Johann and Jayanthi's trek to Mount Everest : Namche Bazaar to Lobuche Base Camp

Sri Lankans  Jayanthi  Kuru-Utumpala  and Johann Peries who are gearing to summit Mount Everest have already begun their journey - here in a short description they describe the progress they've made as conveyed through their support team in Colombo.

We stayed two nights in Namche Bazaar and did an acclimatization day trek where we had our first views of Everest. Both of us were in awe and a little amazed to think that we are aiming to reach the summit that we could see, off in the distance. An acclimatization trek allows us to hike to a high point then hike back and sleep the night at a lower altitude.

This assists our bodies to handle the high altitude and reduced oxygen levels. We will be doing a lot of acclimatization day treks from this point on. After leaving Namche Bazaar, we hiked to Pheriche then onto Lobuche Base Camp. We are using Lobuche Base Camp as a base for further acclimatization training and doing day hikes in the area.

After three days at Lobuche Base Camp we will hike to Everest Base Camp. We are both excited by that milestone but we are appreciating the time at Lobuche as we will return to summit Mt Lobuche(16,210ft) as part of our training for Everest.

The weather is noticeably colder and the altitude perceptibly higher. We are adjusting to the altitude however we both notice a shortness of breath when expending energy in short bursts. Our health has been good and we are taking care to wear our buffs (lightweight material that covers the mouth and nose), to prevent particles entering our respiratory tracts. During this stret ch we have also had our longest period without telecommunications.

There has been no signal for large periods of time and it has been an adjustment to life without our phones! IMG, our guiding company, do carry satellite phones with them in case of emergency. We are a quarter of the way into our trek and feel we are right on track to attempt to summit Everest. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their thoughts and well wishes.

Everest peak is seen behind the duo