Everest.....a running diary

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Prep Day: Day prior to leaving for Everest was a hectic one. Unless weather up at base camp was to be a balmy 30 degrees celcius, I was in need of some new gear. Our guide, Dharma, took Oto and I to a little spot where we got all the necessary gear for the trek. Here's a list of my new kit:

*Down Jacket
*Polar Fleece
*Thermals
*Tuque
*Gloves
*Hiking Boots (which I would soon want to burn)
*4 pairs of wool socks
*Diamox (altitude sickness pills)
*A new inhaler (I used to have terrible asthma & was hospitalized a couple times as a kid, and also led my class in missed school days up until grade 5....doubt she'll come back, but you can never be too safe!)
*A new bag...I bought this, which could prove to be a logistical nightmare on my flight home.
*New immitation Oakleys (for those keeping score @ home...thats pair #6 of sunglasses)

Day 1: Our flight was set to leave @ 8:30 am and our guide Dharma said he was to meet us @ our guest house @ 7am. 7:30 rolled around and he wasn't there yet, so I called him.
me: Dharma, where are you man?
Dharma: I couldnt find your guest house!
Me: But you were just here yesterday and have lived in this city all your life!
Dharma: I know man....I got lost....Meet me @ Khatmandu guesthouse! Hurry!

I thought to myself, "great, if our guide got lost in a small city that he grew up in and where he has just visited the guesthouse yesterday, how is he going to take us up almost 6000 metres into the mountains???" Well, there's only one way to find out...lets go!

Our flight was set for 8:30am, yet we didnt leave until 11:30am...Dharma could sense that I was a little concerned, and said "Jez, don't forget that we're on Nepalese time....we'll be lucky if we get out of here before 1pm".....I said, "Dharma, its not the time I'm worried about, I've travelled in Laos & Cambodia. Right now, I'm just a little concerned with what I just read, that Nepal has more plane accidents per year than Canada & the U.S combined". His face turned a little red and he said..."ahh....you thirsty?".

The plane ride was incredibly scenic as we could see all the Himalayan mountains out the window and a good overview of much of Nepal. We were on a tiny little plane and for whatever reason, were NOT told to put on our seatbelts, I guess a seatbelt won't help when you crash into the side of the mountain. As I became hypnotized with the lovely views our pilot decided to start snap me out of my delirium and begin slaloming through the peaks of the worlds tallest mountains. We were all bouncing up and down, holding on for dear life. My guide was actually throwing up his breakfast, and I looked to the flight attendent for some sort of reassurance that everything would be okay....I found nothing but a frightened blank stare. You know its bad turbulance when the flight attendent looks deathly scared. I assume all she was thinking was "why didnt I just become a secretary???". We then circled around what appeared to be someones driveway down below. Infact, it looked to be about the same size as my driveway back on Allanbrooke Dr. Well, turns out it was that "driveway" was the worlds shortest runway and we were set to land on it....sweet.....as we approached, I closed my eyes and hoped for the best. The wheels smashed the runway and it appeared that we were going wayyyy too fast as the huge mountain in the front window looked closer and closer, where it was close enough to touch. The pilot slammed on the brakes and everyone lunged forward as you could hear a few more throwing up. We stopped just short of the end of the runway and everyone broke out into applause and laughter (you know, the type of laughter where you try and act tough and say "yea, I wasnt scared, I knew we'd be okay"...sure pal).

The 1st days walk was a joke and was actually downhill....this seems easy enough to me.

Day 2:
Woke up a 7 to begin the days trek up to Namche Bazaar. This is the last place on the trek where you can buy pretty much anything. Although, all the prices are inflated to Western prices, partly because everything is flown in and then carried up by the porters. Todays walk was actually pretty difficult. Most people who do the trek to base camp, wuss out and have porters carry their bags for them, while they just carry a little day sack. I thought that I would be a man and carry my own bag all the way up. After about 4 hours of gruelling uphill, my bag was getting quite strenous on the old shoulders. This is when I remembered that it came with an ingenious hip strap to help support the weight. So, I set it up, only to realize that I was missing one key ingredient....hips!!! Although I've never had "Shakira like" hips (nor would ever want them.....atleast not on my body), whatever hips I did have must have been left in the Sydney baggage terminal, as I now am as skinny as a 8 year old boy...and the straps on my bag are digging into my shoulder blades. I have also developed blisters on the back of my ankle......noot good.

I should actually write about these porters. They are the backbone of Mount Everest. While tourists become exhausted just hauling their own body weight up a few hundred metres a day, these porters carry EVERYTHING on their back. I posted a few pics, but they'll go 8 hours carrying, 12 cases of water on their back, with a ladder and a stack of 12 chairs. Its unbelievable to see. They attach a strap to their foreheads and support the weight on their back. I saw a guy carrying up a full filing cabinet today and saw women carrying huge packs on their back, while knitting and also singing on the way up, usually in bare feet, or past 3200 metres, with broken sandals.

Day 3:
Today is our first acclimatization day, which means that you hike up about 400 metres and then return back down to where you started in order for your body to adjust to the decreasing amount of oxygen in the air. After you reach 2500M, you should not move up the mountain more than 300 m in a day without first acclimatizing, otherwise altitude sickness becomes prevelent. This morning, we hiked up and got our very first view of Everest. Many people assume that you can see Everest from everywhere, but thats not the case. This trek was like walking in downtown Chicago. You cannot see the Sears tower from that many spots since it is hidden behind other huge skyscrapers, the same is true with Everest, as the surrounding area in the Himalayas is home to 11 of the worlds 15 tallest mountains. It wasn't a great view, but I could see the peak of it, and for me that was more than enough. After reading so much about tales on Everest, to finally be able to see it was incredible. It was so far away and yet, I felt like I could just reach out and touch it. If I were to die today, I would die a happy man. I began to lose touch with reality and where I was until I heard an armed militant screaming at someone directly behind me. This happens once in a while as Nepal has been home to alot of fighting b/w the gov't and a large group of rebels called the Maoists. Over the past 7 years there have been many lives lost. Infact, the entire royal family was massacred only 6 years ago and is remains a reason why Nepal is on the Canadian Consolote list of countries that says "DO NOT TRAVEL THERE...(unless you have to)". Anyways, while we were there the two parties ended up coming to terms and joined parties in the gov't. Although, there are still many protests where many people were killed...fortunately, this took place outside the tourist cities in Nepal.

Today I also had my 1st shower on the trek. Its very cold at night and the shower was supposed to be hot. Well, there was virtually no pressure and the air was freezing. I dont know was prison showers are like, but I reckon this one was similar. Is there anything in the world that is more unsatisfying than a shower with no water pressure??? It lasted a cold 5 minutes and I had to pay $5.

Amy- I got your message AFTER the trek (thankfully), but I asked my guide about your waste incineration pit, and APPARENTLY they do still use it..so, good work! I'm very interested to hear more about your time in Nepal.

Day 4: We left Namche to Khungjung. My rented boots are now causing excruciating pain on the back of my left ankle. My blister has now morphed into 3 blisters. I mentioned it to Oto and he starts going off about being a baby and that they're just blisters. He says "you think blisters are bad? Try being in a club and having a hand grenade thrown right infront of you and exploding, sending shrapnel into your stomach and putting you in a hospital for a year"....ummmm.....grenade??? Okkkkay, I think I'll shutup about my blisters. (If any sports fans remember Allen Iverson and his infamous rant on "Practice?!!?? I'm an MVP & we talkin' about Practice?!"...Oto, sounded just like that, except, replace the word Practice with Blisters.
The irony about the blister situation, is that the first couple days I wore skinny Toronto Maple Leaf cotton socks, when I should have worn thick wool socks to prevent blisters. The plan was to bring these Leaf socks to the top and have a nice picture with the Leaf logo, myself & Everest. Sadly, I realized that I left these socks back in Namche and will never see them again. 😞

As we walk we are constantly blessed with beautiful views of Ama Dablam, which is my favorite mountain in the Himalayas, by far. Its almost like our North star as we walk towards it and eventually around it. When walking, its hard not to want to look all over the place and soak in some of the scenery, but when you do that, is when you sprain an ankle from not watching where you're going, or inevitably step in some Yak crap (which we call, landmines).


Day 5: Lots more walking, way down then wayyyy up to Tengboche. This much trekking allows you ample time to think. I thought it would be a good idea to reflect upon my entire trip. Over the first 4 days on the trek, I went over every single day of the first 3 and a half months of my trip in my head. From being dropped off at Pearson to scuba diving on the great barrier reef in Oz, I recounted as many activities and conversations as my mental capacity would allow me, which was really cool.

The pain in my blisters continues to get worse and every little tweak of the ankle or twist on a rock causes blistering pain. In order to attempt to avoid this, I begin to play a little game with myself. I took all the matchups in the NBA playoffs and then break down each matchup. (although I dont even know who's in the playoffs, I have to make an educated guess) The game is to go as long as possible without making 3 missteps to cause excruciating pain in my ankle, which happens anytime my foot doesnt go directly straight. I start my stopwatch and after 3 "owwwies" that team is done and the home team tries to beat that time, by exceeding it. I did this a total of 31 times and the Raptors ended up winning, the blister pain avoiding championship. I know it sounds like I probably favored the Raps, but...everytime there was a technical part of the trail, they would just call a timeout....thats not favortism, just good coaching. As I write, I realize how immature this game now sounds and should really save myself some embarassment and delete it, but, this just can just educated some on the childhood of an only child. Thsi game brought back many memories of my childhood. All I would ever do was make up games like this, so for hours a day, I was never just shooting hoops, or hitting a ball against a wall, I was playing 1-1 against Michael Jordan or hitting a backhand at Andre Agassi.

Tengboche is absolutely beautiful and my favorite stop along the way. It is home to the worlds highest monestary and there are some exceptional lookouts. We climbed up to have some better views in the afternoon and when we left it was sunny, but within 10 minutes, it was a blizzard outside, very windy and deathly cold. It just showed me what everyone has written about how unpredictable the weather is and how it can change on a dime. One must always be prepared for all conditions, otherwise you could freeze to death if caught outside for a fortnight.

Upon our return to Tengboche, we visited the Monastery. Its incredibly learning a few things about Buddhism and even Hinduism from our guide Dharma. Following this, I participated on what I assume is the worlds highest volleyball court. At 4000 Metres, a bunch of monks were playing the most unfadamental game of v-ball, I'd ever seen. They knew how to "spike", but the bump and the set, were both foreign concepts to them. It was also snowing while we played and hitting the ball was like hitting a giant ice cube. I was like that kid who never wanted the ball to come to him, because it hurt too damn much to hit it. These guys are the toughest young men ever. It was about -5, snowing and one of them is running around on this semi-frozen mud in barefeet.

Day 6: Tengboche to Dingboche- Oto and my guide both like to sleep in and I'm always overly anxious to get going and am the first one up and always have to wake them up....(reminds me of a little place called BRISBANE, eh Sarah??). I always want to get going, because the mornings are always very sunny, but by 1pm, the clouds roll in and it gets very cold and windy during the walk.
Views are all breathtaking along the way, air is thin yet incredibly nice and clean up here (aside from all the Yak crap, and fortunately, Amy, I didnt read your message and am unaware that 95%!o(MISSING)f all the food contains fecal matter). Today, we walked past some memorials for many people who have lost their lives. I recognize one of the names (Scott Fischer) as he was one of 8 who passed away in one of Everests deadliest days on May 10/11, 1996. After reading so much about this tragedy, I was overcome with goosebumbs just standing there and reading a little plack on top of his memorial cairn, which read "His spirit lives on". I also noticed another memorial cairn for a Canadian named Sean Egan, who passed away in 2005 on the mountain. Later on in the day at my guesthouse I met a few people who are going to summit Everest. I spoke in detail with one gentleman, who is a Canadian professor down at South Carolina University. He was best friends with Sean Egan and is currently carrying his ashes with him, with alot of pride. He hopes to succesfully summit Everest and then spread his best friends ashes at the top of the world. He was a very interesting and caring person and I definetly wish him all the best. He actually posts a blog from up on Everest daily and his website is My EVEREST ...his name is PAT and he's currently at base camp 2, 6400 metres and still blogging. It snowed quite a bit this afternoon and we had a little snowball fight. I realized that I actually missed snow for a whole season, and it was great to have some fun in it. Everything is very beautiful and I'm just trying to stay warm. I have avoided any symptoms of altitude sickness by drinking a minimum of 3L of h2o/day and going slowly.

Today at the end of the day, I took off my shoe and both Oto and Dharma saw my blisters, which I've attempted to remedy with tape and disinfectant. They were both shocked and said "whoa...I've never seen anything like that before" and "oh shit, I didnt think they were half that bad".

day 7-return to come.

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Photos

Landing in Lukla
Thats essentially the runway.

Big Bridge
Check out the height of this swinging bridge...gets so windy and cold up there.

First View of Everest
Everest is the one on the left, with the snow blowing from the peak.

Comments

[Tim]

Good Lad!
Awesome journal dude, pretty special trip hey!