Arhi SS- Boomerang- THD 2- LINK PG1 - Page 17

Day 1-

Khushi arrived at the Kathmandu nternational airport after over twelve hours of flight time. A few years ago she would excitedly peek out of the window whenever a flight descended for landing, but that excitement was now long gone. She was taking this trip very clearly for one reason. And that had nothing to do with the sense of accomplishment that a mountaineer aspired to experience after a successful expedition.

Khushi always had a passion for mountain climbing- the excitement and the thrill of climbing tall, difficult sometimes inhuman terrains, to be part of a select elite few in the world, the thrill of pushing oneself to the limits to see how quickly ones instincts would act upon, was what attracted her to mountaineering in the early days. She had climbed her first average sized mountain over three thousand meters at the age of eighteen which was quite an accomplishment. Over the last twelve years she had scaled many tall and challenging mountains including; Mt Kuiten in Mongolia, Kilimajaro in Tanzania, The Eiger and The Matterhorn in Switzerland- the last name still sending a chill down her spine. Like every other experienced mountaineer not all her expeditions were a piece of cake. She had paid a heavy price during the expedition to The Matterhorn in Switzerland, memories of which haunted her to date, memories that he had helped her forget.

She knew this wasn't going to be easy- the Everest was a difficult mountain to climb. But they had been preparing for this expedition over the last two years, except that he was no longer with her to be a part of this journey, to give her a hand when she fell down, to guide her when she encountered a difficult route. In spite of the lack of his presence she had continued to prepare rigorously. She religiously worked on her fitness and endurance by undertaking high impact cardio regime, long distance running and refreshing her mountaineering skills with a few classes.

Initially there was a fun element when she trained with him, but later her single minded devotion to keep her promise had helped her see through some difficult questioning times when all she wanted to do was to sit on their bed and cry.

She had take a sabbatical from work- the expedition would take anywhere between 60 to 75 days in total as the high attitudes post the base camp needed some adjusting to. The climb between base camp and the other four camps en route to the summit, would be repeated for a few days before the group could make the final push for the summit. The whole trip was going to cost her close to 50,000 and she was glad that she had the require funds to make this dreams come true.

At the exit of the airport she saw a chauffeur holding a a placard with her name on it, she walked to the chauffeur and soon they were on their way to the hotel where she would stay for the next two days.

Once she reached the hotel, jet lag caught up with her and she crashed only to wake up in the evening. She joined the rest of the group for a dinner preceded by local entertainment. The head of the group was a man in his late forties whose name was Mark Brice, an experienced mountaineer who had scaled the Everest a number of times. He was the co founder of 'Alpinist Adventures,' a high end travel agency that was renowned for its high success rate with regards to scaling the summit. He introduced the group to their five personal guides who were all accomplished mountaineers. They would meet up with the sherpas who would assist them with carrying their bags, Oxygen bottles, and also cook for them, once they start the ascent to the base camp from Namchi bazaar, which was the starting point of the expedition.

Khushi exchanged pleasantries with the rest of the group- there were two Germans, an Australian, one Chinese, an American, a Canadian, a South African and another British person in the group. Mark has announced than another American would join them directly at Namchi Bazaar the day after. The group members were having a good time during dinner, but Khushi found it difficult to take part in any of the discussions. it felt like the last year had sucked out the happiness from her life and that she was drowning in a pool of pain and sorrow with no respite in sight. Many had told her that with time things would get better, she would move on. 'But could anyone ever move on from the person they loved dearly?' She pondered.

Once she ate the main course she got up suddenly and excused herself. She walked out of the hotel to get some fresh air. After walking around aimlessly for thirty minutes she walked back into her room and opened her hand luggage to retrieve the T-Shirt that said 'Harvard Mountaineering Club.' She held it close to her body, snuggled it and tried to close her eyes to dream of a time not so long ago.

'Gosh! This T-shirt is so old. Cant you buy something new?' She asked him while putting her hands inside the T-Shirt to feel his skin intimately.

'Khush you know how much I like this TShirt right? This is first shirt you gifted me once we started seeing each other. I'm never throwing this away. Plus its really soft & comfortable just like you.'

The following day Khushi had taken off on her own to explore Kathmandu. The rest of the group went on a guided tour of the city. She visited the Bodthnath Stupa and then the Garden of Dreams and spent considerable time at each of the places, the quiet environment of the later making her feel a sense of calm after many months.

The following day the group took a flight to Lukla, the airport nearest to Mt Everest. The group met the sherpa team at Lukla, who would assist them during the hike. The group then began the official hike to the base camp. The first part of the expedition, included the hike to Namche Bazaar at 3,440 metres (11,286 ft), a very scenic location near the Everest which was used by climbers for acclimatisation. The hike involved navigating through some dams, barrages and bridges. After a two hour hike the group had reached a long suspension bridge connecting two valleys. One by one each member of the group started walking precariously on the bridge. While each of the remaining members and the sherpas were waiting for their turn, Khushi decided to take some pictures of the bridge and the beautiful valley on the other side.

She found a spot that was dangerously close to the edge of the valley, that was slippery due to rain from the previous day. Khushi was aware of this and placed her feet carefully. She took a couple of pictures and when she saw a bird flying over the skies she unknowingly took a step sideways. She lost her footing and was above to fall down, it all happened so suddenly even before Khushis' instincts could kick in. 'Typical amateur error,' She thought to herself. She closed her eyes and started thinking how she could rescue herself from the situation and decided to look for something like a rock to hold on to. Which is when she felt two arms holding her waist and lift her up,
just when she was above to fall off from the edge.

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