Yak yak yak

Hello from Dingboche. It's been two days since we have been able to blog as we are really in the wilds now but we just wanted to let you all know that we are safe and as well as anyone can be at 4,400m.
We are now above the tree-line with no running water, no electricity in our lodge, yak poo fires, and no basin so we are cleaning our teeth outside. In some ways camping would be more comfortable (at least there would be no mice!)
We've been trekking through spectacular scenery over the past two days. We saw dawn over Everest at Tengboche where we were woken at 5am by the monks' gongs and chanting. Our route has traced round the magnificent peak of Ama Dhablam our second favourite mountain after Everest. Today on the acclimatisation climb out of Dingboche we saw three of the five highest mountains in the world - Everest, Lhotse (number 4) and Makalu (number 5) and we touched our first snow. We built a cairn for luck.
Just a quick good luck wish too for Becca Sinclair who is running the Dublin marathon tomorrow in aid of our Room to Read fund. Go Becca!

Faffing, cinema and Everest

Today started with two sicknesses, five headaches, two colds and a lot of people slow off the mark (only some due to altitude). A lot of faffing and discussion of tog factors occurs at 3,445 metres.

After breakfast, we set off on an acclimatisation walk. We were all surprised at how slow we had to walk. It was all worth it when we got our first view of Everest, which was every bit as breath-taking as we'd hoped.

Some well-deserved lunch and then some much-needed stretches and showers (probably the last now for over a week). A trip to the cinema seemed an odd thing to do at altitude. We should have realised what was in store when they blasted U2 at us first for a good 10 minutes. However, a film about people dying on Everest seemed like a good idea at the time.

*Hi John, Jackie may not be a technical genius, but her stretches are second to none!*

A big day ahead of us tomorrow, possibly traveling beyond wi-fi. Keep your fingers crossed for us at Everest Base Camp, where the temperatures are currently around minus 30.

Best cafe and real coffee in Namche, with the most entertaining toilet sign we've found so far!

Things we've learnt today

A yak lives for 40 years

The Nepali name for Everest is Sagarmartha and the Tibetan name is Chomolungma which means Mother Earth

A female yak is called a Nak, so really we are drinking Nak milk and eating Nak cheese

Yaks can cross suspension bridges quicker than us

Prawn crackers actually come in fluorescent pink

Sherpa children like to break-dance

Nepalese diwali dancing celebrations unleashed previously unknown dancing talent in Debs,Pauline and Hermione *

We need to drink 4 litres of chlorinated "swimming pool" water a day and pee out 5 litres in bushes!


*photographic evidence available in exchange for a large donation...

P.S We also walked up a BIG hill

And we're off

We finally felt like we were on the way as we touched down at Lukla airport this morning after an exhilarating flight in the tiniest aeroplane ever - but we were still impressed with the service in the form of a glamorous air stewardess offering us boiled sweets and cotton wool to stuff in our ears to drown out the engines.

Time for a quick team photo and a turn of the Buddhist prayer wheels before setting off. We trekked for several hours on quite a busy trail with a constant stream of yaks and heavily laden sherpas - one even had a wardrobe on his back complete with full length mirror.

We have reached our first stop at Phakding and settled into our tea house - warm and cosy by the fire, but sub-zero everywhere else. Head torches are firmly in action as are down jackets (bit like wearing a duvet!)

Sorry, no photos - they aren't loading properly, but we'll try again at our next stop...Namche Bazaar tomorrow night.

We've Arrived!

Namaste

Sorry for the delay in getting online...internet connections aren't great and as you can see from the pics we've been quite busy stocking up on the carbs before we set off bright and early tomorrow (5am!)



Kathmandu is hot and bustling with some crazy drivers and kamikaze cows. After a morning of temples, we've spent the afternoon haggling for last minute supplies - everything from dry-sacks and reading glasses to peanut butter.



We've now met our leader/doctor; Jackie and our local guide; Kush who've prepared us for the excitements and challenges ahead - once we've flown into the precipice landing at Lukla - the trek should be a walk in the park.



We'll try and keep the blog updated as much as we can, but we've been warned that there isn't much internet access at all and our blackberries aren't even working in Kathmandu.

So for now, here are some pics of our first day in Nepal...

24 hours to go!

Its  only 24 hours before we all make our way to Heathrow for our flight to Delhi. Many thanks to everyone who has sponsored us for the trek.

To date we have raised a magnificent £41,359 for our charity .

Room to Read

Bloodshot eyes? Pupils like pinpricks? Flushed cheeks ...?

No not Dennis Hopper in Blue Velvet ...

... but all symptoms of hypoxy altitude training ...

For those of us who have been training on the hypoxy training machine, today is the last day of practicing breathing thin air before the real thing.

It has been quite an experience donning the oxygen mask for up to 90 minutes per day with 5 minutes on the machine watching our blood oxygen levels drop and then the relief of 5 minutes off as our oxygen percentages shoot back up to the high 90s again. Experiments have been done at Everest Base Camp that show brain function is impeded at altitude. Even simple puzzles such as, "If John is taller than Mark which one is shorter?" completely stump people suffering from hypoxia.

We've found that drinking lots of water makes a huge difference to performance. We wear a pulse oxygen meter whilst on the machine and can see a very clear improvement after drinking water. Gingko biloba supplements also help as does garlic.

We're hoping that despite the number of brain-cells we have lost over the past 30 days, the training will stand us in good stead. If we can maintain a 70% blood oxygen level at 6500 metres on the machine then hopefully we can withstand a few days at 5,300 m or thereabouts. That's the theory anyway!

Team photo coming soon ...

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The Weather Forecast at Everest Base Camp

As we trek up towards EBC we expect the weather to be warm by day but a lot cooler by night and in the early mornings when we will be setting out - especially as we get higher. However things change dramatically as we get higher. Check out the forecast for Everest Base Camp around the time we hope to be there ...

Monday Oct 31	-20	-44		Mainly sunny
Tuesday Nov 1	-18	-44		Mainly sunny
Wednesday Nov 2	-17	-47		Few flurries
Thursday Nov 3	-18	-39		Mainly sunny

Our itinerary

A lot of people have been asking for more details about the trek so here is our planned itinerary:

13 days
Distance: 92km 57mi round trip
Maximum Elevation:Kala Pattar (5600 meters or 18,300 ft). Everest Base Camp 17,598ft
(5300 metres).
Starting Elevation: 9,400ft or 2865 meters
Approximate Elevation Change: 13,900ft or 4,236 meters one way

Sat 22nd Oct. Evening flight London to Delhi
Sun 23rd Oct. Arrive in Delhi. Onward flight to Kathmandu. Full trip briefing and meet local guides

Mon 24th Oct. Day in Kathmandu
Tues 25th Oct. The scary one - the flight to Lukla 2,860 metres (9,383 ft), Trek down to Phakding 2650m. Meet our Sherpa guides and yaks. First night in a tea house

Wed 26th Oct. Trek from Phakding to Namche Bazaar (3440m)
Thurs 27th Oct. Acclimatisation walk from Namche.
Fri 28th Oct - Sun 30th. Trek slowly from Namche to Dingboche 4410m via Tengboche 3,867 metres (12,687 ft) and another acclimatisation day. We reach 4100m and have our first views of Everest

Mon 31st Oct - Thurs 3rd Nov. Dingboche to Everest Base Camp. Stay at Lobuche (4930 metres) on the way, trek on to Everest Base Camp (5300 metres). Climb Kala Patar (5600 meters) for the best views of Everest (weather permitting) then start heading down to Lobuche again

Fri 4th Nov - Sun 6th Nov. Lobuche- Pangboche-Lukla
Mon 7th Nov. Lukla to Kathmandu - Fond farewells to the Sherpas and the yaks then it's the scary plane again but the reward of a celebratory meal in Kathmandu
Tues 8th Nov. Visit the Room to Read Reading Room (Library) and School Room projects at Shree Bal Mandir Lower Secondary School to see how the funds we have all raised will be spent on a library and schoolroom. We'll be participating in some library activities.
Wed 9th Nov. Depart Kathmandu for London via Delhi

Fundraising update!

THANK YOU!

With only 5 days to go until we head off to Nepal our collective fundraising total is just a whisker short of £40,000.

This has been a huge effort on everyone's part involving cake sales, plant sales, an Irish readathon, the Penguin walk, quiz nights, a bonus ball competition and sweepstakes on everything from The Apprentice to the Rugby World Cup. There's a cake sale on Friday and lots more to come on our return as we make the final push towards the £50,000 target.

Huge thanks to friends, family, neighbours and colleagues who have all donated incredibly generously on our separate Justgiving pages as well as supporting all our individual money-raising schemes.

We can't wait to get out there to meet the children and see how and where the money will be spent.

This time next week ...

We'll be on a plane! Today I finally got the last of the kit I need after finding the perfect trousers - 2 pairs - cut-offs for hot weather and others for cold. Obviously not perfect in any other context but much better than the nylon monstrosities I had before. Neal burst into song with Bay City Roller classic "Shangalang ..." when I tried on the cut-offs as he claims they are flares but they are so comfortable I just don't care. It's a slippery slope ...

 

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Blackberry blog

Hi there,
We've decided not to take an ipad with us so I'm testing a blog from the blackberry instead. It means I can upload photos straight onto the blog - if this works!
Fi

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The final countdown - one week to go

The excitement is building as a week on Saturday we'll be jetting off to Kathmandu on a Jet Airways flight. Our meeting at the Heathrow check-in desk will be only the second time that we have all been together and will be the first time we meet our team leader and doctor. I have to admit I'm not entirely sure how many of us are actually going in the end.
As the leaving date approaches, the fear of injury increases. I almost tiptoed downhill on my last training walk, terrified that I would turn an ankle or twist a knee on the wet rocks. As I cycle into work every morning I find myself glaring at unwary drivers and pedestrians who might cause me to skid or crash. Anyone who coughs or sneezes sees me visibly shrink away from them.
The training programme is having some effect but how much is enough? And is Neal's intensive cycling programme the best way to prepare for a high altitude trek? I no longer collapse after climbing the stairs to the 7th floor but I'm wishing I had paid more attention to nutrition from early on. Nutella may not be the top performance enhancing drug ...