Every journey has to start somewhere and our expedition, to play rugby on Everest, started in the not so small city of Cheng Du in China after a surprisingly decent flight out with Air China.
From Cheng Du we flew to Lhasa in Tibet landing at an already impressive altitude of around 3700m. Lhasa is the seventh highest city in the world and it certainly felt it. Heavy legs and light-headedness seemed par for the course with the early signs of altitude sickness rearing its ugly head for many. Although not particuarly high the jump from Cheng Du at 500m to Lhasa was quite a shock to the system and I certainly struggled to sleep, waking throughout the night and popping a few paracetamol to fight off the headache lurking menacingly in background.
We spent our first day in Lhasa exploring, with a visit to the Potala Palace. First we walked around the mound watching hundreds of people spinning the prayer wheels in an amazing display of faith. They all seemed interested in us, we seemed to be something of a novelty, and the handshakes and smiles that were exchanged seemed to breach the language barrier. We then made our way up to the top which involved a fairly lengthy climb up the ancient stone steps to the red and white palace buildings of the Dalai Lama’s former winter home. The building was huge with dozens of rooms full of monuments to previous Dalai Lamas but what struck me was the huge amount of money being stuffed into the numerous donation boxes. This didn’t sit well with me, I guess I see it as religion exploiting poor people for its own gain.
From Lhasa we travelled by road to Gyangtse. The road meandered up to a height of over 5000m with spectacular views down over Emerald Lake. The views were incredible and are only a taster of what is to come. The passes were full of the prayer flags which decorate much of the Tibetan plateau. They were complemented by all kinds of animals displayed proudly by their owners. It was the first time many of the party had seen the famous Tibetan Mastiff, a gorgeous and rare breed of dog that resembles a Lion. We took time to wander around the little stalls that seem to be part of everyday life in Tibet and fill the mountain passes on the roads into the Himalaya. From there we dropped down again to Gyangtse and our accommodation for the night.
The next morning we walked from the hotel up to the ancient Gyangse Dzong fortress in the centre of this historic settlement. The view from the top was breathtaking, the air crisp and clear. Legend has it that it is is the same view that the last of the fort’s defenders had, when faced with starvation by the invading British forces in 1903; they chose to throw themselves from the top rather than surrender. A sobering moment highlighted by the incredible statues depicting the inhabitants’ last stand.
Leaving the fort we made our way down to the waiting vehicles for the two hour tranfer to the next stop in the acclimatisation process, a place called Xigatse at 4000m. In the afternoon after we arrived we all had a bit of down time learning how to breathe again (my o2 saturation levels were around 84% at this point) and I sat watching the film Meru with Ollie and Huw wondering what the next few days would hold for us.
We start pushing the altitude from here on in and have another short trek tomorrow, before heading to our last stop before Base Camp at 5200m, and the start of the expedition proper. I am finding perspective in much of what I have seen so far: this is a beautiful country with some of the friendliest people I have ever had the privilege of meeting. There is so much I don’tknow or understand about this part of the world and it feels like I am the one who is the poorer for it.
Meeting the Tibetan people and seeing first hand how some of them live reminded me that the cause of helping disadvantaged children is not solely limited to the incredible work of Wooden Spoon in the UK. It also reminded me how lucky I am to be here.
As I relaxed the following day in the luxury of the Low Wood Spa I was pleased that progress has been made. I knew I was still overweight but recognised that I was at least fitter than I had been after years of sedentary life, injuries, surgery and all the associated self pity that inevitably goes with it. There was certainly some more work needed in the gym and it was vital I got back on the hill as soon as I could spare the time.
Deano's World 