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From Hull to Everywhere Else

My trip from Hull heading eastwards. The aim is to reach Turkey overland, then into the 'Stans. Thence to India and further east. . After that who knows? But I'm not overplanning. Just going to see what happens. Read more
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    🇳🇵 Khumbupasanglahmu, Nepal
    LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    EBC Day 7

    Yesterday in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -8 °C

    After a day’s rest yesterday resumed the trek today. We’re getting deep into the mountains now. Weather was good. Deep blue skies. Morning was a relatively easy trek. After lunch however a huge upwards trek. I guess we gained 300m over the next hour. And then as it flattened out we arrived at the Everest memorial for those who have died here. There are a lot of memorials.

    After that the ground levelled off and after another couple of hours we arrived in Lobuche. The tea house we’re staying in even had a hot shower at the cost of 1000 Nepalese rupees (about £5). It’s been about four or five days since my last one and it’s doing my hairstyle no good at all so I decided to take advantage. It was so good. Best shower ever.

    Tomorrow we head on to base camp so we have an early start hence my typing this on bed at 8.00pm.

    There’s a guy who works here who has a Spurs flag over the entrance to the dining room. Poor boy.    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    EBC day 5

    May 10 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ -4 °C

    Today we trekked from pangboche to Donboche. Yesterday was good. Today I was struggling. Every step uphill was hard and the only way to manage was to do what everyone advises: go very slowly. The weather was good in the morning but it turned after lunch and from then onwards it was constant light snow.

    Had an encounter with a yak! On a set of steps a yak seemed to have got its rope caught in the branches of some kind of plant. As it pulled free it panicked and run down the steps that we were ascending. Sajar jumped out of the way to the left and me a little behind him, to the right. I’m sure there was no malice on the yak’s part but having a tonne of animal with two spiky horns running towards you is mildly interesting. Worthy of a cup of tea later on anyway.

    It must have been a day for animal incidents. There was a Sherpa riding a donkey down some steps. The donkey was not cooperating and seemed to be determined to go elsewhere. And later an encounter with three dogs involved in a little local battle. Both times we were able to keep our distance.

    Arrived ar Dingboche about 3pm and rested the rest of the day. Broke out the altitude tablets as I was feeling a little short of breath during the night. I’m glad today is a rest day. Two more days to EBC!    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Everest Base Camp 2

    May 8 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C

    This is day 4 of the trek. Good news is I’m still going. I honestly was 50/50 about carrying on after day 2 because I was so exhausted. I’ve just spoken to a girl named Erin at our current tea house and she said exactly the same thing. But I had a day rest on day 3 and feel much stronger today. I know I have a good base level of fitness but I hadn’t done any preparation as such. Always good to prepare. Anyway I think/hope my fitness has kicked in now. We’ll see. Erin also said her guide had told her that days 2 and today were amongst the hardest. Let’s hope he wasn’t just being nice!!! This mornings trek was lovely. It was mostly on the level and ended with a descent down to the river - we are essentially tracking the river Dootgossay - I have absolutely no idea if that spelling is right but it’s more or less there phonetically - to its source at EBC. That was where we broke for lunch. Of course the corollary was we had to ascend after lunch - after all this whole trek is an ascent not a descent so if we go down we have to go back up later. But this post lunch ascent was much easier for me than on day 2. And it was a non-stop ascent until we reached the ridge after which things flattened out somewhat. We reached where we due to stop for the night and my guide Sagar asked me if I wanted to go in for another 45 minutes. Who was I to say no. But this necessitated a new album. I’ve been playing album after album on my iPhone and I think it would have been so much harder without the music. Theres a reason that armies march to marches. For me it helps mark time and makes the passing of time more enjoyable. Also when I put in Back in Black after lunch I got a few ‘yeahs’ from some of the other trekkers as I walked past them. And the ABBA seemed to cheer up one or two others as well. Some of the Sherpas carry huge speakers and you can then from miles off. I am in awe of them. They carry so much more than I could and do it so much faster. My guide said they carry up to 100kg. Can that be right? Anyway just as I thought I was getting the hang of this with all the gear and rucksack and everything a couple of Nepalese came the other way wearing literally just running gear. According to Sagar they are in training for the Everest marathon. They holds this every year on the anniversary of Hillary/Tenzing which is I think 29th May. Doing a marathon is hard enough under any circumstances. Doing it at altitude in the foothills of the Himalayas is insane. Is there anything humans cannot do if they put their minds to it?

    Today has been so scenic. Loads of conifer trees and rhododendrons which this area is famous for. I’m surprised everything is so green. I had expected more white. But I think we’re getting nearer to the tree line.

    Random observation. It’s funny to watch helicopters - of which there are a lot here - flying below you. And eagles for that matter.    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler
    1

    Everest Trek

    May 7 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ -1 °C

    Hello everyone. Time for a new entry. I’m writing this on my phone so it will probably be even less coherent than usual. My laptop is back in Kathmandu along with much of my stuff as I’m on the Everest Base Camp trek. Just to be clear this is just a trek to the base camp. The hard part of reaching the summit I’ll leave to people who are even crazier than me. This is a trek from Lukla to Everest base camp over 12 days. Having just completed day 2 I can tell you it’s hard. I should have done more training. My legs feel like they’re on fire. Today day 3 is a rest/acclimatisation to altitude day at the town of Namche bazaar.

    So day 1 was from Kathmandu to Luklu. Luklu is the gateway to Everest. It’s famous for its scary airport. Get the landing wrong and there’s a cliff in the way at the end of the runway. Taking off you essentially fly off a cliff. You can only land here with good visibility so the flights are very likely to be cancelled or delayed. This happened to me. I got up at 3.45am to get a taxi to the airport from the hostel Kwabahal in Kathmandu. The flight was scheduled at 6.00. Apparently you want to get the earliest flights as they are more likely to fly at all than later flights. But due to bad visibility we were nonetheless delayed for maybe two hours. I’m not sure what the plane was but it was closer to a jump plane than an airliner. There were maybe 16 of us on board filling it up and our luggage was stuffed in the back. Well I say our - my rucksack for some reason came on the following plane. I’m not sure that was deliberate.

    After arrival I met up with my guide Sajar and - once my rucksack had caught up with me - we set out. I have no clear recollection of what time we started but today was only half a day. I was surprised by how green the scenery was. It could have been Wales or the Lake District. Except for the bridges. These were chain bridges over the various rivers. 200 foot drops and it was possible to look down between the metal we were walking on to see the ground. And with people on the bridges they became very shaky. Not for those with a heights issue.

    At about 3pm arrived at the first overnight stop. It was more civilised than I expected. I was expecting essentially a hut but there were hotels - admittedly basic ones - with hot showers and the internet. Whether that will be the case all the way remains to be seen. At the time of writing I have zero memory of what that hotel looked like (they are called tea houses btw). I think that is due to the fact that I’m currently at 3410 metres asl. Not terribly high but enough to start the brain rot. I found a guitar at the place I currently at but my playing was terrible. Some would say more terrible. Was missing chords and fretting the wrong fret all the time. Nevertheless it is always nice to play.

    Day 2 was a trek to Namche Bazaar, where I am now. I’ll have to check the distance and altitude gain but after lunch it got hard. Relentlessly uphill. Normally when ascending you look for the top and can use that as a psychological crutch. But not here. It goes up, ever up, for another 5.5 km. I can’t imagine how mentally tough those guys who did this initially must have been. They had no support systems and no tech to speak of. This afternoon on my rest day I visited the Sherpa museum and they had a load of photos and equipment from Hillary, Tenzing and all the other Everest conquerors. They all looked so different to how we look now. More real somehow. So I’ve managed two days. It goes like this - two days on, one day off, until a quick sprint to Everest base camp and then three days descent. Apparently an ever higher proportion of people choose the helicopter option to descend. I thoroughly understand. When I climbed El Misti in Peru I reached the top but never thought I’d have the energy to get down. Fortunately there you could literally run down the side of the volcano that was covered in volcanic ash - that will be one of my more joyful memories. However here that is not an option (also I was 25 years younger!). It’s fly down or hike down. Anyway I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m still not sure I’ll make it to base camp. It is very tough. And that’s only 5500 meters! But the trick is to just put one foot in front of the other. That and don’t get altitude sickness.    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Kathmandu

    April 30 in Nepal ⋅ 🌧 21 °C

    I'm so behind with the blog. Apologies to anyone who is following me. I think my last entry was during my extended stay in Hanoi. It's a city I really love. While I was there I rode the Ha Giang motorcycle loop again. The first time I did it last year I rode as a pillion passenger with an 'easy rider' driving the scooter. This time I drove myself - the main reason being that this time I had an international driving permit so could ride a bike without incurring a fine.

    I had planned to go to China next but somehow someone persuaded me that now would be a good time to visit Nepal - any later in the year and it becomes avalanche/ monsoon season. So I've switched the order around and now plan to spend a month or so here, then head on to China, also for about a month before heading to Réunion in June.

    So I'm in Kathmandu for a few days before heading off for a 12 day trek to Everest base camp. I'm excited about that but also a little nervous. People do get altitude sickness when they do this trek and you hear stories about them being helicoptered out. But I have done high altitude stuff before and survived so I hope I'll be ok this time too.

    Yesterday I did a tour of a number of the UNESCO sites, including the monkey temple and the crematorium - where people cremate their loved ones on the bank of the river in Hindu style. Not sure exactly what to say about that except that it was an odd experience watching in public what we keep so private.

    In the evening a GetyourGuide food and drink tour of five or six restaurants and about nine or so dishes. There were four of us on the tour and I think it's fair to say we are all stuffed by the end. The food was great. The thunder and lightning that accompanied it made it more memorable as a lightning bolt struck outside the first restaurant we were in - it was as if a huge bomb had gone off. Fortunately no one was hurt but it was bloody scary.

    OK. I'm going to pause here. I'll add some more details as well as some photos from the past few days/weeks tomorrow. I'm pondering starting a video blog as well. Hmmm.    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Passing the time in Hanoi

    April 3 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    I've decided to spend a week or two here in Hanoi to build up my fitness. I really like the place. It's so vibrant, the people are very friendly and the food is varied and very cheap. While I'm here I've decided to have an eye and dental check. Here's how you do it here. You go to the relevant place, tell them you would like a check up and they offer you an appointment the same day. So in fact two days later (the same day was not convenient for me) I had an eye check. When I asked how much I was told it was free.

    As for the dental check - no cavities - but the most thorough cleaning I've ever had. And that was 500,000 VD or about £15. I had tried to get a dental appointment when I was back in the UK. I was told I could have one either the following day (not convenient) or otherwise not for two or three months (also not convenient). I did ask my dentist whether I could have a private check up, but if you do that apparently you lose your NHS registration.

    I'm now just passing the time here. I'm waiting here until the house sale completes as I want to be in a relatively open country - and not china with its internet restrictions - while I wait for that to go through. So that's another few days here. How awful!    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Back in Hanoi

    March 27 in Vietnam ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    Gosh. It's been 20 days since my last blog entry. Isn't that similar to what they say with Alcoholics Anonymous: it's been so many days since.... So since I made the entry in Greece I've spent some time in Turkey and - a new country - Turkmenistan. Oh yeah and we're having a war. So my plan was to fly from Istanbul to Vietnam. But due to Donald Trump the cost of flights seems to have rocketed. But let's rewind. First, I flew from Thessaloniki to Istanbul. Uneventful flight but I did find out that Iran had fired a missile in Turkey while I had been in the air. I think ... I hope that I was at the other end of Turkey so I don't think I was in any danger but who knows??? And my plan was then to fly the cheapest way onwards to Vietnam. But the prices went up, so I had an unplanned week in Turkey in order to get a cheap flight to Ho Chi Minh, more of which later.

    So ... a week in Turkey. After a night in a hotel near the airport I returned to the Cheers Lighthouse Hotel in the tourist area where I had stayed a couple of years ago. As before it was a very friendly place where I met a load of people from all over. Oddly people from Lebanon, and Iran... anywhere currently being bombed... as well as Kazakhstan.

    I decided to return to Cappadocia to do the hot air balloon flight which I had failed to do when I was here before. Unfortunately, it was too windy so the flights were cancelled. So I was forced to watch the rugby... and watch England stupidly throw away a winning position against France by kicking away possession with two minutes left. Idiots. So I went on a repeat of the tour I did previously and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

    But then I had an epic load of travelling. It went something like this. An overnight bus trip from Cappadocia back to Istanbul. Then 12 hours at the airport. Then a four hour or so flight to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan with an 11 hour layover at the airport. That airport was interesting. As I understand it, Turkmenistan is not interested in tourists - and may still be a Stalinist state. Anyway the airport was very quiet and in really good condition. I would have taken some photos to share but I have a feeling I might have gotten arrested. Half of the airport was literally devoid of people. No one at all. So as places to go to hang out for a few hours it was pretty relaxing. So then onto the plane - Turkmenistan Airlines - to Ho Chi Minh. Arriving at oh I don't know four in the morning or something equally awful. Do I stay or do I get an immediate flight to Hanoi. I decide to push and get to Hanoi - the first flight is at something like 9am, so I book a flight and hotel. And then I fly there and arrive. Spend a day in bed. I think it's been about four days now since I slept in a bed. But time has ceased to have any meaning. Then I stay for a couple of days at Central Backpackers - which is the sister hostel of Buffalo where I was last year? Then a couple of days in Silk hotel in the Centre. And then back to Buffalo where I see lovely Cuc who I hadn't seen since I left last year. Perhaps I'll see Hannah too but she's on secondment in Da Nang. So I'm here for a few days. The plan is to spend a few days a the gym building up my fitness and then to head on to China or elsewhere - I'm still to decide finally. Unfortunately, I've had a cold for a few days as the air here is pretty awful and it's taken a few days for me to adapt.    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    From Istanbul to Hanoi

    March 15 in Turkmenistan ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C

    So leaving Cappadocia I had a hard few days of travelling ahead of me before reaching Hanoi. I'm still not sure exactly how many days I spent without sleeping a bed but when I did finally arrive in Hanoi, I spent about 24 hours in bed catching up.

    First there was the overnight bus from Cappadicia to Istanbul - left 9pm and arrived about 7am.

    Then was the day in Istanbul. I decided to head to the airport - otherwise I would have had to put my kit into storage for the day and it was too much of a faff. Istanbul is big!

    Flew from Istanbul to Ashgabat arriving there about 4am. But I think it was about 7am their time. Met another Lebense guy called Joe who was flying on to Kuala Lumpur. Had an 11 hour layover at the airport there. However, it was the nicest cleanest airport I have ever stayed at with seats that were designed to be slept in. I think Turkmenistan being something of a hermit kingdom only has a limited number of destinations. I counted about 6 - Ho Chi Minh, Kuala Lumpur, St Petersburg, Istanbul and maybe a couple of others. So the airport was pretty much deserted. I walked to the far end and there was literally no one there. I would have taken a few photos, but would have possibly being inviting arrest. The official staff were all in green military uniforms with enormous hats. They all looked very young. But if you ever need to lay over somewhere I recommend Ashgabat Airport. Also no internet. Which is probably a good thing.

    After that another 7/8 hour flight into Ho Chi Minh City. Arrived at about 5/6 am. Could I force myself to complete the journey to Hanoi today or should I stay here for a day? I decided to push on and booked a flight for about 9 am and in the meantime consumed a large amount of coffee - by lucky chance I found a very good coffee shop at the airport.

    So finally flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi arriving about 11am. Got a Grab taxi to the hotel I'd book and then had a long, long sleep.    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Cappadocia Tour 1

    March 15 in Turkey ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    I had hoped to go on the balloon tour, but due to it supposedly being too windy they had been cancelled both days I was here. So I went on the ground tour instead. There were a couple of bits I remembered from last time such as the underground city. The scenario here is fabulous.Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Istanbul

    March 11 in Turkey ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    Spent a few days in Istanbul. Hadn't planned to but flights to Vietnam were difficult to come by at a reasonable price so necessitated a stay here before I could get a flight with Turmenistan Airlines. This appears to be the only airline not flying over the Middle East - via Ashgabat - Turkmenistan's capital.

    Stayed at Cheers Lighthouse Hostel where I had stayed previously. There was an eclectic number collection of people staying here including a couple of lads from Iran, Lebanon as well as other guys from Kazakhstan and elsewhere in Central Asia.

    Decided to pop to Cappadocia to see if I could get a hot air balloon ride over the area - when I had been here two years ago, it had been too windy. Hopefully not this time.

    Met a couple of Dutch guys who were driving to Mongolia in a Fiat Panda!    Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Meteora Monastries

    March 7 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Went on a day trip to what is apparently the second most popular tourist attraction in Greece - the monasteries and nunneries at Meteora. These are all situated on top of crazy rock formations. Quite spectacular. On the way saw Mount Olympus. It never occurred to me that Mount Olympus was actually real. You only really hear about it in myths.Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Thessaloniki

    Mar 4–7 in Greece ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    So off to Thessaloniki to check up on Drogon the bike (GS) which has been in storage here since I was here last. It's still here!!! and still in good condition although a little dusty. Gonna leave it here for a little longer as it will need a service. But I needed to see it to reassure myself that it was ok. Now I'm off to the east although since WW3 seems to be breaking out, not sure exactly where my next destination will be. I'd planned it to be Vietnam but may change my plans now. Let's see what happens.Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Hamburg

    Feb 27–Mar 4 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Made a return visit to see Ale in Hamburg. Again a few days exploring plus revisiting old haunts such as the English tea cake place in Blankensee and the Cat Temple cafe. Also visited the huge bunker and took part in another church service on the `Sunday night. Also finally took the tour of the town hall which I failed to do on my earlier visit.Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Berlin

    Feb 25–27 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

    Spent a couple of days in Berlin staying with James - like Lisa from the Pamir highway trip - don’t do a huge amount of sightseeing but did see the Soviet war memorial

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Alencon

    Feb 20–23 in France ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Spent a few days visitng Lisa in Alencon. Had a lovely time exploring a beautiful old town and visiting Chateau de Carrouges plus some of the local villages.

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Paris, France

    Feb 18–25 in France ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    Flew from Ireland to Paris and spent two nights at the Hotel Clairefontaine in Montparnasse. Didn't actually do very much as I picked up a cold on my last day in Ireland so just took Paris easy - then headed off to Alencon to see Lisa. (see next entry) and then headed back. Had one final full day in Paris so decide to see everything on foot so that I'd be really tired for my bus trip to Berlin this evening. Saw Notre Dame, Montmartre and Sacre Couer, the Arc de Triomphe and the Tower. 30,000 steps in total. Then to the bus and off to Berlin. Thought I'd easily get to sleep on the bus, but no. Even that tired still no sleep.Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Belfast

    Feb 10–16 in England ⋅ 🌧 11 °C

    Crossed from Liverpool to Dublin on the ferry and spent a few days exploring Northern Ireland. Did a trip through the Antrim coast to the Giant's Causeway, and a few of the Game of Thrones locations. Also went to the Titanic Museum in Belfast, the Market and a hop-on, hop-off tour of the city. Belfast seems like a nice town now. Very walkable. And they've turned the peace wall into a tourist attraction so it must be ok now. When war things become tourist attractions that's usually a good sign.Read more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Cat Ba

    October 1, 2025 in Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Have been in Cat Ba for a few days dodging typhoons - one went north of us, one south. Today was a sunny day so hired a scooter and went exploring. Nice to just ride for a bit as it’s been a while since I’ve been out on two wheels. Spent an hour or two just exploring the island. Then went on the- very high - cable car to the mainland and back. Apparently one day it will be the biggest in the world. And then went to the national park and worked up a sweat climbing to one of the peaks. As ever in Vietnam amazing viewsRead more

  • LorroFrom Hull to Everywhere ElseTraveler

    Ninh Binh - Bird Valley

    July 18, 2025 in Vietnam ⋅ ☁️ 34 °C

    After a little siesta - the sun was so strong - I set out in my scooter again and rode to Bird Valley. A couple of boat trips into caves again and a trip in foot to mermaid cave which necessitated stopping down the entire length of the cave. And then another boat trip to the lake with birds on it! Not sure what they were but you could smell them from a distance !Read more

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