30 NISAN / APRIL 30

Elizabeth Hawley sabah oteli ziyaret ediyor. Sebebi de hemen hemen butun rehber ve dagcilar ayni otelde kaliyor. Olup bitenler hakkinda herkesle konusup kendi raporunu yazmak icin burada. Kendisi Himalaya dagciligi hakkinda yillardir arsiv tutan ve raporlarina cok guvenilen bir kisi. Ben de yillardir arastirmalarim icin Elizabeth Hawley’in veritabanini kullaniyorum. Cok farkli kisilerle konusup her tur detayi emin olana kadar arastiriyor. 

Bugun biraz dinlenme ve sakinlesme gunu. Aklimdaki alternatif 5. en yuksek dag olan 8400 kusur metrelik Makalu. Birkac gun icinde burada olacak ve Makalu’ya gitme niyeti olan Garrett Madison’u beklemeye karar verdik. Geldiginde detayli olarak konusucaz ve bir karar verecegiz. O zamana kadar da dinlenmeye calisacagim.

…………………………………………..

The best thing of the morning is to see Elizabeth Hawley at the hotel lobby. Most guides and climbers stay at the same hotel and she is here to compile her own report about the accident and its aftermath. She has been keeping such records for a long time and is a trustworthy source of info. I have been using her database for some of my research too. She talks to everyone until she is satisfied with the answers. Such an honor to meet her. She tells me it is all bad luck…

I decide to take an easy day today and make up my mind about yet another option: climbing Makalu, the 5th highest 8000m peak. We decide to talk to Garrett Madison who said he is planning to go there. He should be here in a day or two. I’ll try to rest until then.

Kathmandu

29 NISAN / APRIL 29

Katmandudayiz sabah itibariyle. Kahvaltidan sonra ilk isimiz Cin Konsoloslugu’ndan haberleri almak. Bizim baslattigimiz basvurunun takibini yapan kisiyle bulusuyoruz. Bizi cok iyi karsiliyor, ofisine oturuyoruz, cay ikram ediyor vs… ve bombayi patlatiyor. Cinliler halihazirdaki dagcilar disinda yeni dagcilara izin vermiyormus. Zaten Amerikali dagcilari sinir disi etmislerdi 1-2 hafta once. Sebebi de Obama’nin Dalai Lama ile bulusmasi. Kontagimiz baya cevresi olan etkili birisi ve bizim icin (Fiona ve ben) her yolu denedigini ama kimseye dag icin yeni bir izin verilmedigini soyluyor. Daha sonra Melissa Arnot ile karsilasiyoruz, o da Tibet tarafindan tirmanmak isteyenlerdendi ama sadece Amerikan pasaportu oldugu icin sansi kalmamis durumda.

………………………………………….. 

We get on one of the first planes out of Lukla, apparently the second most dangerous airport in the world. As soon as we arrive to Kathmandu, after a quick breakfast, we want to get the news from the Chinese consulate about our climbing permit application from the Tibetan side. We find the person who follows the application for us. He welcomes us and offers tea. Then breaks the news: China doesn’t allow any climbers to go in at the moment. They already discharged all the American climbers a few weeks back after Obama met with Dalai Lama. This contact person has lots of connections and assures us that he tried everything but there is no way. I almost collapse at the seat I was on. It just took the life out of me. We later come across with Melissa Arnot - she is also denied.

Kathmandu

28 NISAN / APRIL 28

Namche’den sonra geri Lukla’dayiz. Kalacagimiz yere girer girmez bir yagmur basliyor, ortaliktaki toz toprak yatisiyor ve hava biraz serinliyor. David Breashears bizi ziyarete geliyor ve daha once ana kamptaki konusmamiza devam ediyoruz. David yine buzul uzerindeki rotanin daha ortadan biryerden gecmesinde israr ediyor. Ve herkes ana kamptan ayrilirken helikopterle buzul uzerinde 10 kusur tur atip cektikleri cok yuksek cozunuruklu fotograflari gosteriyor. Amac, fotograflari birlestirip buz ciginin tam olarak nerden kopup dustugunu bulmak ve daha sonraki seneler icin ona gore planlama yapmak - tabi mumkunse. Fotograflar cok guzel, buzulun ne acaip biryer oldugunu birkez daha gormus oluyorum. NBC ekibinden Andy’nin kurtarma operasyonu sirasinda cektigi fotograflari da ilk defa goruyorum. Icim yine cok buruk.

…………………………………………..

As soon as we arrive to Lukla, rain starts to pour and settles the dust and cools it off a little bit. I enjoy that very much. David Breashers come to visit us during dinner and we continue our conversation from the base camp. He still thinks the route on the icefall should be changed towards the middle a little more. Then he shows the pictures of the icefall he took from a helicopter. They made many rounds on the icefall after everyone left to locate the exact location of where the avalanche was triggered and where it fell and took many high-resolution photos. Pictures show one more time and up close what a crazy place the icefall is. I also got a glance of the pictures Andy took during the rescue operations. It breaks me one more time.