OK, well, not quite the next stop.   Next destination….next goal.   I’m not sure really how to phrase this one.  It’s not quite as easy as booking a ticket and showing up.  My ticket to Kathmandu is booked.   My ticket to Lukla is booked.   Then it gets harder.   It’s all on foot after that.  117 kilometres on foot, to be exact.    It’s not the distance I find intimidating.  It’s the fact that the first nine days of our 15 day trek through the Nepali Himalayas is up.  A really long way up.

Everest Base Camp sits at 5,364 metres above sea level (that’s 17,598 feet for those of you still working in imperial).    I live at something like 110 metres above sea level.    The highest point in my city is a whopping 211 metres above sea level.    A minor difference in altitude and a major question mark on this trip.    Altitude can be fatal, if not respected.   Luckily, there are a number of strategies that will assist with acclimating to the altitude.   One of them is time, another is Diamox.   I will use both as prescribed.   I will also be praying a lot, channeling positive energy.   Whatever you want to call it, I will be doing it.   I figure it can’t hurt.   And in the meantime, I’m training like a fiend.   But that’s another post.

The View from Here…