PAUL MORGAN’S DIARY OF

THE MILLENNIUM TREK TO ASCEND

MERA PEAK IN THE NEPALESE HIMALAYAS

In 1997, The Sqn approached a number of cadets, with the thought of the possibility of going to Nepal to celebrate the Millennium and climb Mera Peak in the Himalayan mountain range.  The response was good and then the plans began from there.  A large sum of money was required to finance this dream so a big fundraiser was started to collect the money required.  A lot of work by the Cadets and Staff mainly, went into progress, and as this diary explains, we reached our goal of going to Nepal on the 21st September 2000.

Day 1 - 8

DAY 1                                                                                                               21/09/00

FLY LONDON TO KATHMANDU

I was glad to be leaving, but very apprehensive of the trip that lay ahead (In fact I would be lying if I said I was not really worried at this point).  The trip was unusually running on schedule with no traffic problems before Heathrow.  We met Di Gilbert here, for the first time, and she was the group leader sent from Jagged Globe (Scottish, short, blonde and nothing like her picture in the Jagged Globe magazine).  The flight was with Qatar airlines, and was suprisingly good and comfortable for a Middle Eastern airline.  (I was expecting to be hijacked or something).  Doha in Qatar where we stopped was boiling (about 110° in the shade).  The second half of the flight was on a much smaller and more cramped plane and I failed in getting any sleep on this flight.

DAY 2                                                                                                               22/09/00

ARRIVE KATHMANDU

We landed in Kathmandu in the evening, so it was still light when we got off the plane.  Getting our bags in the airport was very daunting, and also this is where we met Drew Forbes our other Jagged Globe representative.  It was worse outside the airport, with children running up to us trying to push our trolleys for money.  What a huge culture shock for the system!  Driving to the Summit hotel, we went through probably the most deprived and pvery stricken environment I have ever been in.  Ot was a 20 minute drive, and it was shanty town nearly all the way.  The children ran up to us and shouting “bon bon” which means “food” and asked for money.  They even opened the windows on the bus, asking for money (I just wanted to be out in the hills!).  Also we just found out that on the internal flight we were only allowed to take 15Kg of our 30Kg kit bags, (I had enough trouble cutting my kit down to 30Kg so I was really worried with this news.  I almost fell ill, like I didn’t want to be there).

On arrival at the Summit Hotel we had a very nice welcome greeting of a flower garland and some local fire water which was like rocket fuel.  The hotel was very nice I though, and this made me feel better.  We spent all evening and night packing and re-packing until we all managed to cut back our kit to 15Kg.  (I, and a few other of the boys had about 1 hour sleep the whole night which added up to about 5 hours in the last 48 hours.  Not the best start to the trek.  “I was really cheesed off.”).

DAY 3                                                                                                               23/09/00

FLY TO LUKLA (2840m)

We had a wake up call at the hotel for a 5.00am breakfast.   I wasn’t very hungrey, through lack of sleep, so I ate nothing.  In the airport I was wearing most of my kit, the same as the others, yet we still weighed in other weight and it cost us about £40 to get the bags on the plane.  Money solves everything especially in a country like this.  The flight to Lukla was awesome, with some stunnin views of the Himalayan mountain range.  The flight lasted about 45 minutes.  I, for the first time on the trip was really enjoying myself.  The landing at Lukla was excellent fun.

At Lukla I felt sick as a dog, and really tired but I managed to have a walk around and write a postcard home.  We got ready in the Yeti Lodge and this was where we met the sherpas and porters.  (They were very small)  We got our kit packed up and gave it to the porters, they were amazing, simply amazing.  I could not believe the amount of weight these men are going to carry (about 30Kg each) I was gobsmacked.  We all set off in good spirits but very tired.  The walk was never ending and I felt like turning back at one point.  The campsite was a welcoming sight to see but I was exhausted.  I struggled to eat, but managed a little.  I was glad to go to bed that night.  I was sharing a tent with Christian Wilkins who unfortunately had got a terrible cold.

DAY 4                                                                                                               24/09/00

TREK TO PANGKONGMA. (2485m)

I was woken with “morning tea” by one of the kitchen staff at about 6am and I felt a bit better after a reasonable nights sleep, considering the intense snoring by Chris next to me.  We had some porridge for breakfast which was more like gruel I think.  Kingsley had developed bronchitis and almost thought of pulling out so early in the trek.  Judy wasn’t much better either.  We all carried on though, and I seen some sights in the villages we past throught which I will never forget for the rest of my life, and they made me think how lucky I really am.

We had chips for lunch and I didn’t find the day as hard as the one before.  The area we was walking in was very wet and leech infested.  The campsite was still a very welcome sight at the end of the day, but we were told that tomorrow would be harder.

DAY 5                                                                                                               25/09/00

TREK TO NASHING DINGMA (2600m)

Awoke to find out that Tim had caught a cold which I think he was gutted about.  We had a wonderful view of a snow capped mountain in the distance which was breath taking.  We had a big uphill pull to start, and it lasted about an hour.  At the top, I opened  pack of sweets, which I found was a bit of a moral booster.  We had a decent of about 1000ft after that and I thought it was gonig to be murder on the knees, but it was ok.  Half way down the decent, there was a shop and I bought a bottle of Coca Cola which was stunning.  At the bottom of the valley there as a big rope bridge like something out of Indiana Jones.  It was great fun walking across it, but some people didn’t enjoy it so much.  The temperature was about 85°F and we still hadn’t had lunch.  We started a big 1400ft climb which was very steep.  We had lunch about ¾ hour into the climb, but the food wasn’t very appetising to my pallet.  Judy and King’s were really struggling with the pull and were at the back all day.  It took about 2½ hours to complete the climb, but I felt really good.  I felt the best I had all trek, on one of the hardest days so far.

DAY 6                                                                                                               26/09/00

TREK TO CHALEM KHARKA (3580m)

It rained last night, but was ok to start off in the morning.
We had a 300ft climb to start, and the group did surprisingly well, including King’s who seemed to be getting over his bronchitis.  We climbed to over 3600m which was the highest we had been to so far and you could tell as my breathing was a little tight but I was generally feeling strong.  Tim was finding it increasingly hard to breathe.  The £3 umbrella came in more use than the £180 waterproof jacked which I found amazing.  Tim and Martin also brought umbrellas and we had never though of using them in the UK.  We stopped for a drink in a shop, and Tim, King’s and Mike tried picking up one of the porters packs in turn.  They all struggled.  At lunch the staff had a discussion and the younger people were not involved, and this made a few of us angry as were supposed to be a team with team decisions, but later I found out that it was about the lack of eating by David, so they could hardly leave him out and talk to the rest of the team.  The whole group can’t wait for the day off after tomorrow, a reasonable day.

DAY 7                                                                                                               27/09/00

TREK TO PANCH POKARI (4400m)

We had and early morning tea at 5.30am.  It was a nice morning.
Half way up the first ascent, Tim decided he needed to go for a number 2 and went over to a rocky outcrop to do the dirty deed.  Martin proceeded to follow him with a camera which I found highly amusing, and he caught Tim with his trousers down for want of a better word.  Getting towards the top of the climb the team which started out strong in the morning, was not struggling with the altitude.  It is amazing how 400ft can make such a difference.  Tim who I have buddied up with for the day because we are similarly matched in acclimatising is now really struggling with his chest.  I’m finding it relatively easy now compared to Tim.  Some of the team are now beginning to suffer with headaches as well.  From 4000m it was all gently down hill form there and the team was doing relatively well, but Judy was flagging quite a bit at this stage.  We walked past the lake and down into a U-shaped valley where the campsite was.  Everybody was glad to reach it.  I know Gareth, Lynn and Judy were really struggling getting into the campsite.  After dinner we had a game of cards and I think everybody perked up a bit.

DAY 8                                                                                                               28/09/00

ACCLIMATISATION AND REST DAY

This was the rest day the whole team wanted and needed I think.  We woke up at 8am instead of the usual 6.30am and it was quite a nice day.  There was a river for washing our clothes and body in (it was a freezing mountain stream) which I did, but other than that it was a nice laid back day in hich we conserved our energy.  Tim, Martin and I got to know Pemba, one of the sheraps quite well and he wrote some translations down for us.  At about mid-day, the mist rolled in as it did this time everyday, and it went quite cold.  In the night it got so cold I used my down jacket.  Everybody enjoyed the day and looked forward to the next rest day as this was the team motiviation I think.  Personally, I was getting more and more focused on the top of the mountain, and how pround my parents would be of me, if I reach the summit.