Archive for everest base camp

Some stories

April 12, 2008 at 6:19 am · Filed under everest base camp, nepal, travel

As Brian mentioned, our trek was unexpectedly miserable at times.  There were definitely some moments though that are unforgetable..

The Freedom Pee at 16,000 feet
Finding a good spot to pee in the Everest region is tough for a girl.  There weren’t a lot of bushes or boulders to hide behind and there was always someone (or a yak) nearby.   You couldn’t just squat off the side of the trail.  It was in a town called Lobuche around 16,000 feet where I was finally fed up with the peeing situation.  The outhouses were filthy and it seemed so unnecessary to have to go in there just to pee.  No man ever squats to pee, so why should I??  That’s when I decided to create a device to let me pee standing up.  In short, it consisted of a water bottle that I sawed off at one end (at an angle) and covered in duct tape so it wouldn’t hurt any tender spots.  The aim was to pee using the funnel – the freedom pee.  It worked beautifully!  Everyone thought I was nuts.. and maybe i was since this was a high altitude innovation and I was probably depriving my brain of valuable oxygen.  Regardless, the funnel traveled with me all the way to Gorak Shep.. and I never had to squat to pee again.  I have pictures of course.. hehe..

The Korean Expedition Team
During our descent we stayed a night in a small lodge in Debouche.  Also spending the night there were 7 Koreans who were attempting to summit Everest.  For some reason, they zero’d in on Brian.  Brian was really good at gesticulating so there seemed to be no language barrier.  Before we knew it, they had us sampling Kimchee and drinking sake with them.  They had brought along their own chef and food (including a 2 litre plastic bottle of sake).  At one point, Brian opened the floodgates by asking them if they knew any songs.  That started a night of singing and dancing.. Brian rapped “the Humpty Dance”, the Koreans sang their national anthem and a couple English songs, our guides entertained us with some Nepali songs.  It’s hard to describe the night in words.  Just imagine 7 Koreans, a couple Nepalis and us singing, dancing, eating and drinking.. neither of us fully understanding what the other group is saying.. it was too funny!

Being Sick at Gorak Shep
Unfortunately, Brian and I both got sick at Gorak Shep and weren’t able to hike up to Kala Patthar.  On the first day at Gorak Shep I acquired a terrible altitude headache.. it lasted over 24 hours and even 8 tylenols couldn’t take care of it.  I decided to attempt the trek to Base Camp even with the headache because there was no way that I hiked so many days to get sick at the end.  We managed to get to Base Camp without incident (I think it was all the tylenol) but the trek back was something else.  Brian, Buddhi and I slowly hiked back, but it’s an experience I will never forget.  The hike to/from base camp is along a ridge about 4 feet wide with 1000 foot drops on either side.  The ridge is full of obstacles, climbs and descents.  If you’ve ever had any AMS symptoms then you’ll understand how difficult this was.  I had a throbbing headache, felt dizzy at times, and had to stop myself from throwing up.  It tooks us about 4 hours to hike back to Gorak Shep from basecamp.. it was one of those experiences where you just accept the torture and put one foot in front of the other.  I mentioned that Brian was sick as well, but we don’t think it was AMS.  We suspected the water at Gorak Shep – they probably didn’t boil it long enough and he acquired some bacteria.  Regardless, we decided to skip the hike the next day to Kala Patthar and head down as fast as we could.

We’re safe and sound now in Kathmandu.  The other trekkers, John and Mike, left this morning.  The Big D departs tomorrow.  We’re tentative to depart for Bhutan on Monday but our plans are still in flux as our flight is unconfirmed. 

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Success! At What Price?

April 7, 2008 at 12:27 pm · Filed under everest base camp, nepal, travel

Hi all!

We’re now just one day away from the end of our (seemingly endless) Himalayan adventure. I’m proud to report that we have succeeded in reaching Everest Base Camp!  We reached the zenith of the trek, at ~17,500 feet, three days ago.  The trip has been amazing, though somewhat more challenging than we had bargained for in a number of ways.

The Good Parts

There is simply no way to describe in words the beauty and majesty of the Himalayas.  The size of these mountains will forever alter our internal scale.  You’re at 12,000 feet, looking up at mountains that tower another 10,000 feet over your head.  And we thought the Cascades were sizable! 

I should also mention that, true to form, the Nepalese people are amazingly hospitable and friendly.  This country has really got an amazing vibe.  Despite their relatiely rough existence in somewhat harsh conditions, you are most likely to find a Nepali singing and smiling, day in and day out.  Great country to visit should you be a traveler!

The Bad Parts

This has been a long, LONG trip.  17 days at high elevation, in very cold temperatures, with somewhat primitive accomodations, becomes fatiguing.  We weren’t prepared for the drain of the combination of elevation and cold.  To top it off, for me, the most difficult aspect was the overabundance of downtime.  Due to the need to properly accilimtize, you sometimes only hike 2 or 3 hours a day.  That leaves 21 or 22 hours to freeze your arse off and stare at the wall.  No matter how many books you’ve brought, you tend to get pretty bored.  Sleeping was a chore as well, as the body really struggles with the ~50% oxygen content.  Many times I would awaken struggling to catch my breath, as apparently mybody forgot to double its breath rate.

The food on this trip exceeded expectations, but the limited menu quickly became tired.  You can only eat so many plates of spaghetti or momos (local dumpling-like delicacies) before a piece of chicken becomes your sole desire. 

The toughest part of this trip, however, has been our constant sickness.  I drank some bad water and spent a day with yet another case of Delhi-belly.  Mira and elevation don’t mix well, and she dealt with symptoms of altitude sickness throughout, especially the last day on the way back from base camp (see future story).  Now we’ve both got colds, and are longing for the comforts and sanitation of home! 

Quick Summary

We’re again in expensive internet territory, so I’ll keep it brief for now.  We have a number of interesting stories to share, and we will do that in the next week or so.  All in all, our trek to Everest Base Camp has been an interesting journey, yet one that will no doubt be better in hindsight than in reality.  You know that kind of trip :)   We’ve gained an appreciation for this beautiful place, and the people that call it home.  We’ve challenged ourselves in many ways, and proven once again that we are a great team capable of handling our fair share of adversity. But this will probably be our last high-altitude adventure for some time.

I hope everyone is well.  We’ll be seeing you soon!

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Our “rest day”

March 28, 2008 at 11:55 am · Filed under everest base camp, nepal

Okay.. I bit the bullet and decided to pay the 10 rupees a minute to do some interneting.  I have some time to kill between now and dinner.  You really shouldn’t hear from us for a couple days after today.

Today was our “rest day” in Namche.  That doesn’t mean we rested though.. instead, we had to wake up at 6am, have breakfast and hike for a couple hours.  Do I sound a little bitter?  Yah, maybe :P   I suppose it’s all good for acclimitization but it doesn’t mean that we have to like it.  We first hiked up to the park visitor center and walked around the museum.  We then hiked down to a Sherpa museum where we took a look at a typical Sherpa home.  Following that, we hiked down and back up 1000 feet on a sketchy trail up to a helicopter landing area.  Then, hiked back down to Namche.  By then it was about 11:30 and time for lunch.  The lodge we’re staying at has hot water.. it was incredible.  Truly incredible to take a shower with hot water.  Later in the afternoon we wandered down into the local market and did some basic shopping.. toilet paper, carabiners, mittens, etc..  Why the carabiners?  Turns out that I’ve had to employ two gross little towels.. one pee towel and one snot towel (too much information?).  I needed something to hang them from on my pack so I didn’t have to stuff them in my pocket… hehe.. yes, we’ve gotten to that point where grossness doesn’t matter and we all kinda stink.

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The trek has begun!

March 27, 2008 at 11:57 am · Filed under delhi, everest base camp, holi, nepal

We’re baaaack!!!!!!  Sorry we disappeared for the last couple days.  Internet access has been spotty at best.  We’re currently at 11,300 feet on our Everest base camp trek.. and it’s costing us 10 NRS / minute, so please excuse the brevity.  Here’s a quick rundown of the past couple days.

Holi
Holi is a big holiday in India celebrating equality of people.  It’s celebrated by throwing color and water at each other and just having fun.  We were lucky to be around to witness and partake in this holiday.  The neighbourhood near the hotel we stayed at managed to cover all of us from head to toe in color.   Seemed like the foreigners were fair game so long as you showed some sort of interest, ie taking out a camera, watching, or making eye contact.  It was a LOT of fun.. especially when we retaliated by filling a bucket with water balloons and throwing them back!  Dennis got ambushed and was dancing with the kids in a nearby alleyway.  We have a video.  Expect it on youtube in the near future.. hehe :)   We also met up with our friend, Ric, from Seattle and soaked him color too.  All in all, it was a truly fun and spontaneous day.

The trek
We have 5 people in our group:  Brian, Dennis, Mira, Mike (from North Carolina), and John (from Lousiana).  We’re supported by a guide, an assistant guide, and three porters.  In total, the trek is 20 days, starting from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp.  Our final altitude will be ~18,000 feet.  The trek is difficult, but we’re optimistic.

Kathmandu (~5,000 feet)
We spent 2 days in Kathmandu, did some sight seeing and shopping.  This was primarily meant for aclimitization before the trek began.

Kathmandu to Lukla (~9,300 feet)
We flew into Lukla in the tiniest plane I’ve ever been on.. basically it held 12 people and everyone had a window seat.  We had some breathtaking views of the Himalayas and caught our first glimpse of Everest.  We had heard a lot about the dramatic landing at Lukla.  It turns out that it’s extremely difficult to find a long flat spot for a runway.  So we landed on a shortened, sloped runway.  When we landed it looked like we were about to hit the mountains.. but the upward slope of the runway helped slow the plan down so we landed safely.  From Lukla we hiked down a few hours to Phakding were we stayed the night.  We’ve had a lot of fun teasing Dennis over his fear of heights.. particularly when traversing the various high suspension bridges.  Brian and I have tried to shake the bridge a few times.. just to give the old man something to talk about :)

Today: Phakding to Namche (~11,300 feet)
Today was a tough day.  It started with a fairly easy hike from Phakding to Monjo (about 2 hours) but Monjo to Namche was a killer.  Imagine 3.5 hrs of steep incline similar to Mt Si, but at 11,000 feet.  In total we covered 3000 feet and are extremely tired.  Tomorrow is a rest day which means that we hike 1,200 feet which will help us deal with the altitude. 

We have 14 more days to go and it’s unlikely  that you’ll hear from us over those days.  Hopefully the next post will be one of success!  On a side note, this hike means a lot to Brian and I.  We wanted to do something “tough” together.. something that would have good and bad times and challenge us physically.  As we spend 5-6 hrs a day hiking, it’s giving us an opportunity to meditate and turn inwards.  It’s amazing how much more in tune you become with your body as you watch each breath and monitor your body/mind for signs of weakness.  And the occasional farting (due to altitude of course) makes it all the more fun.. as long as you’re not walking behind Brian.  Wish us luck!

Mom Lane - thank you so much for the muffins!  We’ve been eating them every morning and it’s the one thing we can count on for food.  We’re trying to ration them so we don’t go through them too quickly :)

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