T-minus 0 days and counting to Everest Trek....wahhh? oh crap. I'm in no physical state to even think about it, considering my hotel room in Kathmandu is on the 5th floor and thats verging on 'strenuous' for me at the moment. Anyway, thats never been enough to stop me in the past from putting myself through days of climbing hills and mountains, for no other reason than the scenery is 'nice' and the famous ''why not?'' approach.

The thing is, this trek will be two weeks long (at least..) and will have between 5 and 8hrs of walking/crawling a day. Most i've ever done has been 6 days jungle trekking in Indonesia, followed by another 5 days there after a much needed break - but that was more hacking your way through the jungle and going up the odd big hill. I'll have to check distances but I think its about 80km of hiking (as the crow flys) in the Everest Region, but that is nothing when you also have to consider the countless ups and downs of the climbing involved, and the number one factor for this sort of trek : the altitude. Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) is almost enivitable on this trek, everyone at least gets some of the symptoms and its up to me and my guide to really make sure that its only the milder side of it that I experiance, as it can and does kill trekkers every year. Anyone going above 2000m but usually people at 2300-2400m will usually develop symtoms, ranging from all the usual lovely stuff like headaches, nausea, vomitting and insomia etc etc etc. So I'm prepared for that. Its the more serious stuff I'm gona have to be really carefull about, HAPE and HACE (cant remember what they stand for...but they cant be pretty) froms of the sickness will kill you as fluid accumulates in your brain and lungs and you basiclly drown after slipping into a coma etc. But that only occurs at altitudes over 3000m..

So yeah, Everest Base Camp stands at a nice 5380m above sea level, and while that technically is my goal, it isnt really as you cant actually see Everest well from there, so we are going to ascend the nearby small trekking peak of Kala Pattar and from the summit there (5550m or 5643m depending on where we stop on it) we will get the real views of Everest (or Chomolungma - 'mother of the Universe' as the Tibetans call it..I like this way better!) and its surrounding peaks. Nepalis also call it Sagarmatha or 'brow of the sky', or something.

So, all in all it should take 15 days, but theres room there for an extra 2-3 days depending on how well we acclimatise to the altitude and how slowly we may need to ascend. There are rest days in the middle at specific altitudes to make sure our bodies adjust well, and afterall, theres no real rush so it will take aslong as it takes i guess. It is the superfit showoffs who powerwalk up to high altitdues carelessly who are, 99% of the time, the ones who end up with AMS and worse.

Oh, almost forgot, I did a short 5 day day trek in the Annapurna range last week to try to break myself in easy to trekking again. Was a simple camping trek in the foothills of the Annapurna range, up a valley to a village called Siklis. Weather was pretty pants the whole time and couldnt see the mountains in the distance, but the 'hills' (we call them mountains back home) were amazng and I met alot of cool locals and exchanged photos, crayons and stamps with.

A few key things which i learnt and will now take on baord for my trek tomorrow;

• Theres nothing worse than having to put on wet socks in the morning
• Leeches are part of the fun. Let the little guys eat your leg in peace ya know?
• Chocloate. The question of ''what am i going to do with a 24 multipack of Mars Bars?'' is wrong, it should be ''How many Mars Bar multipacks can i buy with *insert balance of bank account here* ?''
• Suncreme, for goodness sake, bring sun creme you idiot.
• Bring more plasters, insect creme and a toothbrush. Toothpaste on its own isnt much use without a brush Andrew.

Right, enough of all this, I'm off to pack my Yeti hunting gear and prepare mentally for my trek tomorrow by medidating on my hotel rooftop...

Wish me luck! I'm gona need it me thinks

Andi, Sherpa Extraordinare 2007