Countdown to Kathmandu: A Break in Transmission

The time has come ….

In a little over 24 hours I’ll be heading off into the great unknown on my way to Everst Base Camp and I’ve been deliberating and cogitating and mulling over a dilemma that I have.

Should I or shouldn’t I?

Do some blog posts while I’m trekking in the Himalayas that is.

Several of you have asked if I will. There are internet cafes in Kathmandu and even some half way up the trail at Namche Bazaar, or so I’ve heard, so it should be possible to get something onto this blog.

In a way I feel I owe it to all of you out there who have been diligently following my preparations and encouraging me every step of the way, it’s been great to have you behind me. And those of you who’ve very kindly responded to my pleas and donated to the Because I’m a Girl campaign, again I feel that I should at least keep you updated as I go along.

But!

This is a journey that I initially planned simply for myself. It wasn’t something that I was doing so that I would have something to put on the blog, it wasn’t something that I needed anyone else to understand. It was just for me.

I know why I’m doing it and yet it’s something that I find very hard to articulate. How do I explain why, in my 60^th year, I want to head for a country that I’ve never before been interested in visiting, fly into one of the most dangerous airports in the world in a tiny plane and walk in an uphill direction for ten days, sleeping in tents with no regular toilets, risking exhaustion and altitude sickness just to reach a remote, cold place at 5500 metres above sea level, and then turn around and walk back again?

I don’t think family and friends really understand why I’ve made such a madcap decision, why, at my age I don’t stick to the comfort of hotels and resorts, some came out and said as much, others humoured me and possibly didn’t think I’d go through with it.

Anyway, I’m on this trek to breathe in the experience and to wonder at the majesty of the landscape, so …

I’ve made the decision not to do any blog posts while I’m away. I don’t want to get stressed out feeling that I have to write something or struggle with technology in far flung places (technology is not my strong point at the best of times). I want to be able to relax and reflect and just take in my surroundings. Time for sharing with everyone else when I get back.

But you will all be with me, there on that mountain.

My grandchildren will be there, in my heart, as will my daughters and my dad and I’m sure mum will be watching over me. Friends I’ve made recently, both on line and in real life, friends I’m no longer in touch with and those that I’ve known for many years, anyone who has touched my life and got me to where I am today, will be right there with me.

Thanks for all your good wishes and encouragement and I’ll see you when I get back :-) xx

 

 

The Trainings Done!

The training’s done, if I’m not fit enough now I never will be.

The next hill I climb will be 7,353 kms away in the Himalayan mountain range.

THE. HIMALAYAN. MOUNTAINS!!

When I booked the trip last June it all seemed so far away, it was easy to talk about the preparations I’d need to do, the training, buying the gear and making sure I was organized with injections and paperwork etc. The trek was almost a year away.

Now, the trek is 14 days away. I can’t get any fitter than I am, this is it, if I haven’t done enough training it’s too late to worry about it. I’ve bought all the gear and the incidentals, if I’ve forgotten anything, too bad. What will be, will be.

Now for the next hurdle – packing!

Good Bye to Never Ending Peace and Love

Reblogged from WanderWide:

• 

Last night in Kathmandu... I though I should take this time to reflect on our time in this city and country. Kathmandu is a city that holds a mythological affinity like places such as Timbuktu or Shangrila. While it now has a much more concrete place in my mind, still a land of mystery where two worlds are colliding. One, the mad monster of Asia capitalism and the other deeply devout and superstitious brightly colored tradition.

Read more… 437 more words

An interesting view of Nepal and the cultural differences.

3 Weeks, 6 Days and 7 Hours …. but hey, who’s counting?

That would be me actually. I have a new found obsession with the calendar, as if suddenly overnight I’m going to lose a few days. I know that tomorrow I’ll be one day closer to leaving than I am today, why do I need to keep checking?

For those of you who may have stumbled across this blog recently I’m heading for Kathmandu in, you guessed it, 3 weeks, 6 days and 7 hours, to begin a trek to Everest Base Camp. If you want to know why, it’s all explained up there at Everest Base Camp trek: Why. And if you go to the Challenge to the Girls page you’ll find out all about the fundraising I’m doing in the process.

After 10 months of preparing and training for this mad adventure I must admit to getting a little bit nervous and I’m starting to worry about my abilities in this high altitude environment. I know I’ve spoken to several people of my age who’ve done the trek and without exception they all managed it and recommend it. But then I hear of people younger than myself who’ve really struggled, both with their fitness and the altitude.

I know my fitness is up there after all the training, I don’t know how many other nearly 60 year olds would be able to do a 9.5km walk with a pack on 2 or 3 times a week, and I’m still climbing the steps occasionally, although it’s more about endurance now. There’s no way of training for altitude though and I guess that’s what’s niggling at me right now.

Other little niggles include but are not limited to:

• Do I have enough sugary snacks to take  – need to keep my energy levels up during the trek?
• What’s the best way to carry my camera and have it handy while I’m actually struggling up the track?
• How many spare batteries and memory cards should I take for the camera?
• Do I just use the boiled water provided every day by the treking company (World Expeditions) or do I get a steripen or sterilization tablets, or is that overkill?
• Where is the queue for the visa at Kathmandu airport going to be? Silly question I know but I like to be prepared.
• How many t-shirts will I need?
• We’re having a ‘Black Tie’ dinner at Thyangboche to celebrate the actual 60^th anniversary of Edmund Hillary’s ascent of Everest on 29^th May 1953. What the hell do you wear to a ‘Black Tie’ dinner in a marquee outside a monastery, half way up a mountain, at 3,500 metres above sea level? Bearing in mind that the temperature is likely to be registering somewhere around the bottom of the thermometer during this event and we’ve got a strict weight limit on what we take up the mountain. Oh, and there’ll be VIPs there so a girl needs to look her best.
• Do I buy lightweight underwear (of which I have one pair at the moment) or are knickers light enough anyway? I know you don’t need to know but I need to share.
• And while I’m sharing, will I manage to pee standing up, with the help of my Go Girl FUD, without getting stage fright?

So much to think about.

Please, feel free to jump in here with answers or suggestions to any of the above questions, otherwise I’m going to have to figure it all out myself.

The calendar’s still saying 3 weeks, 6 days and 7 hours ……. Maybe next time I look it’ll have changed.

Weekly Photo Challenge – Colour

Every photo holds a myriad of colours. These few from my album are just so vibrant.

Massed jellyfish at AQWA

What more can you ask for but a perfect weekend.

We had one of those rare Easter breaks here in Western Australia where the weather  cooperated to make it an absolutely gorgeous long weekend. Neither too hot nor too cold nor too windy nor too wet. In fact – just perfect.

The mornings were cool allowing a couple of good hikes over the weekend while the days gradually warmed up to a very pleasant 28 – 30ish degrees.

Monday morning I was hiking by 6.30am and the light at that time is just perfect for photography. I’ve shown you this place before (Bells Rapids) but these photos just show the scary state of our water supply at the end of summer with the level so much lower than it was around 6 months ago when I first started hiking in this area. Let’s hope for a wet winter.

Good Friday was spent with family at the mouth of the Moore River about an hour’s drive north of Perth. It was warm enough for the girls to swim (briefly that is) and do a spot of fishing.

They actually caught quite a few fish, unfortunately they were all rather small and were released (after being given names) to disappear back into the depths. I’m sure they didn’t learn though (the fish, not the girls) and were actually caught more than once.

Even though it’s so close to home it must be 40 years since I was here last – it’s changed but not that much.

Not quite a meal I’m afraid.

Help me out here.

In 4 months time I’ll be turning sixty, exactly 6 weeks today I’ll be setting off to celebrate by trekking to Everest Base Camp for the 60^th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

Maybe I’m mad, maybe it’ll be a disaster, maybe I’ll wish I hadn’t done it, maybe … maybe … maybe ….

Maybe I’m going to have one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Actually, yes, I am going to have one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

It’s going to be hard, there are going to be days when I question why I’m doing it and there will be times when I will just want to stop. I know that. But there will also be many more moments when I savour my surroundings, when I take a breath and appreciate life and when I realize that, with the right attitude, we can succeed in whatever we choose to do.

And there’s the thing – I’m choosing to subject myself to this extreme holiday, choice though is something that many people don’t have.

Many girls in the world do not have the choice over the basics, whether they complete their education, whether they marry or not or who they marry. Over 10 million girls under 18 years old are forced into marriage each year, many with men much older than themselves.

The education of these girls is of paramount importance. With education comes understanding and with understanding comes power. The power to create change.

Change doesn’t come easily though, it’s usually won after a hard fought battle. So, while I’m fighting my own battle and pushing my physical and mental endurance to its fullest I’ll also be supporting the education of girls worldwide through the ‘Because I’m a Girl’ campaign.

I’d love it if you could get behind me by donating to this worthy cause and spurring me on as I train, quite vigorously I might add, for the greatest challenge of my life.

See that ‘Donate’ button up the top there? Go on  – click on it, you know you want to. There’s not long to go.