“One gets to tread and experience the mountains only when they call for
you!” I was finally summoned by Mountain Gods, after 2 years. My past trips
never materialized due to various unexpected reasons. I was finally on my way to the Everest Base camp trek and was super excited to experience and unravel what the mountains had in store
for me this time.
The regular route to the base camp is a popular tourist trail and
takes about 12-14 days. Aatir from UFO group suggested the Gokyo Lakes route which
was a couple of days longer (17-18 days) but more offbeat with sights worth the
effort and a life time experience. They organized the entire trek for me with
great efficiency.
Day 1 Land in Kathmandu
The day finally arrived and I left for Kathmandu from Dhaka. Due to the gradual
spread of corona virus, tourism was affected and regular buzz at the airport
was missing. When I reached Kathmandu, Aatir and the guide received me at the
airport and laid my inquisitive mind at rest by patiently answering my barrage
of questions as we headed to our bread and breakfast, Karwaan, near Thamel. We checked
our personal gear and after a quick trip to Thamel to exchange currency and buy
a couple of things, we called it an early night.
Day 2 Fly to Lukla. Trek to Monjo
We were woken up at 4.30 am to catch our 6 am flight. Thankfully our flight was on time and we
bundled into the small 15-seater propeller excitedly for Lukla (2827m). Mingma, our guide for the trip and our porter came to receive us at the Lukla
airport and we started our trek for Phakding (2652m). The trail was muddy and
slush, mixture of ice and dirt, as we crossed through quaint villages and also
spotted our first high peak of Kusum Khangkaru. We crossed 4 suspension bridges
and reached Phakding by 11.30, where we grabbed a quick bite. As we felt pretty
strong and had enough time, we decided to go ahead to our next stop, Monjo
(2900m). The teahouse where we stayed had hot showers, which in hindsight is a
luxury in mountains. A hot cup of ginger lemon honey tea and dinner made it the
perfect first day.
Day 3 Namche Bazar, the Gateway to the Kumbhu region
After a breakfast of Tibetan bread and omelet, we headed to Namche Bazar
(3446m) which is a popular and gateway to the Kumbhu region. The trail was beautiful with many pine trees
and scenic views and crossed the iconic Hillary bridge over Dudh Kosi river.We were greeted by snow as we entered Namche. The entire trail I could
not help but admire as it looked better in real life than in pictures and was thankful
for this experience as we reached our mountain lodge for the day.The entire village rooftop was white. We were deciding our iternary for
the following days as the Cho la high pass was full of snow and closed at that
point. So we decided to ‘take things as it comes’ and planned for the next 2-3
days ahead. Our itinerary would be dependent on the weather.
Day 4 Walk to Phortse Thanga
We were supposed to stay an extra day in Namche for acclimatization but
as the group felt strong, we decided to move on and acclimatize higher. After a
delicious breakfast , we left for Phortse Thanga (3658 meters). Just above Namche,
we got our first glimpse of the high peaks with Mt. Everest, Tabouche, Lhotse,
Ama Dablam and Thamserku. It was a long
hike but with spectacular sights. We
reached Phortse Thanga after 7 hours and now could feel the altitude, in terms
of air and money too. Just for using showers, we had to pay 500 Nepali rupees
and 350 NPR for charging the phone for
an hour. We de-stressed ourselves by playing cards near the fireplace before
dinner.
Day 5 Trek to Macchermo
We started our trek for Macchermo (4450m) at 8:30am with a bright and
sunny day ahead of us. The trail was full of steps initially in the forest.
But soon we broke out of the forest into barren snow covered landscape. We were
going from 3900 to 4450 meters today, therefore we took it slow and steady. Today
we also got our first glimpse of Cho Oyu (8188m), sixth highest mountain in the
world. We had our lunch at Dole and
reached our destination after a stunningly beautiful 7 hour walk. We met some
people on the way who informed us that Cho la was still inaccessible. We
trudged on hoping that the weather gods would be in our favor in the next few
days.
Day 6 Acclimatization day at Macchermo
Macchermo was strikingly beautiful and covered with snow. We were staying an extra day here to acclimatize and after breakfast went for a little walk to help in our acclimatization. We saw some people skiing on the slopes around Macchermo. After lazing around the day in the sun, we looked forward to our dinner. A local Sherpa ran that lodge with the women of the family running the place. They were very hardworking and worked continuously from 6:30 am, by cooking, cleaning and servicing the rooms. We got ourselves an Internet card (Everest Link) here which helped us be in contact with the outside world whenever we wanted.
Day 7 The three Gokyo Lakes
We now headed for our first major destination, the Gokyo lakes (4800m). We
were now reaching higher altitude with the cold winds adding to the chill
factor. There were no lodges to rest on the way during the 5 hour hike. We were
surrounded by a thick sheet of snow with thin trails to walk through. Finally,
we saw the first Gokyo lake which was small and half frozen. We spotted a few
pairs of Ruddy Shelducks (Brahminy Ducks) in the lake. It was interesting to
see the wildlife surviving at this altitude. We spotted Himalayan Griffin
vultures, kestrel, snow cocks and even a little Himalayan weasel as we crossed
the second and third Gokyo Lakes, both of which were frozen. Watching the sun set over these frozen lakes with the array of colors
and the clouds constantly drifting over them was a sight to be experienced.
Day 8 Climb Gokyo Ri. Cross the Ngozumpa glacier to Thangnak
We got up at 3:30 am in the morning today! With our head torches on, we made our way out of the lodge to climb Gokyo Ri (5300m). It was pitch dark with snow glistening under the moonlight around us and utterly cold! Even our bottles were covered with thermal socks to keep them from freezing. The trail was steep with loose rocks reminding me of the Kilimanjaro summit night. We were ascending slowly as the air got thinner with altitude and breathing a bit difficult while trekking. My fingers and toes were numb but the guide and porter were there to support and help us. As dawn broke, we saw the first rays of sun hitting the summit of Mount Everest, which was covered with golden clouds like a halo. Other peaks of Makalu, Lhotse, Nuptse, were now visible in the golden sunrise. It took us about 2.5 hours to reach the peak of Gokyo Ri and we got a complete 360 degree view of the all the 3 frozen lakes, the high peaks, Ngozumpa glacier (the biggest glacier in Asia by volume). The lodges looked like tiny dots from where we stood.
Once we reached back to the tea house, we had our breakfast to get some
much needed energy. The day was not over as we had to cross the Ngozumpa glacier
to Thangnak (4750m).It was a challenging experience for me, as we had to trek through the
endless steep snow and rubble with steep descent in this extremely windy
weather. Every step had to be mindful and I did slip a few times but was helped
by the guide. It was a 6km trail but it felt as if I was walking for eternity,
catching my breath every now and then. We could here water under our feet as we
crissed the glacier covered with mud and rocks. It was like a cold snow desert.We reached Thangnak and I was drained of energy. A hot of ginger lemon honey came to the
rescue! Tomorrow was a big day so we decided to leave for Cho la pass (5400m)
by 6 am as it was showing snow by 11 am. We did not want to be caught in the
snow at Cho la.
Day 9 Crossing the high pass of Cho la
Getting up at 5 am we got ourselves porridge and coffee for breakfast. Packed
our lunch at started off for Cho la (5400m). We made our way to the first high point in
good time and reached the base of the high pass in 3 hours. The trail was steep
and the local villages had installed a metallic rope with poles to help the
crossing, almost feeling like a via ferrata . It was a grueling experience in
some of the patches and tested my endurance to the max. At exactly 11 am we
reached the top of Cho la and it started snowing!! We were so happy to be at
the top well in time. Emotions were high and after a lot of pictures and back
thumping, we started our way down the Cho la glacier to Dzongla (4850m). It was
a whiteout as we raced to Dzongla. After a draining day, hot teas and soups
helped us recover our strength and warmth.
Day 10 Rejoin the classic Everest trail at Lobuche
Morning was still white and cloudy. Cholatse’s (6440m) north face stood in congruent in the morning. After breakfast of porridge and frozen honey, we headed
to Lobuche (4938 meters). It had been snowing
since last night and the entire trail was full of deep snow. We were the last customers to leave the Dzongla lodge. Because of COVID-19, the expeditions had been cancelled and there were not many trekkers, so the
lodges were closing down till the next season. We witnessed some great views of
Ama Dablam (6812m) on the way. At Lobuche, we joined back the classic Everest
Base camp trail. We treated ourselves to some chicken curry and rice for the
night.
Day 11 Everest base camp via Gorekshep
We were scheduled to take a rest day but decided not to, as we felt fine
and thought it would be better if we carried on so that we could descend early.
We left for Everest Base camp (5364m) via Gorekshep (5190m). There were many
groups following that trail, there was a line of people following each other
and we were told that during the peak season trail seems even fuller. It took
us 3.5 hours to reach Gorekshep where we refueled with some hot soup. We left
for the Everest Base camp and felt the full force of the incredibly strong
chilly winds. On the ridge before reaching Everest base camp, it was a struggle
to stay in balance. The winds were anywhere near 40 to 50 km/h and the
temperature was below freezing. It took
2.5 hours to reach the base camp basically frozen to our bones. The Everest base
camp was empty as all the expeditions had been cancelled.
We took our customary pictures at the base camp rock and headed back. We
reached the lodge with the sky still grey. We were pretty disappointed to drop
our plan to climb Kalapathar (5643m) as
the weather was overcast for the next two days. Sleeping at 5200m is a whole different
story with shortness of breath and uncomfortable. Temperature at night was -22 Celsius,
by far the coldest night of my life!
Day 12 Descend all the way down to Pangboche
As we finished our breakfast, I longed for the sun and its warmth and
grateful to be heading down finally. We descended the trail crossing Lobuche
and Pheriche and finally to Pangboche (3985m). It was long winding walk but nonetheless
more comfortable as we got more oxygen as we descended to lower altitudes. I
was getting messages from my family and even my flights were getting canceled
which made me an anxious. Coordinating while trekking can be quiet exhausting.
Nonetheless, I was happy to finally be going down.
Day 13 Walk back to Namche Bazar
We were now nearing the end of our trek and headed back to Namche
Bazaar. On the way, we stopped at Tengboche monastery at 3867m which is also
the biggest 'gompa' (monastery ) in the Khumbu region. It was a long 8 hrs walk. We
checked into our lodge and went out for
a cup of coffee and dessert to celebrate the end of our trek.
Day 14 Trek to Lukla
From Namche we headed back down to Lukla, which was again a long walk. We
were still 2 hours away from Lukla when it started raining heavily. My knees
felt weak and shaky with all the descent, an indication that I was also tired. At
Lukla, we celebrated our guide’s, Mingma, birthday and had dinner with the
entire crew. We got him a cake from a local bakery and it was somehow the
perfect send off from the Everest region. I can’t thank the crew enough for all
their patience and support during the entire trek.
Day 15 Fly back to Lukla and onwards
Our flight to Kathmandu was scheduled at 7:30
am but due to the cloudy weather it took off only at 12: 35 pm. The COVID-19
had affected plans of a lot of travelers and trekkers we met. The daily changes
in guidelines and announcements, there was a lot of confusion.
All the flights from Kathmandu were being
suspended in the next couple of days and I was lucky that I reached Delhi that
day to pick up my daughter. I had a flight to Delhi at 5 pm, which I managed to
connect, thanks to Aatir and his UFO team. They ensured that the entire trip
was comfortable and were always ready to help with a smile.I was extremely lucky to have been able to
complete my trip and reach home safely in a situation when things were
uncertain.
There were times I was restless due to various things not going the
way it was supposed to. But now when I
think back it was all for the best. Living in that moment and accepting
situations as they present themselves may be challenging but rewarding. Mountains
teach us to appreciate and respect not only what’s around us but also what’s
within us. Every time I travel to mountains it gives me
time to introspect and I feel humbled, grateful for opportunities that life
gives us.
Thank you UFO for making my Everest dream come true!! Cheers !
Watch video below:
