Lemon tea

There are a number of interesting things in the picture above. One, after each hike and sometimes even in the middle of the hike, we stop and the Sherpas serve us warm lemon team. It tastes like lemonade warmed up. It really hits the spot and both Aadam and I both like it. Second, the white scarf in the background is often given as a symbol of good luck and safe travels. While Nepal is primarily a Hindu state, in the mountains most people are Buddhist. These scarves are often blessed by local Lamas and then delivered. Finally, you can see the blue thermos and cups in which the Sherpa serve us our tea.

Every evening when we come to dinner there is boiling water available. We fill our water bottles with this water. In our case we simply let it sit till morning at which time it is ready to be used for drinking and brushing our teeth. Other put the bottle in their bed overnight to keep them warm. We had visions of purifying the water using a steripen and also a filtration device. Our steripen is not working - new batteries I think are needed.  Also our filtration devise is not necessary as it seems boiling is all that we need to do. In planning for this trip I envisioned using a dual purification system - filter and UV radiation. In reality though, it seems that boiling works just fine. We use this water for drinking, brushing, and even making soup for Aadam every morning.

We are travelling with a large group. 3 already have diarrhea and 2 have a chest infection. We are using  hand santizers frequently to try and prevent us catching the infection. For now we are both healthy.

Aly

Hiking in Nepal

Today we started hiking on a flat road. The road took us out of the town we slept in. This road made me feel like a stroll through the park. IT smelled of trees and yak poo. I could not taste anything like a dryness in my throat. After about half and hour we started to go downhill. During the downhill there was a mixture of steps and rocky downhill. I felt the pain in my legs when I stepped over a step. I smelled dust when people kicked it. I tasted the sweat like someone pouring water on my head. After a long time of that we stopped for lunch. We had french fries, pasta, rice with egg, and vegetables. I ate the pasta and the fries but left the other stuff.

After lunch we crossed a bridge to get to two hours of steep uphill. I felt like my legs were going to come off my body. I tasted more sweat and smelled nothing because I was concentrating too hard.

I am having a great time here and love the hiking.

Aadam

Our Room

Our Room

We are at 12,227 feet. Khumjumg if nice. I feel well. No headaches, just a little tired.

Right now I am in a very small room with just 2 beds. Right outside our door are all of the yaks that carried our gear. I feel the cramped space like a big box around me. I taste nothing. I smell also nothing except the smell of all of our sweat. I like our second room the best. IT had 5 beds, bed heaters, and a private bathroom. Our first room was also nice. It had 2 beds and also a private bathroom. At our current hotel we have to share the bathroom with everyone. Also the toilets are simply holes in the ground.

The Sherpas are amazing. Every morning they bring us tea. At breakfast they bring us more tea and serve us our breakfast before eating themselves. During the hike, they help us and lead us. They serve us also for lunch and for dinner. I am so grateful for the Sherpas.

They have a volleyball court in Khumjumg. We played for a little while but stopped because we were short of breath, tired, and the ball almost went in Yak poo - there is yak poo everywhere!

Aadam

Our Health

Our Health

We having been tracking our health as we climb. We are at about 11,000 feet. No signs of altitude illness yet.  Our oxygen saturations have dropped to 90%. We used to be 97% in Kathmandu. Our ability to blow out air, as measured by peak flow has dropped by approximately 50 ml.  Our pulse has increased by about 10-20 beats. We are feeling healthy though. Our joints don't seem to mind the constant up and down.

Ironically we did check the pulse and saturations of a number of Sherpa last night. Their pulse was ~80, their saturations ~90%, and their hemoglobin counts were similar to ours - we are tracking our hemoglobin as well, it has not changed much.

We love the scenery. Here is a bridge with prayer flags. The top bridge is new so we used it. The bottom bridge is old, but people still use it. The bridges so far have been made of metal cables and metal planks. They are not perfect as we saw one bridge where the metal planks broke - we had to walk around this very carefully - I guess the yak was too heavy.

Having a great time.

Aly

Namche Bazaar

Namche Bazaar

I just woke after a long and cool night. We are lucky because our room has 5 beds, bed heaters, and a bathroom. I am feeling warm and cozy like a snuggling kitten. I can smell a little bit of smoke coming in through the window. My mouth is dry. I woke up in the middle of the night to drink water. We purify our water by boiling. The Sherpas take care of this for us. The Sherpa will be coming in 20 minutes to give us tea and tell us to wake up.

We are seeing lots of interesting things on this trip. The most interesting thing I saw are the people. The kids will sometimes give us hi-fives. We say Namaste to people as we pass them

I am having a great time with Seth. He is 11 and very athletic.

I love crossing bridges, but is tought to do this when porters cross with their big loads. The bridges are small and we feel like we might fall off the bridge. We have not been on a bridge when a yak train comes. I am not looking forward to that.

Hiking today. All uphill. Expect rain today. We will bundle up.

Aadam

The Hike to Everest Base Camp

The Hike to Everest Base Camp

We left Kathmandu 2 days ago. We flew on a 2-propeller plane from Kathmandu to Lukla. Apparently this is rated the most dangerous airport in the world. Why? Well, on landing in Lukla the runway is slanted up to slow the plane. Furthermore the airstrip is extremely short and located on the side of a mountain. Apparently on take off from Lukla the plane goes off the edge of the airstrip, free falls for a moment and then starts to rise. We can’t wait.

The hiking started right away. The first day we covered 15km and dropped down into a valley and then rose right back up. We hiked for approximately 4 hours with no vertical gain to show for it. We did however accomplish ~3500 feet of elevation gain, if we just count the up hills.

It was an incredible hike. Aadam, naturally led the pack – that kid is in incredible shape! I did not hear a single word of complaint from him. We spent the night at a rustic lodge. Our room was the equivalent of a garden shed. No heating, minimal lighting, basic bathroom, etc. That being said by local standards it was quite luxurious.

The following morning we set off again for a 3 hour hike. This time we only covered 3.7 km, but it was all uphill. We travelled almost 3000 feet vertically up. Again Aadam and Seth (Sanjay’s son) led the pack.

So what did we see – lots of Sherpa people and culture, beautiful mountain ranges, lots of yaks and horses, Sherpa porters carrying incredible amounts of weight up and down the mountains, and unfortunately lots of pollution. There is a fair amount of litter on the trails. I have made a mental note that on our descent we should devise a garbage pick up devise, attach a garbage bag to our packs, and get to work. We have heard so often of how energetic we will feel on the descent- lets put some of that energy to good use.

The boys are sleeping right now – a quick nap before dinner and a presentation by David Breashears. He will be speaking of his expeditions to Everest, but also about the 16 Sherpa who died on the mountain this year. David has been engaged by the Sherpa to negotiate with the foreign expedition teams as to how to proceed.  David is highly respected in these parts. David has generously agreed to provide Aadam with an internview about the Sherpa that Aadam will bring to share with his class. (I have to admit, I am so proud of Aadam for sitting down at the end of a tough day of hiking and doing his work each day). He also is actively soliciting opportunities to learn about the Sherpa.

I am continually amazed by what Aadam is capable of. He is incredible!

Aly

Street Smarts

Street Smarts

I have always believed that there are many types of intelligence. Academic knowledge, technical expertise, emotional intelligence, and street smarts are but a few. Aadam has had a chance to utilize each of these types of skills during the trip so far. He has been great about completing his assigned homework and has been learning about the geography of Mount Everest as well as Sherpa culture. He has been writing in his journal daily. He has been recording biological measurements on himself and recording the data. He has had to adapt from just interacting with dad to functioning within a large group -and he has made this transition with ease. Finally he has had to navigate the challenging traffic, the foreign currency, the need to negotiate, and the importance of being aware of one's environment. It is this latter point which if often challenging for many people. We are so accustomed, in developed nations, to assume that everyone will follow a set of pre-assigned rules. It is these rules that bring order to society. But what if, those rules were bendable: cars could go whenever they wanted, pedestrians were expected to watch out for cars as opposed to vice versa, the set price of an object was in fact not its true price, and you were constantly surrounded by people who were begging or looking at you with intensity and recognizing that you were foreign. It can be quite overwhelming! Again, this is where Aadam has really shone. I am just so impressed with his ability to be aware of his environment while not being intimidated or scared. Sure, cars and bikes would pass very close to him and he would simply jump aside, relay his amazement at how close they came, and then simply trudge on. He has become a pro at crossing very large and busy streets, weaving in an out of traffic, like the locals - what to do, there are no traffic lights to abide. He can now seamlessly convert the local currency to American dollars and has honed his skills at negotiation. But what I am most proud of is that he can walk the streets at night with complete confidence and awareness. He is not scared of this foreign environment! He recognizes that this is the Nepalese way. We have interacted with many locals and Aadam recognizes them for who they are - simply people working hard and trying to live a fulfilling and meaningful life with what they have. We have had many discussion about what defines happiness and that simply having possessions does not make a person more happy. Who is to say that a vendor on Durba Marg is any less happy than Aadam or I. Sure we have more possessions but is that really what defines happiness. We have reminisced about what modifications could make this society 'better' - smoking bans, less pollution, working traffic lights, better road infrastructure, more accessible education, etc. But we have also discussed what are the system limitations to providing these things. He gets it! He however is not complacent to accept that things have to be this way. He has come up with many creative solutions that if implemented really could make a difference. As time passes on this trip we will further develop this concept and also talk more about drivers of change - what does it take to make change happen and how can he be a catalyst for change.

I am so proud of Aadam. His street sense and environmental awareness are skills I really wanted to nurture on this trip. I love that he can accept a foreign environment for its differences and not be scared or intimidated by these differences.

We thank his teachers so much for their support of this trip. As you can see, we are seeking out opportunities to learn and grow.

Aly