Days 11-12, Kathmandu: Everest? Never rest.

(Posted by Andrew about the events of Dec 22-23; Kathmandu, Nepal)

I don't know what we were thinking: mountains just don't like us.

Illiniza Norte turned us away; Mt. Fuji wouldn't reveal itself to us. So what the hell were we thinking approaching the king of all mountains... Everest?

Also, we don't like hiking.

Also we are in terrible shape.

And too old.

What. Were. We. Thinking.

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For our Everest adventure we managed to find a company that would fly you most of the way from Kathmandu to Base Camp, but from there it is "just" a three-day hike in and out, with Sherpas carrying all your gear. Think of it as Base Camp for the glamping crowd.

We started the hike in rain, rain, rain. You could stand in the shower for an hour and be dryer than we were 15 minutes into this walk. Summer is meant to be the rainy season but this winter is defying the odds. Our feet were a mess of blisters within hours, not to mention Jessica's bad back prevented her from carrying anything. (Meanwhile, the Nepalese were apparently able to carry twice their own body weight without a problem.) The altitude was problematic as well. Even after ten minutes rest you can't get a full breath in, and the migraines were intense. Add to that the fact that the altitude sickness pills give you pins-and-needles in your extremities that are annoying as hell. By the time we got into our tent on the first night (hours behind schedule) we thought it might be easiest just to add our names to the list of those who had died on Everest than to try to go on or even to turn back.

Aaaaaaaand by about now anyone who knows us at all has already recognized this as complete bullshit. :)

We didn't attempt to hike to Base Camp; we booked a seat on a flying tour where you look at Everest out the window of a comfortable airplane.

We were back at the hotel by lunchtime.

I had ice cream.

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Actually, even the flying option was not terribly easy. We got up at 5AM to be at the airport first thing, but the Himalayan mountain gods sent down thick fog that shut down the airport. Our driver took us back to our hotel and encouraged a long breakfast, then eventually took us to the Kathmandu Airport Domestic Air Terminal. This building (and it's tiny, filthy bathrooms) probably doesn't look great at the best of times, but cramped full of the hundreds of passengers from the dozen or so flights that were grounded made for a less-than-ideal waiting area. After several hours the fog lifted enough for us to board our plane, a twin-prop 18-seater on "Buddha Air" and we were off...

... only to pull back off the runway when the pilots found a malfunction in the altimeter. We had to deplane and go back to the Terminal from Hell. (Interesting side note: When we were boarding our plane the jet next to us was all decked out for the World Cup trophy. I thought it was just advertising but the next day I noticed several signs to come see the actual prize. So it turns out we were just a few dozen meters away from the FIFA trophy.) After another hour (and having spent six hours at the airport now) we finally made a second attempt to see Everest.

It was worth the wait as we rose above the haze of Kathmandu into one of the clearest days the flight attendant had seen in three years on the job. The Himalayas are visually daunting, seeming to be mountains stacked on top of mountains. After 45 minutes we got our turn at the cockpit to see the king of them all, Everest:

Our string of bad luck with mountains is finally broken!

But I wasn't lying about the ice cream:

(Gastronomical status: One of us on the peak of Everest; the other stuck in the Death Zone.)