Hi.
This is a video I found showing what we can expect Rosanna and David to be seeing and doing between Day 8 and Day 10 of the Everest Base Camp trek.

This video was posted on Youtube by wwwcelticvideocom. I quite like the narrator’s accent.

After a week, Rosanna and David and all the others on the Childreach trek will be well on their way now. Everest Base Camp Trek routes. The latter stages show the Kala Pattar variation of the Everest trek where you climb to the summit of the neighbouring mountain to overlook Everest base camp. I just posted this video really to give a sense of Kathmandu and the first few days of what Rosanna and David will be seeing.

Here is a video I found showing the opening locations on one of the

Thanks to justindav1s for putting this up on Youtube.

So it’s now 1 am. I have to leave to get to the airport in 2 hours - I don’t quite know what to do with myself…should I sleep for two hours or just stay up? Is it worth sleeping?

I’m feeling a mixture of

1) tiredness!

2) worried that I’ve over packed

3) a little worried worried that I may not be fit enough for the trek, or being able to cope with the altitude.

4) extremely excited !

5) nervous about meeting the whole group at the airport terminal before we get on the plane excited! (i’ve only met half of them so far)…

I can’t believe I’m finally going!!

Following up on my earlier post on the heroic Apa Sherpa, I’ve found a nice ecology related post on Powinthekisser:

Cleaning up Mount Everest

April 6, 2009

Nearly 9,000 meters above sea level and dangerous to reach, Mount Everest would seem a likely place to be free of litter and waste. However, you may be surprised to know that climbers over the past 50 years have left a staggering 50 tons of trash and debris and human waste along the summit. This has prompted the world’s most experienced sherpa to join forces with the Eco Everest expedition for his 19^th ascent of Mount Everest, this time not for a climbing expedition, but rather for a conservation expedition.

Apa Sherpa and company left today on their journey and will use this trip to highlight the devastating effects of the global climate crisis on Mount Everest, where global warming is causing the snow at the summits to melt at a rapid rate. Along the way, they plan on filling hundreds of rubbish sacks with human waste and litter left behind by previous climbers.

Read the rest of this entry »

 

I have now sorted out both my Indian and Nepali visas. The Nepali visa was very easy to get, I sent off for it and it came back to me within 5 days!

 

The Indian visa however was a bit of a palaver. The website is rather complicated and the helpline is a premium number –I had a huge shock when I saw my phone bill!

I know quite a number of people going on the Everest trek were also confused by the website. I was worried that it wouldn’t get processed in time so I sent my documents to my father in London who took them to the visa application centre.

Luckily, he was there for just 20 minutes and they said it would be processed in 3 working days. I picked it up yesterday. Doing it this way was completely hassle free. If you can do it, going to the visa centres in person is so much easier than doing it online!

A new ‘Seven Peak Challenge’ record has been set!

At the age of 17, Johnny Strange from California has become the youngest person ever to summit the tallest peaks in each of the world’s seven continents.
He capped his record breaking feat on June 8th this year with his ascent of Australia’s Mount Kosciuszko after summiting Mount Everest in May.

As I mentioned the other day, I’ve been getting advice about my trip from an expert in trekking holidays in the Everest region. The advice I’ve received from Kirsty is so good, I’ve had a chat with her and asked her permission to share some of it on the blog for the benefit of others who are interested in the Everest Base Camp Trek.

Here is the first part of an email she sent me:

 - - - - - -

Dear Rosanna,

I’d like to offer some information and reassurances to put your mind at ease.

Firstly, although most people trekking at high altitudes will suffer some mild symptoms of altitude sickness such as headaches, nausea, loss of appetite and disturbed sleep, relatively few people actually develop anything more serious.

Acclimatisation is the key to preventing symptoms developing and, at Mountain Kingdoms, the trekking company I work for, we ensure that our trekking itineraries have plenty of time built into them for acclimatising to higher altitudes. These include rest days and ample time for steady, gradual ascent.

Like other companies, our treks are led by highly experienced local guides who are all trained in identifying and managing the symptoms of altitude-related illness. They will ensure that trekkers in their care walk very slowly, keep hydrated and advise on medication and the correct course of action to help alleviate symptoms before they develop into anything more serious.

It is essential that you let your trek leader know if you are feeling unwell; hiding or ignoring your symptoms is potentially very dangerous. I am delighted to say that as a result of our carefully designed itineraries and expert trek leaders, Mountain Kingdoms have experienced very few cases of acute altitude sickness in the 21 years we have been running treks in the Everest region.

However, if symptoms do persist or get worse, then your guide would make sure you descend quickly to an altitude where you will very soon start to feel better. In the worse case scenario, where emergency evacuation is required, a helicopter can be called by radio communications.

You should follow advice from your guide about what to eat, stay hydrated, avoid alcohol and use a high factor sunscreen. Prevention is definitely the key to avoiding illness at altitude so, if you follow a common-sense approach both before you depart and during your trek, you should find that you stay fit and healthy and enjoy your Everest Base Camp trek to the maximum.

Best Regards,
Kirsty

I spoke to Kirsty at Mountain Kingdoms on Thursday. She cleared up a few worries I had about going out to Nepal. She gave me tonnes of great advice, so I’ll only post the highlights right now:

Altitude Sickness

We talked a bit about altitude sickness. She explained about the necessary built-in rest days set in the Everest Base Camp Trek itinerary so that our bodies can acclimatise to the high altitude and decreased oxygen in the air. In these rest days we will either rest in the place we’ve stopped in, or we’ll have the opportunity to do a small walk up the mountain nearby and then come down to let our bodies adapt to the high altitude.

Altitude sickness usually brings on symptoms such as - headaches, loss of appetite, nausea and restless sleep and most people will get it to some degree. To prevent it as much as possible, I have to take full advantage of the rest days and drink lots of water and the black tea which all the Sherpas drink. Normal painkillers such as paracetamol and aspirin are fine to take. It’s also important that I don’t hide it if I’m feeling unwell.

 

The Weather in Nepal

We also discussed the weather. We’ll be going to Nepal just before the monsoon period and so Kirsty told me not to expect clear blue skies every day; sometimes it maybe grey and drizzly. Generally, in the day the temperature will be very warm - in the mid-late 20s however, as soon as the sun goes down the temperature drops rapidly and it becomes very chilly. The best thing to prepare for the weather and temperature changes is to layer up and always have your waterproofs handy!

As we get higher the air gets thinner so the sun gets stronger therefore it’s important to have good sunglasses – I’ve got some ones I use for skiing which are fine, it’s also essential to carry a very high factor sun cream and lip protection.

Kit for the Base Camp Trek

We also discussed kit – apparently what I have is very good and appropriate for the trek, but I need to get some T-shirts and a sun hat as I’ve not really prepared for any warm weather. I should also get a duvet/down jacket for the days when we’re closer to base camp, but they’re pretty expensive in England and you can buy them much cheaper in Kathmandu so I‘ll have a look once we’re out there.

Snacks!

Kirsty said that I should have a snack supply before setting off on the trek, although food supplies are sold in the tea houses we’ll be stopping in. The sort of snacks to bring are anything with a high energy content, that’s not bulky and will keep for the whole time. Nuts, raisings, biscuits, Kendal mint cake, sweets and flapjacks are all good. Chocolate will melt! It’s also good to bring boiled sweets/cough sweets as the air will be very dry and it’s common to get a sore throat.

I also found out that there will be electricity most of the way up the mountain which I fantastic and means that my camera won’t run out of battery.

This is part of a hilarious episode of Have I got News for You. You can watch the whole episode UNCUT on YouTube- a version you might not have seen yet - this is just the part where he talks about the difficulties of going to the toilet when climbing to the summit of Everest.

I went out last night with some friends, but I had to leave early because I felt so ill. I was really dizzy and I found it difficult to focus, my arms were also aching from the jabs and countless people bumping into them throughout the evening.

I don’t know whether it was the cocktail of injections I’d had which made me feel like this, or perhaps I had heat stroke, but I had to leave. Feeling loads better today though!

I’ve just had my appointment with the nurse to have my jabs. I think I mentioned in an earlier post why I got them all together in one go – diphtheria/tetanus/polio, hep A/typhoid and meningitis.  

I have plasters all over my arms, and they’re aching quite a bit. The worst by far is the hep A/typhoid which is making my arm feel very heavy and there’s a constant dull ache.