9-10 NISAN / APRIL 9-10

Debouche’den sonraki konaklama yerimiz 4 saat kadar uzaktaki Periche.
Ama yolda ugramamiz gereken cok onemli bir yer var, Pengboche
manastiri. Bunun diger manastirlardan farki, buraya Everest’e
tirmanmak icin yola cikmis dagcilarin ugradigi ve Budist inanislarina
gore kutsandigi bir yer. Burada yasayan Lama Geshe bizi karsiladi.
Nepalce ve Sanskritce karisik konusuyor ve kizi bizim icin
soylediklerini tercume ediyor. Tek tek her bir dagciyi dualar
esliginde kutsadi. Resmi olarak Budist olmasaniz bile boyle bir
torenden etkilenmemek ve gozlerin yasarmamasi mumkun degil. Cok
karmasik duygularla buradan ayriliyoruz. Burada yasayan Budist halk
icin cok onemli Everest ve dagcilarin kutsanmasinin yaninda, dagdan
izin almak anlamina da geliyor bu toren. Herbirimize duali pirinc
veriyor ve eger bir tehlike sezersek, dagda bu pirincleri o yone dogru
savurmamizi soyluyor.
Amadablam’in ihtisami esliginde Periche yoluna devam ediyoruz. Daha
once tirmanmis arkadaslar, rotayi tarif ediyorlar yol boyunca. Bu
Amadablam’da insani ceken cok garip bir enerji var.
Periche’de 1. gecenin ardindan, sabah yakinlardaki tepelere yine
yukselige uyum tirmanisi yaptik. Geri dondugumuzde kar yagisi
baslamisti. Artik olay ciddilesmeye basliyor yavas yavas da olsa.
Ogleden sonra Himalaya Kurtarma Dernegi’nin Periche’deki yerinde
gonullu olarak bu sezonu gecirmeye gelmis doktorlardan biri bize bir
sunum yapiyor. Tamamen bagislarla ve gonullu doktorlarla calisan bir
yer. Sadece dun 18 kisiye hizmet vermisler. Ana kampta da bir cadirda
hizmet veriyorlar baska bir ekiple. 2004’te ana kamp kalisim sirasinda
birseylerden mikrop kapip acaip hastalanmistim. Zar zor kendimi bu
dernegin cadirina suruklemis ve oradaki gonullu doktorlarin yaptigi
bir antibiyotik ignesi ile nasil 1-2 saatte kendime geldigimi
hatirliyorum. Eski tip kredi karti makineleriyle 50 dolar odemistim -
fisini hala sakliyorum (Sherpalardan para alinimiyor tabi ki). Onlar
sayesinde kendime gelmistim. Hem yuksek irtifanin insan fizyolojisine
etkileri ile ilgili arastirma yapiyorlar hem de o zorlu sartlarda
insanlara hizmet veriyorlar.
…………………………………………..
The next place we will stay is 4 hrs away from Debouche but we need to
make an important stop on the way: Pengboche. The difference of this
monasteries from others is that all the Everest climbers stop here to
get the blessing according to the Budhist beliefs. The Lama Geshe who
lives here greets us. He speaks a mixture of Nepalese and some
Sanscrit and his daughter does the translation for us. He blessed
every one of us one by one with prayers. Even if one is not a Budhist
officially, it is hard not to be influenced by this ceremony. It does
something to you. This ceremony also means asking for permission from
the mountain which is a very significant cultural and religious symbol
for the people living here. The Lama gives us blessed rice and tells
us to throw it to the direction of danger on the mountain whenever we
feel like there is.
We continue to Periche along with the clear views of Amadablam. Some
people who climbed it before describe the route. This mountain has
some storage energy that grabs you.
After the 1st night in Periche, we take a short acclimatization hike
to nearby hills. When we get back down, the snow started to fall.
Although slowly, it is getting serious.
In the afternoon, one of the volunteer doctors working at Himalaya
Rescue Association’s Percihe post gives us a presentation. They work
during the season to help people in the region. They also have a tent
established at the base camp. In 2004, I got some sort of an infection
and was miserable. I barely made it to their tent one day and the
doctors gave me an antibiotic injection and I came back to life. I
paid $50 with my credit card and I still have the receipt from one of
those old style credit card machines (Sherpas don’t pay). The doctors
here do some high-altitude research and also volunteer throughout the
season working under harsh conditions.

AmaDablam

Periche

8 NISAN / APRIL 8

Koylerde varolan Internet servislerini kullanmaya calisiyorum ama
neredeyse servis yok denecek kadar yavas, uydu telefonum olmadigi icin
de baya zor oluyor guncellemeleri yapabilmek. Ana kampta daha iyi
olacak.
Khumjung’u geride birakmadan once Kundi Hastanesi’ni ziyaret ettik. Bu
hastane Khumbu yoresi icin cok onemli. Sherpalara, kadin erkek genc
yasli, cok ucuz saglik hizmeti sagliyor. Edmund Hillary tarafindan
1966 yilinda yaptirilmis, daha dogrusu O’nun kurdugu Himalaya Vakfi
tarafindan. Burada gorevli iki doktordan biri bize hikayeyi daha
detayli anlatti. Cok agir sartlarda yasayan Sherpalar icin bu cok ama
cok onemli bir hizmet cunku cogu Katmandu’ya gidip tedavi olamayacak
kadar fakir ve gitseler de devlet hastanelerinde gunlerce
bekletiliyorlarmis. Buraya ulasmalari da problemli, sonucta patiklarda
sirtta tasinarak getiriliyor agir hastalar ama en azindan yasadiklari
daglarda ve ceplerini yakmiyor. Hillary bu bolgede toplam 16 okul ve
bu hastaneyi yaptirmis. Bu insaatlarin gerceklesebilmesi icin gereken
malzemelerin tasinmasi icin de Lukla havayolunu insa ettirmis. Ama
hikaye biraz acikli. Esi ve kiz cocugu O’nu gormeye gelirken, ucak
Lukla’ya inemeden dusmus ve hayatlarini kaybetmisler. Hillary bu
acisina ragmen tum hayati boyunca bolge halkina yardim etmis.
Khumjung’dan Tengboche manastirina gitmek icin once 2 saat boyunca
vadiden asagiya iniyoruz, ve tabi ki 2 saat daha tirmaniyoruz.
Tirmanisin bittigi yerde Tengboche manastiri butun ihtisamiyla bizi
bekliyor. Daglarda boyle yapilarla karsilasmak inanilmaz huzur veren
bir tecrube. Sansimiza bulutlar aralaniyor ve ilk defa Everest’i
goruyoruz. Cok ama cok uzak gorunuyor. Erisilemezmis gibi. Bakalim
gorecegiz.
Manastirin disinda birseyler atistiriyoruz, burada Joby Godwyn ve NBC
ekibi de biraz vakit geciriyor, sonra hep beraber Debouche’ye
geciyoruz, burasi sadece 15 dk uzakta manastirin oldugu tepenin
eteklerinde baska minik bir koy.
Everest yine bulutlar arasinda kayboluyor. Ana kampa varmadan biraz
once bir noktadan belki yine O’nu son bir kez gorme firsatimiz olacak.
Ana kamptan zirve manzarasi yok, aslinda bence  iyi birsey, yipratici
olma potansiyeli var, bilmiyorum… cunku gercekten erisilmezmis gibi
gorunuyor…
………………………………………..
I’m trying to use the Internet as it is available but usually it
doesn’t work or too slow to upload anything. I don’t have the
SatSleeve so it will be a challenge to post things. It will be better
once we get to base camp.
Before leaving Khumjung behind, we made a visit to Kundi hospital
which is a very significant hospital for the Khumbu region. It was
built by Edmund Hillary in 1966, actually by the Himalayan trust that
he founded. One of the two doctors working here told us the whole
story. The hospital due to its location is very significant giving the
living conditions of the Sherpas and since most of them can’t afford
to go to Kathmandu for any treatment. even if they manage to go,
they’d wait for days in line at state hospitals. It is even very
challenging for them to get to Kundi hospital since they’d have to be
carried on sleds or on the backs if in serious condition however they
can at least afford to get a treatment here. Hillary built about 16
schools in this region in addition to this hospital. In order to
transport the construction materials, he built the Lukla airstrip. Yet
the story is a little sad. The plane on way to Lukla carrying his wife
and daughter crashed and he lost his family. Despite this tragedy, he
never stopped helping the Sherpas.
After Khumjung, we walk downhill for about 2 hrs and then uphill for
another 2 hrs to get to Tengboche Monastery. It is an incredible
experience to see these place on these mountains. The clouds clear out
a bit and for the first time we get to see Everest with all its glory.
It really looks far far away and almost looks like unreachable. We
shall see.
We eat a little bit outside the monastery along with Joby Godwyn and
the NBC crew and walk down to Debouche, a small village down the hill,
to spend the night.
The summit of Everest gets covered with the clouds again. We will get
a chance to see it one more time on way to base camp. There are no
views of it from the base camp actually and I think that’s a good
thing. It has the potential to be overwhelming… since it really looks
unreachable…

Tengboche'den uzaklardaki Everest / From Tengboche Everest at far away

Khumjung'a dogru (7 Nisan) / On way to Khumjung (April7)

Thame’de gunesli bir gune uyandik bu sabah. Buradan ayrilmadan once Lakpa Rita ile dogup buyudugu ve hala anne-babasinin yasadigi evi ziyaret ettik. 8 kardesler ve sadece bir goz mutfak+yasama alani bir evde buyumusler, anne ve babasi sonradan bir goz daha eklemisler cocuklari icin. Evin girisi cok alcak ve ilk gorulen sey de kurutulmus yak tezekleri. Kucukken hergun tek yon 4 saat yuruyerek Khumjung koyundeki Hillary Okulu’na gidip gelirmis (Everest’e 1953’te ilk cikan dagci olan Edmund Hillary - Tenzing Norgay ile birlikte - tarafindan yaptirilmis bir okul). Cok zor gelirmis tabi cocuk oldugu icin ama anne ve babasi biraktirmamis okulu. Hergun 4 saat tek yone kar kis demeden yuruyerek cocuk haliyle gidip gelmis olmasi bugunku Lakpa Rita’yi Lakpa Rita yapan en onemli seylerden biri, ama daha oyle cok hikayeleri var ki, firsat buldukca paylasacagim. Bu koy bana bizim koyumuzu ve buyukanne ve buyukbabalarimin evlerini de hatirlatti. Pencere kenarindaki hali kapli sedirler, ortada soba, duvarlarda fotograflar… Thame ayni zamanda Tenzing Norgay’in gencliginde yasadigi bir koy. Lakpa’nin babasi zamaninda Tenzing’le beraber tirmanislarda calismis. Tenzing Norgay, Apa Sherpa, Lakpa Rita - kisaca cok ozel bir yer.

Thame’den yine yavas 4 saatlik bir yuruyusle Khumjung koyune dogru yola ciktik. Yolda sadece rahibelerin yasadigi bir manastiri ziyaret ettik. Sans eseri tam dua ederlerken yakaladik onlari. Oturduk, mumkun mertebe huzurlarina dahil olmaya calistik. 

Khumjung’da da Amadablam manzarali biryerde kaliyoruz (su an hava kapali malesef). Amadablam 10 yil once gozume carpan, cok ama cok guzel ve sivri bir dag. Belki tirmanmak bana da kismet olur. Ilk (ve hala tek) Turk tirmanisi sevgili arkadasim yetenekli dagci Tunc Findik’a aittir.

…………………….…………………….

We woke up to sun this morning in Thame. Before leaving this place, we visited the house that Lakpa Rita grew up in. His parents still live here. They were 8 siblings and were living in one-room house. Later on his mother and father added a second room for their kids. The house has a very low entrance and the first things you see are dried yak dung all stacked up. When he was a little boy, Lakpa used to walk 4 hour one way to Hillary School (established by Edmund Hillary, the first person to climb Everest in 1953 along with Tenzing Norgay) in Khumjung and back. It was a very hard thing for him to do as a small kid but his parents didn’t let him quit. The fact that he went to school in rain and shine for 4 hours each way as a kid is one of the things that made him the Lakpa Rita he is today. There are so many more about him and I’ll try to share as much as possible. His village reminded me of our village and my grandparents’ homes. Seats along the windows covered with carpets, the stove in the middle, the photographs on the walls… Thame is also the place Tenzing Norgay spent some of his youth. Lakpa’s father worked with Tenzing in some expeditions back in the day. Tenzing Norgay, Apa Sherpa, Lakpa Rita - a very special place indeed.

After Thame, we walked about 4 hours towards Khumjung. On the way, we visited a nunnery (a monastery just with nuns). We were fortunate to witness a praying ceremony they were holding. We sat next to them and tried to be part of the peace as much as possible.

We are staying at a place with the views of Amadablam (it is foggy at the time though). Amadablam got my attention 10 years ago - it is a beautiful and steep mountain. I hope to climb it one day. My dear friend and a talented mountaineer Tunc Findik still holds the first (and still the only) Turkish climb of this peak.

Thame

Rahibeler dua ederken / Nuns chanting

Rahibelerden biri / One of the nuns