18th March

1010hrs, Bahrain

It doesn’t quite feel like the adventure has begun. Am I as tired and bored of waiting as I claimed, or have the months at CCN really worn me that badly?

Either way I’m here in Bahrain, waiting with the team for our flight to Kathmandu. As well as the Snowdon crew I’ve now met the rest; Jeff, Amish, Katherine, etc. Alistair, our tour doc, has his lil book of people out and is making notes about us.

CJ is still asleep and has been for maybe an hour. Asgar, Sammy, Amish, Vicki and Hanifa are all getting shut-eye, Matt is on his phone again, with his beard, next to a clean-shaven Danny and chatting with Shehnaz. Christine and Katherine are chatting quietly, Paz is resting, Justin is awake but looks tired and Baz is sleeping with book in hand.

Not a good start thus far; two white wines on the plane led to me nearly throwing up and sweating hard, and even now my stomach is roiling. Doesn’t help having missed my Lanzoprazole two days straight and being bone-tired already! Maybe me travel-sick has resurfaced as well. Perhaps nerves as well.

Already I’m known for being talkative and I’ve vented a lot about CCN, so perhaps my anger management is leaking. But to hell with that place; I’m in Bahrain, en route to Everest. Finally! Bahrain is currently a troubled nation but I’ve heard no gunfire and seen no explosions, so as yet we appear to be safe.

My hand wound is not looking healthy, but I’m not feeling the sprain at the moment. My handstand on Kala Patthar is a bit more unlikely now though, however I will still try on the day. It’s what I’m here for!

Had a good chat with Jeff about the coming 48hrs – we land in Kathmandu this evening, eat, briefing, sleep, then up at 0530hrs to start our day. We’ll fly out to Lukla tomorrow (Sat.) and do a gentle four hours or so to our first point. I’m going to start the Diamox proper now – even if Justin did laugh – but I have enough to be taking it as prophylaxis the whole time. We’ll see how it goes. And it’s to see if the pressure headaches were related to the tabs or not.

Not happy with Bahrain toilets – holes in the ground. Will wait for Kathmandu before I start trying, especially since I’m in my good shoes! Jeff says I won’t squat for long when I do go though, which is good to hear.

Very tired. Got some sleep on train to Heathrow (Underground Liverpool -> Heathrow 4 is about an hour by the way) and a bit on the plane after dinner (and half of Harry Potter); as long as I get to bed @ 2200hrs tonight I shouldn’t be too jet-lagged. Already set my watch to Nepal TZ and it’s now 1345hrs.

Constant ringtones going off – grr! Especially someone whose ringtone is the as mine or the Ops phone.

Matt is currently advising Raja to relax; he and Sue were off exploring I assume.

Been toying with the idea of buying a panda teddy to take with on the trek. Not sure if it would be romantic or nasty to give it to Amanda after.

Time to fly!

-Chris

Waiting in the airport - photo courtesy of Hanifa