Team MIR6

There was no time to celebrate after my exams took its final note on 5 May. My mind was obsessed with THAT upcoming post-exam-party-of-my-life which would take place in a few days’ time in a foreign land at altitudes above 2,000m over 21 days.

Mera Peak is the highest trekking peak in Nepal and it is situated on the edge of the famous Khumbu region, which is dominated by Mount Everest.

An expedition would not be as interesting without some hiccups. Well, I was an unwitting victim of such. Within the first few minutes of my arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal, I experienced the first hiccup. My 30 kg duffel bag never came out of the airport luggage conveyor belt.

Thank my lucky stars and my efficient travel agent, I managed to retrieve my luggage intact after two days. Apparently, it decided to stay in Bangkok during transit.

From Kathmandu, we took a domestic flight to Lukla (2800m) and started our trek. The trek to Mera Peak (6476m) was amazingly beautiful. The terrain and scenery changed vastly as we slowly ascended towards our goal each day. Sometimes we had proper dirt tracks to follow; sometimes we trekked through the thick lush forests; strolled alongside carpets of beautiful flowers and rhododendron trees; clambered precariously over and under rocks and boulders; marched through the dry and prickly grasslands under the terrible midday sun; carefully and safely crossed treacherous slippery sand paths prone to landslides; enjoyed feet reflexology on pebbled route beside the gushing river; trudged slowly and purposefully on thick snow while gasping for oxygen and enduring the painful cold at a height above 6000m…

The team summit on 21 May 2008 0730 after five grueling hours of ascending on a steep slope, thrashing hard through the thick, soft and slushy snow and finally with the help of fixed ropes, jumared our way up the summit whose shape resembled very much like a gigantic pao, a local Chinese snack. During the summit push, my mind ran images down the memory lane like a video playing on a screen. I remembered how the past year seen us trained hard, slogged our guts out to raise funds for the expedition, and bashed through difficult times. Every piece of memory fueled me with the will to carry on. Although I was exhausted and oxygen-deprived, plus the extreme cold was biting, my heart was brimming with passion and determination. My eyes shone as I raised my head to greet the pao, out of both awe and alarm.

Getting onto the summit tested our technical skills and physical ability. It was not easy, and I was glad that we made it. Reaching the top rewarded us with a 360 degree clear panorama of all the mountains in the vicinity, including Mount Everest.

Two years ago, I would never imagine myself in the position I was on that summit day. MIR had transformed me and my life. I surfaced from a nerdy, non-sporty and down-to-earth girl to one who grown to love nature and outdoors, enjoy sports and experience the high.

Account by: Cheng Hui Yun