let's all go climb Everest

I feel so left out - everyone it seems is busy climbing and I am just lazing around. Well not really, I have been SO busy I can't begin to tell you.
I finally managed to join a swimming pool nearby. For the princely sum of Rs 3000 (less than 50 bucks AUD) I can wander up the back lane to the Malla Hotel pool anytime I like - even in a strike - and swim myself stupid - yes it may not take long!
Met up with an old friend for brekky yesterday, then a different one for lunch, and some more for drinkies and dinner last night.
Had 2 opportunities to lie in as Robin didn't ring me yesterday or today at stupid o'clock. He rang me this afternoon while I was having a wonderful massage to let me know he made it safely over the pass (sorry I can't tell you which one) and was worn out. He is now heading for a campsite near a village where he hopes to recharge his sat phone battery. Now that the south west monsoon has hit India, and the cyclone has hit the east coast, weather forecasting just got a whole lot trickier. I rely quite a bit on what the Everest and Kanch climbers are up to as that gives me an indication of what the jetstream is doing.
And my goodness what a lot of climbers there have been: the 13 year old who just became the youngest to get up the big E, Miss Oh from South Korea who recently became the first woman to climb all 14 8000m peaks, and Edurne Pasabane who became the second, and is disputing Miss Oh's claim that she climbed Kanchenjunga. There always seems to be some sort of scandalous palaver, and I guess this is the one for pre monsoon 2010. At least it makes a change from people arguing about who should have tried to save a dying climber instead of stepping over them on the way down. You can expect some more mountaineering news in the weeks to come. And perhaps I will also have news on a missing solo female trekker who disappeared a few weeks ago in the Helambu area north of Kathmandu - the area has had quite a few lone trekkers disappear never to be found. You should ALWAYS go trekking with another person you know and trust.
Meantime I have been enjoying some unexpected bhatti (electricity) - got to watch an Akshay Kumar flick the other day. He is too cute and frankly he can put his chappals under my charpoi any day!