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

 

 

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.

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.

 

What Did Today Mean To You?

Today marks exactly 3 months out from my departure for Kathmandu and the start of my Everest Base Camp adventure.

Today I began my course of injections to make sure that my body doesn’t fall victim to any of those little bugs that attempt to infest our insides when we move away from our own little corner of the world.

Today my arm hurt.

Today another girl child in Nepal married because that’s what was expected of her.

Today her life was changed – for the worse.

Sabita and her son

Sabita, aged 16, has an eight-month-old baby boy. She was married in 2010, when she was 14.

Sabita said, “When I was 14, my family started talking about my marriage which I couldn’t deny as this is the tradition in our village, it was a kind of pressure.

“We are poor. My mother and my brother used to work as labourers. I had to drop out from school when I was in grade two. During my first pregnancy, I wasn’t feeling well. I vomited and couldn’t eat anything except milk. Now, my baby boy isn’t very healthy. I realise my life has been negatively changed after getting married at early age.”

As a grandmother I am enormously grateful that my grandaughters will have the choice to be who they choose to be and will not be forced into a life that will inhibit their creativity and stifle their drive and their determination to succeed in whatever they choose to do in life.

The fact that I have the ability and the freedom to visit a country where girls as young as twelve are forced into marriage and motherhood well before they are ready startles me at times. The lives that we lead are so far removed from those who live only a plane ride away.

Help me to help these girls by donating to the Because I’m a Girl Campaign as I trek to Everest Base Camp in May. Make my efforts worthwhile. Please.

Just visit my donate page at Plan International and pledge your support – you’ll be helping these girls to help themselves.

It takes more than one man to climb a mountain.

Deciding to undertake the 60^th anniversary trek to Everest Base Camp in May has opened up a whole new world to me. Not only had I never taken been remotely interested in Nepal in general or Kathmandu in particular before the planning began but I had also didn’t know anything about mountaineering or mountaineers or even the Himalayas. I didn’t even know that Mt Everest has one foot in Nepal and the other in Tibet.

In the last few months though I’ve found myself devouring anything I come across that mentions Kathmandu, Everest, mountains, training, trekking etc and I’ve come across some fascinating stuff, particularly about the pioneers of mountaineering in this region.

Does the name Eric Shipton mean anything to anyone? No? What about Sir Edmund Hillary? Now that’s familiar isn’t it? Even John Hunt is fairly well known as the leader of that 1953 expedition that saw Hillary and Tenzing stand on top of the world.

So who was Eric Shipton and what did he have to do with Everest? Quite a lot actually, as I’ve recently discovered.

The sports houses at Grange Lane Junior School in Scunthorpe, where I attended up to the age of eleven, were named Everest, Sherpa, Tenzing and Shipton, the first three were obvious associations but I had no idea why the fourth would be called Shipton.

So I did as all good writers do – I turned to research. This took me on quite an interesting journey, through newspaper archives, autobiographies and travel memoirs. I did get slightly sidetracked with all of the interesting accounts of the mountaineering in the Nepal region but ultimately I discovered some interesting facts about Eric Shipton.

Shipton was in fact a distinguished British Himalayan mountaineer, heavily involved in many expeditions from the 1930s through to the 1950s. He was the leader of the 1935 expedition that gave nineteen year old Tenzing Norgay his start as an Everest Sherpa and he was the one who made the decision, in 1951, to accept two New Zealand mountaineers onto his team that undertook the reconnaissance expedition to Everest, chalking out the now famous route over the Khumbu Glacier. Edmund Hillary was one of those New Zealanders, the rest, as they say, is history.

Initially Eric Shipton accepted leadership of the 1953 expedition but was then controversially replaced with John Hunt on the grounds of Hunt’s organisational skills.

Eric Shipton it seems was a popular mountaineer. In his memoir View From the Summit Sir Edmund Hillary maintains his affection for Shipton and voices his belief that they would still have been successful under Shipton’s leadership.

Mountaineering enthusiasts will know of him but unfortunately Eric Shipton’s name did not go down in the annals of history or the continuing public consciousness as did that of Edmund Hillary and the leader of that 1953 expedition, John Hunt.

I think I might be remembering him though as I climb those slopes and get my first view of the Khumbu Glacier and he was also known to have taken photos of what may have been a Yeti footprint, so I’ll be on the lookout, just in case.

Shipton’s Yeti footprint, with an iceaxe showing the scale

Don’t forget that you can encourage me in my efforts (to reach Base Camp that is, not to find a Yeti) by donating to the Because I’m a Girl Campaign. All you need to do is go to the Donate page at the top there and follow the prompts – easy really and you’ll be helping a really worthwhile cause.

Countdown to Kathmandu – getting closer!

Where on earth did the second half of 2012 go?

All of you loyal followers who’ve been with me since I made my madcap decision, think back to my original Countdown to Kathmandu post. For those of you who may have inadvertantly stumbled upon my blog more recently (maybe even today) have a look and acquaint yourself with my upcoming trek to Everest Base Camp in May.

When I did that post there was 10 months and 1 week to go.

Cliche or not, time has flown, in a matter of hours we’ll be in 2013!

I was under the assumption that once Christmas and the New Year were out of the way I’d have just over 5 months to knuckle down, increase the training and get all the necessaries organised. You know, stuff like buying thermals, checking out the need for innoculations, trying to get my head around packing as little as possible while still taking everything I’ll need.

Somewhere between the accountancy course I took several years ago and now though my maths seems to have become a little unstable. If New Year is in January and the trek is in May it would seem that I only have 4 months not the 5 I was relying on.

So, that’s the thing, 4 months to go before I leap out of my comfort zone and where am I at?

Training – going well. I’m at the point that I can go up those steps 20 times, a couple of times a week and do a hike with pack on the weekend. I’m feeling pretty happy with myself and the intention is to pick up the pace in the final few months.

The training is on temporary hold this week though as the temperature is hovering around 40 – 42 degrees for most of the week. Would be a form of suicide to attempt anything out there at the moment.

Gear – Of the main stuff I’ll need I’ve got the boots, the pack and the waterproof/windproof jacket and I’ve picked up a few bits when they were on sale during the last few months.

This week I’m hoping to buy the hiking poles at the sales and then I need to make a list of everything I still need to buy to make sure I’ve got all bases covered.

Thyangboche Monastery

Research – When I do anything or go anywhere I like to get all the information I can. To this end I’ve been reading anything I can get my hands on about Everest and trekking to Base Camp. If anyone’s got any suggestions please let me know.

I’ve read some excellent biographies of mountaineers, including Sir Edmund Hillary and accounts from people who’ve spent time in Nepal and the Everest region.

Blogs have also been an great source of valuable information from people who have recently done the trek and are able to give me tips on what to take, what not to take, what to do and what not to do.

Fund Raising – Raising money for the Because I’m a Girl Campaign is proving to be a very rewarding enterprise. People have been very generous and there have been donations from friends and family and from total strangers. This is a very worthwhile cause and you can read about it here.

There is still plenty of time to donate and help me reach my target before I leave for Nepal.

SO ….

4 months and 13 days to go!

There are some Amazing people out there!

When I initially set up my fundraising page with PLAN I had to set a target. I was worried when I set it that I wouldn’t be able to reach it, but there are some AMAZING people out there and, through your generosity, we’ve already hit the $1,000 mark.  Wow!

Some of these people are friends, others I’ve come to know through the blogging world but there are some who I’ve no idea who they are. To all of you wonderful people goes a huge thank you.

By supporting me on my trek to Everest Base Camp next May to celebrate my 60^th birthday and the 60^th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Mt Everest by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, your donations are helping out with the Because I’m a Girl campaign.

Girls washing their hands in clean water in Vietnam.

This campaign aims in particular to promote the education of girls by fostering an awareness in their communities of the advantages of extending the time a girl spends in school.

One in three girls around the world is denied an education with less than half the girls in the developing countries completing primary school. One in seven girls in developing countries is married by the age of fifteen, in Indonesia 36% of marriages involve children under the age of sixteen.

With your support girls like 15 year old Lamana are empowered to change their future. Lamana was forced to marry a man twice her age who beat her when she tried to leave the house. Despite the disapproval of her community, Lamana fought  to leave her violent husband. With Plan’s help and her family’s support she has moved back home and returned to school allowing her to regain her confidence.

Girls at a Plan supported school in Sierra Leone

Research shows that just one extra year of schooling can boost girls eventual wages by 10 to 25 per cent. This has a long term ripple effect on the wellbeing of their families and communities.

So, although my fundraising is going well I would urge you all to help me out here and keep up the momentum by donating to this worthy cause. You can hit the donate tab up the top there or head straight to http://fundraise.plan.org.au/travellingbag

Improving the education of girls will act as a positive step towards a more just world.

Challenge for the Girls

FUNDRAISING UPDATE!

Only ten days into the fundraising and already a significant dent has been made in my target. To those who have kickstarted my campaign, a huge thank you.

I think I must be sending out positive vibes into the universe because today, to my great delight, I also received my first corporate donation from Rod at Carbon Footie, a solar panel company here in Perth.

Stay tuned for a sponsor’s page appearing, so if any other companies would like to get in on the act just make a donation of over $250 and I’ll put up a link to your website.

It’s really great to know that people are prepared to back this cause that seeks to empower local communities to enable their children to overcome poverty and achieve their potential through adequate education and training.

Keep the momentum going and if you are able to donate, even just a small amount, hit the donate button above or go to http://fundraise.plan.org.au/travellingbag