The excitement mounts! Look forward to further updates.

I read your posts and imagine what you guys are going through. Can you describe vistas, fauna and flora of the place? Tell us what did you communicate with the locals? What do they know about the world beyond their mountains?

Please ask your base doctor the explanation of peeing too much when getting acclimatized to heights. You wrote earlier you guys had many pee-breaks? We have a blogger doctor on this site who also sings praises of Ayurvedic medicine. I wonder if the latter has any explanation for it. But anyway I would like to know the response from your doctor. Or perhaps you know the answer already. Why does body want to get rid of fluids when being acclimatized to heights?

Wish you all fun and success.

Dear Gautum

Sounds like you're really getting into gear for the big one. All my best to you all.

Dear Bhagwan Y.

At high altitude, the blood carries less oxygen per measure of blood. The body tries to concentrate the blood in order to get the oxygen-per-volume ratio back to normal, so you pee a lot, assuming you're hydrating yourself correctly.

love, Heather

How about the pH of body fluids? How about the release of diuretic hormone from the posterior pituitary? How about the binding capacity of oxygen molecules to hemoglobin? How about the perfusion of body tissues? Any doctor here real or unreal or Ayurvedic? What are the sensing mechanisms? How about the fast filtration rate in kidneys? I have been researching this and learning. Thanks to Gautam Patil's blog. I have no Ayurvedic medicine terminology to say anything. Or perhaps it is the nature of things as deemed fit my mountain gods! Gautam, are you also one of those who believe in mountain gods like Siva and his girl friend, Parvati? If you see something unusual there, please report. We have many gurus here for many interpretations and many brand new theories on anything, providing great insights.

Dear BY

I appear to have annoyed you by answering. My apologies. Live in peace and joy with the mountain gods.

love, Heath

Rongbuk Monastery
by Jeanne-Marie Gilbert

On the north side of the Himalaya sits the partially reconstructed Tibetan Buddhist monastery of Rongbuk, once the largest monastic center in the region. Rongbuk is the power place through which all seeking the highest peak via the North Face must pass. It is the sacred threshold to Mount Everest, with the most dramatic views in the world. One of the first British explorers to see it, John Noel, described it: "Some colossal architect, who built with peaks and valleys, seemed here to have wrought a dramatic prodigy—a hall of grandeur that led to the mountain." Often shrouded in clouds and mist, the great peak was alternately described as "a preposterous triangular lump" (by Mallory) and "a glittering spire of rock fluted with snow" (by Odell), with "an imposing head of granite and ice," (Noel) and it looms large over the Rongbuk glacier, shining white at its feet.

~~~
It's extraordinary to be able to step through this experience with you Gautam. Most of us hear about climbs like this and then the end result. Seldom does one get a chance to hear from climbers while they are actively on their journey.

In Spirit,
Cinda

Get sprayed in the eyes by a skunk, it gets rid of the cataracts.

Gautam, all the best. Hara Hara Mahadev. God bless.

Some things never change; So teamwork is even more critical in the mountains. Wish you could post pictures too. Best of luck.