So close to giving up- 15th May

The journey from Bakkhim to Dzongri was awful. I have no other words for it, no positive spin, no silver lining. It is known as one of the toughest treks around, and is one of the main reasons why the HMI basic course is considered so difficult.  I had been dreading the trek, and had…

Acclimatisation day- 14th

Having just arrived at 9000ft, we were given a day to acclimatise to th altitude. This consisted of a relatively easy 3 hour traipse up the trail we would be taking the following day followed by a brief lecture on on camp placement and hygiene.  The walk took us up through the wooded slopes of…

Getting on the way- 13th May

Day one of trekking- a day of firsts. First time brushing teeth in a garden, going to the loo in the wild, and using an ice axe to dig and bury my business. And all this before five am. We quickly replaced our sleeping bags (into those horrendous compression bags), clothes and mattresses in our…

Tenzing Rock 3

So I seem to end up writing about fear every day!! But I guess that's partly because I'm a scaredy cat and partly because a lot of what I am experiencing is terrifying.  Today was crazy rappelling at Tenzing Rock- we used just a rope on our sides, at our stomach and then also used…

Tiger Hills

The dreaded 22km trial trek was today. For those who want the short update- I survived. All is well. For a longer description, read on... I, true to form, did not wake up on time- 4:30am was supposed to be tea, followed by breakfast at 5:30 and reporting at 6:15. I arose at 5:30, sorted…