A brother gone missing If Alex Ratnasothy is still alive, he is 26 years old now. His family has not heard from him since February 21, 2003 when he emailed them from Kathmandu saying he would be going on his “greatest adventure yet” — trekking to Everest Base Camp. He had left England in April 2002 and had visited many countries and was going to go home in April 2003 for his mum’s birthday. But he did not (or could not).His sister Anna flew to Kathmandu with another brother, Joel to look for him. Retracing Alex’s steps from Jirri to Lukla, they discovered he had been robbed of his money, bag, guitar and even shoes before he reached Khari Khola. He then abandoned going to EBC and headed through Arun Valley asking for free food and lodgings. He was last seen in Tumlingtar heading off in the direction of Hile. Anna found his passport where he had left it with a trekking office in Kathmandu before leaving for Jirri requesting they try and obtain an individual visa for Tibet for him. He had not returned for it. Anna has been hack in England since March 2004, trying to resume her life as a doctor. Accepting Alex could not be found was hard, yet despite the tragic circumstances, she really loved Nepal and missed it a lot and she wouldn’t want to put tourists off visiting. She feels it is still essentially a safe country for foreigners and disappearances like this are rare but not unheard of. Almost exactly one year after Alex, in March 2004, Gareth Koch, a 24-year-old British man went missing in the Sagamartha National Park and was last seen in Chukhung. Her request is “please, please, please don’t trek alone and if you don’t wish to hire a guide or porter, at least go with a friend and stay with them until you get back to a city”. Alex trekked alone. Gareth started out with a friend but they parted company along the way after Yet Anna retains some hope that Alex is still alive... somewhere. (If anyone knows of Alex’s or Gareth’s whereabouts or has any information, contact Anna Ratnasothy at annaratnasoth-y@hotmail.com, or Gareth’s dad (David Koch) at daviko@btinternet.com. You can also inform the British Embassy in Kathmandu on 4410583)