Well, the trip is finally drawing to a close - we’re sitting in the lobby at the Yak & Yeti waiting to be taken to the airport for our flights home.

After Namche, we had a long last day hiking to Lukla and then a huge party with our porters before an early wake up for out flight back to Kathmandu.

Kathmandu has been fun - shopping, massages, hanging out by the pool, eating, drinking and generally unwinding after the trek.

On Sunday we visited the Bhakpatur Cancer Hospital, the main beneficiary from our fundraising and there was a big press conference.

Yesterday (Monday) was the grand finale concert in Dhurbar Square in Kathmandu, which went out live on Nepal TV. The gig was great, then we had a final dinner before heading out on the town - the highlight for me was Karaoke singing Anarchy in the UK with Mike Peters!

The trip has been amazing but all good things come to an end. But Everest Rocks is just the beginning - we’ll have lots more fun with Love Hope Strength, raising money and awareness for the cause.

Love Hope Strength

Matt
xxx

We’re back in Namche Bazaar - civilisation, almost. Well, internet cafes and mobile phone coverage anyway.

So much has happened since my last blog. Where to start?

When I last wrote, we’d been staying in pretty good accommodation - it certainly got worse the further up the mountain we went. Basic might be a bit generous. All but 5 out 38 of us got sick along the way - 16 on the one day in Dingboche!

As we got higher, the altitude really kicked in and made every step difficult. But 35 out of 38 made it up to Kala Patthar for (officially per the Guiness Book of Records) the highest gig on land.

The day up to Kala Patthar was the toughest - physically challenging and emotionally draining. After an early start and a 3 hour walk to Gorak Shep gaining 800m, we had an early lunch before another 3 hour hike up another 800m to Kala Pattar. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it. Having eaten virtually nothing in 3 days (the smell of the tea houses - burning yak dung - and the same food everyday) had killed my appetite and any food made me nauseous.

For someone who is not overly emotional I found myself in tears for no reason at the challenge ahead. Jake Norton, one of our guides and 3 time Everest Summiter (he was in the group that found Mallery’s body in 1999) gave an inspirational speech quoting Mallery from the 1920s and then Mike also inspired us upwards with (Never Give Up) Without A Fight.

We made it to the top and the gig was great and then we were in bed my 6.30pm completely exhausted.

The next day was an optional 7 hour return hike to Everest Base Camp. Over half the crew decided to give it a miss and took a rest day at Gorak Shep. Kris and I both did it. We felt we had to as Base Camp had always been the end destination (although the gig had been moved to Kala Patthar as it is higher than Base Camp and has views of Everest that Base Camp doesn’t). Our further motivation was that we couldn’t stand the thought of spending the day in the tea house!!

The way down has been fun. We’re minus 3 people - Slim Jim and his mate Garrie took a helicopter down - and one other trekker who had been sick decided to jump ship too. Last night we were back at the Everest Summit Lodge at Teshinga - it’s like a French chateau nestled into the hillside. We all enjoyed our first (hot) shower for a week, ensuite with western toilets - no more squatting, holding one’s nose against the stench. And a fantastic dinner - chilli chicken - our first meat for over a week.

In the evening we were treated to Glenn performing many of Squeeze’s biggest hits (Pulling Mussels, Black Coffee in Bed, Up the Junction etc) and then playing requests which turned into a bit of a Bowie singalong fest. Then after dinner Cy and Jamie from The Fixx mesmorised us with a jamming session. All the musicians have been great, mixing with everyone just like the regular trekkers but at the same time keeping us entertained along the way.

Tomorrow night we’re in Lukla (a long walk tomorrow), then we fly back to Kathmandu on Saturday morning. Some R&R, shopping, a visit to the Bakphutar (spelling?) cancer hospital that is benefiting from our fundraising and then the grand finale concert in the main square in Kathmandu on Monday. It’s a free show and they’re expecting anything from 10,000 to 25,000 people and it’s going out live on Nepal TV.

That’s all for now.

See you all in a week or so.

Cheers

Matt

Yesterday we left Namche Bazar and had an easy flatish hike to Tamsing. Along the way, we were lucky enough to watch Mike Peters record a video of The Stand on a hillock in the middle of the valley - I have some great video and photos.

At Tamsing we were treated to a night in the Everest Summit Lodge (the same as in Monjo, great food, beds with duvets, ensuite, hot water, even heaters in the room!).

Today we’ve hiked up 500m to Tengboche monastry, the spiritual centre for the Khombu region. After lunch we’ll go on a tour round this buddhist monastry.

The hike up was spectacular - up through the snow line (with snow from last night melting off the trees onto us - but still warm enough to hike in a t-shirt, although cold when you stop.

Internet is double the price of Namche here, so time to sign off.

I’m sure this will be the last post till the way back down in a week or so.

Love to all

Matt
xxx

Tonight’s concert in the pub was awesome. They kicked off with Mike leading everyone on a singalong on Love Hope & Strength and then we were treated to material from each of the artists and then some covers too. Highlights included Cy and Jamie from The Fixx playing Remember Me When I’m Gone, a track on Cy’s upcoming solo album (which they’d also played for us in the dining room in Monjo in an intimate jam to half a dozen of us), Glenn getting the crowd involved in his rendition of Squeeze’s Take Me (I’m Yours) - what an entertainer Glenn is - Mike playing 68 Guns and the band (now named the Yaks) playing The Clash’s I Fought the Law (which became I Fought the Yak) and finishing with Slim Jim leading them through crowd favorite Stray Cats tune, Runawa Boys.

I got some great photos and also video - but you’ll also hear it on the website.

Must go now. Will post again in 10 days.

Cheers

Matt

Tonight is our second and last night in Namche Bazaar, so my last blog from the internet cafe until we return here in around 9 or 10 days time. In between, technology permitting, there will be the group’s daily journal, photos and podcast on the main everestrocks page but no more from me.

Today has been another amazing day - sorry to use the word “amazing” so much but it just is.

The day started with Nick Harper playing us a song to set us on our way - a song he’d only finished writing after getting back from the pub last night, where we played the world’s longest game of pool (partly because we were all very average but partly as the table was a bit dodgey - although it’s a major feat that there is a table at all, as everything has to be carried up from Lukla!).

We then hiked up to the Everest View Hotel at 3,850m, up on a ridge with fantastic panoramic views of Everest (but not today due to the cloud cover). It was built by the Japanese as a luxury tourist resort and they helicoptered the punters in to pressurised bedrooms, due to the altitude but apparently the tourists kept dying!

Although we didn’t get to see the views, we were treated to a rendition of Neil Young’s Rockin’ In the Free World by all the artists, which morphed into a singalong Trekking in the Free World in front of a bemused crowd of other trekkers!

Then Nick played a very poignant My Imaginary Friend a song dedicated to his mother who died in 2000 of breast cancer. After the song Mike interviewed a very emotional Nick on camera, who told us all the story and there was hardly a dry eye in the group.

Again the scenery was spectacular but once again different to the previous day. A fairly easier hike up and then a faster hike down for our acclimitisation day. Tomorrow is supposed to be another shortish day but then it gets harder…

And as if we hadn’t had enough excitement, Shannon has managed to organise a gig this evening at one of the pubs and word has been spreading around town - we’re off there now, it’s going to be a blast!

Time to sign off now. Please send us text messages to the group’s sat phone via the website - whilst we won’t be able to reply it is great to hear them each day.

Byeee!

Cheers

Matt

Day 2 up the mountain. I was lucky enough to get to write the main journal for yesterday for the group, see below (I’ve cut and pasted the text from the main page).

Today has been just as good - following the river and then climbing up to Namche with breathtaking views of the valley and mountains and our first of Everest.

Kris has picked up a bug overnight and wasn’t in good shape after a night without much sleep(thankfully we had an ensuite with a proper western sit down toilet!) but she did a fantastic job taking it slow and making it to Namche, where she is now having a rest - and tomorrow is an acclimitisation day, so hopefully she’ll be back to fighting fitness by the time we leave Namche on Tuesday morning.

Despite Kris’s condition we were excited to get a text this morning (remarkably we still have mobile phone reception) with the news that England had beaten France to get to the rugby world cup final. We’re hoping that one of the satellite TV channels might show the SA v Fiji game tonight.

The day started with Glenn Tilbrook treating us all to a fantastic rendition of Squeeze’s Goodbye Girl outside our lodge (I think this will feature on podcast #3) and then Kris and I were also lucky enough to watch Mike Peters record Breathe live with our first views of Everest as a backdrop.

Must go now as the internet cafe isn’t cheap.

Love to all

Matt

October 12, 2007

Today has been another amazing (but long) day – our first on the mountain.

It all started with a 4.30am wake up call for a 5am departure for the airport. Ade, our guide, had set the expectation of much waiting around at the airport but we were ushered straight through and out to our planes immediately – the flights into Lukla had been problematic over the past few days due to cloud, so we were keeping our fingers crossed that we’d get in okay. We arrived at the airport to be greeted by Dr. Baral from Bhaktapur. He gave us each blessings and sprinkled flower petals in our hair. He had been up since 2:30 (which he does each morning) to mix the chemo drugs for the morning patients. Somehow, he found time to see us off with tears in his eyes, and ours. This mission has begun and he is the reason we are doing it.

The group was split across three flights (16 seater twin engine Otters) and we got away okay. But would we be able to land? After a breathtaking flight amidst the mountains, we were soon heading to a landing strip (reed grass and rocks) and landed in the middle of nowhere, which we soon discovered was not Lukla, which had just been closed, but Paphlu, a local village not set up for trekkers. An hour on the ground and the weather had closed in with light rain. Our brand new Marmot waterproofs got their first workout. With no guide on our plane, other people’s bags rather than our own and no idea where we were, we started thinking “Lost”. Would we be stuck here (no lodges) or perhaps get into Lukla to find the others stuck in Kathmandu or would it all be okay?

After an hour on the ground, we were rushed back on the plane, taxied down the paddock, faced up hill and hit the gas. At the end of the runway we were still on the ground and just floated over the end of the airstrip and we were airborne! What a blast.

We hear that the others faired slightly better by landing straight away without the “layover”. Slightly better is an understatement though when you take a 360 degree turn in mid air straight into a mountain side. The landing strip in Lukla is no more than a 100 yards with a 15% incline right into a brick wall. After many expletives and cheers, we were shoved off our planes to be greeted by 100’s of porters and sherpas searching for work.

A quick food and drink stop, briefing from Ade, rendition of Strength by Mike and we were off. Every step of the way has been an experience - the views were spectacular, the locals so friendly and happy despite their lack of material possessions and basic lifestyle and then there were the Yaks. “Yak Attack” became of the phrase of the day – Glenn managed to come off better than the Yak that attacked him, managing to tip it over (self defense he claims) and apparently Mike got attacked too while performing Bells of Rhymney for the video. We all stopped for lunch where Mike finally arrived when it was time to leave due to stopping every 10 minutes to record tracks and play for the locals!

After 6 hours or so of walking and darkness creeping up on us, we arrived in Monjo at the Everest Summit Lodge – 2,825m so my Highgear altimeter tells me. Despite being told how good it is, we were all blown away by the quality of the lodge. It will get more basic as we get higher but this place is better than the Club Med we stayed at a few years back! Beds with sheets and duvets (doonas for the Aussies) and ensuite bathrooms with proper western style toilets. We’ll all sleep well tonight in any case after such a big day but in more comfort than the people we came past pitching tents! Shannon says she wanted to tent but the general consensus is the Everest Summit Lodge is the go. Amazingly we’ve got mobile (cell) phone reception here – but no TV to watch the rugby tonight (go England!). The food at dinner was fantastic and after loading up with energy most of the group has headed to bed for an early night, except all the production crew, guides and others still working hard (Mike just spent an hour writing up his journal – the guy just never stops!). Cy and Jamie have returned to the mess hall with guitars to ask if it would be ok if they jammed on their new Gibsons for a while. Ummmm…is it ok for the Fixx to play for myself, Shannon, Ade, Jake, Mike J. and our sherpa guides Sandeep and Sonam? Yeah, I think that would be ok! (What a trip to see them play in Crocs!)

After a long day on our feet, it’s been great to put on our fleece lined Crocs and sit an relax with a well earned beer! Ade tells us that we can drink up until Namche Bazaar so no more beers after tomorrow night. Just lots of water from our wonderful CamelBak packs to keep us hydrated (I mentioned many of our sponsors, Shannon will be so proud!)

Time to sign off now. I don’t think I’ve done justice to what a fantastic day it’s been – the start of a massive adventure for us all. Beautiful scenery, amazing local people (thanks to our sherpas and most importantly our porters for making things easy for us), a great group of people and lots of fun.

Tune in tomorrow for the next installment. We have received word from Guiness Book of World Records that we will in fact be the highest concert on earth ever performed. (assuming we all get there.)

Scott & Dan be good for Granny and Gramps and keep sending us text messages from the website – we love you and miss you heaps.

Matt Adam-Smith
Love Hope Strength
October 13, 2007
Monjo, Nepal
9,280 ft, 2,925 m

Well, we arrived safely - bang on 24 hours door to door from Sydney (including 2 hours on ground in Brisbane and 4 in Bangkok). But a much shorter journey than the US contingent who we met up with in Bangkok - their trip was well over 30 hours.

The Yak & Yeti hotel is lovely - a real oasis tucked away amidst the hustle and bustle that is Kathmandu. Some of the less traveller trekkers found Kathmandu quite confronting - the poverty, dirt and madness that is similar to many Asian cities - but compared to New Dehli and Manilla that I’ve been to previously, Kathmandu is quite civilised.

Everyone copied with the long journey well and made it to the team briefing at 8pm last night, followed by dinner and then over half of the group made it into town to check out the nightlife - just a few quiet beers at Tom & Jerrys led by our trek leader Ade (a welshman who lives in Sydney when he’s not leading treks). All of the artists made it out with the rest of us, so it was a pretty fun night getting to know everyone. It looks like we have a good group and everyone will get along well.

Today’s been a free day (with the artists going to the recording studio), so a load of us took a walk into town and then to the “monkey temple”. Now it’s time to pack everything for the main game, which kicks off tomorrow with a 5am departure to the airport for our flight to Lukla. Fingers crossed that our flight can get in, as there’s been cloud in Lukla which has closed the airport for the last few days but we hear that some flights got in this morning.

The othe big news is that the grand finale concert has been confirmed for the main square - an outdoor venue that can take 25,000 and it’s going to be a free show, so it should be huge. Everest Rocks has been getting some good press over the last 24 hours. Yesterday the website took 210,000 hits (up from just a few thousand per day previously). After lots of interviews by Mike and James yesterday, we’re hoping for an even bigger number to be reported tonight.

Well, better go now and get packed. Send us lots of text messages via the website - they get read out each night, so it would be good to be more popular than everyone else!

It’s already shaping up to be an unforgettable experience. I’ll write more from Namche Bazaar in a couple of days when I next get access to the net.

Byee!

Cheers

Matt

Matt and Kris both grew up in the South of England – Matt on the Kent/Sussex border near Tunbridge Wells and Kris near Abingdon in Oxfordshire. They met at University in Durham and then worked in London for four years before moving to Sydney, Australia in June 1995 after getting married earlier that year. Initially on an 18 month secondment with Matt’s job, this quickly turned to 2 years, then a bit longer and then permanently! The lure of the outdoor lifestyle that the Sydney climate permits was just too much for them.

Matt is a partner with international accountancy firm Grant Thornton and Kris works in the Treasury department at Westpac, one of the Big Four banks in Australia. They have two children – Scott, aged 7 and Daniel aged 5. Matt still plays rugby at the age of 38 and has recently taken up surfing. Kris is a keen tennis player and played lacrosse at national level in her youth. Both enjoy working out at the gym (when time permits between work and parenthood) and skiing is also a passion.

Whilst their lives have not been as closely affected by cancer as some of the other trekkers, as with most people it has touched their lives a number of times over the years. Both Matt’s paternal grandparents died of forms of cancer when he was younger and more recently, since becoming parents they have watched the mother of one of their son’s friends die from breast cancer and also helped support another family through their young daughter’s successful fight against Leukaemia.

Matt is a big rock music enthusiast and is a long time fan of The Alarm and was inspired to join the trek and help James Chippendale set up Love Strength Foundation Australia after seeing James and Mike Peters launch the charity at The Alarm’s “Gathering” weekend in Llandudno, North Wales earlier this year. By participating in the Everest Rocks trek and the ongoing running of the Australian arm of the charity, Matt and Kris hope not only to raise money but also give something back to the community by supporting such an important fight!

Well, this time next week we’ll be saying goodbye to the kids (leaving them for three weeks with their grandparents - the longest we’ve ever been away from them for) and heading to the airport for the start of our massive adventure.

The gear supplied by the clothing sponsor Marmot arrived yesterday and looks fantastic. It’s all starting to feel like we’re really going, having been far off for so long. We’ve collected donations of more than our fundraising target (US$50k or AU$60k) and we’ve still got a few more pledges to collect.

Thanks to all those who have so generously supported us.

If anyone else wants to support us you can do it in three different ways depending on where you live:

1. Australia - click on the following link to our website where there is a Visa Donate button to donate to the Australian charity: www.adam-smiths.com

2. UK: Click on the following link to donate to the UK charity via Just Giving (who will automatically forward the gift aid to LHSF): www.justgiving.com/everest-rocks

3. Rest of the world: Click on the Visa Donate button at the very top of this page to donate to the US charity.

We’ll post some more blog once we’re on our way.

Cheers

Matt