Tagne 2001

Dan's Diary

Day 11 - Sunday 8th July 2001

Andy was violently ill several times during the night and was also suffering from chronic diarrhoea. At 7:30am he summoned Jon who was still half-asleep in his sleeping bag, for a chat and medical advice. Jon gave him some dioralyte, which he took before returning to his tent. I read some more of the mountain medicine book after relieving my bladder. Despite my objections, everyone had wanted breakfast at 10am. I argued that this was far too late and we'd all be up by 8am. And true enough by 8am I had heard Steve talking to Alan in their tent and I had seen Jon and Andy up. So we could have had breakfast at 8am, but instead I had to wait two hours. I killed the time by lying in my sleeping bag doing crosswords, listening to my stomach rumbling.

"Fluffy" meets an untimely end

Jon and I were the only ones that made it for tea at 9:45am in the mess tent. After drinking several cups I went and had a good wash. I peeled off my dirty T-shirt, which I had worn for the past ten days, deciding it was time for a new one. Alan and Steve came and joined Jon and I in the mess tent for breakfast at 10:50am. We tucked in to the nutty muesli and Sonam brought us pancakes. Andy, not feeling like food, remained in his tent. I sharpened my blunt crampon while the others either read their books or studied the maps. Andy got up a bit later on, not because he was any better but because his tent had got too hot, so he claimed. He seemed better and was in a good mood, laughing at a particular comment.

Lunch was served at 1:30pm and consisted of curried vegetables and crispy, airy pastries, which I called flying saucers. The flying saucers reminded me of Yorkshire Puddings but in fact were nothing like them. They were also delicious with cheese spread on them. A chocolate bar each was for pudding. After lunch Jon renewed the gaffer tape around the tennis ball and decided to sew the ends down so it wouldn't come off. Everyone else sat enthralled in various books.

The transformation of sheep into dinner

Steve, who had complained about the quantity of vegetables and lack of meat gave Sonam 1650Rs so he could buy a sheep from a passing shepherd. Jon and I played a few overs of cricket before a porter returned with a sheep on his shoulders. Another porter sharpened a knife on a boulder just outside their mess tent. A yellow tarpaulin was put on the ground outside the tent and the sheep was laid on it. Our four porters held down the sheep and one of them cut its throat. One of the porters couldn't bear to watch and looked away. The sheep gave a last desperate struggle, waggling its tail before going all limp and drooping onto the tarpaulin. The head came off and was placed away from the carcass. Within minutes various parts of the animal were being taken to the stove for preparation and cooking.

Mutton for dinner

With the excitement over and nothing more to see, we returned to the mess tent at 4pm where cards were played. At 4:50pm Andy asked to see my altimeter watch. Shortly afterwards he vacated the tent and threw up. He claimed the altimeter watch had made him ill. Was it the altitude that made him squeamish, or the pressure? Tea was drunk and biscuits eaten as we continued to play cards. After an hour or so we were bored of cards. I did a crossword while everyone else returned to reading his book.

Soup and peppered papadums came at 6pm. We then had a long wait for our main course. We could only guess what they were doing to the meat, but at least it would be cooked thoroughly. With the evening drawing in and the temperature falling Andy and Steve both put their fleece trousers on. Andy's were home-made while Steve's had that baby-grow look.

Alan helps himself to cake

Platefuls of rice and bowls of mutton curry, noodles, crunchy vegetables and blood sausages were brought to our mess tent for tea. I found the mutton a bit chewy and I didn't take to the sausages too well, but ate a few out of politeness. Andy told us that he thought his symptoms were psychological. The rest of us acknowledged what he'd said but didn't dare contest his theory. Fruit and nut cake was brought and eaten for pudding and was followed by tea. I had a bad back from sitting down to long and so I joined Alan in his aerobic routine, to which he added the ear flex. It didn't do much for my back though. We retreated to our tents at 9pm.

I lay on my back, unable to get to sleep. My head had accepted the sausages but my stomach hadn't. My stomach muscles were clenched shut and not letting anything through. No matter what I did or what I thought they wouldn't relax. By 11pm I realised that if I was going to get any sleep there was only one thing to do. Make myself be ill. I went outside and by 11:10pm the deed had been done. I returned to my tent and drank some water, before crawling back into my sleeping bag. I soon fell into a deep sleep.