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Rest Day in Pheriche

April 18, 2012 by 10 Comments

Today we had “wake up tea” a little later so we got started on our “rest day” at 7am. Pheriche sits at about 14,000 feet and it appears we are all acclimatizing nicely. Once tea and breakfast were finished, we went on a Wongchu rest day hike. These are used to help us acclimatize. This hike was about 3 hours for most, 4 hours for 10 of us who wanted to go to the top of the “hill” behind Pheriche. Of course you couldn’t keep Bob Veno, me, or Quincy Hill away from going the extra distance. Quincy has no previous hiking experience, so it is quite impressive that she is able to run around at altitude like a mountain goat! We made it to 15,776 feet and Wongchu abruptly turned us around due to the high winds that had picked up. We still got some amazing pictures of Ama Dablam and the surrounding peaks. We were also able to get some shots of the distant Makalu. Quincy and I even got a special Boise State photo. Enjoy!

Once we made it back down to Pheriche, we had lunch and then went to the Himalayan Rescue Association clinic where the three volunteer doctors presented case studies and showed us the clinic. These three are very dedicated and enthusiastic about altitude medicine. They have seen many cases of high altitude pulmonary edema and cerebral edema, along with some other interesting cases.

I got a shower today, which was very primitive but welcome! Tomorrow we leave for Lobuche, which is at 16,200 feet. I don’t know if I will have much wifi access from here up the trail, so I may not be able to post for a few days. The general plan is to spend one night in Lobuche, then hike up to Gorakshep (16,900 ft) and spend the night, then day hike up to Kala Patthar (18,000 ft), then on to Everest Base Camp (17,600)! We spend 2 nights at base camp, then we start our trek back down. I will keep the updates going when I can.

Another Blue Sky Happy Day in the Khumbu

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Tengboche to Pheriche

April 17, 2012 by 19 Comments

Today Mike Johnson and I were up early to take pictures. We got our first glimpse of Everest! What an amazing day! I hiked back up to the Stupa above Tengboche to get shots of the monastery, Ama Dablam, Everest and the general scenery. I had a companion this morning, a local dog who hung out with me up and down the trail. Before breakfast we visited the local monastery. The architecture and the art were incredibly intricate and the setting very peaceful. After breakfast, we were back on the trail towards Pheriche. About halfway along the trail, we were privileged enough to visit Lama Geshe. This Lama is a very important Lama for Sherpas and climbers. Lama Geshe blessed us all. Melinda Johnson, Bob Veno and I were very fortunate to be wearing prayer beeds. The Lama took them from us, mixed them with his and then blessed them. He then told a story of a doctor who treated a yeti and lived to 180 years old. He then presented the docs (and me and Bob Veno) with a beautiful card telling the story and wrote our names on them in Nepali. All of us were very moved. We visited the monastery there, where there was a glass case with the skeletal remains of a “yeti” hand. The group got a big kick out of that. We hiked on to Pheriche with amazing views of Ama Dablam and arrived to our tea house in Pheriche at about 4pm. We had tea, of course, and then visited the Himalayan Rescue association clinic and then Wongchu took us on another hike. Tomorrow is another of Wongchu’s rest days.

Blue Sky Happy Day

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“Rest Day” in Namche and Trek to Tengboche

April 16, 2012 by 13 Comments

We had a “rest day” in Namche. To Wongchu, a rest day means museums, a hospital, and a 4 hour hike! In Namche we went to a Sherpa museum. There were a lot of historical artifacts, but the highlight was the room with all of the pictures of famous Sherpa Everest summiters. It was really neat to take a picture of Wongchu standing by his own picture. We also were able to take a picture of Dorjee Sherpa next to his museum picture. He is one of the Sherpas on our trek who summited both Everest and Dhaulagiri! Next, we hiked up to the government museum where they had some historical items which included Tenzing Norgay‘s summit suit. We then hiked to Khumjung and the Kunde hospital. The scenery was stunning. Our goal was a view of Everest but the clouds were settling in and the rain began, so no view today. On the way down, we passed the Sir Edmund Hillary school and the longest Mani in the Khumbu. And I did learn to count! 3 Sherpas and 4 hours and I can count to 20!

Trek from Namche to Tengboche

Today we left Namche to hike to Tengboche. We stopped off at the Namche dental clinic on the way out of town. The clinic is surprisingly well stocked and the dentist very knowledgable and professional. I got a great shot with the dentist and flat Eric and flat Michelle. The hike towards Tengboche was absolutely amazing, with views of Ama Dablam and occasional peaks at Everest. We lost a lot of elevation as the trail took us back down to the river. As we walked, we came across a man and his son who were taking donations for his trail maintenance project. He was working on the trail without government support, so he got donations from all of us. We stopped for lunch at the river and Tony gave a wound care talk. He got a little help from me. The rain started during lunch, so we moved inside to take questions and got our rain gear together for the hike up. We had a 1500 foot gain today, but it was nice and cool with the rain so it was pretty easy for most. We all made it to Tengboche, which is at about 13000 feet. Once we were dry, Wongchu took 10 of us on a hike above Tengboche to a stupa. It stopped raining but we still had no view due to the clouds. It was nice to keep the legs warm while we waited for dinner, however. We met many other Trekkers tonight, as the tea house in Tengboche is a little more quaint. People next to us were from the Netherlands and Sweden. We also got to meet a young female, Pema Diki Sherpa, who summited Everest at the age of twenty! Dinner was the typical fare, with a lot of rice, lentils, and momos. I had potatoes and eggs and I must admit I ate my first snickers pie! Basically, this is a small snickers calzone. I’m laying in bed as I write this at 7:45 pm because Wongchu made us all go to bed! No one crosses Wongchu, so here I am typing on my iPhone inside my sleeping bag! Tomorrow we visit the monastery and then on to Pheriche.

A rainy day in the Khumbu, but a happy one!

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Trekking Day 1 and 2

April 14, 2012 by 3 Comments

Lukla to Phakding

Today was the start of our trek! We left the Kathmandu airport and flew 30 minutes to the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla (the most dangerous airport in the world). The flight and scenery were phenomenal! The pilots are very skilled at backcountry flying and made a very difficult approach and landing on a short strip look easy.

Once we landed, Wongchu worked on the logistics with the porters and then started us up the trail and toward base camp. Wongchu is an excellent tour guide since he has been walking this trail for the majority of his life and is quite well known. As we trek, Wongchu is able to give us a history lesson as we see the sights. What a privilege to have this man as our Sherpa Guide.

Today we started our hike at a out 9000 feet and we will lose approximately 1000 feet upon our arrival to our first tea house. We crossed two suspension bridges today, which were fun for most, scary for some. They do rock and sway a bit! We had lunch at a tea house on the trail, which was quite tasty. Momosare very popular. We had a light rain on the trail after lunch as we made our way to the first stop, Phakding. Our Phakding tea house is beautiful and relatively luxurious. We have bathrooms in each room here. Bob Veno scored the best room with a view with two sets of windows. Our evening consisted of repacking, resting, and a CME lecture. Dr. Tony Islas continues demonstrate his excellent grasp of the material. Tomorrow is a bigger hike!

Day 2 Phakding to Namche Bazaar

Today was a great day! After an omelette and chapati with jam, we were off on the trail. Wongchu lead us on a great hike that consisted of a lot of ups and downs early in the day until we made it to Namche hill. This last little bit was slower going but we all made it! Today we gained approximately 3000 feet as Namche is just over 11000 feet in elevation.

Namche Baazar is an amazing village, sitting in a valley surrounded by majestic peaks. Namche has an impressive market, especially considering it all has to be brought in on foot by porters. Porters are typically low landers who carry huge loads up and down the trail.

Our Sherpa guides, of which we have many, take excellent care of us. We have Wongchu in front, always walking and lecturing on Sherpa and Nepali history. We also have Doma, Mingma, Sang, and Chirri, among others. One Sherpa will frequently go ahead of our group to set up lunch, dinner, and to deal with tea houses. The remaining Sherpas will walk with the group, take pictures, pick up stragglers, and assure our safety. These amazing people are always looking out for us. Lucky for me, they are also happy to teach me as much language as I can learn. I have greetings and a few other basics down. Tomorrow I hope to learn numbers so I can barter even better!

For food tonight, more chappati and some fried rice for me. We had our traveler’s diarrhea lecture tonight, which was earlier than planned due to several people succumbing to it early on. I’m fine, as I’m being extremely careful and even pickier than normal, if you can believe that is possible!

Tomorrow morning we will do some day hikes close by and visit a local hospital, take some pictures, and shop in the bazaar. We will stay another night in Namche tonight.

It is a Blue Sky Happy Day here in the Khumbu!


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Temples, Monkeys, and The Holy Man

April 11, 2012 by 11 Comments

Today was a tour of two Buddhist temples and a Hindu temple.  The Monkey Temple, aptly named for the multitudes of monkeys, was first on the agenda.  Basically, this is a beautiful temple that is overrun by monkeys.  Don’t let the cute little faces fool you, they are not nice.  Next, we went to the Hindu temple Pashupatinath, where they burn large funeral pyres to cremate the recently deceased.  It is also a beautiful place and has fewer monkeys.  They had two funerals going at the time of our visit, so we tried to stay upwind from the burning pyres.  At this temple, the Holy Man is happy to be in some photo opportunities, as you can see!  Last on the tour was another Buddhist temple, Boudhanath.  This is a World Heritage site and one of the holiest of all Buddhist temples.  All of three of these temples were beautiful and had rich history and amazingly detailed architecture.  All of the holy people, whether they were Buddhist monks or Hindu Holy men, were very kind and patient with all of us tourists.  We all took a lot of photos and will be sorting through tons of them in the coming days.

Our day ended with some free time to finish packing for the trek, rounding up any last minute items needed, and reviewing the itinerary.  Bob Veno and I, along with a small portion of our group, made another trip to Fire and Ice pizza for our last dinner before the trek.  We are all very excited to get started with the adventure up the mountain.  Our flight into Lukla in the morning is bright and early!

Tomorrow, Everest bound!

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City Life, Bhojhan Griha, the Kama Sutra and the Yeti

April 10, 2012 by 11 Comments


Great day! 11 of us tourists along with our Peak Promotion guide, Ganesh Sharma, walked around the city for some shopping and sight seeing. The city was busier on Tuesday. More people, more chaos, and more entertainment! The city continues to surprise us all, with the constant stream of people, cars, motorcycles, and rickshaws down the narrow streets and walkways. It struck me today that while there is constant honking and frequent near misses, the Nepali people never appear upset. They simply go with the flow of the chaos. What a wonderful people!

We were able to see dozens of the shops in Thamel, with many of us buying beads, prayer flags, and other cultural items. The afternoon consisted of a briefing by Wongchu about our trek, a visit from David Breashears, a lecture on travel medicine, and a quick walk before dinner. We’ve been busy! The highlight of the day was dinner at Bhojan Griha, which is the 150-year-old home of the Royal Priest. This was an amazing dining experience where we were treated to many of the Nepali staples while enjoying cultural music and dancing. The band was an interesting mix of a flute, tambourine, drums, and a harmonium. It wasn’t quite Treefort, but it was pretty cool.

After dinner, my new friend Ganesh took me to see the bar in the next room at Bhojan Griha. Ganesh seems to giggle at me frequently as I butcher the language and ask silly questions, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that he was laughing at my reaction to what I was seeing. The intricate carvings in this bar, represented the Kama Sutra! We were standing in a Kama Sutra bar!

Tomorrow is the big tour for much of the day, visiting the temples and enjoying more of this fantastic culture! And in case you all were wondering, Wongchu has made it official. I am now, the Yeti (Laugh it up Wound Healing Gang).

Another Blue Sky Happy Day Here in Nepal

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Star Struck and Elevator Madness

April 10, 2012 by 6 Comments

Monday afternoon was spent walking a few of the nearby streets of Kathmandu.  This city is, bar none, the craziest and most charming place I have ever been.  The van trip from the airport to our hotel was a huge event!  There are motorcycles.  There are cars.  There are no rules.   It is utter chaos out there.  The cows laying in the road, stray dogs, humans, bicycles, and the occasional monkey all add to the mystique and craziness that is Kathmandu traffic.  I have never seen anything like it.  This unforgettable “road trip” ended abruptly as we pulled into the safety of the “Yak and Yeti“, our hotel for the next 2 nights.  The Yak and Yeti is the climber’s hotel of choice and Peak Promotion pulled out all the stops, with Wilderness Medical Society and Peak Promotion banners decorating the entrance and the lobby.  Today we had a little time in the afternoon and so we took a palace tour and shopped a little on the streets of Kathmandu.

Today, while touring our hotel, I ran into our trekking leader and legendary Sherpa, Wongchu.  While I had heard much about this man, it became rapidly apparent that the man with him was impressive as well, because standing to Wongchu’s left, was David Breashears!  What an amazing experience, talking with these two men who had been working together in the Himalayas since 1981.  I of course had to get a picture with these two legends!  The very photogenic David Breashears is on my left, with Wongchu Sherpa on my right.  Apparently, David recommended we don’t take the elevator in the Yak and Yeti.  I learned this while standing inside the elevator from a colleague as we were stuck between the 2nd and 3rd floor during a power outage.  I now heed David Breashears’ advice and take the stairs to our 5th floor room!

Tomorrow we will tour the streets a little more and take some time to prep for the trek.  The following day is planned for a formal city tour, with our sights on the Monkey Temple, the Hindu temple, Boudhanath, and the Buddhist temple, Pashupatinath. 

Lots more to come!

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