Countdown to Nepal

Dear Family, Friends, and Colleagues,

I am on the final countdown until I leave for Nepal and Mt. Everest Base Camp! For those of you who don’t know, I am traveling with the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) for the trip of lifetime. I am one of a lucky few medical professionals, along with some lay friends, who will be taking part in a continuing medical education (CME) adventure trek. Through this blog, I intend to share my first attempt at combining adventure, travel, and medicine. The WMS is partnering with the exceptionally experienced and professional Himalayan trekking and mountaineering agency, Peak Promotion, lead by none other than Wongchu Sherpa.

In fact, Peak Promotion is also blogging about the experience of all of the trekkers and climbers associated with the WMS trip and can be viewed here.

Our trek will start with a tour of the big city of Kathmandu, which will include the famed Monkey Temple, followed by a flight into the infamous Tenzing-Hillary Airport at Lukla. Often cited as “the most dangerous airport in the world”, the runway at Lukla is carved into a steep incline (12%) on a hillside. The terrain is such that there is apparently no opportunity for a successful go-around or short final. In fact, the southern end of the runway ends in a 2000 foot drop-off!

From Lukla, our trek begins, with our sights set on Mt. Everest Base Camp and the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA) sponsored Everest ER.

Our general schedule is as follows, with a start date of April 10th.

Day 01:  Kathmandu arrival and welcome dinner
Day 02:  Kathmandu sightseeing
Day 03:  Fly to Lukla, trek to Phakding
Day 04:  Trek to Namche Bazaar
Day 05:  Namche and Hike to Khumjung Syangboche
Day 06:  Trek to Tengboche
Day 07:  Trek to Pheriche
Day 08:  Rest day in Pheriche
Day 09:  Trek to Lobuche
Day 10:  Trek to Gorakshep, hike to Kalapatthar, back down to Gorakshep
Day 11:  Trek to Everest Base Camp
Day 12:  Everest Base Camp
Day 13:  Pheriche
Day 14:  Namche
Day 15:  Lukla
Day 16:  Flight to Kathmandu
Day 17:  Rest day in Kathmandu and Farewell Dinner
Day 18:  Departure*

*Departure date, on day 18, ends the WMS/Peak Promotion sponsored trek. A handful of other lucky trekkers and I will be heading to Chitwan National Park for 4 additional days of a jungle tour, elephant riding, and a search for tigers, sloth bears, and honey badgers!

Thanks for following. Pictures and updates to come!