The stars of the show Martin Topping, Joanna Schmidt, Kate Gormley, Bruce, Tina and Nolan Loxton, Andy and April Hampton, Kevin and Eileen, Mike Masters and myself Ged Hepburn. And here we are us happy band. Photos will appear at bottom of blog as it does not let me place them in line which is annoying.
Mach 30th Saturday
Trying to sleep was hard night before I was due to leave for Trek to Everest base camp well kala pathar fair to say I was excited but also fair to say I was extremely nervous , I had been away on trek before to Peru but this was different I was going to the dizzy heights of Kala Pathar an amazing 5554m and this was to turn out to be a trip of strength ability and sheer determination all of which we all had in abundance I shall explain as I go on but to start I could not have asked for a better bunch of people to go trekking with. Helen was giving me a lift to Edinburgh Airport we were going to arrive early and have a cup of coffee together but as things worked out we never really had time. Saying bye to Helen was as always very hard tears and the likes but hey I soon calmed down ha ha no but of course we were both bit teary but we both managed. Helen has been fantastic in helping me achieve my goal and was with me all the way on my trek and made sure she knew that. So all checked in and ready to go was on plane 20min before take off thinking well this is it this is what you have trained hard for all the cycling jogging walking and the gym let's just hope it all worked.
Trying to sleep was hard night before I was due to leave for Trek to Everest base camp well kala pathar fair to say I was excited but also fair to say I was extremely nervous , I had been away on trek before to Peru but this was different I was going to the dizzy heights of Kala Pathar an amazing 5554m and this was to turn out to be a trip of strength ability and sheer determination all of which we all had in abundance I shall explain as I go on but to start I could not have asked for a better bunch of people to go trekking with. Helen was giving me a lift to Edinburgh Airport we were going to arrive early and have a cup of coffee together but as things worked out we never really had time. Saying bye to Helen was as always very hard tears and the likes but hey I soon calmed down ha ha no but of course we were both bit teary but we both managed. Helen has been fantastic in helping me achieve my goal and was with me all the way on my trek and made sure she knew that. So all checked in and ready to go was on plane 20min before take off thinking well this is it this is what you have trained hard for all the cycling jogging walking and the gym let's just hope it all worked.
So arrived at Heathrow in good time managed to book in case and then look for joanna schmidt I had spoken to Jo on the phone but never met her before we discussed how many times we had unpacked and repacked our cases and unknown to Jo after I spoke to her I came home and unpacked and repacked my case again ha ha had bit of a panic there. So looked for Jo and found her and what a great person to meet jo was going further after EBC she was going on to Goyoko pass with Guy named Bruce and meant to be Tina and Nolan . so full of life and just so looking forward to this trip of a life time Jo worked as an Air hostess so had just returned from some far of land and was ready to fly off again very busy life but sounds like she loves what she does and she was so easy to talk to and get on with. We then looked for Mike Masters I had met Mike before on a Scottish weekend meet great guy down to earth and great dry sense of humour we met him in departures so that was three of us together Mike myself and Jo. Me and MIke had met at Scottish weekend with safe journeys where we climbed Tarmachan Ridge and Schiehallion and also shared a few beers of course just for sociable reasons you understand ha ha.
So time for next flight to Abu Dhabi which was quite a good flight with Etihad Airways had choice of films to watch and also choice of food to have which was good I am not best flier so was good to have choice of what to watch and in truth all flights were good well bit hairy on last flight home but will come to that.
So we arrived in Abu Dhabi in good time and it was a very busy place we had a long wait here so we tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible .
So time for next flight to Abu Dhabi which was quite a good flight with Etihad Airways had choice of films to watch and also choice of food to have which was good I am not best flier so was good to have choice of what to watch and in truth all flights were good well bit hairy on last flight home but will come to that.
So we arrived in Abu Dhabi in good time and it was a very busy place we had a long wait here so we tried to make ourselves as comfortable as possible .
31/3/13
So time we met the rest of the people who were going on trek first I met in An Dhabi were April and Andy who I also met in Scotland once again great couple who were not only doing EBC they were going on to do a climb called Island Peak ( fair to say I was jealous ). Bloody awesome lol so now there were five ooo but hold on we were missing someone called Martin Topping no one could find this guy who I had never met but was looking forward to meeting wonder where he could be?? Martin appeared some time later from the executive club oooooo all fresh and fed and watered ha ha while we were all out with the commoners martin was in sunning it with the tosh lucky lucky *%-£#&#. Martin was big lad Rugby player and looked it but got to say like everybody there we all hit it off together and as it turned out all encouraged each other all the way through this trek. So now we are up to six we then met Bruce our seventh person Bruce was another good guy and who I would share a room with for most of this trek Bruce was like a medic his bag contained everything you could want if you were not feeling well or just needed something to boost you like rehydration tablets he was the guy to see guy that would help in any way he can. So here we were all waiting to board fight some of us meeting for the first time some I met before but all getting on well together.
It was a long wait but the flight passed with no real problems bit weary but felt good to arrive. We were transported to hotel Thamel in heart of Kathmandhu this is where we met Tina and Nolan who have been trekking the world since December such a nice couple really was great meeting them from south Africa but stay in London but must have seen some fantastic sites before joining us all it show as how quickly a bond was set later on when something happened to Tina and the affect it had on our group. So now we were nine. Then Kevin an Eileen appeared another nice couple who had been in kathmandhu for a while and were ready for trek although Kevin did seem tiered but he did say he did like to sleep a lot I wish I could have slept as easy as Kevin did. So our group was now eleven. We had talk about what was happening then given our rooms which were fine I had a shower and bit of a rest before some of us went out and had bite to eat and the only two beers we would have in nearly three weeks. Kathmadhu was bathed in well darkness so after our beer and bit food it was back to hotel for an early night this would become a feature of our next 15 or so days.
So time we met the rest of the people who were going on trek first I met in An Dhabi were April and Andy who I also met in Scotland once again great couple who were not only doing EBC they were going on to do a climb called Island Peak ( fair to say I was jealous ). Bloody awesome lol so now there were five ooo but hold on we were missing someone called Martin Topping no one could find this guy who I had never met but was looking forward to meeting wonder where he could be?? Martin appeared some time later from the executive club oooooo all fresh and fed and watered ha ha while we were all out with the commoners martin was in sunning it with the tosh lucky lucky *%-£#&#. Martin was big lad Rugby player and looked it but got to say like everybody there we all hit it off together and as it turned out all encouraged each other all the way through this trek. So now we are up to six we then met Bruce our seventh person Bruce was another good guy and who I would share a room with for most of this trek Bruce was like a medic his bag contained everything you could want if you were not feeling well or just needed something to boost you like rehydration tablets he was the guy to see guy that would help in any way he can. So here we were all waiting to board fight some of us meeting for the first time some I met before but all getting on well together.
It was a long wait but the flight passed with no real problems bit weary but felt good to arrive. We were transported to hotel Thamel in heart of Kathmandhu this is where we met Tina and Nolan who have been trekking the world since December such a nice couple really was great meeting them from south Africa but stay in London but must have seen some fantastic sites before joining us all it show as how quickly a bond was set later on when something happened to Tina and the affect it had on our group. So now we were nine. Then Kevin an Eileen appeared another nice couple who had been in kathmandhu for a while and were ready for trek although Kevin did seem tiered but he did say he did like to sleep a lot I wish I could have slept as easy as Kevin did. So our group was now eleven. We had talk about what was happening then given our rooms which were fine I had a shower and bit of a rest before some of us went out and had bite to eat and the only two beers we would have in nearly three weeks. Kathmadhu was bathed in well darkness so after our beer and bit food it was back to hotel for an early night this would become a feature of our next 15 or so days.
Monday 1/4/13
So first day in Kathmandu out early do bit of shopping buy new back pack and base layer it is early morning and already 24c and we were at height of 1360m. Today we would visit Swayambu Stupa a huge Buddhist and Hindu Temple (also known as monkey temple). But I have to say I loved Katmandu it is like a work in progress but I loved the buzz and the feel of the place I think most of us did, it was a crazy place cars and motorbikes squeeze past each other and to warn you they just peep there horns was crazy but the whole time I was there I never saw any accidents at all. It was just the hive of activity and you can basically kit your self out with half decent walking gear for around a £100. So was of to temple what a great place to visit in your first day we climbed oh think was well over 100 steps to reach it but was so worth it think we all enjoyed it good start to our acclimatization walks so much work has gone into this was hard to take it all in. We spun the prayer wheels in hope that it would bring us all good luck and the views over kathmandhu were pretty special indeed. And of course plenty of monkeys to take photos of as well our guide was good chowding now thats probably the wrong spelling but he was our main guide that day and always had a smile on his face even when he had some bad news more on that later. So after few hours we made our way back down and on the bus back to Kathmandhu to separate all our gear for start of our trek we were given blue bags to put our trekking gear in this would be what we would live out of for the next 15 days. Then some of us went out and had a nice big lunch (No beer ) found nice restaurant and had a nice club sandwich. At night we went to M C Donald's for tea before we all retired to bed and ready for what became a great adventure for us all.
So first day in Kathmandu out early do bit of shopping buy new back pack and base layer it is early morning and already 24c and we were at height of 1360m. Today we would visit Swayambu Stupa a huge Buddhist and Hindu Temple (also known as monkey temple). But I have to say I loved Katmandu it is like a work in progress but I loved the buzz and the feel of the place I think most of us did, it was a crazy place cars and motorbikes squeeze past each other and to warn you they just peep there horns was crazy but the whole time I was there I never saw any accidents at all. It was just the hive of activity and you can basically kit your self out with half decent walking gear for around a £100. So was of to temple what a great place to visit in your first day we climbed oh think was well over 100 steps to reach it but was so worth it think we all enjoyed it good start to our acclimatization walks so much work has gone into this was hard to take it all in. We spun the prayer wheels in hope that it would bring us all good luck and the views over kathmandhu were pretty special indeed. And of course plenty of monkeys to take photos of as well our guide was good chowding now thats probably the wrong spelling but he was our main guide that day and always had a smile on his face even when he had some bad news more on that later. So after few hours we made our way back down and on the bus back to Kathmandhu to separate all our gear for start of our trek we were given blue bags to put our trekking gear in this would be what we would live out of for the next 15 days. Then some of us went out and had a nice big lunch (No beer ) found nice restaurant and had a nice club sandwich. At night we went to M C Donald's for tea before we all retired to bed and ready for what became a great adventure for us all.
Tue 2/4/13
So today we would take the short flight to Lukla to start our trek, I have to say I was both excited about this flight and very nervous not many times you will be able to board an airplane why it is still refuelling. The airport was an experience to your bags were thrown onto scales to check weight was bit chaotic but hey all part of the Experience . Tickets in hand we had a short wait for the plane then it was boarding time off we went. As it turned out this was probably most exciting flight I have been on well the flight was good but the landing was well let me explain, front seat coming into land all I could see was mountains it just looked like we were flying into a mountain it was not until last few seconds that the runway appeared man to say I was relieved is an understatement but also well I kind of loved that flight I came of that plane buzzing :-) . There is a good video of this landing which I will try to upload and let you see the relief on my face :-) . So into Lukla to have a cup of tea before we set of on what I looked at as the first part of our trek today we were going to 2652m place called Phakding so it was cup of tea in Lukla get the suntan lotion on and then we were off on the start of our trek ( sun factor 40+ and still managed to burn the back of my head ). We Descended towards the Dudh Kosi River and joined the main trail which would eventually take us to Namche Bazaar just above Chaunrikharka at 2713m and walking was good passing small villages. Then at around 2550m we had a short walk to reach phakding. Once there we had lunch potatoes in what tasted like a curry sauce very nice two helpings for most of us :-) oh and tea. We were giving our rooms then in the afternoon we had an acclimatization walk to a bhudist temple. I liked Phakding had nice feel about it lots of other trekkers and climbers to. So in the afternoon we went to bhudist temple this was quite a steep climb and I gave myself bit of a sore head not for the first time on this trek not sure if I was going to fast but managed to keep it at bay with some pain killers. It was hard but think we all agreed it was worth it as we did get some great views and met some of the young monks that were there we also saw them perform there ceremony which was really good to see think everybody enjoyed watching this these were very young kids and this is I think what they will do for the rest of there lives. So we spent a bit of time there then it was back to the village to drink more tea and relax which we all did and it was nice just to be there and chat with everybody and think of what lay ahead of us. Martin had brought his iPad with him and was loading photos oh and that flight video lol so it was good to see them as our days trekking had finished. Bed around 7-30 this became the norm as it was always early starts rooms were OK very cold at night but once you managed to get into your sleeping bag with thermals and hat sometimes gloves on ha ha you soon warmed up, quick read then try to get some sleep which was quite hard with Bruce sucking the walls in man soon his head hit the pillow he slept like a baby a very Loud baby ha ha but it never lasted long and he gave me ear plugs to help :-) . So some sleep then on to the next day.
So today we would take the short flight to Lukla to start our trek, I have to say I was both excited about this flight and very nervous not many times you will be able to board an airplane why it is still refuelling. The airport was an experience to your bags were thrown onto scales to check weight was bit chaotic but hey all part of the Experience . Tickets in hand we had a short wait for the plane then it was boarding time off we went. As it turned out this was probably most exciting flight I have been on well the flight was good but the landing was well let me explain, front seat coming into land all I could see was mountains it just looked like we were flying into a mountain it was not until last few seconds that the runway appeared man to say I was relieved is an understatement but also well I kind of loved that flight I came of that plane buzzing :-) . There is a good video of this landing which I will try to upload and let you see the relief on my face :-) . So into Lukla to have a cup of tea before we set of on what I looked at as the first part of our trek today we were going to 2652m place called Phakding so it was cup of tea in Lukla get the suntan lotion on and then we were off on the start of our trek ( sun factor 40+ and still managed to burn the back of my head ). We Descended towards the Dudh Kosi River and joined the main trail which would eventually take us to Namche Bazaar just above Chaunrikharka at 2713m and walking was good passing small villages. Then at around 2550m we had a short walk to reach phakding. Once there we had lunch potatoes in what tasted like a curry sauce very nice two helpings for most of us :-) oh and tea. We were giving our rooms then in the afternoon we had an acclimatization walk to a bhudist temple. I liked Phakding had nice feel about it lots of other trekkers and climbers to. So in the afternoon we went to bhudist temple this was quite a steep climb and I gave myself bit of a sore head not for the first time on this trek not sure if I was going to fast but managed to keep it at bay with some pain killers. It was hard but think we all agreed it was worth it as we did get some great views and met some of the young monks that were there we also saw them perform there ceremony which was really good to see think everybody enjoyed watching this these were very young kids and this is I think what they will do for the rest of there lives. So we spent a bit of time there then it was back to the village to drink more tea and relax which we all did and it was nice just to be there and chat with everybody and think of what lay ahead of us. Martin had brought his iPad with him and was loading photos oh and that flight video lol so it was good to see them as our days trekking had finished. Bed around 7-30 this became the norm as it was always early starts rooms were OK very cold at night but once you managed to get into your sleeping bag with thermals and hat sometimes gloves on ha ha you soon warmed up, quick read then try to get some sleep which was quite hard with Bruce sucking the walls in man soon his head hit the pillow he slept like a baby a very Loud baby ha ha but it never lasted long and he gave me ear plugs to help :-) . So some sleep then on to the next day.
Wed 3/4/2013.
Today we would head to monjo ( Monzo) at 2835m it was an early start I was up at 5 as was not having best night sleep but trek started around 7am I had porridge which must admit to not liking very much but ate most of it to give me some energy for today's trek it would last for around 4hrs this was a nice walk the trail kept close to the river and the valley was lined with blue pine and rhododendron forest and although not quite in bloom I would imagine would look spectacular when it is. We crossed the Dudh Kosi river at Benkar and this is where we started to see some amazing views the snow peaks of Kusum Kanguru at 6369m and Thamserku at 6625m just looked stunning although they were to get better. From here it was a short walk to our next village of Monjo ( or as they called it Monzo) at 2835m. This trek was steep in places but everybody was in good spirits and no aches and pains although this is where I discovered how bad my neck had been burnt and Martin's as well it was the shape of my baseball cap lol as martin had fun taken a photo off. We had lunch then it was onto another acclimatization walk which lasted about 2hrs this is what I liked about this we were getting to see other parts of Nepal as well everybody was in good spirits enjoying a laugh and also sharing any food that we had during the walks even when Jo bought a tobllerone mmm it took a bit of coaxing like just keep talking about it until she surrenders said chocolate ha ha and I mean a big bit of coaxing ahh but joking aside it was shared as was everything including snikers bars but there was an indecent involving one of these which I will come to soon :-) . So once again it was time to chill and let the body acclimatise which of course was very important. We were told always to walk behind our guide at a slow pace our guides would always shout slow slow its very hard for someone who is fit to walk slow but not here it was the only way to get through this trek and if you tried to go faster your body soon told you to slow down in more ways than one. So after tea of pasta with sauce it was time to read or wright your journal charge phones or whatever you wanted to do before bed. Another early night for another early start to best place we went to in my opinion Namche Bazaar.
Today we would head to monjo ( Monzo) at 2835m it was an early start I was up at 5 as was not having best night sleep but trek started around 7am I had porridge which must admit to not liking very much but ate most of it to give me some energy for today's trek it would last for around 4hrs this was a nice walk the trail kept close to the river and the valley was lined with blue pine and rhododendron forest and although not quite in bloom I would imagine would look spectacular when it is. We crossed the Dudh Kosi river at Benkar and this is where we started to see some amazing views the snow peaks of Kusum Kanguru at 6369m and Thamserku at 6625m just looked stunning although they were to get better. From here it was a short walk to our next village of Monjo ( or as they called it Monzo) at 2835m. This trek was steep in places but everybody was in good spirits and no aches and pains although this is where I discovered how bad my neck had been burnt and Martin's as well it was the shape of my baseball cap lol as martin had fun taken a photo off. We had lunch then it was onto another acclimatization walk which lasted about 2hrs this is what I liked about this we were getting to see other parts of Nepal as well everybody was in good spirits enjoying a laugh and also sharing any food that we had during the walks even when Jo bought a tobllerone mmm it took a bit of coaxing like just keep talking about it until she surrenders said chocolate ha ha and I mean a big bit of coaxing ahh but joking aside it was shared as was everything including snikers bars but there was an indecent involving one of these which I will come to soon :-) . So once again it was time to chill and let the body acclimatise which of course was very important. We were told always to walk behind our guide at a slow pace our guides would always shout slow slow its very hard for someone who is fit to walk slow but not here it was the only way to get through this trek and if you tried to go faster your body soon told you to slow down in more ways than one. So after tea of pasta with sauce it was time to read or wright your journal charge phones or whatever you wanted to do before bed. Another early night for another early start to best place we went to in my opinion Namche Bazaar.
Thu 4/4/2013
So another early start on our way to what became my favourite place Namche Bazaar think we started around 6-30,and the walking became a little tougher today we were going up to 3446m so this would include a steep ascent to Namche. breakfast was good porridge was lovely and sweet and gave me wee boost to start the day. Off we went our happy band it was a short walk to entrance of the sagmartha ( Think this was Tibetan name for Everest) and once again we would cross the Duhd Kosi river great flowing river ice melt from everest itself' we crossed a lot of bridges which was well fun but they did move a lot especially if yaks were crossing at the sane time :-) we crossed to village called Jorsale at 2805m and headed upstream it was still flat terrain. We then crossed back over yes Duhd kosi and the Bhote Kosi river and this is point the terrain changed became a lot more steeper this was when I could feel a slight change in my breathing not sure about the others though but I enjoyed the wee breaks and sharing evrybodys coconut biscuits nuts and even chocolate mmm. Crossing a large suspension bridge we slowly slowly ascended at a very steady pace towards Namche . This is when some great photo opportunities came our first views of Everest and Ama Dablam, Lhoste, Numpste and Taweche at 6542m came into view it was so beautiful and big you could not take it all in and camera will never do it justice. So our first view of Everest and what a view it was just fantastic and I knew it was only going to get better and it did. On to Namche it was a very steep climb but it was so worth it what a view we had when we arrived, we sat outside our lodge and it was just gorgeous scenery all around we had wa more tea sitting looking relaxing at this big mountain that changed every few seconds with the clouds fantastic and this would be the view from my room what more can you ask for? We had lunch of soup and Tibetan bred it was great yummy and well had second helpings then was shower time horray a shower ha ha at last bloody great how a simple shower can make you so happy :-) we then headed in to the town and had apple struddle and Starbucks coffee mmmmmm so good ha ha then a look around the shops bought couple tshirts but Bruce managed to buy a whole shop h ha his poor porter would need extra muscles from this day he even tried to barter with a chemist lmao what a guy. It was then we had wee walk around then headed back to the lodge for tea oh and they had WiFi so was able to post photos to Facebook for Helen to see and friends but mainly to let helen know how it was all going even though had text her before this, WiFi was a great way to keep in touch Martin was able to face time with his wife and family which was great to see but we were all happy that we could post stuff that our loved ones and friends could see five minutes after posting. We stayed up until 8pm yeah really late for us but tomorrow would be another acclimatization walk and turned out it was one I and sure others loved. So once again bed cold room quick change then into warm sleeping bag and at last sure i had at least 5hrs sleep ahhhh bliss lol.
So another early start on our way to what became my favourite place Namche Bazaar think we started around 6-30,and the walking became a little tougher today we were going up to 3446m so this would include a steep ascent to Namche. breakfast was good porridge was lovely and sweet and gave me wee boost to start the day. Off we went our happy band it was a short walk to entrance of the sagmartha ( Think this was Tibetan name for Everest) and once again we would cross the Duhd Kosi river great flowing river ice melt from everest itself' we crossed a lot of bridges which was well fun but they did move a lot especially if yaks were crossing at the sane time :-) we crossed to village called Jorsale at 2805m and headed upstream it was still flat terrain. We then crossed back over yes Duhd kosi and the Bhote Kosi river and this is point the terrain changed became a lot more steeper this was when I could feel a slight change in my breathing not sure about the others though but I enjoyed the wee breaks and sharing evrybodys coconut biscuits nuts and even chocolate mmm. Crossing a large suspension bridge we slowly slowly ascended at a very steady pace towards Namche . This is when some great photo opportunities came our first views of Everest and Ama Dablam, Lhoste, Numpste and Taweche at 6542m came into view it was so beautiful and big you could not take it all in and camera will never do it justice. So our first view of Everest and what a view it was just fantastic and I knew it was only going to get better and it did. On to Namche it was a very steep climb but it was so worth it what a view we had when we arrived, we sat outside our lodge and it was just gorgeous scenery all around we had wa more tea sitting looking relaxing at this big mountain that changed every few seconds with the clouds fantastic and this would be the view from my room what more can you ask for? We had lunch of soup and Tibetan bred it was great yummy and well had second helpings then was shower time horray a shower ha ha at last bloody great how a simple shower can make you so happy :-) we then headed in to the town and had apple struddle and Starbucks coffee mmmmmm so good ha ha then a look around the shops bought couple tshirts but Bruce managed to buy a whole shop h ha his poor porter would need extra muscles from this day he even tried to barter with a chemist lmao what a guy. It was then we had wee walk around then headed back to the lodge for tea oh and they had WiFi so was able to post photos to Facebook for Helen to see and friends but mainly to let helen know how it was all going even though had text her before this, WiFi was a great way to keep in touch Martin was able to face time with his wife and family which was great to see but we were all happy that we could post stuff that our loved ones and friends could see five minutes after posting. We stayed up until 8pm yeah really late for us but tomorrow would be another acclimatization walk and turned out it was one I and sure others loved. So once again bed cold room quick change then into warm sleeping bag and at last sure i had at least 5hrs sleep ahhhh bliss lol.
Photos are all of start one has appeared from later on not sure why sorry but blogger would not let them put them in place if you like to know anymore about them just let me know. They re first views of everest 'Namche , and of Tina, Nolan ,Mike, Bruce ,Joanna Kate , Martin, Kevin, Eileen April, Andy and of course me.
