Oli & Olivia in INDIA and NEPAL: Everest Base Camp

Where we went:

---------------UP---------------------

08/09 - Kathmandu [FLIGHT to] Lukla (2860m) [then WALK to] Phakding (2610m)

9/09 - Namche Bazaar (3440m)

10/09 - Namche Bazaar (REST DAY)

11/09 - Deboche (3820m)

12/09 - Dingboche (4410m)

13/09 - Dingboche (REST DAY)

14/09 - Lobouche (4910m)

15/09 - Gorak Shep (5140) [then UP to and BACK from] EVEREST BASE CAMP (5360m)

16/09 - Gorak Shep (Awaiting good weather)

---------------DOWN-------------------

17/09 - Pangboche (3930m)

18/09 - Kumjung (3780m)

19/09 - Namche Bazaar (3440m)

20/09 - Lukla (2860m) [FLIGHT to] Kathmandu

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Rather than write endlessly about walking and being out of breath I though a few photos would give you an idea of what we were up to... starting with the airport that is consistently in the top 10 most dangerous airports in the world - LUKLA! It's runway is 400m long, is on a 12 degree upward incline and has a cliff at one end and a concrete wall at the other. Oh yes, and one of the steepest approaches I have ever seen (to clear the other larger 'hills' on the way in that are right under the flight path!).

Lukla strip - The start of the journey

Gomphurs like this one with prayer flags were a common occurrence. The peoples of the mountain are mainly Buddhist and along with gomphurs, we saw (and spun) lots of prayer wheels and monasteries. The mountains in the background came and went as and when the rain stopped! On the way up we only saw the mountains once before Gorak Shep, but on the way back down we were much more lucky.

Gomphur with prayer flags - Always go clockwise round them!

Namche Bazaar (below) was the first day for acclimatization. It was here that we really started to feel short of breath. I had a resting heartbeat of 86 bpm and climbing stairs left you out of breath like you had just been out for a run! Walking up stairs whilst eating a mars bar was strictly out of the question - unless your wanted to pass out!

Namche Bazaar - Acclimatization day 1

The trek to base camp loosely follows the course of a river and therefore involves crossing the river in many places. Most of the bridges were substantial steel wire rope bridges. This one below however was one of the more questionable ones... It wasn't until we had crossed over did we realise quite how buckled it was. (one too many yaks maybe???)

A bridge (on its last legs)

The Sherpa peoples are very friendly and their children are always keen to say hello to all and sundry (Namaste!). This little girl took this one step further and appointed herself guide for half a mile. Quite sweet really!

Our guide - looking very serious!

Like I said, we didn't always have cracking views - it rained quite a lot:

Neon rave in the rain (it's a walking pole hooked onto the top of the umbrella in case you are wondering!)

But when it did stop raining and the clouds cleared the scenery was simply breathtaking and made all the effort worthwhile.. This was our view from one of our lodges one evening just as the sun was setting.

Mountain views in the evening

This is a picture of Ama Dablam - one of the most stereotypically 'mountain shaped' mountains in the region.

Ama Dablam

There were nine of us on the trek - six guys and three girls. Luckily we all got along just fine - nine is enough not to get bored of talking to one person for too long (sorry Olivia!).

The A-team

After many days of trekking we finally reached Gorak Shep, the highest place we would sleep (5180m). It's a slightly odd place with a large open area of sand, but made for a good staging point to Everest Base Camp. Amusingly (after the time), the effort of turning over in your sleep invariably work you up since you would be so short of breath! Didn't imagine that before I did the trek.

Gorak Shep - High altitude sleeping

From Gorak Shep (the same day we arrived) we made the 5 or so hour round trip to base camp. The majority of this stage was done on the same glacier that base camp is on. Having never walked on a glacier before I was surprised to find quite so many rocks (not a perfect sheet of ice like I thought!). They are deceptive however because beneath the thin layer of grit there is most certainly ice and it is just as slippery as usual!

This picture is of a hole in the glacier showing the water below.

On the glacier

Finally, after many days, we reached Everest Base Camp. It was actually a bit on an anticlimax because by this point we were absolutely knackered, cold and bored of walking. Still it was a relief to finally be there and see some tents - there is not sign to announce your arrival :(

Everest Base Camp - comfy looking eh!

It really was significantly colder up on the glacier - cold enough to snow in fact.

Ahhhh. sweet! (Olivia did make it!)

On the way back down the mountain (which only took three days by the way - depressing!) we took a detour to look at what was marked on the map as a 'pyramid'??? Turned out to be a climate research lab run by the Italians. We even managed to get a look around inside and we all enjoyed some geek time with the scientist. Pretty impressive stuff, and very committed of them - it's cold and lonely up there!

The climate 'pyramid'

Olivia thinks no one cares about my boots - so i'm proving her wrong! (right??) When we got to Namche Bazaar on the way up, the soles of my boots started to peel off. I took myself off to the local man with a plan, and he glued and nailed my boots back to life! However, by the time I got to Namche again they were looking a bit sorry for themselves again: (I switched to deck shoes for the last two days of the descent)