<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

<photo: Sagarmatha National Park Visitors Centre @ Namche, Nepal> we all love to read quotes about success to inspire us to keep pushing forward and achieve our dreams. the interesting thing about success quotes is that many of them talk about failure. it's like a standard format - success will come if we endure failure. quotes on failure, just as interesting, talk about success - failure will result in success if we are persistent. what is missing are quotes about base cam

<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

day 2 was supposed to begin with a short 30 minutes flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, the starting point of the Everest Base Camp Trek. Lukla Airport has a very short airstrip and has been called the most dangerous airport in the world. weather conditions in the mountains change very rapidly, with fierce winds and poor visibility. this is the cause of frequent deadly accidents at Lukla Airport. we had a taste of mountain weather today. all flights to Lukla were cancelled or t

<photo: Everest Base Camp trek route> over the next 20 days, I will be trekking to the Everest Base Camp and climbing Imja Tse. day 1: Singapore-Kathmandu it's a 5 hour flight from Singapore to Kathmandu. what does the view look like when landing at the Tribhuvan International Airport? staying one night in Kathmandu at Hotel Shakti. day 2: Kathmandu - Lukla - Phakding day 3: Trek to Namche day 4: Namche - Acclimatization day day 5: Namche - Khumjung day 6: Khumjung - Phorts

<photo: leaving base camp at dawn, and going on final summit climb to the peak of Mount Elbrus, southern Russia> a base camp is a place where climbers gather their resources (food, equipment, supplies) before attempting to reach the summit of the mountain. base camps are safe places where climbers can plan how to reach the peak - what routes to take, the role of each climber, what to do when an accident happens, and when to turn around. to turn around means to give up without

<photo: my first view of Mount Everest in the distance as seen from plane taking off from Paro Airport, Bhutan> it's known as Sagarmāthā (brow of the sky) in Nepal. it's Chomolungma (Goddess Mother of the Earth) in Tibet. for many it's known as Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world. straddling the border of Nepal and Tibet, Everest is 8,848 metres above sea level. for some, reaching the summit of Everest is their purpose in life. since 1953, when Sir Edmund Hill