iBLOG!
Name: Emily Shuman
Age: 21
Hometown: Durham, NH
Area of study: Human Development & Family Science, Biology minor
Year in school: Rising senior
I joined the Everest Base Camp Expedition because... I have visited many countries in my life, but never one in Asia. I joined this trip because I wanted to immerse myself in the culture and experience a country unlike any of the other’s I have been to. In 2018 I went to Peru with my mom and had my first taste of what high altitude actually felt like. Since that trip I have always found the topic of high altitude interesting, so being able to learn about the physiology of it all was very intriguing to me. And of course, seeing Mount Everest and the Himalayas was an added bonus!
I'm involved with the SU collaborative research studies by... Throughout our time in Kathmandu and Pheriche I have participated in the exercise study, the standing balance study, and the cardiovascular stiffness study. Being a research participant in these studies, while at times felt like being a guinea pig (shoutout to my pet guinea pigs Mark and Roger), was very educational and fun. I really enjoyed learning about the details of each study and being able to see my own data in real time was very cool.
I'm most looking forward to... Now that our main trekking is over, and we are heading back to Kathmandu I am looking forward to the plane ride out of Lukla. When we arrived in the mountains nearly 2 weeks ago all of us came on helicopters, which of course was amazing, but meant that we missed experiencing the extremely short (and extremely steep) runway for the planes. Prior to coming to Nepal, I had heard about the Lukla airport and watched many videos of planes taking off and landing. As someone who loves flying, I am looking forward to the exhilarating moment the plane zooms down the steep runway and takes off surrounded by the Himalayan Mountains!
My favorite part of the trip so far has been... Getting to know the culture and people of Nepal. One of our assignments this past week was to interview a Sherpa participant and write a small biography about them. I was paired with Phura, a 26 year-old woman from Dengbouche who is about to move to Canada to study autism and get her graduates degree. Sitting with Phura was a highlight of the trip for me so far, and walking over to Dengbouche the following day made the experience extra special to me. Of course, I have also enjoyed the views out my window every morning; waking up surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the world has been unbelievable and is something you never get used to!
The worst part of the trip so far... Sadly, I got sick on the day that we made the trek up to the Pyramid Lab and had to turn around and return to Pheriche instead of continuing the trek up to Gorak Shep and EBC. While staying in Pheriche for a few extra days did have many positives, such as getting to connect with Ang (Nima's wife) or watching the EBC marathon, missing out on the 2 days of trekking was very hard. Luckily, everyone had plenty of photos to show me when they got back so I was still able to see the rock and the summit of Kala Patthar.
One thing most people don't know about me... I am a huge musical theater fan (even though my singing voice resembles the yaks when they communicate with each other). My two guinea pigs are named after my favorite characters in the show Rent, Mark and Roger. The week before leaving for this trip my mom took me to NYC and I was able to meet Anthony Rapp, the actor who originated Mark on Broadway when the show opened in 1996, in which I sobbed the entire time.
Daily Recap
Today was a long day of some tough trekking while we made our way back to Namche. Don’t let the fact that we were heading “down” the mountain deceive you, we still had to go uphill quite a bit! Getting out of Pheriche was fairly straight forward, we followed the single road out of town and over the river. This is where the first uphill awaited us. The upwards climb to get out of the valley that Pheriche resides in was actually much easier than I had anticipated it would be (especially since I was sick the last few days) and going down felt great! For about an hour we continued our walk downhill, and for the first time during a trekking day I was able to talk and walk at the same time without getting winded.
About three hours into our trek, we passed the lodge in Debouche that we stayed at on the way up. Right after passing the Culture Home, the second big uphill of the day greeted us. The steep incline to get into Tengbuche was tough, and much steeper than I remember it being when I went down it 10 days ago. Even though there was more oxygen in the air, my legs and body were still sore from the walking, and I was still recovering from my illness, so the hill was tough. Happily waiting at the top of the hill was Nima and Kanchha with some lunch! Lunch was pizza, french fries, and soup, a meal I was definitely looking forward to eating after walking for the last 4 hours!
After lunch a bunch of the students went inside the monastery to look around, but I decided to get a head start on the next portion of the hike since I knew another big climb was coming. Myself, Taylor, Tom, Wes, Pontus, and Kanchha headed out on the trail for the next leg of the trek into Namche. The first hour was all downhill as we approached the glacier river. Conversation on the way down the hill included a debate about whether it was bad luck to knock over a rock cairn (which both Pontus and Taylor proceeded to do on accident), and poodles being the worst dog breed (Wes is very adamant that “poodles are dicks” in case you were wondering).
After crossing the river on a suspension bridge, we started our long journey back up the mountain. When I reached the top of the mountain, I was delighted to see the path flatten out and was relieved to have finished the last big climb of the day! The rest of the hike I was treated to some amazing views of the mountains and villages in the distance as I finished the last few miles into Namche. Turning the corner into Namche felt like Christmas morning, after 7 hours of hiking I had finally reached the little village tucked into the mountain. The first thing I did when I got to the lodge in Namche (other than sit down and catch my breath) was shower. To my surprise the shower was hot, not warm but HOT! When we stopped in Namche on the way up my shower was cold, so to be able to have a hot shower this time was life changing. After my shower I decided to take a nap before dinner, also a life changing event for me. Dinner was buffet style and consisted of buffalo Momo’s, vegetable stir fry, and some potatoes.
After dinner we all sat around the tables and listened to Trevor serenade us on his ukelele as he introduced the beginning of the Khumbu awards. The evening then consisted of a talent/award show in which many of the researchers performed and presented awards. My favorite performance was Nick’s 4-part poem in which he managed to highlight the entire research team in a rhyming poem. Other highlights included Wes, Trevor, and Anna singing a cover of “living on a prayer” with the line “no clean underwear” replacing the chorus, Jeff doing a single joke during his standup comedy bit, and Nima attacking Trevor while dressed as Yeti. However, the night would not have been complete without the 4 SU boys performing “I Want It That Way” by the backstreet boys which ended with all of them taking their shirts off while Jeff danced in Trevor’s lap to the song “Fergalicious”. A very eventful night to say the least. I was happy to call it a night and head to bed after the awards. Tomorrow, we finish our journey and head back to Lukla!
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