I felt absolutely fine in the morning. Shortly after waking up I had dismantled and packed up the tent and helped with packing of the other things, which will be soon moved to ABC. Jan was more active in the previous evening than today with unloading and unfortunately his face had gotten swollen in the morning so he had to decide whether he would continue to the ABC or if he would stay at 5200 meters for one more day. But as he kept his appetite and there were no other signs of acclimatization problems, apart from the swelling, he decided to continue with us.
I felt very good and kept such a good pace with the walking that I got afraid of overreaching the speed of vertical climbing. So I decided that I better stop for few times and enjoy of watching the sceneries around me. Based on my experiences I was convinced that the yakmen would try to trick us and unload our stuff much lower than what would be the highest point of the ABC. So I decided to wait for them on the edge, from where the ABC virtually started. When they came closer, they asked right away where they should put our luggage and started to point left and right. Instead I pointed to a small hill in front of us and said: “over there”, which meant walking 45 minutes longer. During a short quarrel I had to remind them what their responsibilities were. Of course, they didn’t speak any English, not that they would in this situation anyway, if they knew some, so I had to show them which way to go since they were afraid of that their yaks might sink in the snow. But that wasn’t enough. The only sufficient motivation was extra USD 50 and after 45 mins we, the yakmen as well as the yaks with our stuff were in the real ABC. Finally! My Suunto X6 was showing altitude of 5400 meters above the sea and we were there, all alone!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Friday, March 30, 2007
Here Come the Local Practices
This very morning started with a polemic on “how many yaks we were really going to need”. Only ten yaks came and since according to the regulation their load limit is 40 KGs per an animal, we knew that some animals would have to walk twice. The peak of the polemic was when we discovered that there was no scales available and thus we end up guessing that we would need about 16 yaks. We paid for 16 yaks in the LO's tent and it ended the polemic. All three of us were off before the yaks and their herdsmen. I didn't again feel good at all; instead I was feeling an overall uneasiness. I had no appetite and I just wanted to lie down somewhere and rest. After eight hours we reached the middle camp, in where my Suunto showed the altitude being 5200 meters above the sea. I was, of course, the last to get there.
But before arriving to the middle camp I ran into the cook's assistant, who had been rammed by a yak. The yak hit the assistant’s arm between the shoulder and elbow and the arm seemed to be broken. The yakmen and the cook arrived shortly after me. All of them wanted to have medicine since they suffered from the headaches. My mates were alright, other than being only little bit tired. But all of us are happy to be at today's destination. I swallowed two painkillers right away and one more just before falling asleep, which would otherwise be a problem. Of course, it ended up so that the ten yaks carried all the baggage and equipment, in spite of the regulation for maximum load. This meant that we overpaid for six yaks. The extra profit will be divided between the LO and the yakmen, and I guess based on my experience the ratio will be 80/20, in favor of the LO.
But before arriving to the middle camp I ran into the cook's assistant, who had been rammed by a yak. The yak hit the assistant’s arm between the shoulder and elbow and the arm seemed to be broken. The yakmen and the cook arrived shortly after me. All of them wanted to have medicine since they suffered from the headaches. My mates were alright, other than being only little bit tired. But all of us are happy to be at today's destination. I swallowed two painkillers right away and one more just before falling asleep, which would otherwise be a problem. Of course, it ended up so that the ten yaks carried all the baggage and equipment, in spite of the regulation for maximum load. This meant that we overpaid for six yaks. The extra profit will be divided between the LO and the yakmen, and I guess based on my experience the ratio will be 80/20, in favor of the LO.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
We Feel Rather Bad
A day of relaxation and resting. Yesterday I felt really miserable, but not today. Instead now my mates were having terrible headaches so there was no other way than to take some medicine and to drink as much as possible. It was in the evening when we heard animals snorting. Our yaks were here, which was the sign that we will be on the way again tomorrow. The yaks will bring our stuff to the ABC (advanced Base Camp) while we will walk on our own, with backpacks, of course. On the way to the ABC we will stay overnight in the middle camp. Every journey here begins with meeting the yaks’ herdsmen (and also this time herdswomen), which are also known as “yakmen”, and they greeted us with big smiles.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
THE ROAD TO ABC
Foreword...
I will start with the departure from Czech Republic. Are you asking why should we go few days back in the story? Well because I will touch the important subject of acclimatization in the stories describing the days of our journey to the ABC (advanced Based Camp).
It might be surprising to many of you but the acclimatization process in fact started when my cousin Eric picked us up and drove us to the Vienna airport. Though modern airplanes are, necessarily, equipped with pressurized cabin yet you start to pick up the vertical meters already on board. Just one quick look at your Suunto watch and you can find out that the air pressure around you relates to some 2000 meters above the sea level. Then consider that you stay in such 'height' for about 8 hours and it equals some initial acclimatization process.
The 'feet on the ground' acclimatization started in Kathmandu which is about 2000 meters a.s.l. In two days we climbed up to Nialam which is at 3600 meters and in another two days we reached the Base Camp under Shisha Pangma - 4800 meters. A day off and then a jump to 5200m while the other day's goal is the ABC at 5400m. It means more or less seven continuous days (not much) of altitude increase from 1000m to 5400 meters to which neither us nor you are used to. Quite a shock for a human organism.
Our Road to ABC Starts
That day we took a jeep to the BC. It was a beautiful day which meant even more clear and impressive view of our goal - Shisha Pangma. On the way there we asked our Liaison Officer how many other expeditions would be in the BC and found out that we would definitely be the first. Great, I thought. A good part of the planning this expedition was aimed on having enough time to climb to the mountain, and even better if we were going to be the first expedition because then we should have even more peace. It was only then, when I realized why there were also three wooden beds, quilts, some armchairs, a TV, a VCR, a generator and many other things that didn't belong to us on the hull of the truck going to the BC. Those were the belongings of our Liaison Officer, who would stay in the BC for other upcoming expeditions. A scent of home is a must so on the way we stopped in a movie rental shop and the last step to complete luxury were achieved. Two hours later we reached the BC, where really was nobody.
I will start with the departure from Czech Republic. Are you asking why should we go few days back in the story? Well because I will touch the important subject of acclimatization in the stories describing the days of our journey to the ABC (advanced Based Camp).
It might be surprising to many of you but the acclimatization process in fact started when my cousin Eric picked us up and drove us to the Vienna airport. Though modern airplanes are, necessarily, equipped with pressurized cabin yet you start to pick up the vertical meters already on board. Just one quick look at your Suunto watch and you can find out that the air pressure around you relates to some 2000 meters above the sea level. Then consider that you stay in such 'height' for about 8 hours and it equals some initial acclimatization process.
The 'feet on the ground' acclimatization started in Kathmandu which is about 2000 meters a.s.l. In two days we climbed up to Nialam which is at 3600 meters and in another two days we reached the Base Camp under Shisha Pangma - 4800 meters. A day off and then a jump to 5200m while the other day's goal is the ABC at 5400m. It means more or less seven continuous days (not much) of altitude increase from 1000m to 5400 meters to which neither us nor you are used to. Quite a shock for a human organism.
Our Road to ABC Starts
That day we took a jeep to the BC. It was a beautiful day which meant even more clear and impressive view of our goal - Shisha Pangma. On the way there we asked our Liaison Officer how many other expeditions would be in the BC and found out that we would definitely be the first. Great, I thought. A good part of the planning this expedition was aimed on having enough time to climb to the mountain, and even better if we were going to be the first expedition because then we should have even more peace. It was only then, when I realized why there were also three wooden beds, quilts, some armchairs, a TV, a VCR, a generator and many other things that didn't belong to us on the hull of the truck going to the BC. Those were the belongings of our Liaison Officer, who would stay in the BC for other upcoming expeditions. A scent of home is a must so on the way we stopped in a movie rental shop and the last step to complete luxury were achieved. Two hours later we reached the BC, where really was nobody.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
First Morning in Tibet
I slept for whole twelve hours. That is hard to believe for me as it was perhaps the first time in 25 years..! Simply perfect. Right in the morning I did the saturation test to all of us which shows the ability of organism to accept oxygen - only to learn that mine was the lowest. Jan and Jiri had both around 80 but I showed only the value of 70. So I started to drink even more liquids. After lunch we decided for some acclimatization. Based on my morning test I chose only 200 height meters for myself while the guys made 300, all measured reliably by our Suunto wristops (I’m using X6 HR, Jan X9i & Vector and Jiri also X9i). It's been a beautiful day and all of us feel very well after this rather small track. So until the evening we will be only resting and drinking a lot of tea.
A move over to the BC (Base Camp) by a jeep is awaiting us tomorrow. Over there all of our stuff will be repacked and loaded onto the yaks. The other day we will walk up to the ABC (Advanced Base Camp) which we plan to record in the GPS equipped X9i and show you later on. All of this means that I won't be posting messages for the following few days since it won't be possible.
Have a great day,
Miro Caban
A move over to the BC (Base Camp) by a jeep is awaiting us tomorrow. Over there all of our stuff will be repacked and loaded onto the yaks. The other day we will walk up to the ABC (Advanced Base Camp) which we plan to record in the GPS equipped X9i and show you later on. All of this means that I won't be posting messages for the following few days since it won't be possible.
Have a great day,
Miro Caban
Monday, March 26, 2007
Nialam
So, on the 26th we were bound for China, or in fact Tibet which has belonged to China. The minibus was roof full of our luggage, food, and cooking equipment that will soon be utilized in the Base Camp. We left Kathmandu at 7 am. At all the gas stations we passed there were long queues of cars, vans, and trucks which must have been the consequence of the recent rioting and, most probably, a rationing that had been applied to gasoline supply.
As it goes in the mountains one goes up and down. The first part of our track led us down to 500 meters above the sea level as measured by my Suunto X6 HR. And then we started to climb up the hills towards the small boundary town. The wristop computer can show the height profile graph of the whole track in my notebook which is another bonus feature for me. In the town we had to reload our stuff onto a truck. In one minute our cook had organized an army of helpers to take care of the equipment moving. It was only about 10 minutes of walking with a load but an incredible hustle began in order to grab a thing and earn a little bit of money. There have been insufficient job opportunities up here.
Crossing of the boundary went alright and right after that we got to know our liaison officer. I remembered him from my Cho Oyu & Everest expedition. How couldn't I since he fined us 300 USD. Well, you can imagine that I wasn't jumping up high but at least I already know that he is strict and uncompromising and we will behave accordingly. Of course, he doesn't remember me and has been mostly smiling at us so far.
The journey to Nialam has been adventurous and has gotten our adrenaline going as always. Rather than a road it is more of a cutting or even a corrugation in the steep flank. Throughout the year many avalanches and rock falls thunder through it and leave their imprints. Hence, going this path around the craggy valley has always been adventurous. Nialam is already at 3600 meters and it had just been snowing there when we arrived. The height was quite a shock for the organism, and thus we only drank a lot that evening to allow the organism to cope better with it. And at 7 pm we fell in beds - coincidentally or not - in the same lodge as I slept back in 2002. And memories of Cho Oyu & Everest expedition started to come...
As it goes in the mountains one goes up and down. The first part of our track led us down to 500 meters above the sea level as measured by my Suunto X6 HR. And then we started to climb up the hills towards the small boundary town. The wristop computer can show the height profile graph of the whole track in my notebook which is another bonus feature for me. In the town we had to reload our stuff onto a truck. In one minute our cook had organized an army of helpers to take care of the equipment moving. It was only about 10 minutes of walking with a load but an incredible hustle began in order to grab a thing and earn a little bit of money. There have been insufficient job opportunities up here.
Crossing of the boundary went alright and right after that we got to know our liaison officer. I remembered him from my Cho Oyu & Everest expedition. How couldn't I since he fined us 300 USD. Well, you can imagine that I wasn't jumping up high but at least I already know that he is strict and uncompromising and we will behave accordingly. Of course, he doesn't remember me and has been mostly smiling at us so far.
The journey to Nialam has been adventurous and has gotten our adrenaline going as always. Rather than a road it is more of a cutting or even a corrugation in the steep flank. Throughout the year many avalanches and rock falls thunder through it and leave their imprints. Hence, going this path around the craggy valley has always been adventurous. Nialam is already at 3600 meters and it had just been snowing there when we arrived. The height was quite a shock for the organism, and thus we only drank a lot that evening to allow the organism to cope better with it. And at 7 pm we fell in beds - coincidentally or not - in the same lodge as I slept back in 2002. And memories of Cho Oyu & Everest expedition started to come...
Sunday, March 25, 2007
We are leaving Kathmandu tomorrow.
On March 25th we thoroughly checked the tents that I've had stored here for the past two years in barrels. All of them are alright so we take some with us for building the altitude camps (C1-C3) on the mountains. The remaining tents will be air freighted back to the Czech Republic after we come back from Cho Oyu. We also checked what the cook packed for us, added few bombs for the cookers and paid the agency for its service. Because of the problems with the Maoists there has been insufficient supply of gasoline to Kathmandu so we will get the juice for our generator later on in China. We were quite unpleased to find out that China had decreased the load for one Yak down to 40 KGs. This will add more cost to our expedition since instead of 9 Yaks we will need 17.
In the afternoon we met with the agency's representative Ms. Elizabeth Hawley who takes care of the statistics regarding the climbers and climbing of eightthousanders in Nepal. Another representative, Jeevan Shrestha, wished us uneventful climbing and with a big smile added that he would see us again in two months. Now, it's the time for an evening relaxation and at 6:30 am local time we are leaving for Nialam. The GMT/UTC increases to +8 hrs (considering most of the Europe is GMT +1 and switching for the summer time now the real difference is +6 hrs).
It's been a nice sunny day in Kathmandu and I wish you the same,
Miro
On March 25th we thoroughly checked the tents that I've had stored here for the past two years in barrels. All of them are alright so we take some with us for building the altitude camps (C1-C3) on the mountains. The remaining tents will be air freighted back to the Czech Republic after we come back from Cho Oyu. We also checked what the cook packed for us, added few bombs for the cookers and paid the agency for its service. Because of the problems with the Maoists there has been insufficient supply of gasoline to Kathmandu so we will get the juice for our generator later on in China. We were quite unpleased to find out that China had decreased the load for one Yak down to 40 KGs. This will add more cost to our expedition since instead of 9 Yaks we will need 17.
In the afternoon we met with the agency's representative Ms. Elizabeth Hawley who takes care of the statistics regarding the climbers and climbing of eightthousanders in Nepal. Another representative, Jeevan Shrestha, wished us uneventful climbing and with a big smile added that he would see us again in two months. Now, it's the time for an evening relaxation and at 6:30 am local time we are leaving for Nialam. The GMT/UTC increases to +8 hrs (considering most of the Europe is GMT +1 and switching for the summer time now the real difference is +6 hrs).
It's been a nice sunny day in Kathmandu and I wish you the same,
Miro
Saturday, March 24, 2007
First Greetings from Kathmandu
On March 23rd my dream came true. I took off for the project 4-4-8. A mystic approach towards life says that everything is in equilibrium on the whole planet, which I do not doubt much. And if it's true then I will surely accomplish the project.
Troubles and problems started to accumulate before my leaving and it ended up with sleepless nights and lot of stress. The preparations were typically accompanied by many problems that had to be solved and since I had been organizing all of that on my own I also had to cope with them alone. The last problem to arise was the 'Top 10 Chart' one.
For the expedition I decided for a special food that I had been using twice on Mt. McKinley and I found it just great. It's not being imported to Europe so I had to order it from the USA and via my friend living there. The portions and packages had been counted exactly to cover the days I will be spending in the altitude camps on all the four peaks. There were quite a few of them so my friend had to send two parcels but only one came to the Czech Republic. The other one got simply lost on the way and only two days before my departure! So the post office in my hometown of Hustopece and also the post office in the States started the search but nothing was revealed throughout the next 24 hours. Then suddenly, one day prior to the departure, the telephone rang and a lady from the Hustopece post office told me that the other parcel was tracked and found to be in the entrepot in Prague. Luckily, my co-climber for the first two peaks, Jan Matyasek, was able to recover it and brought it with him for our take off. While picking up the parcel he was told that both of them came on the same day but nobody was able to say why only one of them was sent through. Incredible. So, many thanks fly to the Hustopece post office.
As mentioned, Jan is a fellow climber on this expedition and the two mountains we will climb together are Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu. The third mountaineer 'on board' is Jiri Jakubec who will climb the Shisha Pangma and then will return home. All three of us landed on the Lahore Airport in Kathmandu at about 10 am on March 24. Since our take off all went as it should. Setting a foot in Kathmandu felt like coming to my second home. Same people at the airport, same porters, and even the same bus driver... In hotel Marshayngdi, which has been serving as my accommodation camp for the past six years, the staff was greeting me with big smiles and saying "So, back again?". It feels just great to be here. And I know that if I was taken here blindfold I could tell I'm in Kathmandu just by the nose due to its very specific scent. In fact, all of the places around the world, and especially each continent, have their own specific scent. So for example, I couldn't make a mistake with Santiago de Chile.
Suddenly, Kathmandu feels to be a bit different. I can't tell if it's due to the scope of my expedition or because of the close proximity of the highest mountains in the world. We went to the narrow streets and in the little shops we purchased the ropes for fixing and also few meters of a dynamic rope for the fixing between each of us. The shop owners say there are many tourists around but that doesn't seem to be true. Perhaps they believe the word will spread around and people will start to consider Kathmandu safe again for (tourist) visiting. The riots that ended only recently took the toll on the number of tourists coming. But the important thing is that it's been truly quiet here and strain as well. Tomorrow on the 25th we will pack up the things and the day after we shall be leaving for the Chinese border. Both Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu are in Tibet which is a part of China. The time zone here is GMT +5:45 hrs.
Wishing you a nice day from Kathmandu,
Miro, Jan and Jiri
Troubles and problems started to accumulate before my leaving and it ended up with sleepless nights and lot of stress. The preparations were typically accompanied by many problems that had to be solved and since I had been organizing all of that on my own I also had to cope with them alone. The last problem to arise was the 'Top 10 Chart' one.
For the expedition I decided for a special food that I had been using twice on Mt. McKinley and I found it just great. It's not being imported to Europe so I had to order it from the USA and via my friend living there. The portions and packages had been counted exactly to cover the days I will be spending in the altitude camps on all the four peaks. There were quite a few of them so my friend had to send two parcels but only one came to the Czech Republic. The other one got simply lost on the way and only two days before my departure! So the post office in my hometown of Hustopece and also the post office in the States started the search but nothing was revealed throughout the next 24 hours. Then suddenly, one day prior to the departure, the telephone rang and a lady from the Hustopece post office told me that the other parcel was tracked and found to be in the entrepot in Prague. Luckily, my co-climber for the first two peaks, Jan Matyasek, was able to recover it and brought it with him for our take off. While picking up the parcel he was told that both of them came on the same day but nobody was able to say why only one of them was sent through. Incredible. So, many thanks fly to the Hustopece post office.
As mentioned, Jan is a fellow climber on this expedition and the two mountains we will climb together are Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu. The third mountaineer 'on board' is Jiri Jakubec who will climb the Shisha Pangma and then will return home. All three of us landed on the Lahore Airport in Kathmandu at about 10 am on March 24. Since our take off all went as it should. Setting a foot in Kathmandu felt like coming to my second home. Same people at the airport, same porters, and even the same bus driver... In hotel Marshayngdi, which has been serving as my accommodation camp for the past six years, the staff was greeting me with big smiles and saying "So, back again?". It feels just great to be here. And I know that if I was taken here blindfold I could tell I'm in Kathmandu just by the nose due to its very specific scent. In fact, all of the places around the world, and especially each continent, have their own specific scent. So for example, I couldn't make a mistake with Santiago de Chile.
Suddenly, Kathmandu feels to be a bit different. I can't tell if it's due to the scope of my expedition or because of the close proximity of the highest mountains in the world. We went to the narrow streets and in the little shops we purchased the ropes for fixing and also few meters of a dynamic rope for the fixing between each of us. The shop owners say there are many tourists around but that doesn't seem to be true. Perhaps they believe the word will spread around and people will start to consider Kathmandu safe again for (tourist) visiting. The riots that ended only recently took the toll on the number of tourists coming. But the important thing is that it's been truly quiet here and strain as well. Tomorrow on the 25th we will pack up the things and the day after we shall be leaving for the Chinese border. Both Shisha Pangma and Cho Oyu are in Tibet which is a part of China. The time zone here is GMT +5:45 hrs.
Wishing you a nice day from Kathmandu,
Miro, Jan and Jiri
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