A Few Pictures from Everest Trip

Lhasa

Potala Palace in Lhasa

Gyantse Kumbum Temple

Prayer wheels

Yamdrok Lake (sacred lake of Tibetans) from the summit of Kamba-la (4700 meters)

Yamdrok Lake

Road to Mt. Everest

First sight of Mt. Everest at Gyatso-la Pass

Switchbacks on road to Mt. Everest

Turn off to Mt. Everest (Qomolangma)

Rongbuk Monastery; Mt.Everest in clouds 

Base Camp:  from left to right, Janet, Claire and Paul

Mt. Everest

Mt. Everest; prayer flags

Mt. Everest sunset

Mt. Everest sunset; villager bringing in the yaks for the night

Mt. Everest sunset

Mt. Everest sunset

Mt. Everest sunset

Mt Everest at end of sunset

Mt. Everest sunrise

Mt. Everest sunrise; prayer flags

Paul touching the top of Mt. Everest

Claire hugging Mt. Everest

Our prayer flags (on white scarf)

Prayer flags on mountain

Final Blog (Pictures to follow)

We have arrived home safely, so I am using this last blog to tell you stories we could not write abroad and to attach some pictures with descriptions (separate blog). 

As it turns out, we could not hike or trek at Mt. Everest.  We were told that, several days before we arrived, someone set up a Tibetan flag at Base Camp.  Since Tibet is ruled by China, flying the Tibetan flag was apparently viewed by Chinese officials as a potential problem.  It is unclear who may have done this, but after the flag was placed, Mt. Everest Base Camp was closed to foreigners for several days.  We were among the first group of foreigners allowed in the park the first day it re-opened.  So, we counted our blessings that we could make it to Base Camp at all. 

As a result of the incident, however, we were told that we could not bring anything that was printed in English with us to Base Camp - not our journals, instruction manuals or, importantly for us, the prayer flags.  Since I was carrying a blackberry, I asked my office to move off all emails to a separate folder so that the phone essentially would have no English, but I would have a way to communicate (which we could, believe it or not, from the Mt. Everest area, although not from Base Camp itself).  Part of the issue here is that few Chinese officials read English letters (as you know, they have a different system of writing) and therefore, even if we could explain what it said, they could not confirm what we said was true.  The heightened security also resulted in multiple passport/visa reviews and a complete baggage check.  

For the same reason we were not able to trek anywhere.  When we got to Base Camp, we had a final security check and we were limited as to where we could walk - generally only within sight of the security check-point.  In the picture I will post of the three of us below the sign for the mountain (called Qomolangma), the sign is as far towards the hill that we were permitted to move.  On top of that, as you will see from the many clouds behind us in the picture, we could not see the top of Mt. Everest from the Base Camp.  At this point, we were consoling ourselves with the facts that at least the park had re-opened; that we had been able to get to the Base Camp; and that we saw the base of the mountain. 

As the blog for that day indicates, the temperature plummeted that evening, and with other weather changes, we had a spectacular view of the mountain at sunset and again at sunrise.  As it turns out, we think the pictures were best taken farther away from Base Camp.  In retrospect, the closing of the park and the requirement that we take the bus to Base Camp may have been a blessing in disguise since breathing at 18000 feet is a real challenge for those, like us, who spend their lives at sea level.  

As we left Tibet, we were told that Tibet was no longer issuing permits to Americans; this is apparently due to American aid to Tibet rather than the incident on the mountain.  Once more, we felt blessed to have been able to visit Tibet when we did. 

So, what happened to the prayer flags?  We did take all the prayers and wishes with us to Mt. Everest, placing them in God's hand and sending out best wishes to to world.  The actual prayer flags we strung on white scarves that had been given to us for good luck and safe travels.  We hung them with other prayer flags on the mountain.  Publicly, I am posting only the flags being placed so that the location remains unknown and the prayer flags stay in place.     

Thanks to the many people who have supported the Rainbow Climb for the Kids, including the many organizations who both supported and got word out to members:  Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital Foundation; Rainbow Circle of Friends; University Hospitals Directors, law and internal audit department colleagues; employees and friends; All Saints School; St, John Vianney Parish; my family and friends; members of In Counsel With Women; Knights and Dames of the Sovereign Order of St. John, Knights Hospitaller; and, Chagrin Valley Wellness Center.   I apologize in advance if I have missed anyone or any organization. 

Special thanks to Paul K:  as it turns out all blogs were blocked from China.  In anticipation of this (since it happened at the Olympics too), I had arranged to send emails to Paul who posted them  for us.  Special thanks too for the Circle of Friends staff who helped with prayer flags and getting the message out, especially Sharon, Meagan, Charlene and John.

Finally, one of the prayer flags from Rainbow thanked us for being their heroes.  It is not we who are the heroes here, it is the children whose health, safety and well being we wanted to advance.  It is they who face mountains every day and climb great heights to better health and healing.  It is children in the schools, like All Saints, who support and pray for their friends and advance the cause for children's health. 

I hope that the fact we successfully completed the quest for Mt. Everest means that the quest of all children for health and quick recoveries is met with equal success.  Blessing to you all and thanks again for your support.   

May 16, 2011

We decided to make the most of our limited time in Beijing and signed up for a tour.  First, we headed out to the Great Wall.  We are, apparently, all men now because we all climbed to the top of it (according to the words of Mao).  The wall was bigger than anticipated, it was more of a climb than mount everest.

Next, we headed to the jade factory.  We learned all about the process of making jewelry and such from jade. The sculptures made from jade were both very magnificent and very expensive.  Needless to say, we skipped buying jade things.   We had lunch at the jade factory as well, where we tried dozens of different Chinese foods.

Then, we saw the Ming tombs.  Think pyramids for emperors, only Chinese style. And HUGE.
Then, we all got a lesson in Chinese medicine, while getting foot massages, which we greatly needed after our hike up the Great Wall. We are all in great shape according to the doctors there.

Lastly, we saw the silk factory. The process of making things from silk is very intricate and time consuming.

While busing through Beijing, we also saw the Bird's Nest Stadium and Olympic Park.
Looking forward (sort of) to our 1 hour (technically 15 hour) flight  home!!!! ( The international date line makes the flight shorter than in actuality.)

May 15, 2011

We are off the train!!! Good thing because we had too much pent-up energy to have lasted much longer.

After arriving in Beijing, we took a minibus (dirty rickety van) to our hotel, which is quite extravagant compared to prior accommodations: it even  includes a modern bathroom facility in our 9th floor room. The hotel also is well-located relative to major sights.

After recuperating from our train and van rides, we spent 4 hours walking around the Forbidden City. We managed to use substantial amounts of the pent-up energy referenced above.  At the same time, given the sun beating down on the stonework at the city, we consumed vast amounts of water.  

The Forbidden City is actually a city with multitudes of palaces and gardens.  The woodwork and stonework are phenomenal.  With names like "The Gate of National Prosperity," "Palace of Peace and Harmony," "Hall of Imperial Peace," "Palace of Gathering Excellence," what is not to love about the moments spent in these places.   The gardens were rejuvenating; we felt much younger  after walking in the blazing sun for hours.

We returned to our hotel to refresh ourselves (take a shower after the 2 showerless nights and 3 Purell-filled days
We then went back out for further hours of walking as we sought a "real" Chinese restaurant.  We located a restaurant that appeared to be frequented by locals. While we had tasty sedate meals (Claire has mastered the art of eating with chopsticks), we did have the opportunity to view the meal options prepared from live fish, live frogs and pickled snakes.  We left the restaurant thinking that we had seen it all as it relates to food, but, oh, how mistaken we were.

As we walked back, we went through a decorated gate and found ourselves in "real" China.  Food offerings included live scorpions, seahorses, starfish, beetles, squid, and reptiles on a skewer. People were actually eating these delicacies!  Then there were the more traditional mussels, dumplings and candied fruit.  We took pictures since our appetites had already been satisfied in the restaurant.

We returned to the hotel where we had mango juice, jujube juice (tastes like a plum/date mixture) and celebrated Paul's passing his dental hygiene boards.  

We are looking forward to trekking on the Great Wall tomorrow using the great skills we honed on  Mt Everest.

May 14, 2011

We hit another milestone today for the three of us:  Claire's first train ride and the longest train ride for all of us.  They changed the engine after the Pass and high altitude and now the train is running on electricity.

We are back to more normal altitudes. Overnight they pumped in oxygen to our berth so that we could breathe more comfortably. This came with the warning not to smoke.  Even if it was honored at the time, now that the oxygen is off, we have wafts of cigarette smoke.  

The scenery today reminded us of the moon and Mars in terms of desolation. Consequently we were able to do a little reading and card playing.  

China clearly is in a building mode - we saw major construction everywhere. We saw mining for miles.  We could barely take a picture without a telephone or electrical pole in it. Originally, we referred to the picture obstacles as "perspective" but now we have lost that perspective with the number of poles in pictures.

Planting crops also is in progress. Here, however, planting all seems to be done by hand.

So far, China does not seem to have quite the scenic beauty of Tibet. We should be in Beijing tomorrow morning and beginning a whirlwind tour of the city before heading home.

May 13, 2011

We're blogging from the train as it passes over the highest point in its trek toward Beijing. This is the highest railroad in the world so we can check that off on our list of "ests".  On this trip we have seen the tallest Buddha, the highest mountain, the highest lake, and the biggest lake in Tibet.  

Our berth on the train, which is the best on the line, has 4 places to sleep. Close quarters does not begin to cover it. Claire and Paul, sitting opposite each other are knee to knee.  People run up and down the corridor to get hot water or use the facilities.

While we have four berths to sleep in, we anticipate sitting up to sleep as the bedding appears pre-used.

We had thought this would be a trip through the mountains but the area actually is a 5000 meter high plateau that seems to stretch for miles.  We have had a combination of sun and rain making the clouds picture perfect. We have seen all colors of rocks and soil including natural designs in colors on the mountains surrounding the plateau.    

We are looking forward to the remainder of our 2 day train ride.

May 12, 2011

Before leaving Shigatse, we visited the Tashilhukpo Monastery. It had the tallest Buddha in Tibet at 27.6 meters.  There were several other Buddha's housed under golden roofed pagoda-like structures.

We then took to the road for Lhasa. Let us pause here a minute to describe Tibetan driving. Each road has at least two lanes, one in each direction. The normal Tibetan driver steers his car (we saw no female drivers of cars) on the yellow stripe that separates the lanes.  This method makes it easy to pass slower vehicular devices, which may be a car, a motorcycle, a horse drawn cart, a tractor (or half tractor), large trucks and pedestrians.  Passing a vehicular device is always, always accompanied with at least one honk of the horn, thereby scaring the vehicular device off the road not to mention the three of us in the back seat.

Now there is the issue of oncoming traffic. Hopefully, there is room for your car to pull back into the correct lane. This does not always happen leading to major adrenaline rushes. We are writing from our hotel recuperating from the driving adventures.

Today, as we were descending one of the mountain passes we came upon a semi loaded with small tractors. It was unable to make the curve and was stuck, blocking traffic in both directions. While we did not see what the road crew did, they were able to push it off to the side sufficient for our car to squeeze by.

Tonight we are repacking our bags in anticipation of beginning our 3 day train ride through China to Beijing.

May 11, 2011

Yesterday, we drove from Shigatse to near base camp. Over 100 kilometers of the road was dirt, rock-strewn, rutted, dusty, muddy, snowy, winding, on the edge of cliffs roads. If you think you have the idea, you do not. We have never seen or been on so many switchbacks in our lives.

So, after 4 security checks, we made it to the area near the base camp. When we got there, we learned the park had been closed for the last 3 days and we were among the first visitors allowed in the park on this first day of reopening. We were thrilled to be able to make it.  From our drop off point we took a bus to the last security checkpoint, where we finally walked to base camp (maybe 30 steps or so since the range we were permitted to walk was limited).  Unfortunately the mountain was covered with clouds for the entire time we were there  and given our limited range in base camp we can't say much about it.

Having succeeded with the goal of reaching base camp and seeing Mt Everest, we returned to the monastery guest house for check-in and a brief respite. There was no heat, no running water; the one electric bulb hanging in the room worked only for a limited number of hours at night (and it was the new energy saving type of bulb too!) The outdoor facilities were in an area shared with yaks so we were sure to step carefully.

Luck was with us nonetheless because as the evening wore on, the temperature plummeted,  the wind picked up, and the clouds dispersed --- then we had a spectacular-beyond-words view of Mt Everest (called Qomolangma here), including an equally spectacular sunset.  Climber Paul touched the top of Mt Everest while Climber Claire hugged it;  Climber Janet has the pictures to prove it. After a while, Climbers Claire and Paul ran in and out of the social center of the guesthouse to snap pictures, while Climber Janet trekked down the road for pictures.

We went to our freezing rooms and tried to find a way to stay warm. In general we were not particularly successful but we did manage to catch a few hours of sleep with our camera batteries in our sleeping bags, which we had to keep warm so we could take more pictures.  The battery for the blog was left out and had to be recharged later in the day   We did have to visit the yak yard during the night and use a head lamp for sure footed steps.  The outing gave us a great opportunity to see the millions of stars in this region.  The Milky Way was brilliant.

We arose early in the morning to catch the sunrise on Mt Everest. It too was spectacular-beyond-words. We watched the sunlight gradually rise on the mountain for over an hour.  We  then started our trek back to Shigatse. The weather continued to be cold so we also were able to see Mt Everest, and its five sisters, as well as other mountains,  from one of the passes.

We use words like "spectacular" and we have probably taken over 200 pictures of Mt Everest and still it is hard to imagine the beauty of this area. It simply is unbelievably beautiful.

As we write this, we are in Shigatse and return to Lhasa tomorrow.

May 10, 2011 3:54AM EST

We are at base camp!!!!

May 10, 2011 Update 12:57AM EST

We have seen the mountain should be there in a few hours...

May 9, 2011

After leaving our hotel at 6:30 am, we began our travel toward Mt Everest. We traveled a over 200 miles on winding roads, some of which were dirt. We crossed over the top of one mountain at Kumpala Pass (about 5000 meters) before plunging back down towards Yamdrok Yumtso Lake, a beautiful turquoise colored lake that  is sacred to the Tibetan people. It is said that, should its waters dry, Tibet will no longer be habitable. It is a very long lake (over 100 kilometers); we drove by its side for over an hour and the continued to see rivers and streams from it even after that.  We also stopped to see the Karola Glacier.

Farming and planting are in full swing now that it is spring. The small fields are either turned by hand or plowed with horses or yaks.  Lots of building in process, again by hand.

They have a turnpike system here. Periodically, the driver has to stop to have his ticket checked by the authorities to see if he drove too quickly along a particular stretch of road.  No problems so far in that regard.

We stopped at the Pelkhor monastery to see its giant Kumbum Pagoda. It has an Indian design with more ornately decorated Buddha figures and more yak butter candles.

Tonight we are reducing what we take to Mt everest to one duffle bag for all 3 of us.

May 8, 2011

Today we took some time to acclimatize to the higher altitude.  We drank more water and tried not to run up the more than 500 steps to and around Potala Palace (we walked). We managed quite well and are ready for our trek to Mt. Everest.

We also visited Jokhang Temple. Both the temple and the Palace had many Buddhist gods and murals. The tomb of the 5th Dalai Lama at Potala Palace  had over 7000 pounds of gold, had a pearl from the brain of an elephant, and was otherwise ornate. They use yak butter for their candles and now we all smell like yaks. We also tried yak butter tea and pizza with yak cheese. Not our favorite cuisine and thus we plan to try other options at our next meal.

We spent time in the native market buying a few things. We have developed excellent negotiation skills.

May 7, 2011

We have arrived in Lhasa, Tibet.

As we drove from the airport to the city, we saw the Yarlong Tsangpo River, the longest river in Tibet and the oldest Buddha carved into the mountainside (12th Century).  The mountains here are brown and seem to have a lot of sand. With the high winds that sometime blow, a lot of the people wear masks.

Driving here was the riskiest part of the trip thus far. While stoplights exists here they are simply ignored. Passing cars can occur at any time, including times when cars are headed toward you. People drive on the lane markers straddling two lanes.

Outside our hotel window is a city bazaar. Lots of interesting things being sold.  The smell of certain herbs wafts through the air.

The high altitude has not affected Climber Claire but both Climber Janet and Climber Paul are nursing headaches. We have tamed the headaches with aspirin.

We all believe that one of the greatest inventions is the toilet which needs further discovery here.

Travel Update

Our flight to Shanghai was delayed in take off but the flight was smooth and uneventful. We are now in Shanghai (they are 12 hours ahead so it is night here). Tomorrow we leave our hotel at about 4 am to get to the airport for our next flight to Lhasa. We have our permits for Tibet and are ready to go.

May 5, 2011

The three climbers left Cleveland at 4:30am, and arrived in JFK airport at 8:45am. The flight out to Shanghai is at 4:30. We look forward to getting out of the airport, planning fun activities for the,long flight. Climber Paul is full from lunch and relaxing. Climber Claire and Janet are doing the same.

Today, May 4, we are finishing our packing. Here we are, the three intrepid trekkers, showing off more prayer flags. Claire is raising funds for Sunshine Children's Home in Toledo where she lives. You can check out her site listed below. 

Paul says he feels like a real tourist - he has all the trappings:  camera, tour book, hiking boots and the fashionable fanny pack.

  



 

http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/clairekonieczny/mounteverest

These are some of the prayer flags that we will be taking with us to Base Camp.  In Tibet, prayer flags have either words or pictures of prayers and are hung on lines on the mountain.  We are about a dozen flags in the colors used by the Tibetan people:  red, blue, white, green and yellow.  We will hang these flags on the mountain with other flags already there, combining them with the prayer flags of the world. 

Thank you All Saints School for supporting the Climb for the Kids, praying for the climb and for the children at Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. 

Thanks to all the families at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital who added their prayers and wishes. families.   

Thanks to all the University Hospitals employees, physicians, Board members, friends, families and many others who heard of the Climb and wanted to be part of it by signing the prayer flags, adding prayers and supporting the climb to raise funds for the kids.  

Thanks to everyone who is making this Climb for the Kids an adventure for all of us.  We will conquer childhood cancers, we will help children feel better and let sisters and brothers come home to their

The Climb is for the Kids!!! 

We begin May 5