About two hours after leaving Interim Camp, Camp II became faintly visible on the ridge of another glacier. To get across we had to descend to the confluence of the two glaciers and ascend from there. However, the steep gravel-covered moraine slopes had been eroded exposing slippery inclines of ice, which posed a real problem for trekkers like us to traverse across. Luckily, my nimble guide was able to get across with ease. After crossing, he found a foothold and with the other end of our walking sticks extended to him, he pulled us one by one up the inclines.

While Larry and Kenny waited for Kama and Ooi, I proceeded with Lama towards Camp II. I stumbled to the summit at 12.45pm. Camp II is located on a small area on top of a glacier. It seemed crowded with only two tents already in place. Except for KC, the other trekkers staggered up one by one to Camp II (5,807m) by 1.00pm, four and a half hours of laborious ascent from Camp I.

Kenny, Ooi and the writer at Camp II

C. The Desent

While pondering what to do next, to proceed or to return to EBC, we met two American trekkers returning from Camp III and they advised us that it would take us more than an hour to go beyond 6,000m through a very difficult trail. So reluctantly we decided that, due to time constraint and exhaustion, we would not proceed towards Camp III to achieve our original target of trekking above 6,000m.

Feeling hungry and thirsty, I devoured a power-bar and gulped down Milo from my thermos, which I carried up from Camp I. And after relishing the breathtaking and awe-inspiring Mt Everest, which appeared so close as if beckoning us over, we bid adieus to Camp II and began our descent to EBC at 2.00pm, a journey, which we anticipated, would take at least five hours.

The initial stretch of slope from Camp II was as treacherous to descend just as it was difficult to ascend earlier. But with the help of my experienced guide, we managed to gingerly slide down the icy slope singly. With this difficult section of the descent behind us, we felt confident that the rest of the journey back to EBC would be an easy task. It was but wishful thinking.

Earlier, and before I scrambled up to Camp II, I had already felt some discomfort in my stomach. However, after reaching Camp II, my sense of exhilaration of reaching over 5,800 m, my personal best, without losing my vision had somewhat masked my stomach discomfort. But after gulping down a thermos of Milo for lunch, the groaning of my stomach returned and the discomfort accentuated as time passed. It was evident that the murky raw water from the Everest River at Camp I which we consumed since the day before had taken its toll not only on me, but on all the rest including our guide.

An awe-inspiring Mt. Everest at Camp II

An hour or so after we started our descent, we met KC who was waiting for us to descend together. He too suffered from stomach upsets.

We plodded the rock-strewn trail together and I had to stop after every 15 minutes or so as I was feeling weak, thirsty and sick in the stomach. At these stops, I only sipped a little of the "contaminated" water from the bottle I carried from Camp I. It was a Hobson's choice really, because if I did not drink at all, I would invariably suffer from dehydration as the sun was shining and the heat was intense. Secondly, the frequent stops were necessary for me to release some accumulated gas from my stomach, and I had to do it gingerly while stationary.

By 5.30pm and after plodding for more than three hours from Camp II, we passed Camp I and with my condition getting no better, only God knew how long more before I could get back to EBC. My legs were heavy, my stomach was growling, my mouth and throat were dry and my spirit was wearing thin from the never-ending tortuous trail. But I trudged on wearily.

A daunting task to cross this stream near EBC

By 7.00pm and after what seemed like an eternity, we were still about half a kilometer from EBC. The sun was slowly disappearing behind the mountain range, a chilly wind was rising and the temperature was rapidly falling. However, our most daunting task was still to come - crossing the stream near EBC by hopping over stones and boulders. In my weak condition I was not confident of making it across without getting wet.

Suddenly and as if a guardian angel had waved a magic wand, a 4WD vehicle appeared on the horizon and was slowly heading towards us. We were elated because it came as an absolute godsend. It was the vehicle sent by Kama to fetch us back to EBC, the most sensible thing he ever did during the last five days! We were barely able to scramble into the vehicle and upon arrival at EBC, I hobbled into our kitchen/dinning tent totally spent and cold.

After a hot drink, a light dinner and some medicine, I headed straight to our tent, slipped into my sleeping bag after removing only my dirty boots and down-jacket and slept my exhausting day away.

Though we failed to go beyond Camp II to achieve our target of trekking over 6,000m, we were fully content with what we have accomplished. We reached Camp II with only very scant and out-dated information - through publications and Internet - about the trail to Mt. Everest's north face. And most disappointingly, neither our guide nor his tour company turned out to be experienced or professional enough to assist us. In this respect, we were not at all surprised when our guide, Kama, revealed to us that it was the first time in his life he had reached Camp II.

The whole contingent including guides, drivers and cook bid adieus to EBC

We believe we did the best we could in a very harsh and unfamiliar environment and are glad to return home safely without suffering from any Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), a serious illness that can strike anyone at extreme elevations.

What more could I ask for when I am already nearing 63 and had been blinded by Mt. Kilimanjaro two years ago?

Toh at Camp II

D. The Unexpected Happy Ending

Mountain trekking has now become an addiction to some of my fellow trekkers and I. And this time, we were not only looking for another mountain to ascend, but also to go higher.

Camp III on the North Face of Mt. Everest is reputed to be the only place on earth where one can trek to above 6,000m without any mountaineering gears or skills. So this trail was chosen for our next trekking expedition.

Unfortunately, the trekking company we engaged in Tibet was not experienced or professional enough to "organise" our expedition. Anyway, we did the best we could and reached Camp II only.

However, the trek to Mt. Everest's North Face has won unexpected recognition in Malaysia. In early 2003 it gained two entries in the Malaysia Book Of Records (MBR). One was for "Highest Altitude Trekking" awarded to four Malaysian trekkers and the other was for "The oldest to trek to Mt. Everest's North Face" awarded to AS Toh.

For his feat A S Toh gained yet another award in 2004. This time he Was among the selected few to receive the MBR Award Trophy from Prime Minister, Y.A.B. Dato' Seri Abdullah Hj. Ahmad Badawi, during the MBR Awards Night held in Sunway Lagoon Resort Hotel Grand Ballroom on 2nd March 2004 in conjunction with the launch of MBR Gold Edition.

Presentation of MBR Award on 02/03/2004

Presentation of certificate for "Highest Altitude Trekking"
on 17/01/03 by Datuk Danny Ooi (center), Founder of
The Malaysia Book of Records.
The Trekkers from L to R, KC, Toh, Ooi & Kenny

Presentation of certificate for "Oldest to Trek to Mt. Everest's
North Face" by Datuk Danny Ooi to Toh on 17/01/03

Story by A. S. Toh
Pictures by Kenny Lim,
K C Cheah & the writer

An edited version of this story was published in The Star, Section 2 on Oct 28, 2002.

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