Lukla-Phakding-Namche
Dun (3 Nisan) Lukla’ya ilk ucan ekip bizdik. Netekim sabah 5’te kalkmamiz cok iyi olmus, cunku ayni gun sabah birkac ucustan sonra siddetli ruzgarlar sebebiyle ucuslar iptal edildi. Boyle birsey butun planlarin bir gun aksamasi demek - ki boyle birsey cok seyi degistirebilirdi bizim icin. Ne yapip edip planladigimiz gibi hareket etmemiz lazim, en azindan ana kampa varana kadar. Sonra kontrolumuzde olan faktorler zaten daha da azalacak.
Lukla’dan sonra 3 saat yuruyus sonunda Phakding’e ulastik. Sanki daha dun burdaymisim gibi hissettim tum yol boyunca. Halbuki tam 10 sene once buradaydim. Hersey cok guzel, cok tanidik. Yine 10 sene once tanistigim Everest’te rehberlik yapan Dave Morton’i gordum ve ilk bakista beni tanidi! Cok hos bir surpriz oldu. Bu sene Holywood’un cektigi ve Jake Gyllenhaal’un basrolunu oynayacagi, Jon Krakauer’in Into Thin Air romaninin film cekimleri icin burada imis. 10 sene once David Breashears (Everest IMAX 1996’nin yonetmeni) baslatmisti bu projeyi, ben de butun ekiple vakit gecirme firsatini yakalamistim ana kampta kaldigim 2 ay boyunca. Bu sene yine O’nun danismanliginda ama farkli insanlarla devam edecekmis bu proje. Dave de dublor olarak gorev yapacakmis. Cok heyecanli.
Heyecan demisken, bu sezon Everest’in en cilgin projesi ise Joby Ogwyn tarafindan gerceklesecek hersey yolunda giderse. Joby Goldwyn daha once Everest’e birkac kere tirmanmis biri. Ama O’nu meshur eden dunyanin degisik yerlerinden wingsuit atlayislari yapmasi. Bu sezon Everest’e tekrar geliyor ve zirveden wingsuit ile atlamayi deneyecek!!! Bir National Geographic ekibi ve NBC film ekibi de ana kampta olacak, NBC ekibi butun herseyi canli olarak yayinlayacak. Bu ekip de cok tecrubeli dagcilardan olusuyor ve ayni lojistigi paylasiyoruz. Yani butun bu cilginligin tam ortasinda olacagim gibi gorunuyor ve herkesle tanismak icin sabirsizlaniyorum! Cok iyi ama hicbirseyin benim konsantrasyonumu bozmamasina da dikkat etmem gerekiyor. Herkesin projesi ve hedefi farkli sonucta.
Dun geceyi Phakding’de gecirdikten sonra Khumbu bolgesinin ticaret merkezi olan Namche Bazaar’a 6-7 saatlik yavas bir yuruyusten sonra vardik bugun (4 Nisan). Yavas yurumek yukseklige dogru duzgun uyum saglayabilmek icin cok onemli. Cogunlukla yavas vitese takmaya calisiyorum, yapmazsam buyuk hata olacak.
Bu gece Namche’deyiz, yarin buranin en buyuk pazari kuruluyor, etraftaki koylerden buralarda yasayanlar yaptiklari mallari ve yetistirdikleri sebze meyveleri ve baska urunleri sirtlarinda ve yaklarin sirtinda buraya getirdiler bugun. Yarin sabah erkenden pazar kurulacak. Iki sene oncesine kadar da Tibet’ten yuksek gecitleri asarak cok fazla tuccar cok degisik mallarla buraya geliyordu ama Cin polisi son iki yildir yuksek gecitlerden birinde nobet notasi kurmus ve bu gecisleri engelliyormus. Yuzyildan fazla suren bir gelenek politik sacmaliklar yuzunden durmus durumda.
Gunu, yollarin olmadigi sadece patikalarin oldugu bu bolgeyle ilgili bir kitaptan bir alinti ile bitirelim: “Buralardaki tek tekerlek dua tekerlekleridir” (Budist inancina gore her (soldan geciste) cevrilen dua tekerleri.)
NOT: Istedigim cozunurlukte ve istedigim kadar fotograf koyamiyorum malesef, dag koylerindeki Internet cok yavas.
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Yesterday (April 3), we were the first team that flew to Lukla with the first plane. It was wise that we got up at 5am since after the morning, all the flights were canceled due to high winds. Such a delay can effect many things significantly so we’ll try to stick to our plan as much as possible - at least until the base camp where we’ll have by default more uncontrollables.
After Lukla, we hiked up for about 3 hours to Phakding. The whole way it felt like I was here only yesterday while it was 10 years ago! All is so wonderful, all is so familiar. I saw Dave Morton who is a guide on Everest. I met him 10 years ago and he recognized me - such a nice surprise! He will be working for Hollywood’s new movie adaptation of the book by Jon Krakauer “Into Thin Air” where Jake Gyllenhaal will be the lead character. This project was started again 10 years ago by David Breashears (the director of Everest IMAX movie 1996) and I got to hang out with the whole team at the time when I stayed at the base camp for 2 months. This year, with his guidance, yet with different directors, the project will continue. And Dave will work as a stunt double. Very exciting.
Speaking of exciting, the most thrilling project of this season will be done by Joby Ogwyn. Joby climbed Everest several times before. But he is famous for his wingsuit jumps all around the world. This season, he will climb the mountain and jump from the summit with his wingsuit!!! There will be the National Geographic team and the NBC film crew on the mountain broadcasting everything live. They are also all experienced mountaineers and we’ll be sharing the same logistics. So it looks like I’ll be in the middle of all craziness and I can’t wait to meet everyone. That’s all great but I shouldn’t lose my focus on my own climb. Everyone has a different project - everyone has a different goal.
After spending the last night in Phakding, we arrived to Namche Bazaar after a 6-7 hr walk today (April 4). Walking slowly is very important for proper acclimatization. I am trying to slow down at times as it will be a mistake to try to walk fast this early in the expedition.
Tonight we are in Namche - a famous trade center in the Khumbu. Tomorrow there will be the biggest market of this region. People from nearby villages will bring their goods, vegetables, fruits, products, etc on their backs or on their yaks to this market. It will start early in the morning. Up until 2 years ago, there were lots of Tibetan traders coming from Tibet over high-passes on the mountains with lots of different goods. However, the Chinese police set a post on one of those high passes and not letting them cross over anymore. Hundreds years old trade route and tradition is blocked by some idiotic politics.
Finishing the day with a quote from a book about this region where there are no roads but just walking paths: “The only wheels are prayer wheels”
NOTE: I haven’t been able to post high-resolution pictures and as many as I want since Internet speed is really slow in these mountain villages.
