FASHISHA update

Todd was not feeling well, so he came back to Kathmandu. He is coming home soon. We are sending him our love and good energy for a safe trip back to the states.
The rest of the group is doing well. They are at Camp 1, 21,000feet. They will be there for 3 days as they establish their camp 2 higher on the mountain at 23,000ft. , and then they will move up to Camp 2. Best of luck to them as well as they push on up this high snowy peak!

9/22/10

After 4 days and nights, the missing cook returned to Chinese Base Camp (roughly 16,500')! The team was very relieved to find him alive and well (albeit windburned). The language barrier made it difficult to understand what happened, and whether he had food or camping gear, but they were just glad to find him safe. The team will continue to shuttle loads higher up the mountain as they acclimate.

9/20/10

Mark sent another update tonight from Advanced Base Camp (18,500'). The team is doing well, although they were surprised by some snow. However, they are quite concerned as they have not seen their camp cook in 2 days. They last saw him when the yaks were being packed, and there has not been a sign of him since. The team will continue the search today. I will be thinking of them and hope this has a happy ending.

9/16/10

Mark sent an update from Nyalam, Tibet, which is the town one day's drive past the Nepal/China border. The team made it across the border without any problems, although it sounds like the drive was fairly rowdy due to poor road conditions. The team was pleasantly surprised by Nyalam (15,000'), which offered cooler temperatures and a super nice hotel. They spent two days there to acclimate, enjoying their last shower and bed for a long time! The started the final stretch of their drive on Friday morning (our Thursday evening) to base camp (17,000').

Border leg begins

After 2.5 days in the the chaos and intrigue of Kathmandu, we are set to depart in the early morning. It has been a busy, humid, and very warm time strolling the streets and checking out the sights.

Saturday marked the annual Teej Festival during which time the Hindu Nepali women, dressed in flowing red dresses and saris, danced throughout the city while fasting for either the health and prosperity of their men and/or for a good future husband. As Mark and Andy filmed the action, we encountered groups upon groups of kind and friendly women that were accommodating to the cameras and who were eager to include us in their celebration.

Sunday led us to the world heritage site Boudhanath Stupa where we met with the holy Lama for a blessing of our journey. We wandered amongst dive bombing pigeons, the rolling waves of prayer flags, and the vigorous hum of spinning prayer wheels. After a day out on the dusty and damp streets of the city, we managed to finish the evening listening to a uber-talented Nepali cover band with the beats of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pink Floyd, and Rage Against the Machine.

The road delays appear to be resolved, and thanks to the folks at Thamserku Trekking- Anjan Rai, Jiban Ghimire- Sherpa Shangri-La, we have sorted through our loads, coordinated the necessary yaks, and have everything else organized for our border crossing tomorrow. Our hope is to make it to across but if the rains continue or the the slides haven't been cleared, we may find ourselves on the Nepali side, perhaps at a karaoke bar after a session at the local hot springs.

Our journey to the mountain continues..

- Kim

Still in KAT...

The lingering Monsoon has kept us in Kathmandu for an extra day. We are hoping the bulldozers are busy clearing the alleged 5 landslides between here and our first stop in Zhangmu (just across the border into Tibet).
We are all getting eager to leave Kathmandu, though the additional day will hopefully provide time to sort out the Yak weight negotions (like the Monsoon our personal Yak weight allotments have been a bit shifty). With the Yaks all set the remainder of the day will be spent finalizing details, getting some "epic temple shots", eating, and more than likely some adventure in Kathmandu transportation (uncertain at this point if it will be motorized or human powered).
Overall, all is well... The team is healthy, happy, and typically a bit sweaty.
We will try to post photos later today.
AT

We are in Khatmandu

The entire team has arrived safely in Khatmandu. We arrived on the 10th from our various stop overs in India, Korea or Sigapore. Kim's bags didn't arrive on her flight so there was a bit of stress there... but Jiban took care of business and found the bags.
Today is a festival in Nepal, this festival is for the women to fast for their men. We will go today and watch all the Nepali women parading the streets, Jiban says it makes for some great photo's. We will check it out, but not sure how interesting it will be to watch women not eating. I hope they serve refreshments!
We will do some shopping today and organize or gear, then on Mon. morning we begin our drive up to base camp. It looks to be quite the adventure.

part III at Outside TV

Just posted this morning- Tibetan Travels: Part III at Outside TV

http://www.outsidetelevision.com/blog/outsider/tibetan-travels-part-iii


We hope to post a couple more blogs and links prior to departure, and then run occasional updates from the field.

Thanks for reading!

- kim havell