EBC Trek Day 2

Travel Journal 9/23/07

Two days ago I met my dad at the airport in Kathmandu, showed him around the city and had a more expensive dinner that I was used to. We bought supplies, nuts, candy, toilet paper and batteries which I then left in the small shop where we called me mom for a few minutes to say we were OK and that we loved her.

The next morning, early, we rose and caught a cab back to the airport for the first flight to Lukla, the start of our trek. In the airport I saw a young man I thought I recognized as a French guy who I had exchanged a few words with while in line for a visa at the Indian embassy the day before.

I smiled and nodded to him, but in the dark I missed the Italian flag on his arm. So when he came over, I mistook him for French. Luckily he forgave me right away.

Tall, light skinned, with shaggy hair and big round eyes, Giuseppe is from Milan and soon became the unofficial third member of our party.

The flight to Lukla is short and utterly fantastic. Our maximum altitude had to have been less than 15,000 ft in our little duo prop airplane, capacity for 14. The significance of our low crusing altitude is appreciated only when realizing that the Kathmandu valley- the low point of our flight is around 4,000 ft, Lukla is above 9,000 ft and the jagged high Himalayan peaks waving down to us through out tiny windows soar around 25,000 ft or higher.

Weaving through the forested ridges and valleys up to Lukla gave us a new perspective on the amount of habitation those remote regions actually have. All over, the green forested hillsides are dotted with white buildings or give way to terraced fields. No roads were visible between most settlements which fits the descriptions of people we've met in KTM who say they take a bus, then walk a few hours to go home to visit their family.

In Lukla we stopped in a German Bakery for breakfast and were soon chatting with another group of six volunteers from Kathmandu. Joe is a young writer from London who recently had a play he wrote receive good reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Lucy is a Polish woman living in the UK about to move to Australia. Her prior trekking experience, knack for negotiating and strength on the trail and Alpha Female attitude left us to half jokingly call her our leader.

Marian is a physical therapist from Johanesburg. Her short stature is counteracted by the huge smile always across her face, her positive attitude, and her riddle solving ability. She is a steady walker and enjoys socializing on the traila. For these reasons we've become trail partners, chatting, singing, teashin and otherwise enjoying ourselves between deep gasps of thin air.

Lastly is the Beck family from Utah. Aubrey is 15, although no one would be faulted for mistaking her for a college underclassman. Her parents, Mark and Laura "dragged" her to Nepal hopin to change her debaucherous behavior. Although Aubrey puts on a front, the rest of the group believes she is enjoying herself more than she lets on.

An international, trans continental group of 9 trekkers. Different backgrounds, different futures. All united by one goal, to reach Everest Base Camp without succumbing to the cold, alitutde, or social abrasions common in a group dynamic.



Stay tuned to find out the outcome and who might have reached the goal. Ill give a clue. We did.