Hello all,

Reporting back after a two week trek in The Himalayas to Mount Everest Base Camp.

All in all a pretty unbelievable experience and well worth a certain amount of physical and mental pain (yes, we're talking about steep climbs and dodgy toilets).

We've broken it down into general observations and then some day to day stuff for your perusal... you clearly aren't going to read more than a sentence of the below anyway, let's be honest.


Accommodation

Varied quite a lot - our first lodge was pretty basic, the 2nd one was a brand new one at Namche, where we lucked out and got a double bed.

Most of them were quite small, basic rooms, with twin beds and a thin mattress and pillow, and then a big restaurant. Pretty much all of them are built out of plywood internally, so not a lotta privacy - or protection from snoring...

In Dingboche, our room was lined in green baize - like lying in a snooker table, but had a lovely dining room - bit like staying at your granny's. Quite a few novelty chiming clocks also...

We were almost ecstatic when we got back to Namche and got to stay in a proper hotel room with double bed and its own private loo!!!

On the way down, we saw several camping treks -seriously glad we stayed in tea houses - they may be basic, but it gets bloody cold higher up, and i also think i would have felt seriously guilty at the loads the porters have to carry on the camping treks.

Sights

Sensory overload once the clouds clear away - simply stunning scenery day after day from woodland super steep hillsides with rushing rapids and boulder-strewn rivers to dramatic, scrubland and lunar landscape as you get further up. I bored Paul rigid with the statement "I know i've already said this, but isn't it just like Lord of the Rings"...
Lots of mini Stupas with prayer flags and "Om ani pat mi um" (or something like that) carved over and over into rock faces. Prayer wheels to turn (make sure it's clockwise), and also plaques and memorial sites to those who've died up in the mountains - quite moving and you start to understand the spiritual relationship which the Sherpa have with the surrounding mountains.

Equipment

Walking poles were a revelation (thanks for the advice to get 2, Fi-fi). they help you to drag yourself up the steep bits, balance you on across the many streams, and stop you flying down the mountain when you trip on the 10th rock on the way back down.
Paul's sleeping bag was broken - got mended, then broke again - so he ended up rolling himself up like a cocoon, and invariably overheated massively in the night...
Waterproofs -mandatory.
Our hiking boots did us proud - couple of mini blisters on the last day, solved with the Compeed kit - also amazing.

2 packs of cards and also knowledge of more then 2 games for 2 players (excluding snap and pairs) is also highly useful. You can get bored quite quickly once you've arrived somewhere and have several hours to kill...

Food and Drink

Surprisingly decent and wide ranging given what we'd read. We expected Dal Bhat (rice and lentils) every day, but the pretty much identical tea house menus always had a choice so we got stuck into noodles, pasta, pizza, curry, and potatoes during the trip. The same choice every day started to grind after two weeks, but all in all, not bad.

The staple drink of choice for Nepalis is tea so we were practically force fed it at every stop we made. Mint, ginger and black were our staples (and v cheap), but we also mixed this up with sweet massala tea which was tasty. Soft drinks like Coke and Sprite were about three quid a bottle so we generally steered clear and it's recommended you don't drink due to the altitude so we were on the wagon for practically the whole trip - AAARRGGGHHH.

We did try some 'roksy' (Alina's drink of choice no doubt) rice wine with Ram on the last night which tasted like a combination of diesel and bleach, but it did the job of getting us warm and a bit merry. Apparently all the people brew it locally and they decant the first layer of the concoction to use as surgical spirit - reassuring.

Nepali people

Very, very accommodating and unbelievably hard workers. We saw some of the ported carrying unbelievably heavy loads up practically 45 degree inclines. Some loads we saw were up to 100kg, but we were told that the record is something like 150kg. A few blokes carried massive metal poles to build telephone antennae which looked like they'd take 3 people to lift.

Despite their hard way of life, all the locals were always happy to greet us and there was plenty of banter between the different guides and porters we passed on the way up and down.

There are quite a few schools now (a legacy left by Hillary himself in his attempt to help the people) and it sounds as thought the economy is on the rise as at pretty much every place we stopped there were new tea houses being built and the sound of tiny hammers (the sound of progress).

Other trekkers

We were really lucky on the way up and down in that we didn't get stuck in any trekker 'traffic jams' as we just missed peak season (starting in October) by about a week. We passed lots of groups coming up as we went down and they're going looked pretty slow as there were so many people going in the same direction. This would have driven us mental.

There seemed to be lots of groups from America and China particularly, but we did see a few Aussies, Indians and other Europeans.

The age and shapes and sizes were pretty varied, with a few people we saw coming up really struggling and looking like they might keel over at any point. Some people were pushing 60 and we saw a number of struggling 'blobs'.

One Chinese bloke was airlifted off the mountain outside our lodge just down from Everest base camp with breathing difficulties and we saw one bloke on the way down (fortunately for him at the very bottom) who'd broken his ankle and had to be taken the rest of the way on the back of a horse. There was a fair bit of 'copter action' during the two weeks with other climbers being flown down - POOR EFFORT.

There seemed to be a weird phenomenon amongst Americans to trek listening to an iPod which seemed a bit weird - fair enough if you're commuting in London, but not on a mountain in Nepal!

Sanitation

Wasn't great, but wasn't as bad as Paul initially feared.

Squat toilets were the norm (we both now have thighs like Schwarzenneger), but there were a few flushing toilets along the way. Obviously you had to provide your own toilet paper so previously Glastonbury experience came in handy, although a lack of Olbas Oil scented tissues was a massive disadvantage. Hand sanitizer was a must.

Pretty much all toilets were shared between trekkers so the threat of being 'rattled' was constant and the peak time of early morning was best avoided unless you wanted someone standing outside your cubicle either coughing/cleaning their teeth/having a look in.

Showers were occasionally available (hot if you paid about 3 quid), but basically made you colder and resembled those in the Shawshank Redemption, thought fortunately without the 'sisters' - I never want to go to prison.

DIARY

Day 1

A rude start at 5am, with Ram our tour guide picking us up after a rushed brekkie. Check-in at Kathmandu airport was the usual carnage with no apparent system or method to the madness, fortunately Ram sorted it all out.

The flight to Lukla was about half an hour in an Indiana Jones style by-plane. Fully expected to have to land in a blow-up raft like Mr Jones, but somehow the plane managed to land on a runway that was literally 100 metres long.

The locals lined the fences to meet the 'new fish' arrivals which was a bit intimidating, but all good.

Once the walking boots were on it was a 3 hour trek to Phakding, our first stop. The tea house we stayed in was decent, although a first encounter with the dreaded 'drop bogs' ensued - an experience.

Quick chat with a brother and sister from London and then bed.

Day 2

Woke up at 7am to a 'phlegm chorus' of coughing, spluttering and throat clearing from fellow travellers and locals alike - something that would become a familiar daily occurrence.

Trekked 5 hours to Namche Bazaar, which is the nearest we got to a town during the trip. It pretty much rained constantly all day so the waterproofs were cracked out for the first time and came in very handy. We passed one local lad who was sleeping on a rock in the rain - these people are NAILS.

Namche has about 40 odd tea houses all built on its steep hills and overlooking each other. There are plenty of shops to have a look around and they stock pretty much everything, even kitchen sinks were on display (not joking). Toilet paper was an extortionate 200 rupees (2 pounds = white gold).

We stayed at 'the nest' tea house which was pretty big and new. It wasn't quite finished so it was freezing cold, but due to the lack of flights due to fog the previous 2 days from Lukla before we flew out, we pretty much had the 40 room place to ourselves!

Our porter's bag leaked on the way up so Sarah's sleeping bag got wet, but they sorted us out with a down duvet so we didn't freeze to death.

Also made the mistake of having a hot shower which only made us a lot colder in the long run.

Day 3

An acclimatisation day for us which meant staying at Namche to give our bodies time to catch up with the higher altitude.

Ram still took us out for a 2 hour walk up some pretty steep hills to help us acclimatise and there was no rain fortunately.

We saw Syngboche airport which is the 2nd highest in the world at about 3,500 metres. There were a few helicopter flights in and out which we thought contained supplies and possibly a few tourists who hadn't acclimatised properly - AMATEURS.

It was a bit too cloudy to get some of the great views Namche offers, but we knew we'd be stopping here again on the way down so weren't too gutted.

Day 4: Namche Bazaar to Tengboche (3,900m)

Rumours that Namche to Tengboche had another super steep climb had been circulating during the rest days at Namche. Thanks to the locals who seemed to all be piled into the room above us, had b***** all sleep, so really looking forward to this...
However, despite Ram's pessimism, weather improved loads, and the first part of the walk was really enjoyable after the initial heave up through the town - 2 minutes into the walk and already sweating profusely and gasping like a goldfish for air, with Paul swearing as we got stuck behind 2 large groups - one going at snail's pace... soon blitzed passed them (still wheezing). Reckon the improvement in the weather directly linked to our purchase of rucksack rain covers that morning... didn't rain for the rest of the trip!
We were following a well-laid path around the side of the mountains - which we soon found out was being laid by some old boy with a couple of helpers - he's doing it all off his own bat - no government road programs up here. We stopped to give a donation and then Ram filled us in on the rumoured tale behind his work - apparently he killed someone years ago, went to prison, came out and decided to go up to the mountains and build a road to atone for his crime - and has been building the path ever since - Ram said he's been doing the tours for over 16 years and he's always been there. the guy lives in a little cave and survives on donations from tourists...
First glimpse of Everest from behind some clouds - hard to understand the scale of it - also, despite being the tallest mountain in the world (apparently), it's bloody difficult to see, as it's usually hidden by one of the other mountains. Also saw lots of Amu Dabla - a 6,000-er which frankly looks more impressive as a mountain...
Quick lunch by the river before the climb - just before we'd passed "Lock" (a bloke that very much looked like the character from Lost), the weird Aussie guy who had got up at 5am to hike up to Tengboche and then back - said the climb was a b****. Thanks, you absolute nutter.

Also saw first Yak - hurrah - they are brilliant - big, shaggy beasties with the sweetest faces gently heading up or down the mountain with massive loads (although not as big as some of the crazy stuff we've seen carried on porters' backs...)
Climb up was actually OK - probably because Ram took pity on us wheezing away and kept repeating the mantra "slow up, fast down" - arrived in Tengboche to thick cloud cover (although Everest had been visible 1.2 hour before - arse) and some chanting monks having a little ceremony in our lodge -which went on and on and on.
Visited the monastery - very beautiful but no monks in residence (all in our tea house which was toasty warm) and then purchased pack of cards - MANDATORY for the trek - there's a lot of boring down time with nowt much to do after you've wandered round for half an hour.... Monks seemed to have no objections so we played many rounds of Rummy (1 of the 2 games we know for 2 players) then after dinner, several games of s***head with a german guy, a chinese with a mad laugh, and 2 of the sherpa - good laugh - even without beers. I wasn't the s***head, Paul was. Ha ha.

Day 5

We woke up in Tengboche to find ourselves surrounded by blue sky and jaw dropping views of The Himalayas that we couldn't see the day before due to the thick cloud when we arrived. We couldn't believe how close we'd been to them the day before without seeing then and how lucky we were that it wasn't cloudy again. Spent the morning taking far too many photos.

Left at 8am and trekked from Tengboche to Dingboche over the course of about 4 hours to get us 4,350 metres up. The weather was great so we had cracking views all the way. We got followed for a few miles by one of the local dogs (no doubt the spirit of Murphy protecting us) who was surprisingly good and getting himself up the steep hills.

Got to the Sonam Friendship Lodge which we had to ourselves again and once again made the mistake of having a hot shower which was outside.

Our room was lined with green baize so it felt like we were staying in a snooker table.

The owner of the lodge (Sonam) was a local legend and had various certificates from conservation agencies and awards from national geographic on his wall - as well as a photo of him and Jimmy Carter who'd stayed at the lodge back in the 80's.

Day 6: Still in Dingboche (4,350m) - acclimitization day
Beautiful again with amazing views - although Everest hiding again... 2 hour hike up to mid-way(well it was our "rest day" on some small hill - which was tough - breathing uphill is getting seriously tough now. Got heckled by some Chinese who were amazed we weren't going to the top - starting to realise that there's serious competitiveness at play on what we thought was just a wee trek.
Everyone in the village seriously busy - same as everywhere else, there's frantic building going on, but also a lot of tatty-howking and drying out Yak poo to use as fuel. Dad, again, you'd be impressed with the dry stone dyking around the village...
Amazing how the landscape changed in one day from trees and lush ferny green-ness to suddenly much browner and scrubbier land - there are no suddenly no trees, and a lot more dust and wind... which starts from around 10am, so it's good to get going early - the weather literally follows a daily clockwork pattern - you could set your watch by it -which i practically have to do, as my bloody $10 watch from BA has decided it doesn't like altitude or the cold - or both, and resets itself every bloody night. grrrrrr....
Set of touring skis in the lodge - Sonam says he skis loads in the winter - although not sure i fancy the "no lift" trek up the hill at this altitude...

Load of yaks arrive in the courtyard in the afternoon - we passed them yesterday on their way down - they've been to Namche and back in 2 days - it took us 2 to just get up here! Sonam is pretty pleased, as they were running low on lots of stuff - due to lack of flights -bit different to nipping to Sainsbury's...

Day 7

Woke up at the lodge and both felt a bit ropey - Sarah had been awake practically all night with quite a bad headache, an early warning sign of possible altitude sickness. We had a chat with Ram and he suggested we stay an extra day at Dingboche to acclimatise.

We went for a quick walk down to the local river and felt a bit better.

Joined at the lodge later in the day by some noisy American students who were a bit of a pain.

Landlady of the lodge walked in on Paul using the toilet who almost suffered an immediate coronary - she was immediately airlifted to the local eye burns unit, but will probably never see again.

Ram gave Sarah some Diamox pills for altitude sickness to see if that helped.

Day 8

Both woke up feeling much better so trekked up to Lobuche over the course of 4 hours.

Some of the climbs were really long and steep which was painful, but we managed to push on through.

After arriving, we walked up to see a glacier on the hill next to the lodge which was freezing, but well worth it for the great views. There were piles and piles of rocks which were quite tricky to navigate with our poles and cloud came in really quickly to obscure a lot of the views just after we got there so we timed it pretty well.

Paul's nose ran like a tap pretty much all day on the back of his developing cold - damn those hot showers.

Day 9: LoBuche - Gorak Shep (5,110m) via Base Camp (whoop whoop) (5,360m)
Earliest start yet - thick frost on the ground as we slip and slide our way out of Lobuche - bloody freezing and my fingers and toes are tingling thanks to the Diamox. 2 1/2 hour trek to Gorak Shep - highest hotel (well hostel) in the world!!
Quick breakfast, where we meet Wayne (one of the massive Aussie party who are following the same trail as us) - he's pretty f***ed, having tried to get up Kala Pattar, but felt like s*** half way up due to altitude - i can sympathise... Nice guy who gives Paul some cold meds - he's still snotting like a river...
Off to Base camp, with me wheezing like a steam train over any tiny incline... Lunar-like landscape now as we head onto the Khumbu glaciar -it's covered in rocks and dusty debris - very different to the Perito Moreno glacier we walked on in Patagonia.
Everest finally shows her face again for a little while peeping out from behind Lhotse peak. Clamber over lots of potentially ankle-snapping rocks now and starting to wonder what's so exciting about bloody Base Camp anyway when Ram suddenly announces we're here! There's b***** all around - just a big rock with Everest Base camp written on in and a load of prayer flags wrapped around, with some photos and messages to people who've died up there. All quite emotional actually and i have a mini-blub - which is a bit embarrassing...
We string up the prayer flags and have some snacks - have it to ourselves for almost half an hour - we're yet to realise how much busier the mountains are about to get. The small Spanish guy turns up (bit like Spanish Alex for any Glasgow people reading this) but more alpha male... tells us we're not at Base Camp and then scampers off- apparently there's a 2nd "new" base camp which expeditions use now (probably to avoid all the bloody tourist trekkers coming up and bothering them). We seem from other people's photos later that it's just a few yellow tents - not worth another half hour scramble thanks... It's so bloody stony, can't imagine how uncomfortable it must be in a tent - not sure I'm cut out for mountaineering... especially having read a book about people dying on K2 on the way up... sounds bloody miserable and pretty boring most of the time.
Ram drops the bomb that we'll hike up Kala Pattar this afternoon as the light is much better for photos. but the "half-hour" break turns into 2 hours and it gets too cloudy - unfortunate coincidence or Ram's cunning plan- who knows - all i know is that I'm now mentally tuned to going DOWN tomorrow - so we decide to give KP a miss (which we get loads of heckling for by other trekkers we tell. Whatever - can buy a better photo of it than we'll take anyway)

Day 10

We both had a pretty bad night's sleep as we were both suffering from colds now. Woke up to find it was -10 degrees outside with ice on the inside of the windows (yes Dad, like your old room in Manchester).

There was a horse outside the lodge who'd been out there all night without any shelter and didn't seem remotely bothered - clearly champion the wonder horse. Teazle would do well up here.

We hiked downhill for 6 hours from Gorak Shep to Pangboche, stopping at Pheriche on the way for a tea and a sit (beaut).

Pangboche has the highest primary school in the world and there were a few kids on the path down messing around and throwing sticks at each other - no computer games here.

Our room was on the ground floor and at the back of the bar which was a bit annoying and there was no electricity for most of the night due to a local problem. Our toilet and sink were also outside which was freezing, but both were a lot cleaner than we'd been used to so it actually worked out quite well.

Day 11

Woke up and cleaned teeth in outside sink on the side of the mountain with a horse watching us - how rude.

Trekked from Pangboche back to Namche Bazaar in great weather.

Stayed at the Hotel Everest and our room amazingly had its own flushing toilet and shower (which was crap mind).

We arrived early afternoon so wandered around the town for a bit and did a bit of souvenir shopping, securing the first fridge magnet of the trip. Bumped into Jeff and a dutch couple (Thiesen and Margiella - sorry if this is wrong!) we'd chatted to a few times and it was Margiella's birthday so we had a few beers with them to celebrate. We got her a fridge magnet as a pressie and her guide bought her an awesomely fluffy toy yak - her birthday will clearly never be bettered.

Day 12: Namche to Phak(king)Ding

Lie-in this morning but i wake up at 6am anyway, so pootle outside to take some photos - beautiful time of day, no cloud above although thick in the valley (doesn't help concerns over whether flights will be running out of Lukla in a couple of days, but makes for some pretty pics)
Can't quite believe how steep the hill was coming up here- it's tough enough on the toes heading down. Pass group after group of trekkers and porters on the way down = we skipping past, them panting up looking b*****ed - ha ha ha -at least it's not pissing with rain for them as it was with us. Literally hundreds of the b*****s - and yet again congratulate ourselves on coming a couple of weeks earlier - would have been a nightmare to get stuck in this rabble...
Follow the river again over lots of wobbly bridges - they're seriously bouncy and dizzy-inducing - but the views are gorge, now we can actually see the mountains, instead of just a steady Scottish mist of rain.
Go passed a massive older guy and his wife who both look knackered already - and they've not even reached the 2 hour climb up yet - some of the people we're now passing don't actually look like they'll make it up there without serious strain on the heart...
Stop for tea, and see a guy limp passed, supported by his guide- looks pretty b*****ed, and we find out he's screwed his ankle - at least he did it on the way down... Later on, we follow him on a horse -looking even more in pain as the going is still pretty rocky and up and down - I wouldn't fancy riding down there with both legs working. As we pass them, we ask if he's OK - he mutters something unintelligible - looked British, but god knows what he said...
Get to Phakding again - no leccie, so lunch in the dark, as the rain's started a wee bit. Really weird Indian group also having lunch - very strange rude girl who just stared when both i and later Paul said hello. Cow Bag - saw her later giving the porters loads of hassle - they must have to put up with a lot of that - some people are pretty rude to them...
Anyway, these guys were the BIGGEST faffers i have ever ever seen - took at least an hour between them finishing lunch to finally heading off. We said good luck to the porters who were laughing - what a nightmare group to try and manage... Rude girl's bag looked like it was leaking water - haha (bad karma). Most people we've met on the trail or in lodges have been at least civil, if not nice and chatty. Very few have been out and out rude - they were all super-odd.
POOR poor Ram - he found out today, that rather than heading back down to Kathmandu with us and seeing his family for the massive Doshain festival about to start, he instead has to stay up and literally drop us off at the airport and then pick up a new group - to go back to base camp! No day off, no family visit. He looks really annoyed, but there's nothing he can do. We feel really sorry for him...

Day 13

Very short 2 hour trek from Phakding back to Lukla in glorious weather. Sat on the veranda of our lodge watching flights coming and going and gradually working myself up into a frenzy about tomorrow's flight.

Saw lots of happy, clean, well refreshed climber groups on their way up the mountain, happy in the knowledge that they'll soon be dishevelled messes in about 2 days. Sarah had a good laugh at one girl who was sat combing her hair - it would be a greasy dread before the end of the week.

Drank some roksy rice wine with Ram to celebrate us finishing successfully - the man is a massive lightweight, but still one of our heroes.

Day 14

Flight back to Kathmandu in the Indiana Jones plane which caused mild palpitations.

Ram got us on the first flight of the day at 7am - what a legend.

First few hours back at the hotel were spent making use of the now seemingly excellent sanitary facilities.