10 Days trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC) part-1

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Day 1: 👀

The flight was delayed for 50 minutes, due to bad weather. This is quite normal as the weather condition in Lukla changes drastically within minutes. We found ourselfes lucky that the aircraft was delayed for just an hour. 

The flight took 30 minutes of airtime and best place to choose on this flight is of the left side (Port side) of the aircraft so that you can see the mountains if you are lucky with the weather. And if the weather is good, the view of the lukla valley is breath taking. Some parts of the khumbu valley can also be seen. Though the airport is renown for its tabletop short runway, the landing was quite smooth. As the runway is way shorter than normal airports, if the pilot doesnt apply the right controls at the right time, the aircraft may crash in the the wall at the end of the runway. Even scarier than that is taking off from Lukla, but more about that on the final days.

However, as we checked out of the airport, couple of porters offered to carry our bags for the trek. One should be aware cause lot of them charge unreasonable amount. The one we hired was Rs. 1000 per day, Deepak ji. We stayed in hotel for a while and had our lunch there, a simple Daal bhat costed around Rs. 400. Then we headed off from Lukla in the direction of Namche Bazar. We planned a 2 days hike from Lukla to Namche. Initially we planned 1st day trek to Monjo (5.5 hours) and 2nd day trek to Namche (3.5 hours). 

As soon as you get out of the plane and find your way to the baggage reclaim, you feel the cool breeze of air. The temperature, humidity and pressure in Lukla is so much different, you feel the dampness of the valley. As we crossed the "pasang lhamu gate", we discovered a unique set of stones that are printed in different ancient looking mantras. They look even better upclose, because the imprints are in 3D as the writings are engraved into the stones with some kind of a chisel. One cannot overlook these amazing arts of Buddism. They are officially called mani stones. And such buddist environment is all over the train. Some colorful Prayer wheels with the golden matra of om mani pembe humm written on it. 

mani stone: feel of buddism

On 28th April 2021, i took off for EBC. It was a sunny Wednesday and the team included one of my uncles and 5 of his friends. The flight was scheduled for 7:10 am, that was the 2nd flight. We reached around 6 am at the TIA airport and we checked in with Tara airlines at about 6:40. The aircraft was a Twin otter 19 PAX. The plane was taking us to Lukla airport, one of the most dangerous airports in the world. 

However, as we moved along the way we decided to trek a bit more on the 1st day and camped in Jorsale. So 1st day trek 6 hours to Jorsale and 2nd day trek was planned for 3 hours to namche. So we started our trek at 10.30 and reached Jorsale or Thumbug at 16.30.  

•  Route:  Ktm to Lukla airport to Jorsalle 
• Difficulty:  Level 1, no steep hills just casual ups and downs. piece of cake.
•      Altitude gain:  Kathmandu 1400m to lukla 2860m to Jorsale 2740m: 1460 by plane and -120m.
•    Things to expect: greenery, beautiful landscape and unique people with red apple cheeks, the most friendly and kind people, stupas and tattooed  stones (mani stone) (stones with mantras written on them) and lot of suspension bridges. River thado khosi, Ghat, Phakding, Toktok Monjo, lots of suspension bridges, Prayer wheel, jhopke- cross between cow and yak.  

• yak male👨, nak female.👩
•     Tips:

• Tip 1: Take a good read with you, something related to mountainering would be even better.

• Tip 2: Get a medical check certificate from a physician

• Tip 3: Buy a map

• Tip 4: Get 2 bags if you are planning to get a porter. Bigger bag would go with porter and the smaller one could be used to carry the most essentials like water, food and raincoats. Even if you are planning to carry your own load. do take an extra bag, if in case you have second thoughts and you decide to get a porter in the middle of the trip.
•    Travel cost:  Plane ticket cost=  Rs. 8500, Porter= Rs. 1000, we stayed in a hotel costing Rs. 200 a night, and food (daal Bhat) around Rs 400 lunch and Rs 600 dinner. 

Total: Rs. 10,700

 click here for youtube video

Dal-bhat in Lukla

Landscape

What to pack in the bigger and smaller bags?

Day 2: 👊

In day 1 the departure time for our trek was controlled by our flight from kathmandu. However on Day 2 we planned to leave on 6:30 am. We trekked to Namche Bazzar. We had a couple of checking stations as we were entering the sagarmatha national park area. If you are not from nepal, you need to show your tickets or a documentation of some sort. As we were nepali, we just said hello and moved on. 

 I must say the steeps are more steep and in bad weather this route can really be daunting, so take out your trekking spokes and buckel up. I had my first encounter with khachads here, and boy do they shit a lot. The khachad dung has a pungent smell and one cannot overlook the smell of khachad dung. We used to joke about this smell, as it was a proof that none of us had corona. :D

During this trip, there is this bridge called the Tenzing Hillary  Bridge. This bridge is a combination of 2 bridges, one a little lower than the other. In past there was only one bridge, the lower one, however, the end of the bridge has a difficult route and many people and animals have lost their life going through this bridge, so they built one on top of the old one, which is much more convinient.

 As we reached Namche, the view was very beautiful a whole village on top of a hill in a curved half bowl shape. Iconic feature of Namche bazzar. There is a helipad, and also an airport called syangboche airport. 

As the altitude sickness starts from 2500m and up. It was now important to make aclamatization hikes. which is basically climbing higher than the altitude where you are planning to spend the night. We stayed in a hotel in Namche at an altitue of 3400m so we made a aclamitization hike through syanboche airport to Hotel Everest view at an altitude of 3880m and back again to Namche Bazzar. There is also this sagarmatha museum nearby, it is a plain field where you could enjoy view of different himals like mount kangaroo and even get a glimps of Everest if the weather is super clear. Sadly we didnt get to view Everest. 

•  Route: Jorsalle to Namche Bazzar.      
• Difficulty: level 3, steep hills, lots of ups and downs. Would have been more difficult with bad weather. ( in bad weather things can go south). killer uka 
•    Altitude gain: Jorsale 2740m to Namche 3440m: 700m
•     Things to expect:  more suspension bridges, gumbas on hill tops. lot of khachads( cross between donkey and horse) and dzo cross between (yak and cow). Hotel Everest View- hotel at the highest altitute of 13000 ft, Sagarmatha meuseum. Photo taking spots could be found throughout the hike.
•     Tips: 

• Tip 5: Concentrate on the walking method. dont rush, be slow but consistent with your pace.

• Tip 6: while trekking, go towards the wall if there is a stream of khachads or dzo travelling the same route. They may tackel you and if u are on the edge one may fall off.

• Tip 6: guard youself with your trekking rod, if you feel scared.

• Tip 7: if you are getting symptoms of altitude sickness, chewing on garlic is a good bet. But dont overdo it, more garlic can cause heart burn and uneasyness. So 3 garlich cloves a day would do.

• Tip 8: if you are scared about getting altitude sickness, get hold of this Diamox tablets, take it 1 day before the climb.

• Tip 9: carry an all purpose monkey cap. :D protects you from wind cold and is cool
•  Travel cost: Rs 1000 for porter, Stay: Rs 500, Food: daal bhat Rs 700 dinner+ Garlic soup Rs 350

Total=Rs 2550

Grand Total= Rs. 13,350

 

  click here for youtube video

Tenzing Hillary Bridge

Syangboche Airport

View from Sagarmatha meuseum

How to best safeguard your knees during such long treks?

 

Day 3: ✌

Starting our trek at 6:30 am meant we could enjoy the view even better and reach our destination in dusk, so we headed out again at 6:30 am, the trail on this day was dangerrous yet fun to walk in. The trail was basically on the sides of hills, you have hill tops and rocks on one side and a straight our falls on the other side. the view is rewarding though. If you are lucky you will see some wild animals on your way up. I saw dhaphe, national bird of nepal, vultures: i imagined them always smaller than what their actual size is. 

Other than that the climate gets a bit windy. So i would suggest a poncho sweater from this point onwards more on that in the tips section.

 

 

•  Route: Namche Bazzar to Deboche

• Difficulty: level 2: the route was not so difficult as we had to walk a lot but, there are not much steep hills so you will be fine, if you walk in a steady pace. (slow and steady)

• Altitude gain: Namche 3440m to Doboche 3820m: 380m

• Things to expect:  Tengboche Gumba 3860m,  fire place, good and cozy place, really cold, horses, yak first encounter, learned about no killing tradition.  

•    Tips: 

• Tip 10: get a poncho sweater, a rug that has a hole on it. the biggest advantage of poncho other than it looks cool is, it protects you from direct wind however is still breeze in the inside. you dont feel humid. i would compare it to the lunge for the upper body. the temperature is high in the day but the wind is so strong that if you let it hit your chest area you may get coughs and bad throught

• Tip 11: avoid meat cz meats are frozen and brought back as flesh from lukla.

•   Travel cost: Rs 1000 for porter, Stay: Rs 500, Food: daal bhat Rs 800 dinner+ mushroom soup Rs 450, warm water: Rs 600 for 1 thermus

Total=Rs 3350

Grand Total= Rs. 16,700

 Click here for youtube videos

Dhaphe: national bird of Nepal.

Put on a poncho

Tengboche Monastery

Day 4: 👏

Today was a short hike and we reached Dingboche sooner than we expected. After reaching Dingboche we did want to make the aclimatization hike, however the weather was not good. It snowed think so we stayed in and played cards. The area is surrounded by hilly region so no network which means no internet. However, some desperate people could use Everest Sim: but i didnt find the price reasonable. However, in other parts of th route Ncell network was way bettter thatn NTC. 

Pangboche, Somare, did not go to Pheriche it is usually windy place and Dinboche is at higher altitude so good for aclamatization but free medical camp available.

 

•  Route: Deboche to Dingboche

• Difficulty:  level 4

•    Altitude gain: Deboche 3820m to Dingboche 4410m: 210m

• Things to expect: no more trees, bushes and uniquie himalayan trail with spectacular views.

•   Tips:

• Tip 12: Drink water in small amounts for higher frequency, avoids dehydration.

• Tip 13: even if you feel hot, dont open up cloths as the breezes can make you cold and cause you headache.

• Tip 14: walk in a steady speed dont rush.

•  Travel cost: Rs 1000 for porter, Stay: Rs 500, Food: daal bhat Rs 700+ kodo ko roti Rs 400, warm water: Rs 700 for 2 liters.

Total=Rs 3300

Grand Total= Rs 21,000

 Click here for youtube videos

Ama Damblam (6,812m)

       

Focus EBC