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Journal
3: Crossing the Border
by
Ed Hommer
August
16, 2001
Nyalam, Tibet
We crossed the border yesterday afternoon and spent last night in Zhangmu. Now we're in the village of Nyalam.
During the journey from Kathmandu to the border, we experienced about a four-hour delay due to a mudslide that blocked the road. It was eventually cleared.
We also stopped at the Scheer Memorial Hospital where the team and I met with a Nepali doctor. This is the hospital where we hope to open the first prosthetic clinic in Nepal. It was a great meeting and further intensified my desire to see this prosthetic clinic become a reality —and start providing limbs for the people of Nepal.
Equally as excited about the prospect of this clinic is my prosthetist of 18 years, Tom Halvorson. Tom works for Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics, one of the major sponsors of this expedition. Those who know me also know that I call Tom the “magic man,” not only for what he has done for me but for the quality of life he has returned to others as well.
The border crossing went well with only a few complications that were quickly settled. As you might imagine, getting 10 people and 5,000 pounds of gear into a new country takes time and lots of patience.
Our ride today from Zhangmu, elevation 7,400 feet, to Nyalam, elevation 12,200 feet, took about two and a half hours and provided us with spectacular views. Sometimes they were a little too spectacular. There's something awe-inspiring about being on a rutted narrow dirt road just two feet from the edge of a 2,000 foot drop. It felt instead like I was in the cockpit of an American Airlines MD-80 asking the captain if we were to be fed on this flight.
We will spend today and tomorrow here in Nyalam in order to acclimatize. The team will then proceed to Tingri where we will spend two additional days in acclimatization before going on to Everest base camp.
We are all pumped to be on the move with all of our gear, and we’re ready to breathe clean, cool mountain air. We are now also up and running with our sat com (satellite communication) and computer systems, and we will attempt to send photos out tonight.
We had some problems that required almost two days to sort out in Kathmandu, but thanks to Jim Sturgis and Karl Swanson on this end, and outstanding tech support from Steve Romeo at Polaris Pool Systems and Travis Leonard at Cavok International back in the states, we got it.
--Ed
