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Mountain Experience Everest 2001
Expedition
The
Mountain Experience Everest 2001 expedition: The
members who summitted are: Jason Edwards - Expedition Leader;
Deryl Kelly - The youngest Canadian to summit Everest;
Maximo Henostroza;
Francois Langlois;
Dave Rodney along with 9 Sherpa
climbers.
Dispatch
June
5, 2001 8:30 PM
Howdy
from Kathmandu!
Yep,
we're still here in KTM, biding our time through the
curfew. Haven't really thought that we would be
FORBIDDEN from going outside during our lives with
penalty of harm or getting shot but I guess this is
one of those times. We're doing OK here ensconced in
our hotel, and luckily the place we're staying at,
we've got a couple English DVD's, believe it or not,
to watch and enjoy.
KTM
Airport to Hotel, June 4, 2001
Our
arrival in KTM after our flight from the mountains was
definitely more interesting than the flight itself
which was exciting with all of the cloudy
skies we encountered. Within five minutes of landing,
we were advised to travel light, and take only a small
carry on with us for our trip to the hotel. Our KTM
contact felt that we ought to make our way as quickly
as possible without delay.
Tuck,
Max, Rob and I climbed into our small van, and started
the 20-minute ride to the hotel. After only a few
minutes, we came upon our first roadblock.
"Locals" were piling up rounds of wood,
tires, desks and other items on the road so that both
directions of travel were blocked. They were just
finishing their "handiwork" as we arrived,
and our driver was noticeably shaken by what we were
witnessing. I leaned over to him and said, "let's
keep moving to the left, and drive to the
roadblock." As we drove up, I leaned out of the
window, and motioned to what looked like the head guy,
or chief of the small movement. I politely asked if we
could drive through the roadblock, and he responded
with a kind motion and some blocking materials were
moved and we easily passed through the blockage.
We
drove for about 10 more minutes, smiling to each
other, and feeling like we had accomplished something
significant. It was obvious there was another
roadblock up ahead, and this time we just ignored
things and freely passed through the intersection.
Within a block there was an "official"
roadblock, manned by police and military personnel. As
we drove up to the men, they were motioning cars and
other vehicles to turn around, and return by the same
direction. We were somewhat motivated to continue
through though, since our hotel was about a mile or
two further down the road. The policeman told us to
turn around, and we explained we were headed to our
hotel and would be "off the streets" in only
a few minutes. He refused to let us through, and we
begged to continue, and even suggested that we ought
to be given "special treatment," since we
had just returned from an ascent of Mt. Everest. This
only brought a small chuckle from the tough looking
law officers, and we knew we had about played our last
card. Instead of cooperating with the police, we
decided to just pullover and wait awhile, to see if
the situation would change in a few minutes. By that
time, we noticed we were the only people on the
street, and the policeman came up to me and motioned
with his hands, like a gun to my head, if we didn't
move on, things were going to become more serious. He
did this twice, and we were quite clear as to what he
meant with his "universal sign
language."
Then
all of a sudden, he passed us through the roadblock
and we continued on our "merry way." Beads
of sweat poured off our heads as we drove down the
street, optimistically guarded that we would soon be
to our hotel to well deserved hot showers food and a
stressless environment.
Our
driver was taking us to our hotel in the Thamel
district of Kathmandu, and on a typical day, it would
have only been another 10 more minutes. To avoid
crowds and traffic, we turned into a small alley, only
to be stopped at a dead-end sometime later. We managed
to turn around in the small space, and made our way
back to the main intersection. Many people were
running through the intersection, and storeowners were
closing the metal doors on the shops in a hasty
manner. Our driver got out and ran up to the
intersection to take a look, and he returned with a
fanatic look, and started to run away from the van. I
YELLED, "Get back in the van, and let's get out
of here." Reluctantly he got in, and we all
encouraged him to hurry and go back the way we
originally had come. By this time, it was obvious we
were not going to reach our hotel, and our hopes
dropped. We had worked so hard to come down out of the
mountains, only to have our hopes dashed in a running
crowed of confused people.
Luckily
I had stayed in another hotel away from the
"action," and we easily made it to the hotel
gate without any further difficulties. Thank God. This
place costs a lot more, but it's worth it considering
the alternatives.
Yes,
things are a little tense, and most of the gang is
headed home tomorrow. I'll stick around to clear up
some gear issues, and hope to clear some large
expedition deposits with the government next week. I
remain optimistic that all will go well and I'll
return home soon.
Tomorrow
I should have some time to share with you the start of
our summit climb...with all of the activity here in
KTM, the summit seems so long ago.
Cheers,
Jason Edwards
Leader
Mountain Experience
2001 Mt. Everest Expedition
