Trio's love for UAE reaches Everest

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Suha Abdullah Alkhamayseh, Rana Abdullah Theeb and Rasha Mohd Ezzat Badawi raise the UAE flag at the Mt Everest Base Camp as a tribute to the late Sheikh Zayed.

Dubai - 18 months the climbers practised trekking for the trip.

By Saman Haziq

Published: Tue 8 May 2018, 9:46 AM

Last updated: Tue 8 May 2018, 11:49 AM

The UAE residents are not leaving any stone unturned when it comes to scaling new heights and making the country proud. A team of three women - two from the UAE along with a friend who joined them from Jordan - have become the first women trio to reach Everest Base Camp (EBC) at 5,400 metre above the sea level and then Kala Patthar (5,600 metres) using their own money on May 6. The trio planned the Himalayan trek in such a way that they reach the EBC on the birthday of the UAE founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, dedicating their achievement to the great UAE leader.

The challenges
Talking about the challenges they faced on the trip to the Everest Base Camp, Rasha Mohd Ezzat Badawi said: "The main challenge was, of course, to survive the cold and height as we had to ?reach almost 5,600 metres above the sea level. A lot of preparation went into this 12-day trip as it required us to be strong mentally, physically as well as financially. The cost ?of all our air tickets, equipment, special clothes and everything that this adventure required came from our pockets. Another challenging part was taking leaves from work often to be able to practise our trekking.
"One of us also got quite sick and took a little longer to acclimatise to the height as we were suffering from lack of oxygen and exhaustion. But that doesn't mean we didn't enjoy the trip. We enjoyed every step we took on those high mountains because firstly we are passionate about trekking and secondly it was for our country and to show to the world that the UAE is the best in the world. We are blessed to live in the UAE," Suha added.
The trio is expected to return to the UAE on May 15.

Eighteen months ago Jordanian nationals Suha Abdullah Alkhamayseh, Rana Abdullah Theeb and Rasha Mohd Ezzat Badawi - all in early 30s - formed a team called Happiness Seekers 189, to share their love for adventure climbing and travelling.
While Rasha and Suha have been UAE residents for the last nine years, Rana - who now lives in Jordan - was a UAE resident earlier and now keeps visiting UAE at least thrice a year.
Speaking to Khaleej Times on phone from the world's second most dangerous airport, Lukla Airport in Nepal, Suha said: "We learnt how to climb and do long adventurous trekking in the last 18 months and we have been practising climbing by coming to the Himalayas after a gap of every two or three months. Last we came here just four weeks ago to practise trekking in one of the Himalayan peaks."
In all, the trio had eight trips to Nepal within 18 months. While Suha, a speech therapist in Dubai, is a mother of two - a seven-and-a-half-year-old girl and a 10-month-old son; Rasha and Rana are single working professionals.
Rasha also is a speech therapist who works in Abu Dhabi, while Rana works as a TV presenter and news anchor in Jordan. "We started our trek on April 27 and managed to reach Everest Base Camp on May 6, which is our founding father's birth date. That was our ultimate goal because this achievement of ours is a tribute to the UAE and its leaders. And the first thing we did was that we hoisted the UAE flag and raised the portrait of the late Sheikh Zayed, followed by portraits of rulers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi," Rasha said.
saman@khaleejtimes.com

UAE
Dubai

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