Everest 3

That's me up there working my way up to Everest Base camp. The glacier to the right in the flats is the Khumbu Glacier. Basecamp would be in the flat rocky area just next to the glacier at the base of the mountain in the center of the photo. The tricky thing is that since it's all just a pile of rocks it's hard to get any real perspective. From where I am to the base camp area is about an hour walk at a rather brisk pace. The larger rocks you see in the "flat" area are the size of 2 story houses. There is a large crashed helicopter at the edge of the glacier that is in the photo but too small to be seen since it's so far away. Those close mountains stand around 1500 meters (almot 5,000 feet) above the base camp area.

Here is that helicopter that crashed at everest base camp. I believe this big russian MI-17 helo crashed here in 2005. It's been beat up worse since it's been lying there and Ali and I spent some rest time throwing rocks at the empty shell. The glacial ground and backdrop still don't give you a good sense of scale here. The MI-17 helo can have seats for up to 24 passengers in the back and the length of the fuselage from tail to front windows is just over 60 feet.

Some of the yaks up in the Himalayas were pretty cool looking creatures. Many had been trimmed of some of their wool to make blankets, scarves etc but many more were in their full glory such as this majestic guy up at Gorak Shep posing with Nuptse and Everest mountains in the background. The yaks were far less excited about me than I was about the yaks.



For example, here I am on a small frozen lake sliding around like a jackass taunting a yak for no good reaason. The yak just looked at me strangely and walked away disgusted.
One time I tried to get Ali to jump on the back of a sleeping yak and see if he could ride it. My argument was that he may never come here again and be in the vicinity of an unsuspecting sleeping yak. It was an oppurtunity he may only get once in his lifetime. He should grab the bull by the horns as they say and climb right on that guy! His argument was that he'd prefer not to get gored by a yak deep in the Himalayas at such a young age. We called it a stalemate and kept hiking.





This is one of the looms they used up there to make the handknit scarves and shawls from yak wool. Similar looms are used for making some basic carpets as well as other things I am sure. In some areas you would pass a little old lady working on a scarf with a rack of finished products for sale nearby. It's all quite old school. It was actually quite funny sometimes to see the items for sale on the side of the trail. The last thing I need to buy when I am a seven days walk from the nearest road is a six in tall bronze statue of Buddha. Perhaps I am wrong but it's just one mans opinion.







Below is a typical small teahouse with yet another yak wandering about. These are the types of places we would stop to get lunch now and then on the treks. Perhaps just some hot tea. One place like this we had somosas for only 5 rupees each which is equivalent to about 3 or 4 cents a piece!