Dear readers,
Firstly, let me apologize for my absence as I had originally promised to blog at least once a week.... However, where there are yaks there is not always internet. I had originally written 2/3 of this post upon my return from the Himalayas but the opportunity to indulge in some of the luxuries we learnt to live without on our trail up (and down) the endless Himalayn cliffs such as a hot shower, comfortable bed and opportunity to chill out distracted me. Having now arrived safely in Pokhara I am attempting to finish this rather endless update as it has now taken me 6 different sit-down sessions to write it. This post is rather long both because I want t share every detail with you, but also because I am writing it as a personal memento of my trek. So please bare with me!!
Before I begin my rambling description of the trail and the experience of hauling myself up a ginormous mountain range, allow me to first provide you with a few details on our undefeated team. I met our small posse in the same lobby that I am sitting in currently almost two weeks ago today, at 4pm on Friday November 12th, looking fresh faced, excited and ready for an adventure. Our team was small but driven, and consisted of the following fabulous ladies; Maggie (UK) aged 59 with the spirit and soul of a 26 year old s able to out-walk us all, Kayla (USA) aged 24 and on her first ever trip alone outside the USA, Elysia (UK) aged 21 and a true mountain goat when not napping, and myself, age forgotten. Girl power at its strongest! We quickly became quite close friends and formed a strong unit which I believe not only made the experience all that more enjoyable, but was also lay a vital foundation of encouragement and support as we each struggled at various steps along the path. With a ridiculous sense of humor uniting us all, I can honestly say that (alongside tying to manage the rise in altitude), I have never been so out of breath in my life.
We met our local guide Prabin in the lobby, who at 26 years old is built like an ox despite his slim figure with probably no more that 0.02% bodyfat and a 'you can do it don't be silly' attitude. The Everest trail will do that to you I guess.... From him we learnt that we were missing about 95% of the required equipment for the trek as he provided us with a brief run through of the program ahead which we then proceeded to forget about 5 minutes after he was done. That being said with his help we not only got up the mountain, but we also managed to get back down it... More on that later though.
So in a nutshell this is what each day of the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek looked like:
Day 0 - 13th November 2016
To our great surprise (and delight) we were told the previous day that we were to embark on a morning of tourism to visit Kathmandu's infamous Durbar Square, the monkey temple and what we now call 'the temple of death', a Hindu temple known and popular fr cremations. It was a great morning and a unique opportunity to see some of the capital's highlights whilst getting to know our guide and fellow trekkers. We awed and ah'ed, took pictures and got blessed by some holy men whose nudity escapes me, before we returned to the chaos of Thamel to do some emergency panic shopping of the items on the list but not in our bags. We then returned to the hotel to attempt and pack all our equipment, belongings and cherished possessions into a bag that was not allowed to weigh more than 12 kilos. There was a lot of swearing and tough choices involved.
Day 1- 14th November 2016
We set off from the hotel at 5am armed with a suitcase that unfortunately weighed 16 kilos according to the hotel scales, a day bag which hopefully weighed less than 5 kilos, a packed breakfast box and clothed in as many layers as humanly possible (how many thermals can you wear at any one given time?) and began our traitorous journey to the airport. We carried our belongings and boiled eggs to the check-in counter where everyone eagerly waited for the sleepy check-in clerks to arrive. It was almost like a countdown. 3, 2, 1, ATTACK! We volunteered Prabin as tribute and proceeded to eat our eggs in the corner whilst he battled the masses for some boarding passes. The hallelujah moment arrived when we realized that the hotel scales were wrong and that our weight allowance was very comfortable indeed. The final results were as follows:
Maggie: 12.7 kilos
Kayla: 9.6 kilos!
Elysia: 14.6 kilos (I may r may not have hidden my poles in her suitcase whilst she wasn't looking)
Lara: 12.4 kilos
Pabin: 9 kilos suitcase and gasoline tank full of ketchup.... We did not ask too many questions
Overjoyed and feeling proud of ourselves we swam though the airport checks and to our gate to find out that our 06:15 flight was delayed due to fog. An overpriced coffee, an endless game of eye-spy and 2 hours later we were in the bus to our plane. Almost another 45 minutes of waiting on the tarmac later (we were allowed to sunbathe next to the plane whilst the pilots sat in the cockpits eating their breakfasts) and we were seated in the the 17 seater plane ready for takeoff. Seated on the left hand side of the plane which had views to the Hilamalyas we bobbed, dipped, twirled and leaped our way into Lukla airport (one of the top 10 most dangerous airports in the world) sitting at a majestic 2840m. Upon our arrival we met our porters and our assistant guide Chhewang. After a quick change of clothing and tea stop we set off on a 3 hour trek to a town called 'Phakding' or as we called it, 'Packed In' located at 2610m. Once there, we checked into Snowland Tea House which was at maximum capacity and by did you know it by the smell of the toilets (2 upstairs, 2 downstairs a western loo and asian loo to cater for 30 people). We got ourselves comfortable in the warm dining room where we huddled close to the fire and were educated in the ways of the card game called 'Shithead' which then helped us occupy our evening. By 19:30 we were fed, packed and wrapped in our sleeping bags tying to ignore the cold and the absence of duvets.
Word of the day: 'Jam Jam' = 'Lets go'
Lunch: Chow Mein Chicken + Garrlic soup
Dinner: Chicken noodle soup
Day 2 - 15th November 2016
By 7:00 we were sat at breakfast having had a wet wiped shower (hot showers were expensive on the mountains and glacial water did not appeal), wrestled our sleeping bags into our suitcases and looking rather disheveled after and awkward night's sleep. The tea house walls were paper thin and I honestly had not expected to have some stranger's sweat snores echo through the flimsy wooden walls and into my ear all night... By 7:30 I had downed a masala tea and we embarked on a 7.5 hike and 800m climb to Namche Bazaar. If only we had known what we were walking into. We walked though beautiful valleys for about 2 hours until our tea break in the small town of Chumoa (3 houses max) before passing through the trail's 2nd checkpoint. Apparently it is necessary to register that you are still alive at various points along the trail or they go looking for you... common courtesy really.
We then descended into the valley of Jorsale (Thumbug) where we had lunch at 2740m and met the father and son team from New Zealand who had flown out with us on the plane. Then disaster struck in the form of a 3.5 hour solid uphill climb. 2 hours in and after a lot of panting, swearing, crying, lunging, laughing and being overtaken by donkeys, chopkes (looks like a cross between a cow and a yak), porters and locals we finally got our fist glimpse of Everest! A 15 minute photo break and a snickers bar later we set off for the final ascent to our Mt Everest Hotel in Namche at 3440m. Even though we had an en-suite bathroom (what luxury!) the common room had no fire! So we connected to the internet for 500 NPR, sent an e-mail to the family to inform them of my survival thus far and did my best to prevent myself from tuning into an icicle. We ate, played cards and looked forward to our 'acclimatization day' in Namche the following day... We should have done our research....
Word of the day: 'Bistare Bistare' = 'Slowly Slowly'
Breakfast: Apple porridge with honey
Lunch: Vegetable pizza
Dinner: Daal Bhaat
Day 3 - 16th November 2016
A cultural day of sorts where we visited the Sherpa memorial in Namche Bazaar and the local museum both of which have a jaw dropping backdrop of Everest. We then proceeded to scale a hugely steep hill to the Everest View Lodge where we recovered from our climb over a pot f fresh tea and... you guessed it; a view of Everest. The climb was tremendously difficult due to the altitude requiring frequent breaks and a game of riddles to keep us going. Our steps were almost moon-like and our breath came very difficultly. We then descended back to the comforts of our hotel and bought a pair of thick woolly yak socks to help my toes survive from frostbite. At night we indulged in more Daal Bhaat and countless rounds of 'Shithead'... Yes you are noticing a trend.
Word of the day: 'Hatare Chaina' - 'Take your time'
Breakfast: Apple porridge + honey
Lunch: Mixed vegetable soup
Dinner: Daal Bhaat
Day 4 - 17th November 2016
We set off from Namche at around 08:00 (30 mins late- woops!) feeling well rested and energetic. We climbed out of Namche much faster than the previous day finally feeling the benefits of the awful climb the day before. We them scaled the side of a huge mountain for approximately 3 hours where we were able for the first time to enjoy the FLAT trail and amazing scenery of the valley in front, below, and behind us.By far one of the best views we had until then on the trip. We plodded on happily for a few hours before we met the famous Old Man who sat proudly wrapped in his thousands of layers of clothing and a huge smile plastered on his face. He is famous along the trail for making it his life mission to collect donations from trekkers and use the funds to improve the trail to Everest Base Camp by expanding and paving the road. You know so that yaks stop pushing tourists off the cliffs.What a legend. We then descended steeply past panting trekkers to lunch in the valley (we remembered this descent for many days to come noting that we would have to climb it on the way back) and had lunch in the gorgeous 26 degree sunshine. And then we cried.
Another endless 3 hour ascent up the lovely hill we were inspecting at lunch left us panting sweating and our calves trembling. But alas, we made it to the town of Tamboche located at 3800m and the fanciest lodge in the 6 house town entitled 'Tashi Delek'. We were rewarded with our first sighting of a yak during our ascent through the forested trail and even more so with the canvas like view from our tea house room with Everest standing proud and tall right in the center. BOOM. Opposite our hotel was the largest Buddhist monastery to be built at altitude which boasted an unlimited array of carvings and brilliant colours. A truly spectacular sight awaiting trekkers at the end of their ascent. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the closing ceremony following week-long festival in the monastery were the monks sat elegantly clothed in their ceremonial dress and chanted into the evening. Very mesmerizing. We then proceeded to have a coffee in the sunshine and awe at the view and the distance we now know we have covered over the past three days. That in itself kept us all quiet for a long moment. And then we continued to discuss cabbages. I also attempted to rinse my hair with some of my left-over WARMish purified water... big mistake. All in all, this was the perfect day and Tashi Delek has stayed until today our favourite tea house. Mainly due to their vegetable lasagna and veggie burgers! NOM!
Word of the day: 'Bistram Gornhos' = 'Take a break'
Breakfast: Apple porridge + honey
Lunch: Garlic noodle soup
Dinner; Vegetable lazagna
Day 5 - 18th November 2016
This was the day that I struggled. We climbed to 4420m to the town of Dingboche. The morning climb of 600m was not necessarily difficult but the altitude had me crawling along the trail until lunch, battling to keep up. Nevertheless, some momos and two cups of cups of lemon and ginger tea at Sunrise Guesthouse in Orso brought me back to life and helped me continue along the trail. We all began to notice signs of the increase in altitude on our bodies and were consulting our gides for advice when Elysia, very concerned broke through the conversation with a look of horror on her face 'Prabin, do you think my crisps will pop' as she held up a very inflated bag of cheese and onion crisps. Hysterical. At around 1pm and with my headache now gone, we officially passed the tree line and entered what we called moon territory due to its resemblance to what we imagine the moon to look like. Very barren with many rocks and a very definitive drop in temperature due to the cold winds. Maggie and I made sure to dance over the rocks to the tune of 'Jai Ho' and coined our new favourite song: 'What's that coming over the hill is it a chopke/yak train'. Worrysome really...
We checked into the Bright Star Lodge which shared a road with our assistant guide's father's shop where we purchased some more snacks and oddities. We then sat round the rather smelly fire (no wood at this altitude so people are forced to compensate with yak poo) where we attempted to warm our souls over card games and colouring in. Yes Maggie brought a colouring book and yes we were all thrilled about it. This was ur first official day at dangerous altitude so our guides made sure to give us a print out of the signs and symptoms of altitude sickness (rather terrifying), calculated our oxygen levels and heart rate with a special miniature machine, increased our Diamox dosage to half a pill in the morning AND at night (we had been taking it since Day 0) and forbade us from showering due to the devastating effects that cold hair could have on us. I can honestly say that we all felt the effects of the increase in altitude as we struggled to draw breath as we were hiking but also when we were sleeping. Worst of all, we were all hit with a serious case of the uncontrollable giggles as we all slowly descended into a state of complete loopiness.
Word of the day: 'Pani purnhos' = 'Drink Water'
Breakfast: French toast
Lunch: Vegetable and tuna momos
Dinner: Vegetable sherpa stew
Bonus: First day of successfully consuming all 4 litres of water!
Day 6 - 19th November 2016
Another acclimatization day... These are always by far the worst in steep climbs and altitude struggles. What's funny though is that, despite trekking at the end of the season, we have fund the trails much emptier than we expected. We often start off in the morning trekking alongside 4/5 other groups but we always lose them a few hours later and found ourselves having the mountain almost to ourselves. We then tended to find them all again on the same hike up the same gruesome hill on the acclimatization days... That being said, we climbed about 400m up the trail to Lobuche with barely any symptoms and difficulty as we were warned that we could experience severe dizziness and nausea either on or after the walk. Clearly they didn't know we were super human. Kayla was so affected by the altitude that she interrupted the silence and crisp wind on the barren mountain to ask 'Prabin, do you get signal up here?', we all broke out in roaring laughter and the guides shook their heads. Brilliant. We returned to the lodge to find a party of 6 Greeks from Thessaloniki who were eager to chat with a strange blond girl who spoke greek and a tea house full of very ill trekkers... We were lucky to have escaped altitude's claws.We proceeded to warm ourselvs by the fire once again and enjoy the spectacle of 12 middle aged french trekkers having a rave in the tea house following their successful ascent to EBC. Very much a grit your teeth and clap sort of scene. Then Maggie decided to add to it by telling Chhewang 'I ate your dad's peanuts' (which she had bought from his father's shop) which unfortunately came out sounding more like 'I ate your dad's penis'. I can still clearly picture the look of shock on his face. We will never let her forget it.
Word of the day: 'Topalai kostoza' = 'How are you'
Breakfast: Fried egg and tibetan bread (decided to ix it up a little)
Lunch: Mushroom soup + tibetan bread
Dinner: Sherpa stew and french fries
Day 7 - 20th November 2016
Today we made the leap to 5000m! Once again we felt greatful for our acclimatization hike a day prior, however, this time I did not escape unscathed. On the contrary I was tormented with a throbbing headache and a complete loss of appetite. Yes, yes who would have thought, everyone laugh, haha. We spent the day walking rather gradually up the dormant part of the Khumbu glacier (read as: huge pile of slippery rocks and pebbles) which, along with our labored steps and absence of people, once again made us feel as though we were walking on the moon. We eventually made it to our tea house 'Alpine Home and Restaurant' in Lobuche at 4940m, which was conveniently located in the middle of absolute nowhere, in a valley that made me think of the Scottish highlands.
We filled the afternoon with a small but difficult climb up a very small hill opposite our tea house which was intended to assist our final stretch the following day. There was nothing particularly difficult about the hill but for some reason we found ourselves trying to claw our way up it. None of us were in the mood but our guides insisted it would help. So we moaned and groaned our way to the top before running back down to the security and warmth of the tea house.
Due to the climb in altitude, electricity was scarce and only kicked in once the sun had set. It is also worth noting that the higher we climbed, the smellier the toilets became and the cost of charging one's electronics and the cost of wifi tripled. It now cost us 350 NPR to charge for 1 hour and 350 NPR for 100mb of internet. Had to charge the camera though, there was no way round it! We then cozied up in the rather busy rstaurant where we made friends with a group of vry experienced UK trekkers from Venture Force UK who were doing the climb to EBC for their 2nd or 3rd time. We bonded over egg and chips and steamed momos.
I could not help but sit quietly at dinner that night and think about the fact that I had actually made it that far. It is quite an empowering feeling to withdraw from the crowd and look around to see yourself sat among some of the very few people to ever make it to EBC. Wow. And with that we steadied ourselves for our final climb the following day which would take us to our goal. Oxygen and heart rate in check, we were confident we were going to make it.
We went to bed at 7:30, fully donned in thick thermals, a woolly hat and thick duvet above our sleeping bag ready to jump straight into our clothes at 5:00am the following morning.
Word of the day: 'Tara China' = 'Nearly there'
Breakfast: Apple pancake
Lunch: Vegetable momos
Dinner: Spaghetti with tomato and nak cheese
Day 8 - 21st November 2016
D-DAY!
We forced down a bowl of apple gloop that was pretending to be porridge at 5:30am and were on the road fully packed and loaded and dressed to the teeth with everything warm that we owned by 6:30am to begin trudging through the darkness. For those who are interested in knowing I wrapped myself in: a merino base layer, a t-shirt, a thermal jumper, a thick fleece, my parka, gortex thermal leggings, fleece lined trousers, a woolly hat, fleece lined gloves and a windbreaker scarf and was still cold at points. We continued to follow the Khumbu glacier north, and threw ourselves over various large boulders whilst battling to breathe through all our layers and lack of oxyegn to reach the small and barely surviving village of Gorak Shep at 5170m. Once there, we took an hour break in which we left our luggage in our rooms at the hair raising, nose wrinkling, slightly disturbing yet surprisingly famous 'Snowland Highest Inn' tea house, where we inhaled some soup and boiled eggs whilst mentally preparing ourselves for the sightless end goal that we had been walking towards for 7 days. As we walked, I could not help but recall the dream I had the previous night (I struggled to eat but apparently dreaming was no problem at this altitude), of making it all the way to Gorak Shep and then having to emergency fly home for my grandfather's birthday without reaching EBC. A very eery feeling indeed.
The final stretch from Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp was an interesting one as we crossed the almost dessert like valleys and scaled the ridge of what looked like the result of a massive landslide in silence as we each thought of everything we had left behind to get there. For those of you that don't already know, EBC itself is completely underwhelming as it is just a small human made valley on top of what look like a landslide at the base of very tall mountains. There are no tents at this point of year and you cannot see Everest from there. In contrast, it is the sensation of joy in your personal accomplishment and pure rush of adrenaline that I flt when I arrived that I will remember forever. You begin a rather perilous decent off the ridge of the glacier and begin to climb another small landslide and before you have lunged across the third small ice pool, you summit to Everest Base Camp. I have no words to describe the feeling of absolute joy, relief, sadness and adrenaline that overcome your body at that moment but I do recall I expressed them with a massive 'WOOHOO' to make sure that everyone else on the trail new of my arrival. 8 days of pushing yourself to your physical limit all come crashing down at this moment. And it is an indescribably amazing feeling. Thus, as appropriate, we celebrated by digging into the peanut butter sandwiches that we had opted to schlep with us and explore our surroundings.
What surprised us all was that our guides delighted in our arrival just as much as us and just like that, a layer of stress, distance and restraint evaporated as they joined in on our celebrations. We took pictures, explored EBC and snacked before we recruited our guides to build us a pretty stone table at 5000m of altitude so that we could hang our Nepali nature flags from. Princesses indeed.
It was only on the way back that I realized how much energy it had taken m to reach EBC as I genuinely worried whether my body would be able to carry m the rest of the way home. I had given everything I had to get there and once the adrenaline wore off, my muscles refused to support me. Scary. Fortunately I was able to make it back to the tea house (barely) where I collapsed into a chair and nursed some re-hydration salts for about an hour. But I had made it and in so doing had overpassed even my own expectations. Who would have thought a year ago that I would be sitting in a tea house, having just scrambled home from Mt Everest Base Camp. Not me that's for sure.
I regained my powers a couple of hours later and engaged our guides, the rest of the team and even the Venture Force guide into a relentless game of shithead. Competition was strong and spirits were high. What a day!
Word of the day: Cabbages
Breakfast: Appl porridge (AKA gloop)
Lunch: 2 boiled eggs + peanut butter sandwich at EBC
Dinner: Spaghetti with tomato sauce and nak cheese
Day 9 - 22nd November 2016
Despite the mental and physical exhaustion we were still overcoming from the previous day we awoke at 5:30am to storm out the door and tackle the infamous Kalapathar Hill from which we intended to watch the sun rise over Everest. Maggie left at 5:00 with Prabin as she inteded to climb all the way to the top of the hill to show the Venture Force team and herself that nearly at 60, she still had the ability to kick ass. Kayla (wisely) snored through until breakfast.
We exited the protection of the tea house into the dark and bitter -15C cold to climb one of the steepest hills I have ever seen. To my great dismay I did not make it. The combination of the freezing temperature and exhaustion from the previous day did not allow me to climb higher than 2/5 of the way up the hill (we were aiming for half way to see the view of the valley and EBC) and I collapsed on a rock and encouraged Chhewang to lead Elysia the rest of the way to the view point. I was devastated. Chhewang highly advised me not to continue as we had a long day of trekking still ahead of us and positioned me on a rock with a great view of the creeping sunrise unsure as to whether to leave me behind (even though I was adamant that I would not spend more that 10 minutes motionless in the cold). I guess having felt invisible the day before by reaching EBC, I had set off on the climb thinking it would be no challenge whatsoever. The shocking truth of the matter not only reminded me of the physical work I still had to do on myself but also brought me crashing down to reality, that the trek was not over and that I had failed to climb one of the most talked about mountains on the trail. I proceeded to withdraw into my sulky self for the rest of the morning after joining the rest at breakfast and listened to Maggie boast about her successful summit of Kalapather, each word stinging me even more as I nursed 1st degree frostbite in my toes. Chhewang kindly provided me with a hot water bottle for my toes and half an hour later we were on the trail for home.
The 6 hour descent to the small town of Pheriche in my personal and humble opinion, boasted the most beautiful scenery of the entire trek. We descended between two large and imposing mountains through a valley dotted with small streams, farm lands and yak grazing areas, all of which were covered in the most pure and dazzling sunlight. Think of Lord of the Rings but better. We arrived at the much cleaner 'Pheriche Resort' (LOL) where Elysia finally had her hot shower she had been dreaming about for the past 3 days and we settled down for a hot meal and another early night. At 7:30pm we were all in bed and well on our way to a much overdue11 hour sleep.
Word of the day: The Nepali alphabet from 1 -10. Prabin agreed to teach me in exchange for the Spanish equivalent.It took a while but we got there.
Breakfast: French toast
Lunch: Tomato soup + toast
Dinner: Dal Bhat
Day 10 - 23rd November 2016
We awoke feeling completely reborn!
We set off from Pheriche at 08:30 with new found strength and a renewed set of the giggles for a mostly easy 3 hour hike back to good old Tamboche and the vegetable lazagna that awaited us there.It was amazing to see how much faster we were covering ground on the way back as we no longer struggled to catch our breaths on the tough yet durable climbs. Its funny though. You spend all your time thinking of the way there but completely forget about the energy required for the not so flat return journey. Having spent all one's energy and adrenaline on the way up we were left with very little to encourage us back up the rest of the hills home.
A final 45 bitch of a climb up to Tamboche brought us to our destination, where we spent the rest of the afternoon in the sunshine nursing my blistered feet and watching eager young trekkers flex their bare muscles in the town square. Could have been worse.
I honestly could not tell you how we climbed the hills that we walked down on our way back from EBC. It is also fascinating to see with new eyes the scenery as we descend as most of the ascent was spent looking at the ground and pushing one foot after another up various cliff faces. Now that we are off the Diamox we look forward to a beer (or three) and Maggies challenged of being shitheads 4 times in a row. All we can think about is the Irish bar in Lukla where we planned to celebrate Thanksgiving (mostly for Kayla's sake) and the hot shower awaiting us in Kathmandu!
A rather hysterical evening of card games and hot meal later and we were tucked up in bed by 8pm looking forward to catching up on some more zzzzzs. Unfortunately that was not before noticing a rather unsanitary looking foursome of young men check in to the hotel and try and negotiate the non-negotiable rates who at dinner decided to save some dollars and use the hot towels that are always passed out before dinner to give their pits a bit of a wipe. I had to stop myself from spitting tea everywhere when I noticed. Gag.
Word of the day: 'Are we there yet?'
Breakfast: Apple porridge + honey
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup
Dinner: Vegetable burger
Day 11 - 24th November 2016
We were rudely awoken by what sounded like a stomping stampede of out of control yaks combined with the hysterical cackling of young Australian women coming through the wall. In actual fact it was just the large group of auzzies who had arrived the night before going through their rather u necessarily loud morning routine.We found some space at the fully occupied restaurant for a spot of breakfast and once Kayla had wrestled hr rather uncooperative sleeping bag into her backpack for the second to last time we set off on our trail knowing that today was going to be the day we came across the wonderfully long, steep, curving descent that we had strolled down a few days prior...But we would have to go up it.
The altitude caught us all by surprise once again, but in the most pleasant of ways as we climbed the hill of death in no time! It made us wonder why everyone looked so miserable on their way up last time as, (Que the group's new slogan) 'It could never be worse than Namche'. We followed the trail back across the cliff edges, making significantly fewer stops and covering ground fast. It was there that I bumped into one of the guides that I befriended on the way up (flashback: On the way up, whenever Prabin would see one of his colleagues with a group he would tell me to say e.g. 'Hello Sajun' and then we would both laugh as they racked their brains trying to remember when we met- clue: we never had! Anyway, this time the joke was on me ) who was on his second trek to EBC after no more than 5 days rest. Craziness. These people are trully invincible. We then proceeded to have rather an extensive 2 hour lunch at Kalapather guest house whose sunny restaurant and free wifi!!!!!!!!!!! kept us all rather content. It was really weird re-connecting with the real world as long as my battery would allow and as nice as it was to hear James' voice and let my parents know that I had not yet exploded, I was not quite ready for social media after almost 2 weeks without it.
Once the guides were able to ply Elysia away from the wifi we continued our descent down the infamous Namche hill. It felt amazing. We skipped and jumped our way past atrophying trekkers on their way up and did our best to both hide our smiles and share words of encouragement where we could. I remember how good it felt to be told 'you're nearly there, keep going' even though we all knew that there were at least another 2 hours of climbing ahead. Its the little things I guess. We crossed the 500m high swing bridges and before we knew it we were all sat round the fire at 'Chumoa Guest House' with a celebratory Everest beer in hand. I mean I don't think it gets more appropriate than that. This was our second favourite guest house as it almost had a fairy tale aspect about it with a wooden common room/ restaurant, frilly curtains and pillow cases and a perfectly manicured garden. CUTE!
I took a moment to reflect on the day's journeys and genuinely wonder how on earth I made it up those hills... I most definitely do not think I could do it again. If I was ever to have a superhuman moment in my life, it was probably climbing those hills. Knowing that our journey in the Himalayas was to come to an end the following day, I remember thinking to myself how much I have enjoyed the trek. From the walks to the scenery, the group and my isolation...
Word of the day: 'Namaste' = 'May peace be with you' (or smiliar)
Breakfast: Apple porridge + honey
Lunch: Egg + chips
Dinner: Vegetable chowmein
Day 12 -25th November 2016
We awoke to find ourselves in our cozy little room and refused to move for at least 10 minutes. We then dressed and ate and were on the road again by 08:00. Our guides had promised us the night before that our final day would be an easy day involving only a 3.5 hour trek and 25 minute difficult climb just before the gate to Lukla. Lies and deceit. Even though the views were spectacular and we almost felt like we were walking through the Shire from the Hobbit, the terrain was very rocky making my blisters bleed even more and my muscles cramp in all the wrong places. Hrrumph. Chhewang in particular seemed very keen to get back to Lukla leaving Maggie at the end of the procession almost throwing herself down the rather too-big-for-her-height-stairs in an effort to keep up. For every photo stop that I made, I then had to sprint for 10 minutes to catch up with the group. 4 rather extensive sessions of intense 25 minute climbs later and we were posing in front of the same gate that we had embarked from no more than 12 days previously looking much dirtier, disheveled, worn out than the previous time. Nonetheless, there were big smiles all around giving away only the slightest hint of disappointment that our journey was coming to an end.
We checked into 'Mera Lodge' in Lukla which set out to spoil us rotten with en-suite showers and toilets! What luxury! Elysia opted for a nap whilst Maggie, Kayla and I venture into town looking for a decent coffee and a beer. Turns out there is only 1 bar worth going to in Lukla, that being the Lukla Irish bar. However, seeing as it was only 3pm, Kayla and I decided to go back to the hotel and play some cards and have a drink there for the time being instead. Once Elysia woke up and Prabin finished his 'They surprisingly didn't die' report we convinced him to join us for a game of pool at the Irish pub. And thus our 'BIG NIGHT OUT IN LUKLA' (as Elysia kindly repeated every 30 seconds), began. We introduced a very shy Prabin to a game of Ring of Fire which just ended up with us telling Prabin to drink every 2 minutes and a rather expensive bill. As we finished our rather rowdy game at the bar (which must have looked very strange to everyone else there we now realise- 4 girls telling a Nepali guy to chug his beer) we then progressed on to the pool table where Prabin played pool and we embarrassed ourselves as we attempted to do the same. Nontheless we made some progress against Prabin only to be squashed with the arrival of Chhewang who we later found out was no1 at pool in Lukla. He was amazing, but at least we tried.
We then stumbled out of the Irish bar to find that it had turned dark outside and joined Maggie and our porters for a final dinner all together on us. We ate some rather average pizzas, shared funny moments from the trek and told our porters how grateful we were for their help. In all honesty, the porters/sherpas are th true unsung heroes of the Himalayas getting half the sleep and comforts that we tourists do, carrying heavier loads than us and always doing it with a smile on their faces. It really makes you think. It would not have been a goodbye dinner without the guys' tips and the honorary gifting of a cabbage to Chhewang to act as a memento of our two weeks rambling on about cabbages. Thankfully it went down well. A final game of shithead brought our evening to a close with firm instructions to be packed and ready for a 5:30am departure the following morning.
Breakfast: 'Scrambled egg and toast'
Lunch: Butter masala and rice
Dinner: Vegetarian pizza
Day 13 - 26th November 2016
We all sat blinking ourselves awake at 5:00am trying to swallow whatever breakfast we had slurrily ordered the night before only to find that beer had convinced Kayla to go to bed fully clothed the night before. No need to change and no need to battle a sleeping bag.
Breakfast and paying the bill took a little longer than the guides had calculated and so we found ourselvs literally sprinting our way down Lukla highstreet to make it to check-in for our 6:15am flight before our seats were given away to others. I never knew Prabin could run so fast. We made check-in by the skin of our teeth and took a moment to give Chhewang and our porters a very awkward but sad hug goodbye before handing over our (nowhere near the 6 kilo weight limit) day packs for inspection.
Befor we knew it we were airborne again and flying through the mist towards Kathmandu. The flight was spectacular and the colors truly brilliant reflecting off the clouds and illuminating the Himalayas in brilliant sunlight. Stunning.
A short transfer, apologetic laundry run and 45 minute piping hot shower later, and you will find that it was at this moment that I actually started writing this blog post.
I can honestly say that despite all the amazing experiences that I have been lucky enough to live so far, this has been the best. Maybe it was due to the group that I now realize I was so lucky to have accompany me on my journey, maybe it was due to the stunning landscapes, maybe it was due to never having pushed myself so hard before in my life, but even now a good 2 weeks after having returned to Kathmandu I still wish I could go back tomorrow and do it all over again. Himalayan Encounters did a fantastic job of organizing our trip, choosing the best hotels (in which our guides always made sure to save us the best rooms of the house), ensuring our safety above all else and providing us with two truly exceptional guides who I will always remember.
What fascinated me about our time with our guides and porters is how vastly different lives we lead yt how similar we are in certain ways. There were a few mornings where I sat in the breakfast room before the others had arrived to witness the older porter taking picture of Ritz, the younger porter with various scenic backdrops. I witnessed them go through various pose, angles, hairstyles and a few photography lessons for the older porter who clearly wasn't getting an edgy enough shop before they knuckled down, strapped humongous suitcases to their backs and off they went! The tea houses were also a fascinating experience housing tens of like-minded people, each with a story to tell and a ghost still haunting them. There were nights where it was so cold that our pee steamed and our sleeping bag had thin crystals where the condensation from our breath had frozen on it overnight. It almost brought us back in time to notice how at night, everyone from trekkers to guides to porters to kitchen staff would seek shelter near the hearth of the house. Everyone was welcome despite their rank, class and nationality. What still intrigues me is the very obvious hierarchy that exists among the trekking industry. We have often since been corrected for calling Chhewang our guide rather than our assistant guide and noticed a very clear disparity in the weight of the packs both he and Prabin were carrying. Prabin the guide would carry the medical kit and Chhewang would carry an oxygen tank and stretcher amongst all their persona belongings all the way up to 5000m... Chhewang would always take our food order and bring us drinks and we were always given our evening briefing of the following day by Prabin. Nonetheless they both stayed very professional and very pleasant despite the underlying distinctions between the two.
All in all, I would highly recommentd the Mount Everest Base Camp trek for anyone willing to endure some brutal uphills, cold nights and smelly toilets. The reward definitely exceeds the shortcomings! We thoroughly enjoyed the vast scenic differences each day provided and spent everyday enjoying the glorious sunshine. Each day we trekked under the tree line hiked in t-shirts!
In an effort/attempt to assist anyone about to undertake the same trek please find below a packing list of what I deemed essential (and missed) whilst on the trek in November. Please do not forget that I am female and that men reading this hoping to prepare for their trek might want to miss out a few of the items listed... such as lavender scented foot scrub. If only....
Essential:
- 1x large rucksack to be used as suitcase (50-70L). Please note that some poor chap will be carrying it on his back rather than wheeling it up the mountain.
-1x day bag (20-30L). Something comfortable with waist straps and space for water bottles.
-1x schlepping bag, I mean sleeping bag, durable until AT LEAST -10C. It is bloody cold up there and not all tea houses provide blankets.
- 2x 1 litre water bottles.
- 50 water purification tablets (1 tablet per 1 liter). I went through about 40 liters of water whilst on the trek. The more pills the safer/ happier you will be.
- 1x head torch
- 1x pair walking boots already worn in. If not, prepare for blistermania.
- 2x thermals (upper and lower body)
- 1x pair of warm pjs (if you sleep in thermals you come out of the bag looking like you were attacked by a chicken - feathers everywhere)
- 2x sleeping socks/ sock liners
- 4x trekking socks at least. Preferably wool based or wool combination.
- 2x trekking trousers. I was grateful to have an extra 3rd pair with thermal lining for the top.
- 2x dry-fit long sleeved t-shirts. Less stinky and easy to wash.
- 2x short sleeved t-shirts. I wore them on top of my thermals for dinner and they stayed clean for longer.
- 2x medium layer jumpers to go over shirts and under fleece/parka.
- 1x thick parka. Only used at night and on Base Camp day.
- 1x wind breaker/waterproof jacket. Thankfully did not need.
- 1x warm fleece. Wore everyday in the mornings and when windy. HIGHLY recommend.
- 6x underwear
- 2x sports bras
- 2x sunglasses. You do not want to lose them and be left without them on the mountain.
-1x baseball hat/ similar. Against blinding sun. I wore along with sunglasses for happy trekking.
-1x warm woolly hat. I recommend one with extra lining for the ears.
-1x windbreaker scarf thing/ neck warmer/bandana.You know what i'm talking about. Helps protect against the cold when climbing and the dust. Wore every day.
-1x warm gloves. No need for ski gloves if you have warm pockets.
-1x swiss army knife.
-1x battery pack to recharge electronics. At least one!
-1x pack of cards. Endless entertainment in the evenings.
-1x good book. Extra points if it is Everest related.
-Small sweets for energy whilst trekking. E.g.Halls.
-Snacking food for long days. Recommend chocolate + nuts.
-1x hand sanitizer. Large bottle!
Toiletries:
-1x medical kit (blister plasters, antiseptic, lots of paracetamol, gauze, tape, tweezers, throat lozenges, etc.)
-1x Vaseline. ESSENTIAL.
-1x lip balm
-1x small tube sun cream. Factor 30 and above.
-1x vitamin box. I recommend multivitamins and such, helped keep me going.
-3x loo roll. Better safe than sorry. 1 was definitely not enough.
-1x pack of 80/90 baby wipes. Larger the pack the cleaner you will be. Kept us clean(ish) even though not showering for 2 weeks.
-6x tissue packs. The nose blowing was endless. Moved on to loo roll when tissues ran out. Also useful for loo stops.
-1x toothbrush + toothpaste
-1x large tube of moisturizer
-1x small travel towel
-1x comb/brush
-1x nail clippers and travel scissors
-2x compede/moleskin plasters and tape for feet
Optional:
- Walking poles. Bought some, used them once for about 10 minutes before I got annoyed with them and never touched them again. Depends on the individual.
-Eye mask for sleeping. The curtains are like like two tissues...
-Dryer sheets. Maggie says they helped keep her laundry fresher.
-Sleeping bag inner sheet. Meh.
-Camel back. Helps stay hydrated whilst walking.
-Ear plugs. To block out noisy tea house snorers
I am now sat in Pokhara having spent my first afternoon since arriving in Nepal actually relaxing. We feasted on a massive OR2K lunch and watched the sun go down behind the lake before I decided that today was the day that I would finish this post. But more on Pokhara in my next post.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. There is definitely a lot missing from this post but, and I quote, 'Frankly, I don't give a damn'.
Firstly, let me apologize for my absence as I had originally promised to blog at least once a week.... However, where there are yaks there is not always internet. I had originally written 2/3 of this post upon my return from the Himalayas but the opportunity to indulge in some of the luxuries we learnt to live without on our trail up (and down) the endless Himalayn cliffs such as a hot shower, comfortable bed and opportunity to chill out distracted me. Having now arrived safely in Pokhara I am attempting to finish this rather endless update as it has now taken me 6 different sit-down sessions to write it. This post is rather long both because I want t share every detail with you, but also because I am writing it as a personal memento of my trek. So please bare with me!!
Before I begin my rambling description of the trail and the experience of hauling myself up a ginormous mountain range, allow me to first provide you with a few details on our undefeated team. I met our small posse in the same lobby that I am sitting in currently almost two weeks ago today, at 4pm on Friday November 12th, looking fresh faced, excited and ready for an adventure. Our team was small but driven, and consisted of the following fabulous ladies; Maggie (UK) aged 59 with the spirit and soul of a 26 year old s able to out-walk us all, Kayla (USA) aged 24 and on her first ever trip alone outside the USA, Elysia (UK) aged 21 and a true mountain goat when not napping, and myself, age forgotten. Girl power at its strongest! We quickly became quite close friends and formed a strong unit which I believe not only made the experience all that more enjoyable, but was also lay a vital foundation of encouragement and support as we each struggled at various steps along the path. With a ridiculous sense of humor uniting us all, I can honestly say that (alongside tying to manage the rise in altitude), I have never been so out of breath in my life.
We met our local guide Prabin in the lobby, who at 26 years old is built like an ox despite his slim figure with probably no more that 0.02% bodyfat and a 'you can do it don't be silly' attitude. The Everest trail will do that to you I guess.... From him we learnt that we were missing about 95% of the required equipment for the trek as he provided us with a brief run through of the program ahead which we then proceeded to forget about 5 minutes after he was done. That being said with his help we not only got up the mountain, but we also managed to get back down it... More on that later though.
So in a nutshell this is what each day of the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek looked like:
Day 0 - 13th November 2016
To our great surprise (and delight) we were told the previous day that we were to embark on a morning of tourism to visit Kathmandu's infamous Durbar Square, the monkey temple and what we now call 'the temple of death', a Hindu temple known and popular fr cremations. It was a great morning and a unique opportunity to see some of the capital's highlights whilst getting to know our guide and fellow trekkers. We awed and ah'ed, took pictures and got blessed by some holy men whose nudity escapes me, before we returned to the chaos of Thamel to do some emergency panic shopping of the items on the list but not in our bags. We then returned to the hotel to attempt and pack all our equipment, belongings and cherished possessions into a bag that was not allowed to weigh more than 12 kilos. There was a lot of swearing and tough choices involved.
Day 1- 14th November 2016
We set off from the hotel at 5am armed with a suitcase that unfortunately weighed 16 kilos according to the hotel scales, a day bag which hopefully weighed less than 5 kilos, a packed breakfast box and clothed in as many layers as humanly possible (how many thermals can you wear at any one given time?) and began our traitorous journey to the airport. We carried our belongings and boiled eggs to the check-in counter where everyone eagerly waited for the sleepy check-in clerks to arrive. It was almost like a countdown. 3, 2, 1, ATTACK! We volunteered Prabin as tribute and proceeded to eat our eggs in the corner whilst he battled the masses for some boarding passes. The hallelujah moment arrived when we realized that the hotel scales were wrong and that our weight allowance was very comfortable indeed. The final results were as follows:
Maggie: 12.7 kilos
Kayla: 9.6 kilos!
Elysia: 14.6 kilos (I may r may not have hidden my poles in her suitcase whilst she wasn't looking)
Lara: 12.4 kilos
Pabin: 9 kilos suitcase and gasoline tank full of ketchup.... We did not ask too many questions
Overjoyed and feeling proud of ourselves we swam though the airport checks and to our gate to find out that our 06:15 flight was delayed due to fog. An overpriced coffee, an endless game of eye-spy and 2 hours later we were in the bus to our plane. Almost another 45 minutes of waiting on the tarmac later (we were allowed to sunbathe next to the plane whilst the pilots sat in the cockpits eating their breakfasts) and we were seated in the the 17 seater plane ready for takeoff. Seated on the left hand side of the plane which had views to the Hilamalyas we bobbed, dipped, twirled and leaped our way into Lukla airport (one of the top 10 most dangerous airports in the world) sitting at a majestic 2840m. Upon our arrival we met our porters and our assistant guide Chhewang. After a quick change of clothing and tea stop we set off on a 3 hour trek to a town called 'Phakding' or as we called it, 'Packed In' located at 2610m. Once there, we checked into Snowland Tea House which was at maximum capacity and by did you know it by the smell of the toilets (2 upstairs, 2 downstairs a western loo and asian loo to cater for 30 people). We got ourselves comfortable in the warm dining room where we huddled close to the fire and were educated in the ways of the card game called 'Shithead' which then helped us occupy our evening. By 19:30 we were fed, packed and wrapped in our sleeping bags tying to ignore the cold and the absence of duvets.
Word of the day: 'Jam Jam' = 'Lets go'
Lunch: Chow Mein Chicken + Garrlic soup
Dinner: Chicken noodle soup
Day 2 - 15th November 2016
By 7:00 we were sat at breakfast having had a wet wiped shower (hot showers were expensive on the mountains and glacial water did not appeal), wrestled our sleeping bags into our suitcases and looking rather disheveled after and awkward night's sleep. The tea house walls were paper thin and I honestly had not expected to have some stranger's sweat snores echo through the flimsy wooden walls and into my ear all night... By 7:30 I had downed a masala tea and we embarked on a 7.5 hike and 800m climb to Namche Bazaar. If only we had known what we were walking into. We walked though beautiful valleys for about 2 hours until our tea break in the small town of Chumoa (3 houses max) before passing through the trail's 2nd checkpoint. Apparently it is necessary to register that you are still alive at various points along the trail or they go looking for you... common courtesy really.
We then descended into the valley of Jorsale (Thumbug) where we had lunch at 2740m and met the father and son team from New Zealand who had flown out with us on the plane. Then disaster struck in the form of a 3.5 hour solid uphill climb. 2 hours in and after a lot of panting, swearing, crying, lunging, laughing and being overtaken by donkeys, chopkes (looks like a cross between a cow and a yak), porters and locals we finally got our fist glimpse of Everest! A 15 minute photo break and a snickers bar later we set off for the final ascent to our Mt Everest Hotel in Namche at 3440m. Even though we had an en-suite bathroom (what luxury!) the common room had no fire! So we connected to the internet for 500 NPR, sent an e-mail to the family to inform them of my survival thus far and did my best to prevent myself from tuning into an icicle. We ate, played cards and looked forward to our 'acclimatization day' in Namche the following day... We should have done our research....
Word of the day: 'Bistare Bistare' = 'Slowly Slowly'
Breakfast: Apple porridge with honey
Lunch: Vegetable pizza
Dinner: Daal Bhaat
Day 3 - 16th November 2016
A cultural day of sorts where we visited the Sherpa memorial in Namche Bazaar and the local museum both of which have a jaw dropping backdrop of Everest. We then proceeded to scale a hugely steep hill to the Everest View Lodge where we recovered from our climb over a pot f fresh tea and... you guessed it; a view of Everest. The climb was tremendously difficult due to the altitude requiring frequent breaks and a game of riddles to keep us going. Our steps were almost moon-like and our breath came very difficultly. We then descended back to the comforts of our hotel and bought a pair of thick woolly yak socks to help my toes survive from frostbite. At night we indulged in more Daal Bhaat and countless rounds of 'Shithead'... Yes you are noticing a trend.
Word of the day: 'Hatare Chaina' - 'Take your time'
Breakfast: Apple porridge + honey
Lunch: Mixed vegetable soup
Dinner: Daal Bhaat
Day 4 - 17th November 2016
We set off from Namche at around 08:00 (30 mins late- woops!) feeling well rested and energetic. We climbed out of Namche much faster than the previous day finally feeling the benefits of the awful climb the day before. We them scaled the side of a huge mountain for approximately 3 hours where we were able for the first time to enjoy the FLAT trail and amazing scenery of the valley in front, below, and behind us.By far one of the best views we had until then on the trip. We plodded on happily for a few hours before we met the famous Old Man who sat proudly wrapped in his thousands of layers of clothing and a huge smile plastered on his face. He is famous along the trail for making it his life mission to collect donations from trekkers and use the funds to improve the trail to Everest Base Camp by expanding and paving the road. You know so that yaks stop pushing tourists off the cliffs.What a legend. We then descended steeply past panting trekkers to lunch in the valley (we remembered this descent for many days to come noting that we would have to climb it on the way back) and had lunch in the gorgeous 26 degree sunshine. And then we cried.
Another endless 3 hour ascent up the lovely hill we were inspecting at lunch left us panting sweating and our calves trembling. But alas, we made it to the town of Tamboche located at 3800m and the fanciest lodge in the 6 house town entitled 'Tashi Delek'. We were rewarded with our first sighting of a yak during our ascent through the forested trail and even more so with the canvas like view from our tea house room with Everest standing proud and tall right in the center. BOOM. Opposite our hotel was the largest Buddhist monastery to be built at altitude which boasted an unlimited array of carvings and brilliant colours. A truly spectacular sight awaiting trekkers at the end of their ascent. We spent the rest of the afternoon watching the closing ceremony following week-long festival in the monastery were the monks sat elegantly clothed in their ceremonial dress and chanted into the evening. Very mesmerizing. We then proceeded to have a coffee in the sunshine and awe at the view and the distance we now know we have covered over the past three days. That in itself kept us all quiet for a long moment. And then we continued to discuss cabbages. I also attempted to rinse my hair with some of my left-over WARMish purified water... big mistake. All in all, this was the perfect day and Tashi Delek has stayed until today our favourite tea house. Mainly due to their vegetable lasagna and veggie burgers! NOM!
Word of the day: 'Bistram Gornhos' = 'Take a break'
Breakfast: Apple porridge + honey
Lunch: Garlic noodle soup
Dinner; Vegetable lazagna
Day 5 - 18th November 2016
This was the day that I struggled. We climbed to 4420m to the town of Dingboche. The morning climb of 600m was not necessarily difficult but the altitude had me crawling along the trail until lunch, battling to keep up. Nevertheless, some momos and two cups of cups of lemon and ginger tea at Sunrise Guesthouse in Orso brought me back to life and helped me continue along the trail. We all began to notice signs of the increase in altitude on our bodies and were consulting our gides for advice when Elysia, very concerned broke through the conversation with a look of horror on her face 'Prabin, do you think my crisps will pop' as she held up a very inflated bag of cheese and onion crisps. Hysterical. At around 1pm and with my headache now gone, we officially passed the tree line and entered what we called moon territory due to its resemblance to what we imagine the moon to look like. Very barren with many rocks and a very definitive drop in temperature due to the cold winds. Maggie and I made sure to dance over the rocks to the tune of 'Jai Ho' and coined our new favourite song: 'What's that coming over the hill is it a chopke/yak train'. Worrysome really...
We checked into the Bright Star Lodge which shared a road with our assistant guide's father's shop where we purchased some more snacks and oddities. We then sat round the rather smelly fire (no wood at this altitude so people are forced to compensate with yak poo) where we attempted to warm our souls over card games and colouring in. Yes Maggie brought a colouring book and yes we were all thrilled about it. This was ur first official day at dangerous altitude so our guides made sure to give us a print out of the signs and symptoms of altitude sickness (rather terrifying), calculated our oxygen levels and heart rate with a special miniature machine, increased our Diamox dosage to half a pill in the morning AND at night (we had been taking it since Day 0) and forbade us from showering due to the devastating effects that cold hair could have on us. I can honestly say that we all felt the effects of the increase in altitude as we struggled to draw breath as we were hiking but also when we were sleeping. Worst of all, we were all hit with a serious case of the uncontrollable giggles as we all slowly descended into a state of complete loopiness.
Word of the day: 'Pani purnhos' = 'Drink Water'
Breakfast: French toast
Lunch: Vegetable and tuna momos
Dinner: Vegetable sherpa stew
Bonus: First day of successfully consuming all 4 litres of water!
Day 6 - 19th November 2016
Another acclimatization day... These are always by far the worst in steep climbs and altitude struggles. What's funny though is that, despite trekking at the end of the season, we have fund the trails much emptier than we expected. We often start off in the morning trekking alongside 4/5 other groups but we always lose them a few hours later and found ourselves having the mountain almost to ourselves. We then tended to find them all again on the same hike up the same gruesome hill on the acclimatization days... That being said, we climbed about 400m up the trail to Lobuche with barely any symptoms and difficulty as we were warned that we could experience severe dizziness and nausea either on or after the walk. Clearly they didn't know we were super human. Kayla was so affected by the altitude that she interrupted the silence and crisp wind on the barren mountain to ask 'Prabin, do you get signal up here?', we all broke out in roaring laughter and the guides shook their heads. Brilliant. We returned to the lodge to find a party of 6 Greeks from Thessaloniki who were eager to chat with a strange blond girl who spoke greek and a tea house full of very ill trekkers... We were lucky to have escaped altitude's claws.We proceeded to warm ourselvs by the fire once again and enjoy the spectacle of 12 middle aged french trekkers having a rave in the tea house following their successful ascent to EBC. Very much a grit your teeth and clap sort of scene. Then Maggie decided to add to it by telling Chhewang 'I ate your dad's peanuts' (which she had bought from his father's shop) which unfortunately came out sounding more like 'I ate your dad's penis'. I can still clearly picture the look of shock on his face. We will never let her forget it.
Word of the day: 'Topalai kostoza' = 'How are you'
Breakfast: Fried egg and tibetan bread (decided to ix it up a little)
Lunch: Mushroom soup + tibetan bread
Dinner: Sherpa stew and french fries
Day 7 - 20th November 2016
Today we made the leap to 5000m! Once again we felt greatful for our acclimatization hike a day prior, however, this time I did not escape unscathed. On the contrary I was tormented with a throbbing headache and a complete loss of appetite. Yes, yes who would have thought, everyone laugh, haha. We spent the day walking rather gradually up the dormant part of the Khumbu glacier (read as: huge pile of slippery rocks and pebbles) which, along with our labored steps and absence of people, once again made us feel as though we were walking on the moon. We eventually made it to our tea house 'Alpine Home and Restaurant' in Lobuche at 4940m, which was conveniently located in the middle of absolute nowhere, in a valley that made me think of the Scottish highlands.
We filled the afternoon with a small but difficult climb up a very small hill opposite our tea house which was intended to assist our final stretch the following day. There was nothing particularly difficult about the hill but for some reason we found ourselves trying to claw our way up it. None of us were in the mood but our guides insisted it would help. So we moaned and groaned our way to the top before running back down to the security and warmth of the tea house.
Due to the climb in altitude, electricity was scarce and only kicked in once the sun had set. It is also worth noting that the higher we climbed, the smellier the toilets became and the cost of charging one's electronics and the cost of wifi tripled. It now cost us 350 NPR to charge for 1 hour and 350 NPR for 100mb of internet. Had to charge the camera though, there was no way round it! We then cozied up in the rather busy rstaurant where we made friends with a group of vry experienced UK trekkers from Venture Force UK who were doing the climb to EBC for their 2nd or 3rd time. We bonded over egg and chips and steamed momos.
I could not help but sit quietly at dinner that night and think about the fact that I had actually made it that far. It is quite an empowering feeling to withdraw from the crowd and look around to see yourself sat among some of the very few people to ever make it to EBC. Wow. And with that we steadied ourselves for our final climb the following day which would take us to our goal. Oxygen and heart rate in check, we were confident we were going to make it.
We went to bed at 7:30, fully donned in thick thermals, a woolly hat and thick duvet above our sleeping bag ready to jump straight into our clothes at 5:00am the following morning.
Word of the day: 'Tara China' = 'Nearly there'
Breakfast: Apple pancake
Lunch: Vegetable momos
Dinner: Spaghetti with tomato and nak cheese
Day 8 - 21st November 2016
D-DAY!
We forced down a bowl of apple gloop that was pretending to be porridge at 5:30am and were on the road fully packed and loaded and dressed to the teeth with everything warm that we owned by 6:30am to begin trudging through the darkness. For those who are interested in knowing I wrapped myself in: a merino base layer, a t-shirt, a thermal jumper, a thick fleece, my parka, gortex thermal leggings, fleece lined trousers, a woolly hat, fleece lined gloves and a windbreaker scarf and was still cold at points. We continued to follow the Khumbu glacier north, and threw ourselves over various large boulders whilst battling to breathe through all our layers and lack of oxyegn to reach the small and barely surviving village of Gorak Shep at 5170m. Once there, we took an hour break in which we left our luggage in our rooms at the hair raising, nose wrinkling, slightly disturbing yet surprisingly famous 'Snowland Highest Inn' tea house, where we inhaled some soup and boiled eggs whilst mentally preparing ourselves for the sightless end goal that we had been walking towards for 7 days. As we walked, I could not help but recall the dream I had the previous night (I struggled to eat but apparently dreaming was no problem at this altitude), of making it all the way to Gorak Shep and then having to emergency fly home for my grandfather's birthday without reaching EBC. A very eery feeling indeed.
The final stretch from Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp was an interesting one as we crossed the almost dessert like valleys and scaled the ridge of what looked like the result of a massive landslide in silence as we each thought of everything we had left behind to get there. For those of you that don't already know, EBC itself is completely underwhelming as it is just a small human made valley on top of what look like a landslide at the base of very tall mountains. There are no tents at this point of year and you cannot see Everest from there. In contrast, it is the sensation of joy in your personal accomplishment and pure rush of adrenaline that I flt when I arrived that I will remember forever. You begin a rather perilous decent off the ridge of the glacier and begin to climb another small landslide and before you have lunged across the third small ice pool, you summit to Everest Base Camp. I have no words to describe the feeling of absolute joy, relief, sadness and adrenaline that overcome your body at that moment but I do recall I expressed them with a massive 'WOOHOO' to make sure that everyone else on the trail new of my arrival. 8 days of pushing yourself to your physical limit all come crashing down at this moment. And it is an indescribably amazing feeling. Thus, as appropriate, we celebrated by digging into the peanut butter sandwiches that we had opted to schlep with us and explore our surroundings.
What surprised us all was that our guides delighted in our arrival just as much as us and just like that, a layer of stress, distance and restraint evaporated as they joined in on our celebrations. We took pictures, explored EBC and snacked before we recruited our guides to build us a pretty stone table at 5000m of altitude so that we could hang our Nepali nature flags from. Princesses indeed.
It was only on the way back that I realized how much energy it had taken m to reach EBC as I genuinely worried whether my body would be able to carry m the rest of the way home. I had given everything I had to get there and once the adrenaline wore off, my muscles refused to support me. Scary. Fortunately I was able to make it back to the tea house (barely) where I collapsed into a chair and nursed some re-hydration salts for about an hour. But I had made it and in so doing had overpassed even my own expectations. Who would have thought a year ago that I would be sitting in a tea house, having just scrambled home from Mt Everest Base Camp. Not me that's for sure.
I regained my powers a couple of hours later and engaged our guides, the rest of the team and even the Venture Force guide into a relentless game of shithead. Competition was strong and spirits were high. What a day!
Word of the day: Cabbages
Breakfast: Appl porridge (AKA gloop)
Lunch: 2 boiled eggs + peanut butter sandwich at EBC
Dinner: Spaghetti with tomato sauce and nak cheese
Day 9 - 22nd November 2016
Despite the mental and physical exhaustion we were still overcoming from the previous day we awoke at 5:30am to storm out the door and tackle the infamous Kalapathar Hill from which we intended to watch the sun rise over Everest. Maggie left at 5:00 with Prabin as she inteded to climb all the way to the top of the hill to show the Venture Force team and herself that nearly at 60, she still had the ability to kick ass. Kayla (wisely) snored through until breakfast.
We exited the protection of the tea house into the dark and bitter -15C cold to climb one of the steepest hills I have ever seen. To my great dismay I did not make it. The combination of the freezing temperature and exhaustion from the previous day did not allow me to climb higher than 2/5 of the way up the hill (we were aiming for half way to see the view of the valley and EBC) and I collapsed on a rock and encouraged Chhewang to lead Elysia the rest of the way to the view point. I was devastated. Chhewang highly advised me not to continue as we had a long day of trekking still ahead of us and positioned me on a rock with a great view of the creeping sunrise unsure as to whether to leave me behind (even though I was adamant that I would not spend more that 10 minutes motionless in the cold). I guess having felt invisible the day before by reaching EBC, I had set off on the climb thinking it would be no challenge whatsoever. The shocking truth of the matter not only reminded me of the physical work I still had to do on myself but also brought me crashing down to reality, that the trek was not over and that I had failed to climb one of the most talked about mountains on the trail. I proceeded to withdraw into my sulky self for the rest of the morning after joining the rest at breakfast and listened to Maggie boast about her successful summit of Kalapather, each word stinging me even more as I nursed 1st degree frostbite in my toes. Chhewang kindly provided me with a hot water bottle for my toes and half an hour later we were on the trail for home.
The 6 hour descent to the small town of Pheriche in my personal and humble opinion, boasted the most beautiful scenery of the entire trek. We descended between two large and imposing mountains through a valley dotted with small streams, farm lands and yak grazing areas, all of which were covered in the most pure and dazzling sunlight. Think of Lord of the Rings but better. We arrived at the much cleaner 'Pheriche Resort' (LOL) where Elysia finally had her hot shower she had been dreaming about for the past 3 days and we settled down for a hot meal and another early night. At 7:30pm we were all in bed and well on our way to a much overdue11 hour sleep.
Word of the day: The Nepali alphabet from 1 -10. Prabin agreed to teach me in exchange for the Spanish equivalent.It took a while but we got there.
Breakfast: French toast
Lunch: Tomato soup + toast
Dinner: Dal Bhat
Day 10 - 23rd November 2016
We awoke feeling completely reborn!
We set off from Pheriche at 08:30 with new found strength and a renewed set of the giggles for a mostly easy 3 hour hike back to good old Tamboche and the vegetable lazagna that awaited us there.It was amazing to see how much faster we were covering ground on the way back as we no longer struggled to catch our breaths on the tough yet durable climbs. Its funny though. You spend all your time thinking of the way there but completely forget about the energy required for the not so flat return journey. Having spent all one's energy and adrenaline on the way up we were left with very little to encourage us back up the rest of the hills home.
A final 45 bitch of a climb up to Tamboche brought us to our destination, where we spent the rest of the afternoon in the sunshine nursing my blistered feet and watching eager young trekkers flex their bare muscles in the town square. Could have been worse.
I honestly could not tell you how we climbed the hills that we walked down on our way back from EBC. It is also fascinating to see with new eyes the scenery as we descend as most of the ascent was spent looking at the ground and pushing one foot after another up various cliff faces. Now that we are off the Diamox we look forward to a beer (or three) and Maggies challenged of being shitheads 4 times in a row. All we can think about is the Irish bar in Lukla where we planned to celebrate Thanksgiving (mostly for Kayla's sake) and the hot shower awaiting us in Kathmandu!
A rather hysterical evening of card games and hot meal later and we were tucked up in bed by 8pm looking forward to catching up on some more zzzzzs. Unfortunately that was not before noticing a rather unsanitary looking foursome of young men check in to the hotel and try and negotiate the non-negotiable rates who at dinner decided to save some dollars and use the hot towels that are always passed out before dinner to give their pits a bit of a wipe. I had to stop myself from spitting tea everywhere when I noticed. Gag.
Word of the day: 'Are we there yet?'
Breakfast: Apple porridge + honey
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup
Dinner: Vegetable burger
Day 11 - 24th November 2016
We were rudely awoken by what sounded like a stomping stampede of out of control yaks combined with the hysterical cackling of young Australian women coming through the wall. In actual fact it was just the large group of auzzies who had arrived the night before going through their rather u necessarily loud morning routine.We found some space at the fully occupied restaurant for a spot of breakfast and once Kayla had wrestled hr rather uncooperative sleeping bag into her backpack for the second to last time we set off on our trail knowing that today was going to be the day we came across the wonderfully long, steep, curving descent that we had strolled down a few days prior...But we would have to go up it.
The altitude caught us all by surprise once again, but in the most pleasant of ways as we climbed the hill of death in no time! It made us wonder why everyone looked so miserable on their way up last time as, (Que the group's new slogan) 'It could never be worse than Namche'. We followed the trail back across the cliff edges, making significantly fewer stops and covering ground fast. It was there that I bumped into one of the guides that I befriended on the way up (flashback: On the way up, whenever Prabin would see one of his colleagues with a group he would tell me to say e.g. 'Hello Sajun' and then we would both laugh as they racked their brains trying to remember when we met- clue: we never had! Anyway, this time the joke was on me ) who was on his second trek to EBC after no more than 5 days rest. Craziness. These people are trully invincible. We then proceeded to have rather an extensive 2 hour lunch at Kalapather guest house whose sunny restaurant and free wifi!!!!!!!!!!! kept us all rather content. It was really weird re-connecting with the real world as long as my battery would allow and as nice as it was to hear James' voice and let my parents know that I had not yet exploded, I was not quite ready for social media after almost 2 weeks without it.
Once the guides were able to ply Elysia away from the wifi we continued our descent down the infamous Namche hill. It felt amazing. We skipped and jumped our way past atrophying trekkers on their way up and did our best to both hide our smiles and share words of encouragement where we could. I remember how good it felt to be told 'you're nearly there, keep going' even though we all knew that there were at least another 2 hours of climbing ahead. Its the little things I guess. We crossed the 500m high swing bridges and before we knew it we were all sat round the fire at 'Chumoa Guest House' with a celebratory Everest beer in hand. I mean I don't think it gets more appropriate than that. This was our second favourite guest house as it almost had a fairy tale aspect about it with a wooden common room/ restaurant, frilly curtains and pillow cases and a perfectly manicured garden. CUTE!
I took a moment to reflect on the day's journeys and genuinely wonder how on earth I made it up those hills... I most definitely do not think I could do it again. If I was ever to have a superhuman moment in my life, it was probably climbing those hills. Knowing that our journey in the Himalayas was to come to an end the following day, I remember thinking to myself how much I have enjoyed the trek. From the walks to the scenery, the group and my isolation...
Word of the day: 'Namaste' = 'May peace be with you' (or smiliar)
Breakfast: Apple porridge + honey
Lunch: Egg + chips
Dinner: Vegetable chowmein
Day 12 -25th November 2016
We awoke to find ourselves in our cozy little room and refused to move for at least 10 minutes. We then dressed and ate and were on the road again by 08:00. Our guides had promised us the night before that our final day would be an easy day involving only a 3.5 hour trek and 25 minute difficult climb just before the gate to Lukla. Lies and deceit. Even though the views were spectacular and we almost felt like we were walking through the Shire from the Hobbit, the terrain was very rocky making my blisters bleed even more and my muscles cramp in all the wrong places. Hrrumph. Chhewang in particular seemed very keen to get back to Lukla leaving Maggie at the end of the procession almost throwing herself down the rather too-big-for-her-height-stairs in an effort to keep up. For every photo stop that I made, I then had to sprint for 10 minutes to catch up with the group. 4 rather extensive sessions of intense 25 minute climbs later and we were posing in front of the same gate that we had embarked from no more than 12 days previously looking much dirtier, disheveled, worn out than the previous time. Nonetheless, there were big smiles all around giving away only the slightest hint of disappointment that our journey was coming to an end.
We checked into 'Mera Lodge' in Lukla which set out to spoil us rotten with en-suite showers and toilets! What luxury! Elysia opted for a nap whilst Maggie, Kayla and I venture into town looking for a decent coffee and a beer. Turns out there is only 1 bar worth going to in Lukla, that being the Lukla Irish bar. However, seeing as it was only 3pm, Kayla and I decided to go back to the hotel and play some cards and have a drink there for the time being instead. Once Elysia woke up and Prabin finished his 'They surprisingly didn't die' report we convinced him to join us for a game of pool at the Irish pub. And thus our 'BIG NIGHT OUT IN LUKLA' (as Elysia kindly repeated every 30 seconds), began. We introduced a very shy Prabin to a game of Ring of Fire which just ended up with us telling Prabin to drink every 2 minutes and a rather expensive bill. As we finished our rather rowdy game at the bar (which must have looked very strange to everyone else there we now realise- 4 girls telling a Nepali guy to chug his beer) we then progressed on to the pool table where Prabin played pool and we embarrassed ourselves as we attempted to do the same. Nontheless we made some progress against Prabin only to be squashed with the arrival of Chhewang who we later found out was no1 at pool in Lukla. He was amazing, but at least we tried.
We then stumbled out of the Irish bar to find that it had turned dark outside and joined Maggie and our porters for a final dinner all together on us. We ate some rather average pizzas, shared funny moments from the trek and told our porters how grateful we were for their help. In all honesty, the porters/sherpas are th true unsung heroes of the Himalayas getting half the sleep and comforts that we tourists do, carrying heavier loads than us and always doing it with a smile on their faces. It really makes you think. It would not have been a goodbye dinner without the guys' tips and the honorary gifting of a cabbage to Chhewang to act as a memento of our two weeks rambling on about cabbages. Thankfully it went down well. A final game of shithead brought our evening to a close with firm instructions to be packed and ready for a 5:30am departure the following morning.
Breakfast: 'Scrambled egg and toast'
Lunch: Butter masala and rice
Dinner: Vegetarian pizza
Day 13 - 26th November 2016
We all sat blinking ourselves awake at 5:00am trying to swallow whatever breakfast we had slurrily ordered the night before only to find that beer had convinced Kayla to go to bed fully clothed the night before. No need to change and no need to battle a sleeping bag.
Breakfast and paying the bill took a little longer than the guides had calculated and so we found ourselvs literally sprinting our way down Lukla highstreet to make it to check-in for our 6:15am flight before our seats were given away to others. I never knew Prabin could run so fast. We made check-in by the skin of our teeth and took a moment to give Chhewang and our porters a very awkward but sad hug goodbye before handing over our (nowhere near the 6 kilo weight limit) day packs for inspection.
Befor we knew it we were airborne again and flying through the mist towards Kathmandu. The flight was spectacular and the colors truly brilliant reflecting off the clouds and illuminating the Himalayas in brilliant sunlight. Stunning.
A short transfer, apologetic laundry run and 45 minute piping hot shower later, and you will find that it was at this moment that I actually started writing this blog post.
I can honestly say that despite all the amazing experiences that I have been lucky enough to live so far, this has been the best. Maybe it was due to the group that I now realize I was so lucky to have accompany me on my journey, maybe it was due to the stunning landscapes, maybe it was due to never having pushed myself so hard before in my life, but even now a good 2 weeks after having returned to Kathmandu I still wish I could go back tomorrow and do it all over again. Himalayan Encounters did a fantastic job of organizing our trip, choosing the best hotels (in which our guides always made sure to save us the best rooms of the house), ensuring our safety above all else and providing us with two truly exceptional guides who I will always remember.
What fascinated me about our time with our guides and porters is how vastly different lives we lead yt how similar we are in certain ways. There were a few mornings where I sat in the breakfast room before the others had arrived to witness the older porter taking picture of Ritz, the younger porter with various scenic backdrops. I witnessed them go through various pose, angles, hairstyles and a few photography lessons for the older porter who clearly wasn't getting an edgy enough shop before they knuckled down, strapped humongous suitcases to their backs and off they went! The tea houses were also a fascinating experience housing tens of like-minded people, each with a story to tell and a ghost still haunting them. There were nights where it was so cold that our pee steamed and our sleeping bag had thin crystals where the condensation from our breath had frozen on it overnight. It almost brought us back in time to notice how at night, everyone from trekkers to guides to porters to kitchen staff would seek shelter near the hearth of the house. Everyone was welcome despite their rank, class and nationality. What still intrigues me is the very obvious hierarchy that exists among the trekking industry. We have often since been corrected for calling Chhewang our guide rather than our assistant guide and noticed a very clear disparity in the weight of the packs both he and Prabin were carrying. Prabin the guide would carry the medical kit and Chhewang would carry an oxygen tank and stretcher amongst all their persona belongings all the way up to 5000m... Chhewang would always take our food order and bring us drinks and we were always given our evening briefing of the following day by Prabin. Nonetheless they both stayed very professional and very pleasant despite the underlying distinctions between the two.
All in all, I would highly recommentd the Mount Everest Base Camp trek for anyone willing to endure some brutal uphills, cold nights and smelly toilets. The reward definitely exceeds the shortcomings! We thoroughly enjoyed the vast scenic differences each day provided and spent everyday enjoying the glorious sunshine. Each day we trekked under the tree line hiked in t-shirts!
In an effort/attempt to assist anyone about to undertake the same trek please find below a packing list of what I deemed essential (and missed) whilst on the trek in November. Please do not forget that I am female and that men reading this hoping to prepare for their trek might want to miss out a few of the items listed... such as lavender scented foot scrub. If only....
Essential:
- 1x large rucksack to be used as suitcase (50-70L). Please note that some poor chap will be carrying it on his back rather than wheeling it up the mountain.
-1x day bag (20-30L). Something comfortable with waist straps and space for water bottles.
-1x schlepping bag, I mean sleeping bag, durable until AT LEAST -10C. It is bloody cold up there and not all tea houses provide blankets.
- 2x 1 litre water bottles.
- 50 water purification tablets (1 tablet per 1 liter). I went through about 40 liters of water whilst on the trek. The more pills the safer/ happier you will be.
- 1x head torch
- 1x pair walking boots already worn in. If not, prepare for blistermania.
- 2x thermals (upper and lower body)
- 1x pair of warm pjs (if you sleep in thermals you come out of the bag looking like you were attacked by a chicken - feathers everywhere)
- 2x sleeping socks/ sock liners
- 4x trekking socks at least. Preferably wool based or wool combination.
- 2x trekking trousers. I was grateful to have an extra 3rd pair with thermal lining for the top.
- 2x dry-fit long sleeved t-shirts. Less stinky and easy to wash.
- 2x short sleeved t-shirts. I wore them on top of my thermals for dinner and they stayed clean for longer.
- 2x medium layer jumpers to go over shirts and under fleece/parka.
- 1x thick parka. Only used at night and on Base Camp day.
- 1x wind breaker/waterproof jacket. Thankfully did not need.
- 1x warm fleece. Wore everyday in the mornings and when windy. HIGHLY recommend.
- 6x underwear
- 2x sports bras
- 2x sunglasses. You do not want to lose them and be left without them on the mountain.
-1x baseball hat/ similar. Against blinding sun. I wore along with sunglasses for happy trekking.
-1x warm woolly hat. I recommend one with extra lining for the ears.
-1x windbreaker scarf thing/ neck warmer/bandana.You know what i'm talking about. Helps protect against the cold when climbing and the dust. Wore every day.
-1x warm gloves. No need for ski gloves if you have warm pockets.
-1x swiss army knife.
-1x battery pack to recharge electronics. At least one!
-1x pack of cards. Endless entertainment in the evenings.
-1x good book. Extra points if it is Everest related.
-Small sweets for energy whilst trekking. E.g.Halls.
-Snacking food for long days. Recommend chocolate + nuts.
-1x hand sanitizer. Large bottle!
Toiletries:
-1x medical kit (blister plasters, antiseptic, lots of paracetamol, gauze, tape, tweezers, throat lozenges, etc.)
-1x Vaseline. ESSENTIAL.
-1x lip balm
-1x small tube sun cream. Factor 30 and above.
-1x vitamin box. I recommend multivitamins and such, helped keep me going.
-3x loo roll. Better safe than sorry. 1 was definitely not enough.
-1x pack of 80/90 baby wipes. Larger the pack the cleaner you will be. Kept us clean(ish) even though not showering for 2 weeks.
-6x tissue packs. The nose blowing was endless. Moved on to loo roll when tissues ran out. Also useful for loo stops.
-1x toothbrush + toothpaste
-1x large tube of moisturizer
-1x small travel towel
-1x comb/brush
-1x nail clippers and travel scissors
-2x compede/moleskin plasters and tape for feet
Optional:
- Walking poles. Bought some, used them once for about 10 minutes before I got annoyed with them and never touched them again. Depends on the individual.
-Eye mask for sleeping. The curtains are like like two tissues...
-Dryer sheets. Maggie says they helped keep her laundry fresher.
-Sleeping bag inner sheet. Meh.
-Camel back. Helps stay hydrated whilst walking.
-Ear plugs. To block out noisy tea house snorers
I am now sat in Pokhara having spent my first afternoon since arriving in Nepal actually relaxing. We feasted on a massive OR2K lunch and watched the sun go down behind the lake before I decided that today was the day that I would finish this post. But more on Pokhara in my next post.
I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. There is definitely a lot missing from this post but, and I quote, 'Frankly, I don't give a damn'.
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