Sunrise view of Mt. Everest from Mt. Kalapatther
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves” Sir Edmund Hilary.
The journey started with a short flight from New Delhi to the land of mountains, Nepal. Kathmandu. The Capital, looked none different from any of the major cities in India. Staying at Tibet guest house in Thamel offered a whole new level of excitement for Thamel is said to be the Goa of the Mountains, a paradise for Hippies and heaven for Trekkers .One can find numerous trekking shops and countless number of bars around the tiny place.
Staying at Thamel for a day and picking our last bag of gears, we started for Lukla (the place from where the trek starts) the next morning.
Day 1 (Kathmandu-Lukla-Phakding)
The day starts with flying from a 16 seater jet from Kathmandu to Lukla , Lukla airport- the most menacing airport in the world, notorious for having its flight cancelled fifty percent of times,is located among the mountains- a small airstrip where anyone can go and watch the flights takeoff without even a boarding pass. The airport has earned the category of Most Dangerous Airport in the world with an airstrip of no more than 400 m and very high wind speeds for these little jets.
Tiny jets which land on Tenzing Hilary airport
We reached by 10:45 and after having a cup of tea , started descending towards Phakding. The trail lead us through countless farms and forest covers,giving us the first glimpse of the Himalayan terrain . Walking along Dudhkosi River, we made our way to Phakding, our first stop along the trail. Dudhkosi river, as the name suggests means river of milk, and actually the water felt like milk when seen from a distance.
Day 2 ( Trekking towards Namche Baazar )
Namche Baazar is the central getaway for all the treks and expeditions around the Khumbu region. The trail is a 12km long stretch going both uphill and downhill through the Sagarmatha National Park towards Namche Baazar, our next destination, the capital of Khumbu region.
Namche Baazar
Traditionally, Namche Bazaar was a trading post, with locals bartering yak cheese and butter for agricultural goods grown at lower altitudes. Namche Baazar is also the most happening place in this region with lots of bakeries and pubs including the highest Irish pub in the world. Trekking towards namche gave us beautiful views of the snow capped peaks including Mt. Thamserku (6808m, still unclimbed) and our first glimpse of every trekkers dream- Mt. Everest. Having am early lunch at 11as there are no more tea houses along the way, we made way towards our destination, ascending 600 m.
Birds eye view of Namche Baazar
Day 3 ( Acclimatization at Namche Baazar )
In order to acclimatize to the altitude, we had a rest day at Namche Baazar as it is the first place on the Khumbu trek that is above altitude sickness threshold and so most trekkers prefer to spend at least two nights at Namche Bazaar. Oxygen levels are 20% less than the sea level. We headed towards the Namche museum, a small walk uphill .The museum ,a one of its own was quite informative about Sagarmatha National Park, the wildlife in the Khumbu region, flora and fauna, and the Sherpa culture.
Prayer Flags at namche Baazar
The hike after the museum was a steep one, giving us fabulous views of Namche Baazar from the top, crossing one of the highest airstrips in the world (Syngboche airstrip) having literally no concrete airstrip. The top gave us clear views of Mt. Everest while we were relaxing at an Everest facing restaurant .Our evening was occupied exploring the beautiful town.
Day 4 (Trek towards Tengboche)
Tengboche, our next destination- 400m higher than the previous stop, Namche bazaar. A six hour hike with a decent walk for 2 hours for the first two hours giving astonishing panorama of Mt. Amadablam all along our way.While crossing the Nepali flats (walk uphill, walk downhill and come to the same altitude) . The next phase of the trek is steep and challenging going through Rhododendron flowers and a lot of bird sightings along the way. The best part of this trek is you cannot see the destination beforehand, you keep walking and walking and suddenly to your surprise , you’ve reached.
Tengboche monastery
The Tengboche monastery is the largest in the Khumbu region which is said to be home to 60 monks and is considered as the gateway to Mount Everest. The chanting of monks gave us a feeling of purity and made us more positive for the rest of our journey. After entering the gateway to Mt. Everest we descend for next ten minutes to reach our next destination Debuche.
Day 5 ( Trek towards Dingboche )
We head out of Debuche Camp and through the rhododendron bushes heading down to cross the Imja Khola, with constant sightings of Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam and Nuptse. Ascending a height of 600m to reach Dingboche, an easy 10 km trail , not too steep as we gain height gradually. We crossed the forest line and now the vegetation only consisted of small Juniper bushes as if it was a cold desert, one of the most beautiful paths of the trek.
At a height of 4400m it’s common to have symptoms of mountain sickness and many people head back because of the same, headache and loss of appetite being one of the common symptoms. Dingboche , a place with two stupas and around seven-eight tea houses, accommodates trekkers on their way towards the Base Camp.
Day 6 ( Acclimatization at Dingboche )
Rest day at Dingboche in order to acclimatize as we have crossed 4200 m mark above sea level . Rest days are not meant to relax at the tea houses, but for fun hikes in order to acclimatize well. The fun hike is halfway towards the Nangkartshang peak , which is at a height of 700m above Dingboche, some of us went down past halfway while the rest stayed back to trek to the top of the mountain to gain an altitude of around 5000m . The hike was quite steep and challenging, but that’s the aim, to cross your limits each day. The course offers beautiful views of Mt. Amadablam , Mt. Makalu, Mt. Thamserku, Mt. Lohutse and also Mt. Chu Yu (Half in Nepal, Half in China).
View from Nangkartshang peak
Day 7 (Trek towards Labuche)
This is the last stop before ascending towards the Base Camp , Labuche at an altitude of 4950m. The day was cloudy and windy and sun couldn’t be seen . The trek started with steep uphill for some minutes and then a long straight walk to a point named Thukla Dukla , During the walk there was mild snowfall which was the only thing missing in the trek. We stopped at Thukla Dukla to have tea and snacks.
On the way to Thukla Pass
As we ascend up from Thukla pass we see multiple memorials of people who lost their lives while climbing Everest, including memorial of Babu Chiri Sherpa who had climbed Everest 21 times and holds three world records for the same.
The youngest member in our group at memorial above Thukla pass
Day 8 (Trek towards Gorakshep and summit the Everest Base Camp)
The day started earlier than usual, around 6:30 since it is supposed to be the longest day of our trek, walking around 10 hours at an altitude above 5000m . The first destination is Gorakshep which is a 3 hour walk from Labuche, where we had our lunch and kept our bags to head towards the final destination, The Base Camp. Throughout the way towards Gorakshep, one can see Mt. Pumori, which triggered the avalanche in 2015 and the Khumbu glaciers throughout our way.
Trekking towards Gorakshep
Another three hour long journey still awaits for us to reach the Base Camp giving awe-inspiring views of Mt. Pumori, Mt. Khumbuche, Mt. Nuptse, Mt. Lolo, and Mt. Dolo. Reaching BC at 14:30 gave all of us a sense of accomplishment as the wait has come to an end and this was the result of seven day struggle throughout the trek, the feeling was exciting and beautiful, like one of the toughest things in life is finally achieved , with everyone, overjoyed with emotions.
Me standing at Everest Base Camp
It was surprising to see that all the tents on the Base Camp were pitched on ice in front of the Khumbu Icefall, the place where temperature is zero or below giving you shivers while you walk. The camp was full of tents with climbers from all over the world attempting Everest this year after two consecutive years when Everest was unreachable. Our way back to Gorakshep was also an thrilling experience as it started snowing heavily as we left the Base Camp , the path we covered in the morning was brown, while our way back, it turned white everywhere. We all were really happy as we made it at the right time before the snowfall.
Camps at Khumbu Glacier
Day 9 (Descend towards Periche)
Day started with few of our group members ascend towards Kalapatthar (5550 m) to see sunrise from Everest- the most stunning view among all, rays of sunlight falling from Everest – one word to describe – FANTASTIC. After returning we started descending towards Periche , again a small village with only few tea houses.
Panaromic view from Gorakshep
Reaching Periche by afternoon we got to know that here is clinic of Himalayan Rescue Association and every noon at around 3 pm they have this session on high altitude sickness in which they taught us about the symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) and how to resolve them. The lecture was quite informative, especially for a guy like me who wants to make a living climbing mountains.
Day 10 (Periche to Namche Baazar)
One of the longest walk of our trip, covering 20 kms to reach Namche Baazar from Periche , walking around for 10 hours. Bidding our farewell to all the heavenly mountains around us. Until Debuche the walk was quite easy but it after that it was going to be steep downhill , uphill and a long walk to reach our next destination Naamche Baazar. This is the day you actually challenge your limits.
Circular Rainbows on the way
Day 11 ( Hike towards Lukla )
Energized by the fact that this is the last day of the trek and also the last 20 kms we started heading towards Lukla. The first phase was steep downhill towards Phakding (our first stop) where we stopped to have lunch. The way was not as dusty as it was while going up because of the rain last evening and the serene changed every 20 minutes.
Little Sherpa
Crossing Phakding the trek was seven kms uphill towards Lukla , passing entrance of Sagarmatha National Park giving our final salutation to the astounding forest. After walking for three more hours we reached our last destination, Lukla , from where we have a flight tomorrow morning. After resting we went to the Everest Café to have grab some drinks, because ‘a little party never killed nobody’ and having the last never ending discussing about the trip. Tomorrow we will be back to the daily scheduled life and city noise.
All the trekkers apart from me flew away in a Helicopter to have a better look of the Khumbu district and i enjoyed walking alone to Lukla. Walking alone is always super fun.
For more details about Everest Base Camp trek contact me at : prashantvatwani93@gmail.com
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Hope you enjoyed reading it. 🙂
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