My Trek to the Everest Base Camp-Part 10

The gagging stopped. But ascending was Not An Option. Balaram was clear. We were in the midst of nothingness. There was nowhere to go. Just that lone teahouse in Orsho – where we had just had lunch. A kilometer away. Standing like a Lighthouse in an ocean of arid landscape. We headed back there. The tears were still flowing. Anger, Frustration, Disappointment, were all making their way out. And so were the Words. Which my husband bore silently. My punching bag. For no fault of his.

We stayed back at Orsho for the night. Just us, another couple from Germany, and the owners – a matriarch and her 2 daughters. And the howling wind.

Why Me ? I wondered ? Not fit enough ? But then I saw the uber-fit German man holed up with us –for the exact same reason. AMS.

AMS is like an evil witch. She seeks importance- a lot of it, and expects servility and respect from everybody who enters Her domain in the High Mountains. The higher you go, the more powerful She gets. Want to know Her power ? Try getting to the Everest by helicopter. Open the helicopter door and walk out –happy you have reached so high with no effort at all. You will drop dead instantly. AMS would have taken you. Every trekker plans for Her arrival. But, it is not the fattest one, nor the fittest one, She fingers. She picks Her targets randomly. Some, She just scares a little, some She troubles a lot more, and just so you never think She is benign- She keeps a few, never to return. She is the nightmare of trekkers and rescue teams alike. We heard rescue helicopters above us several times every day. Scurrying to take those hurt by Her to safer havens.

She shows Her presence in many ways, and  usually warns you by just hurting you mildly, at first. Sometimes, if you show Her respect, descend a little, and wait for Her to pass, She will forgive you. If you ignore Her and decide to push further anyways, Be Warned. Do at your own risk. AMS is vengeful.

At Orsho, after gagging me for a while, She vanished. Vanquished, we mistakenly assumed. So we decided we would continue our journey to Periche the next day. Besides, we would have an extra day in Periche to get acclimatized- to lie low so She will not trouble us again. We woke up early on Day 7 and made our way to Periche. AMS did not return.  It was bright, sunny, cold and beautiful. We reached quickly- in a couple of hours.

Sitting cozily next to a (currently dry) river bed, and tucked in a vale between 2 mountain ranges, sat Periche. I thought I had seen it all with Tengboche, but Periche was something else. Windy. Austere. Stark. Simple. Breathtaking. With the bluest of blue skies and the white mountain peaks rising behind it, Periche in itself was worth this entire trip.

Periche seemed larger than Tengboche, in both size and imagination. Periche had a small medical facility, a helipad for emergency evacuations, a research centre,  some shops and the best teahouse the entire trail had to offer.  It was also, obviously, chillier(daytime temperature with wind-chill was below freezing)  and windier here than any other place on the trail yet. Stone walls lined every teahouse- every plot of land in this village. To break the wind’s fall, in the absence of trees, apparently.  

We headed to our tea-house The Himalayan Hotel. The minute I entered, I knew I was in a mountain palace. With its wooden, glass topped, sundeck; carpeted hallways; western toilets; hot water baths- this was teahouse heaven. We reached the hotel when the last batch of trekkers had left and the next batch had not yet arrived. We had the hotel to ourselves, almost. We showered in hot water, washed clothes, relaxed in the sun room, ordered from their bakery, borrowed books from the small library, and checked email on the owner’s laptop. This was the first day it felt like normal vacations usually do. Comfortable, Cozy Warm. And we had 2 full days of this-Day 7 and Day 8. Pure Indulgence.

But checking mail and checking the news after several days brought its own downsides. I got sucked into the world back home. The flood situation seemed to have worsened. Some friends had left town to escape the worst. The water could come to  Sukhumvit any day now. And there was the risk of the airport been shut off. I reconfirmed the situation on the millionaire owner’s private  TV.  I wanted to get back home to my baby immediately. I had seen enough, done enough. I wanted to go home. Now. I felt guilty, torn, like I was abdicating my responsibility. But Ajit wanted to go on. We were so near now- just 2 days away- that Ajit wanted to complete what he started. Race horse with Blinders!

We decided to leave the decision to my husband’s parents. We made them an urgent call. Despite their nervousness (as I later found out) – they urged us to continue. I considered the option of letting Ajit complete, while I stayed on at Periche. We would save time as he was faster. But my Mind whispered a taunt ‘ You want to give up, don’t you?’.

‘I Do Not’ I screamed back. ‘Why would I, after everything I have been through?’ ‘Maybe you are afraid’ He countered. He was right. I was. Afraid and nervous. But I could not let Him know. So I lied back ‘No I am Not’.

Afraid or not, I had come too far to stop now.  We had travelled around 40 k.ms already ( distance estimates all from the WWW, taken right now), and ascended 1.5 k.ms vertically over the last one week. We only had 2 more night stops : Lobuche(4940), and then one at Gorak Shep (5164) with a quick day-trip to Kala Patthar. So Close. And AMS had been Vanquished. I got ready for Day 9.

But She lay there quietly, waiting for the final battle. AMS.