Day 11. April, 20. Everest Base camp (BC)
Everest predominates over BC and the wonderful weather allows to see it in all its beauty during almost the whole day. It is quite cold here at nights - inside the tent it was -5 C, the hygienic wipes lying on the floor froze; but the water for coffee and lemons covered with down-padded coat didn't freeze. After the sunrise the temperature inside the tent started to rise rapidly: at 07:20 it was -2,3 C, at 07:39 the sun shined the tent and at 07:45 the temperature was +6,4 C, at 07:52 - +11,6 C, at 08:00 - +14,8 C and at 08:28 - +19,3 C.
Today I'll try to partially describe the camp's infrastructure.
A very important thing are toilets, because in case of their absence the environment becomes dirty really fast as we made sure yesterday while walking with Bogomolov around the neighbouring expedition's camps. There are three toilets in our camp, the one in the middle is for the ladies. They are constructed very cheaply and effectivly. There are three small vertical tents, each has a plastic bucket with a plastic bag in it. When the plastic bags are filled up, they will be replaced with the new ones. What attracts me, taking into account that type of toilet construction, is Abramov's announcement, that men should pee outside the toilets, in the nature, for the bags not to be filled too fast. In that way we have an optimal level of harmony between the living in the nature and in civilization - to go pee in toilets here in mountains is as disgusting as to go pee there, where you live. What a beauty, huh?
In the morning sherpas visit all tent and offer coffee, tea, milk at will. This order appeared almost one hundred years ago during the first expeditions and became a custom. I also make coffee by myself in the tent, I do it many years during all my travellings, adding sugar, lemon and whisky to my taste. The only problem is that you have to buy gas-cylinders here on arrival, since it's not allowed to take them on board of the plane. I buy the most smelly whisky of those, which are possible to find on my way - Laphroaig or Caol Ila. I do it advisedly: there are always a lot of those who want a freshly made coffee, and my signature drink has such a taste, that it is enough to taste it once, as a rule, to stop pestering me with silly requests.
After coffee drinking I'd like to mention a special care for tourists, which is a rare thing: water for the washing stand is preheated to a certain temperature. Since the brook completely freezes at night and warm water is much better than ice water - so this care is appreciated a lot.
Before breakfast enthusiasts engaged themselves with a good thing - morning exercises. I decided to refrain from doing it, since I am happy that the night has passed without pills and headache. Pulse in the morning was 74, the content of oxygen in the blood is normal - 83 (on the plain - 98, critically low - 65-67). I decided not to taunt fate and not to exert myself until I'm adapted normally.
I decided to look into the kitchen and see how it all organised in there. The work was in full swing, an oatmeal porridge was being cooked, sherpas were busy with breakfast preparation. The kitchen tent stands separatly from the dining room tent. The sherpas' tent (where they live) adjoins it. There are 6 kitchen-boys, who workthere, and they cook a lot of quite tasty food.
There are three half-spheres in the camp - all three are for public use, all are of different sizes. The left one - the smallest - is an Internet tent, charging tent. There are 6 small tables and 12 chairs in it and this tent always has 220 V. The next one in the middle - the biggest one - is a club and sherpas are still busy arranging it. The right one - medium-sized - is a dining room. There are 4 big round tables in it, each table is for 6 persons, who can sit at it with comfort. That is what a vehicle passage to the base camp can give. That is what I wrote about earlier - we don't eat on our knees, we eat as though we are in a good restaurant!
Today for breakfast we had a freshly squeezed (!!!) orange juice, an oatmeal porridge, omelette and toasts. There are different things on the table: jams and that kind of stuff. But these guys can't make toasts properly - the toasts were burnt. Today I set at the international table and had to work as an interpreter, translating Abramov's words about the rules of daily routine in the camp, the programmes for today and tomorrow.
In short the programme is as follows: today is a free day, tomorrow we go to the Middle Camp and stay for the night there, the day after tomorrow we go back to the Base Camp.
Here is how our breakfast looked like today:
After breakfast it is a high time to go to the Internet tent to write a post for today in my blog. What's interesting in BC - Internet and mobile phones work only while the sun is shining, since they are charged from the solar batteries. So Internet doesn't work in the night-time and we have connection only via satellite phones.
People slowly gather in the Internet tent. A hero person - Kirill Muraviev - is here in the expedition with us. He has already tried to ascend Everest once in 2012, but he caught a chill, then it turned into fluid lungs, the temperature was high and he had to interrupt the ascent.
Now he has another misfortune - during the ski training when preparing to this ascension he fell and seriously injured his back. He has a compression fracture of five vertebras. Doctors recommend him spending most of time recumbent - so he does. But he didn't abandon the ascent!
Today all members of the expedition have a medical examination by Dr. Sergey Larin. The examination is: pressure measurement, pulse measurement, the checking of the content of oxygen in the blood , a conversation about the used medications and state of health. Dr. Larin receives the patients in a well equipped and comfortable medical tent, which has an oxigen and a huge amount of medicines for different occasions.
As long as the weather is good and we have free time, Bogomolov and I are going to take photos with the flags of sponsors to send the photos while the sun shines and Internet works. We have a bunch of flags, but in general these are 'investments in the future'.
Everest predominates over BC and the wonderful weather allows to see it in all its beauty during almost the whole day. It is quite cold here at nights - inside the tent it was -5 C, the hygienic wipes lying on the floor froze; but the water for coffee and lemons covered with down-padded coat didn't freeze. After the sunrise the temperature inside the tent started to rise rapidly: at 07:20 it was -2,3 C, at 07:39 the sun shined the tent and at 07:45 the temperature was +6,4 C, at 07:52 - +11,6 C, at 08:00 - +14,8 C and at 08:28 - +19,3 C.
Today I'll try to partially describe the camp's infrastructure.
A very important thing are toilets, because in case of their absence the environment becomes dirty really fast as we made sure yesterday while walking with Bogomolov around the neighbouring expedition's camps. There are three toilets in our camp, the one in the middle is for the ladies. They are constructed very cheaply and effectivly. There are three small vertical tents, each has a plastic bucket with a plastic bag in it. When the plastic bags are filled up, they will be replaced with the new ones. What attracts me, taking into account that type of toilet construction, is Abramov's announcement, that men should pee outside the toilets, in the nature, for the bags not to be filled too fast. In that way we have an optimal level of harmony between the living in the nature and in civilization - to go pee in toilets here in mountains is as disgusting as to go pee there, where you live. What a beauty, huh?
In the morning sherpas visit all tent and offer coffee, tea, milk at will. This order appeared almost one hundred years ago during the first expeditions and became a custom. I also make coffee by myself in the tent, I do it many years during all my travellings, adding sugar, lemon and whisky to my taste. The only problem is that you have to buy gas-cylinders here on arrival, since it's not allowed to take them on board of the plane. I buy the most smelly whisky of those, which are possible to find on my way - Laphroaig or Caol Ila. I do it advisedly: there are always a lot of those who want a freshly made coffee, and my signature drink has such a taste, that it is enough to taste it once, as a rule, to stop pestering me with silly requests.
After coffee drinking I'd like to mention a special care for tourists, which is a rare thing: water for the washing stand is preheated to a certain temperature. Since the brook completely freezes at night and warm water is much better than ice water - so this care is appreciated a lot.
Before breakfast enthusiasts engaged themselves with a good thing - morning exercises. I decided to refrain from doing it, since I am happy that the night has passed without pills and headache. Pulse in the morning was 74, the content of oxygen in the blood is normal - 83 (on the plain - 98, critically low - 65-67). I decided not to taunt fate and not to exert myself until I'm adapted normally.
I decided to look into the kitchen and see how it all organised in there. The work was in full swing, an oatmeal porridge was being cooked, sherpas were busy with breakfast preparation. The kitchen tent stands separatly from the dining room tent. The sherpas' tent (where they live) adjoins it. There are 6 kitchen-boys, who workthere, and they cook a lot of quite tasty food.
There are three half-spheres in the camp - all three are for public use, all are of different sizes. The left one - the smallest - is an Internet tent, charging tent. There are 6 small tables and 12 chairs in it and this tent always has 220 V. The next one in the middle - the biggest one - is a club and sherpas are still busy arranging it. The right one - medium-sized - is a dining room. There are 4 big round tables in it, each table is for 6 persons, who can sit at it with comfort. That is what a vehicle passage to the base camp can give. That is what I wrote about earlier - we don't eat on our knees, we eat as though we are in a good restaurant!
Today for breakfast we had a freshly squeezed (!!!) orange juice, an oatmeal porridge, omelette and toasts. There are different things on the table: jams and that kind of stuff. But these guys can't make toasts properly - the toasts were burnt. Today I set at the international table and had to work as an interpreter, translating Abramov's words about the rules of daily routine in the camp, the programmes for today and tomorrow.
In short the programme is as follows: today is a free day, tomorrow we go to the Middle Camp and stay for the night there, the day after tomorrow we go back to the Base Camp.
Here is how our breakfast looked like today:
After breakfast it is a high time to go to the Internet tent to write a post for today in my blog. What's interesting in BC - Internet and mobile phones work only while the sun is shining, since they are charged from the solar batteries. So Internet doesn't work in the night-time and we have connection only via satellite phones.
People slowly gather in the Internet tent. A hero person - Kirill Muraviev - is here in the expedition with us. He has already tried to ascend Everest once in 2012, but he caught a chill, then it turned into fluid lungs, the temperature was high and he had to interrupt the ascent.
Now he has another misfortune - during the ski training when preparing to this ascension he fell and seriously injured his back. He has a compression fracture of five vertebras. Doctors recommend him spending most of time recumbent - so he does. But he didn't abandon the ascent!
Today all members of the expedition have a medical examination by Dr. Sergey Larin. The examination is: pressure measurement, pulse measurement, the checking of the content of oxygen in the blood , a conversation about the used medications and state of health. Dr. Larin receives the patients in a well equipped and comfortable medical tent, which has an oxigen and a huge amount of medicines for different occasions.
As long as the weather is good and we have free time, Bogomolov and I are going to take photos with the flags of sponsors to send the photos while the sun shines and Internet works. We have a bunch of flags, but in general these are 'investments in the future'.
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