Everest Trek - Hike to Everest View Hotel - 5/5 - 12,804 ft

A couple of notes....first, I am really enjoying reliving my trip as I post each of these blog entries.  It was totally the trip of a lifetime, and I hope people are enjoying reading about the adventure.

Second...we got a kitten the day after we got back...typical...haha.  His name is Hubert, he's grey and white with medium length hair.  He's adorable, but he's so skinny and tiny, I'm afraid I'm going to break him.

Ok, back to the travel blog.....

So, the congestion is kicking my butt, and I really need it to go away.  I woke up at some point last night with a really sore throat and needing to pee.  I decided that I should have taken two of my Nepalese Nyquil, since it only put me out for two hours.  I decided to get up and brave the cold and the toilet tent, precariously perched on a small cliff.  After popping actual Nyquil (thanks Heather!), I began my journey.  Almost slid down one flight of stairs, but other than that, made it ok.  The whole experience was a little frightening, I was pretty sure I was going to fall the entire time.  One thing I wont miss - days when getting up to pee at night involves an outdoor bathroom and a parka.  I only had one cup of tea today, so hopefully that will eliminate any midnight adventures tonight.

I woke up at some point later horribly stuffy, to the point that my ear was pounding.  Not fun....cue more Nepalese Nyquil and about a million tissues.  Hopefully the 'easy' day today will help it go away.

Today's adventure was an acclimatization hike up to the Everest View Hotel.  Tough hike up some crazy hills, and some areas that I'm pretty sure weren't part of a trail.  Again, I was thankful for the poles, especially on the way down in the rain.  The way up was pretty tough, especially with the congestion...it really needs to go.

We passed the Tyngboche airport, pretty much closed now, but there was a chopper loading gear that we guess came down from basecamp when the expeditions got cancelled.  On the way back, it was too foggy to see it, but we're guessing the weather was too bad for it to really go anywhere.

The view from the hotel was supposed to be amazing....views of Everest and the rest of the range.  We waited about an hour, maybe a little less for the fog to clear, but it didnt happen.  At that point, we realized that we could make it through the entire trip and never see Everest.  Hopefully bad weather now will mean for good weather later.  We enjoyed $12 cokes and candy bars, then headed back down to Namche.

We were welcomed back with lunch and warm tang (I will miss that stuff), then our guide took us to his home.  He has two houses, one here in Namche and one in Kathmandu.  His house here is steps from the hotel and is a traditional Sherpa home.  It has three rooms - a kitchen, a party room, and a prayer room.  The party room is used to entertain guests and host Sherpa parties, which involve drinking and dancing.  We all left wanting to attend a Sherpa party.  The party room is also used for sleeping if guests stay over.  They have mats they pull out for people to sleep on.

The prayer room was gorgeous - he hand painted everything in the room, and uses the room for prayer and painting.  He told us about the statues in the room, the prayer books, and how they're used.  He also showed us the National Geographic medal his father was awarded for his work on Everest.  He also showed us his paintings, which were gorgeous, and post cards (we all plan on buying those).  Before we left, he answered all of our questions about his religion, Everest, the Dali Lama, and I cant remember what else.

Overall, a great day.  Tomorrow, we depart for Phortse (another village), gain some elevation, and hopefully leave the congestion behind.

An amazing vet, typhoid medicine, and a trip to Orlando

So, first things first, we have an amazing vet.  I was texting Brian about my crappy run this afternoon, and he told me to come home - that he had something that would make me smile.  When I got home, he handed me a letter from the UC Davis Vet school.  As I pulled out the letter, I tried to figure out why we might have received it, but I couldn't think of one.  As I began to read the letter, I almost cried. It was a letter informing us that our vet had made a donation to the school in the name of our cat, Gordon.  The cat we loved, and she had only known in the last few days of his life. We already knew she was amazing (seven hills vet in diamond heights - go there), but this is so above and beyond. I can't think of a better way to remember my first mammal pet.

In other news, we had our annual field conference last week in Orlando. It was a good time, but exhausting. I flew in early to help, whichever as quite the adventure.  I started the following during my travel adventure, but never got a chance to finish and post it:

I love Uber...order on the phone and a ride shows up three minutes later - even at 4am. However, the adventure began once I got to the airport.  But, flying united is never anything less...

So, first, I get to the airport and try to check in...should be easy. Swipe credit card and enter destination. Of course the system tells me that my ticket and itinerary don't match and to see an agent. Which might not be an issue if, oh, I don't know...there were any around. So I try again and enter my connection city. Same thing. So I try to ask the guy behind the counter...and he just blows by me. Awesome...and the 'I hate united' thoughts begin. 

Luckily, I was able to flag down one of the ladies directing people to kiosks. Of course by then the message is gone, so we have to start over. Destination city, connection city, and confirmation number all yield the same result - ticket does not match itinerary. So she takes me to an agent...

The agent takes my confirmation sheet, ID, and credit card....tells me there isn't an issue.  Oh wait...the system has kicked me out incase I want to take a direct flight at 9.  Right...cause there's nothing I want to do more than hang out at the airport for three hours...if they had asked last night, I probably would have taken them up on three more hours of sleep.

To their credit, the two ladies that did help me were very polite and in good spirits for five am.  

Of course, this has taken time, and now I'm hoping I'll still be able to grab breakfast. And the security line is a cluster...why wouldn't it be. The guy checking tickets at the end of the line looks at mine and asks me - are you part of a group?  No...not really. I mean, gap travel booked my ticket... Oh wait, he's asking cause he has my boarding pass...or someone else's...or just a random handful of them in his pocket...cause that's normal. Then he decides it's not mine and lets me go on my merry way. 

Like I said, the conference was fun, but exhausting. I spent the first few days putting together packets and name badges and running from here to there. The highlight - the packing party involving tequila. I worked the registration desk the second day of check in, so got to see a lot of people and hang out with the territory assistants - a great group of ladies!  Biggest learning - it is actually possible to be so tired that the glass of wine three feet away is just too far to grab. 

By the time the conference started, heels were actually more comfortable than running shoes for a day. Until I had to open the door for the mass entrance...haha. It was fine, just a little crazy. I got to ride a roller coaster again - yay evening event at marvel island and the hulk.  I rode it twice - note to self, pee before you get in line for the roller coaster. Haha. I also checked out Spider-Man, which was fun, but hulk was better. And I still like roller coasters :). 

But, like all good things, it had to come to an end.  And, I was ready to get back home. Since then, we've been continuing to prep for our trip - six weeks from Saturday...squee!!!!  We have most of our stuff, I took Tuesday off and we went out to the friends and family mountain hardware store and got my gloves and hiking pants. We tried to get prescription sunglasses, but they were going to be $1200....yeah, not happening. I'll go for daily contacts and sunglasses.  And pray I don't get an eye infection. But, I did get to make a custom pair of oakleys. That was fun...black and purple, nothing crazy, but still fun.  

I also started taking a typhoid vaccine.  I'm not sure what's more amusing...the fact that there's such a thing as a vaccine via pill or the fact that I'm traveling somewhere that I need to have taken said vaccine. It has a host of fun side effects, but I'm half way through and have been ok.  

Other than that, the get back in shape project continues.  I can't wait to dive into the 50 miler training when I get back. Pirate's cove, I will conquer you. And muir beach...and the rest of you. Haha. 

Ok....up early for a friend's 50 miler tomorrow. Until next time....