ONEincredibleCLOUDYday

One Incredible Cloudy Day...

April 22nd-23rd

Pheriche- Phortse



The White Yak hotel in Pheriche had offered us a refuge of warmth and happiness after our two biggest days of hiking on the trip, Everest Base camp and Kallapathar. Last night, the girls in our group; Pamela, Theresa, Ruby, Renata, Sarah, Lhakpa and I, were singing in delirious joy around the fire place, which is typically set in the middle of these cold teahouses. Yak and Dso Dso (pronounced Jok Jok) dung that was burned to keep us warm didn’t smell at all, and our songs and laughter roared through the lodge. There were only two groups in this lodge, one was our group of Canadians and two Kiwis and the other, was a group of Americans. A few of the younger men in the American group were looking over and smiling at the ‘Canadian babes,’ singing away, and likewise we received a few glares, namely from an aggressive looking middle aged woman with short hair. She was probably just surprised that she wasn’t the only ‘babe’ in the lodge this time, well, that, or she was annoyed with the loud singing from the women and the boisterous laughter of the men in our group who were already quite a few beers in. No matters, this was a night to celebrate!!



After a good night’s sleep in Pheriche, on the big comfortable soft mattresses which Lhakpa and I had pushed together and shared, like we had been doing the whole trip, Lhakpa is my new best-friend in Nepal, or my Sherpa hot water bottle, Big Pete and Goat the Kiwis liked to tease, we ate breakfast, a muesli and hot milk for me and we were once again off on our adventures. Outside while waiting for the group to start we watched Pasang our cow herder and Asuk our cute and incredibly shy twenty year old Sherpa porter, load the cows with our luggage. One particular cow kept resting his head on our bags while waiting for our porters to load him up, he looked at me as if to say ‘What?,’ and I can’t blame him since he has a long day of walking like us, but he’s carrying all of our heavy gear.



To get to the high-perched village of Phortse, we had to hike up a mountain all day. The first leg of our uphill hike, I clicked into wrestling mode, which I did on various and randomn occasion annoying my fellow hikers since I was usually at the back, kicking up dust balls in my efforts, and couldn’t stop myself from going faster and faster until I was all but running up the mountain, just wanting to get to my goal, the top. In the end, Sarah and I, an old team mate from university wrestling, booked it to the top.



We stopped at a teahouse at the apparent, top of this mountain and drank some lemon tea as per usual on our hikes. From outside we could hear Al, the magician of the group, doing a magic show for a large group of Indian hikers. There was such a big commotion coming from outside, as there always is when Al gets going, and I was tempted to go to see which trick he was doing, ‘the disappearing pen?’ maybe ‘the reappearing coins?’ but even the notion of standing up and walking a few steps was so tiring that I remained inside listening to the laughter and applaud, while I drank my lemon tea. Junior, or Greg the youngest member of our expedition, provided some entertainment inside, by eating a bag of sour sugar. His face in this single moment said it all, the pain, the anguish, the intensity of his poor taste buds. Needless to say, all inside were thoroughly impressed.



On the second half of our hike, Jim, the new group leader since Papa left who was soon to be demoted to assistant, assistant group leader but that is another story, Theresa, my best-friend Lhakpa and I took the rear. We ended up behind a group of Indian hikers who were singing crazily and dancing, stopping to take pictures every few steps while also trying to hike this steep ragged trail. Lhakpa, though Sherpa knew a few Hindi songs and soon she joined in singing familiar songs with the Indians. It was cool to see her jump in with them and just as crazily as our activities last night around the central fire, belt out some tunes.




The trail ahead of us was engulfed by the grey misty cloud covered sky, and most people in the group would agree that it did indeed rise into the high sky above us. Though in the back of the pack, I could hear the unanimous groans coming from the group, ‘Why?,’ was echoed in the hollow wind, I heard their cries ‘Why?,’ it bounded off the high raw stone cliffs on our right falling down thousands of feet into the deep gorge on our left before plummeting into the cool river below us like Gaia’s tears. Why is this path still going uphill? Jim would tell Theresa and I, ‘This is the last one,’ only to reach the top the rocky hill, turn a sharp corner and be faced with another uphill jaunt. Jim would then say ‘Oh, no this is it, this is the last one,’ and when he was wrong would continue ‘well, it has been a few years since I hiked this trail,’ no worries Jim, if we were all your age we’d be losing our minds too.



The jagged rocks below me were in the shape of witches sharp fingernails or the devil’s crooked, twisting spirals, that lead to his most dark and isolated lair, had my imagination spinning and twirling in delight. The wind blowing mist and cloud by me in such a fury, I forgot that I was standing on the edge of this deep gorge, rooted to the earth and felt, that I was actually a free bird flying through the highest and most mysterious places of the world.



A few hours later, we reached Phortse, it was nothing too special, rock stone walls as usual, and a few scattered guest houses lay below us in this quiet mountain village.



The next morning Jim asked who had honestly enjoyed our hike up the unessecarily steep mountain trail. I can’t remember if I raised my hand, but hope to always remember this one particular cloudy day.

Kallapathar 5550m

Gorakshep-Pheriche
April 21st

We followed a small slow moving creek that was surrounded by shrubs and foliage the colour of autumn, that lead the way down the small slope to the village named Pheriche. Pheriche is nestled in a valley, between one high ridge on the South and one small mountain in the North. It's a bit different than the other villages because the land rolls up and down in small hills giving our eyes a break from the monotonous stone walls set on flat grounds. Cows, yaks and dso dso's (pronounced jok jok) are attempting to eat the grass, that actually isn't growing long enough for them. Walking into Pheriche around sunset, the glowing embers of the floating snow-covered mountains which are surrounded by white clouds stop my forward movement and put me into a state of awe.

Kallapathar
I hiked Kallapathar in the morning, it was supposed to be a real challenge, but I found it to be the easier climb when compared to Everest Base camp. The only part that could be considered difficult is the steepness of the all-uphill climb to reach the peak at 5550m, the highest I've ever been on land in my life. However, with a stomach full of muesli and hot milk, my two red hiking poles in hand that Goat(Pete the Kiwi) lent me and no altitude problems today, I was feeling very good. At the top I took a few pictures on the peak and a few shots with Everest in the background. I was feeling so good and exhilarated that I ran down most of the mountain. Though, I had to stop a few times to catch my breath, remembering that I was, after all, at over 5000m of altitude and there is less oxygen to breathe.

Everest Base camp

April 20th
Lobuche-Gorakshep
Gorakshep-Everest Base Camp-Gorakshep

I didn't have as romantic a time at base camp as hoped. I was disappointed, I thought I'd spend all day talking to everyone at the camp, but as it was I was feeling tired. We'd already hiked from Lobuche to Gorakshep which took at least a few hours and then after less than an hour break we started the 2.5 hr hike from Gorakshep to base camp, so altogether we hiked for around 6-7 hours at the highest altitudes we've ever hiked. Base-camp is a maze of tents set up in no particular order. We walked through half of the camp looking for the Canadian West team that apparently existed but we couldn't find it. We met some girls, one from USA and one from New Zealand who were doing research on how altitude affected the brains of the climbers and they got to stay at base camp for 7 weeks. Lucky girls, I am incredibly envious. If I come to base camp again I want to stay there for at least a few days instead of 1 hour. Base camp is at the bottom of this glacier and the ground is actually melting ice, gravel and rocks. There is a river that flows through the center of the tents separating each city of tents. I thought that there would be snow everywhere and maybe a blizzard outside but it was a bright sunny day walking on melting ice. I figured that I'd be invited from tent to tent walking through the blizzard, sharing stories and life, sipping on hot chocolate hour after hour. What really happened it that there were no flags put up to identify countries since the Olympic Torch is being brought to Everest, also, Nepal is scared of "Free Tibet," flags being put up so we never did find the Canadian team that we were looking for. Strange enough, the only flag that we saw flying was the American flag. Well, we never did end up finding the Canada-West team like we wanted to, I did talk to a man from Calgary though who had just come back from Camp 2, but didn't talk to him long. As well, I met a Vietnamese boy who was not a climber but a good looker. He spoke some english so we chatted for a few minutes. He said that he climbs mountains in Vietnam and applied for his job in response to an ad in a newspaper. Lhakpa was visiting with the Vietnamese team since one of them was her co-worker. I walked back from Gorak Shep with Sarah and Renata but started to feel sick 3/4 of the way through and was just following their feet by the end, leaning on my walking stick and trying to ignore the fact that my head was throbbing with pain.

"Hell hill number one"

April 19th '08

Dingboche-Lobuche

Today we left Dingboche and hiked up to the same ridge that we did yesterday. I took a picture with my sherpa friends Furi, Jimmi and Lhakpa. There was a big hill that Jim, our new group leader since Papa had to leave, called the first of two "Hell hills". I didn't find it that hard though and pumped up my music, singing and dancing away. "How does it feel," Lauryn's "Killing me Softly," and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody are some of the songs that helped me dance my way to the top of this 'Hell hill" I had a lot of fun with Numa Numa by O-Zone too. Haha some Indian hikers stopped to dance with me a bit as well.

We got to the top of 'Hell hill number one' and there were memorials there to fallen climbers from over the years. One of the first ones that I saw was that of Scott Fischer, I remember him from the book by John Krakaar "Into Thin Air," about the 1996 expeditions. I saw one of a fallen Japanese climber and one of a Nepali climber. The sun was shining bright and hot all day. Dustballs blew up over the dry landscape and sand deserts we crossed. Huge boulders were placed along the sherpa flats that we crossed. I wore my shredded wrap around my mouth and nose and Lhakpa had a matching one. We had a picture taken by some stone houses that were in between the high ridge and 'Hell Hill,' that are inhabited during the monsoon season so that the jok joks, cows and yaks can eat the grass up here that grows in the wet season. Tonight we'll sleep in Lobuche.

Reality is what you choose to make it.

April 18th '08

Today we had a rest day in Dingboche 4360m. I woke up early though because, me and Lhakpa always think that we're late since we don't have watches. Papa, or Eoin or coach White had to leave today since he had an Olympic Committee meeting to go to. Eoin is the team leader for the Canadian wrestling team at the Beijing Olympics this year. He has to fly out to Beijing in a couple days.

I was charged 1700 rupees to charge my camera batteries so I didn't order lunch or dinner, but Lhakpa shared with me. After breakfast, a few of us went for a walk up to some stupas on a high ridge that looked down on the village. The views from the ridge were beautiful, especially since we had a panoramic view of mountains in each direction.

Later in the evening Lhakpa and I went and played pool. We met up with some of her Sherpa friends and joined in on some pool with them. They all say "Eh Hanay" when they make a good shot. It's funny saying from a Nepali video apparently. I met this sherpa named Funero and he's really loud, obnoxious and fun. We went to another tea house where there were only Sherpas and played some cards with another Sherpa named Jimmi. Tonight we're supposed to go out and play pool again and meet up with more sherpa friends but I' felling a little tired and mush because I have my period, and I think that I'm getting less oxygen to my brain now. I wonder if I'll read this later and it won't make any sense.

LAst night was beautiful!! A clear sky filled with stars, the moon and mountains on all sides of me. I sat on a wall built of stones and I sang a few songs to the jok joks who were munching on hay, clanging their bells. I love seeing the wind blowing the prayer flags, the highest mountains in the world in view. The moon is almost full now, I looked up at it and wonder if Alek is doing the same. I hope that him and Tchye are okay. I think that if I try hard enough he'll get my message through telepathy, although I tried with Jason once and it didn't work.

I sat on the wall made of rocks looking at the snow covered mountain in front of me. The sound of the flowing stream behind me was completely separated from what I was seeing in front of me. The feeling of the rough stones beneath my finger tips replicate the rough lives that the mountain Nepalis live. These stones in the wall that I'm sitting on are the same ones that take a man one full day to chip into 1 bloc for building tea houses. I moved off of my wall perch and walked to the small stream flowing downhill. I felt like a Goddess looking down a whole mountain, a rushing river going down the mountain beneath me, a rushing river of silver In this moment shining in the moonlight like a second sky. In this moment, I feel that the world is so connected to the universe, like a never ending spiral, intertwined with colourful people, events and landscapes, that everything is in the world for a reason. We seem to get caught up in our daily lives and forget to take in what is our fascinating surroundings, our mysterious mythical and non-sensible sides. that really in the end make me feel more grounded than " so called reality," as Herman Hesse would say. Reality is what you choose to make it.

Thinking at 4360m is slow to come

April 17th '08

I woke up this morning and there was snow on the ground outside. It must have snowed last night after I went to sleep. It's so nice to look out the window of the teahouse seeing snow covered stone walls, melting water falling off the roof shining in the sun light, shredded prayer flags blowing in the wind. The sun is shining down ht and the snow covered mountains light up so bright. Each crack and crag of the nearby mountains stand out, each minor peak a pinnacle leading to the ultimate height. A mountain to the south of me has a glacier or big pile of snow, it's smaller than the Comox Glacier back home though. The snow blowing off of Island Peak curls like the waves of the ocean, a grand high spiral curling all of the secrets of the world into it's reaches before blowing it all away to be dispersed among the people and beings of the world.

Now, we're at a place in Dingboche 4360m called Everest Resort. The landscape here is breathtaking, we're above the tree-line now, big boulders are in the valleys, low alpine shrubs grow here and rolling hills fill in the space before the mountains rise up to the clouds.

Angie, the woman who owned the tea house in Pangboche was very cold and business like, the opposite of mama Tashi where we stayed two nights ago in Kyangjuma. Mama Tashi was so kind and friendly, the tea house had such a good atmosphere to it. I'm finding it quite hard to remember the days and what we did since we're constantly walking from village to village and we only spend one day or less in each place. They're kind of blending into one continuance instead of separate time spent in each place. Also, I find that because of the elevation, spelling, remembering, or thinking in general is slow and difficult to come. I write in the morning, afternoon and sometimes at night because if not I'll forget everything.

Stone Walls

April 16th '08

I woke up, opened my window to five big glorious mountains not yet lit up by the morning sun. There is wind blowing off the one in front of me, making it look like a mango flavoured cloud with the first bits of sun lighting the snow. I hear jok jok bells below me clanging as the animals walk by the tea house. I tried yak steak last night, but it wasn't the same as my Christmas yak steak in Litang, China. This yak steak wasn't yak steak at all but buffalo steak. The meat was lighter in colour, the patty thicker, more chewy and grisoly and it wasn't as nice of a taste. Apparently, yaks are sacred animals here in the Khumbu region and the Buddhists don't kill them. It's strange, the Buddists can't kill animals even if it's to eat but they can order some meat from the butcher if they turn a blind eye to the animal being killed.
I watched the sun rise slowly from behind a Taboche Peak 6495m and Cholatse 6335m, the rays lighting up the valley that's below me and the peaks to my right.

We stopped in Tengboche and visited a colourful monastery, with an ornate gate in front that was carved with various gods and godesses. It's similar to a huge monastery village (1600's) that I visited in Shangri-La, China, but in this one there are only 40 monks who live here. This small monastery had to be re-built twenty years ago due to a fire, and so most of the artifacts and sculptures inside are new.

Later, at a teahouse near the monastery nearly all of our group had rara noodles which are 'same same' as instant noodles with a few slivers of vegetables in it and some spices.

We're sleeping in Pengboche 3989m tonight, which is about a two hour hike from Tengboche. In the outskirts of Tengboche there are many stone walls which separate the farmland into small sections. I wondered why, such small fields and so many of them? Maybe, it was to keep the sandy dirt that the potatoes grow in from blowing away? Pete, one of two Pete's who joined our group from New Zealand guessed that the walls were to separate the land that people owned, or to keep the animals out. Eoin, (my old wrestling coach and the man in charge of the trek) said that when the villagers were clearing the land, they made the walls instead of carrying thousands of rocks and stones further distances.

Big Pete one of the two kiwis named Pete who joined our group and goat (little Pete), (they later joked that they were lepers and made up a handshake), told me that the South part of New Zealand can get snow and temperatures go as low as -15! That's nuts, it only get's to maybe -5 on Vancouver island in the winter and we're from the legendary igloo country of the world. Anywhere on the island you're no more than 15 miles from the sea and most people own a boat.

Me and Lhakpa were sharing a smoke when lightning and thunder broke out outside. Unfortunately it wasn't a big storm like I was hoping for, only last ing a few minutes but I was so excited! Lhakpa said to me "Why are you laughing now? ". The storm made me think of Alek. I wish that he could hold me tonight. Even though we fought a lot I still miss his extreme personality. Everyone that I'm traveling with now it seems that they readily accept Canadian society. I miss sleeping in a tent and cuddling, having conversations where I don't have to hold my opinions or views for risk of offending the people in the group. Maybe, I'll just say them anyways. I feel so guilty for getting to eat better food than our porters and Kami our sherpa guide. I guess it's just reality that everyone isn't in the same economic level, but I don't like reality. On the up side, I'm bonding well with the girls in our group namely, Lhakpa (sherpa), Renata and PAm. Renata shared her life with me and so did Pam. Sarah is a hard shell to crack, in a way she's like Stacie Anaka, not very open to people about their emotions and quiet. Theresa is a sweet heart but we haven't talked much.