12 SEPTEMBER 2013 - EVEREST BASE CAMP !!!

We were woken up at 2am by screaming sherpas.  It sounded like it was coming from right outside our window.  We didn’t know what was happening, but once we officially woke up for breakfast, our guide told us that 2 sherpas were fighting last night.  Nepalese screaming sounds intense!  The only thing going through my mind was the fight between the sherpas and the climbers that received so much news attention a couple of months ago.

Tom’s Gear for Basecamp

Tom and Alex Heading to Gorak Shep

Celebratory Snickers

We woke up and hiked 2 houes to Gorak Shep (where we have 3G!!!  Woot Woot!!!).   There are a ton of solar panels here and only 2 lodges.  We got here around 9am then we had “lunch”…we were a little confused, but we always take food whenever we can get it.  We then headed to Everest base camp.  We were one of the first groups there today, and Chirri welcomed us with a congratulation sign!  It was pretty cool.  Unfortunately, base camp is completely empty, no tents whatsoever.  The weather was also overcast, so we didn’t get a great view of Everest, hopefully tomorrow we’ll get a nice view on the top of Kalapathar.  We had some celebratory snickers that tom bought for 200 Nepalese Rupees (which is a steal compared to the 250 rupees we paid for them yesterday).  The exchange rate when we left Kathmandu was around 105 rupees to 1 USD.  So these snickers are pretty frikin expensive!

Action Shot of Tom and Chhiri at Base Camp

Everest Base Camp

Once we spent some time at base camp, we headed down to the ice falls (basically just a big glacier). We spent some time walking around and climbing up them.  These are known to be one of the most dangerous parts of climbing up Mt. Everest as many of the climbers need ladders and ropes to cross them safely.  We didn’t go that far into them.

Climbing Everest!!!

Khumbu Ice Falls

Tom and Alex at Everest Ice Falls

Eleni is still at the same town, our guide spoke to her this morning and he told us that she is feeling better.  Hopefully we’ll meet up with her tomorrow afternoon.

Coleman Wipes:  Low

Red Pandas Spotted:  None.  I think Eleni might have read the wrong Wikipedia page saying that we could potentially see red pandas.

Eleni’s September 12 Blog

Last night may have been one of the best night’s sleep I have had this entire trip. It was wonderful. I am hoping it is a sign of my recovery.  I slept in till after 730, and then headed in for some breakfast.

I feel annoyed, mad, sad, jealous and all of those other frustrating emotions. Today Tom and Alex are enroute to Base Camp and I am sitting on my butt reading. Again I know I made the right call but it still sucks.

I walked the village a bit then headed up to the sun room at the guest house to read. Pheriche sits in a valley and while it can be sunny, the wind can be strong and cold. The sun room is a very warm little sanctuary that is the perfect place to read. I read “Into Thin Air” yesterday which was a good choice since Pheriche gets a few shout outs.  Mainly the clinic here. I believe the name is the Himalaya Rescue Clinic but I could be wrong.  The windows of the sunroom look over the clinic. I am sure you are all thinking, “Eleni go to the clinic and get the good drugs to kick that green mucus!”

Well sadly the clinic is not yet open. We are at the very beginning of the fall season and apparently the doctors will not be flying out for a few more days.  Bad timing.

The other downside, in addition to the closed clinic, of traveling so early after monsoon season is the weather. We have had more low cloud days then blue sky days. So it’s been a challenge to see all the peaks that surround us, but when we do see them, it is amazing!!!

The plus to traveling now is the low number of other hikers. I could not imagine these guest houses full of people. The last night in Dingbouche a group of over 20 British students hiked in. It was very over whelming.

Seating in the common room becomes a commodity and you start to worry about the plumbing.

But since Pheriche is a village visited after Base Camp and Kalapathar, the village wasn’t totally open for business when I rolled in. My guest house was still getting ready and only one employee was present. The boss came in that night. This morning they were pulling out their books to set up their library. And for the first 30 hours I was here, my porter and I were the only guests.

Tonight 2 couples rolled in and the Himalayan Guest House started to feel less like Hotel California

The most entertaining aspect of the guest house has been the employees’ taste in music. Lots and lots of dance music. Everything from Pitbull to Enrique to international dance that I am sure Tom could name.

But now with more guests, dinner was mostly accompanied by some  CCR, the Eagles, and the Beatles.

So that’s my day. Reading a book and observing the operations of my guest house.  I feel so so lazy.  Today was the first day I have not hike multiple hours since last Thursday. And even before last Thursday we were still walking multiple miles while touring. Who would have thought I would miss hiking? Shockingly, I do. Hopefully in two days I am back on the trail.