Nepal 1998

Journal Entry - October 14, 1998 - Namchee (sick day)

Gary looked a lot better this morning. I also felt pretty good. We called the trekking agent and delayed the Mera Peak climb by two days so we meet our guide and staff in Lukla on the 25th of October rather than the 23rd. I also called Anne. It was sure nice to hear her voice. The call was only two minutes and cost 500 rupees. The best $8.00 I have spent.

I spent most of the day resting and reading. Tomorrow looks good for moving up to Tengboche. I re-packed my bags to be ready for an early start tomorrow.

Both this morning and this evening they played some sort of big horns off in the distance. Sounded very interesting. It was apparently part of Puja or their religious ceremony. It is 9:00pm so I will probably try to get some sleep.

Journal Entry - October 15, 1998 - Namchee to Tengboche

We finally left Namchee and came up to Tengboche. We found a private room. Gary is still not feeling well. I still have a cough and runny/plugged up nose but I felt ok on the climb up. We went to see Puja at the monastery. It was pretty unintelligible to me. They chanted a lot, banged the drums, and played some type of cymbals. Gary is trying to get some sleep right now and I am sitting in a small room with over 20 people in it. Many have colds.

Met some nice people today. Bill and Mary own some sort of map company in Colorado, and Stuart and Stuart from New Zealand and Calgary.

Journal Entry - October 16, 1998 - Tengboche to Pheriche

We woke up this morning and headed for Pheriche from Tengboche. Gary felt much better. The walk was nice with Ana Dablam in the scene most of the way. We checked into the Snow Land Lodge and got a private room. We had some lunch and then went tot he Himalayan Rescue Association lecture. It was informative. After that we went back to the Lodge, played cards, and ate dinner. Started having stomach cramps after dinner. I hope they go away soon.

Journal Entry - October 17, 1998 - Pheriche (Rest Day)

We had volunteered to do some electrical/antenna work at the HRA clinic. I slept well after the cramps left. We got up and had breakfast and bummed around for awhile. About 9:00am a helicopter came flying up the valley. Debbie, a volunteer for HRA, came running up the path. I asked if she had a rescue and she said yes. The helicopter landed and after some logistics were discussed between Debbie and the pilot, a group of people came carrying a litter. The group was a bunch of Czech Republic trekkers who had come into the clinic the night before to ask the Doctor to come look at their friend. They were reporting that he had a fever and was weak and not eating. It turns out that the Czech Dr was treating him for pneumonia when it was actually severe AMS with pulmonary edema. He was sick in Pangboche but continued up anyway. When the HRA Doctor went and looked at him, he had a blood oxygen level of 37% with a rapid pulse. My heart rate that same day after coming up from Tengboche was 92% with a pulse of 92. He was almost unconscious and could not walk etc. They rushed him over the clinic and put him in a pressure bag for almost 17 hours. At about 2:30 he almost died but the doctors tried some different drugs and pulled him out of it. Meanwhile they were trying to get a helicopter in at first light but the helicopter company wanted the cash in hand before they would send the chopper. The Italian research facility offered to load $1000 leaving another $1000 for the group to come up with. They did that and sent the money to the Italian Pyramid. Then the Italian Pyramid people called the chopper in Katmandu and it was sent to Periche. I got a few pictures of it as it took off.

After all that excitement we went over to see about helping with the electrical work they wanted done. They tried to get us to start a little generator but I failed. They also had a Diamond 2m/440 antenna that they had originally wanted us to put up but they decided it might get them in trouble with the Ministry of Communications. So we disassembled it and futzed with the Honda generator with all of the writing in Japanese.

Journal Entry - October 18, 1998 - Periche to Lubenche, Italian Pyramid

We got up at 6:00am this morning and finally hit the trail at 7:50. We arrived in Dukla or Thukla (depends on which map you look on) at about 10:30 and had some hot lemon and continued up to Lubeche and then up the Italian Pyramid (Hotel 8000 Inn). We got a room with 3 beds and ended up sharing with someone whose name I could not catch.

Journal Entry - October 19, 1998 - Pyramid (Rest Day)

Did very little today. We slept late, had the best scrambled eggs of the trip for breakfast, and went outside to look at the snow. It snowed about an inch and a half last night. We went out and took some pictures of the pyramid with Pamori in the background.

We went back into the room and read. For lunch we met the man with the fastest ascent of Everest; 20:24. His name is Pasans Kafi Sherpa.

After lunch we climbed the small ridge behind the Pyramid and took some pictures of LHo La and Kala Patar. Once again I felt really crummy. I have no energy and I keep coughing. As if the air is not thin enough up here I have this damn respiratory infection to deal with.