A FORTNIGHT TO REMEMBER

Some fashionable things are worth doing!

I was not keen on the Everest Base Camp (EBC) trek for a long time – stories in the trekking community suggested that it was fancy (rest-houses at every location, internet mostly available), crowded (as indicated by that iconic photograph of the traffic jam on Mt. Everest) and expensive, and that one’s precious time and money would be better expended along other routes on which phones didn’t work. The feeling changed in a conversation with Kathmandu-based friends, who said that Nepal had three treks seriously worth doing; the Manaslu area in Upper Gorkha because it was beautiful, the Makalu area between Everest and Kanchenjunga because it was untouched, and the EBC because ‘some things just have to be done’.

I got an opportunity to ‘do what has to be done’ this year – I had just returned from a trek whose co-leader mentioned that his next one was to EBC. The thought of doing this with someone who had earlier led a successful summit of Mt. Everest was too tempting to resist and, notwithstanding my advanced age and lack of preparation (other than the afore-mentioned trek), time and money, I promptly signed on.

There is a plethora of information on the EBC trek! This note is about what is not mentioned in the brochures and internet writeups, which I discovered the hard way.

One, the trek is long – you will be walking for 11 continuous days, away from basic comforts, with just high mountains around you, with the same people for company.

Two, it is high, with four distinct sections – below 3,000 m; between 3 and 4,000 m, when altitude starts becoming a factor; between 4 and 4,900 m, where the greenery disappears; and 5,000 m plus, where a good night’s sleep is difficult; and therefore, how the group acclimatizes is important. We took it easy going up, taking our time along the lower sections, spending a day at the same place once we crossed 4,000 m (and using that day to climb to 5,000 m – see the itinerary appended below), reaching places and then, no matter how tired we were, climbing another 2-300 m before coming down to our night spot. And we zipped on the return – three long and tiring days that extended into nights, a time that my knees still remember.

And three, it is hard, with steep up-hills and down-hills, and long stretches of moraine on the route into (and out of) Gorakshep along the Khumbu glacier.

Offsetting these factors were, one, the group that I went with; a mix of adventurous youngsters, middle-aged professionals, and (last but not least) nice-looking women, and led by an experienced Everester – 10 of us (I was the official buddhow – so everyone laughed at my jokes, appreciated my singing, put up with my crap and generally helped me along) and supported by a guide, an assistant guide, and a yak-wallah and his helpers – all of whom knew the terrain inside-out and for whom this was the equivalent of just another day at the office.

Two, the sheer beauty of the trek! This took me by surprise (trek brochures are like ads on Tinder in that everything is described as beautiful and each one is, I guess, in its own way) – each section was seriously beautiful, in completely different ways from the other sections. I just had to look up for fatigue to disappear, anywhere along the trek. The Doodhkoshi River that flows from the Everest region actually looks like frothy milk making its way southwards to the Ganga (we went up on its western side and returned along its east), and views of Mt. Amadablam and others were with us most of the time. The only thing we did not see was Mt. Everest in all its majesty, even from the base camp, we had to climb up Mt. Kalapathar the next day for that (begin at 0330 hours, climb to 5,600 m, come down and continue walking until 2200 hours on the day, I was so screwed – but I am spared having to say ‘Yes, I went to EBC, but I did not really see Mt. Everest’ while showing off at cocktail parties).

And three, the fun! This too was a surprise – treks are, for me, a test of endurance and I do them for many reasons but having fun is not among them. We chanced upon a restaurant in Namche Bazaar (Sherpa Bar and Steakhouse) whose owner was a music enthusiast, and we got him to sing Sherpa songs on a traditional instrument. We also commandeered the restaurant’s guitar and took over the space, both on the way up and down – and some of the group turned out to be serious singers. We celebrated a birthday in Dengbouche’s 4410 Café in similar riotous fashion, organizing a guitar and filling the place with music and laughter.

Another highlight was the flights to and from Luk La. A small plane takes one through some stunning mountain landscape before reaching the world’s most dangerous airport, where the runway is a short slope that ends with a deep drop into a valley located far below (where one’s plane would also end up if it did not lift off in time), and where flights cannot operate in bad weather, clouds, and a variety of other reasons. We were lucky – flights were cancelled for four days before our return, and then operated for a day (our day) before closing for an extended period once again.

We were lucky in our timing in another way – Nepal, a tourism dependent country, is in deep shit because of the pandemic and this otherwise extremely crowded route was near empty. Other than three Italians, the only other foreigners on the route with us, occupying the rest-houses, eating the food and employing the guides, porters and yaks, were Indians. Things will change, the mountain is not going to disappear, and I hope they do soon, but it was also nice to experience the EBC trek at this time of less rush and of local appreciation for the noisy but unafraid-of-COVID Indian.

I am glad I did it, and wish I had done it many years ago, when my legs would have laughed off the ups and downs, and my lungs the altitude. Better late than never, I guess! And, in case you are considering it yourself (if an obese 58-year-old can do it, so can you), my advice is – one, it is not a walk in the park, so prepare adequately and scientifically; two, go with a group you trust; and three, go vegetarian on the trek (never thought I’d say something like this) – cut meat (and everything else) is carried up into the Everest area by porters, a disgusting sight that one sees only on the way down, and the meat is therefore usually ancient by the time it reaches one’s plate. Spare yourself!

The group on Mt. Nangarshang (5,077 m), our acclimatization climb, on 2^nd October 2021.