Arriving directly from sea level with zero training was not very clever, especially after finding out that some of the guys in our group actually lived at altitude and were training two and a half hours a day, six days a week before they left for Kathmandu! As you can imagine… Reena and I were always at the back of the group trailing behind, complaining at every hill that ever so quickly approached – I don’t know what we were expecting… we were hiking our way up to Everest Base Camp after all! As the days progressed however the altitude started taking its toll on everyone… and our small group at the back started to grow in numbers as the headaches, nausea and nose bleeds started to kick in. More about that later on…. Let me introduce the group first:
Reena: the one and only!
Mike: Reena’s mate from Manchester uni – already introduced…
Sean: “Murph” An irish version of Robin Williams (meant in the nicest of ways of course!).
Roberto: “Jack” a chap from Costa Rica. A massive character in the group who always had something to say to cheer us all up.
Mike: “Aussie Mike” a web designer from Melbourne, Australia – a mountain machine!
Sean: A jazz musician from Boulder, CO – another of the boys who’d always be at the front of the group – no matter what!
Christine: A gorgeous Swiss girl that left the stresses of the financial sector in New York for the rewards of working in the developing world.
David: The youngest of the group from ‘Londonish’ on a trip around the world before joining the navy.
There were nine of us in total, representing six different nationalities. Ages ranged from 19 to 32. We all bonded incredibly quickly - we were all like a little family going up there!
The Flight:
We met the rest of our guides and porters after our hair-raising flight into Lulka… We had to get up super early for the “Yeti Airlines” flight. It was a small twin engine aircraft – both the plane and pilots looked like they stepped out of the 70’s – incredibly retro. I decided not to let it worry me though since they make these flights multiple times per day.. they must know what they’re doing, right?! It was only about a 30 minute flight which took in breathtaking views of the Himalayas, but was jaded with the apprehension of the looming Lukla runway…I couldn’t have been that concerned though because I managed to fall asleep during the flight. I was awoken by a sudden need to breathe and by the feeling that the plane was going into a nose dive. It was possible see right out of the cockpit windows from where I was sitting. The ground was in direct view and magnifying in size by the second… just when I thought it would be too late and grabbed the seat infront of me the pilots pulled up and the wheels of the plane touched smoothly on the ground – hats off to the pilots! The runway at Lukla looks as though its about 100m long and has been cut into the rock on a slope. Approaching planes land on the upward slope, and then take off in the opposite direction – I’m assuming as an attempt to defy the effects of gravity… I didn’t want to ask too many questions!
Guides and Porters:
We had four guides in total and three porters. We always felt safe in the hands of our guides. I was caught from falling a few times, and pushed up snowy hills when I just couldn’t find a foothold. They were always there, even at the back with Reena and I. We were nick-named the ‘babies’. “Baby, wake up!”, “Baby, jam jam!”, even our walk was named ‘The baby step’ - we literally pigeon stepped our way to base camp! “No hurry, chicken curry”. The four guides were a great bunch of guys who really made the trek what it was. They were always laughing, singing, dancing, and at the same time always very polite and respectful. Two of our guides had been to base camp over 100 times.
We had three porters for the nine of us. Each porter would carry three of our main backpacks, totaling 35kg (up to 100kg for non-tourist work), strapped across their foreheads. Its an unbelievable sight at first seeing these small guys bearing so much weight on their necks darting along the paths. I very quickly started feeling guilty about the amount of gear that I had packed, and wished I had left more in Kathmandu. They only earn the equivalent of about 15p per kilo for a long days walk. I also learnt to hold my breath as they passed – understandably they didn’t smell too pleasant!
The Food and Hygiene:
Over the twelve days of the trek we were fed incredibly well. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were always at a tea lodge. Everything took its sweet time on the trek…. Food often had to be ordered more than two hours in advance – one of our guides would run along ahead of us to order our meals! The selection of food, although at first looked to be quite comprehensive, soon became incredibly monotonous… veg fried rice, veg fried noodles, momos, daal bhat, or hash browns with egg….There were 36 meals in total on the trek…you can do the maths…. I decided to stop eating the daal bhat (a veg curry with lentil soup) soon after my sweat started smelling like curry and realizing we would be without a shower for 7 days! The hygiene facilities varied in quality along the way from western sit down toilets, to the squat eastern style toilets – and believe me, there were some in between monsters that must have taken some imagination to create! We were also without a sink and running water for six days. It became the norm to leave the bathroom without washing your hands (I didn’t forget the alcohol gel…) and to spit your toothpaste into the snow.
Bottled water also became an expensive commodity as you hiked higher up. A 1L bottle cost 10 Rupees (7.5p) in Kathmandu. In Gorak Shep (about a 3hr walk from base camp) it was 250 Rupees (£1.90)! It was difficult to complain though out of respect for the porters who had to carry the bottles up there.
The Altitude:
We were all warned about the effects of altitude on the body before the trek started, and were told that if they were serious enough it would be imperative to descend as altitude sickness can kill. The group previous to us lost some members due to the altitude. Having to spend a week in Namche while the rest of your group pushed onto Base Camp was a good possibility. As soon as I hit over 3000m it was blatantly obvious that there was less oxygen in the air. At Namche Bazaar (3440m), I had a resting heart rate of 120, I was feeling pins and needles up to my elbows, and while eating, I had to stop every two spoon fulls to catch my breath. Most people get headaches and nausea, but for me, the greatest effect was on my breathing.
At Dingboche (4410m), at precisely 05:45, I needed to get to the toilet, and fast! I quickly got up, found the bog roll, slipped my shoes on, unlocked the door and swung it open…. Suddenly there was a massive thump on my forehead. I had blacked out after opening the door and was jolted back into a state of semi-consciousness by the stone wall outside my bedroom! At this point the nurse inside me should have told me to sit down and lie on the floor and try to wake Reena up. Nope! In my daze, all I could think about was getting to that stinking toilet. I knew I had to walk towards the left…. I started my drunken stagger towards the bathroom bumping off the walls and doors as I went. I’m surprised I didn’t kick over any of the bins or wake people up – I made enough noise! I finally felt the light switch to the toilet and flicked it on – I couldn’t see a damn thing. I was flicking it on and off, on and off.. nothing. I still hadn’t regained my sight from blacking out… I fell backwards onto the wall kicking the water butt holding the toilet door open. I remember stupidly thinking to myself “ I cant collapse, no one will see me, I cant go back down, I’ve got to make it to base camp!” So I managed to pull myself up, held onto the toilet door and wall and decided to concentrate on breathing for a while… After about thirty seconds of breathing in the rancid toilet air, the white ceramic squat toilet started to appear before me. The light was working – not only that… the rising sun was streaming in through the window!
As we got higher up going to bed became a torment for me. I would dread bedtime. My bedroom would become a torture chamber. I would wake up frequently in the night to the feeling that someone was trying to smother me. It was frightening. I’d sit bolt upright pulling at my sleeping bag and all my clothes as if somehow they were aiding in the abuse. When we reached Gorak Shep (5180m - where the oxygen in the air is about half what it is at sea level), I had to prop myself up with the extra blankets, so I could sit up all night in the corner. I think I got about 30 minutes sleep that night. I now have some sort of insight for my patients with lung diseases that sit in their chairs all night with their lights on, barely sleeping. As soon as we started to descend sleeping became so much easier, and I slept like a baby at Namche. Cuts on my hands started to heal… On the way up, they were getting worse, getting deeper and cracking open. Its quite a real thought to know that your body is focusing on using the oxygen thats available to simply keep you alive, and to not waste it on expendable things like healing cuts! Even descending through the 5000m mark I started getting an overwhelming sense of happiness that I just couldn't stop smiling. I was running in and around the rocks like a little kid - I'm convinced it was the extra oxygen in the air!
Base Camp (5340m):
We all made it to base camp! We all experienced different emotions when we got there… I have to say that mine was “What an anti-climax…”. As we were approaching base camp every step made me feel dizzy. I really had to concentrate on not falling over. Even knowing that base camp was just five minutes away, it still felt like hours. When I finally reached there, I sat down on a rock, looked up at Murph, who looked as rough as I felt (he was suffering with bad headaches and nausea), and just said to him “what in the world was the point of all of that?!” and just giggled for a few minutes. Base camp is just a site at the bottom of Everest (you cant even see the mountain from here) just before you walk across the treacherous icefall up to the next base camp. When you look around, you cant help but think you’re on another planet – it’s a lunar landscape. Its dull and grey with absolutely no vegetation – just ice and rock. It’s an incredibly harsh environment, where nutters crazier than I now perceived myself spend time trying to push themselves into a worsening torture up that mountain that we couldn’t even see! After a few minutes I decided to compose myself and try to enjoy the moment. After stopping and looking around, the beauty of the icefall and glacier became apparent. It’s a massive hunk of ice working its way down the valley… It has somehow moulded itself into what looks like these massive ferocious waves caught in a freeze frame of time and space. It was absolutely stunning. Maybe it had been worth the arduous slog up here!
The weather:
We got all sorts of weather on the trek! I even got really sunburnt on the first couple of days as we were walking along in our shorts and t-shirts. By the time i got to namche and bought my suncream it was too late - i was already peeling! By far the best purchase that we made before leaving Kathmandu was our down jackets. We lived in these things as soon as we stopped walking. It became so cold in the tea houses at night. I was wearing two pairs of thermals under jeans, under leg warmers, under blankets infront of the clay ovens! I'd go and find someone to huddle up next to to steal some of their warmth! Nights in bed were cold - i think i found Phortse the coldest. We arrived in the snow, and as I picked up my sleeping bag from the porters I saw that my bag was soaking wet! I didn't have a fun night, and added to other illnesses and stresses that I was experiencing, I spent the next morning walking in tears til lunch time. Poor Bhim didn't know what was going on with me - thanks for trying to comfort me!
Its so hard to know how to summarise the past two weeks experiences in only a few paragraphs. The Everest Region is a stunning area of the world. You walk through pine wooded valleys, up through the shrub lands (my favourite), into the starker areas where vegetation no longer survives. It was an absolutely amazing trip made all the more special by the people we shared the trek with. Everyone in the group experienced their own battles with the altitude and sickness, yet still found the energy to rally together to get us all up there. I felt the greatest emotion walking away from the Everest Region, and having to say goodbye to my fellow trekkers. I miss you guys already! On the walk down the trekking season was picking up. Spring was now in the air. It had already warmed up just enough to see the blossom on the trees and the flowers starting to poke their heads up from the barren winter soils. It mirrored the mood of the group coming down.
We’re now back in Kathmandu - back to the trigger happy horn beepers, and hassling shop sellers. I feels light years away from the trek even two days ago. We’ve now booked our safari trip into Chitwan National Park and our tour into Tibet. We’ve just got to kill some days here in Kathmandu. I’m really ready to see the back of this city. Its ok to walk around for a couple of days, but its really not more than a base to get out into what Nepal really has to offer. It’s a beautiful country – come see it!
2 comments:
Nice one, thanks for blogging, been waiting to see this update over last couple of weeks, it's even better than lonely planet! well I hope I can do this trek near end of the year.. Thanks again, cheers.
Some great pics - you had great weather! Glad you had a nice time and hope you enjoy your other 2 trips.
Rich
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