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Never Say Goodbye by Jayant Doshi (A report of the trek in the Everest Region from 2 nd April till 15 th April 2012) There is a big bill board at the end of any trek in Nepal which says “Never Say Goodbye to Himalayas.When I did my last trek in 2010 I believed myself, and told everyone, that this was my last trek. But when I got the offer to do the Island Peak trek I could not resist myself and now I will never say that this will be my last trek. My very first major trek took place in 2004 and it was in Everest region and now after eight years I was doing another trek in the same region though the final destination will be different. This would be my fourth trek in Nepal, seventh in the Himalayas and eighth overall - and all undertaken long after my retirement. This time we were collecting funds for helping children in remote areas of Nepal to acquire education. I reached Kathmandu on 1 st April and met rest of the group. The group consisted of twelve members from all parts of UK, including one residing in Singapore, but all except myself, connected and knowing each other through Sakha. There were two female members. The youngest in the group had just crossed three decades of his life while the oldest had crossed seven decades and a bit over - and that of course is me. Six of the group were doing Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar a peak of about 18500 ft height. I had already done that in 2004. So I joined the other six who were doing Island Peak which is a snow covered peak of 6200 metres height (about 20600 ft height). Island Peak is just south of Everest range of mountains. The excitement of doing that height over shadowed the question of my ability to do it. In 2008 I found out that my body did not produce enough haemoglobin, and that in turn would restrict my body to take and store enough oxygen. On 2 nd April we woke up early, were ready and full of enthusiasm and excitement when we drove to the airport. From Kathmandu airport we had to fly to Lukla in the Everest region which is in the north east corner of Nepal. Lukla is built on the mountains at a height of 2800 metres (about 9325 ft) and is considered one of the most dangerous airports in the world. If the visibility is poor, if the skies are cloudy and dark or if weather is poor then the flight gets cancelled. We waited at the airport hoping to board any minute but nothing happened. Weather in Lukla was not good and flights were not leaving Kathmandu. Until the air line cancels the flights for the day we had to stay available. The small departure hall at the airport had few seats and was overcrowded with hundreds of trekkers. On my last visit in 2004 we hardly saw any trekkers from India but this time was different. We met a lady who has been doing trekking in Himalayas for many years and she encourages others to come and enjoy such trekking. We spent the day standing around and chatting. Next day we were promised an early flight and we reached the airport quite early. But today weather in Kathmandu was not promising with thick black clouds which soon turned into heavy showers. The flight was

Never say goodbye

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Page 1: Never say goodbye

Never Say Goodbye by Jayant Doshi

(A report of the trek in the Everest Region from 2nd April till 15th April 2012)

There is a big bill board at the end of any trek in Nepal

which says “Never Say Goodbye to Himalayas.” When I

did my last trek in 2010 I believed myself, and told

everyone, that this was my last trek. But when I got the

offer to do the Island Peak trek I could not resist myself

and now I will never say that this will be my last trek. My

very first major trek took place in 2004 and it was in

Everest region – and now after eight years I was doing

another trek in the same region though the final

destination will be different. This would be my fourth

trek in Nepal, seventh in the Himalayas and eighth

overall - and all undertaken long after my retirement.

This time we were collecting funds for helping children

in remote areas of Nepal to acquire education.

I reached Kathmandu on 1st April and met rest of the group. The group consisted of twelve members from all parts of

UK, including one residing in Singapore, but all except

myself, connected and knowing each other through

Sakha. There were two female members. The youngest

in the group had just crossed three decades of his life

while the oldest had crossed seven decades and a bit

over - and that of course is me. Six of the group were

doing Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar – a peak of

about 18500 ft height. I had already done that in 2004. So

I joined the other six who were doing Island Peak which

is a snow covered peak of 6200 metres height (about

20600 ft height). Island Peak is just south of Everest

range of mountains. The excitement of doing that height

over shadowed the question of my ability to do it. In 2008

I found out that my body did not produce enough

haemoglobin, and that in turn would restrict my body to

take and store enough oxygen.

On 2nd

April we woke up early, were ready and full of enthusiasm and excitement when we drove to the airport. From

Kathmandu airport we had to fly to Lukla in the Everest region which is in the north east corner of Nepal. Lukla is built

on the mountains at a height of 2800 metres (about 9325 ft) and is considered one of the most dangerous airports in

the world. If the visibility is poor, if the skies are cloudy and dark or if weather is poor then the flight gets cancelled. We

waited at the airport hoping to board any minute but

nothing happened. Weather in Lukla was not good and

flights were not leaving Kathmandu. Until the air line

cancels the flights for the day we had to stay available.

The small departure hall at the airport had few seats and

was overcrowded with hundreds of trekkers. On my last

visit in 2004 we hardly saw any trekkers from India but

this time was different. We met a lady who has been

doing trekking in Himalayas for many years and she

encourages others to come and enjoy such trekking. We

spent the day standing around and chatting.

Next day we were promised an early flight and we

reached the airport quite early. But today weather in

Kathmandu was not promising with thick black clouds

which soon turned into heavy showers. The flight was

Page 2: Never say goodbye

cancelled and we were back in the hotel – but this time

soon after lunch time. Everyone was getting anxious.

Our days were running out and some had plans for the

return. Discussions took place about alternative options

and one option was to take a helicopter. It was decided

that if we do not get flight next morning then we go for

the helicopter option. But next morning skies looked

sunnier and our prospects seemed brighter. However the

flight which was promised for 7.30 was changed to 9.30

and then to 11.30 and ultimately at 12.30 we got the call.

At last we were on our way. Everyone was ecstatic. The

flight took 25 minutes. We were really lucky because we

found out later that only one flight took off after ours and

rest were cancelled due to bad weather.

Lukla airport is amazing. Our 15 seater plane comes out

of nowhere from behind the mountains and wheels down on a runway which is half the size of a football pitch. While

the engine is running, incoming baggage and passengers are down loaded and outgoing baggage and passengers

get on the plane, and within minutes the plane is on its way back. We came out of the plane and went to a tea house

for lunch. After lunch we took out our walking sticks, got our day bags on our shoulders and started our trek. But soon

after we started, the black clouds, which were hovering in the skies, moved in and before we could think, heavy rain

poured over us. We did not get a chance to put on our wet clothes. We were drenched. Our day bags got wet also. In

the cold weather it is very difficult to dry the wet clothes. The rain came heavy at times, including hail storm and kept

raining for most of the time on our way to Phadking which took us about 2 ½ hours. I walked at brisk pace as per my

habit and was ahead of the group most of the time. I was surprised that now telecommunications covered most of the

region and mobiles and internet could be used in this area. I did not bother to find this out before I left. For me, this

trek was the revival of my memories of my first trek.

Everest region is very popular for trekking. The region is

still devoid of any modern contraptions - not even a

bicycle or handcart - and as such air is pure without any

sort of pollution. Lodges, which are called tea houses,

have sprung up all over the area along the trekking

routes. The tea houses have basic accommodation with

two single beds, and toilet facilities, and a large dining

room which is the meeting place for all trekkers, and the

only room which is heated in the evening. I could see that

now the ply board in bed rooms was painted and floor

had a thin carpet which was not the case in 2004. Some

tea houses now provide shower facilities but there is

charge for it and no guarantee that water will be hot or

flowing freely, nor is there guarantee that there will be

clean cabin or provision for change of clothes. But unlike 2004, all tea houses we stayed in had indoor toilets and

showers. I can remember 2004 when we dreaded coming out in the open in cold at mid night to use the toilet. In 2004

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we used lot of time in dining room chatting with other trekkers, or reading or playing cards. This time it appeared we

never got much time. We spent some time in dining

room some of the days and after dinner went to bed

early, We played cards once or twice but mostly we

hardly got time. Quite often we were walking till late and

as such not much time was left before dinner.

I had severe cramps in the legs during the first night but

no pains or aches in the body. That night my sleep was

disturbed and I woke up early. While others were still to

get ready and start trekking, I took advantage of the

time to do some stretching exercises. We started our

walk at 8.50 and stopped for lunch at noon. We crossed

two bridges, and faced some steep climbs on the way.

After lunch it was mostly uphill steep climb and quite

exacting on the legs. While I managed to stay in front of

the group I could feel that I was tired at the end of our

walk to Namche Bazaar. The last stretch tired me but I did not feel any pains or aches in the body. But the tiring day

meant that I slept well and woke up fresh in the morning.

We woke up to see a thick blanket of snow outside. From the windows the tree branches, leaves, roofs and ground

were totally white and looked beautiful but in my mind I knew we have to go out in that snow. But the relief was that

today was our day for acclimatisation and as such we

were to stay in Namche Bazaar but we still had to go

out and climb some hill to get used to the altitude.

Morning walk was cancelled due to bad weather.

Instead there was demonstration and talk on how best

to use the sleeping bag, how to tie shoe laces, use buff

etc and some of the hints were very useful. Afterwards

we all walked in the local bazaar and did some

shopping. After lunch we went for a walk to Sangboche

at a height of 3850 metres which was 400 metres climb

from where we started. It was a good walk though

weather was cold and windy. Though it was partly

cloudy we did get a glance at the Everest peak and

some other snow covered peaks. On our return the

guide for Island Peak came to check our gear. He

rejected almost everything I had and which I had used

in the past trekking to similar heights and cold temperatures. Other participants had similar experience. The guide was

24 and to me he seemed not experienced enough to take on such a difficult trek. After rejecting many items he never

bothered to find out if the participants had replaced them as he wanted.

On my first trek on this route in 2004 we were only 2 but the guide believed in discipline. We got less than an hour to

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wake up, pack up, get ready, have breakfast and start walking – and we both always were earlier than the time given.

We were twelve this time. Even though we were given two hours to get ready, we always were late by at least half an

hour. On 7th April, we left Namche Bazaar for our trekking. Some of us had to get some items from the shops but rest

started to walk at 8.45. At first there was gentle incline but it got steeper as we went along. Later we walked down into

a valley and crossed a bridge. We stopped for lunch

followed by steep climb which was quite strenuous. My

genetic problem which does not allow my body to

produce enough haemoglobin resulting in my body

craving for oxygen at altitude started affecting me and I

was out of breath on steep climbs.

We would see hundreds of trekkers on the way. When

the path is narrow and sloping we had to wait for the

people coming from the top, and at times the wait would

be quite long. Unlike 2004 every porter seemed to have

a mobile in their hand – some talking away and some

listening to some music. In the mountains and especially

in Everest region, normal day starts with blue skies and

sun shining and by noon the clouds start descending.

The skies soon get a thick cover of dark clouds and wind

force brings a chill in the air. After a few days of cloudy skies,

strong winds and rain or snow now and then, we woke up on 8th

April with blue sunny skies and had beautiful sighting of snow

covered peaks surrounding our tea house. There had been some

sprinkles of snow during the night. Our walk started down a trek

which had become slushy and slippery. Some of us kept slipping

and the walking sticks saved us from falling. I must have slipped a

few times. One person slipped and fell on his buttocks. Fortunately

there was no injury, but I always had fear of slipping and injuring

myself. But the gradual descending path gave way to open flat

grounds.

It was still clear sky and very sunny. We had our lunch in the open

surrounded by mountains, valleys and streams. It was wonderful. It

took seven hours walking to reach Dingboche, our stop for the

night. It was the worst tea house we had so far. There were no

light except in the dining hall, toilet seats were missing and overall

the standard was very poor – but I slept well. Our tea house was

surrounded by lovely peaks and I took opportunity to take some

photos. Today the two groups were splitting. Every one expressed

good wishes to others. Six were going to Everest Base Camp and

Kala Patthar while we six were going to Island Peak. For our

group, destination today was Chukung. It was pretty cold when we

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reached there just before lunch. After lunch we were

taken to the hiring shop where we were shown the use of

all the items we would be using for the Island Peak. The

items were tried on and then each one of us was given

the crampons, helmets, harness, hooks, ropes and the

axe. We carried all these back to our rooms. We were to

carry these in our day bags from next day. The items were

bulky and quite heavy, and we were to carry these from

next day till we complete the Island Peak, if we were to

make it.

In our itinerary it stated that after Chukung we will spend

one night in tents in Base Camp and then one night at

High Camp before we attempt Island Peak. This would

have been more logical and practical way of doing it. The

guide said that there was no High Camp and he wanted us to go to Base Camp very next morning. We objected and

ultimately it was decided that we stay one more night at Chukung to get a chance to acclimatise. While the tour

company which organised the trek did a good job, and provided a good guide for the trek, it seems that the guide

selected for Island Peak seemed immature and inexperienced. While rejecting most of our gear he did not bother to

check if we had acted on his advice. When we left for Chukung he did not bother to check if each one was well

prepared. He never gave any instructions or encouragement or talked about the difficulties.

Next morning the weather was misty and cloudy and it

snowed also. We started our walk to climb a hill which

was 5300 metres high. Assuming it will be warm during

the day I did not take warm clothes. I realised soon that

I was not properly dressed for the weather. As normal I

struggled walking uphill though it was not that bad. I

made to the top. We rested for a while and had some

snacks. But when we started walking down I felt odd in

my stomach and got some curious feeling in the body.

For once I struggled walking down. I trailed right behind

the rest and just managed to get back. All these days I

was normally ahead of rest of the trekkers and kept

ahead all the way whether it was uphill or downhill. But

for once I felt that it was a struggle walking. I trailed far

behind rest of the group. My body felt frozen and on my return I got into my warm sleeping bag and lay there for some

time. I developed a minor headache and felt uneasy in the body. I took some pain killers. I slept well but the headache

lingered whole night. I woke up with a cold and a lingering headache.

We got up and prepared ourselves for what would be the critical 24 hours. First we walked to the base camp. It was a

simple very gradual ascent but even there I struggled to walk. The walk I had day before seemed to have affected me.

The funny feeling in the stomach, lingering headache and the cold seemed to have sapped my energy. I found it

difficult to breathe on very moderate inclines also and I had to keep stopping every now and then. We reached the

base camp. I lay down in the sleeping bag to rest myself

– and thinking about it now this was unusual for me as

after very long days walking I always was still fresh. It

seems my body immunity and resistance were affected

by whatever happened during the last 24 hours. I got up

for lunch. After lunch we were given training in the use of

the harness and the ropes on the slope of a nearby hill.

After the practice we tried to sleep but could not manage

to get any sleep. We were called for dinner at 6.00 p.m.

We were to start our trek to Island Peak at 1.00 a.m. We

would be getting our breakfast at midnight. After dinner a

few questions were raised with the guide. It was

suggested that he should arrange for a third guide and

he agreed that he will do so. He never acted on his

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promise. I raised the question that if any one of the

trekkers decides to turn back then how will he come

back. And his answer shocked me. “He has to walk back

himself to the base camp.” How could he be so

irresponsible in his attitude? When the trek is planned

the first question is always what happens if someone

needs to go back and the answer is always that a porter

or a guide will accompany the person. Our porters were

available and the guide only had to ask them to

accompany us till snow line and the porters can bring

the returning trekker safely back to the base camp. But

the guide did not want to listen.

I went to sleep but my mind was disturbed. My sense of

direction is poor and I know very well that if I had to

return, especially in the dark, I would easily get lost. And

we were to walk in the dark for 6 hours. If I get injured during the trek or if I fall sick it would be understandable but if I

were to get lost in the mountains I would become laughing stock and my family would never forgive me. During

trekking guides make sure one is in front and one at the

back of the group so that no one gets lost. And this guide

was telling us to walk back on our own. I shivered with

the thought.

We woke at midnight, got ready and went for breakfast.

Unlike other guides, this guide did not bother to check if

everyone was properly ready, that they carried all the

equipment we had hired and did not give any talk or

instructions. We six trekkers started with the main guide

in front and the other one at the end. But unlike other

places where we start walking slowly and follow in one

line, this guide made a dash and within minutes he was

out of sight. I had to increase my pace to keep up with

the rest. We had hardly woken up from half sleep, we

had no chance to stretch or loosen our limbs and this

speed walking affected my breathing. We just had

breakfast, and I guess my body could not cope both digesting the food and do speed walking. When we did Mr

Kilimanjaro the guides insisted and made sure we walked very slowly – one step at a time and the whole group was

made to stay together. Here the guide was not even bothered to see if others were coming behind him or not.

At the very first incline I struggled and I had to stop. I knew from past experience that I would be able to walk but I also

knew that I will not be able to keep up with the rest when it comes to uphill walking. Also I had that fear in my mind –

that vision of getting lost in the mountains. At some stage if I found it difficult to carry on and if I was to decide to turn

back, would I be able to find my way back? And if I got lost what chance I had of surviving? The guide expected us to

walk back in the dark, where there were no proper tracks to follow and the whole area was littered with rocks. On the

spur of the moment I decided that I did not want to take that chance – and I told others that I was turning back. From

my walking ability I knew and I was confident that I would have been able to walk for hours – and made at least to the

snow line. But the fear gripped me and I panicked and

decided to turn back. This was not the time to complain

or talk to the guide, or ask others to wait for me.

I came back and got into my tent. I slept but not too

well. Early in the morning I could hear voices and I

knew at least two of others had returned. I did not come

out of the tent till 10.00. I had my breakfast. The other

two came out after a while. They had turned back after

about 3 hours of walking, and they had problem finding

the base camp. One of them tripped and slipped several

times but avoided any injury. They were almost lost but

luckily saw the tents from a distance and found their

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way. We decided to start walking to Dingboche without waiting for others as we were not sure when they would be

coming back. We left base camp at noon. We returned our mountaineering gear at Chukung and continued our walk

to Dingboche. It was a long walk. On the way we saw posters of a trekker lost in the mountains, and asking for

information if any one saw the person. I got thinking. It could have been one of us. The thought brought shivers. How

could the guide be so reckless and irresponsible to suggest that we had to return to base camp on our own? There

was no need for him to even suggest that as two porters would have willingly accompanied us. The tour company

should take appropriate action on this issue to avoid such a thing happening to any other group of trekkers. The tour

organiser, through no fault of his, would have had sleepless nights or perhaps blamed himself for life, if something had

happened to any one of us.

The porter and one of our members had walked faster and we two found that while we could see Dingboche, we could

not find the right path. However, when we seemed lost or confused, the guide came looking for us to show us the right

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path. It was sunset by the time we reached our tea house. The other group was at Dingboche. The guide gave us the

news on the way. One person had kidney problem and was flown to Kathmandu. One other had some heart problem

and he decided not to go any further and one of the ladies decided to stay behind. Other three made to the Everest

base camp and climbed Kala Patthar successfully. They were lucky as they got very clear skies and a beautiful

sighting of Mount Everest and other peaks.

We had lost two days at Kathmandu airport but we

decided to catch up with the lost time by walking longer

in the last three days. Next morning we started our long

walk to Namche Bazaar. Other three members of our

group caught up with us. Only one of the three made to

the top of Island Peak. Other two reached up to snow

line. The guide, who checked our gear and advised to

change our gear did not check his own gear. His shoes

were split and he could not do the Island Peak. The

assistant guide went up but it was his first time. Naresh

Chauhan who made to the top of the peak literally

helped the assistant guide to climb up the Island Peak

when the guide should have been helping the trekker. If

we failed to make Island Peak them amongst many

reasons the time allowed to do it needed to be longer,

and the immature and irresponsible guide could be blamed for the fiasco. We walked for almost eleven hours to reach

Namche Bazaar.

Next day our walk to Lukla also took eleven hours or more. Like the first day it rained later in the day. There were

steps that led to Lukla and we felt a sigh of relief that we were near the destination. But the steps seemed endless.

Every time we felt that we had reached the top, we saw more steps which were concealed round the corner. We must

have climbed up the steps for more than one and half hours and it felt so tiring. We heaved a sigh of relief when we

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entered the little town of Lukla. But the guide and one member had disappeared and we did not know which tea house

we were staying. We went into a few tea houses before we found the one we were staying at. Before dinner we

completed the formalities of saying our farewells to all the porters who would be leaving us and gave tips on behalf of

the group.

We all made it and were in high spirits after an almost successful trekking trip. I was disappointed but at the same time

happy. I had no body aches and pains during the trek and I rarely needed to crash down after a long day’s trekking. I

do not think I felt so good even on my very first trek eight years back. I felt satisfied with my performance and in my

mind felt that I could still manage another such trek. After spending a day at Kathmandu I said my farewell to all my

fellow trekkers and thanked them for accepting me and giving me so much respect.

Walking in the mountains with valleys and rivers and greenery and snow covered peaks is just wonderful. The air is

pure. One is cut off from the world. There are no distractions and no work to worry about. After doing 18 and 19 days

of trekking this one seemed very short. Every one carried out months and months of training for the trek – I did not do

any special training. But it gave me great satisfaction that I was not in any pain, did not suffer any body aches, did not

need to rest after a long days walking, and I managed to stay in front most of the time. I guess my legs could muster

enough strength to do another trek.

IContact [email protected] and all reports on www.jayantdoshi.yolasiite.com)