Travelling to Nepal ...
17 April 2010
We have arrived at Base Camp today. It is so exciting to be here and sorting out my bags and climbing gear into little piles of needed things. Everybody is in great shape and good health. We had a first view of the Khumbu Ice Falls and yes it looks impossible to climb. But lets take it one step at a time.Here we will have 4 days before we go up. We will have a training day and gear sorting day - all really to get acclimatized to this altitude so we can move through the ice fall efficiently as it is the most dangerous section of the climb down the mountain.
Day 12
The hike is very short in distance - 5km but it takes 3.5 hrs to do it (at least for me, as I am still recovering from my illness of a couple of days ago). The team is strong and we dealt with most of the bugs by now.I saw the Everest Base Camp for the first time today. A very distant city of yellow tents. We stop at Gorakshep at 5150m 3 hrs away from our destination for now - tomorrow the first part of the expedition will be complete. We will arrive at Base Camp. I am in good shape, lost only 2 kg and spirits are high. I love it here.
Day 11
I don't want to go today really. There is something - don't know if it is anxiety to continue or the illness I am dealing with. I feel weak as the 6 am appraoches but encouraged by Bill I go up a small hill to see if I can breath at all walking up. I am stable but went really slowely.Encouraged by Vivian - my room mate - I pack my bag and will try to get to 4950m even if behind everybody. I am really slow but I get there. I have a serious nap straight away and again go to bed at 1930!
The views of today were totally spectacular. We are out of the villages and into the area that even locals don't stay in the winter. Tomorrow we are going above 5000m. We can all now feel the altitiude and move like in cotton cocoons.
Day 10
I am simply sick and spent the whole day in my sleeping bag trying to do self healing sessions and to use others to supply me with mountains of food every 3-4 hrs. I am sad and dissappointed that I had been so silly. In the evening I talk to the guides about plan B if I am unable to walk with the rest of the group tomorrow. Of course there is an oppportunity to organise anyhting here. The only thing will be my morale of staying here on my onw. Lets see in the morning.Day 9
Today is a rest day and we do whatever we want. Unfortunatelly against my intuition I wander up to a 5000m hill in very windy conditions on my own, for which I will of course pay with a cold and a small chest infection overnight. The rest of the day I spent in a cafe eating choclate brownies and drinking tea not knowing that the fever is building up. We play cards till extravagant 2100!Day 8
We are trekking up to 4350m. Walking is easy for most of us. But on the way we stop for our first official puja ceremony with a Lama. We just walk into his house and he blesses everyone of us and shants for us as if in concert. The religousness of the situation is very deep. I try to meditate with him. We all fill elevated and full of energy after the brief session.We also visit a 300 years old monastry, which is mysterious, cold and dim. Walking out I bang my head on the wooden door so hard that I see stars. I need to prop myself on Bill - the guide to compose myself. Lucklily it is only a bump and no blood. We arrive at the wonderfull Snow Lion Lodge, where we will stay 3 nights to get accostumed to the altitude. I take the first shower in days and feel well.
Day 7
We are walking up windy paths above 3500m. As we are going through the river valleys we go up and down constantly. To climb 500m we need to do 1000m vertical gain. The weather is kind and to my surprise I am still in snickers without an ankle support. We got to Debuche in perfect time. We started meeting Yaks, which are a challenge to pass on the very dusty path.The team is suffering from stomach bugs and the lead guide has a chest infection. We have visited a monastery on the way. The buddist beliefs and rituals are leading us higher and higher.
After dinner a German lady was carried into the common room with very severe altitude sickness. Her oxygen saturation was 57%, which is close to dying. Luckily there are American Everest Base Camp ER doctors with us tonight. She gets an injection of the worlds strongest steroids and is put instantly in a Gammow bag for the night. In the morning she gets evacuated by helicopter to safety. She has been in a coma the whole time, so not even realising how lucky she was.
Day 6
We go on an aclimatisation walk to 3880m to a Mt Everest View Hotel, where Japaneese tourists are flown by helicopters, there is oxygen pumped into the rooms and a night is at $100, which is a lot here - we are paying $3.5 a night. We set off at 8 am. On arrival the Mountain presented itself to us and we could clearly see teh last 700 meters we will be climbing to the summit in 6 weeks or so. It looks inviting today but really windy.I had a pulsating headache for last 12 hrs and did not feel great. At higher altitude it got better and after big lunch topped up by apple pie with custard! and 2 hrs nap it was gone. Great as we are moving higher tomorrow.
The team is in good spirit other than my headache, Linda's stomach upset and Julia's altitude sickness we are in a perfect condition.
I have a shower for $4 and feel like a new baby.
Day 5
It was a big day. We walked for 6 hrs throughout villages on a dusty path. We entered the National Park area and had multliple police check points. At the end of the walk we had a big hill to climb but all was fine and we arrived at Namche Bazar in great form.Looking into the eyes of our lead guides is quite an experience there is an amazing depth of peace, integrity and no fear. The notion of being able to deal with mountain reality sets on the team. We pass great number of praying wheels, stupas, moni stones and we pass them always on the right for a good carma.
It 's great to be on the path again. I am made for this, just give me a pair of trekking poles a winding path and I go into the zone and left, right, left, right off I go. I love being here. We pass several high, wobbly bridges - good fun!
From one of the look out points we have a first sighting of Mt Everest. It looks big and far away. I bow in Namaste greeting hoping that it will want me as a guest.
Day 4
We woke up at 530 and were in the airport for 630 only to wait for 6 hrs on various sofas, chairs and busses. We were quite late but still decided to walk for three hrs to our final destination. On the way we receive our first blessing with yellow strings blessed by the Lama, everybody dully put them on the neck not to be removed. Then during the tea ceremony we get katas - a white thin shawls again put on our necks. We arrived at dusk and waited hours for porters to get our bags and to have ability to change in dry clothes. Then we had dinner and went to bed at 21.00!Day 3
Today was a rest day really, swimming, visiting temples, sorting out communication for the mountain. Group talks, more group talks, last equipment check and buying miscellaneous stuff. I did not have a stomach upset to date and feeling good and strong. Everybody is asking: are you ready? I am not sure one can be ready for this. I am going to take one day at the time and I have ... 57 days left! I have my peace now. I am looking forward to getting up tomorrow morning at 5:30 and going upwards and forwards.Day 2
A delay to our departure to Kathmandu from Delhi meant that I had only 90 minutes to re-pack my bags. I was frantically spreading around the room all my stuff and packing it back to divide loads going directly to Base Camp and for the trek in. It was good to meet the crew. My friends, we chatted about previous adventures till late at night. Everybody strong, looking great, prepared and focused on what is ahead.With a last interview for the Nepalese press I am leaving the world behind me. I need to deal with all the bad news from before the trip now, here and I need to come to terms that this is me on my mountain.
Day 1
Last thing I did in London before getting on the plane was to go to the cinema and see Alice in Wonderland in 3D at IMAX. What a great introduction into the world of wander I will be immersing myself in for 60 days. I concluded that it is a film about me (moderately mad) - I constantly talk to animals, flowers, I hug trees. Leaving the world of civilization, investment banking and rushing around ... for no reason at all is like falling through a rabbit hole.Departing this time was much more difficult then usual, I am sure it was because I was living behind Steve - best friend who supported me through all the training last quarter, spent last days with me and I know he could have done it, but we met too late!
The flight to New Delhi was great ... well I slept most of the journey ... as usual!
Before departure to Nepal
I left London on Fri 2nd of Apr and went to the seaside. I walked for 3 days, ate lots and was marry. Focusing my mind on the challenge at hand.
1 day before. Work was so good about me leaving, we had 2 farewell lunches with my team. The best joke was that they hoped not to have a headcount freeze over next two months - I loved it. They wanted to challenge me to eat 6000 calories lunch!
4 days before leaving for Nepal our guides informed me that Heidi, who guided my on Antarctica and was suppose to come with us to Everest has tragically died under an avalanche in Colorado. It was hard to pull myself together that day. I needed a lot of space for myself. My bags were all ready packed. I sat and watched them - 8 weeks of life in 5 expedition bags, neatly packed.
10 days before my dad called and gave me the news of mild heart attack. I froze and considered if I had time to go and see him. After I sat down with my eyes getting watered we talked for a while. He said 'whatever happens to me you just keep going', you live your life as nothing would have happened, go and climb and come back safely'. After I hanged up my throat needed a drink. I sat on a chair for a while and pondered. What a wise man I thought to myself.