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Kyri VassilasKyri Vassilas
SatellitRediger rute
I'm Greek American born and raised in the UK looking forward to my round the world adventure with my partner! Læs mere London, United Kingdom
  • 2024 Adventure
    Dag 83–85

    The rest of Hong Kong

    26. april, Hong Kong ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    With Hong Kong being one of the most expensive places in the world, let alone on our trip, we struggled a bit to figure out what we could do for cheap or free while staying out of our dungeon accommodation as much as possible.

    We started each day with breakfast at a nearby fast food joint, for £6 each which had an odd medley of things to eat. On our first day, we booked a free walking tour, which was really good and helped ground us in the location and understand it better. Highlights included going on the world's longest outdoor covered escalator system, the Central–Mid-Levels Escalator, and the Chinese temple, where we were instructed on how to pray and ask the gods questions. We also tried a local egg tart dessert that tasted mostly like egg.

    We then did some much-needed shopping for shorts, as we were now going to be in less modestly dressed countries. For dinner that evening, we went to a Chinese restaurant and ordered the local specialty, Won Ton noodle soup. We then went off for an evening walk and realized we were right by the shore facing the city lights. We walked along the huge boardwalk until we got tired and went to bed.

    Every night that we slept there, our sleep was worse and worse. That night night, I woke up feeling like something was crawling on me; the night before, something from the roof dripped on my head. I woke up that night literally saying to myself, "One more night, it's only one more night." As we were in a bed just a tiny bit bigger than a single, when I awoke, James woke up too and turned to me and said, "That was a shit night's sleep, but it's okay because that was our last night." I was like, "Wait, no, we have one more night." Turns out James couldn't sleep that night either and was so fed up he booked a hotel near the airport that had a pool and breakfast included. I literally could have cried with happiness.

    Our only urgent task for that day was to post some of our warm clothing and souvenirs back home, so we quickly did that, packed, and then, as our check-in wasn't until 2 pm, we got a celebratory ice cream and went to the art gallery on the waterfront. We then went off to the hotel and checked in. It was expensive, but after suffering through the past few nights, it felt very well deserved. The room was pretty incredible by normal standards, with a floor-to-ceiling wall overlooking the green hills. We donned our swimsuits and, even though it was on the verge of raining, we went to the pool and hung out there until closing at 5 pm. We then wandered around the shopping mall that the building was attached to and got some dinner, then returned to our room just to soak it all up.

    Breakfast the next morning was delicious, and we then packed and headed to the airport to catch our flight. Hong Kong, you were beautiful and fun but in a different way than we've experienced so far. Maybe we'll return one day when our budget is bigger.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    412
    Dag 82

    Hong Kong Disneyland

    25. april, Hong Kong ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    We'd played with the idea of visiting Disneyland in Florida some years ago but decided against it for cost reasons. However, as we were already nearby, we decided to spend the day at the Hong Kong version to see what it was like. We arrived early for the 10 a.m. opening, and as we walked up the drive to the entrance, we both felt the excitement building.

    After getting through, we started with a train ride around the park to figure out the layout. We then decided to go clockwise and began with the Space Mountain ride. James had assured me this first ride was gentle and not too intense; however, we quickly realized how wrong he was. It was a very fast, very twisty indoor dark thrill ride, which I was not prepared for. I finished feeling a bit shaky in my legs and needed to sit quietly for a few minutes. James loved it. I then felt a bit traumatized by that first ride and was cautious about the rest of the rides.

    We did a few more mellow rides, including an Ant-Man and The Wasp ride in the Marvel area and then a boat trip in a lagoon that included a waterfall that was on fire. We then went to the mining village, where we got on another thrilling ride, which was incredible, long, and really loopy and mad. It ended up being our favorite ride, and we had a second go on it before finishing our time in Disneyland.

    We did some more rides and saw a Lion King show, which was a bit cheesy but fun, before heading to Toy Story Land, which was one of James's favorites. We went on the Toy Soldiers ride, which was a drop-type ride that I hated and screamed the whole way through (see video), and the toy car ride, which I point-blank refused to go on, as I hate swinging rides after a bad experience on one in the past. James enjoyed it thoroughly.

    The new Frozen Land was gorgeous, and we arrived just at sunset, which made everything seem even prettier. The rollercoaster ride was a bit disappointing, though, as it was extremely short, and we'd waited in line longer than the ride lasted. We then did the classic It's A Small World boat ride, which was actually really pleasant, and then we went back to the mining ride for a second turn. It was then dark, and the park was looking twinkly and beautiful as we got some tasty dinner and decided to wander around before the evening firework display. There was a beautiful maze with little miniature princess scenes, which was lovely, and then we rode the teacups before taking up our spot for the display and fireworks. They went on for ages and were very pretty. It was a lovely ending to a really fun day.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    141
    Dag 80–81

    Traveling to Hong Kong

    23. april, Hong Kong ⋅ 🌩️ 25 °C

    Our journey to Hong Kong was probably the longest and most exhausting experience I've ever had. It started at 9 am in Pokhara (ace lasted more than 24 hours), where we took a very small domestic flight to Kathmandu, which was SO bumpy I was actually quite scared (the person behind me was also sick. James and I were both pretty nauseous too btw). We then waited in Kathmandu airport for ages as the King of Qatar's visit meant the whole airport was on lockdown until he left. We also went through a ridiculous number of checks and security, which became extremely aggravating. On our flight to Delhi, just as we were beginning our descent, when the captain announced that due to a thunderstorm (and extremely bumpy conditions) we weren't going to be landing in Delhi but in Lucknow, which was back half the distance we'd just travelled. Once landed there, we waited for 20 mins on the plane before being told we'd refuel here and take off again to Delhi. Our 2 hour flight became a 5 hour flight. We arrived so late in Delhi that there was no point going to our hotel, so we got a Domino's pizza and checked into our next flight to Hong Kong, departing at 4 am. Checking in was slow as the airline's systems were down and after no sleep and being exhausted, it was very hard to stay standing. After making it through security and into the departures area, we found no seats that did not have hard metal armrests, so it was near impossible to get any sleep, plus there were loads of mosquitoes there which I could feel and see biting me as I sat there.

    As soon as we boarded our flight, James and I fell right to sleep and woke after several hours hungry, but soon realised they didn't serve free food on this 5-hour flight.

    When we arrived in Hong Kong, it was like stepping into the future. After being in some chaotic and rundown airports, it felt weird walking through a pristinely clear space that had automatic flushing toilets with paper, tap water we could drink, and even showers all before immigration. Immigration was a breeze, and we collected our bags and found the bus stop that took us straight to our centrally located room. We got front seats on the double-decker bus and ogled the smooth roads and obedient cars. The hills surrounding Hong Kong are lush and beautiful, and springing up from below them are tall high-rise buildings which make it so interesting to just stare at.

    Our Airbnb room was located in Chungking Mansions, which I would recommend Googling as it's a bit of a notorious place that used to be considered a ghetto (though we didn't know this at the time). The room was... um...a room. We knew it wasn't going to be that nice as it was one of three places that was within our budget in the whole city that wasn't just a mattress on the floor, but we still hadn't quite expected what we got. The entrance was through rough currency exchange and Indian food stalls, to the lifts in the centre. Our landing was then extremely humid and smelled of fried food, and it smelt of BO and more food in the apartment hallway. The apartment had obviously been roughly divided into 6+ rooms. Ours was only just a bit bigger than our bathroom at home and consisted of a bed, toilet and shower room, and a wardrobe. It was tiny, and the AC unit was old and loud and had one setting; cold, and no window (well, a window to a shaft that we were too scared to look into). We both played it cool and tried to pretend it wasn't the worst place we'd ever stayed in.

    We quickly freshened up and headed out for some dinner at a ramen restaurant which cost us £45, more than we'd spent on a single meal for the whole trip.

    We then took the bus to Victoria Peak where you get a stunning view of the city skyline from atop a hill and then took the old (but now refurbished) super steep tram down.

    By now very tired, we then went back and slept to get rested for our trip to Disneyland the next day.

    P.S. we did not sleep well as the AC was freezing when on and humid and stuffy when off, plus I'd all but cocooned myself in my silk liner for fear of bed bugs or other creepy crawlies getting on me. Plus when we woke up it was as dark as when we fell asleep, so we had no idea what time it was all night when we stirred awake.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Dag 75–80

    Pokhara - part 2

    18. april, Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    On our final day of the trek, which was our travel back day, we woke up early to catch the 7 am microbus with Cecilia. We ate our breakfast in the Manaslu hotel front outside area. After we had finished, we said goodbye to Mitra, which was sad as we had spent so much time with him and got to know him, knowing we probably won't meet again.

    The journey was long and bumpy as usual, the only moment of note was when we got stuck in the more standstill chaotic traffic jam I've ever experienced. On a road with construction taking place, a truck and an oil tanker had collided while trying to pass each other on a dirt road. Nothing was much damaged, but obviously, it being an oil tanker, they were being very 'careful' with a digger trying to dislodge the vehicles from each other. This was taking up the entire road, and so the other half under construction road was being used to move either side of heavy traffic past, although this was not being managed by anyone and was super ad hoc. We didn't know this until passing by, so we got stuck further up, and it all seemed to be people trying to wiggle and pass each other for the whole length. It was also extremely hot, and we were in a mental box with no fan or AC, and with the car not moving, no air was getting into the open windows. We all quickly sweated through our clothes, and I began panicking that I'd get heat exhaustion and pass out. We were in the same spot for at least 1 hour. I was very close to getting out and walking past the traffic jam I was that desperate. Finally, we began moving inch by inch and got past it. Finally arriving in Pokhara, we said goodbye to Cecilia and got into our separate cabs to head to our accommodation.

    We found our place on the slope of a hill, at the top of a dirt path, with a stunning view of the lake and treetops growing around us. Our room was divine. Huge with a lovely bathroom, huge bed, and windows opening out onto the view, with our own private balcony.

    We didn't get up to much while in Pokhara, mostly read our books, slept extremely well, wandered around to the local cafes and bars for food, and enjoyed delicious homemade granola made by our hosts.

    There were a few highlights though. We went up in the gondola, which was right by us, to the top of the hills, where you can normally see the Manaslu, Annapurna peaks but with the haze that engulfed the city the whole time we were there, we didn't see them. The gondola ride itself was fun though, very high and much longer than we thought it would be.

    We also rented a pedal boat for an hour and went out into the lake, but it was very hot and a lot of physical effort, most of which James was doing, though he didn't realize until we were almost done.

    And one evening we went to an outdoor screening of Amelie where we got served drinks and pizza all surrounded by a bamboo forest and twinkly lights it was lovely.

    On our final evening, we met up with Cecilia and had a fun evening dinner and drinks, catching up on what we'd been up to and what our upcoming plans were. It was a lovely way to end our time in Nepal, laughing and having fun with new friends.

    Our time in Nepal has been really magical. I've learned so much about myself and experienced things I never thought I'd do or see. The people we met have been amazing and friendly, and the country will definitely have a special place in my heart.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Dag 74

    Day 12 - Manaslu trek

    17. april, Nepal ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    It definitely felt like we left the mountains behind today, which was sad.

    By now, we'd all settled into our breakfast classics: Cecilia's porridge, James's eggs, and my muesli. Sadly, there was a big furry centipede-like creature in the sugar jar, so I had a little freak out first thing in the morning.

    After that, we set off promptly to the next village, Tilche, where we were to meet the jeep that would take us down to Besisahar.

    I chatted with Cecilia for most of the walk and spoke about how she found the love of her life, her husband, which was not a straightforward tale, but was really beautiful to hear.

    When we arrived at the jeep, James and I squished into the front seat, with Cecilia and two other Nepalese ladies and their two children in the back seat, and Mitra and another guy sitting/standing in the open-topped cargo area.

    Although it was bumpy for lots of the 4+ hour route, it was actually not bad compared to our Langtang return. The hardest part for me was trying not to roll onto the driver next to me, as I had no seatbelt available, and keeping my legs out of the way when he needed to shift gear.

    We'd heard tell that the Annapurna trek route went up roads now, and we saw this first hand as there were quite a few trekkers going up the road with all their gear while us and lots of other jeeps and lorries went by, throwing up dust and exhaust fumes. We definitely picked the better trek.

    As we got lower in altitude, it got steadily hotter. When we arrived in Besisahar, we found ourselves in a bustling city and us in our smelly dusty trekking gear. We ate a delicious lunch in the Manaslu restaurant and then stayed in their super cute blue guesthouse across the street. Our window view was of a cement wall, which was great for echoing the sound of other rooms' noise to us and making it super hard to tell where the goat bleating noise was coming from. Back in civilization, I felt very unsure of what to do with myself, without any mountain to look at and only a busy street to explore.

    At lunch, Cecilia showed us the new clothes she'd purchased as it was easier than trying to wash your clothes, and we chatted and exchanged tales. Getting to sleep was much louder and more chaotic than in the mountains, with the noise of someone watching Call of Duty footage floating up to us and someone deciding 9 pm was a good time to blast the latest Nepali hits, but we drifted off eventually.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    1
    Dag 73

    Day 11 - Manaslu trek

    16. april, Nepal ⋅ 🌫 4 °C

    James and I both slept solidly for more than 10 hours. It was glorious. We woke warm and well-rested; it was hard to leave our sleeping bags. After breakfast, we said goodbye to the Canadian group with Dil Man who'd been shadowing us for the last 5 days and began our further descent down to Gowa at 2550m. This was to be our last full day of walking, so we pledged to try and enjoy it as much as we could. Thankfully it wasn't hard to enjoy, as the mountains in the background were epic and the rocks quickly turned into lush floral forests, making it hard not to stop every five minutes and take photos. We hiked through lush flower forests, dense clifftop woodlands, through a burnt-down woodland (from where lightning had struck), and finally on a rough dirt road.

    Along the way, we bumped into hikers we'd met earlier on the trail, who'd also done the pass the day before. The German man told us how hard he'd found it and how he'd also nearly cried reaching the top. He was especially relieved to hear that we'd also found it incredibly hard.

    With about an hour to our final destination, clouds began rolling in through the valley, and after a few very large drops, James and I put on our new ponchos. It was good to get some use out of them. We tried to quicken our pace as we heard lightning and thunder, and the memory of that burnt forest area came back to me, but after so many hours of downhill, our ankles and knees were protesting.

    We finally made it to our destination without getting too soaked, to our wonderful cabin rooms which had little skylights and en-suites (with a cold shower!) the luxury. After getting out of our wet things and taking a quick cold shower, we settled down to read and watch the rain. After an hour, James spotted the most humongous spider hanging out right above our heads. It was too big for me to get near (and I'm not usually scared of spiders), so James got it into a vessel and released it outside.

    We finally had full WiFi coverage so dinner was a bit quiet while everyone checked their phones, but overall it was lovely as we drank alcohol and ate some very tasty food. Mitra even arranged for us to sample some dried buffalo meat, as we hadn't had any meat for the hike. It was chewy but beautifully seasoned. Now used to an early bedtime of 8 pm, we all went to sleep in our last night in the mountains.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Dag 72

    Day 10 - Conquering the Summit - Manaslu

    15. april, Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C

    This was the hardest challenge of my entire life.

    We all managed to stay warm in the night, thankfully. However, we all slept pretty badly due to the altitude (it makes you sleep restlessly because there's little oxygen), so when we woke in the dark at 3 am, we were all kinda glad to begin.

    After trying to stomach some Tibetan fried bread with egg, which was a terrible choice for so early in the morning, we got ourselves together and began our most challenging experience yet.

    It was pitch black, so everyone was wearing their head torches along the path, and if you looked around, you could just see little lights slowly moving up the mountain. Mine and James' stomachs quickly started protesting the fried bread that morning, and with the combination of 55% less oxygen and little sleep, things already felt bad in our bellies.

    At about 5 am, the sun was starting to hit the mountain peaks, and the view began to look like a poster picture of incredible images. The orange and pink of the sky reflected off some of the mountains onto others, and it was probably one of the most incredible things I'll ever see.

    It was incredible but also somewhat hard to enjoy as all I could think about was how hard it was to put one foot in front of the other and get enough breath. It looked and felt like we were walking in slow motion.

    At 4,900m, (1.5h away from the 5,100m peak), the altitude hit me the hardest. I felt incredibly lethargic and light-headed. I started worrying I was going to faint or that I'd have to turn back. We stopped for a moment, and Mitra gave me some coke which didn't seem like it helped initially, but after 10 mins, I think it kicked in. By now, the snow was many feet thick, and it was a gamble every time you put your foot down if it would hold or your foot would fall deep into the snow. The sun had risen fully and was blinding against the snow, and we were getting incredibly warm in our down jackets and multiple layers.

    After my wobble, I set my mind to getting over the peak and just getting the hell down from here. This one thought of starting our descent, as we couldn't turn back and there was no other way to get down, was what drove me on and on. As we came to the peak, Mitra, who was ahead of us, exclaimed "You made it!" And James, Cecilia and I all started crying uncontrollably. We had made it. We all found it so hard, at moments we each felt like we weren't going to make it. It's hard to describe the relief and happiness we all felt to have actually achieved this mammoth task. We all hugged, cried, and took photos. Cecelia had promised she was going to do burpees on the peak for her bootcamp. Amazingly, she did 10 when she initially thought she'd only be able to do one.

    After 10-15 minutes, we began our descent, but it turned out the challenge wasn't over yet. Going down, the snow got very slippery and even after applying our crampons, when we got to a huge side of the mountains with slushy snowy switchbacks for 2 hours, we all hated it. I was so scared of hurting my ankle again. James admitted to me on the peak that he already had zero energy and so was slipping quite a lot due to the lack of energy.

    After descending 776m, we finally arrived at the first building after the pass. In a fog of tiredness and pain, we sat down, and then in shock at what we'd just achieved, we began laughing and crying hysterically.

    The food was the most glorious thing I'd ever eaten, and afterwards, we descended into a silent stupor. We still had just under 5 km left until we arrived at our tea house for the night. We actually tried to get a price for a donkey to ride us the rest of the way, but no luck. At this point, we realised we'd be awake and walking for 12 hours.

    We arrived at the cutest tea house we'd stayed in yet, all of us with our own little cabins and a glorious hot shower. All the ladies washed their hair. We then all gathered in the dining hall where the fire was roaring, and we tucked into our dinner, and then promptly went to bed at 7 pm because we'd been up for SO long.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Dag 71

    Day 9 - Manaslu trek

    14. april, Nepal ⋅ ☁️ -2 °C

    Today was going to be a very short day as we were just heading to Dharmasala, which was the final settlement before we went through Larkya La pass and the highest peak of the trek. We began early, setting out by 7 am. However, sitting at 4,500m, 500m higher than where we started, the whole route was uphill and with the altitude, the air was becoming very thin and hard to breathe in. So it took us nearly 4 hours to go 6 km.

    It turned out Dharmasala was more of a camp than any kind of settlement. There were two or three rows of prefabricated shelters with many rows of tents beside them. It was like being holed up in some kind of temporary shelter. The three of us were sharing a room, which was just a row of mattresses next to each other covering the entire space, and in front of us was the "dining hall," which was another prefabricated room that had a window missing. The whole thing was incredibly basic and at this altitude, incredibly cold (prob like -10). We arrived at 12ish, and after eating our lunch, we then had NOTHING to do until bedtime. There was a hill nearby that lots of people, including James, decided to climb, but otherwise, there was nothing to do and no comfortable place to be. Everyone there was there because they were going to climb the pass tomorrow, so looking around this desolate outcrop, you just saw bored, antsy hikers milling around trying to stay warm and look for something to do. Because of the altitude, you're also not supposed to nap as it can make the acclimatisation worse.

    By 3 pm, Cecilia, James and I were going crazy. We ended up speaking to a young man named Josh from Canada who was doing the trek with just himself and his guide. When Mitra found us, he managed to find us a deck of cards and taught us a Nepalese card game which managed to keep us entertained for at least 2 hours before our food arrived.

    Thankfully, our food managed to warm us up and then we all retired to our room to try and sleep before our 3 am wake-up the next day to begin our hike through the peak of our journey, Larkia Pass.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    Dag 70

    Day 8 - Manaslu trek

    13. april, Nepal ⋅ ⛅ -1 °C

    Today was a short day to Samdo, just three hours up to about 4,000m. We left late at about 8am and the road was a very gentle incline. James was not having a good day, his stomach was not great in the morning and then his back was aching from the bag today so it was a relief to finally arrive into Samdo.

    We requested a double bed room this time as we have been in twins the whole way and are missing our cuddles and the comfort of sitting next to eachother.

    As James wasn't feeling well, he tested in the room while we enjoyed a tasty lunch in the teahouses rooftop conservatory like structure which was warm in the sun. And then rested before taking a little 1 hour hike up to a ridge at 4,100m. It was pretty steep and I knew as we were going up I was not going to enjoy the decent. When we arrived at the top I didn't not like how steep it felt, I felt like I was on the edge of a cliff, which I guess was kinda true. The views of the mountains and the town and valleys bellow were incredible though and it was worth it just for that. Almost immediately as we deccended I became panicked, with my fear of slipping in the dusty rubbly path almost immobilized me, but with James there Cecilia was very encouraging and we made it down uninjured.

    I returned to James feeling a lot better and we ate dinner and firmed up or plans for the remainder of the trip.    Læs mere

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  • 2024 Adventure
    12111
    Dag 69

    Day 7 - Manaslu trek

    12. april, Nepal ⋅ ☁️ -2 °C

    Today was the best day so far! It was an acclimatisation day for us, so we were heading up to about 4,200m and then back down to sleep at our hotel at 3,500m. As it was just a day hike, it was nice not to have to take our full bags.

    As we hiked the steepish climb towards Mt Manaslu Basecamp, the view just got more and more amazing. Once we got about halfway up to the basecamp, we stopped at a cave with prayer flags and paused to take in the view. There were no words to describe it. While taking it in, we watched the glacier break off and avalanche down the mountain.

    Once we'd rested and taken in as much as we could, we headed back down and then took a detour to see the lake formed by the glacier. The water was SO cold but so beautifully blue it looked like it could be tropical. Cecilia stripped down to her underwear and went for a cold water swim. In comparison, I took off my shoes and socks and put my feet in, which I could only do for like 30 seconds.

    We then headed back to town via the massive monastery and arrived just in time to enjoy lunch outside in the sun. We spent the rest of the day chilling until dinner.    Læs mere

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