मई 26, 2023 Live from the road

Lobuche - Gorakshep

Reported by Dhavala Stott 5.0 km

Another beautifully sunny, but cold morning as we set off on our penultimate day of walking before reaching base camp.

We wondered how far up Everest this ladder has come from...?

We had to pull over to the side of the trail many times as the yaks get priority here.

These 2 girls from England and Australia were on their way back from summiting Everest for the first time- Congratulations girls, it's so inspiring for us to meet people fresh from the top of the world.

Ankurika made friends with every animal we saw along the way -they all loved her.

Mike and Julie were on a guided tour by Tenzing Norgay's son.

Sonam 'Papa" Sherpa, our head Sherpa, whose cheerfulness, dedication, experience and so much more, are proving invaluable to our team -Thank You.

Nnawang Sherpa, Mark and Jeff paused to make their wishes for peace.

Laxmi, Mira and Roshni- always cheerful and ready with encouraging words for our team, who are all now as high in altitude as they've ever been.

As we slowly walk on, we're becoming familiar with the kind of terrain and undulation that we'll be covering in the marathon in a few days time.

We were thrilled to meet Sibusiso Vilane from South Africa, the first black man to climb Mt Everest 20 years prior to our chance encounter to the day! We noted this was 50 years after Tenzing and Hillary! He is a wonderful person and it was our great honor that he held our torch and shared a few words with us. Sibusiso ran the THEM in 2019 and does many good things to raise money and promote peace for people all over Africa. Since receiving Simba jnr (pinned to his jacket), as a gift, he always hikes with him.

Many Nepalese we met were happy to see us carrying their beautiful flag with us every day.

More enthusiastic peace-loving trekkers.

Our first glimpse of Everest Base Camp.

Laxmi still has energy in the thin air to leap for joy!

Not a tree in sight, just endless snowy peaks and vast expanses- nature's beauty all around.

Gorakshep, at 5190 metres, our end point for today. A desolate place to arrive at in some ways, but somewhere you could really feel the peace and majesty of the highest mountains on Earth.

Torch carried by
Abhejali Bernardová (Czech Republic), Ankurika Hammerl (Austria), Dhavala Stott (Great Britain), Harita Davies (New Zealand), Jayasalini Abramovskikh (Russia), Kuleshvari Sulic (Serbia), Magdalena Lewosinska (Poland), Preetidutta Thorpe (New Zealand), Shyamala Stott (Great Britain), Sweta Pradhan (Nepal).  
Accompanied by  
Mira Rai (NP), Laxmi Magar (NP), Sonam Sherpa (NP), Karma Sherpa (NP), Kami Sherpa (NP), Roshni Rai
Photographers
Ankurika Hammerl, Harita Davies, Kuleshvari Sulic, Preetidutta Thorpe, Shyamala Stott
The torch has travelled 5.0 km from Lobuche to Gorakshep.

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