A few weeks
further and finally getting use to the lack of oxygen..!
At the time
of the last update Mika had already moved on to Maccherma with the rest of the
crew (coordinator Chhewang, cook and multitasker Kancha, doctor Helen and doctor
Sean, physio Anna and five dzopkios to transport all medical and personal gear
(no huge backpacks for these lucky guys!). Upon arrival at the rescue post
there were some emergencies requiring three heli-evacuations in the first few
days, however after that it was pretty quiet until the October-trekking season
finally kicked in.
Life at the
post is fairly relaxed as there are not many patients: a few locals, some
porters and tourists, but on average between 2 and 5 per day. The issues can be
very simple (cuts and grazes) or complicated (mostly trekkers with medical
history who are stressing their bodies on the way up to some pre-defined GOAL).
Part of the work is therefore to make people aware there is more than Everest
Base Camp, Gokyo or some high pass to climb, so that’s where the daily altitude
talk comes in. Attendancevaries strongly
on how many trekkers are in the five village lodges and what nationality they
are. We’ve seen talks with 3 people
attending, but also days with 35 or more people. The talk is based on
hand-written flip-over sheets with many graphic illustrations. English is the
main language, but as also local porters / guides, Germans, Italians,
East-Europeans and many more nationalities attend, the level is rather basic
but enough to create awareness for strange head-aches, shortness of breath etc.
Asian people tend to attend less,
possibly because they nearly always travel in groups, and because of fear of
not understanding the English?
As part of
the talk some info on IPPG is given: it provides care and shelter for porters,
guides, and is partly subsidised by local bodies and partly through medical
care for trekkers (who tend to be insured). At the end of the talk the oxygen
saturation can be measured with a simple instrument: this is a hit as several
hundreds of people do so per season, and we can charge a bit of money for it. Also
some T-shirts and other stuff is for sale, but people going uphill usually don’t
like too carry more weight.
The post
itself is a ‘sustainable’ building (as most of the places in Nepal due to lack
of money): electric power comes from PV panels; the shower is only warm if the
black plastic ‘solar shower’ bag has got enough sun, and the stove is running
on a mix of yak-dung and some wood. Cooking
requires kerosene, with regular supplies from the “kero-guy”. The collection of
yak-dung is major business for all households at it is free fuel for the cold
winter months. The women do most of the work on the fields, and this involves
making flat pooh-patties that can dry and subsequently be stored for future
use. So far the temperatures have dropped slightly below zero on clear nights,
and the morning sun chases away the chill pretty quickly. Some afternoons the humid air travels up the valley
resulting in a thick mist, but mostly the sun can heat the common room in the
post to quite a good temperature.
Daily
routine is also strongly influenced by our cook Kancha: morning tea is brewed
before 7, then a warm breakfast (porridge, eggs with toast, pancake) is served.
To warm up the muscles we play a bit of table-tennis or go out for a morning
walk. A warm lunch is served just before noon, and around 1.30 we do a round along
the lodges to notify guests of the upcoming talk at 3PM. This usually lingers
on till about 5PM, soon followed by dinner.
The kitchen in the lodges in the area is definitely influenced by
Western favourites, and Kancha also knows a few ways to make hash browns, pancakes,
chow mein, fried potatoes and much more. It’s just the lack of cookies and
other in-betweens that keeps us hungry, although the regular sugar boosts
(sweet coffee, tea, hot fruit juice (powder-based)) keep us alive.
Over the last
few days Mika had a brief ‘holiday’ as her colleague Sean had been trekking
with Anna for a few days. We both headed
up to Gokyo (3 hrs north) as a base for
some day walks. This is where it came clear that acclimatisation only works as
igh as you go: in Maccherma we were both doing OK but 300m higher there was a
clear shortness of breath. From Gokyo one trip is up the Gokyo Ri, which is a
small peak at about 5350m. Your lungs get only 50% of their nomal intake of
ocygen at such a level, so it was reasonably hard work to get up the hill. Hans
was boosted by antibiotics to get rid of the last bit of coughing, and Mika has the honour and responsibility
to carry the day pack. Views were indeed great: lakes, glaciers, many mountains
over 7000m and also a glimpse of the famous Everest, and best of all we fond a
good address in Gokyo for freshly made apple pie!! No wonder downhill went
faster than uphill. On Saturday 8th Mika headed back the main valley
to the post, and Hans went over the Rhenjo La pass to the next valley west. This
time nobody else to carry the backpack, so hard work! The views were equally impressive,
with one side of the pass (also 5350m) having blue skies and some cloud, and
the other side covered in a white-out. Just following the footsteps the views
improved, and a few hours later there was a lodge for a well deserved hot soup.
Biscuits and buffalo-jerky are OK, but something arm feels better. From the
other side of the valley it is about 10 rs walk to Namche, where I’ve just had my warm shower, good lunch and coffee. This
is also the spot where good internet is available, and goodies as Mars-bars are
for sale ($1 US each, but high up the valley the Swiss-like sherpas ask $3).
After a
good night sleep I’ll work my way back to Maccherma; in the meantime Dr Sean
will have gone up to Gokyo to open the medical post for a 4-week period. Sean
and Mika will swap each week, so it’s likely that we’ll be back in Gokyo soon
to explore some more tracks, and regain our breath! Just the idea that there is an Everest
Marathon, involving running from Everest
Base Camp (over 5000m) to Thame (3500m) and back! Anyone interested is
strongly advised to do some weeks of acclimatisation!
We’ll
happily watch from the side…. And do some more realistic walks in the area.
