To Everest Basecamp
Saturday 10/22.
We left Khumjung (12,400 ft) this morning. The elders took the low path (I'll take the high road, and you take the low road is becoming a very popular song on this trip), and I climbed up and over the high path with chef Mohan as my guide. I asked him how to say some simple phrases and words, but this happy-go-lucky sherpa wouldn't drop the Nepali lessons! I didn't want to be rude, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity to learn another language. So, for three hours, I learned: "Kilpiah tato chya denuse?" (May I have some hot tea?) "Es ko kati?" (How much does it cost?) Mula ( I never forget that one!) = turnip, cowli = cabbage/colliflower, ganaja (not to be confused with Ganja!) = carrot. Now, at every meal, he is always teaching me more: roti=bread, dude=milk, and he won't serve me unless I answer him with a Nepali thank you, danya bad!
Once we arrived in Portsetenga around 3, everyone took out a book or cards. I pulled out my yarn and needles and began to knit. All the locals looked at me with confusion, as if only the Nepalese know how to knit!
Even though we are camping in tents, we spend most of our time in local teahouses. Nights are getting pretty cold, (30 degrees) so we will pay a small fee and are able to rest in their heated lodges. As a Sagarmatha National Park law, it is illegal to burn firewood, so the locals burn cow dung for fuel. I was wondering why I saw dung pancakes sun-drying all over rocks! I learned that a cow/yak makes over 1,000 ppounds of waste everyday, and getting rid of the shit is most laborious task on their farms and the most instrumental to their health: for clean water and for fuel.
Monday 10/24
We spent an extra night in Dole (13,250 ft) because our guide Albert isn't feeling well. He didn't get more than 12 hours of rest between guiding trips, and he has contracted the notorious Khumbu cough. The combination of dust, dry air, and rigorous hiking leaves Sherpas and frequent travelers with violent coughing and chest congestion. Lately, my earplugs have been more for the coughs spewing from the other tents, rather than Dad's snoring. We are worried about our guide's health and if he will be able to go on. We still have over 5,000 feet to ascend. In the adjacent campsite, there was a German man with HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema). We had to get him into our pressure-sealed Gamoff bag, so that his body would feel as if it were at a lower elevation. After two hours he was able to walk down to the next town. The only cure for altitude sickness is to descend. With these two sicknesses, we all realized the serious medical effects of altitude. We hope that we will be able to reach Basecamp.
Tuesday 10/25
We arrived in Machermo (14,600 ft) this afternoon, and there's been some rumbly in my tumbly. After dinner, I was sipping some black tea when an implosion in my stomach was imminently causing an explosion in my pants! I ran out of the teahouse lodge, but soon realized that I was without a headlamp! I didn't have time to run back into the dining area to borrow someone else's, but I couldn't see past a few feet on my own boots! Nervously dancing in place, I was able to steal a flashlight for one of our kitchen boys, we was about to clear the dinner table. I ran towards our toilet tent, being careful to to drip on any twine than staked our tents to the ground. The tent was in sight! It can't be! Seven cows, in line head to tail, slowly marched in front of the tent, blocking my way. Again, I'm dancing in place, counting each one as they pass, and hoping to god that I don't shit in pants in the process. As I am waiting for the last one to pass, the enormous cow rips right through the tent, tearing out the stakes until the entire closure collapses! Whining and squirming, I am unable to burrow into the collapsed tent. With no other choice, I finally found relief from a rock and the darkness. My appreciation for electrified western-style bathrooms have just infinitely multiplied!
Thursday 10/27
Our rest day in Gokyo was anything but leisurely. Known as the resort town of the Khumbu region, Gokyo is set beside a crystal-blue lake, lined with snow-dusted peaks. We hiked up the smallest mound, Gokyo Ri, a 2000 feet ascent. It took us 3 hours to climb up, but the view was well worthwhile. We saw Amadablam, Everest, Nuptse, Lutse, and many other 22,000+ft peaks.
Discomfort is starting to set in. David is sick with a fever and was unable to climb Gokyo Ri with the rest of us. Many of us have coughs and congestion. Hiking days are getting longer and more arduous: the Cho La Pass meant hours of climbing up and over enormous piles of frozen boulders. Temperatures are getting into the teens at night, and we haven't had showers in over 10 days! I'm just thankful that stomach has settled!
We left Khumjung (12,400 ft) this morning. The elders took the low path (I'll take the high road, and you take the low road is becoming a very popular song on this trip), and I climbed up and over the high path with chef Mohan as my guide. I asked him how to say some simple phrases and words, but this happy-go-lucky sherpa wouldn't drop the Nepali lessons! I didn't want to be rude, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity to learn another language. So, for three hours, I learned: "Kilpiah tato chya denuse?" (May I have some hot tea?) "Es ko kati?" (How much does it cost?) Mula ( I never forget that one!) = turnip, cowli = cabbage/colliflower, ganaja (not to be confused with Ganja!) = carrot. Now, at every meal, he is always teaching me more: roti=bread, dude=milk, and he won't serve me unless I answer him with a Nepali thank you, danya bad!
Once we arrived in Portsetenga around 3, everyone took out a book or cards. I pulled out my yarn and needles and began to knit. All the locals looked at me with confusion, as if only the Nepalese know how to knit!
Even though we are camping in tents, we spend most of our time in local teahouses. Nights are getting pretty cold, (30 degrees) so we will pay a small fee and are able to rest in their heated lodges. As a Sagarmatha National Park law, it is illegal to burn firewood, so the locals burn cow dung for fuel. I was wondering why I saw dung pancakes sun-drying all over rocks! I learned that a cow/yak makes over 1,000 ppounds of waste everyday, and getting rid of the shit is most laborious task on their farms and the most instrumental to their health: for clean water and for fuel.
Monday 10/24
We spent an extra night in Dole (13,250 ft) because our guide Albert isn't feeling well. He didn't get more than 12 hours of rest between guiding trips, and he has contracted the notorious Khumbu cough. The combination of dust, dry air, and rigorous hiking leaves Sherpas and frequent travelers with violent coughing and chest congestion. Lately, my earplugs have been more for the coughs spewing from the other tents, rather than Dad's snoring. We are worried about our guide's health and if he will be able to go on. We still have over 5,000 feet to ascend. In the adjacent campsite, there was a German man with HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema). We had to get him into our pressure-sealed Gamoff bag, so that his body would feel as if it were at a lower elevation. After two hours he was able to walk down to the next town. The only cure for altitude sickness is to descend. With these two sicknesses, we all realized the serious medical effects of altitude. We hope that we will be able to reach Basecamp.
Tuesday 10/25
We arrived in Machermo (14,600 ft) this afternoon, and there's been some rumbly in my tumbly. After dinner, I was sipping some black tea when an implosion in my stomach was imminently causing an explosion in my pants! I ran out of the teahouse lodge, but soon realized that I was without a headlamp! I didn't have time to run back into the dining area to borrow someone else's, but I couldn't see past a few feet on my own boots! Nervously dancing in place, I was able to steal a flashlight for one of our kitchen boys, we was about to clear the dinner table. I ran towards our toilet tent, being careful to to drip on any twine than staked our tents to the ground. The tent was in sight! It can't be! Seven cows, in line head to tail, slowly marched in front of the tent, blocking my way. Again, I'm dancing in place, counting each one as they pass, and hoping to god that I don't shit in pants in the process. As I am waiting for the last one to pass, the enormous cow rips right through the tent, tearing out the stakes until the entire closure collapses! Whining and squirming, I am unable to burrow into the collapsed tent. With no other choice, I finally found relief from a rock and the darkness. My appreciation for electrified western-style bathrooms have just infinitely multiplied!
Thursday 10/27
Our rest day in Gokyo was anything but leisurely. Known as the resort town of the Khumbu region, Gokyo is set beside a crystal-blue lake, lined with snow-dusted peaks. We hiked up the smallest mound, Gokyo Ri, a 2000 feet ascent. It took us 3 hours to climb up, but the view was well worthwhile. We saw Amadablam, Everest, Nuptse, Lutse, and many other 22,000+ft peaks.
Discomfort is starting to set in. David is sick with a fever and was unable to climb Gokyo Ri with the rest of us. Many of us have coughs and congestion. Hiking days are getting longer and more arduous: the Cho La Pass meant hours of climbing up and over enormous piles of frozen boulders. Temperatures are getting into the teens at night, and we haven't had showers in over 10 days! I'm just thankful that stomach has settled!
posted by Jfefferman @ 6:17 AM
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