Off to Everest

As I write this post, I am sitting in three layers and a down jacket. My fingers have just about warmed up to write this post. So far, so good. Except my fingertips are tingling from the altitude sickness tablets (Diamox) which I have been taking for the past six days.

I’ve been getting this tingling sensation in random places, such as my chin, cheeks and tongue. That’s a weird sensation. Typing right now is a bit uncomfortable – the best way to describe it is when you have pins and needles in your legs from sitting down too long and you try and walk on it.

This is going to be a short post.

But I have good news. The weather broke after six days, and we managed to fly out to Lukla yesterday (Sat 19) in a small Twin Otter plan which seated just 18 of us. It was so small, the pilots didn’t bother to shut the door, and I saw the Himalayas for the first time though their window.

It is cheesy, but I honestly can’t describe the feeling seeing the mountains for the first time. I had a sense of elation and excitement as we approached the 460m runway.  I will post pictures up when I’m back in Kathmandu.

Our group has an acclimatization day at Namche Bazzar today. We’re currently 3440m above sea level and it’s cold! Namache is the gateway town to the Himalaya and is the main trading centre for the Khumbu region, which is in a national park.

Thankfully, we had glorious weather and stunning views of the mountains. We even saw Everest for the first time! In four days, we shall be at Base Camp.

We walked for about seven hours at a slow and steady pace, crisscrossing the Dudh Kosi, which means Milky River. The water was a beautiful green/blue colour and certainly lived up to it’s name. We walked beside the river for a while, which was nice, but as I’ve been drinking so much, it kept reminding me to go to the toilet!

Some parts of the walk were hard, but I’m expecting the next four days to be difficult. It was dusty and hot. Wearing my long johns under my trousers was not a good idea!

We passed many houses which we devastated by landslides, sherpas carrying doors on their backs and yaks carrying heavy loads.

To keep up with my fluid intake, I’ve taken a liking to garlic soup. Not only is it surprisingly tasty, it’s supposed to help with the altitude. I’ll take anything to not get sick!

This will be my last post before I head for Base Camp.