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More tips for Nepal

* Yak or goat meat tends to be tough, but be thankful it is protein. It breaks the monotony of choko and other members of the squash family night after night.

Leeches love jogging shoes and trainers. They go straight through the fabric. Solid leather or suede boots stops them from finding some tasty skin until they reach the ankles.

They're prevalent at altitudes of about 1600 to 2600m Try to move rocks to make stepping stones whenever there are puddles or shallow streams to cross.

If you still get taken use your fingernails to pull out that black spot, which is all you can see of the leech once it's found your ankles, and the lengths of body hidden in your flesh.

They itch but don't do any serious damage. - Jill

* Take lots of small denomination money (20, 50 and 100 rupee notes) into the hills with you. It can be hard to change larger notes and in general you can't use travellers cheques out of Kathmandu.

I found Diamox useful. We also carried a steroid but didn't need it. The rule is to only camp 300m higher each night above 3000m. We found this slightly conservative and occasionally went up 450m in a day without ill effect. But don't push it!

We saw some very sick people at Everest who went too high too fast. Assume any headache above 3000m to be altitude sickness and don't climb higher until it has resolved. Descent brings rapid, almost miraculous improvement. - HK

Coffee question

Where can I get a good cup of coffee in Sydney? - James Silver

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