One road ends and another begins
In a thousand ages of the Gods
I could not tell thee
of the glories of the Himalaya
Just as the dew is dried
by the morning sun
So are the sins of mankind
by the sight of the Himalaya
-- Skanda Purana
We're back on the map again. Well, in Kathmandu at least. We had an absolutely amazing time and I wish I could describe it to you all. But as the poem above implies, that's just not possible. There are some things that cannot be captured on film or described in words. They just have to be experienced and I hope that you all have the chance one day. However, that won't stop me from pestering everyone with zillions of photos when I do get back ... :-)
Leaving Namche Bazzar, we slowly made our way up the trail towards Everest Base Camp. Base Camp itself is not really the most important thing, but it is the one people recognize most, so I'll stick to it. Our first few days were mired by bad weather and a few bouts with AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). However, a few days rest and a fist full of Diamox later, I was feeling better and the clouds began to part.
One of the first of the great peaks that was revealed to us was Ama Dablam. Called by some "The Jewel of the Himalaya" and rightly so. This spectacular peak is my favorite. As we got farther along the trail, we saw Lhotse, Nuptse, Cholatse, Taboche, Thamserku and many others whose names were meaningless to me a few weeks ago and which will probably be meaningless to most of you. But now, I'll never forget them.
It wasn't until late in our trek, as we got very close to the destination viewing point of Kala Pattar that we were able to see Everest itself. In the end, we saw the mountain from mamy different angles, some better than others. (Ironically, the best view of the mountain was not from Kala Pattar, but from the next valley over, Gokyo. It came at a place called "Scoundral's Viewpoint" because it has the best view and, unlike Kala Pattar and Gokyo Ri, you don't have to climb 2 hours straight up to get there.) Seeing the mountain was the fulfillment of a childhoon dream for me. I can remember hours spent pouring over the "Everest" and "Mountain" entires in the World Book Encyclopedia that resided in our family room. Then running my finger across a globe, looking for that spot between Tibet and Nepal where the great mountain lay. So now, being able to see it myself, was truely amazing.
Seeing the mountain, and being in that environment, also brought home the realities of how mankind fits, or doesn't fit, amongst these peaks. We passed several "Everest Graveyards" with countless chortens paying tribute to those, Sherpa and foreign, who have not returned from the mountain. I also finished reading "Into Thin Air" and "The Climb" (somewhat conflicting accounts of the diasterous 1996 Everest season) as we approached the mountain, so seeing the memorials to Scott Fischer and Rob Hall were especially striking. On the way into Base Camp itself, we came across the wreckage of a helicopter crash that occured last season. All of this a quite sobering reminder that when you play up here, you play for keeps.
But we were very safe and were never really in any danger. Covered a lot of ground though and I'm happy to be sitting on my ass for while. Took tons of pictures and will torture you with them as soon as I'm back. Met a lot of great people up here too, which was fun.
A couple of random observations:
Sherpas. For all of their many and varied skills, creating fire is not one of them. This was made apparent to us on several occasions, most notably in Tengboche where the Sherpa running the lodge descided to stuff the fireplace so full that there wasn't breath of air in the thing, pour a bit of kerosene on the top, and drop a match in. As one would expect, the mass of wood and yak dung acted as an excellent whick to ensure that the kerosene burned right off the top. He seemed to enjoy this. We Canadians (and couple of Kiwis) finally had to take over and prove that there actually was one thing we could do better ....
Working in the Khunde hospital (the medical centre for the region, established by Sir Ed and manned by both Canadian and New Zealand doctors) is tantamount to being royalty up in the Khumbu (Everest Region). We got to know one of these doctors, Jean, and everywhere we went, the proverbial red carpet was rolled out. We began calling her "Jean, Queen of the Khumbu."
Things are more difficult at altitude. This seems like common sense, but it hits home much harder when climbing five stairs to use the washroom leaves you so out of breath, you need ten minutes and a cup of tea to recover.
One thing that isn't more difficult at altitude is urination. This natural process goes absolutely sideways as the body tries to adapt to the thinning atmosphere. I am hoping beyond hope that this night I will be able to limit my nocturnal trips to the toilet so that they can be counted on one hand ....
HAT. Many have heard of High Altitude Sickness, but our friend Simon coined a new medical term to describe the declining cognitive abilities that come with the barometric pressure (and therfore oxygen level) dropping to 50% of what it is at sea level. HAT, High Altitude Thickness. If it takes four people half an hour to remember the name of a movie that everyone has watched, you know you've got it.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on so long. Just trying to perpetuate my excuse for sitting down and doing nothing for a while. We're going to be hanging around Kathmandu for a while and probably heading off to Pokara, a nearby city (that is, only a 12 hour bus ride), for a while. I hope that everything is well wherever you are.
Justin
P.S. Feel free to write me back and let me know how you all are doing. In Kathmandu, the internet access is cheap and fast, so I'll probably even be able to respond!
I could not tell thee
of the glories of the Himalaya
Just as the dew is dried
by the morning sun
So are the sins of mankind
by the sight of the Himalaya
-- Skanda Purana
We're back on the map again. Well, in Kathmandu at least. We had an absolutely amazing time and I wish I could describe it to you all. But as the poem above implies, that's just not possible. There are some things that cannot be captured on film or described in words. They just have to be experienced and I hope that you all have the chance one day. However, that won't stop me from pestering everyone with zillions of photos when I do get back ... :-)
Leaving Namche Bazzar, we slowly made our way up the trail towards Everest Base Camp. Base Camp itself is not really the most important thing, but it is the one people recognize most, so I'll stick to it. Our first few days were mired by bad weather and a few bouts with AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness). However, a few days rest and a fist full of Diamox later, I was feeling better and the clouds began to part.
One of the first of the great peaks that was revealed to us was Ama Dablam. Called by some "The Jewel of the Himalaya" and rightly so. This spectacular peak is my favorite. As we got farther along the trail, we saw Lhotse, Nuptse, Cholatse, Taboche, Thamserku and many others whose names were meaningless to me a few weeks ago and which will probably be meaningless to most of you. But now, I'll never forget them.
It wasn't until late in our trek, as we got very close to the destination viewing point of Kala Pattar that we were able to see Everest itself. In the end, we saw the mountain from mamy different angles, some better than others. (Ironically, the best view of the mountain was not from Kala Pattar, but from the next valley over, Gokyo. It came at a place called "Scoundral's Viewpoint" because it has the best view and, unlike Kala Pattar and Gokyo Ri, you don't have to climb 2 hours straight up to get there.) Seeing the mountain was the fulfillment of a childhoon dream for me. I can remember hours spent pouring over the "Everest" and "Mountain" entires in the World Book Encyclopedia that resided in our family room. Then running my finger across a globe, looking for that spot between Tibet and Nepal where the great mountain lay. So now, being able to see it myself, was truely amazing.
Seeing the mountain, and being in that environment, also brought home the realities of how mankind fits, or doesn't fit, amongst these peaks. We passed several "Everest Graveyards" with countless chortens paying tribute to those, Sherpa and foreign, who have not returned from the mountain. I also finished reading "Into Thin Air" and "The Climb" (somewhat conflicting accounts of the diasterous 1996 Everest season) as we approached the mountain, so seeing the memorials to Scott Fischer and Rob Hall were especially striking. On the way into Base Camp itself, we came across the wreckage of a helicopter crash that occured last season. All of this a quite sobering reminder that when you play up here, you play for keeps.
But we were very safe and were never really in any danger. Covered a lot of ground though and I'm happy to be sitting on my ass for while. Took tons of pictures and will torture you with them as soon as I'm back. Met a lot of great people up here too, which was fun.
A couple of random observations:
Sherpas. For all of their many and varied skills, creating fire is not one of them. This was made apparent to us on several occasions, most notably in Tengboche where the Sherpa running the lodge descided to stuff the fireplace so full that there wasn't breath of air in the thing, pour a bit of kerosene on the top, and drop a match in. As one would expect, the mass of wood and yak dung acted as an excellent whick to ensure that the kerosene burned right off the top. He seemed to enjoy this. We Canadians (and couple of Kiwis) finally had to take over and prove that there actually was one thing we could do better ....
Working in the Khunde hospital (the medical centre for the region, established by Sir Ed and manned by both Canadian and New Zealand doctors) is tantamount to being royalty up in the Khumbu (Everest Region). We got to know one of these doctors, Jean, and everywhere we went, the proverbial red carpet was rolled out. We began calling her "Jean, Queen of the Khumbu."
Things are more difficult at altitude. This seems like common sense, but it hits home much harder when climbing five stairs to use the washroom leaves you so out of breath, you need ten minutes and a cup of tea to recover.
One thing that isn't more difficult at altitude is urination. This natural process goes absolutely sideways as the body tries to adapt to the thinning atmosphere. I am hoping beyond hope that this night I will be able to limit my nocturnal trips to the toilet so that they can be counted on one hand ....
HAT. Many have heard of High Altitude Sickness, but our friend Simon coined a new medical term to describe the declining cognitive abilities that come with the barometric pressure (and therfore oxygen level) dropping to 50% of what it is at sea level. HAT, High Altitude Thickness. If it takes four people half an hour to remember the name of a movie that everyone has watched, you know you've got it.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on so long. Just trying to perpetuate my excuse for sitting down and doing nothing for a while. We're going to be hanging around Kathmandu for a while and probably heading off to Pokara, a nearby city (that is, only a 12 hour bus ride), for a while. I hope that everything is well wherever you are.
Justin
P.S. Feel free to write me back and let me know how you all are doing. In Kathmandu, the internet access is cheap and fast, so I'll probably even be able to respond!
posted by Justin Callison at 6:57 AM
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