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Our Travel Schedule in December 08
Hi all,
Deepak and I will be in Nepal from 1 to 22 December. The best way to reach us is via email in our absence. Do include both our emails in your enquiries. We may not be able to check our emails if we are trekking, travelling or managing school trips. Otherwise,we will respond to your emails as soon as we can.
We are not able to check emails on these days :
Deepak : 1 - 8 Dec 08
Alice : 1 - 5 Dec 08
We appreciate your understanding and look forward to hear from you!
Warmest,
Deepak and Alice
Journey to Island Peak
On 13 September, our team of four Deepak, myself, Ham and Jenifer, embarked on our dream excursion to Island Peak.
Deepak has trekked around the various regions in Nepal but has never been to Island Peak. Ham is a regular in Nepal and has attempted Dhaulagiri (8167m, seventh highest mountain in the world). Jenifer has trekked around India, Sikkim, Tibet and Nepal. I did not intend to climb Island Peak but tagged along for pure fun!
Our trek took us to Lukla Phakding Monjo Josalle Namche Bazaar Tengboche Pangboche Dingbuche Chukung Base Camp High Camp Island Peak. We returned via the same route.
Lukla, the gateway to Everest, has since developed into a small town with nicely built houses, german bakeries coupled with a proper airport and control tower. Porters were queueing for assignments at the airport when we arrived due to many flight cancellations on previous days.
Every turn around the National Park brings new visual surprises, be it waterfalls, yaks, field plantations, snow peaks, rivers, bridges, towns or even the locals going about their daily lives. At Monjo, one of our porters injured his leg as he had gone drinking the night before and was not walking properly in the day. We became instant paramedics at the lodge bringing cold water for him to soak, applying medication, bandaging and finally serving him his lunch.
The road to Namche was so long and winding that I almost gave up. Along the way, I probably became an interesting sight as other trekkers who passed by me must be thinking I was rich enough to hire two handsome Nepali guides to bring me to see Everest! (Well, who would have thought one handsome Nepali beside me is my husband and the other is our Chief Guide Rinji?) Along the way, we met a gutsy Isreali lady doctor who panted equally hard along the way to Namche and advised me to drink more ginger tea. It was always interesting how trekking brings people from different parts of the world together. It turned out we also walked a large part of the trek together from Tengbuche to Pangbuche later on.
We also had coffee and pastries at a german bakery in Namche. I would recommend the chocolate cake and hot Mocha the next time you are there. They are yummy!
The journey towards Tengbuche was rough was we encountered heavy rain and thus muddy paths. I was tired and walking with a heavy jacket on a steep slope and each step was agonising. However, the pain disappeared as soon as I arrived and saw the Tengboche Monastry standing right before my eyes. This had been what I was looking forward to in this trip. So this was where Edmund Hillary and Tenzing had come for blessings on their expedition and successfully summited Mt Everest in 1953. I came only 55 years later in 2008! We did not manage to enter the Monastry due to prayer sessions in progress. What a pity.
At Chukung, most of us experienced some headache and loss of appetite. I had a terrible headache at night and was not able to sleep. By 5:30am, Deepak decided we should go out and take in the fresh mountain air. And what a sight we saw at dawn! With the sun firing its first ray of light at the peaks, the surrounding mountains looked awesome. Turning my body from the left, there was Lotse, Island Peak, some range that looked like the Western Cwm and Ama Dablam. I stood in awe in the cold, snapping away with my camera.
Anyay, Deepak decided I should head back to Dingboche and they attempt Island Peak. In my three days of waiting at Dingboche, I met Michelle, an American who is globe trotting in the midst of work and has stayed in Singapore before. I also had a long chat with a nice Canadian guy who was into his eleventh month of his Gap Year trip. Well, you never run out of travel tales to share! I also discovered the great tasting apple pie at the lodge when five of us were having dinner one night. Out of boredom, I started to instigate the lodge owner to include curry puff as a menu item and worked my way in the kitchen with his chef to deliver the first curry puff in Dingboche. Our culinary experiment was pretty successful. Although the puff may not match our Old Chiang Kee in Singapore, it tasted really nice considering I missed home food so much! Guess what, an American-born Chinese doctor popped in the lodge just in time to taste our curry puff. He was going around the lodges to distribute flyers on free medical seminars on altitude sickness at Pheriche.
On 23 September 2008, the team left High Camp at 0200 hours to attempt the 6190m Island Peak at freezing temperatures. An arduous 14-hour climb later, Deepak and Ham, with the help of our climbing Sherpa Minma, successfully made it to the summit. It was Deepaks 35th birthday. He has given himself the birthday present of a lifetime. Down at Dingboche, I had the apple pie ready for a post birthday-cum-summit celebration!
Upon our descent, we were lucky to get a clear view of Mt Everest before reaching Namche. By the time we reached back to Kathmandu, all we wanted was a big steak, a nice shower and our very own bed.
You can view Gallery for photos of our trip.
Read our Blog to see what went on behind the scenes!
ITE College East at Island Peak
Eight students and three teachers from ITE College East went to scale Island Peak (6160m) in Nepal this April. It was a memorable experience for everyone even as Deepak and I were stationed in Singapore tracking their progress everyday. Six of them eventually reached the peak and we were really proud and happy for the students who made it despite the cold and weariness in the long trek.
We got the pictures from Trevor, one of the lecturers who led the trip, recently and this is the one that touched me.
How did it feel like to sit on top of the peak and view the world below? You probably have to climb it yourself to get the answer.
Read about their after-thoughts in the college's newsletter. |
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