"I've been out walking..." or "Such great heights" or "If you want to view paradise, simply look around and view it."

The reason most tourists come to Nepal is to do some sort of nature trek. After all, the largest mountains in the world reside along Nepal's northern border. While in Thamel (the tourist district of Kathmandu), it seems as though everybody is either gearing up for a long trek or recently returning from one. With this in mind, it seemed a little ridiculous that, adding up my collective time spent in Nepal, I have traveled in the country for almost 2 months and have never seen the hugeness of the Himalayas--for that matter, I had never really gotten out of the polluted streets of Kathmandu. So, when an adventurous traveler from New Zealand described his recent trek to Everest Base Camp over breakfast, Mike and I promptly decided to suck up our laziness and do it.

The Everest Base Camp trek is one of the most popular in Nepal, culminating with--you guessed it--stunning views of the notoriously tallest mountain on the planet. The stranger from New Zealand assured us that we did not need a guide or a porter. In fact, he said we probably would not need a map. Fortunately, we ignored this last bit of advice, but he was certainly right about not hiring any help. Doing it by ourselves made the journey far more enriching and adventuresome.

The trek began with a somewhat treacherous flight to Lukla, a small village/town on the side of a mountain way east of Kathmandu. You fly in on a 19-passenger prop plane, and you land in Tenzing-Hillary Airport, named for the two men credited as the first to summit Mount Everest in the 1950s. The airport itself is quite the spectacle. The world's highest airport, Tenzing-Hillary's runway is disconcertingly short, and--even worse--is on a highly noticeable angle (about 30 degrees, I'd guess). As you approach Lukla, you can see the face of a mountain through the cockpit windshield. After about 40 minutes of mountain turbulence, I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I was just going to smash right into the side of that mountain. Miraculously, though, we landed safely on the inclined runway. (I say "miraculously" only because I'm a baby. In fact, plane crashes are still pretty rare there. Even so, it was definitely the most tense I have ever felt while flying, and I don't typically have that phobia.)

Anyway, there is really only one reason to go to that region of Nepal as a tourist: trekking. All the locals know it, so they kindly direct you wherever you need to be, particularly when you accidentally stray from the path, which is usually pretty well defined anyway. I will not waste everyone's time by recounting the journey village by village. If you want to look up the individual communities we lodged in, our itinerary was as follows: Lukla, Phakding, Namche Bazaar, Tengboche, Dingboche, Dughla, Gorak Shep, and then back down via Pheriche. All in all, the quest took a whopping 11 days, the first seven of which were a steady uphill climb.

But before I get to the photos, I want to mention the Sherpas with whom we stayed on the trek. In all of the villages, the ethnicity of the locals was predominantly Sherpa, the well known ethnic group of Buddhists who have strong ties to Tibet. All of the villagers operate a lodge, which is to say that they all just let foreigners stay in their house for a small fee (about $1.50 a night) as long as you eat their cooking. The food was a bit expensive because it all has to be lugged up the mountains by porters for days on end (again, there are no roads out there). However, the cooking was worth it, and the company of the Sherpas was even better. Whether it was the lodge owners themselves, random villagers, or the porters and guides of other trekking groups, the Sherpas were extremely friendly and generally had wonderful senses of humor. As I felt in Burma--indeed, as I often feel while traveling--I was overwhelmed and pleasantly surprised by the kindness and hospitality shown to us by the local strangers.

Finally, the star attraction of the trek: the views. With each day, the terrain got less and less lush, more and more desolate. It became cold, until at the top the water in the (Eastern-style) toilets would freeze overnight. However, with every step we continued deeper and deeper into the heart of the Himalayas, possibly the most breathtaking mountain range in the entire world. The trek was supposed to culminate with a trip to Everest Base Camp, where mountaineers begin their ascents to the beastly mountain's summit. However, I decided to forego that (there are no views from EBC) in favor of making it to the summit of a nearby, though notably less impressive, mountain called Kala Patthar, which supposedly boasts some of the best available views of the mountain range. From the top, I could see Everest Base Camp far below on the infamous Khumbu Glacier, and the whole scene was quiet and stunning. It was quite difficult to make it to the top, and I was sweating and panting when I finally made it. Even though Kala Patthar looks like a mere hill compared to its mammoth neighbors, make no mistake: the summit I reached was over 18,000 feet, which--for perspective--is higher than several of the Seven Summits. It was no easy task, but the views were definitely worth it. Here is a random array of photos from the trip:

Hanging out.

Hilltop Monastery at Tengboche.

Buddhist statue on the trail.

Cool windy cloud along the way.

The view from Tengboche, around the 1/2-way point.

A stone hut, as the trail gets more desolate.

The deceptively whimpy summit of Kala Patthar.





The Himalayas.

Another great view.

Mount Everest, behind a cool veil of clouds, as seen from Kala Patthar.

The trek was absolutely amazing, though I am definitely glad to be down from the mountains and back into the warm weather. When we arrived back in Kathmandu, we went to Bina's school to pick up our bags and say our goodbyes. It was really a shame parting ways with her and her family, especially because I don't know when I will be fortunate enough to return to Kathmandu. After force-feeding us one last gorging meal, Bina bid us farewell, and we went on our way.

Tomorrow, we trade in the cold mountain air of high-altitude Nepal for a totally different scene: the stiff heat of Bangladesh. I don't quite know what to expect from Bangladesh, but we've been reading a lot of really cool, interesting things about it. As always, I am very excited. Until then, today (the 15th) is the Nepali New Year, so the mood is festive in Kathmandu. I'll update the blog again soon. All the best!

"Be well, do good work, and keep in touch."


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