Friday April 07, 2006

April 7, 2006 Writing from Namche Bazar

We flew from Katmandu on 4-7-06 in a 12 seater plane with amazing views of the mountains. The airstrip at Lukla which which was our destination has to be one of the most dramatic landing strips situated on the side of the valley with a landing up hill!! From Lukla we hiked Phakding where we spent the night in a very nice tea house. The tea houses are modest accommodations but compared to what we face in Tibet they are palaces. Since my last trip up the Khumbu valley in 1999 there has been big improvements. Our tea house had an up stairs flushing toilet!!

We got an early start yesterday for our 5 hour hike up to Namche our Current spot. Namche sits at 11,300 ft so we really are gaining some altitude now. Today 4-7-06 we had an acclimatization hike up to the Everest view hotel. The weather today has been spectacular and the group got its first view up the valley to a clear view of Everest and Ama Dablam from the balcony of the hotel. Rooms at this hotel are $120 a night with the option of O2 in the rooms. We also visited the Hilary school and hospital in Khunde on the way back to Namche. Tomorrow we head up the valley towards Tengboche. We will post again once we get back to Namche as I am not sure if we can find email after this?

Anne

Wednesday April 05, 2006

April 4, 2006 from Kathmandu

Hello from Kathmandu,
Bill Driggs here from Kathmandu - our Expedition has begun! Thanks to Aspen Aerogels for their support. Anne and I arrived two days ago after 40 hours of travel including an unexpected stay in the Delhi airport - if anyone ever travels through India - even if you are only a transit passenger in the country for less than 24 hours - you MUST have a visa, before you arrive!! 13 hours in the transit terminal was not what we were expecting (anyone ever see that movie with Tom Hanks??)!!
The past couple days have been eat, rest and organize. Kathmandu is a fun city with alot going on. There is a fair amount of civil unrest in Nepal - though the rolling blackouts and protests are just part of every day life. Tourists and climbers are usually very safe and unaffected by the uprisings other than simple inconveiniences. We have been getting all of our gear ready to ship off to the Tibetan border while preparing for our initial 15 day trek to South Side base camp. For those who don't know - there are essentially two sides of Everest and thus two common base camps. One in Nepal, the South side - through the Khumbu, and the other in Tibet/China - the North side. Our trip includes an interesting acclimatization trek to South side base camp first. Then we fly from Lukla back to Kathmandu - re-group, rest, eat and shower for 2 days before heading for North side camp in Land Cruisers - in Tibet, you can actually drive right to base camp at 17,500 feet!
We have some great gear from Aspen Aerogels that we are looking forward to trying out. The sleeping pads are actually are so comfortable that we do not have to carry the inflatible mattress we typically would. The Aerogel insulation will make the cold glacier beneath us much easier to sleep on!! The footbeds fit perfectly in our large summit boots and hiking shoes - the added warmth will be welcome as frostbite is always a concern.
We have a strong team - some really well respected climbers and guides, and we are looking forward to getting on with the expedition. Tomorrow it really begins, and we will be checking in often.
Stay tuned.....
Bill & Anne