Cambodia is a very poor country with one of the darkest past known to human being. Four year of Khmer Rogue rule in late 70’s left big mark on Cambodian society. I previously visited the S-21 or Tuol Sleng prison but I have never been to Killing fields so mi mission is to go there and learn something more about it.

After 30 min drive we reach the hotel I check in, have quick shower, grab the camera and I am already sitting on tuk-tuk on the way to Tuol Sleng prison. As I said this is my second time but I lost all photos from my previous visit. As tuk-tuk stops at the gate I am almost immediately surrounded by beggars. Most of them are in some way disabled, especially one limping guy with his eyeballs almost popping out from eye socket. I am not sure if this is the memory of Khmer Rogue interrogation or it was just some kind of accident. He looked very scary. I handed him one dollar and proceeded to the gate.
Time wise I am here a little later than first time and there are number of tourists everywhere. There is also some kind of reconstruction going on and I immediately notice that access to some parts of the building is denied. Shame.

Sun is behind thin cloud layer but I certainly feel it’s strength. I can only imagine the conditions in prison when it’s full if inmates, crowded, with no hygiene or proper toilet. I go from room to room and trying to take some photos without any tourists in it. During my last visit I got very lucky. It is known that only 12 people survived the Tuol Sleng imprisonment. Out of roughly 17 000. Only four of those are still alive and I was lucky enough to met one of them, Mr Vann Nath. The reason he survived was that he could paint and Khmer Rogue thought it was useful skill to have so they spared his life. Instead they used his skill to depict the daily life in the prison. At the time I met him he was in a great condition. He must have been very young while in prison. I was wondering what brought him to the place that caused him so much pain. That was nearly two years ago. This time I didn’t think I will be that lucky however I thought I had a glimpse of him. Is it his ghost walking in the rooms of prison? Or was it really him? I don’t know, but I know that this time I didn’t manage to get a photo of him.

I continued with viewing and taking photos. Unfortunately it was impossible to get the photo of whole complex due to construction so I was left mostly with details. Still, this place feels very sad. All those photos of prisoners staring from the wall makes you think about humanity and how deep it fell. All of those people died in terrible pain, hunger or during torture and extermination. Torturing methods were exceptionally brutal. And they didn’t spare young ones.

These days four of top Khmer Rogue leaders are on trial charged with acts of genocide. all of them denied what happened and they even denied the very existence of Tuol Sleng and similar institutions. Except one. Kang Kek Lew alias commrade Duch who was not less than man in charge of Tuol Sleng showed remorse and fully accepted responsibilities for what happened. Man who ordered killings of thousands was the only one who asked for forgiveness….

After almost two hours I am leaving the prison. I went to hotel and grabbed some lunch. I really enjoy Phnom Penh. It’s like in old movie. You sit in a french style restaurant next to the busy street filled with bikes, tuk-tuks, people carrying on with their daily lives and you just enjoy your coffee and observe the life. I absolutely love it.

It’s wet season and about 3pm afternoon the hell broke out and started raining.Horn my tuk -tuk driver comes in time to pick me up and we are on the way in nearly flooded streets. Destination is Killing Fields just outside Phnom Penh. Killing fields are places of mass extermination and mas graves. There are many of them across Cambodia but Choeung Ek is one of the most famous one and just 15 km out of Phnom Penh. This place is turned to a museum and monument but still feels strange when you step on the ground where thousands died. There is a stupa built in the middle of the fields and it’s filled with skull found in the mass graves. They say that in bad and rainy weather there are still human remains being exposed as soil is washed away. And yes, in spite of place being cleaned there was a spot where you could see them.

There were a marked trees used by Khmer Rogue to kill children by holding them by legs and smashing their head into trunk. I am walking across in silence. There is a group of Chinese tourist who apparently don’t know how to behave on place like this. My blood is boiling so I better walk away before I do something I would regret.

I briefly visit the museum building and then I leave the place. Some maybe say it is not a good place to go during holiday however I think everybody should visit place like this to remember what happened and make sure we do everything we can that it doesn’t happen again.

Dith Pran, Cambodian journalist who survived the genocide said on is death bed. One time is way too much. It should have never had happened.

They are especially picky about weather in Lukla because of unique location and parameters of airport. It’s all for security reasons and if pilots refuse to fly you shouldn’t be insisting. After all you want to get to your destination in one piece. Planes approach Lukla in between high mountains and in high frequency. There is several airlines running services there and they make flights there and back several times a day as long as weather allows it. The runway in the airport is one of the shortest in the world, total length not more than 250m and its not leveled, its actually a slope. So planes are landing uphill while taking of downhill. It takes certain amount of skill to do that.

At 6 am we are already on airport with million other stranded people waiting to get on the plane. I don’t know how Agasta did it but he managed to get us on the first flight. That’s how it works. It’s not based on time but on number of rounds plane is able to make it. So the best chance is to be on flight number one. By the time they make second round weather can change and they may not be able to make it. That’s what happened yesterday.

First flight came in early and we boarded with other passengers. I saw some familiar faces and I realized we are actually on VIP flight. Best Nepali actor and actress, some high National bank official, Malaysian ambasador and his wife were among the passengers. They all attended the party in Namche Bazar after the marathon race and now they were on the way home.

Flight was bumpy but without any major problems. I only noticed that left propeller is wiggling a lot but thought if they fly it it’s in the norm. We landed in Kathmandu safely and there was a big fight among taxi drivers to get u in their car. Finally we came to the same hotel where I started my journey n Nepal. Since it was still very early I treated Agasta for breakfast. After that he went home just few blocks away and I had a shower. First time since one in Namche. I badly needed it. I felt dirty, my hair like yak’s fur and my face is peeling down after getting burned in Kalapathar. And I realized how skinny I am again. I must have lost at least 7-8 kg. I had some muscle before which is now completely gone. No wonder all children are scared of me.

Plan for today is rest in the morning and afternoon possibly visit Durbar Square and take some more photos. Also need to change some money to pay Agasta for porter since he handled that in Lukla. Also need some money for his tip since I was very satisfied especially with his efforts to get us on the plane to Kathmandu. I am also invited to his place tonight and have dinner with his family. They are about to teach me how to make sherpa stew. It’s gonna be handy once I am back in Australia in non heated apartments

My journey is close to it’s end. My flight of Nepal is tomorrow at 1:30pm.

There was an interesting turn this morning and we stayed at lodge little longer than planned. The Nepali TV crew decided they make some backup plan and they decided to have a discussion with tourists. So they set up quickly the stage (table with few chairs), with mI noticed there is a toilet sign in the background so I hope it will be blurred by depth of field. But they using Sony HD camcorder and as far as I remember depth of field on that one is pretty big. Well….
Anyway at hat time I had no idea that I will be part of discussion too. I know they wanted Agasta, they wanted an American lady who just came down from Everest Expedition. Then they asked the Kiwi dude and myself. Whoa…. I am gonna be on Nepali National TV. Who would have thought about that. It wasn’t in the itinerary. I was asked about 4 questions. In the very firs one I clarified that I went only to Kalapatthar and not to base camp but he kept repeating and referring to base camp in rest of the questions. The host was young and probably more nervous than me. Whole thing took about half an hour and I remember I was shaking from cold. After that we grabbed our bags and head off.

On the way we stopped for lunch in Phakding at the same lodge we stayed the first day. It was nice and sunny and I stayed outside to dry the sweat t-shirts and socks. But good weather wasn’t meant to stay. As we left for final push for Lukla the weather got dramatically worse. It started raining and we reached Lukla soaking wet. I hope the clothes dry down here much quicker. On the way Agasta made some phone calls trying to get us on the first plane morning. That’s the best chance how to get out from here. Apparently this morning only one plane made it all the way to landing. Rest were turned back. Hope tomorrow morning I get on one and reach Kathmandu. If not I have one more chance tomorrow and will run straight to my international flight after that. I feel bit nervous, I don’t really want to miss my flight to Bangkok otherwise I will be late from holiday and that’s not a good thing.

This part is fairly easy because most of the time it’s going down hill. Rocky path makes it bit difficult. Always have to be careful not to slip on some loose rock and break your neck or camera.
In the half way we made a detour in the village of Kumjung. It was a little bit of climb again. I am not sure why they always build important hubs on hill top. This village is huge and noticeable very rich. Houses are new, everything is also very clean. There is a hospital and also a school founded by sir Edmund Hillary.

After leaving Kumjung we came to the Syngboche, the highest located airport in the world. Well you can hardly call it airport but I spotted the control tower. The runway is just ling patch of grass and soil. From there its 30 minutes steep descent to Namche Bazar. We check in to the hotel, I got the same room as before. Then we went for a short walk. There is a museum we visited, located in army parameter with some history and fact about Everest region but I think you can look up all this information on internet so you don’t have to spend the time visiting it. There are also lots of Tibetan people here selling some goods. Tomorrow is the Everest marathon race so there will be lots of people in Namche and therefore possible profit.

The dining room at the dinnertime is quite busy. French ambasador and his wife are hosting dinner for all Nepali officials that had something to do with tomorrows marathon. It was funny because he forgot to zip his pants. Anyway, dining room seemed to be busy and I wasn’t hungry anyway so I opted for sleeping bag.

Next morning is as usual cloudy but soon it cleared up and it was actually quite hot. We went up to the army base so I could have my last view of Everest. Horizon was fairly clear so I got my view and some additional photos. Then we headed down to the marathon finish line hoping to get some good photos of contestants. It’s a though race from Everest Base Camp to Namche Bazar with total length of 43 km on rocky surface with lots of climbs and descents. The track record is unbelievable around 3 hrs 40 mins. I think this year there are 150 contestants, most from Nepal but at least 40-50 international ones. However they hardly stand a chance with locals. I was fighting for my spot near finish line with one of my friends I bumped in several times during the trek. And there he comes the first runner crossed the line in new race record time. It took more than 30 mins till the second came in. We were there till the first 10 and no foreigner among them. All Nepali so we decided we won’t wait.

It was time to leave Namche Bazar. We walked till village of Monjo. It was mostly descent and then walk on rocky surface near milky river. On army checkpoint there was a small incident with one Israeli tourist who didn’t pay the National Park entry fee so he had to go back 2 km to ticket office and pay the fee. Other than that nothing important happened. There were few people at the lodge, some Kiwi’s (dad & daughter) and Nepali national TV crew of 3 people. Apparently they missed the plane from Kathmandu to Lukla and failed to reach Namche Bazar with all happenings around Everest Marathon.

We left Lobuche early morning with relatively nice weather. We saw the surrounding mountains, especially Nuptze, Pumori and Ama Dablam. Scenery was the kind you used to see on National Geographic photos or on Discovery Channel. Most of the first part of today’s trek we were alone. Here and there we met some sherpas carrying their load. Soon we reached a place with many stone monuments. These are all built in memory of people who died trying to summit Everest. One of the biggest ones belongs to memory of Babu Chiri Sherpa. He holds a record of sleeping 22 hrs on summit of Everest without an oxygen, also record for fastest climb to the peak. Unfortunately he died in some freaking accident which shouldn’t have happened if he was a little bit more careful. Anyway, I found out that chasing records among sherpas increases the competition and builds the name. There is for example a sherpa who summit Everest 20 times!!! However most of those that hold some kind of record are dead.

After the monument place we descend to Thukla. It was fairly easy. I remember how I climbed it at the edge of exhaustion in snow and wind. This was so much easier. Now we started to meet even more sherpas with yaks. We actually saw lots of them. Many headed to Everest base camp to bring down the equipment from expedition that just finished.

We continued our walk in the valley which looked like from movie. We saw lots of yaks eating the greenery also with some very cute baby yaks. i made plenty of photos from this part of the trek. scenery was just amazing. As we got closer to Pangboche my left eye started to hurt a lot. Not sure if it was from pressure, wind or whatever it hurt a lot and on every step I felt like somebody is stiking a huge needle into it. We stopped at one tea house for a tea. I left my eye closed all the time but pain didn’t go away. So before we head of again I took my scarf and bind it over my eye like a pirate. I must have looked scary because I noticed many children were turning away from me for the rest of the trek. Anyway it helped. Wind didn’t affect it, I didn’t really turn my eyeball at all and eye was nice and warm covered by scarf. But walking with one eye only became a little tricky especially when there is a narrow path with deep valley on your blind side. But I got used to it after a while and felt pretty comfortable. And eye didn’t hurt any more so that was important. Unfortunately I don’t have too many photos from this section since I lost my “3D” view.

Soon we stopped for a snack at village called Somare. From there I was already able to spot Tengboche and its monastery on the horizon. It’s still fair bit of walk and I remember we have to climb up quite a way. So far the weather was quite nice. I was hoping to have a nice sunrise experience next morning since last time we were here it didn’t hppen due to thick cloud cover. By the time we reached Tengboche it got cloudy again and whole horizon was behind the clouds too. I just hope next morning it clears up.

This time we got room in different lodge, better than first one. Owner used to be a monk. Wherever he walked he always repeated “Oh mani padme um”. I freshed up and had a shower after 3-4 days. I don’t even remember but it felt good. Had a quick snack and headed to the monastery again. There was a prayer time but obviously not mandatory because there were only few monks praying. This time I managed to get few shots but it was quite dark for any reasonable photography, Monasteries are quite cold places therefore it was a nice touch when young monk offered Tibetan tea to each visitor there, Nice and hot and on the sweet side.

After leaving monastery there was nothing much to do. Light was bad for photography, horizon cloud covered so I decided to slip in my sleeping bag and have a good rest. Tomorrow’s aim is Namche Bazar.

Decision has been made and we stay and rest at Lobuche. Unfortunately during lack of time I cannot do Chola Pass day later. So we have to go back to Lukla the same or almost the same way we came. As the day progressed the weather got crazier from snow to rain and ice, strong changing wind and low clouds. Who would expect weather like this at the end of the May. Even Agasta is shaking his head. But these are Himalayas my friends and nothing can be taken for granted.

Bad things happen every day. There are countless reports of lost tourists, severe altitudes sickness cases etc. And it goes same way for locals. There was a case of a guide or porter about 2 days ago who got severe altitude sickness. They took him down to Namche Bazar quite quickly, he was on oxygen and yet, they didn’t manage to save his life. This is very good example how serious this can get and how important it is to go up “SLOW” and monitor how your body respond to altitude change. It may be different to every person. I was lucky because except headache and bad sleep here and there I was ok. Should I have one more symptom, it should ring the alarm.

Day in freezing Lobuche was long and boring. I spent big part of it in sleeping bag ( i just mistyped it as freezing bag). I couldn’t take photos because there was nothing to see outside. There were no tourists because most of those who went down passed Lobuche and went to Dingboche or Tengboche. Only sherpas were coming here and there with their loads, stop for noodle soup and tea and then continue their way probably to Everest Base Camp.

At some point we went to porter house with Agasta to see whats happening there. Porter house is place for porters to sleep since tea houses are much more expensive for them.

Everybody else is sleeping. Even the owners. All over the place wherever they can rest their head. I quickly dress up shaking from cold. I even postpone the breakfast so we can be on our way asap. Plan is to reach Gorak Shep (5200m) under 3 hrs, have breakfast and tea and then hit Kalapathar at 5545m. Luckily weather improved. It is still very cold but it cleared up and all of the sudden I saw all the mountains around which were hidden behind the clouds yesterday.

I was especially pleased by Ama Dablam, by far my most favorite mountain. Also Nuptze was very clearly seen and somewhere behind it is the Everest hiding. We go fairly quickly. This part leads us in a flat valley in the middle of all these giants. They are magnificent as they are so close. It’s fairly overwhelming feeling. On my right side there is Khumbu Glacier which to me seems big but according to Agasta it’s only half size to what it was 30 years ago.

In 2 and half hours we spot Gorak Shep not too far below us. Bad news. We have to descent so it mean on the way back when I am gonna be probably dead tired I have to climb this back. Anyway, we managed to get there under 3 hours as planned. Dining room was heated. It was nice and warm and I felt like sleeping. I had my breakfast and also coffee and I chat to some Aussie guy from Sydney. 10 mins later they wish me good luck and we are on our way to Kalapathar summit. It is the place with probably best view of Everest at least from Nepal side.

There is more than 300 m to climb. It takes me 2 hours. The hardest workout I ever had in my life. I didn’t even dream it is gonna be this hard. At some points I had to stop every 5-10 meters, catch the breath and then continue. I just continuously repeated to myself don’t give up, don’t give up. After 2 hours of climbing I finally reached the summit. At 5545m it is tiny compared to Everest but it is as high as I probably get in my life. It’s much higher than tallest mountain in Europe or as high as tallest mountain in Africa. We congratulated to each other with Agasta. Well for him it’s nothing new. It was his 201st Kalapathar climb. Anyway he said he didn’t met too many people who did it in 6 days from Lukla (meaning tourists, sherpas can probably do it in 2 days). I felt dead tired but really proud. It wasn’t very smart thing to do it without any acclimatisation days but I had no time to spare and since I didn’t have any high altitude symptoms we decided to give it a go. There were a few people who couldn’t really believe that I did it. Yes I did but cost was high. I was at the end with my physical strength. I had only little reserve to get back to Lobuche.

Weather was very nice, clear and sunny. But also at that altitude there was a strong wind and it was quite cold. I tried to take as many pictures as I could but any extra movement like changing position or changing lens was costly. I was breathing really quickly and I felt quite weak too. After 45 mins on the summit we started our descent. It went so much faster but since snow was looses and also some rocks we had to be extra careful. It was taxing especially on tights and by the time we reached Gorak Shep I was going forward only by momentum.

And trek back to Lobuche was still ahead of us. After refreshment and lunch we were on our way. Right after Gorak Shep the steep climb as I mentioned previously. But after that it went quite fast. I was somehow able to put myself on autopilot and I was just moving forward by some unknown force. I was in no mood to enjoy the surrounding and weather was getting worse anyway. By the time we reached Lobuche temperatures dropped to zero and it was snowing again.

I only remember the room was very cold. I somehow managed to change to dry clothes, slip into sleeping bag, zip it and rest I don’t remember.

Obviously the daily and night temperatures dropped. As I mentioned last night it was already very cold. I didn’t have gloves, no winter cap and my warm jacket is not good for trekking. As I get sweat it gets wet inside. It doesn’t let the moisture to go. Well I have to deal with what I have. Quick breakfast start us for the trek and of we go to Lobuche. It’s pretty cold. Visibility is max 500-800m and where you can see is white fields. Mountains are not visible due to low clouds. And it’s snowing as well. It feels like we are on some polar expedition. Apart from few sherpas there is nobody around.

First part of the trek is ok. Tempo is quite high. Agasta is talking to some sherpa and somehow he adjusted the speed so he can keep up. I cannot compare myself with sherpas so I did my best to keep up with them too. As they talked, Agasta somehow forgot to take regular rests. I dont mind since this part is fairly flat and speed keeps us warm. We finished the first part at Thukla where we had some tea and rest. I caught up with some friends I met on earlier stages. It doesn’t take long and we are on the second half of the trek to Lobuche at 4800m. Weather is not getting any better. First I feel quite cold since my “non trekking” jacked is wet. But on the section to come I warm up quite quickly. Right after Thukla there is steep climb on the rocks covered with snow. Slope is about 30-40 degrees and altitude difference between bottom and top is more than 100 m. It takes us nearly 50 min to get to the top, At least that what it took me. Agasta was probably able to make it much quicker. This was really the test of my physical ability and mental toughness. After 50 mins of sweat and pain I made it. We had a break but I was chasing my breath for next 10 mins. The place we stopped was actually a memorial place for all people who died trying to climb Everest. I have to say there were plenty of stone monnuments, some of famous sherpas.

Break is over soon and we are on the last stage of our trip to Lobuche. This part is up and down but fairly flat and not too steep profile. However I am already quite tired so when we see the first buildings I feel quite happy. I go to my room straight away, change to dry clothes and I curl myself in sleeping bag and became a dead person for next two hours. After the nap I find strength to pull myself out from sleeping bag. First thing I feel is bloody cold. It cannot be more than 10 degrees in the room. I go to dinning and order some tea and sherpa stew to warm me up. It helps….temporarily. As it gets dark the temperatures outside are already sub zero. It’s very cold inside too since there is no heating, no weather sealing. Nothing. But luckily they lit up the stowe in the middle of the dinning room. That warms us up nicely till time we go to sleep. I need to have good rest because tomorrow is very hard day. Our aim is Kalapatthar.

I have my breakfast at 6 am and we are on our way to Dingboche at 6:30. First half of the trek was easy as usually, Sun was shining but it wasnt that hot. Especially there was cold wind which I really felt once I put down my backpack. I have to be careful not to get sick. Country was spectacular. We saw Everest and Lhotze in front of us. It was even better that we aere almost alone. Agasta says he never saw Himalayas so empty in last couple of years. Well I certainly enjoyed it. During the day I maybe spotted 5 tourists. But there were plenty of sherpas, with their animals (cross between buffalo and yak) carrying their load.

Most of the time we were already above tree line. There were only bushes and plenty of rocks. Physically I feel ok. I am certainly tired but it’s bearable. If I had that extra acclimatisation day at Namche Bazar I would be much better though. Some parts are really easy but some especially steep “stairs” are really taxing. Lack of oxygen is aparent and breathing becomes very heavy. It’s good idea to take it slow and take as many breaks as necessary. At some point I was so tired I couldn’t even lift the camera. Every extra movement cost invaluable energy.

We had short stop at Pengboche for some hot soup and lemon tea and then we continued walking. Country was open and we were surrounded by high mountains. Especially one called Ama Dablam with very specific shape. Meaning of the name is Gentle Mother. It doesn’t seem to be so gentle at the moment with summit covered by clouds. Its only 7000+ m high but also deadly. Because of its shape it requires special techniques to climb it.

About noon we spot Dingboche. Whole village is mostly tea houses. There is not many tourists so its almost empty. By the time we reached the sun disappeared behind clouds and strong wind pushed more clouds and fog into valley. All of the sudden temperature dropped to 5 degrees Celsius. Since I came to Singapore my body forgot how to handle temperatures like this. I really felt cold. I pulled out my NorthFace jacket which i bought in Vietnam. I felt warmer but soon enough even that wasn’t enough. I ordered sherpa stew agian which warmed me up again and yeah it was delicious. Later on they started the fire in stowe in the middle of the dinning room. I thought that was nice. Soon enough the room was nice and warm and I almost felt asleep. There is no wood here so I asked Agasta what do they use to burn and its apparently dried yak dump. On the contrary my room is gonna be freezing cold. I will have to use extra layers even in sleeping bag.

Tomorrow we trek to the Lobuche which is gonna be our entry point to Kalapathar and Gokyo lakes. Toughest part of trek starts there. So by then hope you enjoyed reading and come back soon for more. I am off to bed.