Cycling Across The Tibetan Plateau
Spring 2019

Where Lucille has been for the past 24 hours.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Namche Bazarre - How high do you climb each day?

Today is an acclimatization day in Namche, so we headed off to visit the hospital in Khunde, the school in Khumjung and the Everest View Hotel. Domhnall joined us for the trek, as we were chatting we moved from the back of the pack to the front and chatted with Tim. Then we just headed off ahead of the group and met up with them in town.


This is the inside of the hospital in Khunde. The first is Domhnall in the lab and on the second is the main exam room. The hospital has two physicians, one who was trained locally, and minimal equipment. Anyone that is sick enough just gets evacuated to Kathmandu.

The picture below was the view of Everest from the Everest View Hotel. I get a bit emotional when I see Everest, and I'm thinking that if all goes well I will be up there in mid-May. I try not to think about summiting, but rather to keep focused on the task at hand which is to stay healthy, eat and drink properly, sleep as much as I can and not use up my energy doing things I don't need to do. I think about the struggles yet to be faced, and wonder if I will be able to rise to the challenge when the time comes. One day at a time, one step at a time.....and you'll all be right there beside me helping me out along the way.

The next question is from Ecole Routhier in Falher.
How high do you climb each day?
It is very important not to climb too high too fast to prevent altitude sickness. We must acclimatize properly, get our body used to the thin air at altitude. The generally accepted rule is 300meters/day or 1000 feet/day, and every third day you take an extra day at that same altitude. For this reason you will notice that we are only trekking for 3-6 hours/day. Once we are on the mountain, the motto is climb high/sleep low. So that means I will go up to camp 1 come back down to base camp to sleep. Then the next day I may go up to camp one and spend the night. Then move to camp two the next day, then come back down to base camp.

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