Friday Oct. 8, 2010. John, I found a Cottage for us!!

Here it is honey, all we need to "get away" from all the stress in our lives!! Our cottage in the Himalyas. There actually are Nomads who live high in the mountains. These are their homes for the winter months. They descend and hibernate until the spring comes. Again, I guess French River is looking like a spa!!

Pfizer Korea had a successful trip to Base Camp in 2008!! When you are in bed by 7:30/8:00 pm this dinner request is not unusual. Click on the image to expand and read the message!


Khumbu Cough: As we Trekked through this day we would start to cross the Khumbu Glacier. It is very dry and dusty. The Sherpas wore either a buff over their mouth and nose or just simply a kerchief. This dust irritates the villi in your bronchial tubes and causes a bad cough. I got it as well as many of my team members. Camping is another alternate to Trekking in Tea Houses and reduces the incidence of upper respiratory infections. It is a good idea to bring throat lozenges on the Trek. They are the only thing that really helps and always travel with a buff, just like they use on Survivor. My cough went away as we descended in altitude and I didn't develop an infection.

Lunch with Rabbin, Debbie, Lesley and Janice. A nice rest before another brutal climb for the afternoon. At the end of the day we would reach Lobuche at an altitude of 16,170 feet. Every effort was now putting you out of breath. Rolling over at night in your sleeping bag put you out of breath. The comfort zone was gone and some of us were starting to get panic attacks in the middle of the night. Luckily I didn't experience it but when you are in thin air, you awake suddenly and feel that you can't get a full breath. It's a pretty scary feeling.

My feeble attempt at Yoga at High Altitude and wearing hiking boots!! The truth is that after I climbed this big rock, I realized I was completely out of breath and couldn't believe I thought I could climb with the kids on the Trek!! It was all I could do to hold on to my balance!!

Leaving Dingboche and pausing to look back at the village in the valley:Periche. We would stay here on our return down the mountain. It is the host for the Himalayan Rescue Center and would be the health center where 2 of our team members who would become very sick would be treated. The sound of helicopters is very common at this altitude. Any signs of pulmonary or cerebral edema and they get you off the mountain. One of our Sherpas told us the story of a man he helped Trek to Base Camp and then to Kalapatthar. The man was not feeling well but refused to go down and didn't listen to the Sherpas advice. When he got to the top of Kalapatthar, he collapsed and died right beside the Sherpa before they could even get oxygen to him. Altitude sickness happens fast and can even happen when you are descending if you were starting to have signs while going up.

Ten Gruk and Pasan awaiting the day. The Sherpas served us all our meals and were always ready to help. Three more team members made the decision to descend this morning due to altitude sickness. They would join the others in Namche Bazaar where medical help was nearby if they needed it.

Leaving Dingboche. This was the routine. Wake-up call at 6:00 am and bags were to be ready by 6:30 am. Whatever you needed for the day had to go in your day pack. These bags would not make it to the next destination until the Yaks arrived!!