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Published: June 24th 2009
Before this trek I had finally managed to figure out how to quickly pack my hiking bag for a trek. (I still have no idea how I fit everything in there originally, but fortunately I can leave extra cloths, shoes, etc. behind when I go on these trips.) However, this time, the trekking agency organizing the trip (Ace Himalaya) requested that I use their duffel bag for packing, as their porters are accustomed to carrying it (plus its great advertisement for the company). The promise that I could keep the duffel bag, which is larger than my hiking bag and will hold any extra items, was enough to offset the annoyance at having to learn how to pack a new bag. After two weeks of hiking, I now realize that the bag needs a VERY thorough washing before its used again as the aroma of sweat is quite overwhelming. I hope I have time to do this before leaving Nepal or else I might quickly wear out my welcome at Irena's, the next place I tend to visit/invade. (Currently the bag is stored in an overhang on the roof so as to avoid offending anyone.)
To start the Everest Base Camp Trek I had to fly from Kathmandu to Lukla. I set off at 5:45 in the morning on departure day for the airport. I had been warned that the flight could be a bit difficult due to the weather and location. Lukla is surrounded by high mountains, and is itself at almost 9,000 feet, and the runway is quite short. You need clear sky to land as missing the runway can be fatal. (For some reason people kept thinking it a good idea to tell me right before my flights about an accident last October, when a plane with 13 tourists flew in right under the runway and crashed into the mountains, leaving no survivors.) Because of cloudy weather in Lukla, my flight left at around 10:30. The plane was rather small with an open cockpit, so that I could see the pilots at work. The only gage that I could read from my seat was the clock, which said 4:45 p.m. I could only hope that the more important gages, like those that tell the pilots where the huge a** mountains are, were a bit more accurate! Turns out they must have been, because we landed after a 50 minute flight without incident other than the normal bumps and twists. (The flight took longer than normal because we had to fly around a cloudy area.) The pilots on this flight do not bother announcing that they are landing. You are simply left to infer that from the fact that the plane starts to nosedive towards the ground (any other inference is one not worth contemplating). Because the weather can change so quickly, the pilots get only about 5-10 minutes on the ground; the luggage is quickly off-loaded and a new bunch of passengers and bags loaded within that time frame and the plane takes off again.
Because it was nearly noon when we arrived in Lukla we stopped for lunch before starting to walk. On the way to the guesthouse for lunch we were accompanied by two men, one of whom would be our porter. The younger of the two asked me how old I was; upon replying that I was 31, he noted that he was only 19 and that I was "very old." I was really hoping that he would be the porter as I would have no qualms about giving him my bag to carry each day! (Turns out, it was the second man who was the porter, who did the entire walk in the thick flip flops and was probably in his mid-30s.)
On this first day we walked just about 2.5 hours to a town that was actually approximately 700 feet lower than Lukla. The area through which we walked was extremely green, it helps that I was there near the start of monsoon season, and hilly. Because of clouds, I saw mainly the "lower" mountains on the first few days, but it was clearer on the way back and I know that these areas also are ringed by the big mountains, Everest and other 7,000 and 8,000 meter monsters. Given that it was the start of monsoon season, and thus technically the off season for trekking in Nepal, I was incredibly lucky. I only walked in a light drizzle once and on the days that mattered most, i.e. the high days at the top, it was clear with great views. (I had two days of despondency near the beginning when the camera didn't work due to a faulty memory card, but happily there was a place selling new ones on the way up so my picture capacity went from 24 pictures to 1,000 for the trip. All of you who have volunteered to see pictures from the trip are probably now gulping in pain, but don't worry, I limited the picture count to about 150😊
As with the Annapurna trek, accommodation and meals along the way were completely in guest houses. This trail was less crowded but I think that was due to the time of year, as the Everest Base Camp trek is reportedly the most popular in Nepal. Unlike the Annapurna trek, here you go up and come down on nearly the exact same route, although the descent is done in less than half the time. Difficulty wise, I do not think Annapurna is any more difficult to walk. What could make it harder is that you have longer days at the beginning as you start at much lower altitude and have a greater distance to cover. Of course, if this is a concern, you can just stop earlier in the day and take longer to do the trail. One possible advantage of the Annapurna hike, depending on what you are looking for, is that you see a greater variety of cultures/religions as you walk through the area than you do going to Everest Base Camp, where you pass primarily Buddhist and Sherpa communities. One thing I saw a lot of on this trail were large rocks with mantras carved onto them and pained white; the enormity of this was pretty impressive once you saw it in person. Between these rocks and other religious markers, there were many times where the path had clear "right" and "left" options so that you could walk around the religious items in the proper direction.
On the second day of the trek we hiked to Namche Bazaar, a large town at approximately 12,000 feet. We spent an extra day here for acclimatization. Given my prior hiking at high altitude, I may not have needed this rest day but my knees were thrilled to have it. The second half of the walk to Namche Bazaar is perhaps the hardest bit of hiking I've done on this trip yet. It was about 3 hours of continual ascent. It wasn't that any particular bit was extremely hard, it was just that there was no break at all in the ascent, which mainly involved large steps (i.e., big steps between boulders) or hard walking where you had to really grasp for a foothold in gravel/sandy terrain. On the plus side, the painful ascent, which left me wondering whether my knee or lungs would explode first, included our first viewpoint for Mount Everest; which was completely clouded over when I arrived. To make me feel like even more of a weakling, we passed many porters on this section of the trail carrying loads that I probably couldn't even pick up. (On the glass half full size, at least I, with my small daypack was passing them as opposed to vice versa.) Most of the porters increased their load by about 2 pounds with the walking sticks that they carry; they are made of thick wood but include a seat, so that they can rest themselves, or rest their loads, without having to actually take off their packs.
By the end of the second day in Namche Bazaar (the third day of the trek), I had read three books and decided that I better spend a bit more time playing cards during the trip if I wanted the Kindle battery to last. (During the rest day we also visited a view area, where I did get my first glimpses of Mount Everest and a local museum that had some really interesting displays and good information on the area, including a lot of attention to promoting sustainable tourism.) On the fourth day, we hiked again, today passing what the guide called the world's highest monastery, which is located at about 4,000 meters. While I couldn't see the innermost part of the monastery (it was closed as most of the monks were inspecting cloths and blankets brought over from Tibet by local traders), what I did see was quite large and beautiful. That evening I had momos and watched Nepali soap-opera type videos with the family that owned the guesthouse in which we were staying. One vignette was entirely about a local restaurant owner accusing the milkman of watering down his milk and his responses that she overcharges for stale food. She ultimately seemed to win the argument when he poured her milk and a water bug fell into the pot, thereby proving her claim. The whole thing was in song, some of which was actually quite catchy.
On day 5 we walked to a smaller town at about 4,400 meters, where we again spent an extra day. This was June 11th, the four month anniversary of my departure from home. Unfortunately, I spent most of the day learning what my sister means when a headache/migraine makes her complain that she wants to cut her head off. A headache at high altitude is worsened by the concern that it is altitude related, and the subsequent need to hold off on taking any medication to see how the headache "develops." On day 6, our second rest day, the excursion was less gentle than that from Namche Bazaar as we headed up a nearby "hill" for the views. While the views were still mainly clouded in, with a few mountains peeking through, we still went close to 4,800 meters in order to help the acclimatization process. At our two nights in this guesthouse I met several interesting travellers, including one who gave me a great recommendation for a hostel in Egypt that can arrange individual tours around the country for you at prices that beat the group rates. While he couldn't remember the exact name of the hostel, this helpful traveler was able to draw a map of the area where it is located so that I can find it when I reach Cairo. This is one of the perks of meeting other long-term travelers, they have often been places you want to go, or didn't even know about, and give you great tips. In fact, I really have to thank Laura, from the Bhutan trek, for inspiring me to do the Mount Everest Base Camp trek as it wasn't originally on my agenda for this journey, but her reports about it made it sound like something I shouldn't skip.
On Day 7 we progressed to a guest house located at about 4,950 meters. The first half of the day's walk was rather gentle, above the river, with most of the ascent saved for after lunch. On the way up, we passed a memorial that has been established for trekkers lost on Mount Everest; there are a large number of cairns/markers as its a quite dangerous mountain. Just this season they reported that a guide/Sherpa died in an avalanche through his efforts to save the tourists that he was leading, who did all make it back safely. The skies continued to be largely overcast today with only brief glimpses of the mountains, generally early in the morning.
It turns out, that most expeditions to Everest Base Camp have two "highlights." There is the actual visit to the base camp but, more importantly in the view of many of the guides, is the excursion up Mount Kallipatar, a nearby mountain from which you can have great views of Mount Everest. Turns out that, from the base camp, you can barely see the mountain at all. My guide, and many other locals, seemed bemused at the obsession of visitors who wanted to actually visit the base camp, as opposed to just observing it from above, particularly in the off-season as there is no one there. However, I shamelessly admit that I am one of those visitors; while I do not want to forego the view spot, I definitely want to actually go to the base camp as well. But we decided that, because a clear day is more important for the views, we would proceed to the viewpoint first if we had a good day. (Typically, people visit the base camp first as its at a lower elevation ; 5300+ meters as opposed to 5,500+ metres.)
When we started off on day 8 the weather was fantastic - my first clear day! So we walked about an hour and a half to the next, and last, village and immediately began the ascent to the viewpoint. I'd like to attribute the difficulty of that ascent to the altitude, as opposed to my fatigue, but I'm not sure. Happily, the climb was worth it as you are awarded with fantastic views both of Everest and high mountain ranges on all sides of you. Right behind Everest and its neighbors are the mountains of Tibet. We returned from the view point to the guest house around 2:30 for lunch and then struggled to stay awake until evening. (Its not a good idea to nap at high altitude as sleeping will lower your blood pressure dramatically and you can wake up quite dizzy and light-headed. Wow, it would have been good to know that before I nearly knocked myself out on the Annapurna trek!) That evening, my guide told me that visiting the basecamp the next day would be difficult, as we had a long descent to also make that day. So, unless we wanted to start at 4 or 5 in the morning, we would only go part way to the basecamp, just to see it. At that moment, I, exhausted from the day's walk and suffering the onset of another headache, willingly agreed.
So on day 9 we set off at around 7:30 to go "look" at the basecamp, which I was told was a 2.5-3 hour walk away. As I started walking, however, I realized there was no way that, having travelled all this way, I was going to stop an hour short of basecamp, even if it meant a 12 hour day. So, I walked in front and set a fairly brisk pace. I think the others were fairly surprised when we made it to the basecamp in an hour and a half! As they'd predicted, the area was empty, and, in fact, on the way there, I was like a little kid on a long car trip, and kept asking "is that it?" Fortunately, the entryway to the "official" area is marked by prayer flags draped between several rocks, and from there I could see where the ground had been flattened for tents, the start of the route to the first high camp and the ice fields at the bottom of the mountain. Several locals were there as well to search the ice/snow for equipment that was left behind by trekkers who had to leave the area quickly to avoid avalanches and other problems. They said there is always some concern about tugging at buried ropes as there is a possibility that a dead person will be on the other end. (In fact, the evening before my opinion had been sought during a debate as to whether the hair and nails grow on dead people; thanks to working at the Old Manse, I knew the answer!)
After the visit to base camp, which was worth it, we began our three day descent, and in fact made it to our evening's accommodation by 3:30 that afternoon. As I was going to sleep that evening I noticed a large number of bugs on the ceiling and walls of the room. I tried telling myself that they were moths, but they were flying cockroaches, each about an inch long. At first, I tried "cleansing" the room (i.e., killing the bugs - sorry PETA), but after the first few, I realized, a) this could take a while, as there were a lot of them, b) this may not be the best use of my dwindling supply of toilet paper, and c) I can co-exist. So, I figured, I'll wrap myself really tightly in the sleeping bag so that the bugs cannot bother me and let them have the ceiling and walls. I stuck to this resolution even after realizing that the bugs were attracted to light, and thus collected over my head when I used my flashlight to get into bed. All would have been fine except, once I'd cocooned myself in the sleeping bag, I discovered that several of the bugs were in the bag with me, apparently drawn by the light from my ipod! That was it, it was now war! I spent the next 30 minutes eliminating several dozen roaches and thoroughly inspecting my sleeping bag before finally turning in for the night. The battle-field like look of the floor the next morning was rather depressing, and made me question my recent determination that I could do the Appalachian Mountain Trail. I had come to this conclusion after finding that I was now accustomed to, and had no problem with, hiking in rain or snow, wearing only two shirts for two weeks, washing my hair once every eight days and my face every 4 days, etc. But the wildlife may be an insurmountable barrier, for, I don't want to be like the Israeli soldiers that Jaimee hiked with in New Zealand who "screamed like girls," (which they were not), when the mice in the cabin ran over their sleeping bags. (Note, my sister managed to endure it in silence, and then survived three days of hiking on only one large chocolate bar, the only food the mice didn't get.)
The last two days of the trek were relatively uneventful, although the climb back up to Lukla at the very end was not pleasant, particularly given the increased temperatures as we got lower down. But our flight back to Kathmandu left within a few hours of its scheduled departure time and was much smoother than the trip over. All in all, an excellent trip that I'm glad I had the time to do. I'm now back in Kathmandu for approximately two weeks (a good chance to rest my knee), before heading to Tibet (permits permitting) or Geneva. And anytime that I think the trekking was difficult, I just remind myself that it is often easier than figuring out what a two year old is thinking. For instance, I was walking around the village with the baby yesterday and stopped at small store to get him a snack. I pointed to a few items that the shopkeeper tried to give him but he said no each time. The shopkeeper spent several minutes pointing to items, but he repeatedly said no. Another man from the village passing by stopped and entered the store to help point at items to figure out what was desired. Finally, we realized that he wanted a toothbrush (his third), which I wouldn't have guessed given that his word for it is the same as the one he uses for meat, tea and several other purposes. After compromising and getting him chips instead, I was grateful that the trekking has left me in good enough shape that I could quickly carry him away before he realized he'd been cheated out of a new toothbrush.
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Emily James
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What baby?
Is this the biting 2 year old you help care for? Would you rather tax your lungs and knee or your patience?