Acclimatisation (continued)

The way the afternoons’ scenario played out would have been a perfect skit for ‘The Muppets Climb Everest’ or an opening chapter in a modern day version of the mountaineering classic, ‘Rum Doodle’.

Everest Base Camp - Acclimatisation

After yesterdays day of lounging in the sun under the shadow of Everest we were given three options:

Everest Base Camp (EBC)

My bright yellow Ozark tent, complete with a small mattress, patio area plus vestibule was a sight which nearly brought tears to my eyes. Set at 5200m against the panorama of Everest, my tent was one of 26 sleeping tents which formed the ‘Adventure Peaks Village’ at the foot of the North side of Everest. Off to the right are two blue toilet tents, a make-shift shower (complete with solar heating) and two dining “Mess” tents, a communications tent and, finally, the cooking tent. This area would soon be our ‘Hilton’ for the coming weeks and months.

Hanging on in Tingiri...

Conscious that I was awake, I did a quick survey of the percentage of my body that had direct contact with the dusty, dank bedding and pulled my sleeping bag over my head as protection from the freezing cold air.

It could be worse… (Continued)

I gripped my trekking pole in one hand and my yen in another and shuffled as unobtrusively as a blond, brightly dressed, down-clad, Oakley-wearing female could in the middle of a town of locals all dressed in blacks and browns. To the left and to the right mangy, flea bitten dogs eyed me conspicuously with saliva dripping from their jaws. A small tractor made its way down the road as one of the dogs dragged its lame and infected hind limbs over the road to avoid its path. A puppy ran through the raw sewage which lay in the ditch alongside a dirt sidewalk. Dust from the dry Tibetan plateau blew through the streets kicking up dust devils and leaving a trail of rubbish in its wake. I tried to remember the exact date of my last rabies shot...

The Roof of the World - in Tingiri

I could have stayed in Nylam for another day - there was something about the ‘slow’ pace that appealed to me and I’d already been pre-warned that this was the absolute lap of luxury compared to our next stop - Tingiri. Through the clever use of sign language I purchased a pillow stuffed with rice and about 20-years of dust as we boarded a lime-green bus and set out on the beautifully paved road to Tingiri.

The Basement Spa in Nylam

A yellowed-crinkled piece of paper was thrust in front of my face by a weathered brown-hand. With a giant toothless smile and sparkling eyes a little man demanded, “Massage? Hot tub? Steam” as the little drawings on the paper further translated his pigeon English. I looked apprehensively around the local coffee shop as a small heater glowed brightly in the middle with three chairs gathered round it. Josh had recommended the shower in this building, but I began to wonder if I had perhaps wandered into the wrong place.

Enroute to Nylam

Fortunately my stomach survived the night although there were more ‘tummy’ complaints from a few others and a communal bathroom made me realise that I was not ‘suffering’ alone. A 6am wakeup with a view to be on the bus and leave Zheng Mu by 7am for a 10am brunch in Nylam. Andrew, who had travelled through Tibet when he climbed Cho You hinted that Nylam night not be the ‘Hilton’ that we’d hoped for after our basic hotel in Zheng Mu - 4 walls, a bed and a small window looking onto a building about 4cm away.

The Journey to Tibet

You never appreciate being healthy until you’re sick… I woke at around 2am with the feeling that something was horribly wrong. I went through the usual motions trying to convince myself that it was my imagination. About 5 seconds later, with a sprint to the washroom I knew that things were not well. I gripped onto the porcelain bowl as if my life depended on it. I have always prided myself on my ‘stomach of steel’ but clearly, something I’d eaten had gotten the better of me.

Final Preparation...

Today was ‘sorting out kit day’ - a day dedicated to buying all of the extra bits and pieces needed for the mountain and also get training in using our ‘Top Out’ oxygen masks. We gathered in the garden of the hotel for a presentation by Tom Atkins, a former RAF pilot, to learn how to hook the masks up to the oxygen tanks, put the masks on, and troubleshoot in the event that things should go wrong. An interesting but daunting presentation as it has started to make the experience so much more ‘real’. There were a lot of questions on the ‘engineering’ behind the mask as well as the history verses the former Poisk masks. Fortunately we will have another opportunity to try the masks and the Top Out system when we get to base camp.