<photo: children in Phortse, Nepal> 前人栽树，后人乘凉 is a Chinese idiom which literally translated means "one generation plants the trees under whose shade the next generation rests". a close Western equivalent of this idiom would be "pay it forward" which means that "if something good happens to a person, he turns around and does good for someone else. The idea here is that instead of paying back to the person who has helped you, the good deed is passed forward to someone else." bo

<photos: Everest Base Camp> The 3 rules of mountaineering: 1) it’s always further than it looks. 2) it’s always taller than it looks. 3) and it’s always harder than it looks. #alwaysbelieve #Everest #journey

<photos: hanging bridges over the Dudh Kosi River, between Lukla and Namche Bazaar, Nepal> don't cross the bridge until you come to it is an English proverb which simply means - don't be concerned with future problems until you come face-to-face with them. but what if the bridge looks too scary to cross when you come to it? perhaps a better proverb would be "build safe bridges that you can cross when it's time to cross". #alwaysbelieve "we build too many walls and not enoug

<photo: Pasang Tharkey Sherpa> Hikers on the Everest Base Camp trek will come across a familiar figure after passing Namche Bazaar. Depending on donations from hikers, Pasang Tharkey Sherpa has been tirelessly helping to build the trails and roads in the Himalayas for over 50 years. the Himalayas can be both magnificent and harsh at the same time. without roads, we will never get to see the awesome views and reach Everest. even with roads, the trails of the Himalayas are fr

<photo: Lukla Airport is the place where most people start the climb to Everest Base Camp> Lukla Airport, also known as the Tenzing-Hillary Airport after the first men to summit Everest, is the gateway to the Himalayas. built in 1964, Lukla Airport has no radar system and a very short runway of just 500 metres, which is a tenth of the length of a normal runway. in addition, the runway is located on a steep slope on the edge of a cliff. pilots landing at Lukla Airport have to

<photo: Scott Fischer's chorten, a traditional Nepalese memorial @ Thokla Pass in the Khumbu Valley, Nepal> the movie Everest (2015) is based on real events that occurred 20 years ago on 10-11 May 1996. those events, known as the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, revolved around the attempts by two expedition teams to reach the summit of Mount Everest, one led by Rob Hall and the other by Scott Fischer. eight people died in that disaster, and one of the survivors, Jon Krakauer, wr

<photo: crossing a crevasse, Imja Tse, Nepal> The single biggest lesson that you can learn in going to the Everest Base Camp is knowing yourself. #bcc Day 1 - Singapore-Kathmandu Day 1 - Kathmandu Day 2 - Kathmandu Day 2 - Kathmandu (delay) Day 2 - Kathmandu (disappointment) Day 3 - Kathmandu-Lukla Day 3 - Kathmandu-Lukla Day 3 - Lukla-Phakding Day 4 - Phakding-Namche Day 4 - Phakding-Namche Day 5 - Namche (first views of Everest) Day 5 - Namche Day 6 - Namche-Phortse (via Mo

<photos: Nepali children giving out flowers to trekkers. you can give back by supporting Ace Adventures' charity education initiative in Nepal> A rose can say "I love you", orchids can enthral, but a weed bouquet in a chubby fist, yes, that says it all. ~ Author Unknown #basecamp #Everest

<photo: suspension bridges across the Dudh Kosi River, along the route from Phakding to Namche> on the trek from Phakding to Namche, you have to cross several suspension bridges hanging over the Dudh Kosi River. you will come across the "dual" suspension bridges, and make a choice of crossing over the higher or lower bridge. of course we took the higher one. #bcc #bebrave There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it’s easy. #

from disappointment, hope springs eternal. we managed to get a charter flight from Kathmandu to Lukla leaving at 7am. we woke up at 430am to catch the flight, well knowing that so many things could still go wrong. even with a chartered flight, bad weather would still prevail. the bus to the airport could break down or be caught in a traffic jam. our duffel bags may not get loaded on the plane. the plane could suffer mechanical failure and not be able to take off. and eve