the road to base camp
right now as i write to all of you i am sitting on a prehistoric computer which is running windows 95.yes thats right...windows 95.
i am in the village of nyalam (3700m) in tibet. i have been here for 2 days and this may be my last inet contact before i actually go off to climb the mountain. its cold and the air is getting thinner. but i guess this is the way i like it.
anyway, the transaction from nepal to tibet was the smoothest i have ever had. we left ktm early on tuesday 29th august. where we were transported to the border by bus .took a quick lunch, then walked over the border via the friendship bridge in the pouring rain and into the tibetan frontier town of zangmu
there are so many expeditions on cho oyu this season. i thought this would be bad. but in actual fact it does not bother me. many of the groups are being lead or guided by friends of mine.and many of the groups have sherpas working for them that are close personal friends of mine too. so in that respect its great to catch up with all my friends and get to climb the same mountain with them.
we spent a night in zangmu, then taveled on to nyalam where i am now. today i took the opportunity to go off into the hills nearby for an acclimitisation hike. this is vital to help the body get used to the thinner air and altitude. without doing this the end result would be altitude sickness and possible end of my climb.
so basically you go off for a walk in the hills. gaining a little altitude and getting body used to working in the thin air.then next time you go a little higher it is just that little bit more easier and so on. until eventually you reach the top of the mountain. your ultimate goal.
this morning i awoke and took off for what i thought would be a short walk for a few hours up in to the nearby hills. problem was that half way up the hill i was climbing, the weather closed in. the rain came pouring down and the wind was howling and i was all alone up on this mini mountain.
the clouds engulfed the top of the hill and visibilty was no more than 20m. still i kept climbing up towards the top. each time i would reach what i thought was the top. only to then discover that the hill kept going further up. time and time again this kept happening. i would think i was on the summit. then see that i was actually far from it.
by the time i finally reach the top(4800m) i had been climbing for 3 hours. no sooner did i get there did i turn around and come back down. problem was that by now the weather was down right horrible. i had zero visibilty and no way to navigate my way down. i tried my best to find the right way. but it was inevietable that i would make a wrong turn. sure enought i lost the way and had to navigate my way off the hill an alternate way.
it took a long time to get down the rather steep, slippery moss covered hillside. but in the end persistance paid off and some 2 hours later i walked back into nyalam, just in time to join the rest of my group for lunch and nice cold sprite.
tomorrow we are off to our next destination. the village of tingri. several hundred metres higher in altitude we wil spend 2 days here. again for more acclimitisation. this will be our last place of civilisation before we actually head to base camp for cho oyu. so the chances are this will be the last time i will be able to updaye my blog personally. from now on my father will be taking over this duty for me.
so until then everyone. please stay in contact and i will talk to all very soon.
bye for now
blair
i am in the village of nyalam (3700m) in tibet. i have been here for 2 days and this may be my last inet contact before i actually go off to climb the mountain. its cold and the air is getting thinner. but i guess this is the way i like it.
anyway, the transaction from nepal to tibet was the smoothest i have ever had. we left ktm early on tuesday 29th august. where we were transported to the border by bus .took a quick lunch, then walked over the border via the friendship bridge in the pouring rain and into the tibetan frontier town of zangmu
there are so many expeditions on cho oyu this season. i thought this would be bad. but in actual fact it does not bother me. many of the groups are being lead or guided by friends of mine.and many of the groups have sherpas working for them that are close personal friends of mine too. so in that respect its great to catch up with all my friends and get to climb the same mountain with them.
we spent a night in zangmu, then taveled on to nyalam where i am now. today i took the opportunity to go off into the hills nearby for an acclimitisation hike. this is vital to help the body get used to the thinner air and altitude. without doing this the end result would be altitude sickness and possible end of my climb.
so basically you go off for a walk in the hills. gaining a little altitude and getting body used to working in the thin air.then next time you go a little higher it is just that little bit more easier and so on. until eventually you reach the top of the mountain. your ultimate goal.
this morning i awoke and took off for what i thought would be a short walk for a few hours up in to the nearby hills. problem was that half way up the hill i was climbing, the weather closed in. the rain came pouring down and the wind was howling and i was all alone up on this mini mountain.
the clouds engulfed the top of the hill and visibilty was no more than 20m. still i kept climbing up towards the top. each time i would reach what i thought was the top. only to then discover that the hill kept going further up. time and time again this kept happening. i would think i was on the summit. then see that i was actually far from it.
by the time i finally reach the top(4800m) i had been climbing for 3 hours. no sooner did i get there did i turn around and come back down. problem was that by now the weather was down right horrible. i had zero visibilty and no way to navigate my way down. i tried my best to find the right way. but it was inevietable that i would make a wrong turn. sure enought i lost the way and had to navigate my way off the hill an alternate way.
it took a long time to get down the rather steep, slippery moss covered hillside. but in the end persistance paid off and some 2 hours later i walked back into nyalam, just in time to join the rest of my group for lunch and nice cold sprite.
tomorrow we are off to our next destination. the village of tingri. several hundred metres higher in altitude we wil spend 2 days here. again for more acclimitisation. this will be our last place of civilisation before we actually head to base camp for cho oyu. so the chances are this will be the last time i will be able to updaye my blog personally. from now on my father will be taking over this duty for me.
so until then everyone. please stay in contact and i will talk to all very soon.
bye for now
blair
posted by Blair Falahey at 8:43 AM
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