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Today was the first day of our trip up Everest and we were all keen to get underway. I had heard about the flight up to Lukla before arriving in Nepal and was excited to be finally getting up in the air. The flight was about 30 minutes and there were some good views of the Himalayas. Getting closer to Lukla we skirted over some mountains before diving through a hole in the clouds to get visual with very short runway. They slam you down firmly before applying full brakes and reverse thrust to bring you to a stop before the rock wall at the end of the runway. The runway faces into a mountain and there is no second chances if you screw this landing up!

Strangely, we had to laugh to see Starbucks had made an appearance at Lukla! Pizza Hut and KFC opened in Kathmandu the week that we arrived, with queues hours long.
After collecting our bags and having some breakfast, we were introduced to our porters. After loading them up (2 bags per porter - 30 kg!!) we made off. It is amazing the loads that the porters carry. They can carry up to 50 kilos and get paid 60 rupees per kilo. We saw some amazing loads - people carrying reinforced steel, 10 sheets of plywood (at 2.4 x 1.2m) and one guy with 5m pipes who had to walk sideways down the mountain! Even the yaks are not immune - they are made to carry up to 80kgs. At US$500 per yak, the sherpas kept a close eye on them.

The trek itself took 12 days and while the distance was not great (only about 65 miles in total) we had to walk at a snail’s pace, the affects of altitude on the heart and lungs made even the fittest person crumble! We were even prepared to spent 150 rupees on a chocolate bar as a treat! The area itself was dusty with beautiful pine forests but this changed to a barren rock landscape as we got higher. It was warm enough during the day to walk in short sleeves but this changed once we got above 4500m where we wore our full winter kit. It was really cold at night and we all huddled by the fire, exchanging trekking stories with others, until the fire went out at 8pm and then it was off to bed. Some of the teahouses were so cold over night that our water bottles froze. Each night we stayed in a different place, with two nights spent in Namche Bazaar (3440m) and Dingboche (4360m) for supposed rest days, which actually turned out to be acclimatisation days where we had to walk higher up the mountain and then return to sleep at a lower altitude. The teahouses that we stayed in were pretty amazing considering their location and the fact that all the building materials were carried up the mountain by hand.

On one of the acclimatisation days at Namche we walked up to Shangboche airport which is the highest airport in the world. Matt was in heaven! We met two Swiss engineers who had been flown in (while on holiday in NZ) to fix the tail of a plane (a spectacular crash earlier that week, where the plane’s tail crashed into the ground - a big hit on you-tube apparently which I was pleased we had not watched before our flight to Lukla!).

On 3 December we arrived at Tengboche. At the top of this mountain was a beautiful Tibetan monastery. We observed an official ceremony which involved a lot of murmuring and tea drinking - we were not really sure what was going on! The following morning was the Mt Everest marathon - they run from Gorak Shep (5100m) and run to Namche (3400m). There were about 80 runners (including a couple of kiwis). Amazingly the top guys finish the marathon in under 3.5 hours. The first foreign woman over the finish line had been in Gorek Shep acclimatising for 2 months.

The trek continued to be a really hard slog and we were all in various stages of altitude sickness. At the beginning we ate so much food it was not funny. The meals that are produced from these tiny tin sheds were amazing, considering the limited produce available, poor light and lack of gas. However, the closer to Base Camp we got the more severe the headaches and the appetites waned. Unfortunately, Louise got sick at Lobuche (4900m), so her and Dave had to head back down.

The kiwis headed off from Lobuche to Gorak Shep (5100m) and then on to Base Camp. This was a day from hell, we all had bad headaches and were completely sapped of all energy. Still, it was awesome to make it to Base Camp and even though you can’t see Everest from that position, you can see the glacier that they have to climb for the approach. Out of 250 attempts each year to reach the summit only 80 or so make it, and US$10,000 later for the park fees….

We met some really interesting people along the way, and it was really enjoyable to catch up with them at various stages and see how they were getting on. Our guides, Bharat and Roban were brilliant, and the porters incredible. We gained a real insight into Nepalese culture and their way of life which was priceless. The Nepalese live in very difficult conditions but were so friendly and welcoming and interested in NZ and were full of praise for Sir Edmund Hillary and the trust which has set up so many schools, hospitals and bridges in the area.

12 December our treat following the trek was to meet up with Louise and Dave (Chris was on another walk) for a delicious steak. I was a little dubious and scared of being sick but we were ok (apart from poor Dave who had a questionable burger!).

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