Our Oz Clarke Impersonations

As promised, here we are again to tell you about the second reason this has been an important week.

The Suffolk Branch made a good guess, but no, it isn't that the Masterchef 2009 final was on Thursday (although we did enjoy the series and felt that the right man won). What we were referring to was the Fair Trade wine tasting evening we attended as part of Fair Trade fortnight.

This was a really fun event but with a serious purpose: to introduce lots of people to Fair Trade wine, show them how good it is, and to encourage them to buy Fair Trade wines as well as lots of other lovely Fair Trade products.


Here you see Gio and Bris leading the way and getting stuck into the tasting. We tried 3 reds, 3 whites, a rose and a sparkling wine and we had tasting notes to help us appreciate the finer points. Comparing notes with the many people who attended was great fun and we found it really interesting to discover that a wine that was someone's favourite would be someone else's least favourite wine (not that there were any bad ones).

We were very grateful to our local CO-OP who had donated several of the bottles we tasted, and also to our wonderful hosts who provided a case of mixed bottles from the Traidcraft catalogue, and also lots of lovely nibbles.

We can't recommend Fair Trade wines, and all Fair Trade products enough. What can be more important as you drink a glass of wine or cup of tea, and eat a meal, than knowing that you are helping to address the injustices of conventional trade, which discriminate against the poorest, weakest producers and allow practices such as slave labour to continue.

Please look for the Fair Trade logo when you are shopping and remember that your local CO-OP and Traidcraft (you can order on-line) offer a lovely selection of wines.

Lots of love, all at Bears Unlimited xxx

P.S. actually we didn't do Oz Clarke impersonations as we drank our wine and didn't spit out any!

Counting Our Blessings

Sorry to have neglected you, our readers, over the last week, but we have been very busy bears and we've been out every evening, so no time to write posts.

We're going to keep you in suspense about our 'return to Kathmandu' adventures for a little while longer, as first we need to talk about this week, which is a very important one for two reasons.

Firstly, Lent has started. This year we are not giving up chocolate or similar, but we are participating in Christian Aid's Lent campaign as we think it's simply great and very worthwhile. It's called 'Count Your Blessings' and details and the form you need can be found on their website at Count Your Blessings

For each day of Lent there is a blessing to be thankful for and some facts, which cause you to ponder, how different life is for a huge proportion of the world's population. Every day you are asked to do something positive in response.



In our first picture you see Chef Bear Oakley undertaking yesterday's task. In response to the alarming fact that the UK spends £10.2 million each year on food which ends up being thrown away, we were invited to give 10p for each cookbook we own.

For Oakley, counting all his many cookbooks was quite a task, as he has so many. In fact by the time he'd finished his counting and calculations, he'd worked out that he will need to pay Christian Aid ovr £11. Here he is completing his Count Your Blessings form.


Thankfully other days will be cheaper for him, for example, when it comes to the day when you have to pay 50p for each packet of non fair trade tea and coffee in your house, he will owe nothing, as he doesn't buy non fair trade tea and coffee.

Why don't you check out the link we supplied earlier and join in yourself. You'll be all the better for it and so will many of the world's poorest people.

We'll be back tomorrow to tell you about this week's other important event.

Love Oakley and all at Bears Unlimited xxx

Can We Take the Lift?

From the Everest hotel it was downhill all the way back to Lukla. When we say downhilll we mean quite a steep downhill, as you can see from our next shot showing the return route down to Namche Bazaar.


As you can see, our view was quite a birds eye one, and we could have done with a pair of wings - or a hang-glider - to get us down easily. It certainly made a change from our slow and steady uphill plodding, but, in view of the incline, we didn't really go much faster.

Even so, we were back in Lukla before we knew it and it was time to have a few farewell drinks with our wonderful trekking crew, before nervously awaiting the plane back to Kathmandu and still more adventures.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Real Bears Walk

Our treat that turned out not to be a treat, was quickly followed by a treat that was a treat.

Our first stop after leaving Khumjung was the Everest view hotel, which at 3,880 metres is the highest hotel in the world. It was a treat to come here as, not only are the views of Everest rather special, you can sit out on the terrace and enjoy a pot of hot chocolate or lemon tea (the treat is not so much the drink but having someone to pay for it, as prices are not cheap!).


Here we are enjoying the view (well we were before we turned round for the camera). In case you're more interested in seeing Everest than us, we'll also treat you to a zoomed shot of Everest (our final one) taken using our trusty gorillapod.


The hotel is quite a luxurious one with piped oxygen in all the rooms. This is needed as many of the guests do not arrive under the own steam, as we had, but fly in by helicopter. As the helicopters land right outside, the occupants certainly do not get a chance to acclimatise to the high altitude, in the few steps to the reception desk.

We were very pleased that we had walked there ourselves, and we couldn't help feeling smug and self satisfied as we walked past those who hadn't. You could spot them a mile off - they were clean and smartly dressed with coiffured hair for a start!

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Getting Philosophical Over a Doughnut

Talking about treats, the following morning we were promised another one, one that was far more tangible and would directly appeal to a bear's stomach.

Our treat was a visit to the highest bakery in the Everest region, and therefore perhaps in the world!


The bakery was in Khumjung and therefore, we reached it only a few minutes after finishing breakfast, so we hadn't really had an opportunity to work up an appetite. Don't worry, though, we had deliberately not over indulged at breakfast time, so as to leave room for a doughnut.

People often say that anticipation can be better than the event anticipated and sadly, on this occasion, this was so true. After only one bite into our doughnut, we began to regret our decision not to fill up at breakfast. The doughnut seemed to have got kerosene contaminated in its cooking and we couldn't eat it. What a disappointment.

Still, the scenery as we began to climb out of Khumjung was so good that we couldn't stay disappointed for long.


As we surveyed the majestic backdrop of mountains, big smiles quickly returned to our faces. We reflected on the fact that experiences and pleasures that speak to the soul, mean so much more and tend to last much longer than the transitory pleasures of a fine tasting piece of food.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

The Crowning Glory

After these two memorable afternoon excursions, and a wonderful morning's walk, we returned to our favourite tea house feeling well satisfied with our day. Back at the tea house, there was another treat in store for us, the priviledge of seeing a superb Himalayan sunset.


We caught it right at the early stage as the light was changing in intensity and beginning to tinge the mountains with a pink glow. It was very subtle and very beautiful. We used our gorilla pod tripod to hold our camera steady to get the best shots. We like gorilla pods and think they are an essential camera accessory.


As you can see we picked an excellent vantage point to watch the light fade. It was a truly magical time and we were very contented bears.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Hospital Visiting

Our next visit couldn't have been more different. We had to walk a fair bit further, infact to the next village of Khunde. What we saw there was a real source of inspiration to us.


The Edmund Hillary hospital is the only hospital in the Everest region and it only exists thanks to the vision and generosity of Sir Edmund Hillary.

We were very fortunate to be able to have a look inside and to talk to one of the amazing doctors who work there.


Talk about a Jack of all trades: this doctor was a living, breathing example. He and his handful of colleagues, provide the only source of medical care outside of Kathmandu for the local people. People walk into Khunde from many miles away. We even heard of a pregnant woman walking in from Lukla. As we had also walked from Lukla, we knew exactly how far that was!

The bit we really liked, was that although the hospital is open to everyone who needs help, if you are a Western trekker wanting medical help, you will be charged around $50, if you are a Nepali, it will cost you a just a few pence.

Our chat with the doctor was cut short by the arrival of a sick baby. The baby's family were waiting patiently outside, but we heard distressed cries so decided it was time to leave. First we felt it was important to leave a contribution in the donations box.


You might think you've seen this picture featuring the donation box before, but can you spot the difference between this and the earlier picture?

As you should have spotted, in the second picture I've been joined by Yorkie. He wasn't there in the first picture as we had a bit of a crisis: Yorkie was lost!!! We all tried not to panic and started a methodical search of the area with our trekking crew joining in the search. After it was looking as if the search might prove fruitless, Yorkie woke up from the bottom folds of the bag where he'd been sleeping, and emerged wondering what all the fuss was about.

I was mightily glad to see him and as a result increased the donation I'd been about to make.

Back soon.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Not a Headless Chicken, but What?

Once our fellow trekkers had had a chance to dump their bags and drink some tea, we left the tea house to go exploring, and make the two visits we mentioned last time.

The first was to the local monastery. This was no ordinary monastery as it contained a real treasure. It is so precious that it is kept locked away and visitors need to make a donation to the monastery to get the cabinet unlocked. As the contents may be the only example in the world, it was worth coughing up a few rupees.

Can you guess what we were about to see? We'll show you a picture and see if that helps.


We've mentioned the owner at least once before in this blog. Sadly this is about the closest we're likely to ever get, but we would like to have met one for real. We certainly won't now we're back home, as they certainly wouldn't be seen outside the high Himalayas.

Hopefully you've had enough clues by now to know that we were sitting behind a yeti skull. We don't suppose any any of our readers have had this same priviledge.


Like most people, what we knew about yetis could be written on the back of a postage stamp. It was good, therefore, to find lots of information (in English!) all about the yeti skull.

It was fascinating stuff.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx

Happy Re-unions

We haven't given you a glimpse inside a tea house yet, so now's the time.


As our rooms were literally just a small box with 2 beds, and nothing else, the communal area you see in our picture was where we spent most of our time. Have you spotted us on the left?

As you can see, the living area was quite colourful and cosy - at least it was cosy when the stove was lit. We had our meals at these chest like tables and were quite comfortable sitting on mattresses. The family will typically sleep on these benches at night and their bedding and possessions are stored in the ceiling high cupboards.

The clever ones amongst our readers may spot that we're about to get events out of sequence as we've just showed you a picture with some of our fellow trekkers, before they'd actually arrived at the tea house in our tale.

Please excuse this. Back to the story, a lovely lunch was served up in this lounge area, as we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Hardly had we finished and sat back outside in the sun, when we spotted the zopkis approaching with the rest of the group's luggage.


Our friends weren't far behind. It was lovely to see everyone again and also to find out there were a couple of interesting local visits to make that afternoon.

We'll tell you where we went next time.

Lots of love George & Yorkie xxx