8th April 2008 - Dawa Steven Sherpa

Woke up at a 7:30am (or was it 8:00am?) and went for breakfast. I slept in a little because of a few beers last night. At breakfast we decided that we would go for a nice walk to hotel Everest View and enjoy a cup of tea. After that, head down to our Eco Lodge in Khumjung for lunch. Since it was an acclimatization day, David, Manuel and Quang didn't want to go up. Bill is a little sick so he's just resting and spending time with his daughters Amy and Lori, who are accompanying him up to Everest Base Camp.

Charles, Stuart, Josef, Au Pertemba and I went for a day hike. I particularly enjoyed watching Charles's face as we came around the Syangboche hill and he saw Mt. Everest, Mt. Lhotse and Mt. Ama Dablam for the first time…

After a nice cup of tea at hotel Everest View, watching the highest peak on earth basking in the bright Himalayan sun, we headed down for lunch. I ran down the muddy slopes ahead of the gang and reached Khumjung. The first person I met at Khumjung was none other than Kanchha, assistant to our Baker Sherpa at the Base Camp Information Center.

At the Eco Lodge Khumjung, we met Walter and Helmut who are also members of our climbing expedition. Walter, Helmut and Helmut's wife had gone a week ahead to climb Phachermo in the Rolwaling Valley for acclimatization before Mt. Everest. Unfortunately, Walter fell ill and the weather turned bad. So they returned to Khumjung and were having a leisurely rest day.

At Khumjung, we tested some of the briquettes that Sanu Kaji Shrestha, of the Foundation for Sustainable Technology (FoST), had donated to us. The briquettes are made of garbage and waste material found in Kathmandu and they burn smokeless and are 5 times more efficient than firewood. I had the briquettes flown over by helicopter with our expedition material. I demonstrated its excellent potential.