I’m sat on a rock in the middle of the afternoon surrounded by 7,000m peaks, the snow covered mountain faces reflect the harsh light of the mid afternoon sun, causing me to squint as I peer up at them. The only sound is the noise of a milky turquoise stream meandering through the valley and the slight hiss of that bitter wind as it wraps around my head. One of the mountains is Chamlang with its 2,000m south face as glaciers hang precariously, just waiting to reveal the dark grey rock that it has sculptured since the last ice age.
Is it here that I’m at peace? If it is it would only ever be half at peace as half of me is missing, forever wrapped in her love. My shadow as I’m sat on the rock is rapidly lengthening and the suns heat decreases like someone has flipped a switch and the shivering reflex begins and my thoughts return to keeping warm and go and fetch my camera as that 2,000m face of Chamlang begins its transition from a harsh white, gradually softening to an orange glow and finally a dark featureless mass as dusk turns to darkness.
I think until, maybe the last 15 – 20 years or so trekking in the Himalaya has been the domaine of the retired, ‘let’s rough it for a couple of weeks’ brigade. Again a very broad pompous generalisation. I just wanted you to understand where I’m coming from with no misconceptions. At the other end of the scale climbing in the Himalaya was left to the experts who spent much of their time begging for sponsorship so that they could afford the big expeditions that the Himalaya attracted.
I just caught the very tail end of the ‘let’s rough it for a couple of weeks’ brigade. In 2007 I used a company called Catreks, the reason I chose it was because it was owned by Doug Scott. His philosophy seemed to be to scale down the big expedition mentality to suite those that wanted to trek. The service was excellent, woken by a hot cup of tea followed by hot washing water and a breakfast fit for a king sat at a high table. A hot lunch would be provided halfway through the day and camp would be all set up on your arrival… anyway hopefully you get my drift. That first trek I was on, the clientele were retired teachers, retired professionals, but it was the start of the transition and there were a young couple, a journalist and a mad cap Chinese Liverpudlian. The retired teachers and professionals defiantly expected the ‘full’ service, me, well, I didn’t really know what to expect. But the high level of service, I have to say for me wasn’t unwelcome.
Over the last 15 or so years that I’ve traveled to the Himalaya both for climbing and trekking, times have definitely changed. The Nepalis have taken a greater control of their tourist industry and the somewhat pompous mentality that the West had, has nearly died out (on this trip I have observed a couple of nations that seem to think that the world revolves around them and them alone and still expect a that kind of service) attracting a far more diverse group and age of people.
The first group I met were a mixture, there were no couples but most had partners at home. Being away from your partner affects people in different ways. Two or three of them appeared to have no qualms with leaving their partner at home, no news is good news. One wanted some form of contact most days and another thought that his partner would be extremely worried after no contact in seven days. We’re all different and try and cope with a partners absence in different ways on these trips. I won’t get into the discussion about ‘why go’ if you miss your partner, in this blog. Just one thing on technology, the problem is the misconception that technology works with out interruption in these high mountains and it doesn’t, far from it. It isn’t helped by many of the operators, who will often state that either Wi-Fi or phone signals are available when in the lodges.
The other big group I actually met in Kathmandu was an Australian group. The owner of the company, Nick Farr I met back in 2011, whilst climbing Island Peak and we’ve kept in touch since then. It was pure coincidence that we were in Kathmandu at the same time. His group were also heading for Mera Peak. Again a very diverse group. A family with two children, I think they were middle to late teens, a father and son and the son having ambitions to climb an 8,000m peak. The rest were a mixture of ages and abilities, some never having been to the Himalaya and those that had been on numerous occasions. Nick’s a great leader, but this, like me could well be his last trip to the Himalaya as he wants to spend more time with his growing family. There’s a slim possibility that Nick’s group will be in Khare later this afternoon. It’d be good to meet up with them before I move on over Mera La tomorrow.
PEOPLE… once we entered the Hinka Valley, PEOPLE everywhere, I mean it was like coming out of a football match at Wembley, jostling and shoving for your own space, OK a slight exaggeration. But those photographs of the queues on Everest are nothing compared to the number of people heading towards Mera Peak. It’s not a large peak and would probably only accommodate 20 people, comfortably on its summit at any one time, but the biggest restriction is that High Camp will only hold 70 people. It is possible to ‘wild camp’ further up the mountain but most of the summiteers are with groups and they are not geared up for carrying their own tents and all the equipment required. So High Camp remains the limiting factor on how many people can summit in any one day. The groups are large, German, French, East European, Australian and of course British. There are a few pairs or individuals like myself but not many. As these groups are so big they dominate the dining areas reserving tables long before they sit down to eat, even to the extent of moving tables together whilst a poor Korean guy was sat having a drink! It was a little bit like reserving sun beds abroad… need I say any more.
A final word on PEOPLE, when I arrived at Khare yesterday lunchtime, sat in the dining area was one of the most surreal sights I’ve seen. A group of very glamorous middle aged ladies from Norway, were sat having lunch. They were dressed in all the colours of the rainbow, heavily made up and with nails my daughter in laws would have been proud of. I spoke to one of the two 6’ tall leaders and they were just on there way up to Mera Base Camp hoping to summit in two days time. They organise trips mainly to Kilimanjaro and this was there first time back to Mera Peak in four years. I would love to see their summit photographs they would make any LGBGT parade look dull!
So the days of the somewhat pampered over the top service that companies used to supply are limited and become more scarce as all generations can now enjoy, what I believe to be some of the most beautiful mountains in the world. I know it’s not everyone’s idea of a holiday, but it is good to see so many and diverse people on the mountains. I might not be a lover of crowds but I am a believer in the mountains and the countryside being open to ALL.
Tomorrow I move on away from the PEOPLE and into the Barunste valley, where I expect there to be just a few PEOPLE!
I’ve decided not to do a blow by blow account of the trek in. Basically it consists of me following in Tshering’s footsteps. Doesn’t really make for interesting reading. So I thought for the trek to Base Camp I’d try and describe the people, places and the atmosphere.
Unlike on previous trips I’m staying in lodges rather than camping. I’m not a lover of camping, although for some reason I seem to have done a fair amount over the last few years, It can be uncomfortable, noisy, wet, cold, need I go on!
Back in 2007 on my first trip to the Himalaya, I went with a company called CatTreks and we camped in the grounds of the tea houses, I have to say I wondered why. After the first night I knew, the tea houses were extremely basic and the company wanted to be able to control all aspects of hygiene and food… remember we are all pampered Westerners and very few of us are able to tolerate the locally sourced and cooked food and especially the water. I know that’s a grave generalisation , but Dheli Belly is not something that anyone of us wants.
So since that first trip I’ve camped. This is the first trip that I haven’t, we’re using tea houses and lodges all the way to Base Camp, so this experience is new to me. Our walk in started at a little known place near Bung in the Makalu National Park along paths very rarely used by trekkers. So I was expecting the lodges to be very basic.
Firstly I’ll try and explain what you get at an average lodge/tea house. There’s the kitchen, which is the tradesmen’s entrance, always warm as there’s always a fire on, so that’s where all the Sherpas and porters seem to migrate to. The main entrance generally leads to the dining room, which has bench seating along with the tables around the outside and the most important thing, the log or Yak dung burner in the centre of the room. Probably not the safest log burner you’ll ever see but definitely one of the most appreciative that you’ll ever find. Upstairs, often using outside steep stone or wooden steps, to gain entry are the totally unsound proofed bedrooms and I mean you can could probably even hear someone pick their nose! But that’s what you get. The food is a local take on a Western menu… you can have a plate of chips, for example, but you’ll get nothing else! So you have to remember to order, another dish, such as fried eggs, separately and these will come on a separate plate, as there wouldn’t be room on the plate of chips as it would be literally piled high.
What I forgot is that they are all very dark. Most are powered by solar power, with very small windows. So all in all they’re not the most welcoming of places. Having said all of that the people are extremely welcoming. Hospitality doesn’t come with wealth and possessions, it comes with a smile that’s both genuine and sincere, which the Nepalese appear to have in abundance.
So, after a lot of waffle, I’ll briefly describe the tea houses/lodges that we’ve been staying in. The first night was certainly a grand entrance into the dining area, with satellite TV, the downside the remote was in the hands of a 16 year old! The sleeping area was up some open stone stairs fixed into the outside of the building. I’ve been told that steps are designed to be an optimal height, any slight change in that causes people to trip, well as you’ve probably already guessed, these were not of uniform height, width or even flat, with no handrail and at the top of the Stairs laid a dog, curled up fast asleep. The top, probably about two foot square was open on all sides except for the entrance into the building and the dog claimed most of that space and wasn’t in any hurry to move! The bedroom was like all the the bedrooms 2m x 3m with two single beds, with pretty solid mattress’s. I won’t bother describing them as they are all a variation on that theme. I was the only guest and was mothered and fussed over by the lady in charge. That also appears to be a similar theme that the wife runs the lodge, where the husbands are I’ve no idea?
The second lodge came into view very suddenly and wow it looked brand new, I had a smile from ear to ear. There has to be a bit, when I say looked brand new, it was, in fact only 70% complete. We’ve all heard these horror stories of unfinished hotels and the noise of the building work. Apparently the old lodge was accidentally burned down and was being rebuilt and the building work went on while ever there was light. The owner insisted on giving me a tour of where the new toilets and shower would be and the private rooms with wonderful views. From the previous sentence you have made the obvious assumption that the old toilet’s were still in use. They, of course, were nowhere near the original building that was burned down, in fact they were on the edge of a ‘long drop’ hence the name ‘long drop toilet’. In the morning I found out why I had the tour, he asked for a contribution towards the rebuilding costs.
It’s here that I met the first group of trekkers and low and behold they were British. They were on their way to climb Mera Peak, not the normal route, but certainly one that is a more interesting trail than the normal route and far quieter. A great group and we were to follow each other for the next few days. Now the third lodge was very different. Probably it was originally built as a place to summer pasture the animals and now run by two young ladies as more tourists start to use this particular trail. They were very, very welcoming and led me into the dining area, which was nearly pitch black, with a doorway considerably lower than my 6’ and I have the bruise to prove it. I do wonder if its previous use was to shelter the animals in bad weather. This camp was at 4,250m a place I was going to spend two nights to acclimatise… but I decided as all was going well I’d carry on the next day into the Mera valley and as it turned out PEOPLE.
Got up, got out of bed, brushed a comb across my head (most of you would probably find that hard to believe), went downstairs a had a cup and noticed I was late (pretty sure I haven’t got those lyrics correct), but that’s how the day started. I got up at 5:30 and made a cup of tea and sat in bed drinking before I went to have my last shower for maybe a couple of weeks, when I got a text from Tshering saying that he wouldn’t be picking me up un 10:30am instead of 7am. Do I try and go back to sleep or just take my time? I decided to take my time and wondered into Thames for a coffee at the Himalayan J. At 10:30am I was in the lobby having paid the extras for my room and reading a book knowing that 10:30am would come and go, which it did. At 11:45 Tshering picked me up, he had text me to say that he was on his way… I wasn’t in any way worried, as the title says, times in Nepal are ‘Fluid’.
We started the long drive to the start of the trek, nine hours, I was told. In fact we drove for ten hours to a point where we were still five hours drive away . The roads were very busy out of Kathmandu and they started to deteriorate the further we got from the capital. The hotel we stayed in was typical of the hotels and lodges once you get into the mountains. Basic, very hard mattress, all bedrooms sharing one bathroom, with a wash basin, a toilet with a non mechanical flushing mechanism… a cup and a barrel of water. Adequate as it does the job, perfectly.
Fluid… a 30km drive in five hours, most runners could do it faster than that. In fact it took nearly six hours, on roads (not sure I could justify the noun roads). Stephen would understand the words, horseshit and mud, random rocks surrounded by muddy potholes. It doesn’t make for a comfortable ride especially with a fairly steep drop on one side. It’s a ride I wouldn’t have missed, but not one I’d like to repeat. Maybe I ought to explain that last statement. The last two or three times that I’ve traveled to Kathmandu I’ve taken routes to the climbs not normally taken by the those that have booked their trips through the bigger companies. The routes Tshering has chosen have kept away from the more popular routes and I’ve hopefully seen more of the local culture than I would have and this drive was the same. The driver was basically a bus driver in a TATA 4 X 4. They weren’t, however designed to carry seven passengers and the driver. It was somewhat intimate and our combined bodily smells mingled like a farmyard stew!
We suddenly stopped and Tshering ushered me out of the vehicle and suddenly the trek to Base Camp was on. It was a two and a half, sunset walk and the last two days of travelling were all but forgotten!
On the surface Kathmandu appears not to have changed, but when I said I hadn’t been here since 2015, I lied, I passed through in 2019 on the way to Bhutan and the Snowman Trek with Stephen, but it was a brief visit, as is this. The airport had changed out of all recognition and within 45 minutes of landing I was through passport control and had my luggage, this is an airport where I’ve waited over two hours for my luggage on more than one occasion. Tshering was there, with both his hands outstretched with a wonderfully warm welcome. It was good to be back.
The taxi ride in Chicago from the hotel to the airport was interesting to say the least. The driver swerved from lane to lane on the six lane freeway and used the exit and entry ramps as shortcuts, but I will emphasise that there were six lanes and all the vehicles obeyed the unspoken rules of the road, however the taxi driver in Kathmandu from the airport, had no such qualms. There are no marked lanes, but there is comfortably room for two lanes of traffic on each side of the road. It all starts becoming chaos when there is no centre line that the oncoming traffic obeys. Two possible lanes turn into three, four or even five, depending on how much of the road the traffic in one direction can get away with! And I say lanes in the very loose sense of the word, these lanes are imaginary and are inconsistent in width and length from even the vehicle in front of you. So in short, total and utter organised chaos. Organised because the traffic moves in both directions fluidly, but understandably there isn’t a single vehicle without a number of dents and scratches, nor is there a Westerner with his or her eyes open! Seven trips to Kathmandu… still not sure which side of the road they drive on and to be honest I don’t think the Nepalese do either.
I walked into the coffee shop in the hotel and bumped into Nick Farr, not entirely a coincidence as I knew he was in the Radisson at the same time as I was there, but it was a great surprise to see him. He’s leading an Australian group up Mera Peak and invited me to spend the evening with them at a local restaurant. I met Nick on Island Peak in 2011 and we kept in touch and I’m always grateful to him for Skyping Carolynn before my attempt on Cho Oyu to reassure her, and one thing that she came away with from that conversation is ‘no news is good news’. The group he’s leading is large, 20 plus, I think. A mixture of families with teenage children, thirty somethings and of course those in the Autumn of their years, like me, well maybe my leaves have lost their beautiful mature, vibrant colour and are starting to float gently to the ground! But you get my drift, a diverse group. A group of that size with so many different dynamics, makes for an interesting challenge , but a band of brothers united in their goal. I’ve only ever walked with a group of that size once and it can be challenging for any leader. Nick is very experienced and building confidence, resilience and a team spirit is what he does best.
To day is for over indulgence and relaxation, a day to reflect on what lie’s ahead… in the warm Autumn sunshine all looks good, life can look very different when clouds are swirling all around in 60 to 70 km winds and a temperature of -20 degrees. Different, but not necessarily unwelcome!
Here I am sat in the Qatar Airways lounge at Heathrow Terminal 4. Over the top service all the way through the Terminal, no queues, excellent, attentive service, a choice of an ‘A La Carte’ meal or buffet. I settled for a beautiful salad buffet with Eaton Mess for dessert! And the punchline… the flight’s delayed. The one thing I would like them to get right, in fact the only thing that really matters when flying, is that the flight is on time. Over the last couple of months Carolynn and I have taken a number of flights and I would think 50% have been delayed, for what reasons I’ve no idea, that information is never forthcoming and it is very frustrating. The only consolation is that I’m sat in relative comfort.
Matthew my youngest son would say ‘why do you get to the airport so early?’. I don’t think I’m the only one, but I always allow a margin of contingency for traffic on the M1 and M25 and for possible delays at getting through security. I regularly get stopped and searched as my hand luggage is generally full of electronics and batteries, I can only assume that dodgy characters such as myself smuggle items in their cameras! So unlike Matthew, I relieve the anguish by leaving just that little earlier than he would and unlike him I very rarely have to run to board my flight… unless, of course my flight is delayed and the connection time between flights becomes somewhat slim!
Anyway enough moaning, I’m on my way to Kathmandu after more than seven years. I’ve said my farewells to Carolynn, never easy for either of us, especially for five weeks. We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary whilst in the USA the other week and these separations don’t get any easier, in fact they get considerably harder. It’s not just the conversation and companionship, it’s the fact that I know she’s not there. I know these trips are self indulgent and I can hear you all saying, ‘well don’t do it’. It’s hard to explain…I struggle with it, so to try and explain it in writing is near impossible.
I’ve gone off point again. Kathmandu, as always excitement and a tinge of anxiety or maybe even a tinge of fear. Fear is a natural, powerful and primitive emotion. It alerts you to imminent danger, whether physical or psychological… fight or flight? Fear and Risk are, I think, entwined. Everyone’s fear and risk response’s are different and the climb of Baruntse at 7,129 metres is a level of fear and risk I have not taken since 2013 and my attempt at Cho Oyu at 8,200 metres. I need to firstly control any psychological fear to eliminate a risk which is purely imaginary and concentrate on the physical fear and a risk that can be controlled and sensible decisions made. As I get older I find that I have become far more risk adverse and you realise that you are no longer immortal… please don’t misunderstand me, I think I’m very capable of climbing Baruntse, but more importantly, I’m very capable of turning around 50 metres from the summit if the conditions dictate.
The Moulton Barn and the Grand Teton in the Background
I’ve just come back from the USA , seven days in New Jersey spending time with family and seeing Sarah and Nick getting married. Five days in the Grand Teton National Park in the old ‘wild west’ where men were men and the Moose were frightened! And four days in Chicago, just being a tourist and thoroughly enjoying it.
Long Branch in New Jersey, has two very different sides to its ‘railway track’ like many places in the world, and it fascinates me how these two sides interact and how just moving 10 metres across the ‘track’ (whether real or virtual) can be so different, The houses close to the boardwalk were affluent, clean, tidy and well looked after, but just a few yards over the ‘track’ they were more unkept, with rubbish on the street waiting to be collected, if it ever is! It’s strange that it appeared to be so cut and dried.
The wedding was sensational, a wonderful few days of celebrating, with a tinge of sadness as the old relationships change and happiness, as new relationships evolve and move forward, dreaming of a better future. Carolynn and I wish them both all our happiness for the future.
Sarah & Nick
The Grand Teton… what can I say, one of the most impressive mountain ranges I’ve seen. They rise from the flat Jackson Hole valley floor, like a dragons back, reminding me of the Dolomite mountains with their near impossible, unobtainable summits. I was due to climb one called Disappointment Peak with a guide, but they cancelled due to the inclement weather forecast! I was, to say the least, disappointed.
Snake River Outlook – Made Famous by Ansel Adams
We spent five great days in the Grand Teton, there was mixed weather, but that just added to the atmosphere. The wildlife was a little scarce though. I was hoping to see Brown Bears, Black Bears, Grizzly Bear, Moose, Beavers and Otters, but in the end saw Moose and a Brown Bear from some distance away… there were plenty of small ‘critters’ though, great to see them skittering through the rocks, looking for titbits left behind by those two legged intruders to their domaine. For me though, the magic, were the mountains, not a great surprise there!
Reflections of Mount Moran on Oxbow Lake
The last four days were spent in Chicago, where the skyscraper was born, apparently. A complete change from the Grand Teton, a city scape nearly as spectacular, though. With its dragon back buildings intersected by deep, wide, six lane highways. I think we probably did more walking in Chicago than in the National Park, but our heads looked skywards in both places.
Downtown Chicago
What has all this got to do with a trip to the Himalaya and the climb up Baruntse, not a lot I suppose, but it was a trip that Carolynn and I really enjoyed, a trip totally different from the up and coming five week trek/climb in Nepal. The holiday in the USA was a family holiday, for us both to enjoy, whereas Nepal is pure self indulgence. I believe that I said many years ago that both climbing and photography are selfish pastimes, they take up untold amounts of time and money, for example the photograph above of the Chicago skyline was near the end of a two to three hour wait around sunset, Carolynn sat in a doorway reading a book whilst I waited for the right light and the storm to pass over. I’m unable to comprehend exactly what goes through her mind as she patiently waits, uncomplaining, for me to finish. How do I justify it? I’m going to ignore that question. I’m forever grateful to Carolynn for her support and most of all her patience.
The Wildlife in the Grand Teton
Baruntse, it’s a mountain that’s not on the trekkers radar, as it’s too hard, nor is it on the radar of those wanting to climb either the Seven Summits or any of the 8,000 metre peaks, but its position makes it somewhat unique in that from the summit some of the highest mountains in the world are visible. That’s one of the reasons I’m drawn to it, to reach the summit at sunrise. To selfishly be able to watch Mother Nature at Her finest as the sun rises over three or four of the fourteen 8,000 metre peaks. No matter how proficient at photography I get I struggle to capture what my eyes see. Seeing that sunrise, totally depends on that very fickle thing called ‘weather’… fingers crossed. Photography, as a friend of mine has often said, is one; a matter of inches and two; pointing your camera at beautiful scenes… inches on the summit of Baruntse could mean a rather interesting descent, but the second point will hopefully be in my favour.
A Photograph I took of Baruntse in 2009
For the fifth time I’m climbing with Tshering, a Sherpa I met on a trek to Makalu Base Camp in 2007 and am very much looking forward to seeing him after a seven year gap.
