We're there, man

I'm in Nepal. For the last month I have often been heard to say, "I'll be doing a blog but I haven't got it set up yet - when I do, I'll send out the link." While I'm sure my tardiness is quite vexing to my mother, there is a significant benefit to you, the reader: you will be spared the obligatory, "I've never done a blog before but I decided to try it out" post because now I actually have something to report. I will share one quick thought that I recorded in my journal somewhere on my 29-hour journey from Raleigh, NC to Kathmandu:

"...in spite of the many hours of research I've done in to the area, the work, and the schedule, I really have no idea what this experience holds in store."

This idea highlights the age-old dichotomy between book-smarts vs. street-smarts, knowledge vs. wisdom, facts read and researched vs. experience. Obviously both sides can and should coexist but it's easy to get caught up and forget the importance of gaining experience and I expect that this one should be pretty grand. 

Without further ado, a brief summary of the past few days in photos and a brief orientation to my experience here:

I am involved with an expedition called Xtreme Everest 2, a group based in London that has been getting massive amounts of cutting edge data on high altitude and hypoxia physiology in trekkers in the field for many years (the 2 in the title signifies that this trek follows 1 which occurred in 2007 and included the highest ever arterial blood gas - measured at the Balcony, 27,600 ft elevation). This time around we will be running 60+ studies on some 200 trekkers including sherpas and children. It goes without saying that I am quite blessed that they have agreed to have me along. I spent a day by myself checking out a hostel that the American Alpine Club cooperates with and then headed to the Summit Hotel who were quite welcoming as you can see here:

 Here was our welcoming banner. I took this picture mostly because of the sign - I didn't have it but I don't think theirs would compare to North Carolina "Bar Be Cue"

Kathmandu is a wild city. If you've been to a third world country before you know that it is never sufficient to describe in words a city like this one until someone has been there. Perhaps I can spend some more time covering the ins-and-outs of the place when I return in May, but if there is one thing that bears mentioning it is the traffic. There are no lanes, there are no lights, and there is no such thing as waiting for an opening. People drive their cars like I would walk on a busy sidewalk. I was nervous for about ten minutes and after that I couldn't help but chuckle any time I went anywhere. This next picture was taken as we first breached the dense smog that engulfs the city. It's not a great photo, but you can imagine how excited we were for a change of scenery.

First glimpse of the high Himalaya. If we rolled down the windows I could touch the prop.

To begin trekking towards Everest Base Camp, you must first fly to Lukla at 9,383 ft. We woke up at 4:00 am to do some quick research and then headed to the airport where we took the stunning albeit short flight. Below is the fabled Lukla airport runway. It is in the top 5 most dangerous airports in the world and you land uphill so you can stop before the canyon wall and take off downhill in order to have some room to get up to speed. To top off the experience, if you get a seat at the front you can see out the pilot's window because the cockpit has only a curtain which they leave open. I was so stoked.

Here's the thing: that landing is actually steeper than it looks.

Once in Lukla we begin the two-day trek up to Namche. To make a long story short, you hike up a deep canyon with an incredible blue-green glacial river at the bottom stone shrines and prayer wheels dotting the path, yaks, ponies, porters and too many incredible views to put on one blog. Here's one:

 Words don't do it justice. The clouded peak in the background is Kongde, which is also pictured below.

 Currently, this is the view out of my bedroom window. I'll be here for two months. And it is like this for 360 degrees. Around every corner is another jaw-dropping vista. This afternoon I frequently said: it just keeps getting better.

My pictures got a bit out of order but this is our welcoming ceremony in Kathmandu with my friend Tom. They gave us a spot of red paint, a necklace of marigolds, and orange hard-boiled eggs. They were decent.

And here is home sweet home. I'll be working here in the Namche lab at 12,303 ft for the next two months testing trekkers as they pass here on the way to Everest Base Camp. There will also be a lab at Base Camp and in Kathmandu. A guy could get used to this.

And that's a wrap. It's late because it took me some time to figure this out. I've got to get up early and so I'll head off to bed. In closing, I'll say, "you need a license to drive a car, to buy a dog, heck, you can even get a license to catch a fish, but they'll let any fool be a blogger." - Keanu Reeves from Parenthood (obviously not exactly what he said).

Hope you enjoy sharing my experience!