Blogs from Gorak Shep, Nepal, Asia

I always said "Why go to Everest Base Camp if you were not going to climb the mountain ?" I had previoulsy visited Nepal in the late 1970's when I had completed the Overland or Hippie Trail from the UK to Nepal on public transport, going through such places as Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, India and finishing in Nepal. I had seen the incredible scenery of the Himalayas, having driven from Pokhara to Kathmandu and gone up into the mountains around Kathmandu. So, in April 2018, I decided to change my mind and head to Everest Base Camp, or EBC, having booked a trek again with World Expeditions. The trek was for 17 days and after checking the sizes of their tents, decided not to pay the single tent supplement. So I arrive in Kathmandu and after ... read more

Following our grueling six day journey from Jiri all the way to Namche Bazar, our trek continues towards Everest Base Camp. Day 7 We enjoyed a full days rest in the Sherpa town of Namche Bazaar (3440m), acclimatizing to the altitude there and trying to heal our sore and spent bodies. By this point I was very comfortable around Adam and Rebecca as we had seen each other through some hilarious as well as trying times. They were both motivated to push themselves and that suited me pretty well. Namche Bazaar sits on the side of a hill and is the gateway to the Khumbu region. Many comforts could be found here - for a price. We spent our first day going to Everest Bakery and having pizza and apple pie, playing cards, and buying a ... read more

The next part of the trek saw us complete some long days predominantly walking uphill. We travelled from Namche Bazaar (3400m) to Debouche (3800m) to Dingboche (4400m) to Lobuche (4900m) to Gorak Shep (5100m). We have also found that travelling uphill in Nepal means doing slightly less downhill throughout the day than uphill. As we climbed the alpine scenery became more sparse, dramatic and stunning. The ups and downs were steep and required careful navigation of stone steps or around yak poo. Luckily the national diet of dhal baat (dhal curry and rice with other assorted curries and pickles) was able to sustain our energy for hours at a time. Each of the lodges and restaurants we sat in did very similar fair in terms of food and drink: There was always noodles, some select western ... read more

E.B.C., 5365m heute ist es also soweit: wir gehen ins everest base camp! markus hat in der nacht leider ganz schlimme kopfschmerzen und ich hab mein wassersystem im bett entleert (ich kann nur mit stark erhöhtem oberkörper schlafen, sonst meine ich zu ersticken und der rucksack unter mit enthielt auch den camelbag, den ich brav ausgedrückt habe), die restliche nacht bleibt mir nur wenig raum, um im trockenen zu schlafen. etwas früher als sonst geht es vom mother earth house richtung gorak shep, dem tor zum everest base camp. der teils sehr steinig-felsig-staubige, aber vor allem wahnsinnig steile weg auf 5.100 höhenmeter zehrt ungemein an uns. die höhe lässt sich einfach nicht leugnen und wir gehen, wie 80jährige mit rollator und schnaufen, wie ein lungenkranker im 3.stock. es ist erbärmlich! markus' kopfschmerz beruhigt sich auf diamox, ... read more

Monday 8th April A normal morning routine saw us leaving Dingboche (pronounced Ding-bo-shay) at 07:40. The walking started with a short westward uphill section to climb out of the Imja Khola (Dingboche) valley and then contoured along the side of the Chola Khola valley as far as Thokla. At 09:40 we stopped at the lodge/tea house at Thokla for the normal mid-morning lemon tea and half-hour rest. Thokla is at the bottom of the terminal morraine of the Khumbu glacier. That meant we then had a long steep uphill section to get up the the level of the Khumbu valley. I was hoping that at this point we would see and walk alongside the Khumbu glacier but unfortunately the glacier was on the other side of a quite high morraine wall from the footpath up the ... read more