Fi Ramsden

On the first leg of the flight I scored the middle seat in the back row next to a sociopath and the clumsiest man in the world, which put me in an interesting dilemma over which person to clamber over to get to the loo.

Five hours in Abu Dahbi with team-mate James in the executive lounge was probably the best 28 US dollars I’ve ever spent.  Back on the last leg to Kathmandu and what awaited me was nasty dose of food poisoning courtesy of the fish curry on the plane. I’d spent a grand total of about 15 minutes taking in the sights and sounds of Kathamndu before spending the rest of the evening staring into a porcelain bowl. (Foolish, I know, but fish curry had been the only thing left on offer by the time the air steward got to me, thanks to my position in the back row….again)

I spent today packing and repacking bits of gear in to all manner of stuff-sacks, zip-lock bags, and have developed an obsession with cutting the corners off packs of batteries etc in an attempt to make my pack a few ounces lighter.  Perhaps it would have been easier if I’d just left the hair-straighteners at home.

I hope you’ll all continue to read my blog. I’ll update it as often as possible, and please dig deep for the Kenyan Orphan Project.  Thanks everyone.  Tomorrow James and I are on the 6:30am flight to Lukla.  If anyone’s ever been there you’ll know what a white knuckle ride the landing can be. From there we’ll start trekking up the Khumbu valley. Next update will probably be from the bustling market town of Namche Bazaar on Thursday.  Looking forward to meeting up with dear friend, mountain goat and 5-times Everest summiteer Rob Casserley near Pangboche in a few days’ time.  I’m hoping that his foray across the Atlantic in a rowing boat was sufficiently recent for him to be slower than usual so that I’ll be able to keep up for once.

Well my wonderful and supportive boyfriend Charlie took me out last night for the nicest meal I’ll be having in a while, courtesy of a lovely Thai restaurant in South Kensington.  Waking up to scrambled eggs and smoked salmon bagels was an added bonus too.

6 hours to go until Lydia picks me up to take me to Heathrow, and my living room still looks like something’s exploded in it. Next update from Kathmandu….

Please, please donate as much as you can afford to KOP. Every little bit of cash is going to a fantastic cause. Thanks to Christian West for the first donation!!! xxx

Big thanks to Jerry Ranger (CEO), Ollie Moore, Jane Harsham and Sean at Powertraveller for coming up with a prototype way of powering my heated boot liners and gloves, modelled here by Bea, my gorgeous niece

The minigorilla can be charged using a solar panel, mains or the generator. Its is connected to my gloves and footbeds via a remote "monkey" which also has a temperature control mechanism. The minigorilla can also be used to charge my macbook, iphone and other portable devices.

Ollie at Powertraveller, a dab hand with a soldering iron

Bea test-drives the heated gloves

It’s hard enough finding a decent pair of stilettos in my size (UK3), let alone pair of 8000m boots. I’d just about given up hope when I stumbled across these in Snell sport in Chamonix.  They are a second hand pair of Millet OneSports circa 1995 which belonged to a similarly pygmie-sized lady, the wife of one of the guides in Chamonix. One potentially very serious problem is that, although they feel reasonably comfortable at sea-level, there’s a slight pinch across the bridge of the foot, and I don’t feel there’s enough room in there for foot swelling.

So today I am off to Profeet in London to see if Phil, the senior technician, can work his magic on them and potentially save my toes.  Coupled with the absolutely amazing prototype heating system that Powertraveller have put together for me (Thank you Jerry, Ollie, Jane and Sean in China!) I am sure I’ll be able to keep the frost-nip at bay.

6 days and counting. OK, I am scared now