Tuesday, April 04, 2006
Almost there...!
I leave in 13 days.
I have almost all my gear. I am missing a bunch of odds and ends, with a notable exception: my ice axe is still not here. I want my axe. I want it now!
Ahem.
My immediate plans for the early part of the trip are taking shape. I have made arrangements with Mark for what I'm doing in London. I know where I'm staying in Beijing. I have gotten in touch with Murray, a professor I met some time ago, who now teaches in Lhasa. Things are falling into place, although I'm sure they'll just fall out of place in no time at all.
I also got the strange idea of visiting the Rongbuk Monastery, where the view is something spectacular. For those not familiar with the profile of this planet's major peaks, the mountain in the picture is Everest.
Another attraction to Rongbuk is that the base camp for climbing Everest from the Tibet side (IE, the North East Ridge route) is about 8km from Rongbuk Monastery, further up the Rongbuk Valley. Visiting the base camp isn't really something I absolutely, positively must do - but I think it'd be cool regardless. I won't be heartbroken if I don't go, but if I'm there I may as well go the extra 8km, no?
Rongbuk is roughly 3 days' travel (overland, by jeep) from Lhasa. It might be doable. It might be hard, but it'll definitely be an adventure. A big issue is altitude. Lhasa is at 3600m, Shigatse at 3900, Shegar at 4300, and Rongbuk at almost 5000. Gaining 1400m in three days is probably going to hard on the body - and I have no idea how my body handles altitude. If I make the trip to Rongbuk, I'll have to be careful and watch for symptoms of altitude sickness. And, I have Diamox, and I'm not afraid to use it.
I know some people with altitude experience are reading this. If you're one of them (Kevin, I'm looking at YOU!) you should speak up and tell me what you think. Soon.
I have almost all my gear. I am missing a bunch of odds and ends, with a notable exception: my ice axe is still not here. I want my axe. I want it now!
Ahem.
My immediate plans for the early part of the trip are taking shape. I have made arrangements with Mark for what I'm doing in London. I know where I'm staying in Beijing. I have gotten in touch with Murray, a professor I met some time ago, who now teaches in Lhasa. Things are falling into place, although I'm sure they'll just fall out of place in no time at all.
I also got the strange idea of visiting the Rongbuk Monastery, where the view is something spectacular. For those not familiar with the profile of this planet's major peaks, the mountain in the picture is Everest.Another attraction to Rongbuk is that the base camp for climbing Everest from the Tibet side (IE, the North East Ridge route) is about 8km from Rongbuk Monastery, further up the Rongbuk Valley. Visiting the base camp isn't really something I absolutely, positively must do - but I think it'd be cool regardless. I won't be heartbroken if I don't go, but if I'm there I may as well go the extra 8km, no?
Rongbuk is roughly 3 days' travel (overland, by jeep) from Lhasa. It might be doable. It might be hard, but it'll definitely be an adventure. A big issue is altitude. Lhasa is at 3600m, Shigatse at 3900, Shegar at 4300, and Rongbuk at almost 5000. Gaining 1400m in three days is probably going to hard on the body - and I have no idea how my body handles altitude. If I make the trip to Rongbuk, I'll have to be careful and watch for symptoms of altitude sickness. And, I have Diamox, and I'm not afraid to use it.
I know some people with altitude experience are reading this. If you're one of them (Kevin, I'm looking at YOU!) you should speak up and tell me what you think. Soon.
# posted by Alex Perel @ 6:34 PM 
