Reliving Your Dream
Gokyo Ri, Nepal
It was in the January 2020 Sampoerna Management Team meeting, when my boss Mindaugas popped up "the opening question" to the team at the start of our monthly meeting: "what is on the top of your bucket list which you have never been able to do and why?" When it came my turn I remember spontaneously answering: "Going to Everest Base Camp" and that I could never afford 2 weeks of my holiday time to go there.
It is funny how in life one small thought can sometimes trigger and inspire an action. That question brought back to me memories of my high school days where I loved trekking mountains, Gunung Gede, Salak, Pangrango, Ciremai etc.... then I remembered in 1979 being awed by a picture of an Indonesian Mapala activist at Kala Pattar with Mt Everest at the cover of Jayagiri climbing magazine. That was the start of my dream to one day see Mt Everest up close . I had an opportunity in 1992 to go to Nepal but decided on a trek to Annapurna base camp first, then the plan was to go to Everest Base Camp (EBC) in March 1994. Towards the end of 1993 I had made detailed plans to go to EBC via Gokyo, but unfortunately as they say even the best laid plans can be derailed. What derailed my plans then was the chance meeting with the woman of my dreams. I decided to focus on my relationship with her, resulting happily with my marriage to her but my dream of seeing Mt Everest up close got buried then for the next 26 years. After that Management Team meeting, I then started to research and plan a two week Everest via Gokyo trip during my next "Reboot". There was no more excuse of not having time or finding time to pursue my dream.
I wanted to trace back my initial 1994 plan to go to Everest Base Camp via Gokyo and the Chola pass. I was probably a little over confident to think that my 58 year old body is as fit as my then 32 year old self. And I struggled from the start of the trek from Lukla, trying to keep up with my younger guide. The scenery along the way however was amazing and just as I had imagined. From Lukla-Phakding, to Namche Bazaar, to Dole to Machermo and eventually managed to reach lake Gokyo after 6 days of rigorous and strenuos 4-7 hour daily hikes through snow fields and energy sapping mud tracks. I felt really at my endurance limit and felt tired reaching Lake Gokyo at 4400 meters, frozen in whiteness. However, more daunting was the Gokyo Ri mountain just in front, imposing itself 600 meters above the surreal frozen white lake which I needed to climb in order to see the Mountain of my dreams. I felt quiet spent and the thin oxygen at above 4000 meters took its toll. I couldn't finish the whole 600 meters uphilll climb to Gokyo-Ri, but climbed high enough to be able to see Mt Everest up close in its majesty and glory surrounded by other great peaks : Nuptse, Cho Oyu, Pumori, Makalu etc. It was a very emotional moment for me which I am truly grateful for.
Besides finally realizing a dream starting 41 years ago, there were several new learnings for me in this trip. Firstly I found many similarities between high altitude trekking and running a marathon. It's an endurance sport. One has to keep on going, one step at a time. There were several times during the trip where I felt questioning myself : why am I doing this? How far still do I have to go? I had to keep on pushing myself to the limit. Perseverance. Grit. Never giving up.
Secondly, the beauty of solo trekking is that at the overnight stops at "Tea Houses" you always meet fellow trekkers. There was a Brit and another French traveling Solo to Nepal for their 20 th time, there was an envious meeting with a Danish family mother and father in their 60's with their children, a newly wed British couple on their honeymoon , a Turkish hardcore mountaineer who is just one short of completing all 14 mountains above 8000 meter, all bringing their personal story of why they were there.
Like many of my fellow trekkers, I also felt free in the mountains. Not constrained by hierarchies nor by structures. Free as a spirit, free to roam, to go as fast or as slow as I want to go, at my own pace and in my own time.
I wonder how will this affect my next Re-boot and my next dream?
(this was first posted in my LinkedIn March 2020)