Episode 127: You CAN Hear Me Now

Posted by on Jan 20, 2010 in All Podcast Episodes, HD Episodes, Season 4, Everest Trek 2009 | Comments Off on Episode 127: You CAN Hear Me Now

No Tea, No SMS. We finally got the sat phone working today but not without help and an important lesson learned from another Dingboche proprietor.

Sonam and I needed to get in touch with Babu back in Kathmandu but we couldn’t do that without the use of another sat phone. Up here in Dingboche, we’re too far away from the regional cell phone towers we were using back in Namche. So, Sonam and I headed across the way to another tea house where I was introduced to a kind woman who was happy to help us out.

Sonam and I sat down at a table in her tea house and were immediately served a couple of steaming mugs of hot lemonade. I politely pushed mine aside (I’m really not a hot beverage connoisseur) and filmed their conversation in Nepalese. Just a few sentences later Sonam did some translating for me. Apparently, this kind woman had a sat phone and was happy to let us use it–for free–to text a friend in Kathmandu who can tell us what to do to register our sat phone to get it running. The only catch, was that I needed to drink the entire mug of hot juice she served me when we sat down. “No tea, no SMS.” Up at these altitudes and in the cold, you drink every drop of a hot cup of tea provided to you. It’s just the way it is up here and I was being silly by not just instinctively doing it!

A few gulps later we were in business. Our phone was working and Megan made the inaugural call back home to the East Cost of the US. Unfortunately she only was able to leave a voicemail, but the phone worked!

Over the rest of the afternoon the phone was in high demand as most of our group checked in with loved ones around the world to say everything was going well.

I was the last one to make a call that evening. After getting my wife’s voicemail I was able to make a call to my good friend Scott Jacobs to check in with him. Wow, I really wished he was here with us. He was such an outstanding travel partner when we visited Everest in 2007.

After saying goodbye to Scott I was finally able to make it through to Heidi. The phone worked perfectly and the connection was loud and clear. Certainly the best sounding call I have ever made via sat phone in the Himalayas. While Chris filmed the entire call, I know I won’t share most of it with the audience in the podcast. Some things simply need to be kept privately to ourselves. It’s a wonderful thing, really.

I was also able to talk with our 17 month-old son Sam although I’m sure he was mostly asleep at the time. No worries, I hope I was able to fill his dreams with feelings of love from his dad all of the way on the other side of the planet. I’m sharing this adventure as much for him as for the rest of the audience. I can’t wait to tell him all of my stories in person. But for now the phone is the only way to go.

Isn’t technology a wonderful thing? Sweet dreams, Sam.

Jon Miller

Total Running Time: 33:11

We are 3 months away from heading to Nepal and Tibet for the Everest 2010 Workshop & Trek and still have some space available on the team.

We’re really wanting to have a fully booked trip and so we’re locking in the discounted workshop price for everyone which will save you $500!

This really is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and if you’ve been enjoying these recent episodes then consider joining us and experiencing it all first hand.

Interested? Then email me directly or register through our online form at everestthetrek.com. Hope to meet a few more of you in person and I can’t wait to see everyone who are already on the team!

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