Off the Couch and On the Road

With quite a few people suffering a bit of altitude sickness, we al took the trek up to 4850m very slowly - a breath after each slow step, kind of like walking on the moon I guess, except they get way cooler outfits. And can fly.

Anyway, I was one of the few who had a great night sleep the night before, and wasn’t suffering any breathlessness or headaches at all, so really enjoyed the walk. Once we hit the top of the mountain we sat behind some rock boulders that sheltered us from the ever-present freezing winds, and sunbaked for about an hour while our blood thinned and we acclimatised to the altitude. It was lovely.

Unfortunately a couple of peole in the group didn’t make it to the top, but only one wasn’t able to make it to the minimum altitude required, so I’m not sure if she will be able to trek with us tomorrow.

It was encouraging to think Base Camp is only another 500m higher, and only about 4 days away. As we have been taking one step at a time, it’s surprising to see how far we have really come. We have seen some groups with really bad altitude sickness, even people coming down from Base Camp with blue lips, and a lot of them seem to be rushinjg through without acclimatising properly, which is pointless, but each to their own I guess.

After we descended, the free afternoon was spent chilling out (literally, it was cold) and dreaming of food. I don’t think any amount of food could have satified our appetites at that point, we were burning so much energy. But it seemed the higher we climbed the less they fed us, which I’m sure was for the benefit of our health at that altitude, but still left us dreaming of food.

-Sarah

Today was technically an easy trekking day - only ascending about 500m at a very gradual pace. The altitude however left everyone breathless and slowed them down to what I call ‘Sarah’s Pace’.

The forest track, which so far wouldn’t look out of place in an Australian National Park (except for maybe the sherpas. And yaks) slowly turned into a Lord-Of-The-Rings-esque barren landscape of rocks, sand and low bushes, with an old wooden bridge every few hours used to cross the white-water rapids beneath us (holding our walking poles and calling out ‘One Ring To Rule Them All’ in a Gandalf voice also kept us entertained).

It got significantly colder, and we arrived at Ding Boche, at 4343m, by about 2.30pm.

The tea houses we have stayed in have all been basic but comfortable, simple hard beds in rooms made of pine, with a common room where it is usually warmer and where we spend the afternoon reading, writing and chilling out before supper, and prior to crashing at about 8pm.

Tomorrow is another ‘rest day’ to acclimatise. Which means another crazy walk up a vertical mountain and back down again. And I am running out of Mars Bars. But Frodo survived, and he didn’t even have sherpas. So I should be fine.

-Sarah

We head of with our daypacks and walking poles early the next morning after beakfast, (Pease note the very casual mention of walking poles. This is intended to add professionalism, authenticity, and a general perception that I actually know anything ... [Continue reading this entry]

Today was a rest day. A day of rest, of acclimatisation, where we could look out over the snow-capped mountains and sing edleweiss, if we so chose.

So what did we do but climb another mountain for 4 hours, only to ... [Continue reading this entry]

It was a tough trekking day, but we took small, slow steps, took deep breaths and made it to the small town of Namche Bazar in just under 7 hours. The views were spectacular, and apart from a bit of ... [Continue reading this entry]

We met our trekking guides today, decided they were very cute and that maybe we wouldn't die, and took a short flight in a very small plane to Lukla, at 2620m where we would begin out trek.

It was an easy ... [Continue reading this entry]

The capital of the Kingdom of Nepal is Kathmandu, which sits at 1350m. Incidentally, it is also the year 2064, today in fact, as Nepal celebrated their New Years Eve last night.

It took me a full day to acclimatise, but ... [Continue reading this entry]

My flight from Bangkok to Kathmandu was uneventful, and I mysteriously did not have to pay the 700 baht departure tax a few others I have heard from had to pay.

Kathmandu airport is a building of brick walls and a ... [Continue reading this entry]

It was one of those really long days, kind of like Boxing Day or New Year's Day, where nobody feels like doing anything and nothing is open. And normally you would just chill out at home or visit friends, and ... [Continue reading this entry]

The road from Siam Reap back to the Thai border was pretty rough. Rough would actually be an understatement, if Bonds sponsored roads like that in Sydney, they would sell a hell of a lot more sports bras. Apparently the ... [Continue reading this entry]