Namaste!

So here it is, the big one.. the Mount Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal!

Around 18 months ago I was sat at home in Manchester when I began watching a programme called “Walking The Himalayas”. Levison Wood is an explorer/adventurer who gave himself the arduous task of walking the length of the Himalayas. After getting hooked following his journey, it inspired me to do something similar, granted nowhere near on the same scale as he, but to travel to Nepal myself and trek to the most iconic and highest mountain in the world, Everest.

My desire to do this is also my sole inspiration behind wanting to travel the world again. I pre-booked very few things before I left in February 2017, however, I booked my trek to Everest Base Camp well over a year in advance.. and now it has finally arrived.

First things first, I had to get there, and it was one hell of a tiring journey. I had to leave Brisbane on a 4.55am train, followed by two local buses, before I eventually arrived at the Gold Coast Airport to catch my flight to Bangkok, via a quick transfer in Singapore. 18 hours had been and gone by the time I arrived in Bangkok where I stayed for one night at a hotel close to the airport. I was absolutely exhausted!

After a much needed rest, it was time for the last leg of my journey when I boarded a morning flight to Kathmandu. The large plane was almost deserted with all central seats unoccupied allowing me to enjoy a whole row to myself by the window.

As the flight neared Nepal a reel of stunning scenery began, starting with my first glimpse of the snow capped Himalayan peaks that were piercing an otherwise blanket of white cloud.

Moments before a terrible landing that I could have claimed whiplash for, the scenery as we made our decent into the Nepalese capital followed suit with some staggering looking mountain ranges surrounding a very cramped looking city.

A power cut while passing through immigration is a supposedly normal occurrence, and then it was out into a zoo of taxi drivers competing for business.

I grabbed a cab with a sound chap who spoke good English and he drove me through the chaotic dusty streets of Kathmandu. Hitting a truly horrendous traffic jam under beaming sunshine did provide some form of entertainment.. it could only be described as absolute mayhem. There doesn’t seem to be any rules on the roads here, nor any form of lane structure. Cars, trucks, scooters and buses, four abreast, all diagonally jostling for position while exhaust fumes and dust kicks up in the faces of workers and street sellers.

I needed some Nepalese Rupees, so the taxi driver insisted on taking me to an ATM, only after we had picked up his brother along the way who was hustling for me to buy some hiking gear off him. They were super friendly but I was more than a little hesitant when leaving my big backpack in the car with them while I jumped out at the ATM.. a judgement call I had to make. Thankfully I called it correctly and I got to the Fuji Hotel in the centre of the city with both bags still in hand.

So I couldn’t have been more unprepared for this Everest Base Camp Trek if I tried. Travelling around the world for 11 months with all the necessary gear would have been impractical, so once again I had to put operation “wing it” into action with only a day remaining before I met up with my group.

I literally had no gear required for conditions that could potentially reach a brutal -25 degrees. Other than some thermals which my lovely ma shipped over to me while I was in Australia, and a pair of gloves and a couple of beanies, I had nothing. Converse trainers, a few pairs of shorts, and some vests were never going to cut the mustard.

I ventured out into Kathmandu where I wasn’t short of options, every other shop here is crammed with hiking equipment. However, I’d read that most of these shops are packed with cheap fakes of the well known brands, such as The North Face, Kathmandu, and Jack Wolfskin. It was an absolute minefield!

I didn’t have a clue what to buy, what I needed and where I should buy it from. Thankfully I managed to contact the tour group leader who kindly agreed to meet me the following afternoon to help fully kit me out for the whole trek. Phew!

I grabbed some food in a tiny and scruffy, but highly recommended Nepalese/Indian style hut. It was my first time eating the national dish, Dal Bhat.. an unlimited supply of rice, curry and lentils which servants repeatedly return to top up until you’ve had enough.

That was me done for the day, I was shot at and still recovering from the marathon journey I had to endure to get here. A good sleep sorted me out, then I was up and ready to get my life sorted for the next 14 days.

That afternoon I met a member of our group, a lad called Joel from Sydney in Australia, who incidentally would also be the person I’d be rooming with for the next 2 weeks. Similarly to me, Joel wasn’t fully equipped for the trek and he joined me in meeting up with Ashok, our tour leader. Ashok is a Nepalese National who lives in a village on the outskirts of Kathmandu, so there was no person better to help us with getting kitted out for the trek.

He took us through the backstreets of the city to his friends cluttered shop where after half an hour or so I left with a sack load of equipment. A Sleeping bag, two down jackets, walking trousers, thick socks, wind proof gloves, walking boots, reusable water bottle, a hat, and head torch. There was nothing genuine about any of this clobber but it was given the seal of approval from Ashok who has trekked to Base Camp on well over 50 occasions, so that was good enough for me. Being only $100US out of pocket was a price I was happy to pay considering I was “winging it” again. To be fair, I’m sure I could have got it all for less as the shop keeper appeared to be making up prices in his head. Anyway, I’d got the job done, I had all the necessities and I was now ready to take on Everest and any of the conditions it could possibly throw at me.

It was our first group meeting in the hotel at 5.00pm.. here I got the chance to meet the remainder of the team. I’ve mentioned Joel already, and there was another Aussie called Jenny from the Gold Coast. As well as me, there were five other Brits.. Rich, Greg, Siohan and Rebecca who all knew each other and had travelled together from the Coventry area. A Geordie girl called Sandra from Newcastle was the other Brit. And last but not least there was Jeff from Texas in the US, and a girl called Vera from Leiden in the Netherlands.

Ashok and the ten of us began getting to know one another over a lovely meal in a city centre restaurant and discussing what the next 13 days may have in store for us.

We had a very early 5.00am start the following morning. It was time for us to jump in a minibus and head to the airport for our flight to Lukla, high up in the Himalayas, which would also be the starting point of our trek to Mount Everest.

We were due to be the first plane to take off that morning but only after the sun had risen. And this was no ordinary plane, not the type of aircraft you board for your holidays.. it was modest, rickety, and made you wonder how on earth it manages to get itself into the air! It was like one of those tiny planes you’d expect to see in an old school James Bond film with around 15 passenger seats and a clearly visible cockpit. There was still a flight attendant on board too but she did very little, “read that, have a sweet, and buckle up!”

No sooner had we taken off we were flying high amongst some extraordinary landscapes and the breathtaking snow-capped Himalayan mountains where we grabbed our first sighting of Mount Everest.

Just 40 minutes later we were approaching one of the worlds shortest and most dangerous runways. With a landing strip a little over 500m long at 2845m above sea level and a steep incline of 12 degrees there is no room for error. Despite this, our pilot absolutely nailed the landing without any problem and we’d arrived safely at the starting point of our trek.

Here in Lukla, we met the remainder of our guide team who we’d be trekking with for the next 12 days. We had two assistant guides called Lama and Gopal, as well as four young lads who were our porters. Between the four of them, they’d be carrying our big duffel bags with all our clothes, toiletries and equipment. With approximately 10kg’s of weight in each bag, it meant they’d be carrying around 25kg’s each every step of the way. These boys aren’t big either.. they’re small in height, slight in stature and barely have an ounce of fat on them, yet they never batted an eyelid. Just incredible!

Anyway, after a group breakfast and brief meeting we were on our way walking through tiny villages, lush greenery and a backdrop of various mountain ranges. Our first day trekking was a very short and mostly downhill 3 hours, until we arrived to a village where we’d stay the night called Phakding, at an altitude of 2660m.

The rooms were very basic, just two single beds in a small cramped room separated from the next by plasterboard. Charging phones or any other devices, and things like a hot shower would incur a charge.. from here on this would become the norm.

Following a basic lunch of dishes such as fried rice, a plate of potatoes with veg, or the Nepalese Dal Bhat, we took a short but very steep walk up to the local monastery high up on the hillside over a river crossing. The monastery had been previously devastated by an earthquake and reconstructed again. Here we walked into the monastery grounds to find several Buddhist monk children playing football.. so Rich, Greg and myself decided to get involved and have a kick around with them. Never in a million years did I ever think I’d be playing football with a bunch of kids inside a monastery, high up in the Himalayas! Great fun!

It is well known for those trekking to Everest Base Camp not to shower throughout the duration of the tour, which personally was something I was going to find impossible. Needless to say I grabbed myself a shower on the first day of the trek.

After a group dinner, and a natter sat around a log burning stove in the coldest dining room in the world, we hit the sack around 9.00pm. Temperatures during the day were pleasant, especially in the sun.. however, as soon as the sun cleared off it became bitterly cold and even more so in our rooms. It was a case of wearing warm clothes, tucking up inside the sleeping bag, with a duvet cover over the top. It may have initially been cold but it was incredibly toasty with all those layers, so much so, I’d stripped down to my boxers midway through the night.

Our first nights kip of the trek was complete and we all met downstairs for a group breakfast. But all was not well, what we had all been fearing had occurred at the first hurdle. Rich had been struck down with a violent bout of vomiting during the night leaving him in a pretty bad way.. whether it was food poisoning, a bug, or the dreaded altitude sickness, we don’t know.. but this was everyone’s fear!

Unfortunately for Rich, our itinerary for the day was a tough day of climbing, around 800m to be exact. We’d be trekking for around 7 hours to our next location, Namche, at 3440m above sea level.

While avoiding herds of yak’s, horses, and donkeys that were being used to transport various goods, we trekked through some magnificent scenery, every turn presented a new picture of increased beauty. We also supposedly passed the world’s highest Irish Pub as we neared our target location, but unfortunately for us it was closed.

Throughout our journey we passed many men, again tiny in stature, carrying the most insane and what seemed like impossible loads on their backs which caused many a “F-Me!” moments. These men, young and old, would carry loads of up to three times their own body weight of food/household goods/building materials, all stacked up on their backs and tied to a large wooden frame. Not just on flat ground either, but over unimaginable terrains and sometimes almost vertical inclines.. in just a pair of sandals!!! It really beggars belief what some of these people have to endure to make ends meet!

We arrived to a very beautiful and incredibly picturesque Namche late on in the afternoon. I’d go as far as saying that this particular village, which is built into the hillsides of some huge spectacular mountains, was my favourite place we visited en route to Everest. It was absolutely stunning! The stars at night were mesmerising.. so clear and bright!

Massive credit and respect goes to Rich who with barely any energy soldiered on and somehow managed to drag himself to Namche. What an effort! Fortunately he had chance to recover as we would spend two nights here to help our bodies acclimatise to the altitude.

The following day we took a short walk inside the Sagarmatha National Park where we were presented with a superb view of Everest and Lhotse (the fourth highest mountain in the world at 8516m). Here at the information centre I learnt how the Nepalese people actually know Everest as being called Sagarmatha rather than how we know it. It’s only English speaking people who know the highest mountain in the world as being called Everest.

Our trek continued the next day climbing very steeply to a place called Tenboche at 3860m, where our digs for the night were situated next to a large monastery. Witnessing the sun setting over Everest from here was another major highlight.. within several minutes I watched Everest’s peak change colour from a bright yellow, to a rich gold, and then a pulsating deep red. Amazing!

Less of a highlight was my first ever experience of enduring a bucket shower in what could only be described as a dirty, freezing cold dungeon room! It did do the trick though, but now I was starting to understand why people may want to swerve on touching up their personal hygiene while trekking to Base Camp.

We started approaching the business end of the trek when we arrived in Dingboche on Friday afternoon. At 4350m above sea level we’d be spending an extra night here to once again acclimatise to the conditions. The accommodation was becoming even more basic, the food blander, but it didn’t seem to dampen our spirits.. probably because we were witnessing some of the most jaw-dropping scenery we’re ever likely to see. We were completely surrounded by some huge mountain ranges now.

An intense Nepalese card game taught to us by Ashok called Dhumbal, or “Tomorrow” as we renamed it, kept us occupied during much of our down time during the evenings. With a lack of entertainment on offer or things to do, once the card games were finished we were mostly in bed by 8.30pm each night. Temperatures were decreasing at night but during the day while trekking it felt very Mediterranean.. a t-shirt was enough!

The more the trek went on, the more people in our group started to suffer the affects of being at altitude.. from bad headaches to tiredness, nausea to exhaustion. Fortunately for me, I never felt a thing, and hadn’t found any of the treks particularly challenging so far. Even though I still have a hatred for trekking, I wanted a challenge and a good physical workout.. Saturday in Dingboche is were I got it.

After breakfast on Saturday morning we took a hike up Nagarzung Hill to give our bodies the opportunity to spend time at a higher altitude before we continued the next day. Most the group remained at 4700m, half way up the hill, but Jeff, Siobhan and I wanted to hit the summit at 5100m. With Lama leading the way we smashed our way to the peak of this extremely steep hill. It felt great to finally give my body a real challenge, and our reward was an unbelievable panoramic view of the Himalayas. Wow! This was only the second time I’d been above 5000m.. Rainbow Mountain in Peru being my highest climb at 5200m.

We arrived in Lobuche on Sunday at 4910m above sea level. As we drew a day closer to Everest this is were the harsh conditions of being at altitude really started to tell amongst the group. A short evening walk to see the massive receded Khumbu Glacier was stunning. The large crater in the valley left behind by this glacier leads all the way to Base Camp.. which we could vaguely see in the distance.

The big day had arrived! It was Monday 15th January 2018.. the day we’d finally reach our target of Mount Everest Base Camp. I was super excited and ready to take on all of the notoriously harsh conditions Everest could throw at me. This was my soul inspiration for travelling the world again and I was determined to smash it. An 8-9 hour day of trekking was ahead of us!

Throughout the previous 8 days I didn’t find a need to wear the gloves, hat, extra pair of socks or super thick down jacket I bought from that geezer back in Kathmandu.. I was perfectly warm enough. But I can tell you there was no messing around on this particular morning, with a 6.00am start in the dark and approximate temperatures of -20, I had the lot on! It was seriously cold, the coldest I’ve ever experienced, but the equipment I had bought was doing the trick, except for my feet. I couldn’t feel my toes, so I was praying for the sun to rise to get some warmth back into them. Thankfully it did after a few hours.

We arrived to our lodge in Gorakshep at 5180m where we ate lunch and ditched our bags. We’d be returning here to stay the night but we still had a further 3 hours trek to Base Camp ahead of us.

Gradually we made inroads towards Everest over an increasingly rough and rocky terrain.. looking around it was like entering another planet, how I’d expect the surface of the moon to appear. Rocks of humongous proportions lay alongside the receded Khumbu Glacier, some as big as houses, while billions of smaller pieces of rubble carpeted the remainder of the landscape having broken free from the giant mountainsides.

The disconcerting thing as we closed in on Base Camp was seeing what seemed like a regular stream of rescue helicopters flying back and forth overhead. Not great for a morale booster, and even though many of the group were struggling with the altitude we were all healthy enough to make one final push.

After 8 days of trekking and overcoming a variety of individual issues along the way, the whole group arrived together at the Mount Everest Base Camp, 5364m above sea level. The view of Everest from here is far from great, in fact it’s summit is only just visible. The towering slopes of Nuptse, Lhola, Changtse, Khumbutse, Lingtrentse and Pumori dominate the 360 degree panoramic view from Base Camp while the remaining jagged ice clusters of the Khumbu Glacier sweep through over the mountain floor.

We’d all achieved our target as a feeling of relief and happiness swept through the team. Despite the pure blue skies and glorious sunshine, a harsh cold wind ripped through the camp but there was nothing that was going to ruin our achievement. We hugged and congratulated one another, took many photographs, and I celebrated in true British style by sinking an aptly named Everest beer which began to freeze between each mouthful. Job done!

Reaching Base Camp may have been my original objective but in the back of my mind, after reading our itinerary, I had a new goal which would present a greater challenge with a superior view of the worlds highest mountain.

Having returned to Gorakshep a few hours later, an optional activity was offered to us.. to climb to the summit of Kala Pather at 5545m. Reaching the summit here would offer panoramic views over the whole of the Khumbu Glacier Valley as well as a perfect view of Everest. This option was supposed to go ahead early in the morning to enable us to watch the sunrise, however, with potential temperatures of over -20 again, and a wind chill that could make it feel like -30, Ashok and his team offered the additional activity to us as soon as we returned to Gorakshep.

We were all pretty wiped out from a very long day of trekking, but Ashok convinced us that watching the sunset from Kala Pather was far more beautiful than watching the sunrise. I still had plenty left in the tank so I was game, as was Siobhan again, and Jeff also. Under the guidance of Lama, we wrapped ourselves up and began the very steep ascent. There was no let up from the gusts of wind which had earlier rifled through Base Camp, in fact it felt like it had doubled in force, and with no cover, huge clouds of dust were battering us from a side angle.

The three of us had targeted the summit, but Lama rightly stepped in and told us we couldn’t go any further due to the dangerous nature of the climb and the conditions we were exposing ourselves to. We had reached 5420m when we had to halt proceedings and take cover to watch the sunset.. the highest mark I’ve ever been to, and with still no signs of sickness or breathlessness I know I could have easily gone on for much further.

We may not have reached the summit of Kala Pather but we were two thirds of the way up and the view from here was incredible. The gusts of wind were deeply intense, and now that we were no longer actively moving the bitter cold began to take its toll on my hands and feet. Taking my glove off to take pictures became instantly painful.. in just several seconds of exposure to extreme minus temperatures and an unforgiving chilling wind, my hand would almost become dysfunctional with a prickling sensation that I’d never felt before.

But believe me, for a once in the lifetime opportunity to witness the sun setting over the highest point in the whole of the world, braving the cold extremities was more than worth it. The view was just...... bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful. MAGICAL!!!

As the sun offered its final remaining rays, watching the peaks of Changste, Nuptse and Everest glowing, almost burning bright red as if a blow torch had been taken to them, while the surrounding Himalayas were a stark contrast of cold, bleak whites and greys.. was one of the most special moments I’d ever witnessed in my whole life. TRULY, TRULY SPECIAL. It barely lasted several minutes but I finally felt accomplished and satisfied! And to top things off, we even managed to witness a mini avalanche off the mountainside of Lhola.

With the red tip of Everest disappearing, light rapidly fading, conditions worsening and no feeling in either my fingers or toes, it was imperative we made our descent quickly. The four of us actually ran all the way down, not the safest method for sure but we needed the warmth of the lodge and it was such a relief once we’d made it back. A hot meal and a seat beside a big log burner was just the ticket despite the painful stinging in my hands and feet from the complete variation in temperature. What an extraordinary day!

I may not have suffered any sickness from being at altitude but one thing I did suffer from, as most of us did, was some extremely weird and vivid dreams that would wake you a number of times throughout the night.

During this particular night while attempting to sleep in the most coldest and basic of all accommodations on our trek at over 5000m in altitude, I dreamt that I was suffering from altitude sickness. To a point were I couldn’t distinguish the difference between dream and reality when I woke, which in turn made me rush in terror to a dirty squat toilet in pitch black darkness. Sounds ridiculous I know but it took a good several minutes and a lot of amusement from Joel for me to realise I was actually fine. Amazing the affect a lack of oxygen can have on the brain!

Over the next four days we began to make our way back to Lukla through the staggering landscapes we had already witnessed a week previously, stopping off at the villages of Pheriche, Kenjuma and Chumowa. As we made our rapid descent the symptoms of altitude sickness within the group subsided. I did almost die of retching one morning when I was served a disgusting, uncooked, snotty looking poached egg on sloppy wet bread, which actually wouldn’t have been out of place in a Bushtucker Trial.

Being miles away from towns of a substantial size and hygiene of food being at the forefront of our minds for 12 days meant we were regularly starved of meat. In the villages we stayed, very few would offer fresh meat, and even then it would have had to be flown in by helicopter. Chicken was occasionally offered to us, yet due to the way they are farmed here it wasn’t considered to be nutritious and still remained a risk. Our main source of energy came from eating vegetables and carbohydrates. Thankfully, en route back to Lukla, we were offered a rare treat.. some meat! Not just any meat, buffalo meat. I’d never tasted buffalo meat before and I’d been craving red meat for some time so when I got the chance to order a buffalo steak, I lept at the opportunity. It was absolutely delicious!

On Friday 19th January we made it back to Lukla after covering a total distance of approximately 130km’s. On many occasions I found it difficult, and at times frustrating, to maintain the snails pace we were walking at however, I fully understand the reasons behind why this was necessary. And I may not have been provided with the physical challenge I wanted from the trek, but WOW who cares now, I got so much more from this than I could have ever imagined, what an extraordinary journey! It couldn’t have been any better.. it was off-peak season so the pathways were pretty much completely free of other hikers, and we were blessed with the most amazing clear sunny weather allowing us to appreciate the remarkable scenery we were constantly surrounded in.

We spent our final night in the Himalayan Mountains at a hotel in Lukla where we said farewell to our porters and assistant guides. I’ll be forever indebted to the porters for carrying our heavy luggage for the duration of our trip, as well as Lama and Gopal for seeing to our every need, leading our treks and joining in with the group banter.

Due to low-lying mist in Kathmandu our flight from Lukla on Saturday morning was delayed by a few hours. Card games, yoga, and improvised interviews within the group helped us to pass the time before we eventually left on our James Bond plane.

We returned to the Fuji Hotel in Kathmandu where we all originally met. I may have only failed to shower on two occasions throughout the whole trek but I was so glad to be able to shower again in a familiar environment rather than in a dirty hut, outdoors in the freezing cold or sat pouring a bucket over my head. A few of the group never showered for the duration of the whole trip.. how they managed to do this I’ll never know.

Later that evening, we had our final group meal together at a lovely restaurant, then celebrated by blowing off some steam by going out on the sesh in the bustling Thamel area of the city. Ashok, Joel, Vera and myself continued into the early hours of the morning, which much of it I can’t remember, but I know I had a great time.

Over the next few days, members of our group began to leave for home. We started out as strangers from various parts of the world but by the time people were ready to leave we had become a close-knit little family. I pretty much laughed my way through every single day with the most incredible group of people who I feel truly fortunate to have experienced this incredible journey with.

They will all be greatly missed.. Rich for his flatulence, his “Idiot Abroad” style moaning and inability to cope at altitude (Haaaaa!). Greg’s seriously s*** jokes and love for Rick Stein. Siobhan for her repeated cheating at card games and being an absolute beast of fitness. Rebecca for her exemplary politeness and getting caught short in the woods. My roomy Joel for being just an absolute lad and eating Snickers all day. Sandra for the lovely Geordie accent and comforting hugs. Jeff for his wisdom and having his own agenda for walking off at any stage. Vera for her super calm demeanour and beautiful zest for life. And Jenny for her obsession over ginger tea and her truly inspirational back story behind her taking on the Base Camp trek.

One man remains.. someone who I struck up a chord with from day 1 when I rocked up in Kathmandu with no kit whatsoever. And someone who I laughed with every minute of every day.. our Nepalese group leader, Ashok.

Without Ashok, the tour wouldn’t have been half as good as it was, he was phenomenal! The man is a true inspiration and has had such an influence on me, so much so, I’ve cancelled my original plans to visit the beautiful lakeside and mountainous city of Pokhara, to visit his village of Panauti instead, where he runs a “Homestay” project within his community. His passion and energy is infectious and I’m looking forward to visiting his home over the next few days.

Finally.. trekking has never been a passion of mine, in fact my hatred for walking still remains. However, it is extremely hard not to enjoy and appreciate the simply breathtaking natural beauty of the Himalayas.. it really is a magical place that I will forever have special memories of. I’m pretty sure nothing will ever come close to matching it, unless I one day decide to climb to the summit of Everest............. Nah, I’ll leave that to the nutters!

Jam Jam, Dal Bhat Power 24hr xx