October 14, 2007

Hello Loves,

My name is Glenn Tilbrook and here is my journal for today, Oct. 14th. I will be writing it with fellow trekker and boss of our whole world Shannon Foley. After a long and satisfying sleep I awoke at 6.30 a.m. Ready and raring to go. I was so knackered last night that the daily task of re-ordering my bag was left till this morning. Nick, my room mate, slept on while I busied myself.

Everyone was buzzing in the breakfast room about the day ahead, and after porridge, omelets, potatoes and toast, and a quick briefing from Ade there was only one thing left before we set off, and that was our daily song, which today was from me. You can check out the podcast for the resulting mayhem and rock ‘n roll shambles which ensued.

After the riot police had once again established a sense of normality, off we set. Over to you, Shannon.

So, how do I follow Glenn Tilbrook playing Goodbye Girl?!?! Man, this is a tough one. That was one of the coolest mornings I have ever had, no, it WAS the coolest morning I ever had. After Glenn’s stand up performance, we headed off the trail checking up on each other as we went. It was a rough day yesterday and a few of us were battered and bruised from falls on the muddy paths (yours truly included) and altitude had started to set in a bit. We have been told that this would be our toughest walk yet, a vertical 2,000 foot climb. Our second winds kicked in and we set the pace. Traveling along the path of white water rapids we struggled up a steep path of rock and yak dung. I think the motivation came from the people we passed along the path. I overheard 2 Bits chatting to their porter about a concert that was happening on base camp! The word was out of rockstars were on the mountain and the new destination seemed to be Kala Patthar (the Epiphone guitar cases on Sherpa backs may have been a dead giveaway). I do not think that we will be alone when we get there, we may have to start charging admission.

We were trucking along quite well when we came across a 60 meter (198 foot) suspension bridge 60 meters above the raging waters below. Gripping the cable that held me from my imminent demise I looked up to find Jake hanging from the OUTside of the bridge to “get the best shot” (Wendy, you are a saint, I am not sure how you put up with him!) I stood in shear panic screaming at him like a lunatic to get down. How do you tell the man that found Mallory’s body on Everest to stop standing on the edge? Thankfully, Nick stepped in to distract me by pointing out that our first view of Everest was in front of us. AMAZING!!!! It was like nothing we have ever seen. Talk about an energy rush!!! Nothing was going to stop us now!

3 hours later we arrived in Namche Bazar. Here, we will stay for 2 nights to acclimatize, locate the car battery and generator that we will need to continue to power our equipment to send you these messages. Damien and Stash run around the trekkers like experienced ‘porters with cameras’ to get the shots, Oli sticks by Mike’s side to be sure the mic is ready whenever the moment strikes him to break out a tune, which is often. And, Tom, after hiking all day, is handed hours and hours of raw footage which he cuts down to these podcasts before dinner. Talk about Supermen. Alex and I spent some time walking along the trek today talking about 2008. We have located a center in need in Peru and all agree that we want to move on to Machu Picchu Rocks to support them. We are getting text message through the site from all over the globe asking us for help and we are anxious to oblige, as long as we can find a crazy crew of people like this to join us on the next one. Without this group of 38 we never would have raised the money we need to support Bhaktapur here in Nepal. We hope you will considering joining us next year for our new missions.

Update from the team as I type..

• Mike is playing guitar next to me while I write. George, Damien and Oli are helping him write a new song about the wild day.
• Stash and I are sharing a bottle of wine (don’t tell our guides).
• Jake and Alan are sharing Everest stories down the other side of the table.
• Alex and Tom are editing the next podcast upstairs
• Slim and Garrie are sleeping after a stellar day on the mountain
• Glenn is asleep because he rocked out on the steps this morning
• Nick, Cy ,Mike J, Aden, Eran, James, Mark, Dan, Meghan, Jamie, Scott, Stan, Ben, Matt and Ade are playing The Ryder Cup of Pool at a hall in Namche (America vs. The World!)
• Tracie, Steph, Vince, Sean, Julie, Peter, Rini, Christine, and Kris are the only smart ones and have gone off to bed.

Quotes of the Day:
Cy passes a Sherpa porter on the trek who is wearing 1 shoe.
Cy: You’ve lost a shoe.
Sherpa porter: No, I found one!

Garrie: How tall are you?
Aden: 6 feet 10 inches
Garrie: Really? What is your life expectancy?!

Meghan is walking with James who has his iPod on and is singing an undecipherable song at the top of his lungs. British couples walks by and says to Meghan: “I think you yak is dying.”

Meghan (after just washing her clothes in the sink): Where can I hang my clothes to dry?
Sherpa woman who runs the tea house: "Please, do not wash your clothes in the toilet."
Meghan: "I promise not to wash my clothes in the toilet."

James: "Can you believe this crew?! Jake as our photographer, Damien, Stash, Oli, Tom and Alex doing the production. We have the all star team on trekking."
Mark: "Yeah, except for you."

Glenn Tilbrook & Shannon Foley
Love Hope Strength
October 14, 2007
Namche Bazar, Nepal
11,345 ft, 3,457 m