Last night we had Thai food on the beach and watched a fire show with a lightening back drop in the sky. It was quote the opposite to what we have experienced for the previous month. They have tropical fruit and food of almost any kind. The Island of Koh Samet is just off the south coast from Bangkok and has the quintessential Thailand flavor of white sand beaches, turquoise warm water and southeast asian style. We are here […]
We are in Bangkok !!! What? yep we got down off Everest to Kathmandu and jumped on a plane the next morning to Thailand. We have not seen a car, or anything with wheels for 30 days, so this is the first thing we found that we didn’t have to do the walking. We also have visited temples and the Floating Market where we took a boat through the canals and market place to see how they live in this […]
Again, Christian can not blog so in an effort to keep everyone updated, they are off the mountain. Tonight, at 9:00 pm Christian an Kirsten landed safely in Kathmandu. This is great news for many reasons. A storm moved into the Lukla area a few days ago and stopped all flights from Lukla. When they hiked into Ghat back to their host family’s home there was a real chance they might have to wait days before they could leave. Christian […]
Christian is not in a position to update his blog so in an effort to keep everyone updated on their trek I will summarize what I know. On September 2, 2013, Christian and Kirsten successfully reached Everest Base Camp. It was a challenging journey but gratifying. They started the day in Lobuche and reached Gorak Shep by lunch time. After lunch they took a 4 1/2 hour hike to base camp and then back to Gorak Shep for the night. […]
Today was very strenuous and challenging. As we ascend up the mountain the increase in altitude begins to really work on our bodies. The head colds we brought with us on the trek is an additional complication. Luckily, we have acclimated well. We moved very slowly to Lobuche. At 16,000 ft we are now higher than we have ever been before. The weather is so perfect. We are literally trekking in short sleeves. We put on light jackets when the […]
Today started at 8:00 am in Debuche with a view of Everst and Lhose. We learned that the day before the main bridge that crosses the Dhuh Koshi River and leads up to Everest Base Camp had broken and fell hundreds of feet into the river. Luckily no one died. Our Sherpa guide worked with the local Sherpa people to plan a trail around the problem that enabled us to regain the main trail above Pangbuche. We followed the Sherpa […]
We are in Dengboche near Tengboche. The suspension bridge broke yesterday and fell into the river below yesterday. No one died, but this is a big problem because this was the primary route for our journey and now we need to find another way around. It is actually a big deal for the whole area because all the trade in this area relies on this bridge for transporting goods. We think we have a solution with an old Sherpa trail, […]
We are leaving Namche for Tengbuche today. Unfortunately, we must first descend down about 1000 feet and then gain back 2000 feet to end up at 12500. Namche has been fun. It is very interesting to see how a completely remote village operates as the center of all Himalayan business and life. It is even more amazing how they function with the hydroelectric plan offline for 3 months. No running water. No lights. There is a constant stream of porters […]
We just hiked to the top of a ridge line to get a chance to peek at the big peak, but the cloud base is only at about 14,000 feet. We need it to be 15,000 feet higher. We are all feeling really good today at 11,500 feet. We are taking an acclimatization day here and plan to hike to Tengboche tomorrow. You can watch us make our trek under the Tracking map on this blog. cmackin
