My Trek to the Everest Base Camp- Part 3

Himalayas become a wishful dream in our heads for the next few years. 10 Things to do before we Die.

But, Time was running by us. And our bodies were changing more than we liked. Moving to Bangkok and getting acclimatized to The Joys of a Live-In Maid had made my body Himalayan as well. It had become commonplace  for acquaintances to congratulate me on my  Pregnancy! Bangkok –and middle age - got to Ajit as well. In spite of keeping up with the running and the marathons, he packed on a few pounds – and punctured his vanity when had to trade his trouser sizes upwards a couple of times. This was when Ajit remembered the Himalayan Trek again. He had lost oodles of weight on his Annapurna Circuit trek a decade earlier and convinced me that a nice long trek would be the key to Quick Weight Loss. Utopia was just a short flight away.

We were still just talking in the air, when an unexpected event forced us to Commit. Our – Worth Her Weight In Gold-nanny informed us that she was getting married. Leaving us and moving to Phuket. How would we leave Trayi behind if Seema quit ? Nothing like a maid crisis to get your butt moving. We had six months. Till December 2011. It was Now or Never.

We quickly agreed on the basics. We would leave Trayi (our daughter) in Bangkok, with the nanny and Ajit’s parents (who sweetly agreed). We would visit the Big Guy, Everest. We would do the 15 day Everest Base Camp Tea House Trek, in October-November 2011 -the peak climbing season. As agreed several years ago, I would hire a porter.

Shopping for the trek was like a treasure hunt. One you paid through your nose for and spent one month on. And needed modern day encyclopedia –Google – to decrypt. We needed Gore-Tex Hiking Boots, quick dry and sweat proof underwear, track-pants and tops; thermals; fleece jackets; Down subzero sleeping bags, head gear, sun tan, moisturizers, cap, sunglasses, torch, IPods, mobile phones, penknives, camera, trekking poles, medicines for stomach ache, fever, altitude sickness. And lastly, our guide for the trip-Lonely Planet.

After we had managed to collect everything we needed-from around the world –literally, we would have the impossible job of fitting everything we needed into one backpack each. Because we would carry all our belongings on our backs (in my case, the porter’s back) through the trip. You needed to take everything, but it all had to be as little as possible, as light as possible. Because when you are climbing, every pound matters. Actually, every ounce matters.

All was going according to plan. I had even trained a little with my trainer for the trek.The trip now seemed an absolute certainty. But building up in the background was the worst flood that Thailand-and Bangkok had ever seen. The world’s fourth largest natural disaster (in terms of financial damage) till date. As per Wikipedia at least.

As our travel date –October 21- grew closer, I grew jittery. The floods had gotten worse. We were planning to leave 2 old parents unfamiliar with Bangkok, a 5 year old child and a nanny to manage by themselves in the worst natural crisis Bangkok had ever seen. Much of Bangkok was already under water. There was a real threat of water coming to Sukhumvit. To our building, as well as scores of other buildings. Drinking water had begun to empty off super-market shelves. So had food grains, and other necessities. There was panic buying all around. And a lot of uncertainty.

And we were headed to a place where there would only be sporadic phone connectivity. There would be no transport, no roads;no way to get back quickly in case of a crisis. At our furthest point, we would be 5 days away from getting to Bangkok. And that would be the fastest possible.

It again seemed like Things Beyond Our Control were taking over. If there ever was a Bad Time to go, it was now. Everest could wait. There would be another time.

But Ajit was now like a horse with blinders. He could only see the Everest. It was going to be Now.