in search of Sagarmatha - lost in the mist

every search has a starting point. for Everest, i started at the foothills of Lukla.

it was an overcast day when we flew in from Kathmandu, and the DHC-6 twin otter i was in barely rose above the clouds during the flight.

shrouded in all this mist, it was difficult indeed in locating my final destination. "not too good", i thought as we buzzed through all the grey and white, "is Everest a real geographical manifestation or just a figment of one's imagination?" perhaps, perhaps.

but wait.

amongst all the fluff i could make out some jagged edges. could that be it?

- to be continued -

in search of Sagarmatha - intro

in Nepali, the name for Everest is Sagarmatha, which means the Goddess of the Sky. indeed, at 8850m (and still rising), it dominates the northern Nepali landscape, and stands starkly alone even amongst the world's longest and tallest chain of mountains, the Himalayas.

thus the attraction to go there, to conquer it. in the words of George Mallory in 1924, "Because it's there"; simply put, its presence beckons like a très sexy babe.

for me, summiting Everest itself was quite out of the question at the moment in time. lack of funds aside (it usually costs about USD55,000 to put someone at the top), i had absolutely zero mountaineering experience. so base camp seemed like a good second best.

route to base camp. click to enlarge

hence, in like 3 days after my final paper, i got my air tickets, printed out wikitravel EBC, packed, brushed my teeth, and found myself wandering the noisy streets of Kathmandu and in search of Sagarmatha.

- to be continued -

thawing out

back from the cold and the beauty of the Himalayas.

will thaw for a few days, then will get the regular updates going again. =)