Today (Saturday) was a rest day; time to eat well and stroll around Lukla. The highlight of every morning here for the locals is to watch the numerous flights land and take off at the airport which is right in the center of town.
Now in Lukla are more members of our Sherpa team making final preparations to advance up the valley. About 1.5tn of food has been purchased. All our personal climbing equipment arrives from Kathmandu by a chartered aircraft early next week for portering up to Namche Bazaar and then onto base camp by yaks. Oxygen is helicoptered into an airport higher up the mountain at 3700m. Everything is coming together.
This afternoon I made a 4hr acclimatization hike up behind Lukla to 3500m in rainy conditions, just reaching the snowline. In making that hike, it was immediately evident to see the relatively simple existence the local Nepalese live here in the Himalayas. It was not uncommon to pass children on the trail as young as 6-8 years old portering heavy loads of wood on their backs with the weight being taken by a single strap across the top of their forehead - I am not sure school is a part of their daily routine. All village homes would welcome passers-by, selling hot tea, drinks and snacks. Inside each home is little more than a clay floor, a few simple wooden chairs and tables, some pots and pans, and the walls blackened by the wood fired stove that is kept constantly burning for heating and cooking purposes. The sleeping quarters were no more elaborate. However despite these harsh conditons the people seem resilien and enduring, always passing you on the trail with a friendly "Namaste" (hellow in Nepali).
Tomorrow is a big day – about a 15-20km walk up the valley passing through numerous villages before a final gruelling 800m zig zag ascent up into the town of
And when is a yak not a yak? .......when it is a female (a nak). Do not believe the trail side signs selling "yak cheese".
Bye for now..David
Arrived in Lukla yesterday and the flight lived up to it's reputation. Firstly, we were going at speed down the runway at Katmandu to take off only to have the pilot power down and return back to the terminal. We were all a little nervous at first thinking a possible failure of some sort (definitely not what you want flying into Lukla) but as it turned out, Lukla was that moment temporarily closed due to poor weather. About 2hrs later we were taking off again, in what was still pretty cloudy conditions as we flew higher up into Everest region with mountains on either side of the aircraft actually being higher than the height at which the plane was flying. At times the mountains were so, so close - it seemed close enough to clip the wings of the plane. The plane bounced around a lot as it passed through clouds. 14 passengers in total all sitting in single seats. To my right was a local Nepalese women who had a firm grip across the ailseway of my shirt and was in tears terrified by the approach. As the plane came up hard against a peak, at the last minute it took sharp turn to the right and there in sight was the short runway of Lukla, literally hanging to the cliffside. Before we knew it we had touched down and pulled up hard at the end of the 400m runway…….we had made it to Lukla!
This morning woke to the usual hustle of Kathmandu where the narrowness of streets is exemplified by the motorbikes, small cars, rickshaws and pedestrians going about their daily activities. Traders opening up their stalls to sell a range of different wares - fabric materials, blankets, household plastics, locally made jewelery and crafts, traditional Nepalese knives, vegetables and spices, to a selection of fresh (or not so fresh) cuts off meat street side.
After a fully stacked breakfast, Jamie McGuininess (our expedition organiser/leader of Project Himlaya) and I caught up for the first time to get to know each other and go over a final gear check, and then later met up with some of our key team members - seen from left to right in this picture - "Dawa" (Team Lead Sherpa), "Sarki" (Head Cook), and "Ming Ma Lapa Sherpa". Dawa is well respected in the sherpa community having been on Everest several times, and he will see to coordinating activities and logistics on the mountain with other team sherpas. As for Sarki, as head cook, the pressure is on him to churn out a range of hearty good tasting food for the team in base camp kitchen.
The Everest season in Nepal is all go now - the climb begins! http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=17176
Bye for now...David
18 months ago after returning from the last Himalayan expedition on Cho Oyu, I lost a considerable amout of weight - a result of living at sustained altitudes, despite the amount of food I managed to have an apetite for.
Well the challenge that our jovial Eric Liu has gladly subscribed to today is that he will reduce his body weight by a greater amount than I will lose, returning from Everest!
If you know Eric that is a tough call (for him) - but he is happy about it!
The official "weigh in" date has been set for 12th June 2008. Good luck Eric!
