Mt Everest Base Camp
Posted by Karen on August 15th 2006
Written on the 2006 London to Sydney expedition
So far…
Due to a delay in being allowed to enter China, we now found ourselves with enough time in Nepal to attempt some of the big treks like the Anna Perrna Circuit and Mt Everest Base Camp Trek.
A few of us decided to trek to base camp while the truck carried on around Nepal.
To begin with, as hard as it is in places, it is extremely ‘do-able’. You need only to be in good health and have a basic fitness level, you DO NOT need to be a real fitness freak, well, you probably do if you want to carry all your own gear and do it on your own, but if your looking for the easier option like we were, then you simply hire a guide and a couple of sherpa’s, and you’re off.
We started off waiting at the Kathmandu Airport from 5.30am for our 30-minute flight to Lukla (the start of the trek). Passing the Himalayan Range with issued cotton wool shoved in our ears, as the plane was so old and noisy, vibrating vigorously the whole way.
Picking up our two Sherpa’s at Lukla we began the trek straight away.
Due to the risk of altitude sickness, we took things very slowly right from the start, there was no rushing at all, so you had plenty of time to look around and appreciate the beautiful surroundings.
The Sherpa’s carried all of our gear and our Guide walked with us, organising all of our accommodation and meals etc. It was teahouses and rooms the whole way, complete with Yak dung fuelled fires, full menus to choose from and hot showers available at all times – No roughing it at all!
We walked for a total of 10 days in the end, 7 up and 3 back down. And between 2-5 hours of actual walking a day going up and 6-8 hours a day coming down.
Because we took it so slowly, luckily none of us had any adverse effects with the altitude, and the walking itself was, although very hard in places, still very manageable as long as you took your time (even if you took twice as long you’d still get there by lunch time with the rest of the day to fill in).
The weather was perfect for us and the views spectacular the whole way.
It was incredible seeing the Sherpa’s working, re-supplying the huts and maintaining the trail, no Gore-Tex wet weathers or North Face thermals for them, ill fitting gumboots or flip-flops and a tee-shirt it was, carrying between 80 – 120 kilos in a basket on their backs, strapped to their heads.
To sum up, we couldn’t recommend it enough!
If you are very fit you can easily do it on your own, you don’t even have to have a guide let alone Sherpa’s (and it’s a lot cheaper this way). But if you’ve just sat on an overland truck for 3 months over indulging and not doing a lot of (if any)! exercise, we would recommend taking the easier option!
A few things we picked up along the way if anybody is considering doing it next time:
Allow a few days either side for flight cancellations to Lukla due to bad weather
Sit on the left side of the plane if you can going out and the right coming back for a view of the Himalayas.
Take loads of books and some cards etc., as there is a lot of down time while acclimatising to the altitude.
It only takes a day to organise all the permits and flights etc.
Wait and buy all your trekking gear in Nepal if you need anything as they have everything and it is very very very cheap!
Buy as much as you can in Kathmandu, although everything is available on the trail is gets more expensive the higher up you go (chocolate, film, batteries, loo roll etc.).
160 people a month do the trail at this time of year and 7000 a month do it in the high season (October) - we had everything to ourselves and we hardly saw other trekkers at this time of year. The weather was great for us, but apparently it is clearer more often in October.
Take a bit of spare cash with for things like hot showers which you pay separately for, extra drinks and snacks etc.
We all drank the local water, un-treated and had absolutely no problems - up to you though!
We loved every minute of it and couldn’t reccomend it enough - even the hard bits!
Until next time…
