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| My greatest moment at EBC on 14 April 2017, 11.50am |
It is every
mountaineer’s dream to reach the 7 summits of the world. If you are unable to
reach any summit, reaching the Everest Base Camp (EBC) is a dream come true.
Many people get lost or die every year, even just visiting the EBC!
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| Until today, the authorities are unable to find his body |
10 years ago
(2007), I took a mountain flight (Buddha Air) to have an aerial view of the
Himalaya Mountains from Kathmandu, and the highlight was to view Mount Everest.
Of course, I had the idea back then of hiking up to EBC, but brushed the idea
aside.
In 2016, after
looking at an advertisement for Annapurna Base Camp (ABC), Steve and I decided
to read further and researched on ABC and EBC. Of course, EBC is longer, tougher
and more expensive compared to ABC but we knew that we could only choose one and
so decided to go for EBC. We invited Graham Martin (our friend whom we met on
our Kathmandu trip back in 2007) and he said “yes” to EBC as he already had it
on his bucket list.
We researched many
similar tour agencies and chose Amigo Treks and Expeditions as it stood out
above the rest. We enquired about their package, ‘14 days Everest Base Camp
Trekking’ and the boss, Tika always answered within 24 hours and seemed
trustworthy. We signed up as soon as our
work vacations were approved (back in December 2016) and booked the cheapest
flights to Kathmandu via Malindo Air.
After booking, we
started doing more research and started hunting for hiking gear at North Face,
Columbia, Sports Direct and other similar shops. How did we get fit and prepare
ourselves? Running, going to the gym and continuing with my usual pole and
aerial exercise.
And so, the moment
arrived……….
Day
1 (6 April 2017): Kuala Lumpur to Kathmandu (1,300 metres)
We were in the air
and due to arrive roughly on time, but 30 minutes before landing, we were
informed by the pilot that Kathmandu airport was closed. How can it be closed? Air
Traffic Control asked the pilot to circle around Kathmandu for approximately 40
minutes before we were finally allowed to land! We did get to see beautiful views of the hills
and valleys around Kathmandu though.
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| Aerial view of Kathmandu |
Upon arrival, we
were greeted by our guide, Rajan Poudyal and a driver to bring us to our hotel,
the Blue Horizon in Thamel. Our hotel, Blue Horizon, was a budget hotel but it
had all the basics we needed. We were dropped off and ushered to our room. We
didn’t know what the plan was and we decided to go out and wander around Thamel
for a while.
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| This is Rajan Poudyal (our guide) |
All the shops around
Thamel are for hikers where you can get all your gear. North Face, Marmot
and all the major brands have their own shops selling original gear, but there are a lot of shops selling good quality imitation and second hand gear too.
We went to a
mini sundry shop here to buy mineral water, water tablets for purification and
snacks. I also got myself a woolly hat for 500 rupees.
Upon our return to
the hotel, our guide brought us to the Amigo Treks office and that’s where we
met the boss, Tika, who gave us a briefing on our trek and gave us our duffel bags, T-shirts
and maps. We also made the payment for the balance of our trip in cash.
At night, we were
brought to a Nepalese restaurant nearby our hotel for a welcome dinner. We were
served with the Nepalese traditional dish, Dhal Bhat, and there were cultural
dance performances to entertain us.
Before we slept,
we repacked our things, forcing as much as we could into our new duffel bags. We were told that we had a weight limit of
15kg for our hand luggage plus checked luggage (i.e. duffel bags) but had no
way of weighing things and were prepared to pay extra if needed.
We left a few
things we probably didn’t need in our cases as the cases were to be left in the
hotel (the porters are tough but won’t carry your suitcase!). We later found out we were well over the
limit, but as they combined the weight of the group (and the guide brought
almost nothing) we were only a bit over and we were not charged.
*Prices
for:-
Mineral
water – 20 rupees
Soft
drinks – 60 rupees
Day
2 (7 April 2017): Kathmandu to Lukla to Phakding (2,652 metres) (27 minute
flight and 5 hour walk)
Early morning at
6.30am, from our hotel we were brought to Kathmandu domestic airport for our
flight (Goma Air) to Tenzing-Hillary Airport (Lukla). Our flight was on time,
SURPRISINGLY.
The journey in the
mountain plane was mostly smooth (considering how close we were flying to the
mountains) with slight turbulence as we were descending. We sat on the left, as advised by our guide
for the best views (there was one seat on the left of the aisle, and 2 on the
right, with less than 20 seats in total).
 |
| Inside the mountain plane (Goma Air). Graham is behind Steve |
We landed safely
on one of the scariest and shortest runways in the world and it was a nerve-wracking
experience.
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| This is Lukla airport |
We met our porters
(Kamal (who had worked in Malaysia before and understood basic Bahasa Malaysia)
and a young 19-year-old Tibetan guy). We had breakfast at the Hotel ‘The Nest’ next
to the airport at Lukla and after breakfast, we started trekking at 9.45am from
Lukla to Phakding.
The 1st
day was supposed to be an easy trek as we were descending but the route to
Phakding was covered in horse and yak dung! It smelled horrible and just imagine
when the wind blows……
Luckily, we had good weather and it was not so cold.
Our friends arrived
at the Hotel Beer Garden (with en-suite rooms) at Phakding at 12.30pm and I
arrived at 1.40pm.
Mineral
water (at the Nest Lukla) – 100 rupees
Soft
drinks (at the Nest Lukla) – 300 rupees
Wi-Fi
- unlimited (at the Nest Lukla) – 200 rupees
Mineral
water (at the Beer Garden Phakding) – 120 rupees
Soft
drinks (at Beer Garden Phakding) – 300 rupees
Wi-Fi
- unlimited (at the Beer Garden Phakding) – 500 rupees
Hot
shower (at the Beer Garden Phakding) – 300 rupees
Day
3 (8 April 2017): Phakding to Namche Bazaar (3,440 metres) (7 hours walk)
After breakfast,
we started our journey at 7.45am. The 1st half of our journey was
just up and down and flat. It was nothing challenging. We had lunch at 11.30am
and after lunch, it was the checkpoint to the Sagarmatha National Park.
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| Checkpoint to Sagarmatha National Park |
The 2nd
half of the day was challenging though. We crossed over 4 bridges and walked alongside
the river bank. After the last bridge, the Tenzing Hillary Bridge, we climbed
higher and higher with big rocks and huge staircases. We were doing zig-zags in
the small forest. Seriously, the route is difficult and dangerous!! I mean
it……….
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| The Tenzing Hillary Bridge |
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| Super windy at the Tenzing Hillary Bridge |
We arrived Namche
Bazaar at 4pm and I was already super tired and it took me another 40 minutes
just to reach our en-suite room at the hotel (another one called ‘The Nest’).
Namche Bazaar is a
picturesque and well developed town, built on the side of the hills. You can buy anything here and it is like a
mini-Thamel with shops, barbers, cafes, an ATM (that only seemed to work in
Nepalese and we had no luck with) and even a couple of pubs! Due to competition, prices are surprisingly
low too. Given that everything here
(including building materials) has been lugged up from Lukla, it is truly incredible.
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| Namche Bazaar |
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| The streets of Namche Bazaar |
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| Colourful rooftops |
At this point I was
worn out and started to lose my appetite so I didn’t care. The food was not nice at all, and I knew it
was only going to get worse as we went further up.
Here is a selection of our meals over the course of the trek:
Mineral
water (at the Nest) – 100 rupees
Soft
drinks (at the Nest) – 300 rupees
Wi-Fi
- unlimited (at the Nest) – 500 rupees
Day
4 (9 April 2017): Namche Bazaar (a day for acclimatisation)
Early morning
after breakfast, we climbed up to the Sherpa Culture Museum.
Climbing up to the
museum, I was already out of breath, but the view of the colourful rooftops
with the mountains behind was breathtaking. The museum was free of charge and we
took pictures outside with the statue of Tengzing Norgay (the Sherpa who along
with Sir Edmund Hillary became, on 29th May 1953, the first to
ascend to the summit of Mount Everest).
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| Our photo with Tenzing Norgay |
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| Our group photo with the guide |
Inside the museum
there were photos telling the history of previous climbers’ attempts to map and
ascend to the summit of Everest, as well as information on the kind of animals
and insects you will find in the Himalaya.
After the museum,
we proceeded to climb Kumbila Hill (a very steep hill) to reach the Everest
View hotel to view and take photos of Mount Everest. I got as far as the
Syangboche heliport (helicopters land there to bring emergency supplies in and transport
humans out) and the rest went up to the Everest View Hotel.
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| Syangboche heliport |
After visiting the
heliport, I would have still needed to climb for another 45 minutes (at my
speed), so I said let’s go down then and my guide brought me down using another
route, which was less challenging and quieter than the main route.
We had lunch back
in Namche and toured around Namche Bazaar as it was our last chance to buy
anything we might need (at a reasonable price at least) before heading higher.
Day
5 (10 April 2017): Namche Bazaar to Deboche (3,820 metres) (7 hours walk)
We first had to
climb the same route as we did heading to the museum, but after that it was a
flat walk for about 2 hours around the side of the mountain. It was an easy
route for 2 hours and we passed many small stupas along the way. The flat route
has been improved making it wider for trekkers but the sheer drops were still
quite unnerving and there was often nothing at all at the edges of the path. At one point, we were asked to donate as the
improvement work to make the route less dangerous was being done by volunteers.
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| My favourite yak, that looked like a sheep |
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| Steve trying to be a porter |
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| Check out the route |
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| I can't carry those things |
After the flat section, and lunch down by the river, it was a tough uphill trek until we reached the Tengboche monastery. I reached the monastery at 3.40pm. We walked around the monastery for about 30 minutes, but it was closed at the time. Thereafter, we trekked down a steep hill for 30 minutes to our hotel in Deboche. Unfortunately, I don’t know the name of the hotel as it still looked new and there was no signboard at all. We paid an additional US$25 for an en-suite room with a hot shower.
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| View from the monastery |
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| The monastery on the left side |
I remember upon
reaching the hotel, I collapsed onto the bed as I was extremely exhausted. At
that point of time, I fell ill and was so weak. I ordered my food, which was
vegetable soup and it was brought by my guide Rajan to my room along with some
fruit. I was unable to drink or eat immediately and could only eat much later
at night, reaching pathetically from my bed for my fruit.
Mineral
water – 200 rupees
Wi-Fi
– you need to buy data, i.e. 600 rupees for 200MB (it’s getting expensive!)
Day
6 (11 April 2017): Deboche to Pheriche (4,358 metres)(8 hours walk)
We were supposed
to hike to Dingboche but on the way we were informed that there were no rooms
available at Dingboche so we had to hike to Pheriche instead. We were told that
we will be hiking to a valley and it would be slightly easier than the trek to
Dingboche, as Pheriche is not as high. The hike from Deboche was uphill at
first, then flat, downhill and then slightly uphill. Although the route should
have been easy, breathing was now a problem!
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| Ice |
I met a few
Malaysians on the way up and these Malaysians were coming down already and they
told me that they had reached the EBC. They wished me all the best and I think
their trip was sponsored by FELDA as I saw one of them wearing a scuff from
FELDA.
At the lunch stop,
I had to take a short nap to regain my energy. I ordered my lunch but was unable
to eat it.
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| This is me sleeping |
At this time, I
was informed by my guide/porter, Kamal, that I may have to turn back if I’m not
eating well and furthermore, I’m very slow and would not be able to manage the
much longer days on the way back. My appetite was very poor but thank God, I
had no headache. The altitude here was already higher than I had ever been before
(the summit of Mount Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia).
I reached our
hotel Pumori at Pheriche, about 4pm. My determination was still very strong to
reach the base camp and I didn’t want to think about how I was going to get
back.
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| Our room in Pheriche |
Mineral
water (at the Pumori hotel) – 250 rupees
Soft
drinks (at the Pumori hotel) – 400 rupees
Wi-Fi
(at the Pumori hotel) – you need to buy data, i.e. 600 rupees for 200MB
Hot
shower – 500 rupees (some people decided to shower but at this place, it’s too
cold to shower).
Day
7 (12 April 2017): Pheriche (a day for acclimatisation)
In the morning,
the guys started their acclimatisation trek by climbing up a steep hill that
overlooked Dingboche, and went around 400 metres higher than Pheriche.
As for me, I trekked to only 200 metres higher with my porter, Kamal, and thereafter descended to my hotel and waited for the guys.
We had lunch at
the hotel and it was free and easy for the rest of the day.
Day
8 (13 April 2017): Pheriche to Lobuche (4,928 metres)(8 hours walk)
This was one of
the most difficult days as there was less oxygen and it made my climbing
difficult. We set off at 7.30am and I only arrived at 4pm. The guys arrived at
lunch time.
From our hotel, we
were informed that it was just a flat walk across the valley and thereafter a
climb. It looked easy from our hotel but the moment you start walking across
the valley for 2 hours, which was flat but covered in uneven rocks all the way
to the hill, you will be out of breath and I needed to stop from time to time.
Upon reaching the hill, it was a slow climb for me and Steve took the
opportunity to take pictures while I stopped.
We had to cross a
bridge to go across to our lunch place where we stopped prior to the big push
up one of the toughest parts of the trek. It was very cold here and again I
slept at the lunch table. I was so exhausted that again I couldn’t eat but
forced myself to take an energy gel in preparation for the Thokla Pass.
After having the
energy gel, I got faster and managed to climb, but the energy gel did not last
for long and I was out of energy again! I managed to reach the top eventually, and
to my surprise it was the Climbers' Memorial, remembering those who died while attempting
the summit. It was very sad to be there as each memorial tells a brief story. Many died while attempting to descend from the summit without
supplementary oxygen. Others, such as Scott Fischer’s, are quite prominent and
the stories well known.
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| Scott Fischer memorial |
After the
memorial, it was another 1 – 1 ½ hours flat and uneven walk to our hotel. Steve
was asking me to walk faster as the clouds were closing in. It was really windy and we experienced a snow flurry
as the clouds engulfed us.
Upon arrival at our hotel, I collapsed and slept for 2 hours. I was asked to go down for
dinner, when I was still extremely exhausted and the dining area was super
crowded, stuffy and dirty. We had to find a place, jam-packed with other
climbers, guides and porters. I ordered rice and potato curry. Steve tried to
encourage me to eat to regain some energy and the next thing I know I vomited
on the table.
There was a group
of 2 guys from US and they had a tiny machine to check my blood oxygen
level. This tiny machine was put at my finger and my oxygen level was very low,
i.e. approximately 50 something and my
heart was beating fast (130 something). The normal oxygen level at that altitude
was supposed to be 80+ and everyone was very concerned.
My guide Rajan
told me that I cannot continue with my journey anymore to the base camp and I
was extremely sad. I said it was because I’m exhausted from trekking and I’m
not suffering from any altitude sickness. He was proposing other alternatives
for me, i.e. get myself evacuated by helicopter, start walking down to Pheriche
with our porter Kamal, but I said no and insisted that I was not having any
breathing difficulty and would like to continue the journey.
I asked him
whether there is a horse to take me to EBC and he said yes but it’s very
expensive. He said the cost is US$400 for the return trip from Lobuche to Base
Camp but his instruction was to descend and he said he could not be responsible
for me, should I continue up.
Steve said we will
decide tomorrow and see how I feel in the morning.
Mineral
water – 250 rupees
Wi-Fi
– you need to buy data, i.e. 600 rupees for 200MB
Hot
shower – nobody showers anymore at this point as it’s freezing cold
Day
9 (14 April 2017): Lobuche to Gorak Shep to EBC and back to Lobuche (5,160 metres
Gorak Shep, 5,365 metres EBC, 4,928 metres Lobuche)(9 hours walk/ride)
I felt good the
next day. I was asked by Rajan to descend to Pheriche. However, with my persistence,
I insisted that I will take the horse to EBC. There is no way that after all
the pain and suffering and coming so close that I will descend when I was now feeling
fine. I asked Rajan whether there was a
horse and he said yes, there is a horse nearby the hotel. The rest of the guys proceeded with their
journey to Gorak Shep and I was brought to see the horse.
The keeper of the
horse fed it and shortly after it was all strapped up with a saddle for me to
climb up and start my journey. It only took 2 hours for me to reach Gorak Shep
on the horse.
Luckily, I hired
the horse as I would have been unable to trek the uneven rocks and hills up to
Gorak Shek. One small hill was enough to make the trekkers tired. It was so
steep and I thought the horse will not be able to climb up but surprisingly,
the horse was super strong and brought me to the top. The view was spectacular
and I did not have any breathing difficulties. All the trekkers saw me on top
of the horse and all felt so jealous! I made the right choice.
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| The excited face. I am reaching EBC soon |
I rested for 40
minutes at the accommodation where the guys were supposed to stay. The guys
came in the end and we proceeded with our journey to EBC.
Again, it was a
rocky climb, all the way up to the EBC. It took about 1 1 /2 hours to reach the
EBC with my horse.
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| At Gorak Shep, preparing for the EBC climb |
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| This is not easy for the horse |
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| Check out the conditions |
I was so happy the
moment we reached the EBC at 11.50am and later the rest came along. We were
quite early and managed to get good photos and most other climbers had yet to
reach EBC. That was the ultimate dream for me. Around the EBC, we saw all the
tents that had been set up for long term stay. These are the climbers who were attempting
to reach the summit of Mount Everest within the next 2 months. As of that day,
we were told that no climbers had attempted the summit and the furthest anyone
had been was to Camp 2. We spent about 30 minutes at EBC taking photos and
admiring the mountains, glacier and icefall. We knew that this will be the
closest we will get to Mount Everest, but it was mostly hidden behind Nuptse.
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| Private moment for me and the horse at EBC |
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| Check out the EBC |
We went back down
to Gorak Shep for lunch, feeling very happy and thereafter, Steve and myself
went back to Lobuche. Steve decided that he will skip Kala Pattar as the
weather had closed in and there wasn’t much point climbing it and not getting a
clear view of Everest. Graham and Issac
said that they will consider climbing to Kala Pattar in the morning if the
weather was good, but it snowed overnight and they did not go.
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| Way back to our hotel |
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| The keeper of the horse, me and horse |
Day
10 (15 April 2017): Lobuche to Pheriche (4,358 metres) (6 hours walk)
Heavy snow
overnight gave us about 15 cm deep snow on the ground and the snow changed the
landscape completely and everything looked so white. It was windy as well.
As Graham and
Issac were not climbing Kala Pattar, they descended from Gorak Shep to Pheriche
via Lobuche that morning. As I used my
horse to get back to Lobuche the day before, I was already half way to Pheriche
and only had to walk half the normal distance this day.
We went down early
morning after breakfast despite the slight snowfall and although it was going
down, it was difficult for me and I needed to stop to catch my breath all the
time. When we were at Thokla Pass, it was very wet and slippery, I slipped down
3 times but luckily I did not fall on the horse or yak dung.
We had a short
rest at the place we had lunch on the way up, and after that it was a flat
route (slightly downhill) the rest of the way. Graham and Isaac managed to
catch up with us around here. This showed how slow we were going. It was
extremely windy and cold and we had to continue our journey on the flat terrain
to Pheriche in deteriorating weather.
Upon arrival at
Pheriche, I was again extremely tired and out of breath. Steve was talking to
Rajan as to how to bring me back to Lukla safely, as all of them believed I would
not be able to trek down the difficult path back to Lukla and that perhaps
helicopter evacuation was the only option.
Since I was always
out of breath, I went to see the mountain doctor nearby. He asked me several
questions and gave me some tests (e.g. walking in a straight line, pointing to my
nose and reaching out to the doctor’s finger), which I passed. I was diagnosed
with a moderate Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Luckily, there was no swelling
in my brain or water in my lungs. We had to pay consultation fee of US$65.00 +
5 % charge for credit card transaction.
Steve tried to
contact the insurance company based in Denmark. He had to buy the wi-fi card as
there was no mobile reception and decided to send an email to inform the
insurance company of what happened and see whether we would be able to claim
for it. The insurance company replied to the email and informed us that the
medical report given by the mountain doctor in Pheriche must be pre-approved by
their own doctors and that we must use their designated helicopter company.
In the meantime,
while waiting for the insurance company’s further reply, Steve and Rajan went
and made preparations by booking me a seat on a helicopter to Lukla for US$500.
It wasn’t an official booking as they
basically give you a seat on someone else’s helicopter so you must wait for
someone else to be evacuated, or for a passing helicopter to agree to pick you
up.
Steve was checking
his email the whole evening, hoping to get a reply from the insurance company about
the claim but didn’t receive anything.
Day
11 (16 April 2017): Pheriche to Namche Bazaar (3,440 metres)(7-8 hours)
We woke up this
morning and it was extremely windy and snowy. There was still no reply from the
insurance company. Graham, Isaac and Kamal proceeded to Namche Bazar and Steve
and Rajan brought me to another lodge near the helipad. We were informed that they
were not sure when a helicopter with an available seat was going to arrive, and
I was asked to wait. I was told it could be in the afternoon as it also depends
on the weather.
Steve and Rajan
left the lodge and after waiting for a while, I paid US$500 cash and was
brought to the open field to wait for the helicopter. It was so windy that it
almost blew me away and it must have been difficult for other trekkers to climb
the mountains in these conditions. I knew that there was no way for me to trek
to Namche that day.
I waited for 10
minutes for the helicopter to arrive. The pilot was an Italian and he had to
pick up a girl from Gorak Shep and then 3 of us from Pheriche.
When we saw the
helicopter, it was so windy that the helicopter was unable to land. The pilot
had to circle around a few times and then land. Our journey to Lukla only took
us 10 minutes but it was a scary ride. Once we were out of the Pheriche valley,
things stabilised. The scenery from the helicopter was breathtaking.
 |
| Me inside the helicopter |
 |
| The helicopter that rescued me |
 |
| This was the Italian pilot |
Upon arrival at
Lukla, I gave my passport and medical report to a guy at the airport for him to
take a photo and send it to the insurance company.
I was told that my
hotel, The Nest at Lukla was very nearby and I asked someone from the hotel to
pick up my luggage from the helipad. I had to wait for a room to be cleaned as
it was fully booked the night before. Not long later, I was given an en-suite room.
Hot shower in the room was only available from 4pm onwards and not earlier.
Steve said all of
them arrived Namche Bazaar at 2pm that day and it was an extremely tough trek
down that I would have been unable to handle.
I had my dinner
all by myself and started talking to the guides who were staying at the hotel.
At this time, I realised that my face was burnt and I was trying to get rid of
the dead skin.
Day
12 (17 April 2017): Namche Bazaar to Lukla (2,652 metres)(5 hours)
I woke up and had
breakfast by myself. To my surprise, the rest of them arrived quite early at
Lukla at 12.30pm. Rajan said it was the earliest he’d ever arrived at Lukla
with the speed that the guys were travelling.
Before dinner, we
walked around Lukla to find jacket potatoes and chicken wings (which I saw another
group had bought the night before). We had our final dinner at the hotel with
the guide and porters and bought them dinner. It was also time for us to say
goodbye to Isaac as his mountain flight was the 1st flight at 6.30am
out from Lukla the next day. We also handed everyone their respective tips for
the entire trip.
Day
13 (18 April 2017): Lukla to Kathmandu (1,300 metres)
We had breakfast
in the hotel, and as it was right next to the runway, we didn’t need to leave
until the guide knew our plane was about to arrive (so we thought). Our flight
was due at 8:30am and we left the hotel at about 9am. We said our goodbye to Kamal and Kamal draped
a Nepalese scarf “Khata” (which was supposed to be given for someone leaving on
a trip) around each of our necks.
We then waited at
the airport for 3 hours as our flight did not arrive. The weather was getting
worse and the clouds were low making taking off and landing dangerous. Other
passengers for a later flight managed to get their flight earlier than us and
we were worried we would not fly that day.
In the end we got our flight at around 12.20pm. The delay was very
normal for the guides but for us passengers, we just wanted to leave Lukla as
soon as possible. Flights do not
normally run in the afternoons because of the weather and so if your flight is
delayed you can end up on standby the next day, and can be stuck for days. We
would have also missed our flights to KL for which we had already checked in
online.
On arrival in
Kathmandu, we were brought to our hotel and we had hot showers and started
packing and trying to squeeze our things back into our cases.
At night, we were
informed that Tika was unable to join the farewell dinner and so Rajan brought
us to a nice, posh restaurant in the heart of Kathmandu. The food here was
super delicious. Perhaps it was because we were served with low quality food up in the
mountains and we began to appreciate our food more. Whatever we had, was super-duper
good.
 |
| Farewell dinner |
After dinner, it
was time for us to say goodbye to Rajan.
Day
14 (19 April 2017): Kathmandu to Kuala Lumpur
We had our
breakfast at the hotel and it was good. Tika came and said good bye to us and then,
at 10am, our driver brought us to the airport for our flight home.
Kathmandu airport is
always busy. If they are sending one person to the airport, it seems liked the
whole village would join. Nothing has changed in this airport
and it is just as I remember from 10 years ago.
Our Malindo flight was supposed to depart the same time as MAS but was delayed for 1 ½ hours.
Overall, the
journey to EBC was tough and dangerous. We wore the same clothes for 7 days (day and night) as
it was freezing cold for much of the time.
Throughout the
trek, we were closely monitored and taken care of by our guide Rajan and our
porter Kamal (who was assisting Rajan). Both spoke good English and got along
very well with us all. Rajan briefed us every day on our itinerary, what to
expect for the day’s trek, how high we were going, the condition of our
accommodation etc. We just needed to ask Rajan or Kamal anything and they would
be able to tell us about the mountains, the conditions, or anything else on the
trek. Both were very knowledgeable indeed.
They served us our food and drinks
three times a day and made us feel very secure while being very enthusiastic
and energetic. I was very slow and there was not even once that
they showed impatience with me. Either Rajan or Kamal would separate from the
leading group and accompany me, carry my backpack and follow at my speed
instead! I truly appreciated that.
- 5-star accommodation. The higher you get the more basic the accommodation will get (beds, blankets, very dim room lights and a table if you are lucky) and expect common toilets! It’s going to be zero-star accommodation
- Toilets to be clean. There will be a smell
- To brush your teeth as the higher you get, the water will be frozen the next morning (though at some point someone will pour hot water on it)
- Good quality and tasty food
- Hot showers. Even if you do get one, you probably don’t want to bother as they are not at all pleasant in cold/freezing temperatures
- Clean pathways and routes throughout your journey as there will be horse and yak dung everywhere. Be prepared to step on it
Things
to bring or prepare for EBC
- Lots of wet wipes (it is difficult to shower and too cold to shower). In certain places you also need to pay for a hot shower. Wet wipes make life much easier and you need them to wipe away the dust!
- At least 1 toilet roll per person, as the lodges do not provide toilet rolls. We got through just over 1 roll each over the whole trek.
- Tissue paper and serviettes. Tissue paper cost 50 rupees for 1 packet.
- Microfibre travel towel (you need a towel to dry fast overnight so that you can put it into your bag)
- Small quantity of shampoo, conditioner and shower gel as all these are not provided at the lodges
- Buff (to cover your nose and mouth while trekking especially when it’s windy and the sand will be blown in your face. Inhaling too much of dust will make you ill)
- Sun cream (preferably SPF 50+)
- Sunglasses (it is very bright)
- Good walking boots. Almost everyone we saw was wearing boots, though a few wore shoes. The routes are really too uneven for shoes and the boots also kept our feet dry in the unexpected snow.
- Spare shoes (we brought trail runners as backups to our boots but ended up only using them around the lodges)
- A pair of walking sticks
- Hat/cap and woolly hat
- Slippers/sandals (for light walking and going into shower or toilet). It’s going to be too cold to step onto the tiles.
- Headlight. Lights are very dim in certain lodges.
- Thermals
- Winter clothing, windbreaker, raincoat. You may be able to wear shorts from Lukla to Namche Bazaar. After Namche Bazaar, it will be very cold and you will need warm clothes.
- Snacks (e.g. Snickers, Mars, chocolates) and protein shake powder for when you can't stomach the food.
- Energy Gels. Only used a couple but good for emergencies. Energy bars are too difficult to eat when you are dehydrated.
- Diamox (to prevent/ease AMS), Imodium and rehydration salts (in case of food poisoning), ibuprofen (for headache and other aches), plasters (for blisters) and other medications in accordance to your needs.
- Cash – assuming nothing goes wrong during the trek, you only need around US$100 per person (converted to Nepalese rupees). However, it is best to bring approximately another US$1,000 per person (for emergencies, i.e. for horse rides and helicopter). Please take note that you may not be able to withdraw money at the ATM in Kathmandu and Namche Bazaar (we couldn’t).
- All kinds of meat as it is not fresh and may cause food poisoning. Stay vegetarian if possible. It’s alright to have meat at Lukla but not anywhere else
- Try to order Asian food and not Western food (e.g. pizza, spaghetti or sandwich) as it’s not up to the standard you’d expect. The food at all the lodges is low in quality. However, the local food Dhal Bhat tasted good in all the lodges.
- Avoid alcohol when ascending as it will affect your acclimatisation and your stomach
- Unbottled water. Lots of people use tablets/drops to sterilise the water, and we were planning on doing that but in the end decided to stick to bottled water just to be safe (and as it tastes better)
- Ground package with Amigo Treks and Expedition – US$1,250 per person based on twin sharing. If single supplement, add another US$150
- Nepal visa on arrival – US$25
- Plane tickets – depending on which airlines and where you are coming from.
- Travelling insurance (which includes medical evacuation by helicopter) – US$100 for a couple
- Cash – assuming nothing goes wrong during the trek, you only need US$100 per person
