Category Archives: Tettie

Island Hopping

Posted on by
4

Scarlett Literally Island Hopping

by Scarlett

Although we’ve only done a little island hopping before going back to the mainland, I have experienced a lot. In going from one island, Koh Samui, to another island, Koh Tao, my opinion has changed to think that island hopping is great (apart from the bumpy ferries).

I like it because of the quiet little bungalows next to the beach so we can go in the sea every day. These bungalows are nearly always on the edge of a small group of shops and ATMs so we can get new money out easily and spend it in the shops.

This is so different to Nepal because Nepal, with its stinky smell and gardenless hotels is not inviting (the mountains are an exception), whereas here I feel free. Nepal’s towering mountains are not as beautiful as the sea and you can’t go swimming in them!

We spent New Year’s Eve in Koh Tao. Unluckily, I fell asleep for the fireworks.

First Impressions of Thailand

Posted on by
1

Evie

Thailand has a lovely sea and a warm beach. The sea is not as cold as England. The weather can be cold but most of the time it is warm. Bangkok is a bit busy but the islands are nowhere near as busy. The thing I like best is the sea.

Scarlett

Thailand is very hot. It is good that it is hot because it warms you when you have been in the cool sea. Thailand is also fun and exciting since we’ve never been here before. The people are also very friendly especially to children.  My favourite thing is the people acting very friendly towards us.

Jemima

Here on Koh Samui it is exceedingly hot and every morning you feel like you want to jump in the sea but normally you are out on other business and we only get to go in the sea in the afternoon. The sea is not exactly cold – not as cold as in England – but if you are a child then if you get cold you can go and lie down on the sand in the sun because it is warm. The sun seems to go down very quickly and I don’t know if I’m imagining it because I like it here so much. My favourite thing is how every day you can splash into the refreshing sea.

Janet

The food is every bit as good as I remember. The smell of the warm air feels like coming home, almost. The language feels so much more familiar than Napali; I understand snatches of it and it makes me feel excited and I want to learn more of it. My favourite thing is the night market food stalls.

Fergus

Thai people smile and laugh so much. It feels so safe and friendly travelling here. Just how I remember – but even better with kids. And the food: wow! I’d remembered that it was good but since arriving I’ve also remembered how I grew my first ever belly here. Curse you fried honey bananas! After three months in the mountains, seeing the sea was such a relief. Is there anything better than throwing yourself into the cool sea on a blazing hot day? My favourite thing is… eating.

How a Pizza Broke My Leg

Posted on by
3

by Scarlett

I never realized what would happen when I ate that pizza…

Suspension Bridge on Annapurna Base Camp Trek

First we went down and flat. But that was only the first part of the day’s trek. Then we crossed a suspension bridge and went up. We were climbing steps forever or so it seemed. Sometimes the steps were little, sometimes the steps were big. Sometimes the steps were smooth, sometimes the steps were bumpy. Sometimes the steps were thin, sometimes the steps were fat. But always the steps went up!

When at last the steps came to a halt at the top of the hill, we had veggie curry and rice each (normally we get three and share). After lunch we climbed again the neverending steps up to our destination, Chommrong!

We were very hungry from all this walking and had three pizzas for tea instead of the usual dhal bhat. Of course, we shared and laughed together, playing pontoon, writing diaries and Mummy and Daddy reading Harry Potter to us. It was most comfortable in that little dining room with civilization all around us.

Then the pizza came and it was delicious. The rich taste stayed in your tummy for a long time after you ate it. Then we climbed yet more steps to bed feeling satisfied, unlocked the door feeling satisfied and got into bed feeling satisfied.

In the night I woke up feeling sick. I got up or tried to. Because as soon as my feet left the bed they hit the wall! I’d tried to get out of the wrong side of my bed. When I was at last out of bed, I felt my way to the wall. It was pitch black! Then I started to cry in despair because I didn’t know which way to go. Luckily, Daddy heard me cry out and showed me the way and I went to the toilet and back to bed.

Then I told him I didn’t feel well. He brought me something to be sick in. Almost immediately after he had left, I was sick! This time Mummy came and sorted me out.

When I woke up again, I was informed that we were not trekking again that day because I was ill but we were exploring the village.

On our way, I fell four or five metres! I landed on my leg it really hurt and the pain didn’t go away. Everyone was asking if I was OK. I said no.

Then Daddy carried me back up the hill to our lodge so that his arms ached.  Every time he stepped, it hurt my leg. When we reached the lodge, I lay down and Daddy ready Harry Potter which I definitely think made it better.

Carrying Scarlett to the Helicopter Landing Field

Then a helicopter came and took us to hospital. The flight was amazing! I felt as though I was floating on a very noisy cloud! The view went on all the time we were on the helicopter. Mountains skidded past and beneath us us villages skated. Forests seemed like patches of grass and I couldn’t see the difference between paths and rivers.

Himalaya Range from a Helicopter

Then we landed on the roof of the hospital and found out we where in Katmandu instead of where we thought we were going, Pokhara.

I never realized what would happen when I ate that pizza… I would end up in Kathmandu with a broken leg… But now I do!

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

Posted on by
3

To say the last few days have been a whirlwind is putting it lightly.  No one expects to actually use their travel insurance, especially not the dramatic ‘helicopter rescue for emergency medical treatment’ section.

 

But here we are, in a hospital room that will be permanently etched upon my brain (and no doubt Scarlett’s too, the length of time she’ll be lying still in here, poor thing), reading through policy documents and working out the pro’s and con’s of the options the insurance company have given us.

 

We are lucky enough to have a choice.  The initial response was that we had to all fly home and end the trip.  However, they have now agreed that we can continue with the trip and they will cover Scarlett’s treatment on the condition that we stay in Nepal and use the same team of doctors that she is with now.  If we move on to a new country, we have to take responsibility for the cost of Scarlett’s treatment, which means we would realistically have to be here until early January when she moves from a full leg cast to a half leg cast and has various scans and x rays to check it is healing properly.  After that, there would be no scheduled appointments except for the final removal of the cast after a further 6 weeks (mid Feb), which would be fairly cheap to pay for privately, so we could move on to Thailand in early January.

 

Alternatively, we can all fly home in about 3 weeks time when she is fit to travel.  This would mean we could get the cast changed and all the scans etc in the UK, with a plan to basically set off again in early January.  This would mean buying a new insurance policy (which of course would exclude any cover for Scarlett’s treatment, so again we’d be paying for the cast removal in Thailand).  And of course, paying for flights for all 5 of us from the UK to Thailand.

 

We are currently leaning towards coming home, but it’s a tough decision and I’m not sure we are in quite the right frame of mind to make it just now.

My thoughts today on coming home are:

Good Things:

  • The NHS and the safety of knowing that Scarlett will get whatever she needs, medically
  • I think Scarlett would be better entertained in the UK as there’s not a lot to do in Nepal on crutches – lots of steps, uneven pavements etc.  In the UK we could take her out for a drive and there’s always disabled access to places.  Plus those mobility scooters you can hire – she’d have a field day on one of those!
  • We’d be home for Christmas, which we’d all really enjoy
  • We’ll save about £200 in postage as we were planning to send a suitcase of trekking equipment home which we could just take with us
  • Catching up with family and friends
  • We are lucky enough to have already had offers of places to stay (as our house is rented out)
  • The girls could see Marmalade, our cat

 

Bad Things:

  • It breaks up the trip which none of our children want – they feel very insecure about flying home
  • It costs about £2,000 more than the option of staying (new insurance and extra flights)
  • Risk of blowing a lot of our travel money while in the UK on things like petrol and food…our budgets are based on third world prices
  • We have no winter clothes!
  • I have a strange fear that we will somehow get stuck and not be able to set off again – irrational I know but I can’t help it

The main things I’ve always wanted to get out of this trip though are for us all to spend a year together as a family without the distractions of work, the drudgery of housework and the chaos of modern life.  So whatever we decide to do, as long as I can focus all my attention of being there for my family and enjoying our time together, I don’t think it matters too much where in the world we end up.

Three Small Children Climbing Extra-Ordinarily Big Mountains

Posted on by
3

View from Gokyo Ri

by Scarlett

Today, the 3rd October, 3 children were claimed to be seen climbing Gokyo Ri at 6:00am in the morning. They were going up that day because their father woke up very early and saw that the sun was shining. Gokyo Ri is in the Everest region and it can get quite cold. A lot of people claimed they were there when this event took place, so it was very busy.

It is free to go up Gokyo Ri. It is also very, very steep.

We Made It!

Adults with the children numbered four, were 3 men and a woman. It was a tiring climb and they didn’t really enjoy it but the view at the top was amazing! The other people climbing Gokyo Ri were astounded at the 8 year old triplets and kept encouraging the girls. People can’t believe that 3 girls made it to the top since they are only 8 years old. They said it was easy going down. One of the girls got altitude sickness and had to be carried by one of the men.

At the top of Gokyo Ri there is an amazing view of a glacier surrounded by mountains. These mountains have a big lake in front of them. The lake is turquoise and the sun glitters off it. There are prayer flags hung around the top which can have icicles hanging from them. Sometimes it has less snow. It can be rocky.

The best parts of climbing Gokyo Ri are the view and coming back down. Coming back down is amazingly easy!

[This was Scarlett’s ‘Write a Newspaper Article Challenge’. It was typed up, paragraphized and spelling-corrected by Dad but otherwise all Scarlett’s work. Only 8 wrong spelling’s, too, (and not turquoise!) which is wonderful.]

Recommendations for Places to Visit When Trekking

Posted on by
2

by Scarlett

We have been in Nepal for nearly a month and by reading this you will find out some of the best places to stay at and visit when trekking.

I would recommend walking to Namche Bazaar in four days with children, two days with an adult and maybe three days with a big group. Good places to stay at would be Tok Tok (with its cozy guesthouse and pretty views of the forest and a river). Chheplung would also be a nice place place to stay. It’s very close to Lukla if you have booked a flight the next day or something like that. In Benkar, there is a waterfall which is great for your children to play in.

Namche itself has a lot of lovely bakeries. I recommend Herman Helmer’s Bakery. It has great apple pie, beautiful pizza but very small sandwiches that aren’t worth the money. The pizza has nak cheese on (it’s nak cheese not yak cheese because yaks are boys and naks are girls). If you want to write a diary or something like that then Herman Helmer’s is often a quiet place to sit. The Everest Bakery is also very nice and it does pasta which Herman’s does not. Apple pie at Everest is more cinnamony that Herman’s.

In Pangboche, they have a Herman’s Bakery (different to Herman Helmer’s Bakery) which does the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. It was called chocolate trefoil and was proper English chocolate.

At Gokyo, it all quite expensive and I would recommend taking a down jacket which you can hire in Namche Bazaar. You cannot hire children’s down jackets.
Gokyo Ri is nearly always worth the climb to the top except when it is cloudy. The view is undoubtedly the best one I have ever seen. You can see a glacier from above. It’s amazing.

Buddha at Tengboche Butter Lamps

In Tengboche, you can go and see an amazing monastery but you have to be very quiet. In the monastery, you can pay Rs. 25 to light a butter lamp even if you are a child. A butter lamp is a sort of little candle and if you light one, Buddhists believe that Buddha will pray for you. There was a bakery right next to the monastery.

Yak (or maybe a Nak) Donkey TrainDzho

To keep safe, you must always get out of the way of yaks which you often meet on the way to Gokyo. You must also get out of the way of donkeys. If you didn’t, you could get pushed off the edge of a mountain!

What I Think About Travelling

Posted on by
3

By Scarlett

I feel weird about going travelling. It will seem so strange being out of home. I am looking forward to travelling but I don’t quite believe it’s going to be real. I think I am going to feel travel sick if it’s going to be real.

I’m looking forward to Thailand most of all because mummy and daddy keep saying how good it is. I am looking forward to the views, they will be quite beautiful. I think that the countries we are going to will be a tiny bit the same as England. At the moment I can imagine a picture of 5 people, who are us 5, walking along a Thai beach with big rucksacks on and the shadows are long and the sun is setting over a blue sea, and the sunset is reflecting on the water. There is no one but us there.

I can also imagine big beautiful mountains covered in snow with the sun setting in between them, and there’s a river running up to the sun with ice floating on it. All the snow on the mountains is melting. I imagine it’s so beautiful in Nepal.

There’s a few things I will not be able to imagine until I see them. One of these is a rainbow in Thailand. I can’t imagine a rainbow in Thailand at all. Another one is a car in Thailand. And Thai voices and clothes. I can’t imagine any of the countries voices, but I can imagine all of their clothes apart from Nepal’s and Thailand’s.

I am so glad we were born before our mother and father set off travelling! It means we have more money because we’ve had longer to save up, and it means we (us 3) get to go!