After having wrapped up my job with the United Nations in Islamabad and said goodbye to the lovely people I met there as well as our CORE community, I am back in Kathmandu getting ready for Lhotse. I left Pakistan with a laughing and a crying eye…
I have just come back to Islamabad after having spent a week in Kathmandu, where I was busy meeting mountaineering expeditions for Miss Hawley and starting writing the Newsletter for Himalayan Experience, who I will be climbing Lhotse with. It was good to be back and it…
I have just noticed that time must have been flying over the past three months and even though it seems that I have only just got back to Pakistan after my visit to Europe, I am actually about to leave again. I have just been asked how…
It has been six months since the floods in Pakistan caused huge devastation, left more than 1,000 people dead, killed around 500,000 animals, destroyed more than 2.2 million hectares of crops and affected almost 18 million people. I happened to be here when the water started to…
„I have written some poetry for you,“ Mohammad Zai Parishan proudly told me when I finally found him at the local hospital at Surkhab Refugee Village in Balochistan, where he had been for a regular check-up. “I knew you would be coming back.” About six weeks ago,…
Last weekend was another weekend filled with sporting activities and first of all I would like to share with you that my good friend and Ironman World Champion, Chrissie Wellington, has yet broken another world record. Chrissie stunned the sports world again by finishing the 2.4-mile swim,…
Quite a lot has happened since I posted my last newsletter, in which I wrote about my amazing encounter with Mohammad Zai, the wheelchair-bound man I met in Pishin near Quetta. Following the article I posted on the UNHCR website, I received an email from a university…
My work in Pakistan has taken me to Quetta in Balochistan, which is in the south west of the country and is very close to the borders with Afghanistan and Iran. I came here more than one week ago and even though the city is surrounded by…
Life after Manaslu has been reasonably hectic with barely three days gap between the summit and getting back to Kathmandu. Russell managed to organise a couple of helicopters that took us straight from Samagoan (the last village before base camp) o to Kathmandu, where I immediately got…
I am sitting in the sun at base camp watching the hard-working Sherpas clearing up the camp and packing everything away. It has been almost six weeks now that I left Pakistan and after all the waiting and acclimatising the expedition is finally over and we managed…
Forty hours in a tent We have just come back down from spending four nights higher up on the mountain. On Monday we set off towards Camp I, where we were going to spend one night before we were supposed to move to Camp II at 6,270m.…
Well, I thought the waiting game on Mount Everest was a huge challenge, but little did I know what climbing Manaslu in the  post-monsoon season entailed. Here, we are not only waiting for the winds to drop on the summit while we are basking in the sunshine.…
On Friday morning we went climbing and it was great! For the first time in two weeks we got closer to the mountain, wore crampons and a harness and were actually using our ice axes – and it just felt right. We have been at Manaslu base…
I am sitting in my tent with the rain pounding on my roof and the downpour seems relentless and never-ending. I had heard a lot about the bad weather on Manaslu, however, I did not expect it to be that bad. On Tuesday, it poured down heavily…
This is just a brief note from Manaslu base camp, where we have just arrived after having spent a few days at Samagoan, the last village before base camp. Monica, our doctor, Lacchu, our chef, Phurba Tashi, the Sirdar, and I had a fabulous five days walking…
Hello, Namaste and GrĂĽĂź Gott, This is not Billi, but her robot. Just updating the site to re-mention that Billi is writing on the Himex blog and the first two posts can be found here: 1. http://www.himex.com/english/news/2010-08-26Manaslu.htm and the most recent here: 2. http://www.himex.com/english/news/2010-09-05Manaslu.htm Enjoy reading!
This is just a quick note to let you know that I have arrived back in Nepal and am busy packing my bags, interviewing a few expeditions for Miss Hawley and just getting used to my very different life here again. Monica, our expedition doctor, Lakchu, our…
I don’t think I have to say any more about the floods in Pakistan as I am sure you are all seeing daily pictures of these devastating waters that have submerged one fifth of Pakistan’s land – and it does not seem to be over yet. While…
Most of you will have heard that Pakistan has been hit by severe floods following torrential rains that fell over one week ago, and the extent of these raging waters engulfing the country is still not quite clear. Here in Islamabad, the situation is ok but I…
Last night I rang Dell in Germany as I am trying to buy one of their Mini Laptops with a solid state drive (SSD). The reason why I need  SSD is that computers with a normal hard drive often die (forever) at high altitude. A hard drive sits…
I never thought I would enjoy being cold as I spend a lot of time freezing in the mountains, wishing for warmer weather. However, trying to lead an outside life in Islamabad, where the thermometer sometimes hits 48 degrees Celsius, is pretty tough. Everyone who tells me…
One of the comments to my last entry said: “Billi, you are a master of making lemonade when life hands you lemons.” This was a note from Beth, who has followed my website since I climbed Mount Everest last year and it referred to me changing my…
After having thought that my next adventure would take me back to Islamabad to do another three-months stint for the United Nations there, I was bitterly disappointed to find out that my contract could not get extended due to United Nations regulations. However, the disappointment lasted only…
After a manic four to five days, during which most mountaineering expeditions descended on the Nepali capital after their successful or unsuccessful trips to mountains like Mount Everest, Manaslu, Dhaulagiri I, peace and quiet has now returned to Kathmandu. Well, relatively speaking as it is difficult to…
Last week, I was honoured with being invited to a Nepali engagement party. The girl to be married was the daughter of my good Nepali friend, Mr Puru, who I met through my even better Australian friend, Judy. It was an interesting and very Nepali affair -…
A few days ago, the penultimate 8,000m peak to be conquered in the world celebrated the 50th anniversary of its first ascent – or rather the Swiss, Austrians and Nepalis did. Dhaulagiri I, the seventh highest mountain in the world, was first climbed by a Swiss/Austrian/German/Nepali team…
Long time, no update! Well, not quite true as I have been writing for the Himex Newsletter and even though I am back in Kathmandu I will continue to be writing about the team, what is happening at base camp and more stories from the Khumbu. I…
I have just got back from Lobuje base camp, where part of our team is waiting to tackle the mountain and the other half is currently camping on the summit to acclimatise. I will be going up in a couple of days and I am very much…
After a busy season in Kathmandu during which I interviewed dozens of teams going to mountains, such as Everest, Makalu, Dhaulagiri and many more, I left the Nepalese capital about one week ago and managed to walk to base camp in three days. This is something that…
