Updates From Everest Tumpach Everest Base Camp by Tomorrow Friday, October 17, 1997 (Pheriche, Nepal) I did not have a source of electricity after we left the village of Tengboche, known for its MONASTERY. We left the village with the same three local porters who carried our 115 kg of cameras and electronic equipment to PANGBOCHE village, one-and-a-half hours away. We were hoping that my Sherpa from the EVEREST -TIBET Expedition would follow us until he cuts from us. Unfortunately he did not show up yet. We were waiting for him and four porters in PANGBOCHE until yesterday. We've done all the filming around the village and at the old MONASTERY in upper PANGBOCHE, which most trekkers miss because the main trail to EVEREST BC from NAMCHE BAZAR is five minutes bellow the upper village. I want to recommend to trekkers to make this detour and visit the upper village and the MONASTERY. From there, you will get a beautiful view of AMA DABLAM, the lower village and the farming fields separated by stone walls like in SCOTLAND and IRELAND. The Tea houses and the FOOD in the upper village are also much better. The best Tea house and food is in "MAKALU LODGE." It is the first lodge you come to on the trail from the lower village. At PANGBOCHE, there is no POWER so I could not write you the NEWS. Yesterday I made the decision to hire two YAKS and continue our journey to EVEREST BASE CAMP right away. We already lost time due to waiting two days and we cannot lose any more days. This morning we loaded up the YAKS with our bags; each Yak can carry 60 kg so there was no problem to load our 115 kg of electronics. Actually I carried the large 15kg SONY Digital camera and the Yak man carried our NEC VERSA 6050 computer. I could not take the chance to have it on the YAK because the YAK can sometimes be unpredictable and I am speaking from Experience. YAKS are very smart and when they're tired they look for the big boulders or stone walls to rub the load off their backs; they stop and rest until the YAK man fixes it. Coming back from EVEREST Advance Base Camp in TIBET, we had, in our 12 YAK team, two really smart ones and every big boulder they went by, they rubbed our bags until they fell off or got badly ripped. They delayed us for two-and-a-half hours. We left PANGBOCHE, elevation 1200 feet at 10am and our destination was the ITALIAN Research Center, also know as "PYRAMID", elevation 16700', because it is built in a pyramid shape. It is located one half hour past the village of LOBUCHE, elevation 16200', and until this year, the tourists were not welcome there. It is ten minutes from the main trail to EVEREST Base Camp and it was very hard to detect the trail. The "PYRAMID" was built by the ITALIAN and NEPALI governments as a HIGH ALTITUDE research center. This year they EXPANDED and build new hotel with electricity in front of it. It is built very well and is ALPINE-style inside. It is also very EXPENSIVE compared to the NEPALI standard. They can accommodate 25 people and most of the clients are ITALIAN; one night in a private room for two =1250 RUPEES, compared to old and cold T house without power =50 RUPEES. The food is also more expensive, but much better quality- so you get what you pay for. We arrived at 5:30pm after stopping for a good lunch at PHERICHE, elevation 14500'. Today we gained 4700' in elevation and the only reason we could do it is -WE ARE acclimatized from EVEREST, where we reached 7800m and spent almost one month at 21500'. PLEASE DO NOT TREK FAST in NEPAL; it is very DANGEROUS. Being in a HURRY in the mountains of NEPAL can be DEADLY and every year between 20 and 25 people die while trekking on the most popular trekking routes. Rescue missions by the ROYAL NEPALESE ARMY cost around $6000US; regular rescues for minor problems will cost you, on average, $1200 to $2000 per flying hour. Tomorrow, Oct. 18, we will reach EVEREST Base Camp. What is happening there we will find out tomorrow. The FRENCH and SPANISH left and there are only two EXPEDITIONS left -- two ITALIANS- JAPANESE and KOREAN- all climbing Mt. LHOTSE. The latest reports from two days ago are that the two ITALIANS are on the mountain and the Japanese and Koreans are in BC. We will not be able to send you any message because we do not know if any of the remaining teams have a generator. The only communication we will have is out SAT. phone and if there is anything very important we will phone you. — George Tumpach PREVIOUS UPDATE | UPDATES HOME | NEXT UPDATE