Down Time

Finally back on the internet again. 2 weeks without a reasonably priced connection! The mountains are a truly unforgiving environment. I have been all over the place the past 14 days... I went to Everest base camp and discussed climbing conditions with an Argentinian guide who has been there ten times, traversed the Cho La Pass where some french people got naked and crossed yet another insanely massive glacier (the Ngozumpa) while viewing collapsing ice shelves and rock slides around me as i walked through the eerily unstable environment. I then spent a couple days at the lakes of Gokyo which were the color but not temperature of the Caribbean, climbed Gokyo Ri to get that classic view of Mt Everest and several other 8,000m peaks, and then walked down yesterday through Gokyo along the Dud Kosi River on one of the most scenic days I've had so far. All this was a combination of the three main treks in the area (Everest Base Camp Trek, the Three Passes Trek, and the Gokyo Trek) and have now finished my custom Khumbu Circuit. The perfect way to see the whole region.

I've met alot of really great people along the way from all over the world and all walks of life. Surprisingly the average age of trekkers around here is around 35-40, (many are even older retired folks and i had the pleasure of having dinner with one 75 yr old from California who made it to just below base camp around 17,000ft). He started hiking in his 50's and has been all over the world now...pretty amazing all you can squeeze into life when you never take a moment for granted.

Its been quite an amazing trek. Now I'm at Namche Bazaar again hanging out for a couple days and using the Namche Laundromat (all your clothes in a tin bucket with soap and water while a Nepali woman stomps on them with her bare feet) before heading back up to attempt to climb one of these monster peaks with a group of people i have yet to meet. Although its at 12,000ft, the air at Namche seems a whole lot thicker than it did when i got here 2 weeks ago and I feel like i can just about blast off and fly out of here like its the Matrix. Just had a hot shower, pringles, and a mars bar, so i am really living the high life right now. Might even treat myself to a sizzling yak steak, but maybe ill save that for after the climb.

Until then I'm going to relax and attempt to make sense of some of the more nonsensical journal entries i jotted down as brilliant ideas while under the influence of thin air the past couple weeks. Be patient for photos, i'm awaiting the arrival of my USB cable when i get back to Kathmandu and have probably over a thousand pictures to sort through. Mostly of Yaks.