Adventure Holidays in the UK, Spain, Scandinavia, Europe, Peru & Mexico
Telephone: +44 (0)1822 880277 • E-mail martin@spirit-of-adventure.com
Telephone: +44 (0)1822 880277 • E-mail martin@spirit-of-adventure.com
Patrick Bell, Team Poet and Clothing Label Expert
Jennie Hale, Expedition ArtistJune (Granny) Smith, Rock WrestlerSam Lewis, 'Wrexham Boy' made good.
Team Leader: Spirit of Adventure director John Diplock.
Sirdar: Tamding Sherpa
Cook: Ang Kami
Sherpas: Nima
Buddhi
Chebi Bhoti
Plus: Porters and Kitchen Boys
01 Fly to Tumlintar
02 Trek to Manebhanyank
03 Trek to Chichira
04 Trek to Num
05 Trek to Seduwa
06 Trek to Tashigaon
07 Trek to Kongma
08 Trek to Mumbuk (via The Shipton La )
09 Trek to Yangre Kharka
10 Acclimatisation Day
11 Trek to Ramara
12 Trek to Makalu Base Camp
13 Acclimatisation Day
14 Trek to below Baruntse Base Camp
15 Trek to Baruntse Base Camp
16 Trek to West Col at 6100metres (via Upper Barun Glacier)
17 Lower 200metres off the West Col to camp near Panch Pokhari
18 Trek to Chamlang Base Camp
19 Trek to below Mera La
20 Trek to Tangnang (Sam and Nima Summit on Mera)
21 Trek to Thasing Dingma
22 Trek to Thulo Khara
23 Trek to Chutang
24 Trek to Lukla
25 Fly to Kathmandu
29th March to 22nd April
After the hustle and bustle of downtown Kathmandu it seemed a strangely quiet and thoughtful team on the small twin engined plane to Tumlingtar. After a bumpy landing on the small grass airstrip we were met by Tamding, our sirdar, and taken to our camp which was already set up on the edge of this lovely small sub-tropical village. The following day, after an early (0630) breakfast we set off along the trail towards Khandbari, the local market town. It was good to be 'on the trek' and taking in the sights and sounds of a part of the world that is far removed from rural Britain. Two days walk to the nearest road, no electricity, no running water, just local people going about the day to day business of providing the basic needs to feed and house their families, little else maters in this remote community. This was the case until the batteries for Jennie's camera were found to be flat! Nima (Sherpa) managed to track down another one, a remarkable feat in this remote part of Nepal and a sale for a local shopkeeper, whom had probably had it in stock for several years!!!
Soon everybody got into the routine of trekking and camping. The day always starts with 'bedtea', a very welcome early morning cup of tea or coffee delivered to your tent. This is usually followed with a small bowl of washing (usually hot) water. Whilst eating breakfast, the sherpa crew take down tents and sort loads for the porters to transport to the next campsite. These sturdy folk carry, using a strap across the top of the head, loads of 40 / 50 kilos, always with a friendly smile. After 2 /3 hours trekking we find the kitchen boys have set up a lunch stop and are busy preparing a meal which may include eggs, spicy potatoes, pancakes, cheese, spam. So it’s time to sit and relax, perhaps catch up with your diary or just dose in the sunshine. An hour later finds us back on the trail and heading towards our next campsite.
The next three days are spent following ridges and paths with flowering Rhododendron scattered on either side, until we reach the small village of Num which is poised 1000 metres above the river Arun. The next day we descend all the way down to the river and are faced with a swaying wood and wire suspension bridge. After a nervous, wobbly crossing looking down at the swirling, fast flowing waters of this mighty river we have to regain the 1000 metres all the back up to Seduwa, the entry point for the Barun National Park.
From Seduwa it’s a steady uphill trek until the beautiful alpine village of Tashigaon comes into view. But first it was a visit to a small local school, to deliver some pens, books and paints that we had bought out from the UK as a much-needed gift. It is always better to give to a school rather than to the children you may meet on the trail, as this practice encourages the children to beg for pens and sweets etc. It was a rather tired team that sat down with a cup of tea on the terraced campsite in the centre of the village. Kami our cook decided it was the last time to buy meat before we tackled the high mountain passes. To buy your meat on the hoof is sometimes a bit difficult for our protected western eyes, so we appeared to have more vegetarians in our group when goat stew was served for supper that night!!
We left the village the following morning and began the long trek (1300metre height gain) up to Kauma, the only approach path to the Shipton La. Everybody was thoughtful with the fact that we would not see another village for at least 12 days!, The night temperature was noticeably lower at Kauma, the first camp in the snow, but good tents and warm sleeping bags provide a snug end to a very hard day.
All the way along the trail we had heard rumours of the deep snow making the Shipton La un-crossable, so meeting an 'Ossie' team who had turned back from the crossing and their stories of crevasses and waist deep snow added a 'sense of adventure' to our expedition. The crossing of the pass at 4100metres proved to be another long day but with some spectacular views and narrow ridges providing interest along the way (no crevasses or waist deep snow). Pat wishing he had brought ski's for the long descent down towards the next campsite at Mumbuk. This is a strange, haunting sort of place, perched on the side of a steep hill in an ancient forest, where you expect bears, red pandas or trappers to appear out of the forest at any moment!!
Still in the snow we descend into the remote Barun Valley, which leads us, forever upward, all the way into the shadows of the world's highest mountains. Three more days trekking to Makalu Base Camp. Being 5000 metres above sea level is a strange experience, a short sprint to the loo tent and your gasping for breath. Rumours were abound that at this altitude you start having erotic dreams, but nobody was letting on, although 'bubble-wrap and Michael Caine' were mentioned. We stop here for a days acclimatisation and a practice run for the skills needed for the descent of the West Col. Whilst trekking the Barun valley June kept us on our toes by wrestling a large boulder to the ground and crushing two of her fingers rather badly. After some careful first aid (helped by a porter who insisted on spitting on the wound) and some neat 'steri stripping' by 'nurse Jennie' she made a good recovery, although now rather nervous about traversing on steep rocky slopes. Making our way around the base of Makalu brought into view the huge west face, still unclimbed as a direct route. The summit of this 8500metre giant towered above us, a stunning reminder of the scale of the mountains that we had trekked into.
Next stop Barunste Base Camp just below the glacier leading up to the Sherpani Col (East Col) our crossing point onto the upper Barun glacier. Jennie having problems acclimatising, half hour on oxygen seems to do the trick. Another acclimatising day before our first day on a real glacier, so donning crampons it was onto the ice and for some, a new experience. Walking with large metal spikes attached to your feet, doing their best to trip you over or stab your other leg, at the same time as breathing twice the normal rate to maintain something like a normal level of oxygen in the bloodstream, great fun!! Three hours later we arrive (after a short scramble) on a knife edge ridge with a 30metre abseil down the other side onto the Upper Barun Glacier at 6100metres. With two Sherpa's roped up and leading the way we cross this upper snow field, carefully stepping over the few small crevasses, until our next camp on the edge of the West Col at 6134metres, our highest camp of the expedition. After a cold night, around -25C, we wake to a glorious clear morning with breathtaking views on all sides. We are 5/6 days walking from the nearest habitation, no mobile phones here, a truly remote spot!! We are now faced with the big obstacle of the trip, Getting 25 people and kit down a 200metre, 70-degree snow and ice slope, no easy task, but with some team effort it can be done! Sam and Jennie tying loads, June and Patrick at the bottom 'catching' loads and porters, Sherpa's controlling the ropes and we had the job done in only 6 hours!! Asking the body to think and work logically at over 6000metres is an interesting experience. I think everybody now understands a little better the problems that 8000metre climbers have to face!!
A whole day of trekking downhill, the first for 9 days, down the lovely Honku valley. Mid-afternoon finds us at yet another basecamp, this time its Chamlang. These basecamps are just recognised areas that most expeditions would use as a base for the mountain. One problem with losing so much height is that you then have to regain it, and here is no exception. Over the next two days we need to gain about 1500metres to reach the Mera La at 5415metres.
Because of problems with acclimatisation we are a day behind schedule, so to reach the summit of Mera would put us behind two days and result in missing our flight out from Lukla and possibly our international flight home. Sam decided that he wanted to 'go for the summit'. So he and Nima Sherpa left at 0200 reaching the summit of Mera Peak (6600metres) at 1100 and back down to Tangnang (to rejoin the group) by 1800. The rest of the group decided that after the exciting adventures crossing the Sherpani Col (the first group this Millennium), that missing the summit of Mera was disappointing but not a major problem and so we crossed over the La and made our way down to Tangnang. The look on Sam's face said it all, a mega achievement by a very strong and determined man, a well earned bottle of beer (courtesy of Patrick) and some food before crashing out for a well earned sleep. Three days later after crossing our last but not least high pass we found ourselves trekking into the bustling town of Lukla. Having an airstrip and being at the start of the Everest Trail has made this once small village into a busy, tourist town with people from all over the world waiting around for the morning flights. In the local bars the conversation is of epic moments on the mountains, how deep the snow is on 'x' pass, 15 expeditions at Everest base camp, how much chang / rum was drank in the mess tent and other daring mountain deeds.
Time to say our goodbyes and thank our Sherpas and crew for all their splendid work over the last month and then to board one of the many small planes back to Kathmandu.
All the team felt that the trip was hard, some days long, but the challenge of crossing the high passes of this amazing area of Nepal made it all worthwhile. All of us have exciting stories and our own personal epic's to relate to friends and family back home.
If you think that you would be able to meet this challenge then join this trip in 2001!!