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Published: March 26th 2012
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It took us about 3 hours to get from Pheriche to Dukhla which should have only taken an hour an a half, but due to the increase in elevation every step up the hill was a struggle. It is amazing how much of an effect the altitude has on your body. You can walk for as long as you like, but you are only able to go up in elevation 300-400m per day. Due to this restriction we stopped in Dukhla to get acclimatized and were nearly traumatized by the washroom (if you would even call it that)! We had been in Thailand for roughly 5 months and I thought I saw the worst of the worst toilets. However, Dukhla took it to a whole new level. The “washroom” was about 50m down a hill outside of the rooms. It was a giant metal box with a door that never fully shut. When you finally made your way into this beast of a box you saw woods planks on the ground with a nice big hole cut out in the middle. All of this would have been fine, but then you saw a huge stake sticking up through the hole. I
In the clouds
When in Pheriche the clouds were so low (or we were so high, depending how you look at it) we could touch them. am still not sure what the purpose of this stake was other than to collect feces, but it was scary. Any wrong movement would result in a stake be driven in places you would particularly want a stake to go.
That aside, in Dukhla, we met a Shirpa man that had quite a history in the Khumbu region. He had climbed Everest 5 times without oxygen, and with famous climbers such as Reinhold Messner. He has also carried sick people and bodies down from high altitude. His last ascent was during the 1996 Everest catastrophe. This guy made our night in Dukhla (especially since the town of Dukhla consists of one lodge and a scary, stinky outhouse).
The next day, we made our way to Lobuche. About 3 hours into the hike, Ashley started to get a slight headache, which is an early sign of altitude sickness. It worsened once we got to Lobuche when she started vomiting, so we had to turn back immediately. We went back down to Dukhla the same day (and in half the time it took us to get up), and the same man we met the night before helped out a lot,
giving us priceless advice. The next morning Ashley was ok, and we made our way back to Lobuche with no problems.
- Other people on this trek were not so lucky. In the same week, we have heard about 4 confirmed deaths. These people continued to trek higher despite signs of altitude sickness, gradually became sicker and sicker, and died. People on group tours sometimes feel pressured to continue and keep quiet, or they may end up thinking that their symptoms are trivial. There are a few options available up here when someone encounters altitude sickness. First, if its not too serious, people can easily walk back down to the nearest village and rest it out. However, if walking is not possible, helicopter evacuations are available, at around $2500/hour for a minimum of three hours. If the helicopter comes, and you don’t have the insurance/funds to cover the cost, they simply fly away without you. This was the case for an Indian man in Dukhla, until the helicopter came back when they had confirmation from his insurance company. If the helicopter cannot be contacted/ is not affordable, a horse or pony can be hired to take you down, for
A Life Saver
This Sherpa climbed Everest 5 times, and took care of Ash when she got altitude sickness. around 100-200$. Finally, if this option isn’t available, Sherpas may charge a high fee to carry you down. The Sherpa in Dukhla said that he sometimes has to carry people down to the doctors in Periche in the middle of the night during high season!
Lobuche - Gorak Shep – Base Camp: here is where things started to get difficult. We left Lobuche early in the morning and hiked up to Gorak Shep, the closest village to Everest Base Camp. This was a painful hike on top of a glacier covered with mounds of grinded stone! We ate lunch in Gorak Shep, and then continued on to Base Camp. At the beginning of our trek from Lukla, there was lush, green, forest covered valleys. Now, we were walking in baron land, with barely any signs of vegetation aside from the odd small bush. To arrive at Base Camp, we had to cross the Khumbu Glacier, which was very cool. The mountains in front of Everest are too big, and Everest is not actually visible from Base Camp, but from a distance you can see its peak. At Base Camp, there were 4 small tents for the Sherpas, who prepare
Us :)
Almost there! the mountain for climbing season. They are also known as the “Ice Doctors” since they go to the glacier and set up ladders and ropes for climbers in the coming weeks.
- People pay a hefty fee to climb Everest. Permits alone could cost from $12,500 to $25000 depending on the season, and it is required to climb with a guide. Expeditions typically cost around $65 000 (which includes the small amount that they pay the Ice Doctors mentioned above). These people are also required to spend a minimum of one month at Base Camp to acclimatize. Finally, after spending all of this money, there are only a small percentage of people who will actually make it to the top!
We descended from Base Camp after a break and a few pictures. This day was probably our longest, being about a full 8 hour trekking shift, but definitely the most amazing. The next morning, we hiked the last mountain on our list, Kalar Patar. It had a fairly good view of Everest, as well as a ton of other Himalayan mountains that surrounded us.
And that was it! Over the next four days, we descended all the
Everest Base Camp!!
Our international trekking group we formed along the way way back to Lukla airport, which took MUCH less time, since: a) we didn’t have to stop to acclimatize, b) climbing up and over hills became much easier because our bodies were used to only 50% oxygen intake in Gorak Shep, and c) There was more downhill than uphill (of course). However, these were still long, tough, 7 – 8 hour days. This trek was an amazing experience for us. We had a blast and would recommend it to anyone. One thing we would say, however, is to be fit! We didn’t do much physical exercise before hand, and thus underestimated the effects of altitude.
Now, we have ten days to go in Nepal. We’ll be checking out Chitwan National Park and Pokhara. Alex hopes to see a tiger in the park, but that is most unlikely. Thanks for reading, we’ll be posting again soon!
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Cecilia
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Base camp blog
Thanks for the update, it is very interesting!!