Everest 2003: Charlie Wittmack
Dispatch

The return to Kathmandu after two months of snow and rocks has been quite a shock. Everything here is in Surround Sound and at the end of each day I find my eyes are tired from all the action and color. I've discovered that my toes face a greater risk of loss in K-du from Rickshaw than from frostbite at Camp 4. This is no town for the weary, and I take caution as I sneak from bakery to bakery sampling the local delicacies.

The anniversary celebrations here have been incredible. I've enjoyed most of the events from a distance after realizing that my travel preferences are a bit more modest. I prefer to eat from the street vendors and enjoy the local celebrations instead of dining at banquets with the king and staying at four star hotels. It's a habit that developed in Base camp where I frequently took my meals in the Sherpa cook tent trying to win their trust while staying close to the warm cooking stove. Nepal is an incredibly divided culture and my European climbing partners and I have gotten in the habit of having breakfast together to share stories of our daily adventures. The stories are all wonderful and I've decided that our strategy is the best one possible. Between us, we are taking it ALL in.

Yesterday Rudy and Robert were invited by Peter and Edmund Hillary for a visit to the British Embassy where they toasted the finest champagne and swapped stories from many years on the mountain. Our Sirdar Pasang Tshering Sherpa had an audience with the King of Nepal where he received a special medal for his dedication and previous summit. The day also offered countless meetings and parties for Everest Summiters, but Pasang and I preferred to wander the streets enjoying the bakeries and watching the various street dancers and parades pass by.

By each evening the streets are packed shoulder to shoulder, and the colored lights and balloons that have been strung between the buildings cast a mysterious light over everything. Last night I turned down the most crowded street where a group of Nepalese dancers were performing and discovered my friend Sean seated upon a great throne in the middle of the crowd. He was seated like a prince floating on top of an ocean of people and as the lights flickered away I could see that he was talking. Finally I noticed that there was a camera hidden in the mob, and with shock I realized that Sean was conducting an interview with CNN! What a setting!

Sean suffered severe frostbite on the summit trip and has since landed himself a number of high-profile interviews. With his black fingers and bandaged feet he has appeared in USA Today, CNN and ABC World News Tonight!

The parties ended last night and the finest hotels offering free stays to the Summiters discontinued the offer. Today I have seen my friends, once again homeless, resurface on the streets of Kathmandu with stories of feather beds and swimming pools. I've been sleeping on the floor, but the idea of a swimming pool is curious...

Finally, I would like to thank you all once again for all your emails.  It's great to see that our team is still so strong. It has meant more than you'll know and I hope to have the chance to thank you all personally very soon.

Pasang has become mystified with Iowa and our crazy antics. We have applied for a tourist visa with the hope that he will come for a visit in August. He wants to do some climbing while he's there, and I tried to tell him that he might just have to settle for the Field of Dreams. Of course he's never heard of baseball.

Dispatches