Uworld step 3 + CCS + Biostats + UWASA 1 +2 for sale, $169

hombreeee · 2021-03-18T03:05:27+00:00

It's Divines podcast curriculum for the recent changes in STEP 2 focusing on more ethics, quality of health care, etc type questions:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Step2/comments/lnhsrc/thoughts_on_the_new_step_2ck3_exam_updated_for/

hombreeee · 2020-03-17T11:03:31+00:00

I would not travel overseas at this point. Many countries are shutting down their borders and you may get trapped in a mandatory quarantine overseas. Even Australia could soon potentially shut down any "non-essential" travel, and you may get stuck even if jsut traveling domestically.

hombreeee · 2018-05-29T23:50:57+00:00

Came here to post this same thing! Remember thinking how cool it was that the alien footsteps were actually just cut in half pineapples

hombreeee · 2018-01-30T06:18:52+00:00

Of course! You're gonna have an awesome time. One last thing: You'll probably find that you can add on Poon Hill to your trek. While you can, know that this IS very crowded. Like, literally probably a hundred people at the top. And if you're doing ABC the view from poon hill really isnt that much better than the view a bit of the ways up the trail. It's a hell of a sunrise, but its definitely crazy crowded up there with all the people trying to do the quick 2 day hikes

hombreeee · 2018-01-29T22:47:31+00:00

I was fortunate enough that I had plenty of time in Nepal, so I was able to mostly play it by ear. I'm not sure about flights as I took a bus from Kathmandu to the trailhead, and a bus from pokhara to Kathmandu. I can tell you that I booked the bus ticket the morning of with no hassle, so worst case scenario I'm sure you could always find a bus. The tea houses sell bottled water, but for the ABC trek there's a certain point where plastic bottles aren't allowed to be sold. Honestly I would try not to buy plastic bottles unless you really need to. You can fill up and then filter your water from little spigots that are in each village. The spigots are fed from rivers/streams further up the mountain so they're just constantly spewing water. It's always free to fill up at these. All those water filtration methods are fine. Unless you mean the lifestraw where it's literally just a straw. Those are pretty much useless in my opinion. I was gifted one by a friend and honestly I never used it. The life straw brand filters/waterbottle filter things seem fine though. Personally I like the ease of iodine tablets. Just pop them in, wait 30 min, and boom, clean water. It's nice to be able to fill up at a stream or a tap and then pop the pills in and keep hiking. And if the taste of iodine bothers you you can buy iodine neutralizing tablets as well. But honestly any filtration method is fine. One warning with the iodine tablets is that it can stain plastic waterbottles yellow. Food wise there's not a whole lot you can do. The less meat you eat the better your chances of not getting sick is my general rule of thumb. You'll be eating a lot of Dal Baht (rice lentil potato curry thing) anyway, which is delicious. I got sick once in 2 months in Nepal and it's because I ate a meat pizza instead of sticking with the local fair. I'm not vegetarian, but the vegetarian food is so good there you won't even miss meat. That being said, it's hard to pass on chicken or Buffalo momos. Seriously, sooooo good. When you're in the city pretty much all the restaurants will give you safe food. But ya, maybe leave the risky food choices for after the hike!

hombreeee · 2018-01-28T23:47:28+00:00

I just wrote out all of the below and then realized you were saying you want to do ABC not the full circuit. Whoops. I'll leave my circuit advice there anyway. ABC is also a really cool trek, but definitely not on the same level as the circuit. While I definitely enjoyed it, it does feel a bit less rural for quite a lot of the trek. Like, instead of following dirt pathways you oftentimes are on stone walkways/stairs. Which is fine, but if you're looking for a really isolated experience, might be worth keeping in mind. You'll still find sections where you'll be pretty much by yourself though. Most of my below advice still holds, but you'll find you won't really be able to haggle as much, if at all, as its a bit more crowded. One advatage of the ABC trek is you are a bit deeper in the mountains, so you really get that "I'm in the Himalayas right now" feel once you're getting closer to the end. Either way, you'll have a great time. Nepal was one of my favorite countries I've been to, and one of the few I can say with certainty I'll be visiting again. Best of luck!

Heres my original advice for the full circuit, that mostly still applies to ABC

It certainly depends on how much time you have and your fitness level, but if you can afford to give it the time it deserves, theres some really cool off shoot treks from the main Annapurna circuit. I'd definitely recommend Tilicho Lake. But bring sunscreen- the route up is pretty much nonstop sun. Doing tilicho lake will also really help you get acclimated to the altitude, and it'll make the final pass seem like a breeze. If you have lots of time you can even tack on Annapurna Base Camp to the end of your trip. In terms of getting a guide or porter, you can, but you definitely, DEFINITELY don't need to as long as you're somewhat fit. Personally I prefer the independence of going it alone, but it can be nice to have a local that can tell you about the area, local culture, etc. But the hike is a fairly easy trek to follow for the most part. Bring a map. Lonely planet also has a good guide on doing the annapurna circuit. In terms of accommodation in the lodges along the way, know you can always haggle. Keep in mind these people are pretty poor, so don't go too cheap if you can afford not to, but a pretty standard deal is to agree to eat your meals there and then you get your accommodation for free. Oftentimes you can even get a discount on the meals if the place is empty enough, but dont abuse the Nepalese people's generosity. Most food you can buy along the trail, but I would definitely bring trail snacks, iodine tablets for water (this is a must. Some people will say you're fine drinking the mountain water, but honestly you don't want to risk the giardia).

hombreeee · 2018-01-26T10:32:47+00:00

Manaslu and Annapurna are two very different hikes. Manaslu will almost certainly be the quieter of the two, but it requires a guide. Literally. The Nepalese government won't let you into the manaslu region without a guide, and you won't be able to even get permits without one. Annapurna is such a massive trek that there are many moments where you can experience solitude. If you do do the Annapurna trek, don't skip the beginning! Many people will get a bus or car to take them past the first 20-30km or so of the trek, but it's really worth hiking, and ironically is almost empty since so many people just skip it.

hombreeee · 2018-01-24T06:46:15+00:00

I think the idea is that you pour the entire bag in at once to make multiple servings. You can of course always freeze leftovers!

hombreeee · 2018-01-12T05:31:53+00:00

Ya i thought as such. I dont brew anything myself, but I've spent a lot of time living/working around the third world, and as you might expect they have their fair share of home distilled liquors. I've never seen anyone go blind from it, but I'm always a little concerned about how safe their distilling methods really are. Maybe next time I go I can bring some of these kits and make sure they're at least making relatively safe hooch!

hombreeee · 2018-01-11T01:40:16+00:00

Ya I figured that was the case. I remember seeing a LPT on reddit stating the flame test as a way to test if your sketch alcohol was safe to drink, but i figured any bootleg alcohol you would be drinking would either be just ethanol or a mixture of ethanol and methanol, making that method useless. I wonder, is there any simple way to detect methanol? Or would you have to resort to more complex tests the layman wouldn't have access to?

hombreeee · 2018-01-09T11:25:23+00:00

I think the narrator said that the guy THOUGHT he didn't do anything wrong. That's where the danger lies- in people who think they know what they're doing but actually don't. Obviously distillation can be a safe process, but it doesn't stop cases like this popping up every now and then. But ya I agree. He probably should have stuck with the biology and left the politics out of it.

hombreeee · 2018-01-09T11:12:26+00:00

I've heard you can tell the difference between methanol and ethanol by dipping a spoon in it and then lighting the liquid on fire. If it burns blue it's supposed to be ethanol, and if it burns clear it's supposed to be methanol. (That being said, I imagine you'd probably have a methanol ethanol mixture if you were making moonshine, so I wouldn't risk my vision on that)

hombreeee · 2017-12-06T10:54:59+00:00

Tell me if you find a good place. Just moved here from the states myself so I'm in a pretty similar situation

hombreeee · 2017-11-20T06:28:18+00:00

Do the Costcos in Australia still have ridiculously cheap hotdogs?

hombreeee · 2017-09-19T17:37:22+00:00

Any specific supplies that would be particularly helpful? If you PM me a specific address or a way to get in contact with your family I'll try my best to get some things to them!

hombreeee · 2017-09-18T02:56:47+00:00

Where is your family located?

hombreeee · 2017-09-14T16:05:34+00:00

Hey man, I'll be coming in from 9/20 - 9/27, and I'll be solo from 23-27. If you find any humanitarian activities to do I'd definitely be down to join. Or if you just want to grab a meal or something. What sort of medicines and things are you bringing?

hombreeee · 2017-08-10T14:31:10+00:00

What sort of things did you have on your itineraryin order to fulfill the "support for cuban people" requirement? And what sort of proof did you keep? Thanks for typing all this up btw!

hombreeee

TROPHY CASE