Emo Yaks, Avalanches and Mt Everest Base Camp. Daily Vlog: 16

Daily Vlog: 16

Today is “The Day” the day that I have been training for, over 12 months of sweat, tears and even some blood, (insert “tough mudder” joke here). We wake up before sunrise, pack up our gear, have a wholesome breakfast and hit the trail for a very big day. We find ourselves all psyching ourselves up, Clare gives us the usual morning “Day 13” chant and we are off.

Only a few minutes in and a heard of out of control Yaks storm our parade. The young Yak Herder is having a hard time with a few of the yaks, as they decide to do what ever they want. They are massive creatures, so big if they decide to not listen to you there is not much you can do about it. At one point they get very close to me and give us all a bit of a fright.

I’ve woken up with a few sniffles and my back is starting to stiffen up, making it a difficult day for me. I decide i need some motivation so I chuck the iPod on and guess what changes my mood and gets me going??? South park’s very own, Cartman singing Sail Away.

Our EPIC trail.

We stop for morning tea at Gorak Shep and prepare ourselves for the 3 hour hike to Base Camp. We stop and look down the glacier and can see base camp, it’s a long way but we can see it. Once on the track we quickly learn of the dangers of this mountain. As we pass memorial after memorial, I stop and read everyone. It is a stark reminder that it all can change in an instant and re-enforces what I am doing here. I have made a personnel choice to live my life, to see the world, really see it, not just from a window of a tour bus that brushes over what is really going on, but to live and breathe adventures.

I’m in the Himalayas!!!

We pass a few people, no where near as many as we had been expecting. The trekking season had come to an abrupt stop only a short time ago and the effect was everywhere. My thoughts drift again to the 16 Sherpas who had just lost there lives on this mountain and how massive the effect has and will be in this region. We could see a few yellow tents left

Its just there, so close now.

at the expedition base camp, but the “Tent City” that we had been told about was missing. There were a few porters walking back to Gorak Shep caring all types of gear, including a big chest freezer on their backs. The vibe was strange in the region, you could feel the tension, you could feel the uneasiness. Then it happened, we heard a huge crack and our trip leader yelled “Avalanche”. I turned and seen it, an avalanche, it was, incredible, awe inspiring and I felt the magnitude and power of Mother Nature. The avalanche was on Nuptse and ended in the Glacier. I was quick enough and was able to caption most of the action on camera. You will see some on this daily vlog.

The power of Mother Nature

We made it!!!

When we finally reached base camp the emotions were high through out our group. Everyone had been training and preparing for this moment, It was magical, it was beautiful, it was Base Camp. I let this feeling wash over me and really enjoyed the moment. At one point i remember looking around and thinking to myself, “I made it, I am at Mt Everest Base Camp, Nepal” I am here.  The old saying “The journey is more important than the destination” well I understand this now. Base Camp is just a few rocks pilled up, a bunch of prayer flags strewn around and a little sign. Its the 15 months of training and preparing, its the 13 days of trekking, its the people you meet, the sites you see, the problems you face and the lessons you learn that make the journey.

I hope you have been liking this series through Nepal? Have you been to base camp? What were your experiences? Are you planning a trekking adventure through Nepal?

Thank you for stopping by Tattered Passport. Please LIKE, FOLLOW and SHARE with your friends. You can also find Tattered Passport on Facebook, Instagram and now YouTube.

One Life, One Search.

Peace Out.

Shane

What is M&S? Daily Vlog: 15

Daily Vlog: 14

Cho-La to Labouche.

We wake up after a freezing night in our “Wilderness Camp” to one of the most picturesque views I have ever seen. The sky was perfectly clear, the sun was out, it was still cold but the sun was out and standing tall over our camp were breathtaking snow camp mountains that just made you go “WOW”. The morning was so perfect that we all decided to have breakfast Al-Fresco, which was a welcome change.

Having breakfast outdoors today.

Today was only a short day, and we needed it after the massive day yesterday. We only walked for just over 3 hours and had arrived at our Tea House by lunch time. This enabled us to re-group, re-energise and re-focus on our next few even bigger days, tomorrow we reach Base Camp! After lunch the group settled into our rooms for the night and then congregated in the pretty cool little dinning room. We played our favourite game of “M&S”, (masters and sluts) I realise that sounds horrible but it is pretty much a card game called “Goodies and Baddies”. We now had a few extra members of the group that would stay with us for a few days and we where all quickly getting to know them. The new members were from a Canadian group who had been a part of raising money for a school and a hospital in the Nepalese Himalaya. They were soon taught the rules of M&S and they all loved the game.

Tomorrow we reach Mount Everest Base Camp, it will be a massive day, 8 hours all up and some pretty tough terrain. We are all so excited about tomorrow, hopefully we can actually get some sleep tonight. We heard from Mel today, she had made it safely to Kathmandu and after a few scares and having to deal with a Nepalese hospital Mel was diagnosed with HACE, High Altitude Cerebral Edema. So we all are very grateful to our super talented, super awesome trek leader Prasant, for saving our friends life. If any of you are thinking of trekking in Nepal or are interested in an adventure holiday I would seriously consider World Expeditions.

Thank you for stopping by Tattered Passport, if you have liked this post please “LIKE and FOLLOW” and feel free to share with your friends. You can also find Tattered Passport on Facebook, Instagram and now YouTube.

Have you traveled with World Expeditions? What were your experiences?

One Life, One Search,

Peace Out.

Shane

Daily Vlog Day 8 Namche to Phortse Tenga.

Mykombiandi:
Daily Vlog, Day 8:
Namche to Phortse Tanga:

The day starts off not so well, I have woken up with a bit of a cold, the dust the over the last few days has been crazy. We start on what is locally know as the Everest Highway. An old Sherpa is building better pathways with no government funding. So everyone that walks the track just gives a small donation. This section was by far the best in the entire trek.

The best path in the mountains

Appeal to the passers by to donate to build the Everest Hwy.

We climb up to 3990m then descend down into the valley of Phortse Tenga at 3600m, were we camp for the night. That afternoon we go exploring the town of Phortse Tenga, get chased by a baby Yak and yelled at by a crazy crow and be bigs kids in a school playground.

Would you go to school here?

Absolutley beautiful

Thank you so much for stopping by Tattered Passport, if you have liked this post please hit the “Follow” button and share with your friends.  You can also find Tattered Passport on Facebook, Instagram and now YouTube.

One Life, One Search.

Shane

 

Re-focusing my Focus. Nepal? Tibet? Bhutan???

I have realised that I have lost my focus of resent, I know that sounds odd but I feel it and now I can see it. Now my challenge is to re-focus on my current project. In 8 weeks I leave on the most extreme adventure of my life and an opportunity to help out a very important charity.

This project all started way back when I was backpacking through China. My wife and I had planned on straying from following my dad’s footsteps as he fled from Russia through China down to Shanghai and made a decision to head to Beijing so we could visit the Great Wall of China. However the day we had planned on going up it snowed, and it

Snowed in means no Great Wall!

snowed hard for a week. So we didn’t get our chance to visit this remarkable ancient wonder. However it did give us a chance to really wonder around Beijing and get to know this cool city. One day we found ourselves in an interesting travel agency. The Tibetan flags in the window captured me. I have always wanted to visit Tibet, it is just a place that intrigues me.  So that day I said that I would go to Tibet! I had no idea when or how but I was going there. Fast forward 6 months and we were back in Australia and back in our “Real Lives”. The ones that I just don’t like and just do not want to be in, the ones where it just doesn’t feel right. So we started to make plans to travel again. We dropped in to the Adventure Store in Perth and found a cool trip to Nepal and Everest Base Camp, which just so happens to be rather close to Tibet??? So we decided we are going to Everest Base Camp!!!

I find myself very lucky “to have been born in the here and now” thanks Jack Scott from “Perking the Pansies” for that quote. I feel it is important for someone who is so lucky to support those that are not. So my wife and I started to think, what if we support a charity on this trek? We got talking to a close friend Mel who said she wanted to come on this adventure and suggested a charity that is very close to her heart, “beyondblue”. So it was set, we were completing a 22-day trek to Mt Everest Base Camp and raising money for beyondblue, who help people suffering from depression and anxiety.

Cutting to the chase, we contacted beyondblue and became an official fundraiser, we then started up our Facebook page and the “BeyondEverest project” was formed. Please drop by the BeyondEverest project Facebook page and please like!!! It would mean the world to us, maybe give us some advice on the trek? Have you been there done that before? Any words of wisdom you feel we should know? We would all love to hear from you.

Now I was thinking while I am in that neck of the woods I would really like to see the countries that have intrigued me, Tibet and Bhutan. Tibet because of the mystique behind the country and Bhutan because I just want to visit a country that “Gross National Happiness” is more important than “Gross National Product”. I want to experience countries that peace and love is just a part of day-to-day life not the hustle and bustle of the major cities and to see what is really happening there???

When were planning the trip we decided to stop off in Bangkok for a few days prior to the trek. Just to have some relax time and to mentally prepare for the trek. We had no idea that we had planned to be there at the exact time of Songkran festival, Thai New Year! So we booked a few more days there. That festival looks EPIC!

So now I have 8 weeks left to get my head right and prepare my mind and body for an extreme adventure which I think writing this post has really helped. Everest base camp is over

Training Hard! On top of Bluff Knoll Western Australia

5360m above sea level so the lack of oxygen is a worry for me. I have been training hard, so I am fit and healthy but the altitude sickness is always in the back of my mind. There is no way to know how your body will handle the extreme altitude until you are there. I will be taking plenty of photos and I will be taking my video camera so I can Vlog the trek. So to keep posted on the trek please check out my YouTube Channel and hit the Subscribe button.

Thank you so much for stopping by and letting me blurt out my feelings tonight. It means so much to me that you guys read my posts, I feel that I am growing a real friendship with you all. This post has really helped me regain my focus on this project and hopefully I have new energy towards everything involved in it!

Thanks again, if you have liked this post please hit the “Follow Button” you can also follow mykombiandi on Facebook, Instagram and now YouTube.

Also drop passed the BeyondEverest project Facebook page hit the like button and say hi.

Cheers

Shane

One Life One Search.