Making Lemonade. With Damion stable in the hospital, our Lhasa emergency relaxed a bit and we were able to continue exploring this amazing city. There are so many things to see here and at the top of the list is the Potala Palace.

Chimi arranged transportation and we headed over to the Palace to get our minds blown by it’s incomprehensible awesomeness. I had been talking up the Potala to the group for days and everyone was very excited to see it.

Of course, upon our arrival we discovered that it was closed to visitors for the day.

Chimi didn’t skip a beat and immediately suggested that we head on over to the Tsamkhung Nunnery not far from the Jokhang Temple. I’d been to many monasteries but never to a nunnery so it sounded like a great idea.

We arrived at Tsamkhung and we immediately greeted by the sound of many nuns chanting. We were the only tourists in sight and were allowed to explore at our leisure.

The small campus was beautiful and very peaceful. As usual, the monastic culture was so welcoming and open.

It was a wonderful afternoon. I only which Damion was here to see it.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 29:37

As a tourist, the Jokhang does not disappoint. There are throngs of religious pilgrims praying, chanting and prostrating around the temple and it’s grounds. There are a multitude of small chapels full of statues and icons to view and yak butter lamps burning everywhere. There is nothing like this place back home and it’s a feast for the senses which adds to the mysticism of Lhasa.

But Lhasa can be overpowering. Well, let me rephrase that: Lhasa’s altitude can be overpowering.

This ancient city stands at nearly 3500 meters or nearly 12,000 feet. It’s one of the highest cities in the world. That’s an awfully high elevation to fly into after visiting Kathmandu which stands thousands of meters lower. Sudden, dramatic positive elevation change can be dangerous. Our bodies just were never designed to cope with it.

Now, most people visiting Lhasa feel pretty lousy for a bit at first. I certainly did my first time coming here. I know that the mental breakdown episode from my 2007 trip was an unforgettable moment in the podcast and it was fueled by the altitude and �how crappy it made me feel. Luckily for me I just had mild altitude sickness which is (ironically) like having seasickness.

Unfortunately for Damion, the luck of the draw dealt him the most serious form of altitude sickness. The dreaded HAPE, or High Altitude Pulmonary Edema. His symptoms began turning up at dinner after visiting the Jokhang and exploded overnight. His condition deteriorated so much that hospitalization became an absolute necessity. We called for an ambulance and he was picked up and taken to a military hospital a few miles away from the hotel.

What day is it now? Only the second day in Lhasa? Really?

Wow. The adventure has only just begun…

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 36:12

That’s right today we finally flew back into Tibet. It feels so great to be back here as I haven’t been back since Scott Jacobs and I visited in 2007. That seems like and eternity ago.

Most importantly, though, was the fact that I was able to greet my dear friend and guide Lobsang in person. When we walked off of the plane and went through customs I was jittery with excitement because even though I couldn’t see Lobsang, I knew he was waiting for us right around the corner.

You see, Lobsang and I became close friends over the week Scott and I spent with him in 2007 but our friendship has grown stronger over the intervening years due to lots of emails and Skype calls to his mobile phone. In 2008 when China closed the Tibet border, effectively sealing Tibet off from all tourist traffic, Lobsang was basically out of a job. IT was then that I turned to you, my incredible podcast audience for assistance in helping Lobsang and his family. Your generosity was astounding and it literally made it possible for his family (he lives with his other and Sister) to survive. I thought he’d use the donations to keep his mobile phone bill up to date but instead the donations actually went towards all of the basic necessities like food and school tuition for his younger sister!

That entire experience brought Lobsang and I much closer and when I finally saw him in the airport waiting for us I ran up to him and gave him a huge bear hug. I’ll admit it, there were a few tears flowing from both of us. It was just so wonderful to see each other in person again and to know that we’ve got weeks of time to work together, talk together and basically just hang out together on this trip.

He’s also told me that his mother wants to meet me and give me a gift. I feel honored beyond belief.

It’s amazing the paths this life takes us on!

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 27:52

I really regret not being able to join the group. Bhaktapur is a World Heritage Site and I had the good fortune of visiting the city back in 2003.

On this day, though, there was some kind of festival going on because people were playing music everywhere. And I do mean everywhere!

It made the City of Bhaktapur even more overwhelming than it already is which is quite a feat. It was one of the highlights of the trip.

And I missed it.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 28:02

It’s even more important to know these details when we’re trekking at high altitude. If you’re not feeling well, the consequences to your hiking performance can be enormous. IF you can’t get from point A to point B, well, then, there’s a problem.

The Marquardt Scale came about out of the 2009 trekking group’s need to quickly, succinctly and emphatically give the leaders of the group this vital intestinal information. Yes, Chris came up with the scale and then realized that it was extensible. I’ll let the episode we do on The Scale explain all of that.

What I can say here, is that The Marquardt Scale has become an invaluable reference for me and anyone who joins us for these trips. I think it should be adopted as an international standard.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 28:27

After the shave/haircut/massage/chiro adjustment with Geoff it was time to explore around the Kathmandu Valley a bit. There are more temples here than any other place in the world but we are on a limited time budget before heading off for Tibet. So, we picked the “big” ones to explore and headed off towards Swayambhunath–popularly known by tourists as “The Monkey Temple” for obvious reasons. There are, er, a lot of monkeys living on, in and around the temple grounds.

The Temple is located high up on a hill and has a long, steep staircase leading up from the bottom to the top where the stupa resides. As it turns out, the extremely steep hillside contains 365 steps. One step for each day of the year. Have I mentioned how steep the staircase is?

Luckily I’ve been here many times before and know that there is a road that winds up the back side of the hill where taxis and busses can drop tourists right off at a ticket gate.

I know many of us would rather take the pilgrimage route up the steep staircase to Swayambhunath�instead of being dropped off at the top but it was not to be. No worries though. We can walk down the steps today. We’ll have plenty of opportunities over the next few weeks to walk up steep hillsides…

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 33:45

It’s wonderful to have this much time to spend here in Nepal and soon Tibet but I always miss my family when I leave home for these trips. Luckily I have so many new teammates to get to know on this workshop. I always enjoy getting to know new people and this is definitely an intense way to get to know someone!

Then, of course, I’ll have Chris Marquardt and Monika Andrae to help me chase away the homesick blues. In fact, they’re more than simply friends of mine. After last year’s trek to Everest’s South Side these guys are more like extended family!

I’ve said it a million times but I firmly believe that you come out to this part of the world for Everest but come back for the people. Those “people” consist of my fellow workshop participants as much as our friends on the Nepali and Tibetan staff.

Rounding things out this year will be Thilo. He’s turning into what I like to call our “frequent flyer” as I’m fairly certain he’ll attend every himalayan workshop we hold. It will be fun having him along on this new trek and we’ll surely have plenty of opportunities to reminisce about last year’s team.

I’m also extremely excited to return to Tibet for the first time in 3 years and to meet up with Lobsang. As you may remember, Lobsang was the Tibetan guide that Mountain Tribes hired for Scott Jacobs and I in 2007 when we returned to Everest’s North Side. Scott and I were only able to spend a week with Lobsang but we forged a lifelong friendship in that short time. we’ve spoken on the phone and emailed regularly since then but it will be so great to see him in person.

My Rest of Everest audience really met the challenge when I asked everyone to consider donating some funds to help support Lobsang and his family when the Tibetan border was closed in 2008 for several months. Lobsang makes his living from guiding tourists through his amazing country but if the border is closed that means no tourism. He lost the entire season in 2008 but we were able to make up that financial loss with the money everyone donated. He literally used the donations to keep his family fed and to make sure that his sister’s school tuition was paid.

I can’t thank everyone enough for showing so much kindness to this Tibetan family.

See? It all comes down to people. I guess my extended family is larger than I originally thought.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 38:28

I’m very proud to be able to offer this new kind of video and excited that this is the first 3D material to be filmed in Tibet. There’s palpable texture to the episode that is unlike anything I’ve ever released before.

This episode provides a brief summary of our trek to Everest’s wild East Side (The Kangshung Face) but I have so much more footage of the experience. As usual, the trip in it’s entirety will be released in episode of the show.

To get the most out of this 3D podcast you’ll need red and blue “anaglyph” glasses. If you happen to have some sitting around from a DVD or movie theater they will work perfectly. If you don’t have any and would like to experience The Rest of Everest in 3D, anaglyph glasses are easy to find on the Internet through a quick search.

If you’re not interested or 3D simply gives you a headache, jump to the middle of the episode where all of the video repeats in standard 2D just as normal.

Enjoy! Regular Season 5 episodes begin next week.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 52:16

We returned from the trek riding a wave of exhaustion and exhilaration. We were a complete team and we completely succeeded in our goal to visit Everest on foot and document the experience. This adventure was wonderful and so different from my other experiences with Everest. I have to say, now, that it will go down as one of the best 3 weeks of my life.

It’s hard to put into words just how much this trip has meant to me. I mean, it’s always great to visit Everest–she’s like an old friend now–but this trek offered so much more than a visit. This trip was another turning point in my life.

When I called Chris Marquardt up to ask him if he was up for hosting a photo trek with me back in April 2008 I thought it was such a good idea. I had been producing The Rest of Everest for two solid years by that point and had already returned to Everest because of the show. I had already built a fairly large, worldwide audience and was riding high on the many daily emails I was receiving telling me how much the show meant to so many people. I felt that in my own small way I was truthfully telling the story of what the Everest region was really like and it seemed to be having a profound effect on people. It felt so wonderful…but it wasn’t enough. I wanted to take the storytelling to the next level and try to give people a first hand taste of Everest.

I was so excited and nervous as I headed off on a plane out of Denver bound for Kathmandu. I had so many things on my mind: will this be a good experience? Will people have a good time? Will they be safe? Will anyone get sick? Will the experience justify the workshop’s cost? Will they like me? Will I like them? Is the burden on my wife and son going to be worth it???

Flash forward to this last day in Kathmandu and I now realize that I was just being nervous about the unknown. The team did have the time of their life. Chris taught a phenomenal workshop and everyone learned a lot. The new venture was an unqualified success.

It’s funny now to think back on the concerns I had about whether or not I was going to like everyone. I guess it’s always going to be a question that will be in the back of my head when going on one of these trips but the final answer is “YES!” It turns out that the one thing that I didn’t take into account when preparing for this trip was just how attached I was going to get to everyone on the team. It never really occurred to me that I wasn’t simply going to be taking a group of clients up to Everest…I was going to be taking a group of people who would turn into my extended family.

My goal for this trip was to try and give everyone at least a taste of what my 2003 experience was like. That expedition changed me forever. It affected every fiber of my being and actually made me a better person, a better husband and even a better father-to-be. I’d done a fair amount of traveling before that trip but no other part of the world resonated with me the way Nepal and Tibet did. I had been trying to share those feelings through the show but I wanted to give people the opportunity to experience them first hand. I know now that I have succeeded.

I just was too busy in the planning and execution of the adventure to ever think that I would be the person most positively affected by the trip! Over the past 3 weeks I’ve gotten to know this group of strangers very well. We’ve shared so much. We’ve experienced the highest of highs together as well as the lowest of lows. Once again, Everest has been a catalyst for creating lifelong friendships.

Now as I head home I’m completely at peace. There’s not a hint of nervousness in me and my brain doesn’t have a single “what if” question rattling around in it. I’ll be returning to my family simply beaming with pride. This trek did affect everyone profoundly and in a very positive and meaningful way—and I had the amazing fortune to facilitate it.

This is by far the best job I’ve ever had and it’s only just begun. We’ll take a few months off from each other then get to catch up a relive the experience through episodes of The Rest o Everest! Again, the best job ever…

Now the only question is, “What shall we do for next year?”

Everest, I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you again very soon.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 38:48