'm sure you can imagine that it wouldn't stretch around the 16 doctors, nurses and students. That's right 16! I counted! So in full view of the gaggle of observers and the rest of the patients on the ward, and anyone who happened to be passing in the corridor the lady was given a gynae examination. However during the examination the consultants mobile phone rang, and she answered it. In this country the situation would probably lead to a court appearance, and quite rightly!

The whole experience made me realise how lucky I am to have trained and to live in the west.

Chitwan Safari

2008-05-12T12:28:00.008+01:00

Well on Saturday morning, at stupid oclock (well of course when else would they do anything here), I made my way through Thamel to meet the bus for my journey to Thamel. The journey went smoothly if you forget the long windey and very pot holed road and I arrived at the Maurini Sanctuary Lodge resort in time for a huge lunch. The food was good for a change and my only problem with it was the quantity. The waiter just didn't understand that I cannot eat as much as a big fat man! As I had spent most of the day on the bus there was just enough time left to visit the baby elephant in the afternoon. Soooooo cute have a look.

That evening I met a group who had already been there a day. There were two French, one French Canadian and an English speaking Canadian. I have to say I was impressed that I understood most of the French conversation though they wouldn't even let me try to speak some French which was a little annoying. The English speaking Canadian also seemed a little fed up being left out of the conversation so much and glad for someone new to talk to.

The next morning I got up to go for a canoe ride along the river followed by a safari on foot through the wooded area. It was nice to be out of the city and especially good to be under the trees as it gets incredibly hot in Chitwan I have discovered. On the safari I saw two wild Rhino and a Crocodile, plus loads of birds, butterflies and bugs. The first Rhino was at quite a distance but the second was much closer, he didn't seem particularly happy about us being there so when the guide started to run in the opposite direction, Im sure you will understand that I ran too. Didn't have to go far though for the Rhino to stop following us.

On the way back from the woods we walked via the river and I got the opportunity to go swimming with the elephants whilst they were having a bath. It was great. They are so docile and seem very happy to have humans climbing up onto their backs. The elephant sprayed water all over me several times and rolled over a few times too. However it seemed grateful for the tip afterwards. Yep I had to give the rolled up money to the elephant so it could pass it to its keeper. Very funny. Especially when it dropped it in the water and then had to fish it out.

That afternoon was time to go on the elephant safari. For this I joined a group of Austrian men who were all coming up to retirement and had come to Nepal on holiday without their wives. The elephants used for the safari were huge and we had to use a staircase to get up high enough to get onto their backs. My elephant carried four of us without any problem at all. The safari took us through the woods again so we had to avoid all the branches and spiders webs. We saw Rhino again including a mother and a baby, we were able to get really close this time because the rhino weren't bothered by the elephants. We also saw deer, crocodile, peacocks and lots of spiders... urgh!!

That evening we went to a culture show at the theatre of one of the local villages. It was good fun as they performed several of the traditional dances, many of which included hiting sticks together and one involved a spinning batton with flames lit at each end. Very exciting.

I have loads of pictures to have a nose at.

xxx

One Afternoon Two Temples.

2008-05-06T13:07:00.006+01:00

Well it would be very wrong to come to Nepal and stay in Kathmandu without making a visit to a temple or two. I managed to find a very nice taxi driver who took me to the temple called Pashupatinath. I had a guide show me around and tell me all about the place. It is a temple built about 300 years ago on the banks of the Bagmati river which runs through Nepal and into India. It is a very important river to the Hindus as it is where their ashes should be scattered when they pass away. Hence Hindus come from all over Nepal when they are old and sick to stay in the hostels attached to the temple. If they die here the theory goes that their soul goes straight to heaven.

The pashupatinath temple. The group gathered in the foreground

on the steps are unfortunatly attending a funeral.

The temple is therefore a very strange place. There are lots of tourists around but also lots of Hindus who have journeyed to prey there. There are also funerals that take place right in the middle of all the crowds (up to 65 a day), no privacy for the families. It was very sureal to see funerals taking place, with the funeral pyres burning in amongst the tourists and the monkeys that are running around. When the fires go out the ashes are swept straight into the river. You can imagine how dirty the river is. As cows are sacred to the Hindu religion people make offerings of cows to the temple. However no one looks after them. They just roam around the temple, with lots of them wading through the river and ash. Yuk!!

I then went on to my second temple of the day called the Bordnath. This temple is a Buddist temple. It was much cleaner and surounded by shops and park benches to sit on. I had no guide here but the gist is that you have to walk around the Stupa in a clockwise direction. It is thought that it was built in the 14 century and some believe that it coontains a peice of bone that once belonged to the Buddha. I sat down for a while and lost count of the number of times some of the monks walked around the Stupa. I decided to leave when a mini monsoon started and tried to drown me.

A monk making a clockwise circuit around the Bordnath Stupa

There are more pictures from Nepal, have a look.

xxx

Fantastic Weekend

2008-05-04T15:18:00.017+01:00

I have to report that despite hating Kathmandu Colette and I had a great time this weekend when we escaped the city and caught a tourist bus up to 'The Last Resort'. It is a small tourist resort North West of Kathmandu by the border of Nepal and Tibet. It was fabulous getting out of Kathmandu and the further away you get the more beautiful the countryside becomes. As it is such a hilly area all the farm land has been landscaped so for a lot of the journey we were on a winding road around hills and steps of corn or cabbages or wheat. Makes you realise how hard all the people here work to make a living/to survive.

A snap shot of The Last Resort

The Last Resort was like an oasis with luxuary tents, lots of trees and some nice food for a change. When we got there we dropped all our things in the tent and then got changed to go for day one of canyoning. Canyoning basically translates as abseiling down waterfalls. I was nervous until I got there however there is no other way of seeing the scenery and it was so much fun there was little time to be nervous. Thankfully I have done a little rock climbing in the past so I was used to trusting my life to a rope and a metal Caribiner. They were really good there though, we had a lesson, a safety talk and the most rediculous combination of a fleece, wetsuit, helmet and leather gloves. On the first day we abseiled 6 waterfalls, the highest being 35m. So much for not liking getting water in my eyes in the shower, I had to get over that pretty quickly. It was worth it though.

The second day we were with a different group of people... the ones mad enough to do it again. Even Colette went ahead despite being scared the first day. Well what can I say. It was amazing!! We had to hike up a mini mountain to get there and when we finally did we all got togged up to look silly again. We then had the choice. Abseil the first waterfall and have to to the next seven or chicken out there and then. It was not possible to turn back! We had a fantastic group of people with us that day and it was great fun with everyone cheering each other on all the way. The highlight though was by far the 60m waterfall. Yes you did read that right 60m!! They told us as we got to it, and remember by then it was too late to turn back so we had to do it. I admit I was a little nervous as I walked backward over the edge of the cliff however by then I think I had got the hang of it and it wasn't scary as I was expecting, just a great feeling that I was capable of doing something like that. Great view too. As I neared the bottom the guide (b-lay) pulled on the rope, pulling me off the wall and leaving me suspended above a huge pool of white water. I admit my first reaction was to scream rather loudly, however that set everyone off laughing. I was quite comical as I slid down the rope half upside down where I had lost my balance! You have to have a look at some of the canyoning photos otherwise I'm sure you will never believe me.

Coming down one of the waterfalls.

That evening there was a music festival at the resort with several band playing from different countries. We all sat around on cushions listening to them and chatting to each other. Just in the groups I had been with there were Australians, a canadian an Israli and some people from the UK. A great mix. There was also a huge BBQ so good food again.

The next morning we all got up and caught the bus to go down to the river to go white water rafting. It was a lot of fun. We went down several rapids over a period of about 3 hours. I have to say though I think I was in the best of the three boats there. We were all in time with the rowing so the raft responded quickly to what we wanted to do. I may have got completely drenched as expected but I didn't fall out. I nearly did on several occasions though.

Have a look at some of the other photos from my trip to Nepal.

xxx

5 star recovery

2008-04-29T13:47:00.003+01:00

Well we have finally got back from the mountains and thought that after all that hard work it was about time to relax and recover. We therefore booked ourselves into the Hyatt, a five star hotel, for two nights (with Lorna, Colette and I sharing a room) so we could lay by the pool and eat some nice food for a change.

I was wonderful, just what we needed. Now that we can all walk again Colette and I have moved back to the flat and Lorna flew back to the UK today. Tomorrow I start at the hospital which should be interesting after all that I have heard about it from the others. It is in a really poor area right on the edge of Kathmandu and aparently they deal with a lot of tropical medicine. I will let you know how it goes.

xxx

Emily has arrived!

2008-04-25T15:01:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to Louise and Ed on the arrival of their baby daughter Emily.

Her birthday is the 21st April and she was a hefty 8lb 110z... as Kelly says "Ouch"!

xxx

I Made It!

2008-04-24T14:09:00.004+01:00

Yep as the title says I made it to Base Camp!!

Day 4 of the trek was a nice walk through the valley to Tenboche (3860m) which is home to the highest monastery in Nepal and they claim the world. We had coffee and cake at what was claimed to be the highest bakery in Nepal and then went to watch a service (monks chanting) in the monastery followed by a rapid fire talk given by one of the monks. It was very ornate inside with every surface painted with different scenes and pictures of Buddha.

On day 5 we walked to Pheriche (4270m) which was in the middle of a really desolate valley where it got really dusty and very windy, I think it was the first time we got out our scarves and hats. We have still been very lucky with the lodges. This one even had a hot shower which consisted of boiling water coming out of a pipe that turned on by pulling the pencil out of the end of the pipe. High tech eh! We went to Pheriche without Ruth and Matthew who headed for home that morning.

Day 6 was supposed to be a rest day so naturally we had to go on a leg killing walk up a mini mountain to help us to acclimatise. Collette and I had shared a room that night and only woke up when we saw a helicopter outside. After scraping ice off the window we saw that it was about 6ft off the ground and heading straight towards the window. Argh! Turns out the heli-pad was just behind our lodge. There was also a small hospital in the town so we went for a short talk about mountain sickness there which was interesting and useful but also slightly scary. Apparently they mainly deal with porters with mountain sickness because they regularly race up the mountains too quickly. Some of the symptoms can be quite scary and deadly though so the talk was well worth going to, meant we knew what to look out for.

By day 7 the hills were getting much steeper, the air getting much thinner and it was much colder. I am happy to say that I am the slowest in the group, though also the only one without a headache. On the way up to Lobuche we stopped at a tea house for a break and discovered a crowd had gathered around a girl who had been put into a pressure tent (basically an inflatable yellow sausage with a window) to bring her to a lower altitude very quickly. She had pulmonary oedema and was basically drowning in her own fluid.....very scary, all because she had ascended too quickly. Shows how careful you have to be. We carried onto Lobuche and I started to feel nauseous, I symptom of mountain sickness. So did Lorna and Hi Jade had a really bad headache. I was able to take some Diamox (my new best friend) and sleep it off in two hours. If you get any symptoms you stay at the same altitude and see if they go away. If they do you can continue, if they don't you descend.

On day 8 we set of for Gorak Shep, which is apparently where base camp used to be in the 80's. We were warned by our guide that only 60% of people can sleep there because the of symptoms of mountain sickness, ie nightmares and headaches. On the same day we tried to climb Kalapatar which is the best place to view Everest from without actually going up Everest. Hi Jade, Kelvin and I made it. Collette felt exhausted and turned back and Lorna felt too ill to try. It took me ages to get up to the top (5550m) but I did it. I nearly gave up too when Hi Jade and Kelvin passed me on their way back down, but I did it!

Me half way up Kalapatar, Everest is the black peak in the middle.
The photos at the top are not so good because I was too tired and cold to smile!

That night only Collette and I stayed in Gorak Shep as the others didn't feel well enough. On day 9 we got up with the aim of going to base camp. It was like going bouldering as we were clambering over rocks rather than walking and the last bit was over a glacier that was covered in mud and rocks. Strangely it wasn't too cold though. We made it!! There is basically a collection of tents there because people have to spend a month to acclimatise before going to attempt to summit Everest.

Collette and I celebrating making it to base camp, were standing
on a glacier with lots of tents behind us!

The best bit though was we found a bakery at base camp!! The best cookie I have ever eaten!. I think the trip was definitely worth it for the sense of achievement. You don't know what you are capable of until you push yourself. And none of my muscles are thanking me for any of it. I'm not sure its your fitness that counts, more your ability to breath thin air and ignore your crying legs which are suffering a lack of oxygen.

Were on our way back down now, and are at Namche again. Collette and I are staying here for a rest day tomorrow whilst the others (who have already had a rest day) go back to Kathmandu.

One thing I really want to know though... if it was up hill on the way to base camp, how can it possibly be up hill on the way back... because it is!

P.s have a look at some more pictures from the trek.

xxx

First view of Everest

2008-04-16T13:15:00.005+01:00

On Monday we flew to laluka which is where we were to start the trek to base camp. The flight was ok, only slightly bumpy but the landing was interesting. The runway at the airport is really short due to the landscape so it has to go up a hill to make sure the plane stops before it hits the cliff in front of it. Apparently the hill works in reverse on take off to make sure the plane picks up enough speed before it takes off. Nail biting stuff. Once we had landed we had breakfast before setting off on a 2 hour trek to our first nights lodge. ‘Breaking us in gently’ is what we were told. The first nights lodge was luxiourous compared to what we were expecting. It was in a valley alongside a river which derives from a glacier further up the mountain.

The second day we set off for a 7 hour trek to Namche which is where we were to stay that night. The walk was fine until lunch time and got much harder in the afternoon. The path started by following the river and then ascended steeply into the hills. The majority of this was so steep it was basically a huge staircase made from rock which zigzagged along the edge of a cliff. There were some slightly precarious bridges to contend with too. We have decided that the only form of exercise that might have helped with this trip would be to use a step machine at a gym for a few months before getting here.

By the time we got to Namche we all celebrated and Cami (our guide and cook from the flat) told us its is only a few minutes further which of course meant we were about to plod past the rest of the town to the lodge which was almost at the highest point. We were all very glad to get here. This lodge is more like a 3 star hotel. We have ensuite rooms with hot showers. There is a nice dining room with a big fire stove in the center to keep us warm, it gets quite cold at night. We have also found that out water bottles have a dual purpose. At night we can fill them with boiling water and use them as a water bottle and by the morning it is cold enough to drink. As a result I have been hot rather than cold at night so no need for the thermals yet.

Today is day three and a rest day so we can get used to the altitude. Namche is at 3400m. However the mantra goes ‘climb high, sleep low.’ So we did a trek this morning for an hour up a hill to get our first view of Everest. Amazing is the only word to describe it. The view makes the aching legs worth it.

Everest is the second peak from the left with the cloud to the right.
From Left to Right: Lorna, Me, Kelvin, Hi jade and Collete

We then went back down the hill for lunch and then for a wander around the market. I have bought myself some souvenirs I’m afraid. I got some yaks wool socks which are lined with fleece for when it gets cold higher up and a map which shows the route we are trekking. While at the market we also had some great chocolate cake and the lemon tea is one of the things I will probably remember most, like the mint tea in Morocco.

Tomorrow we have an ‘Easy trek’ we are told, through a valley to our next stop. We only ascend 200m the whole day and that is spread across 6 hours. Five of us are carrying on however Ruth and Mathew are giving up as they are finding it very difficult. Ruth has asthma and Mathew a cold. So far we are having a great time, it is hard work as expected but a great sense of achievement when we reach out destination at the end of each day. Only the porters put us to shame by running up the mountain carrying our heavy bags.

So far we have been lucky. It has been hot, no mountain sickness, blisters or food poisoning, fingers crossed it stays the same. This is the last stop with internet for a week or so. Will fill you in when I can.

P.s have a look at some more pictures from the trek

xxx

I'm in Nepal!

2008-04-13T15:08:00.004+01:00

Hi, just a quick note to let you all know I got here ok. Nearly managed to get a business class seat for the second leg of the journey, shame it didn't happen as it would have been much easier to focus on the TV screen which was actually about 6 inches from my eyes, never mind.

I have met up with the girls at the flat, which is simple to say the least, but will do.There is also a guy from the company that stays at the flat and cooks all our meals for us too which is great.

We're up really early in the morning for a 7am flight to get to the base camp trek start point. It's a 45 minute flight on a plane that has only 16 seats - ARGH - I've seen them they look tiny. From there we start the trek straight away but aparently they are breaking us in gently and we will only be walking for a couple of hours on the first day. Will let you know how it goes when I next get a chance. I expect that by then I will be much fitter and have got over any altitude sickness (it's ok we have tablets to stop us feeling sick - it can be useful haveing links at the hospital it seems).

xxx

Spring?

2008-04-08T09:16:00.007+01:00

If you wake up on a Sunday morning and it looks more like Christmas than April what do you do next? Go to the beach and make a snow man of course! Well after a short snow ball fight with James this is exactly what we did. Its not often that you see snow floating on the sea, or in fact get snow on the south coast but it still made a good two inches deep.

As quickly as it fell the snow disappeared and made way for what was a far warmer, sunny spring like afternoon. Perfect for another test drive of a certain Lotus Elise that has kept a grin on James' face for the past two weeks. It is pretty though!

Only a few days until I'm off to Nepal now... I'm off to pack... how exciting, oh and apparently it's much warmer there!

xxx

A real white wedding

2008-03-25T14:53:00.009Z

This Easter has been slightly busier than usual as I attended the wedding of Lucy pointer to Lee Camp.

Having rained all week everyone was praying for a little sunshine, however it seems mother nature had her own wedding gift up her sleeve. Yes that's right, not only did the sun come out during the afternoon but a thick layer of snow had settled overnight at the church, with more to come during the day to ensure it stayed nicely topped up for some photos.

I have to say that it seems the wedding went off perfectly (the only hitch being the marriage - sorry I couldn't help myself!). Lucy looked fantastic in her wedding dress as did Lee in his suit. After a modern and funny service it snowed again as we all threw confetti and then made our way to the reception. Following a delicious dinner and speeches the party started with Lucy dancing the night away in her dress.

It appears Lucy has got the fairytale she has always dreamed of. Congratulations.

xxx

P.s: Have a look at some more of the photographs from the wedding and hen night.

I Passed Finals!!

2008-03-14T16:19:00.005Z

Woo Hoo!

Well those two words basically sum it up. I have passed my final medical exams and am now free to relax and enjoy my time until work starts in August.

Oh and about that.... I'm going to be a doctor.... hard work.... responsibility.... long shifts.... on calls.... ARGH!!!

xxx

I'm Free!!

2008-03-06T23:33:00.003Z

Following seven years of study, loads of essays, coursework, clinical placements, jumping through hoops on the whim of consultants, the government and lecturers and at least three full months of solid revision my final medical exams are over. Providing the results are good on the 14th March I AM FREE!!!! Well at least for the next three weeks anyway.

Over the last six days I have managed to get through a three hour written paper and three clinical exams without going completely insane through the stress (yes I have only gone slightly mad). I now have to survive a week with the knowledge that a a bad result next Friday could ruin the next three months with yet more revision for the resits. However if it is a good result then the next few months will be bliss. Starting with a two week Easter holiday (phew), shortly followed by a six week medical elective in Nepal and then some very relaxed final teaching at uni before I start work in August.

Oh yes, and about that work that starts in August. Despite finding someone that really wanted to swap jobs with me, and a lot of unsuccessful persuading, the powers that be still said "No". It seems I am destined to spend yet another year in London commuting too and from the South....it seems things don't always go the way you want. It just means I will have to look forward to the year after.

Anyhoo...lets not dwell on the depressing....the exams are over!!! WOO!!!

xxx

Jobs vs Exams

2008-02-26T21:06:00.006Z

Wow there appears to be a lot going on at the moment, and it is all quite scary stuff.

The first is that I got my job allocation for the next two years. For the first year I am supposed to be working at the Epsom/St Hellier NHS trust in south west London, with a speciality of Urology and general (internal) medicine. The second year I will be working at St Richards in Chichester which is fantastic as it was my first choice hospital.

Obviously not so happy about my first year allocation I immediately went about trying to find someone who would like to swap jobs with me. Guess what......Success!! I came across a girl on facebook who would far prefer be in London and is happily considering letting me have her Chichester job in exchange for my London job. Just need to convince the all important bosses at the South Thames Foundation School that it is a great idea. Please everyone keep your fingers crossed for me.

The second incredibly scary thing is the final exams that are due to start on Friday....ARGH!!! I have a three hour written paper to wade through followed by three practical, clinical (in a real hospital with real patients-not just actors this year) exams next week. I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to next Friday when I will be enjoying a well earned day off.

As for jobs vs exams I will leave you to decide which is the most stressful. I can't decide and think they are as bad as each other! Well better go and do some more reading....as always the more you read of medicine the more you realise you don't know. Should have studied it a few centuries ago when they didn't know so much.

xxx

Welcome to my new website!!

2008-02-12T16:45:00.000Z

I thought it was high time I got technical. So with a little......well actually a huge amount of help from my very own web designer/tech support (thankyou James for putting up with my blondness) I have managed to take my place amongst all those other modern people on the web.

A complete redesign is still in the very early stages with most of the design ideas currently ending up in the recycling bin.....trust me to be difficult and choosy. However hopefully the site will have a new personalised appearance in the not too distant future.

The site will eventually comprise of several parts. The main one will be a blog (active now) that will enable me to keep everyone interested up to date with anything exciting that happens. I thought this feature would be particularly useful when I am off travelling in Nepal. Features to come include a photo gallery and a contacts page plus one or two others.

I hope you will all enjoy having a nose around the site when it is all complete and please feel free to leave any comments.

Hope to hear from you soon.
Caroline.xx