16.4.2007
So our second night at Advance Base Camp is over! I slept very well and am feeling full of energy again! My body has no choice – it simply doesn’t resist anymore. But our state of health is also in no small tribute to the great care of our cook. He offers us grilled tuna or orange (orangish!) salmon, fried potatoes, popcorn, omelet with vegetables and some very unhealthy toast, compensated for by fruit, muesli or porridge, and to finish, ginger tea - with milk! (It’s kind of our compensation for the lack of oxygen!) Servings are small, it smells enticing, but my stomach is shrinking anyway! Oh, and we also have a magical recipe for the rock hard, frozen fruit “gun balls” – You simply peel the orange or apple, toss them into the boiling water – leave to simmer, and then they’re really yummy!
Mornings are fantastic here because the temperature is almost zero, the sun is shining, and you can start to enjoy life again! This morning we took a one hour trek to look around the first base camp of the Olympic team. You can see the Chinese flags everywhere. I think that there are almost 200 in their contingent. They are everywhere like bees and everyone is doing or taking care of something or somebody! I really don’t know how they are coping with the weather. During the afternoon the sky clouds over, the wind gets up and it brings snow. As a result, the morning temperature inside the tent is a really uncomfortable -15°C.
We have managed to build a fabulous toilet-tent - complete with a seat (but it will remain simply a homely reminder since no one wants to be glued frozen to it!) We are now building enthusiastically! We have finished a shower as well, but there is no motor – you have to dig plenty of ice, boil it and then maybe…! The praying stone man is also complete. In fact we finished him first! I think that on Wednesday we will put some presents around him, light the incense, and start our praying ritual. Then on Thursday, with peace in our soul, we will gather our provisions and start our climb up the North Col - the launching pad for Everest!
 Reaching ABC was a great achievement! Thirty five yaks followed us, each one carrying about 40 kilos, to our 20. I think it was fair (although when one crazy mule started to push me off onto a narrow dangerous crag and Tashi came to explain to it how to behave properly in the presence of a princess, he was unceremoniously kicked by it’s back left leg!) These animals are not much more intelligent than camels, but they are quite wonderful. They belong to this terrain and are an indispensable addition to any authentic photograph of ABC!
The initial phase of our trek to the first interim camp on Friday the thirteenth had taken an amazing 5½ hours (which had impressed Tashi as he had estimated it would take us at least 7 – 8 hours). The next day we were even stronger however and after seven hours of climbing we reached a height of 6.440m and said goodbye to the yaks (except Tashi’s favorite “kicking” yak” that is until, perhaps due to the altitude, it saw fit to lay down on its side and spilled the precious rice it was carrying!) I am turning into a very successful Himalayan businesswoman and have bartered a frozen barrel of excellent Czech Bernard beer for 10 kilos of china rice. The guys in my team have grown to trust my ability - and with good reason. I am the only woman in the seventy tents at ABC!
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