Sunday, August 27, 2017

Everest Base Camp Trek

                                          






Everest is not only a mountain it is head of earth. Everest base camp is its one part. People want to go base camp because it is there.  I had a dream to touch it. I was born in a mountain area of Nepal and taught in school about Mt Everest. Usually, we would read it in Nepali name “Sagarmatha”. “Sagar” means sky & “ Matha” means head so it can be said sky-touching head. 

When I finished my school & came to Kathmandu for university it was a big challenge for me. My parents did not have any income to afford me so I should do something to survive in Kathmandu. I tried to get a job in Kathmandu but it was not easy. Many people were unemployed; if you have your own closed-one then there is a chance to get a job even in any sector in Nepal. I was from a very poor & uneducated family. One of my brothers was struggling in Kathmandu so he couldn’t support me. I had to work to live & study.  Four-years, I couldn’t find any things. One day I met one trekking guide, he offered me to go trekking as a porter.

It was in 2006, I started to carry trekker’s baggage on mountains. It was not easy but I was also from the mountain & grown up climbing on the mountain. Here’s one thing; I used to climb up almost two hours to reach in school & one & half hour to go back home every day in my 11 years school life. So I think I had that habit in blood. I had started to trek by carrying tourist’s bag in Langtang & Annapurna Himalaya area. Tourists would ask about Everest, I knew information about Everest, legendary Sir Edmond Hillary, Tenzing Sherpa & other much more but I had not gone in this majestic land.

In 2008, I got a job to go Everest base camp trek & Island peak climbing as well with two Canadian boys. It was not only base camp trek, we had to cross big pass before base camp named Chola pass. It was so nice, so beautiful, so amazing. I had almost 25 kg bag pack but so much excited to trek in this area. I saw Mt. Everest from the top of Namche bazaar first time in my life. We are Nepali & many others foreign people think we have seen it always but of course many of the Nepali die without seeing it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have any camera, mobile anything in this time. Yes! We didn’t have a mobile phone; it was a very new thing in Nepal. Rich people would have a mobile phone but others would not afford. We trekked to Gokyo Lake Valley; Gokyo Ri 5,360m above sea level was amazing with a 360-degree view including Mt. Everest, Mt. Makalu, Mt. Choyu & higher mountain.

We had the plan to go Lobuche, Gorakshep, & Everest base camp after crossing the big Chola pass, unluckily one of our guests got altitude sickness while going to Lobuche from Pass. We changed the plan & trekked down to Thukla.  Thukla it was 4600m from sea level. It was better placed to stay overnight. I also had a bit headache after Chola pass but when we stopped in Thukla it went away. Next morning, we went to Everest base camp direct from Thukla. It was amazing, superb & picturesque. We were tired but so much excited. We forgot all the tiredness, sickness, hardness everything. It was my lifetime experienced, achievement. We stayed almost 30 minutes in base camp, it was not busy season so we didn’t see any tents in camp but it was beautiful. We had to go back to Thukla.

It was nice to sleep after base camp in Thukla. Next morning we trekked to Chhukung and prepared for Island Peak climbing. We had an old Sherpa climbing guide. He was a very interesting guide; I learned a lot of things from him. He is already passed away now. We trekked till Island peak high camp. This area was beautiful. I had brought local “Rakasi” alcohol from Chhukung to base camp. The weather was fantastic all the day.  I drank it two nights in base camp & high camp. It was so nice.

There was a big problem of drinking water in high camp. All water was frozen; one of the boys from our group had gone to the ice fall area to bring water. He had survived from an avalanche while bringing water. Whatever it was a nice area to see Mountain View. Our group submitted successfully and came back to camp in the afternoon.  

Then, we trekked down to Lukla within three days. Here we had a really boring last trekking day due to heavy drinking in Monjo. Our group was happy after a successful trekking & Island peak summit. So one day before Lukla we had big drinking party in the lodge which made one Canadian “Kaput”. We carried him on porters back to Lukla. Anyway, he became okay in Kathmandu for two days & we had indoor rock climbing again.

Now, I have been to Everest base camp more than 50s time. Off course, each & every time I am always excited, some of the things are quite different & changing very fast. Especially, Khumbu Icefall & glacier are disappearing very fast. I will write my experiences frequently what I have seen & felt at this amazing place.






No comments:

Post a Comment