After the excessive trek yesterday, on the 11th day Helen's knee now hurts and Nick has stiff legs! We took 2.5 hours from Namche Bazar to Jorsale (mostly downhill) and 2.5 hours from Jorsale to Phakding. It felt like the longest ever 2.5 hours.

We stayed in the same hotel as we did on the way (freeeeeezing cold!) and we met a Deaf Nepali who wouldn't shut up and leave us alone although he meant well but we were cold and had one thing on our minds - warmth!

Helen's jaw dropped when she saw a Nepali/Sherpa canter his horse over a steel bridge with gaps....it just goes to show how much we protect our horses at home. (the horse didn't even have shoes on!).

Nick reports that today has been a good day but his legs were feeling it and that it's good to know that we are only a days trek from the airport!

On our last day of trekking.....THE HOME RUN, both of us were feeling sentimental....we gained 200m at the very end to Lukla - torture. Both of us are feeling fitter than ever (even fitter than our guide and porter). By now, our guide was royally p*^$+ng us off and we could not wait to escape him so on arrival at Lukla we tried to get on the next flight but the flights had finished up for the day so we had to wait until the next day. Instead we treated ourselves to a 'Starbucks' and to proper food!

All in all, it took us 8 days to get to EBC but 4 days to get back!

In the last 13 days, Helen had one shower (which will be a shock to those who know her well) and of course, Nick had none (and his feet smelt very bad!) You had to pay 400 rupees if you wanted a shower and it was usually straight from a boiling kettle and only lasted 5 minutes. This explains why Helens hair looks a mess in some of the photos.

We made a few pointless observations during our trek;
1) Helen thinks that Yaks have pretty faces and cute tails
2) we saw what must have been a 10 year old carrying 50+ kilo on his back uphill
3) horses and Yaks are left to roam and the Sherpas trust them to return
4) inside is colder than outside
5) every night we were in bed asleep by 8pm
6) the higher up you go, the more you feel your heart
7) Nick has very smelly feet
8) eggs make you fart a lot (yes, those of you in year 10 French lessons - they're back!)
9) Mt Everest, although the tallest mountain in the world hides very well
10) we saw a Sherpa carry 9x24 cans of San Miguel beer on his back up the mountain for you alcoholics
11) as we returned to Luka, everyone setting off looked hyper and fresh!!