Basecamp Lethargy

Yawn. Stretch. Repeat. Sunday morning. Bliss.

What I what I would not give to wake up under my thick, clean white duvet and spend the morning relaxing in my living room reading the papers over a morning café latte with the sun streaming through an open window. I bet the smell of fresh English roses from the garden now hangs like thick sweet smelling perfume in the spring-breezes accompanied by fresh coffee and croissants… Waking up at the foot of Mount Everest, in the warmth of my down sleeping bag, with the sun hitting the tent at precisely 7:28am is a close second… besides the smell of English roses is overrated and can’t compare to my baby-powder scented wet-wipes… Only I haven’t had a proper wash in about 3.5 weeks (even the smell of baby powder stagnates) and will likely indulge in rice pudding and Dilmah tea (drunk from a 1-litre Nalgene bottle) instead…. But I’m not going to complain.

The wind continued with fury last night and has not let up this morning. It seems as though there is always some sort of wind whipping through the camp. In spite of the taunts I received from my neighbours and the ‘Planning Permission Board’ regarding my flagstone walkway and path leading to the patio and vestibule of my tent, I am extremely happy I went through with the design as the inside of my tent is still clean (relatively speaking). After yesterday’s 20 kilometre walk from ABC badk down to the luxuries of Base Camp I am well and truly going to relax and enjoy this “Easy Like Sunday Moring” (to quote the famous Blues song). I may not even change out of my pjamas and spend the entire day in my yellow insulated hovel, out of the wind, reading my new Stieg Larsson novel. Bliss. I love Sundays.

Epilogue:
Today I:
1. Woke up
2. Ate breakfast in my pjamas in the mess tent
3. Thought about washing, brushing teeth, general personal hygiene
4. Started a 600-page book in my sleeping bag in my tent at 10am
5. Ate (binged on) a bag of jalapino peanuts
6. Continued book
7. Ate lunch still wearing pjamas
8. Read on top of sleeping bag as tent is 35 degrees
9. Read ½ in sleeping bag as the sun is starting to set
10. Read by headlamp completely inside sleeping bag waiting for dinner bell
11. Fell asleep before dinner bell, missing dinner but having enjoyed the best Sunday in ages.