I’ve just come back from seeing the travel nurse. It seems that I’m going to have to get a fair few injections before heading off to the Himalayas. The nurse advised me to have a diphtheria/tetanus/polio booster and a meningitis jab, and also one for Hepatitis A/Typhoid. She gave me a map of Nepal and showed me how some of the country is considered to have high risk of Malaria, whilst in other parts there is a low or no risk at all. I need to see whereabouts in the country I’ll be travelling through as even if I’m on a train going through a ‘malaria zone’ I’ll have a high chance of catching it because of the crowded conditions.

She also told me that I should perhaps consider a rabies injection. I was told that the possibilities of me getting bitten by a rabid animal are very small, especially as I’ll be travelling with an organised group trek, but even so, it only takes one bite or scratch to get rabies and if there’s no advanced medical help within 24 hours you will die!! I’m not sure what to do as I’ll have to have 3 separate rabies vaccinations costing £40 each, and it may not even be necessary… I think I’ll have a word with the tour company/charity and see what they advise.

The nurse gave me a selection of leaflets to read with health advice for travellers, so I’ll have to get reading up on those. I haven’t had any of the jabs yet as I was told that especially with the Hep A/Typhoid my arm will get extremely numb and I’ve got a four hour music rehearsal to sit through tonight – I don’t fancy attempting to try to play the flute with a deadened arm/fingers. Apparently I can’t be injected into my bum as it’s not effective enough there!

I had a thought today – what am I going to wear when going up the mountain?!!

The temperature and weather conditions are going to change so much…At the foot of the mountain, I’m assuming it will be quite warm and dry but by base camp, there’ll be snow! I’m obviously going to have to pack quite light as I’ll have to carry everything with me on my back whilst trekking.

I’ve already got a pair of good walking boots that are thoroughly worn in, which is fantastic as it will reduce the possibilities of blistering. But I don’t think I have anything else suitable for trekking. I think I’m going to have to do some research into what’s needed in my kit bag, and it’s probably going to be VERY costly!

I’ve found that there are some songs/artists/genres that help my training more than others. Anything lethargic and slow, makes you feel lethargic and slow - so that’s definitely off the list – i.e. Coldplay, who I love, but just don’t do it for me whilst skipping!

 

Here are a few more additions to my training playlist: 

 

• I’m Sitting On Top of the World – Bobby Darin 

• I Say A Little Prayer For You – Aretha Franklin  

• Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – Diana Ross
  

I’m now back in Leeds and there’s disappointingly no swimming pool at the university. So, I have decided to make a new regime: I skip every day for 20 minutes and then go to the gym and do an exercise class (either aerobics, circuit training, ‘legs bums and tums’, ‘Fab abs’, or yoga). – I really don’t like going to the gym unless it’s for a class as I get incredibly bored after about 15 minutes. But the classes really make you work hard.

 

When I first started skipping each morning, I thought it would be really easy as I used to do it all the time for what seemed like hours as a kid. However, it is really one of the hardest kinds of exercise I’m doing – way more exhausting than jogging! I thought that once I started, I could be on a roll for about 20 minutes (like with the jogging), but after an intense non-stop 3 minutes, I want to collapse on the floor. It’s also incredibly painful when the rope thrashes your legs – it feels like you’re being whipped!

 

When we were told we had to wait until 2 o’clock for our ‘shift’ at Bag Packing we didn’t know what to do. With four hours to kill, some members of the group couldn’t be bothered to wait around, so I didn’t get a chance to meet them properly, but three others from the group stuck around with me - eager to do some fundraising!

We had a small bonding session over a breakfast bagel and then we decided that instead of wasting time and money eating, we would go around the shops, restaurants and cafes to see if anyone would donate. (These places are privately owned, so with the letter of authorisation from Childreach, which luckily I had on me, I could ask permission from the mangers to collect on the premises from their customers.)

 At first, I found this quite daunting and slightly embarrassing, especially after rejections from many managers, however, my confidence soon picked up and I think that being bubbly  enticed people to want to help us. I also discovered that if I said something like: ‘Would you like to donate to Childreach International to help kids in Africa and Asia…?’ barely anyone gave anything, but If I started with: ‘I’m climbing to Mount Everest base camp to help raise money for Childreach…’ then 80% of the time, people would give money!  

I got donations from many different people – cafe staff, shop staff, jewellers…the list goes on.  The majority of the donations were small change, but one woman gave me £5 and another cafe emptied their tips jar into my bucket! Most cafe owners (understandably) didn’t let us collect in their cafes, but one cafe manager told me I could stand outside his cafe and pester his customers as they came and went! This was very effective!

By the time our slot had come for Bag Packing, we were already exhausted, but it was well worth the wait. It was a fun experience and I met so many interesting people and had some very random conversations!

 Rosanna

We were told to meet outside M&S at 10.30 sharp, but I have terrible punctuality. So, as per usual, I was slightly late to meet the group (despite running frantically down the street to try to make it on time!). Once there, I couldn’t see anyone standing outside wearing the yellow Childreach t-shirt and as I didn’t know who anyone was, I couldn’t look for any familiar faces.

I was getting pretty excited about the prospect of meeting some of the group I’d be going to Everest with, and also going to do bag packing at M&S and raise some more money!

I eventually found a large group of Childreach volunteers by the tills in the supermarket but I soon found out that they were from a different expedition – these were the ‘c limb Kilimanjaro’ lot and none of them knew anything about the volunteers I was meant to be with. After a bit more searching and confusion, I found my group. It turned out that they had been waiting outside the other entrance all along!

There had been a big mix up and instead of just our group from Leeds having the entire bag packing slot at M&S as expected, 20 other volunteers from York had turned up and bagged the tills! We were pretty peeved! The team leaders decided on a compromise –both groups would have an equal four hour slot for the bag packing.

Most people at the tills would donate between 50p and £1 and were grateful for the help with packing their bags. There were the odd few who would let you pack their hefty load of shopping, smile sweetly at you and then walk off without donating a single penny!!

I didn’t stop moving for over 9 hours that day, and by the end of it, my feet felt as though they had swollen over twice their normal size. I was so relieved when I finally got to sit down at the end of the day and I was pretty excited about counting the money I had got! I was told that on average volunteers usually raise £80-£100, but I had managed to collect £141!!! So although tiring and hard work, and sometimes fairly demoralizing – it was definitely worth it!

 Rosanna

 

To go on the Everest Base Camp expedition I have to raise £2200 for the charity by May 15th. So far, through sponsorship from close friends and family, and regular busking (being a musician!), I have raised just over half the amount I need. But with another £1000 still to go, and under a month left to get it, I’m getting quite nervous about meeting my target!! I’m going to do a number of fundraising activities to help me reach the amount I need!

The charity - Childreach International - helps children in countries such as Tanzania, Uganda, India and Nepal. All of their schemes are run to achieve ‘sustainable development’ and involve projects including community led education centres, sanitation, health camps for cut-off communities and clean water provision.

On my trip I will be visiting some of these projects in Nepal and meeting some of the children and communities we will be helping. We’ll even be delivering medical supplies to the community run hospitals in the Khumbu region of the Himalayas.

I’ve got a few things lined up to help on the money front: tomorrow, I’m going bag packing at Marks and Spencer’s which should be an interesting experience. I’m doing it with several others from the Everest group which is great as I haven’t met anyone from the group yet! Hopefully I’ll also go on a few pub collections – I’ve heard people can be very generous in pubs…

 

 

 

 

 

Rosanna

I’ve had some really great support from some of my close friends, and actually some of my lecturers as well - who sometimes seem quite concerned for my sanity!

One friend in particular who didn’t know much about trekking and thought it was essentially quite ‘lame’, until she went to walk up Snowdon with her Grandfather.  

She phoned me as soon as she’d finished saying that she could only make it half way and that she had to come down early as she felt sick and shivery after about the first 30 minutes.

 

She now tells me quite often ‘Rosie, this is the HARDEST thing you will EVER do!!!!’ She phones me regularly to tell me that she’s a) really impressed that I’m doing this and b) really worried about me. She repeatedly checks up on me to make sure I’m training and not assuming that I can just climb to base camp with no training at all!

 

 

I have found a way to help my concentration and make me last for longer – it’s all down to the magic of music. Blasting my iPod while skipping has really increased my stamina!!

 

I’ve found that trance club dance music and ska are fantastic, with a really lively beat and rhythm to get you going. Surprisingly, I also skip well when I’m listening to lively world music!

 

There are of course the obvious ‘mountain’ songs which make me really excited about the adventure ahead:  

• Get On Top – The Red Hot Chili Peppers 

• Night on the Bare Mountain – Mussorgsky 

• Stairway to Heaven – Lead Zeppelin 

• Climb Every Mountain – Sound of Music 

• Reach (for the stars) – S Club
  

When I first signed up to climb to Everest base camp for Childreach, I didn’t really think about how difficult it would be. I just really enjoyed talking (and bragging!) about it. The more and more I think about it now, the more anxious I’m getting about my fitness ability!  

After the worried responses from many people I know, and a climb I did recently in the Lake District, I have realised that now I really have to get fit in order to be able to actually reach the base camp!

I’ve tried to make a fitness regime, where I do at least an hour of exercise every day. I’ve been told that the best exercise to do is anything aerobic that will get your heart racing, although the best training would be to walk up hills and mountains with a rucksack on – but realistically, that’s not going to happen!

Whilst I’ve been at home over the Easter break, I started jogging every day. I got on my trainers and went for a jog in the park at the bottom of my road each day for about 45 minutes to an hour. However, I’ve realised that I’ve been pretty stupid – going from never exercising to mental running every day. My knees have begun to really hurt, so I decided to cut down the jogging time to a more logical 20 minutes and swim each day on top of that. I feel like a bit of an idiot as well because I wasn’t running in proper running trainers, which was a big contributor to my painful knees, so I soon invested in some real running trainers, and all my problems have gone!!

With just under two months to go I’m getting quite nervous about the prospect of trekking up to the base camp of the world’s largest mountain, a.k.a. ‘The Roof of the World’. Up until now, it has been quite amusing just to tell people: ‘I’m climbing Mount Everest’ to see their reaction (generally their faces go slightly white) and then I add ‘…to the base camp’.

 

I’ve had some pretty mixed responses from people who know me. Most people don’t actually believe me when I first tell them, and then once they’ve finally understood that I’m not teasing, they can’t understand why I’ve decided to do this! The majority laugh saying, ‘rather you than me!’

 

Quite a few people, when they hear that I’m going to base camp and not to the summit (which would really be barmy!) then assume that it’s going to be easy and ‘just a stroll’. I often feel that I have to justify the trek and demonstrate the difficulties I’ll have to face by comparing it with Mount Kilimanjaro, as it isn’t that far off the height of ‘the world largest free standing mountain’ which people rave about. Only then do people appreciate the task (and then offer to sponsor me!).