It is time to leave the fascinating city of
Kathmandu
(1,324m), the capital of Nepal, and begin the long march to
Tengboche
(3,876m). There are no more roads and 800 porter-loads to be carried! Each of
the thirteen climbers will be carrying a loaded pack themselves. The track is
only wide enough for a single line of foot traffic, so the trail of walkers will
be long! It will take you
seventeen
days walking to get there, but the long march will help you to get fit and
acclimatise
as you gradually climb higher and higher. And it is not all hard slog. As you
walk up hill and down dale you will travel through breathtakingly beautiful and
steep country in almost perfect weather. You leave the farmed land behind and
walk through pine forests with scented daphne bushes carpeting the forest floor,
and rhododendron forests, smothered in blossoms changing from scarlet to pink
to white and yellow, as you climb higher and higher. Edmund Hillary said that
when he first arrived in Nepal in 1951 the country appeared close to ideal. There
were forests and carpets of vivid flowers fringed with hardy junipers, and the
people were warm, generous and friendly. Sometimes too, you will pass the local
people on the track. The Sherpa people live in the Solukhumbu valleys below Everest.
Symbols of
their Buddhist beliefs are seen everywhere, in the colourful
prayer
flags flapping in the breeze and walls of
mani
stones that repeat the prayer, 'Om Mani Padme Hum' - Hail to the jewel
in the lotus. The early mornings begin at 5:30am with a cup of tea, but after
two or three hours it will be time to stop for a breakfast of porridge, bacon
and eggs. There will be time too, to swim or just lie back and watch the birds
and butterflies drift by. Later you will head off again, sometimes crossing foaming
torrents or swift-flowing rivers on terrifying
rope
bridges, before making camp in the early afternoon. Maybe you will sleep
out under the stars like Sir Edmund Hillary did. By the time you reach Tengboche
you will all be fit and happy, and thrilled to see the great bulk of Everest towering
high above you. Here you will set up a temporary Base Camp beside the Tengboche
Monastery
and the head
lama
will give his blessing to the expedition. You help unpack all the equipment and
take time to test and
learn
how to use it. You will be instructed in the use of oxygen equipment,
and you will venture off on exploration and climbing trips in some of the many
glaciated valleys around Everest. These acclimatisation trips will help you get
used to the higher
altitudes
before you set off again.
Written from the descriptions in the
books:
Hillary, E. (1999) View from the Summit. Doubleday: Great Britain.
Hunt, J. (1954) Our Everest Adventure: The pictorial history from Kathmandu
to the summit. Brockhampton Press: Leicester.
