The Fellowship of Pheriche

1 message :: read>

Pheriche has been the social capital of Nepal for the last week. We have had so many visitors that we are down to vegetables, rice and noodles. And the alcohol situation is also rather grim. Alan arrived from Namche so Jim could go for a weekend break. The weather however did not play ball so one could make the mistake of thinking we were still in Great Britain. This did not deter Jim who dragged Rhys (on his way back to base camp) over the Kongma La pass. Our esteemed leader arrived back after 9 hours walking in the mist and fog and promptly fell asleep on the couch nursing a plate of prawn chips!

Alan has been playing musical rooms and has been sleeping in a different room in the White Yak every night, but his favourite is definitely Jim?s room, especially when Jim is in it using his sleeping bag as a superman cape.

The Pheriche boys have also been engaging in an extended beauty and grooming routine. After our weekly showers, Jim as a special treat pulls out hair product for the few hours we don?t wear hats. Bugs uses all types of lotions and potions to moisturise and tone his skin (very metro-sexual, even in Pheriche). I then caught the boys in the lab with scissors grooming their facial hair. Luckily I have photographic evidence of Jim cutting Bugs? mo!! You will be pleased to know that no further man-scaping has occurred (or that any one is admitting to).

The climbers also descended from above to spend a few days in Dingboche fattening up and resting. This meant many trips to the White Yak for lunch, hence we were told today no chicken or yak sizzlers or enchiladas. These are our staple diet! The deep fried mars and snickers bars are also dwindling!! The cellar of quality Chilean and Australian reds has also diminished. It was fantastic to see the crew and we miss them and wish them all good luck.

The weather has also been a bit grim with a lot of low cloud and drizzle. However we have managed to entertain us by entering middle earth thanks to Ben from the BBC. He has leant us all 3 Lord of the Rings DVDs which has led to 2 things. One, Bugs and I are homesick and want to return to middle earth (aka NZ) and secondly everyone is arguing over who is who in the movie. Alan is the dwarf on account of the ginger beard. Jim is legolas (the elf) as has been known to be found leg less on Fulham Rd. Bugs is Aragorn because he wants some luck with the ladies and fancies Liv Tyler. (He was also the dwarf in NZ and got no action). The boys have kindly nominated me to be Gollum. What can I say, apart from ?nasty hobbits???

We have also had drama and tragedy in Pheriche. The call went out that some yak twins had been born. This is very unusual so the whole Pheriche lab team (including Alan), Ann, Ang Rita and Tsering (from the HRA) all went running up the valley to see the new arrivals. They were very cute and would waddle up to you and suck your fingers. Unfortunately they both died yesterday, a combination of being small, mum not having enough milk and the weather!

Pheriche was transformed into a winter wonderland this morning as there has been a lot of snow. We have beautiful photos of the valley. Bugs has also been photographing the horses as they peer over the rock walls. Unfortunately the male horse has been very keen to show us more than just his friendly face. This is a family show so the photos will have to stay censored!!

Anyway we are back off to middle earth for a few more hours viewing and wistful gazing at NZ scenery. We miss all you lot in kiwi land!!

Amber

Post a comment on this article...

 Open message form

Comments on this article

Blog by Pheriche Laboratory