Everest Base Camp Trek Part 4 ~ The highest point. Kala Patthar 5545m.. and EBC second-attempt!

Part 4 ~ The one vantage point that can allow one to have a full view of Everest is this mount called Kala Patthar.  

Kala Patthar [Photo: KC Tng]

Sometimes in life, it was like this.  Would one come all the way to London for the very first time and not visit London Bridge or the Big Ben?  In the same vein, although EBC was the pinnacle of the trek,  but to me, and to the girls, we held in our hearts the wish to summit Kala Patthar the highest point, even way before our trip.  To us, it was a MUST climb.  And we'd stop at nothing to achieve that.
Without being disrespectful to all my fellow trekkers, to myself, climbing to the top of Kala Patthar was even more important than arriving at EBC.  The magic figure of 5545m was too strong a draw.

Everest Base Camp Trek 2017 Part 3 ~ Lobuche to Gorak Shep & EBC!

Part 3 ~ The going got tougher, slower and more challenging as the altitude went skywards- Lobuche at 4900,  Gorak Shep 5160m, and the final last push towards EBC at 5350m.

The final push!

At 5000m, the oxygen level dropped to 53% of sea level.  We only knew this in hindsight.  But with this knowledge, in retrospect, we now could explain everything that happened on this third quarter of our trek.  It was really a last push, a burst of fire towards our destination.  This was what we came here for.  And hopefully nothing would stop us.  Hopefully.

Everest Base Camp Trek 2017 Part 2 -From Namche to Dingboche.

Part 2 ~ After the acclimatisation at Namche, it was time for some thinner air.

We knew that we were going to enter a realm of higher altitude and it was time for some real action.
This was time for our bodies to really start adapting.  Little did we realise that the transition from 3400m to 4400m would be that great.  This second quarter part of our trek was a period of reckoning. And time was not on our side. We needed to keep pushing, keep going. AMS and illnesses started hitting us. But the team spirit was still strong.

Everest Base Camp Trek 2017 ~ an epic adventure

The whole group at Gorak Shep. [Photo: SgTrekker]

Everest Base Camp Trek

 18 November - 2 December 2017

"   ....The only noise audible was my own heavy panting as my lungs laboured to suck in as much oxygen in the rarefied air at 5190m.  My footsteps were tiny shuffles, weighed down by my pair of trekking boots which, merely a couple of days ago felt as light as feathers, but now behaved like tonnes of Himalayan rocks bound to my feet.    

My eyes never lifted off from the ground as rocks after rocks appeared in haphazard fashion, threatening to trip my trailing foot should I be just so careless to lift it a little less high.  A few steps.  And another long pause to catch my breath.  Peering in front, the ridge led straight to Everest Base Camp.  We were not far, but time was running out for us...  "

Bangkok- Roam freely & appreciate the Terrain

Just roam.

“Let’s go Bangkok to 拜拜.” I told Serene. “And while we are there we will try to do some running, and go for your favourite Ai Sa Waan massage beside the hotel. And we will eat your Deep Fried Snapper.”

DNF in IM Guyre ~ Kwenchana-yo! Happy to just be in Korea.

IM Gurye, Korea 2017 ~ the story of many firsts.

When I first started putting pen to paper, I wasn't sure if I would be writing a story of a successful virgin attempt on my Full distance Ironman, or if it would be a sob story of my failure.  It turned out to be neither. For despite my DNF on the run leg, I must admit I have never enjoyed a race so much.

Cobra Ironman 70.3 Cebu Phillipines 2017

​One of the toughest yet most enjoyable 70.3

Time and time again, I overcome my indolence to face head-on yet another 70.3. I quite enjoy the stubbornness of the human mind in the way it is willing to subject itself to many weeks of suffering, and a few hours of sheer grit for a measly piece of metal, and a priceless memory of running over the finishing line.