MotionX-GPS: Lukla to Pheriche

Martin Edström is getting closer to Everest Base Camp. Along the way he is using MotionX-GPS to log his journey and communicate to the world.
View his MotionX-GPS track: Lukla to Pheriche

He is documenting the Saving Mount Everest Project, which is being coordinated by the Society for Cooperation Alps-Himalaya.

Martin continues to blog from Nepal:
From Thyangboche we have moved on to Pherice, further up the valley at about 4300m. A small, pass-through town, but also an essential acclimatisation stop. From green valleys we are now heading into more barren land, with rock and snow part of every day.

5000m. View over Ama Dablam, as seen from high over Pheriche. Land is getting barren, isolated - and not a place where people care to think about sustainable waste management in between all other high altitude related problems

Bashi Rai, a local porter working for the trekking companies carrying a load of 90kg through Pheriche, on his way to Everest Base Camp

We have done interviews with a couple of the sherpa porters, and as we’ve stayed for two extra days have got a good look at all the trekkers passing by. The Himalayan Rescue Association have their main clinic here in Pheriche, and it’s busy everyday with porters and tourists in trouble because of the high altitude.

Yaks and their offspring are seen in every village. They represent part of the region’s future problems; with increasing demand on products to be delivered to tourist lodges and other remote traveler areas, yaks are bred more than ever. With their grazing comes a very used-up landscape, that can’t be sustained in the long term.

Yaks and their offspring are seen in every village.

As for the waste management, this is one typical place where waste and garbage disposal doesn’t come in first hand. Lots is used, especially the water bottles that are thrown away in mass – but in a barren and cold place such as this, few think about sustainability. This is where a project like Saving Mount Everest will have a hard challenge, establishing a waste system where people are least of all concerned with what they throw away.

As for our traveling group, we have hit several snags – almost half of the troupe have been evacuated down to Kathmandu by helicopter because of various problems with altitude, and Nepal being a nest of many serious stomach bugs. I was relieved of the latter thanks to the HRA clinic yesterday, who thankfully had antibiotics in stock.

Tomorrow we leave for Lobuche, and up towards the snowy regions of Everest Base Camp.

Follow Martin’s progress on his blog here: http://martinedstrom.com/category/blog/

Martin Edström – heading towards Everest Base Camp

3460m. Namche Bazar, the home of Sherpas and trekkers alike. Khumbila is visible in the background.

We left Kathmandu after some heavy flight delays this Monday, and landed at the small village of Lukla. Being a starting point for almost every trekker spending time in the Himalayas, it is a veritable hub with everything available. It is also here that porters start their long treks through the Khumbu valley and up to various destinations such as Everest Base Camp.

Sherpa porters starting their long trek up through the Khumbu valley, these ones heading for Namche Bazar

Moving on through Lukla, we have trekked up to Namche Bazar – the next hub on the way. As tourism and trekking business has made the region expand explosively, there are new lodges, restaurant and facilities under construction all along the trail. As springtime is the main season together with late autumn, there’s a very large amount of people moving through the region – which becomes quite obvious. Yaks, porters and local people are many times outnumbered by foreigners crowding the trail.

Read Martin’s entire blog entry on http://martinedstrom.com

Movements through Nepal with MotionX

Porters and lodge staffmembers playing ping-pong behind the lodge in Lukla

In Namche we have been doing initial interviews with people who have great insight into the waste problem and it’s development during the last couple of decades. In an interview with the general secretary of the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) we have learned the history of environmental control in the region, which has always been totally dependent on private and non-profit efforts. To date, there is no offical governmental force of environmental protection in place here; most of the waste is simply burnt, and the rest is buried out of sight from the tourists in Namche Bazar.

Trekkers journeying through the lower regions of the Khumbu enjoy all amenities possible, from pizza to WiFi

Tomorrow we trek further up the valley, towards Thamboche and it’s monastery, on our way up to EBC. (Everest Base Camp)

‘Batteries? We crush them, and bury them on the mountain. There is nothing else we can do.’ -Lama Kaji Sherpa, general secretary of the SPCC

Martin Edström’s first days on his journey to Mount Everest

We are having busy days in Kathmandu, and I have been meeting with all the various partners and organizers of the project to get a clear view of what is happening. Organizing a project the scale of Saving Mount Everest is a logistic nightmare wherever you do it; organising it in Nepal – very much worse. It is clear that all partners involved are working extremely hard just to get things running, delayed by bureaucracy.

The holy site of the Boudhanath; a young woman overlooking the same

Wongchu Sherpa from Everest Sumiteers Association, the initiator, and EcoHimal have now set in motion the final arrangements and it seems the start of the actual cleaning of Mount Everest will begin the first days of May. Wongchu is getting a team of Sherpas – the cleaning patrol – up to base camp along with us; people that will surely be featured in my documentary as we trek up the mountain and get perspective on the project. They will lead the initial stage of getting the symbolic act of cleaning “The Mother Goddess of the Earth”.

The Vishnumati river, one of many floating through Kathmandu valley

Just landing in Kathmandu gives you a sense of this nation’s waste managing problems, and taking a walk through town leaves you even more sure of it. There is no denying that this country is in dire need of a shape-up in terms of long-term planning for keeping waste in check. As we have been traveling around town to get a sense of Nepal’s capital, the lingering sensation is always one of a damp, sweet smell of garbage and a nose tickling from exhaust fumes.

Women near Kathmandu Durbar Square

Nonetheless, there is a change of scenery going on. As the Saving Mount Everest (SME) project is just to be implemented, there is hope of establishing a sustainable model not only for the Khumbu valley and Everest/Sagarmatha region – but for Nepal as a whole. Most important here is that SME has got the support of the Nepalese government, a government who has not devoted themselves to such efforts ever before. If successful, the project will truly spark a trend for developments in the region. And through the clear connection to responsible travelers and eco-minded young adventurers, one can only hope this effort will spread wide. It it a privilege to be here from the start, and see how one of the largest environmental efforts in the Himalayas unfold through 2011 and beyond.

Tomorrow we fly for Lukla, to the mountains. With meetings done and the project now officially in motion, we now leave Kathmandu and head into the region which Saving Mount Everest will try to change for the better.

Movements through Nepal with MotionX

And we’re off! Sitting in Doha, Qatar at the moment, waiting for the Kathmandu flight that leaves in about 7 hours…

Last few days have been a hassle of packing, planning and testing the gear. The new Elinchrom Quadra will serve as flash kit for the portrait series I am going to capture throughout the journey, and is checked in one of the hardcases.

We arrive in Kathmandu late on Friday, we will spend the weekend meeting up with EcoHimal, Peak Promotion and the other partners involved. Sunday will most likely host a press conference, announcing (yet again) the start of the project. Monday 18th we fly for Lukla and start the documentary work with our journey through Sagarmatha National Park together with most of the key people involved in making this project happen – ensuring good insight into their first steps towards trying to establish a cleaner and more sustainable Everest region.

Read Martin’s entire blog entry on http://martinedstrom.com

Saving Mount Everest Project 2011/12

His full documentary in text and images will provide extensive coverage of the project through 2012. Martin will be using his iPhone 4 with MotionX-GPS to share his position on the mountain and geo-tag specific clean up locations from Base Camp up to the high ‘death zone’.

The goals of the project are to remove ten tons of rubbish from the mountain in the spring of 2011 and, together with the National Park Management, to introduce a sustainable waste disposal concept in the Everest region by the end of 2012.

In preparation for his journey, Martin has put together his standard photography equipment as well as a Brunton solar roll and storage so he is able to charge all his devices on the go. (Brunton.com)

Stay tuned here on Martin’s blog for updates on the project.

Brunton Solar Roll with Storage

Brunton Travel Case

The last days we’ve been spending in Marrakech, losing ourselves a bit in the colours, scents and sounds of this one big medina.

Early mornings are most attractive and intriguing, as a walk in the medina and it’s souks give an insight into the people actually keeping up the business – and get to talk to the locals going to work. Booming in recent years, the trading quarters of Marrakech will not stay the same for long, as chinese products and VISA-signposts are digging in deep, here to stay.

Early morning, berber man cycling to work through the narrow souks in Marrakech.

Essaouira to Marrakech with MotionX-GPS

Download kmz file – EssaouiraToMarrakech

At night though, it’s another city compared to the commerically driven daylight one. You can hardly get enough of late nights at the Jemma el-Fna square, as it’s not only packed full of tourist-trap snake charmers; dancers, theater groups and vendors of all kind come and go, as do the Marrakech locals themselves. Sitting on a rooftop somewhere adjacent to the square is an ideal way to let the night go by, with perfect view of the stalls serving everything from chicken with pasta to goatbrain with figs.

Getting baguettes through the souks

Jeema el-Fna, nighttime

When lounging in a beach bar, people gossiping around you and music playing soft lobby-like tunes, it isn’t without curiosity you see the bartender turn down the volume of the music. In the middle of the day? High season, with the bar packed full of guests?
But then you hear the minaret call out, and the call to prayer echoes all through town. And then you remember – we are in Morocco. Islam is all around, here.

Seagulls, fisherman and withered walls are over represented in Essaouira

After the two-minute prayer call is done, the bartender turns up the music again – and you could well think yourself to be in any, random, beach town.

We’ve finally reached the shoreline of Morocco again, not having seen it since Casablanca. The quiet village of Essaouira turns a bit more lively at night, but still – this is a haven of sorts, where the worn traveler can put their backpack down and feet up. We’ve focused on the latter for a day, and are now off to taste the specialties of this place – fish in all of it’s varieties.

Ait Ben Hadou to Essaouira with MotionX-GPS

Download kmz file – AitBenHadouToEssaouiraViaImlil

Also be sure to view the Flickr feed of our roadside footage, here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinedstromphotography/sets/72157625619044061/

A lonely time for travellers and villagers alike, the winter months are hard in the Hight Atlas range of Morocco. Something we’ve experienced first hand, while trekking up into the valley above Imlil and beyond. Staying at the wonderful guesthouse Gite d’Etape, one of the steps included for reaching the summit of Mt. Toubkal, we got the privilege of getting to know some of them.

We visited a shrine at the top of the valley, overlooked by Mt. Toubkal’s summit. Interesting characters living by the shrine; characters that will probably end up with introductory roles in the written reportage.

Ait Ben Hadou to Essaouria via Imlil with MotionX-GPS

Download kmz – AitBenHadouToEssaouiraViaImlil

Mt. Toubkal, third highest mountain in Africa, overlooking the Imlil valley

The coffee is truly great in Morocco. Being a fan of most brews other than the worst cafeine syrups of Peru and Bolivia, Morocco is a great place to get a roadside cup. Every other gas station here serves steaming hot espresso from well maintained machines, and coffeeshops are always overcrowded. But there’s an ever present eerie feeling. Women aren’t allowed in.

We’ve moved through the lower Atlas today, and came to a stop in Ait Ben Haddou – the old film capital of Morocco. Shots have been mostly portraits of the Berber and a bit of dramatic settings in which films have already captured the essence. Soon we’re in the High Atlas.

Todra to Ait Ben Haddou with MotionX-GPS

Download kmz file – TodraToAitBenHaddou

A well deserved resting day has taken place, since getting from Merzouga to Todra Gorge. Me, Alfred and Nick from the group did a bit of climbing at one of the crags, and took a late afternoon hike through a large stretch of the Gorge.

Moving on to Ouarzazate and Aït-Ben-Haddou tomorrow.

Also be sure to view the Flickr feed of our roadside footage, here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinedstromphotography/sets/72157625619044061/

Merzouga to Todra Gorge with MotionX-GPS

Download kmz file – MerzougaToTodra