Scott Hamilton Monday, May 24 Namche Bazaar, Nepal

A few of our yaks were "hijacked" by a somewhat less organized Asian expedition leaving Everest Base Camp at the same time as the E-3 expedition. The culprits sent a few sherpas down the trail to intercept our yaks, and offered them a premium price to abandon their committments to E-3. Although a bit of a pain, these things happen on expeditions, and the E-3 team has managed to overcome the resulting problems by relaying yaks and porters back and forth between Base Camp and Pheriche Village.

After 3 days of additional trips to transport gear, all our E-3 equipment is now either in Namche Bazzar or Lukla Village, awaiting flights to Kathmandu. The Monsoon seems to have come early to Nepal, and Namche Bazaar was inundated with torrential rain last night, which has continued into today. The problem has been somewhat compounded because the tea house we reserved for E-3 research is in the process of replacing its roof. Blue plastic tarps have only been partially successful in stopping the flow of water into the building. We have deployed additional tarps and buckets to intercept most of the flow, but conditions are less than ideal for our final day of medical research.

Last night our tents were visited by a wayward yak in the midst of the dark Monsoon night, creating a surreal series of munching, crunching, and chewing sounds. Our Yak pasture camp is now a swamp as the Monsoon rains continue. Word has reached us that the mountain airstrip in Lukla Village has been shut down by weather for three consecutive days now, creating a huge, unhappy group of trekkers and expeditions impatiently waiting for flights to Kathmandu. With a bit of luck the weather will improve and the backlog will clear before our schedule flight to Kathmandu on 5/27.

Otherwise the E-3 team will soon join the growing throng of unhappy campers anxiously awaiting a break in the weather. Medical research continues, and all members of the E-3 team are in reasonably good health, and exceptionally good spirits. Tomorrow we plan to depart Namche for Phakding Village. The next day our goal is Lukla, with a flight to Kathmandu on 5/27. Prayers for good weather will be much appreciated.