Mt Everest Base Camp

That's it....

I've never been to the moon, but I imagine it's somewhat like the Mt Everest Base Camp, and the Khumbu Glacier running up to that point.

After reading countless books on the numerous Everest expeditions over the past 90 years, arriving at the site of these triumphs and tragedies gave me an eerie sense of history. Hundreds of people have died here, and when you look at the obstacles going against the climbers you really have to question their sanity. But when a climber is asked why they climb Everest, the stock answer is, 'because it's there'.

'Bottom of the Top of The World!' (that's not Everest behind me, it's the teasingly named, 'Lo La').

You can't actually see Everest from the Base Camp, but the path is staring you in the face; the Khumbu Icefall. This 200 metre deep frozen river crawls down the hill at around a metre and a half per day, and the constant crackling of that movement shakes the entire camp.

There was one expedition from Thailand making an attempt at the summit when I arrived, to celebrate the King's 80th birthday. They didn't make it, but they didn't seem bothered really. They did check my vital signs, and my resting pulse rate was 103 bpm, with an oxygen stauration level of 72%. Not so good at sea level, but at 5500m, apparently that wasn't too bad.