On the way back to Australia

Well, after three fantastic weeks in Nepal I am now on my way back to Australia (currently transitting in Singapore). My last post was in Namche Bazaar on Monday - since then we made the long trek back to Lukla on Tuesday. This was a total of 17km with interestingly 1,200m of descent and 600m of climb - not bad for a downhill leg along with Dudh Koshi River. This leg was split over two days on our way up a couple of weeks ago, but with the majority of it downhill and all of us far better acclimatised, it was a straightforward single day walk to finish with. Lukla was nearly a ghost town, deviod of western tourists who have already headed home as Nepal heads into its cold winter. We spent a single night there before flying out of Lukla back to Kathmandu late on Wednesday morning, farewelling the last of our Sherpa crew - Ang and Pasan (that's them above with Pemba and Pasan Tenday along with the four of us). Again, it was a most amazing flight of Lukla as headed down the 12 degree slope runway and made the 25-minute journey back to KTM.

Because we had arrived back with time to spare (I was due to fly out Friday, PaulD on Saturday) we went about seeing if we could fly out on Thursday instead. As luck (??) would have it, both Paul and I could reschedule to Thursday. Chris is still flying out Friday and PaulT is hanging around till Boxing Day!!

With a short time left in Kathmandu, I did a quick bit of "gift" shopping before we headed out for our final dinner. We had been recommended "McDonal Fast Food Restaurant" by an English group we kept bumping in to our trek, and this turned out to be a masterstroke. Unlike its global cousin, this restaurant had a plethora of nice dishes on offer. So we opted for Tandoori Butter Chicken with four types of Naan Bread for the bargain price of $3 each. This was one of our best meals of the trip, or was it just that we had some meat for a change?!

Thursday morning involved a quick breakfast at a cafe - I opted for the "Juice Lover's Breakfast" which was eggs, suasage, fried potato, toast, jam, coffee.......and a small juice. Work that out!

Paul and I our now on our way home - I cannot wait for some Perth heat having had three very cold weeks up here. I even left Singapore Airport for half an hour just to soak up some heat and humidity on my way home!

The last photo is taken from my flight between Kathmandu and Singapore today. It was a beautifully clear day as headed along the Himalayas - that's Everest and Lhotse in the photo. Island Peak is far obscured!

So that's just about it for this trip. For those who are interested in maps and GPS's as much as me, I will post all the GPS logs along the trek from my watch. Unfortunately the day on Island Peak does not quite go where I wanted it to.....

A bit of an update.....

My last "real" post was from Pheriche some days before we attempted to climb Island Peak. By having a satellite phone within our group, I was able to keep Heather up-to-date who was then able to update the blog. So from my last post at Pheriche we slowly made our way up the valley to Island Peak by stopping at Dingboche (one night) and Chukkung (two nights). Chukkung is definitely the end of the earth - there's not much there, its bitterly cold and a chill blows up the valley through the village. We spent a couple of days there as part of our acclimatisation as it situated at about 4,730m. Without too much to do, we played plenty of games of cards in the "sun room" which is about the only place with warmth in the lodge we were staying in. We also practiced our rope techniques for the final part of the climb of Island Peak, which as we all know now, never came to fruition!

On Thursday we made the trek up to Island Peak base camp which was situated at 5,120m. Our fantastic team of Ang Chhiri, Pemba, Pasan and Tenday already had our camp set up - two two-man tents and a cooking tent. At this point I really wasn't feeling too good and the altitude had probably finally caught up with me. Having arrived mid-afternoon, our plan of trekking to the summit at 2am the following morning was put on hold by how I felt, not that the two Paul's were feeling great either. So Saturday was spent relaxing around a very cold and desolate base camp. The temperature would have struggled to have been above 0 degrees so your tent was by far the warmest place to be. There was still some spectacular scenery around, so I did go for a short walk and take some photos. However, as soon as the sun disappeared behind the mountains at around 4pm, ice would start to appear on the ground and on the tent, so it wasn't the most comfortable place to be! The meals cooked up by Pasan Tenday were fantastic and included soups, spaghettis, rice dishes and the local dish of dahl baht.


So at 1am Saturday morning we were out of sleeping bags in minus 15 temperatures with a light wind. For me, I did not have a good night's sleep and was feeling the altitude quite badly that morning. It was quite a struggle to get myself ready as I was constantly short of breathe, but after a bowl of porridge we were off just after 2am. The first stage is quite flat as it follows a valley along the side of Island Peak. Soon after it turns sharply up the hill and a small track zig-zags its way up the hill. Unfortunately for PaulD, he had picked up a bit of a chest and cough and was the first to start struggling at around 5,350m. He made the decision to turn back as he realised he would not have the strength to continue, so Chris (our lead guide) headed back with him. So it was left to PaulT and myself to continue and we both felt quite good until the track steepens and hits some quite severe rock that you need to haul yourself over. By around 7am and having progressed to around 5,700m (still 490m from the summit), we both new our morning was over as we struggling to get ourselves over the rocks and steep ledges. The photo taken is of myself, PaulT and Pasan Tenday and is from our highest point with the summit in the background (in the sun so hard to see). So disappointingly we both turned back, with still a few hours of effort required to get to the top. We arrived back at base camp at around 9am quite shattered from the physical exertion we had made. Lunch was egg, chapati, backed beans and cheese - I had a double helping I was so exhausted from what we had done. We were all keen to leave base camp so at around 1pm we made the two hour trek back to Chukkung in the freezing wind.

So where did it go wrong? Although we had spent alot of time above 4,700m prior to the climb, we didn't spend any time higher than our base camp and in hindsight that was where we could have acclimatised better. By the next day I was quite personally disappointed that I had not summitted, having come all this way. However, we had still thoroughly enjoyed our travels, seen some fantastic scenery, met some great people and spent a fortnight with four local Sherpa people who added alot to our journey. I think my future treks and climbs will be limited to day walks in the French and Italian Alpes where there is a cafe at the top to enjoy a hot drink and pastry!!

Following our return to Chukkung, we put spent the next two days trekking back to Namche Bazaar where we are now. It is amazing how easy this walk was, not just from being downhill, but from now being at a lower altitude which made even the uphills seem easy.


Today was an easy day around Namche. I bought some new trail running shoes which I can use for orienteering - half the price and by far better than anything I could find in Australia. We then went to Ang Chhiri and his wife Pemba's house in a nearby village (about an hour's walk), who had invited us around for lunch - another massive meal of chapati, fried rice and hot potato chips! This evening we went down to the local bar to play pool and have a few beers (not celebration ones unfortunately) which was a welcome change to being in bed by 8.30pm because it is normally too cold!

So we are now on the last few days of our journey. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we walk back to Lukla to hopefully catch a flight out on Wednesday back to Kathmandu, weather permitting. I am still struggling to convince Heather to let me shave off my furry and annoying beard - she wants to see it "live", all I want to do is get rid of it! I certainly won't be following the trend of a couple of other work colleagues that kept their facial hair following trips to Nepal.....

Back in Namche

As you all know from Heather's updates over the last week, our attempt on Island Peak was not successful. We are now safely back in Namche Bazaar soaking up the warmer weather (maximum of about 10 degrees) and lower altitude. We are here for another day yet so I will give a blow-by-blow account of how tough Island Peak was, how we suffered camping a base camp in -15 degree temperatures and how good our base camp cook was sometime tomorrow! Although we did not achieve our ultimate goal of summitting the peak, we have still had a fantastic time hiking in this region.

The positive point of being out of mobile/internet coverage for the last week is that I have been able to avoid the latest cricket scores!

A leisurely stroll up Island Peak....NOT!

I managed to speak to Adrian briefly on Friday, and here is an overview of their summit attempt...

They started out as planned at 2am Friday morning. Adrian said it was very difficult to breathe and the going was very hard; the climb very rocky. Unfortunately, they were not able to complete the summit, as they were all "shattered" as he put it, and had to turn back prior to getting to the top. Adrian managed to make it to 5,700m. They have decided that they will not be making any further attempts on the summit.

Once they had regrouped at Island Peak Base Camp, they headed off back to Chhukhung (4,738m), where they stayed over on Friday night. From here, they are planning to head back to Pangboche (3,938m) on Saturday.

They are all safe and well, although still recovering from the hard slog. I am sure Adrian will be able to provide more details and some spectacular photos on his return to internet service.

Phone call from Island Peak Base Camp

I received another brief satellite phone call from Adrian last night. They reached Island Peak Base Camp (4,970m) yesterday afternoon, although they are all "absolutely shattered". For this reason they will not be doing a summit attempt today (Thursday), and instead will have a rest day to acclimatise further. They will hopefully be ready to go first thing Friday morning (2am).

Of course, they are all very cold...! Not surprisingly.

Yesterday evening, I found a website detailing Nepal 6-day weather forecasts for Island Peak (Imja Tse), and at that time it appeared that they were picking the best day for a summit attempt on Friday - clear and low wind. Adrian was quite happy to receive an up-to-date weather forecast over the phone. And I was thrilled to help from so far away!

When checking this morning (choosing the 6183m forecast), I notice there is 1cm of show expected to fall on Friday afternoon, but still low wind. Friday and Saturday still seem to be the best days for the ascent.

The site is: http://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Imja-Tse/forecasts/6183

Cheers, Heather :-)

Phone call from Adrian

Wow, the ESP is working well between us...just as I posted the blog update, my phone rang and it was Adrian. He called using Chris's satellite phone (the guide), and it was so good to hear his voice!

He said all is on track for their plans, with a summit attempt starting at 2am Thursday morning. The tents are set up and waiting for them at Island Peak Base Camp and there will be food for a week, allowing for multiple summit attempts if necessary.

He said that groups coming down at the moment have not been able to summit due to it being too windy at the top, however, the wind has been subsiding the last couple of days, so the boys' chances of summit success are looking good. Adrian did repeat how bitterly cold it was, obviously made worse by the wind chill.

I will update with any other news as I receive it....Cheers, Heather.

Update on the boys - currently in Chhukhung

For those of you waiting for further information.... as you can probably guess, the boys do not have much access to internet/mobile signal now. Adrian and PaulD have managed to call/email/skype myself and Rosemary most days - the power of technology! The last contact being a broken and brief mobile call on Monday morning, when Adrian noticed a short burst of service. They are well, however very cold, and PaulD has recovered from his mild altitude sickness.

His recent email updated their movements and plans...from Pheriche, they had a short walk to Dingboche, where Adrian did some more reading, washed a t-shirt, took more photos and downloaded them, and also the GPS. He said the weather had cleared up but it was still very cold, quite the opposite to the 30+degree temperatures we are "enjoying" in Perth at the moment!

Then on Monday, they hiked to Chhukhung (4,730m). The plan was to have a rest day there on Tuesday, and practice "rope stuff". Then, they would be hiking to Island Peak Base Camp (4,970m) on Wednesday, and weather permitting, they would make a summit attempt starting very early Thursday morning(6,189m).

He suggested we keep an eye on the Spot, as there was unlikely to be any internet or phone service for a little while.

Cheers, Heather :-)

Days 5 & 6

We are now in the thriving village of Pheriche, having taken it quite easy during the last two days. On Thursday evening PaulD started not to feel so well and clearly had some mild altitude sickness. As a result, he slept most of Friday morning before we shortened our day and only walked 1.5hrs to Pangboche instead. This meant another afternoon of relaxing/reading/playing cards etc while Paul slept again.

Today we continued our walk up the valley with Paul feeling quite alot better. Pheriche is quite deserted at the moment as we are right at the end of the trekking season and we have been passing alot of trekkers heading back down to Lukla - we see less and less people each day. We are at quite a large and new lodge - the four of us being the only ones staying in it! To pass the time I've been reading my book which is good as I've been going on the same book for about 2 months - I might actually finish it this trip.

So where is Pheriche and all the other places we've visited? If you look at the following link http://www.enigma.id.au/spot.html and use the password nepal, you can follow where we've been each day.

Day 4 - Hiking to Tengboche

This morning we left Namche Bazaar and hiked up to the Monastery of Tengboche at an elevation of 3,860m. This hike travels along the hill side high above the Dudh Koshi river so is relatively flat for its first half. Once again, the views along this track were fantastic and we could see Everest and Lhotse the whole way along it (see photo to the right). We then dropped down to the river and stopped for a tea break before crossing another suspension bridge (I think this is our last one) over the Dudh Koshi before commencing a 500m climb up to Tengboche. Compared to the other day when I was not feeling well, this climb felt like a doddle. At the top of the hill is the Monastery and we are staying in another small lodge just down the hill slightly.

We got to Tengboche around lunchtime so will be having another relaxing afternoon to look around the Monastery and to help our acclimatisation as we continue to head further uphill. So far I've not felt any affects of the altitude and the climb this morning was not very taxing. However we still have a long way to go!

One of the "positives" of this area is the mobile phone signal - it seems to be everywhere. This meant I did not miss out on hearing about Peter Siddle's hat-trick at the Gabba either. All the locals have a mobile and it is their way of communicating in an area where this is difficult.

Day 3 in the Khumbu Region

It has certainly been an interesting 48hrs since I last posted here. We are now in Namche Bazaar which is a magnificent village set in a natural amphitheatre-style valley.

However rewinding to Monday evening, problems began for me when I lost my appetite soon after ordering dinner. I went to bed not feeling well at all and woke up in the middle of the night feeling quite sick. I won't post the details here, but it wasn't a pleasant night for either myself or PaulD who was sleeping right next to me. It seems that I caught the same bug that PaulT had and which could have come from anywhere. On Tuesday morning I couldn't eat breakfast but felt OK enough to walk. So off we headed to Namche Bazaar with the first couple of hours continuing to follow the Dudh Koshi river. This section was quite undulating and passed through a number of small villages and crossed the river by suspension bridge several times. After lunch (I still couldn't eat), we made the final crossing of the river and headed uphill for the final climb to Namche. It was at this point that having not eaten for 24hrs started to take its toll and I really struggled on this climb. The climb offers great views of the valley below, and by 2pm I had finally made it to our lodge for the evening. By this stage I could stomach some softdrink which at least allowed me to replace some energy. Then it was just a case of relaxing for the rest of the afternoon. By evening I was feeling a bit better and had kept a reasonable amount of dinner down. So it was then off to bed after a very hard day's walk, and hopefully feeling better in the morning.

On Wednesday we were greeted with a magnificent blue sky and fantastic views across the valley. The first picture shows this view from our lodge, with Namche below us. After a light breakfast (I am still taking it easy), we headed into town to sample the local bakery and its coffee. It wasn't anything special, but still quite nice to have a reasonable coffee at 3,400m. As part of our relaxing day around Namche, the four of us went on a short hike up to a ridge about 400m above the village which gives trekkers their first view of Mt Everest. That's me in front of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam wearing my Collingwood Premiership cap (as promised), as well as drumming up local support for the Australian 3-days Orienteering carnival at Frazzle Rock next Easter (no takers yet).

On returning to Namche we had lunch before wandering around the village and taking it easy for the rest of the day before we hit the track again tomorrow. We climb another 1,500m over the next three days so it will be tough few days as we continue to gain elevation.

Off to Island Peak

Today we started our journey to Island Peak by flying from Kathmandu to Lukla, a tiny airstrip at the base of the Khumbu region. I have spoken to a few people who have done the flight into Lukla but nothing could have prepared me for the most amazing scenery on the 25 minute flight as the plane passes over ridges and down steep valleys. The airstip is only about 400m long and is quite steep (see photo) so the landing is very quick, comes in with a thud and then very quick deceleration. As soon as one plane lands another one takes off - it is quite an operation. After collecting our gear and leaving most with our porters we headed off to Phakding which is about 7km up the Dudh Kosi valley. This was mostly downhill, but apparently we will make that up tomorrow when we walk to Namche Bazaar. This afternoon we are justing taking it easy, though mainly indoors at the moment since it is freezing outside - and were only just starting our journey up the valley.

Another post from Kathmandu

Today is our last day in Kathmandu before flying out to Lukla tomorrow morning. First thing this morning the four of us went to "Mike's Breakfast" which is an old institution in Kathmandu and actually sells more than just breakfast. We lazed there for a couple of hours in its nice garden surrounds eating a big breakfast and drinking a few coffees before wandering back to our hotel via the old King's Palace (he abdicated a few years ago so its a museum now). We spent the rest of the morning sorting through our gear, packing what was being sent to Island Peak base camp and what would be coming with us while we trekked up there. Needless to say there was a bit of gear shedding as we got rid of things that weren't entirely necessary. We then spent some time mucking around getting a local sim card so that we could pay $0.25c a minute to call Australia rather than Telstra's bargain price of $3.30. The hassle is that you needed a copy of your passport and visa as well as a passport photo.

After lunch we headed off to Swayambhunath, or Monkey Temple, which is a buddhist site founded in the 5th century. The photo to the left is of the stupa at the top of the large hill which the temple sits on. There are great views over Kathmandu (photo at the top) as the temple is on the highest point in the city. As the name suggests, there are plenty of monkeys roaming all over the site, scrapping for food and just playing around.

Tonight will be an early night. Our flight to Lukla leaves Kathmandu at 7am tomorrow and we will be leaving the hotel at around five. We only have a couple of hours walk when we arrive at Lukla so it should be a fairly easy day. Hopefully the sun stays out so that I can wear my 2010 Collingwood Premiership cap which Heather bought me - I will be sure to post a photo of me wearing it!

Hi from Kathmandu

Greetings from Kathmandu! I arrived here yesterday lunchtime following an overnight flight from Singapore and then connecting to Kathmandu. I was met at the airport by Chris, our guide, and Paul Theriault, one of Paul Day's friends (yes, this blog will appear confusing at times). After checking into the hotel in the very busy Thamel area, Paul and I went for a wander down to Durbar Square which is a very old part of the city and which was once Kathmandu's Royal Palace. I have attached a photo of some of the many temples in the square and surrounding areas. The traffic and chaos around here is quite something to be seen. The "streets" are quite narrow and there are cars, bikes, people and the odd cow going in both directions. Naturally there is a fair bit of gridlock at busy times of the day. The photo below is of a typical situation where two cars meet at a narrow point and nothing can get past (pedestrians included!).

That evening we sat on the hotel's rooftop to enjoy a beer, only to hear the hotel's generator kick in at the same time to supply it's power - due to the need of having to distribute limited electricty around the city, there are scheduled outages that occur throughout the day. Unfortunately ours was just as started to have a beer! We wandered around Thamel that night before I went to sleep early having only had three hours the night before on the Perth to Singapore flight (I can't understand why they served dinner at 3.30am!!).

This morning Paul, Chris and I went to hire climbing gear for the Island Peak ascent - A$60 for everything, including harness, plastic boots, crampons, ice axe, ascender, carabiners etc. Paul Day (PaulD) arrives this afternoon by which time the full compliment of our trekking group (i.e. PaulD, PaulT, myself and Chris the guide) will be here. We are flying to the tiny Lukla airstrip on Monday to commence our trekking and to ultimately get to the top of Island Peak (Imja Tse).

Packing

I'm having a few issues at the moment...there's not a lot of space in my 45L backpack and heading to Nepal in winter requires a little bit of warm clothing. Along with other bits and pieces for the climb of Island Peak, I am reassessing what to take. I head off at 2am this Friday so there's plenty of time......I think.