Day 8 to 16
Cities – Dole, Porche, Pangboche, Kjang-Juma, Namche, Phadking, Lukla
Elevation – 4,100m (13,500ft) to 2,860m (9,400ft)
Trekking Time – 1 week

After deciding to skip out on the Cho-la pass and Everest Base Camp, our week of hard work was then followed by a week of relaxation in the mountains. We were now coming down and although we still feel a little ill, we are feeling more relaxed and happy during the treks. But even though descending was easier on the lungs, it was still not an easy trek at all, as I rolled my ankle 6 times coming down hill. However, I was lucky enough not to have rolled it completely over and twist it, that would be disaster. We backtracked through Machermo then down to Dole for a 6 hour trek that seemed like a breeze. An easier day brought us 3 hours across the river to Porche before we continued on to Pangboche. Here we finished off our bottle of whiskey and had a great time with the owners of the tea house.

The next day started off with an easy descend before we needed to climb for 2 hours. But after a week on the stairmasters, this was not a problem at all. When we go to the top of the hill, we arrived in the town of Kjang-Juma and checked into a tea house which was also hosting a group of 30 Ukrainians coming down from an expedition of their own. They were in a festive mood from their successful adventure and they were also celebrating the resurrection of Chirst for easter, so the vodka was flowing nonstop all night and we were right in the middle of it. In a big group like this, there were 3 to 4 guides and 5 to 6 porters, who were carrying all this vodka up before bringing it back down for them to celebrate with. The night was fun and totally unexpected and I learned a new word in Ukrainian: Chaso!

Following a vodka filled evening, the next day was the easiest trekking day of them all. A simple 2 hour stroll on a slight downhill, back towards the town of Namche. Kumor was able to get us a room with electricity and a shower, something that has been foreign to us for some time. Taking full advantage, I washed and showered for the first time in a week, and I felt like a completely different man.

Fully cleaned up, we got dirty again walking through the dusty trails down towards Phadking, an easy 4 hour walk. Here we met a Tibetan lady who brought her hand made Tibetan jewelry to sell to tourist, but she didn’t come directly through the mountains in this region because China had closed off the Tibet/Nepal border at this end. Instead she had to walk all the way around through the Jomson area our west then across Nepal and then up from Jiri. She had walked for 2 months to get here, so we happily gave her some business obtaining some Tibetan stones.

Our final trek was back down the hill and then up to Lukla, where we had a night out at the local Irish bar, playing pool, and having a good time. The weather was not all that great the day before and all the flights were canceled. But on the day we arrived in Lukla, the fog had cleared up and a boat load of flights brought new trekkers. Walking pass these smiling newbies to the mountains, I had just one thought running through my mind, “Just wait till you start going uphill.” With the good weather, we will likely be able to fly out in the morning. We’ve been very lucky with the weather as we have not been delayed once for flights and all of our trekking days have been clear and sunny.

On day 16, we flew back to Kathmandu feeling proud of ourselves and what we have accomplished. Trekking through the Himalayas was definitely a memorable experience with many rewards. Looking back at it all, there are definitely things we could have done better, especially our preparation for it all. We didn’t have too much to carry in our bags, but we did have lots of stuff that were never used and thus making it extra weight. What we didnt have though, was enough clothing for the colder temperatures. If we continued on through the Cho-la pass, we would be trekking in snow for 2 days, and we probably were not ready for that. But regardless of it, this is what makes an adventure fun. The unknown keeps things interesting and forces you to learn and better yourself. All in all, the trip was phenomenal and I would recommend it to anybody. Let me know if you have any questions, I’ll be happy to help out. Movie to come!

Day 7
City – Gokyo Ri
Elevation – 5,500m (18,100ft)
Trekking Time – 5 hours

This was it. This was what we had come to the Himalayas for. After a week of hiking, we were finally about to climb up towards a peak, the Gokyo Ri peak of all places. I was excited but not excited about leaving bed at 4:30am. Of course it took us nearly half an hour to fully get ready to have breakfast and then another half our to eat it, so at the bright hours of 5:30am we were out of the lodge and ready for our climb.

The sun has yet to rise yet, but there is enough day light for us to see what lies ahead. And what lies ahead is the steepest hill we have encountered thus far. So steep, in fact, that the trail we need to take leads us on a path the loops back and forth, zig zagging it’s way slowly up the same side of the hill rather than directly straight up, and this winding path is as steep as anything we’ve seen. As we tackle this hill, my breathing problems return right away. 5 minutes in and I need to stop. This is embarrassing but necessary. I take breaks every 10 minutes for the first hour, but then I get my 2nd wind and it is as if I just needed to warm my lungs up to start the day. I am still breathing heavily, but my lung capacity has seemingly expanded and I can ascend continuously now. For the next hour and a half, I’ve got my head down and legs moving with nothing on my mind other than reaching the peak of Goyko Ri (5500m). When I get there, it is simply amazing.

Being early in the morning, the fog from yesterday is no where to be seen and there is a clear sight of all the Himalaya Mountains in the region: Mount Cho Oyu (8153m), Mount Gyachung Kang (7922m), Mount Pumori (7138m), Mount Everest (8850m), Mount Lhotse (8516m), and Mount Lhotse Shar (8382m). I stare in awe for a moment before taking a seat to rest up. Zita soon arrives and sits down next to me in relief that the pain is over. We roam around the peak looking around in all directions. To the north and to the east are the mountains and to the south is the beautiful Gokyo valley and Gokyo Lake.

Standing a top of Gokyo Ri, I feel that we chose the right path to take. Taking the popular route to Everest Base Camp, you would see nothing at all. Base camp is merely a gathering place for expeditions attempting to reach the top. Instead you would climb up to the peak of Kala Pattar, where you would only be able to see Mount Everest, granted it is the best view of the highest mountain in the world you can get without actually climbing it. So that in itself is intriguing enough for us to consider heading that direction. Gokyo Ri is a less known peak to climb, but it has the best views of all the mountains, so the word has gotten out and the path to Gokyo has become more popular in recent years.

Feeling happy and taking lots of photos, we spend a good hour at the peak which possesses 50% of the oxygen available at sea level. Kumar asks us if we would like to go keep going on across the Cho-La pass to Everest Base Camp. We have just enough time remaining until our flight, but we would have to leave today after lunch when we get back down to Gokyo. It will take 3 difficult days to reak the peak of Kala Pattar, and he explains that the temperature will to get much colder on the other side. I look at Zita and she seems content on the accomplishment already, but she urges me to continue on without her. However, I wasn’t going to leave her alone. I look around at the scenery and feel very happy with what we have achieved. Mount Everest will just have to wait for another time. Maybe by then, I will want to climb to the peak.

Satisfied with what we saw, we descend back down the hill. Going down is much easier and faster as it only takes an hour and a half, and the sight is a lot prettier as well. We head back to the lodge to rest up for the remainder of the day, doing the usual. My ukulele skills have vastly improved throughout this trip, which has been a truly rewarding trip indeed.

Day 6
City – Gokyo
Elevation – 4,800m (15,800ft)
Trekking Time – 6 hours

No more fucking around. The 2 easy (if you call 4 hours of hiking easy) days has made us feel a little sick and given us some problems, so maybe it’s time for a challenging day. Completing the final stretch of the Gokyo Valley presented us with such a challenge. We rolled out of bed with minimal sleep once again and began the hike with a climb up to a ridge, not an ideal way to start the day. But once up top, we had a beautiful view of the mountains ahead, lead to by the valley that we are about to enter. A quick descend brought us along side a river, and we were able to catch a breath while walking on more level ground.

We pass through the town of Kangtega, where that Japanese trekker had passed away a few days earlier. Suddenly the sound of a helicopter is heard and Zita claims that its coming to rescue us. For any serious illnesses that can not be treated at the medical posts or if you just require assistance in coming down the mountain, a helicopter can be called in from Kathmandu to bring you back to the capital city for further medical care. And at a price of $5000US per call, you better have your travel insurance. Since we have the necessary coverage, we joked about making the call for our descend from the top.

From here, it was a steady 3 hour climb. It was long, it was difficult, but with the sight of mountain peaks appearing to inch closer towards us, our determination kept us going. I was now coughing relentlessly, passing through more phlegm that I can ever remember. My breathing was anything but regular, and it was certainly a struggle. Taking breaks along the way, we were able to snap photos to try and capture the beauty of the scenery for you all to see.

As the terrain begins to flatten out, we reach the first of 3 lakes in the valley. But due to the dryness of the season, this was barely a lake. The 2nd lake was more lake like, but still not what I was expecting. Continuing to grind our way through, we approach the 3rd lake and it is gorgeous. The glass like glacier water looks colder than the snow like condition I left from in Canada, with part of the lake being ice. Maybe if it was completely frozen over, we could break out a game of ice hockey out of the blue. We stood in awe for a few moments before taking photos and following the trail that wraps around the lake.

At the end of the lake is Gokyo (4800m), our destination for the day. We wasted little time to find our room and lie down on our beds for an hour. Today was hard work but we felt better than we did the previous days. Emerging from our rest, we next took a walk around town, seeing the lake and the peak of Gokyo Ri that we will be reaching tomorrow.

Our guide Kumar then takes up the hill over looking the Glacier of the Cho-la pass. Because we chose to come through the Gokyo Valley, this glacier is what we would have to cross if we were to head to Everest Base Camp. “I don’t think I can make it.” Zita tells me. Kumar tells us that the weather is not looking good for the next day or 2 with foggy conditions and temperatures in the -15 degrees C while crossing this passage way. But the weather in the mountains is constantly changing, so tomorrow might be good, so we will decide on our whether we can go to Everest then.

In the meantime, we head back to the lodge to rest up. With all the free time, I finished the book that I started just a few days ago. Tomorrow is our big climb to the peak of Goyko Ri and we were getting an early start. With our regular starts requiring a 6:00am wake up, an early start meant we were waking up at 4:30am, so needless to say, we crashed out pretty early. We tried taking some diamox tablets that were recommended to us to help us sleep at high altitudes. It helped, but it was not much better.

Day 5
City – Machermo
Elevation – 4,400m (14,500ft)
Trekking Time – 4 hours

With little to no sleep the previous night, we reluctantly got up bright and early at the normal 6:00am rise. 2 hours of breakfast and fucking around brought us to after 8:00am before we actually hit the road. When we did, it was an uphill battle. Not nearly as steep as previous days, the hike was steep enough and relentless enough to make it a challenge that was definitely not welcomed, as the trail went up and down up and down, with considerably more ups than downs. We were both not feeling great, me constantly coughing up phlegm every 5 minutes and Zita constantly wiping off a running nose, and what was suppose to be another fairly simple day was not simple at all, and it lasted for 4 hours. But We persevered and powered on until we reached our destination of Machermo (4400m).

As always the case, the beautiful scenery of mountains more than make up for the struggles. That’s the thing with traveling, people often want everything made easy for them and handed to them on a silver platter. It does make sense because travelers are generally on vacation wanting to relax and give as little effort as required. However, I find that the more difficult trips and adventures, which require a lot of work to get through, to be more rewarding. You feel a sense of accomplishment that you made it happen. Walking towards the gorgeous Gokyo Valley, I had this feeling running through head. And even when Zita suggested that she has doubts about making it all the way to Everest, my initial reaction of disappointment was quickly washed away. I looked straight ahead at a clear sight of the amazing Mount Cho Oyu (8150m) and a smile came inside of me.

Arriving at Machermo, we immediately fell into our beds and laid down for 10minutes before eating some delicious vegetable curry rice for lunch. Feeling a little better after the food, we walked over to a new medical rescue post that was built for the village. This medical center is run by volunteers from International Porter Protection Group, generally westerners from UK, France, Canada, etc. helping out the porters, who generally are not treated very well and are often taken advantage of and not looked after. The rescue post provides a shelter with good facilities for the porters at a discounted rate, and it also serves as a medical center for trekkers suffering from AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness) from the altitude. Although we feel a little sick, we are not suffering from AMS, but we did partake in the daily lecture that the volunteers give for free about AMS. At this elevation, serious cases of altitude sickness begin to become a concern. This is similar to the medical in the town of Periche, which has be running for a while on the otherside of the valley along the trail to Everest Base Camp at a comparable elevation.

We learned that the likelihood of AMS does not relate to how fit or how well condition one is, it is more of a genetic thing than anything else. And generally, younger trekkers tend to be more prone to getting AMS than older people, because they usually charge up the mountain much quicker than they should. A 300 to 500m elevation gain is all that is recommended per day. The only cure for AMS is to go back down to a lower altitude with someone else looking after you at all times, until you feel better. We also were told that a solo Japanese trekker had died in his sleep yesterday in the next town because he was suffering from severe AMS and did not listen to warnings or others advice along the way. That certainly put things into perspective for us. The lecture was very informative and gave us a better understanding of altitude sickness.

The rest of the evening was spent warming up in front of the fire place and reading. And after a sleepless night the night before, we could not sleep again tonight. But it wasn’t because we were thinking about the Japanese trekker, our bodies were still not use to the thin air.

Day 4
City – Dole
Elevation – 4,100m (13,500ft)
Trekking Time – 4 hours

Altitude problems start becoming a possibility when you pass the 3000m mark in elevation, and the higher you go up the more likely you will be be affected. Everyone’s capability to adapt varies and there is no telling how well you will handle it until it is actually encountered. So for that reason, it is important to ascend slowly and take your time, allowing yourself to acclimatize and get use to the elevations before further advancement. With our journey beginning with a flight up to the mountains, we are probably more prone to being affected by the height than if we were to slowly walk from Jirir. However, other than some minor issues with the oxygen level and temperature, neither Zita and I have really felt any dizziness or head aches. Still, not taking any chances, we head off on another easier day to help acclimatize.

After a short but steep climb to start our day, we begin wrapping around the mountain again, trekking along the edges that over look the beautiful valleys and mountains that stand opposite of where we are. It is a beautiful walk that isn’t too steep. And after a good rest the night before, I feel rejunvanated and able to walk for hours, 4 hours to exact, but I feel good and could easily continue on all day. However, sticking to our plan for another day to acclimatize, we remain in the town Dole (4100m).

Dole is a small town, overhanging on a plateau of the mountain, split in the middle by a river. It directly faces Mount Cho Oyu, giving us a great view of the great 8150m mountain, one of the largest in the world. Rice and potatoes are again served for lunch and dinner, as we are eating lots for energy and eating quite healthy as well. During the evening, we busted out the playing cards that Zita brought with her, only they are miniature cards about a quarter of the regular size. Still we manage to teach our guide Kumar the simple game of memory over a pot of tea.

Zita was curious about Nepalese music and dancing, so one of the other guides found a song or 2 on his mobile phone to play for us. As with Nepal’s physical location, the music has a lot of Indian and Chinese influences, and is quite a catchy tune in fact. While they danced into the night, and by night I mean 8:00pm, the amount of heat generated by the fireplace becomes less and less, so we returned to our rooms with extra blankets to retire for the night.

Tonight, however, I could not sleep. Rolling around continuously all night, I was, at times, hallucenating and falling in and out of dream sequences. I might have gotten an hour of sleep in total. The lack of oxygen was definitely affecting my sleeping abilities. Zita, on the other hand, had develop early symptoms of a cold earlier in the day and it is now hitting her hard as the temperatures at night are really affecting her. So much for trying to acclimatize. We were both struggling to get through this, but we were in the Himalaya Mountains and happy about it

Day 3
City – Khumjung
Elevation – 3,800m (12,500ft)
Trekking Time – 4 hours

Waking up early again, we had breakfast in the lodge before strolling through the town. In Namche there is a market every Saturday where goods are brought up from Kathmandu, Jiri, or Lukla and everyone from the surrounding villages and others from villages at even higher elevations come down to stock up on supplies to bring back to their homes and businesses. They sell everything from cans of kerosene for starting fires to apples from India or China to clothing. It is basically a big gathering of local people and sherpas, pickup stuff that is brought up from the lowlands by porters. We bought some biscuits.

With the challenging day that we endured through yesterday, today is much easier. We started off by visiting a museum on Sherpa history, which displayed information on the people and the development of the area. From there we hiked up a hill that seemed more like a mountain. From a distance, it appeared to be a piece of cake, but once I started up this extremely steep slope, I began having breathing problems. Every 10 minutes or so, I would need to stop and collect myself because I was out of breath. My legs are now fine and wanting me to keep going, but not before I catch a breath. And a climb that I thought would only take 30mins ended up lasting 2 hours as the altitude was starting to get to me. Zita powers pass me and shouts out words of encourage, but I was going to make it no matter what. My stamina was fine, it was just that my lung capacity wasn’t use to the thin air, because at this elevation, there is about 60% of the oxygen that is available at sea level.

Once on a flatter terrain, I was able continue on normally again and pass by the Shyangboche airport. At 3700m, it is one of the highest airports in the world, but looking at the size of the runway, it is obvious why it is no longer in use. Forging ahead on a slight incline, we scale the edge of the mountain for another hour until we reach the Everest View Hotel. This Japanese owned hotel is a luxurious way to stay on the Himalayas and have a view of the highest mountain on earth. We took a half hour tea break here to rest up, rehydrate, and chomp down on some biscuits.

From here we slowly descended towards the town of Khumjung (3,800m) where we had an enormous plate of vegetable fried potatoes smoothered in yak cheese for lunch. As with most of the tea houses, the one we stayed in Khumjung is run by a family, with the mother having recently given birth to a new baby girl. I played her a little lullaby on the ukulele and she instantly fell asleep. Strolling around town, we visited a local school that was founded by New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, a real hero amongst these parts. Kumar then lead us up the hill to visit a monastery, before we retreated back to our lodge to relax for the night.

More rice and potatoes were had for dinner along with another pot of tea to keep us warm. Each one of these tea houses has a fire place set in the middle of the lounge/dinning area, that would keep wood burning, water boiling, and everyone warm in the evenings. At high elevations, the temperature swing is quite large towards the negative side during the nights, and with my struggles during the hike, I called it an early night to rest up.

Day 2
City – Namche Bazaar
Elevation – 3,440m (11,350ft)
Trekking Time – 6.5 hours

After an early evening the night before, we are awaken by the sun beaming through the window at 6:00am. We have breakfast and then get ourselves ready for our climb. Sensing that the weight of her bag might become a problem at some point, Zita and I switch backpacks and then I stuff everything heavy from mine into hers leaving just clothing in my bag for her to carry, while I beef up the load for myself. The extra weight is felt instantly, but I will ok with it, I think. We cross over a few more suspension bridges that are held together more firmly than some I see back home. Guess they’re going to need something strong enough to hold up when 50 buffaloes are crossing the bridge all at once carrying tanks of kerosene.

The trail then begins to steer us uphill and then back down. Up and down we went along side rivers and valleys for an hour until we arrived at the town of Monjo (2,900m). Here we stopped for a tea break, as it is the last available stop for drinks before our destination for the day. Loading up on water, we continue up the road where we approach the entrance to the Sagarmatha National Park, which is the whole area that we are going through. Here we show our trekking permits and check in to the park for their records, and by we I mean our guide registered our names and permit numbers with the park office.

From here we begin our big climb of the day, and it went slowly. 3 hours of constant uphill hiking, step after step. It is as if we were going up a set of endless stairs for 3 straight hours. Some portions were steeper than others, with most of it being the steep variety. It was not an enjoyable hike at all. And having not been as physically active as I have liked recently, my leg muscles begin to stiffen up after 2 hours of relentless stairmasters. It also doesn’t help having the extra weight on my back either. My calves on the left leg and hamstrings on the right leg start to cramp up, so I pull off to the side to try and loosen them up. Once they feel capable of more punishment, I continued upwards only to have the cramps return 10 mins later. I managed to crawl my way up to a viewing point where everyone else is resting at and admiring the mountains. But as the others are gazing in awe at the first available sight of Mount Everest, I’m suffering in pain in both legs and attempting to stretch and to loosen the tension up.

We spend 15 minutes at the view point resting and relaxing before we hit the home stretch of our workout. I continued onwards using my camera stick as a walking stick, to lighten the load off of my legs. This seemed to work out nicely, as my legs were able to power me through without any more problems, plus i could film our trek with the camera attached to the top of the stick.

Another hour uphill brought us to the town of Namche Bazaar (3,440m). This is the largest town in this region, serving all tourist that take on any of the treks as they all go through Namche. Situated on a steep part of the mountain, rows of houses are align in the formation of steps along the slope. And being a large center for tourist, there are all the facilities, hotels, restaurants, banks, bars, pool halls, bakery, even internet services that works once in a while. Electricity is also available most of the time here along with hot showers which you can buy, I didn’t.

Because this was a popular stop for nearly all tourist, there were some questions over what kind of accommodations would be available, but our guide arranged one for us before hand so we were setup with thick blankets. Relaxing with a small pot of tea, we discuss how we might have underestimated the difficulty of this trek and how this will be something we will be proud about accomplishing when it is complete. I had a soup and a vegetable fried rice for dinner, and then I began reading a book called “Pedaling to Hawaii” for inspiration for our trip. It’s about 2 guys from the UK who plan on becoming the first people to go around the world using only human power, so they bike from England to Spain, pedal a boat to Miami, bike and roller blade to San Francisco, then pedal the boat to Hawaii. They are still in the middle of their adventure.

With alcohol being a problem at higher altitudes, we stash away our whiskey, but are able to fall asleep fairly easily after a long and grueling day.

Day 1
City – Phakding
Elevation – 2,800m (9,200ft)
Trekking Time – 4.5 hours

At 4:30am, my alarm goes off on my mobile. It’s “Rise” by Eddie Vedder. Some might wonder why I would use a song that I like to wake me up from my peaceful sleep, but come on, it’s perfect. We shower and get ready and then there is a knock on the door, it’s our guide Kumar. He’s going to be with us every second of every day for the next 2 weeks. Poor guy has just returned from a trek just yesterday, and now the company sent him out on another right away. Zita has already come up with a nickname for him. Komar in Slovakian means mosquito, so Kumar will be known as mosquito.

Driving through the streets of Kathmandu, it is utterly quite, contrary to all that we have experienced so far in the city. It is rather nice. We arrive at the airport at 5:30am, our flight is at 6:30am. The most common airline used in Nepal is Yeti Airlines with a fleet of 12 planes. Because we booked our flight yesterday, we were flying with Sita Airlines with a fleet of 2 planes. After an hour of waiting around, we board our shuttle bus to our plane. The bus takes off and then stops a minute later with a ground crew person running after us. They had forgot to attach the trailer, containing our luggage, to the back of the bus. That would be useful. We all have a laugh and continue our short ride to our plane. I could see the glow of excitement in the eyes of everyone in the plane, some from Germany, some from Russia, along with their Nepalese guides and porters. Here we are a Canadian and Slovakian who met in England.

Lining up for the flight, our guide advises us to take the left side of the plane for the mountains views when we approach them. One by one we board this 18 seater plane, with all the tourist taking up the seats on the left, and all of the guides and porters along with myself sitting on the right. We are handed a mango mint and some cotton balls. “What is this for?” I asked the flight attendant. “It’s for your ears because it’s gonna be loud.”

Taking off, I can see the dust and pollution of Kathmandu that we are leaving behind and we immediately fly over mountainous ranges and hills where villages begin to shrink in size the further we get. With the flight lasting only 40 mins, we soon enter the mountains. And before we could even get a grasp of what lies in front of us, the plane has landed. That was easy. I was under the impression that it would be a windy and rough landing, but I barely even felt it. Getting off the plane, I immediately notice the difference of air quality. It’s clean and refreshing mountain air similar to what I am accustomed to in Vancouver. Over by the arrivals, there is a crowd of locals, probably porters and guides, watching each passenger get off, hoping to get pick up some work. We grab our bags and head into the town of Lukla (2860m).

A 5 minute walk around the corner brings us into town where there are stores, restaurants and bars all lines up on the one street through Lukla. We stop at a tea house to have breakfast and I order a chicken soup, which was powder based, and then we decide to unload some of our unneeded luggage into a bag to be left here until we return. With our stomach semi satisfied, we begin our trek.

The skies are clear, the sun shining through, and the temperature is warm, all I’m wearing is a t-shirt and my backpack. We descend down from Lukla for an hour towards Chablung (2,660m) to join up with the main trail coming from Jiri. Looking across the valley, we could see little towns on other mountains range just waiting for our arrival. To get over rivers and valleys, we cross a number of suspension bridges, shared by hikers, porters, and animals. From here it is a slow and moderate 3 hour climb towards the town of Phakding (2,800m) where we have lunch and where will be staying for the night. I ordered the vegetable fried potatoes.

With the flight, we’ve gained a lot of elevation for the day, so day 1 is kept as easy as possible to help us acclimatize. Our guide had suggested to take us up to see a monastery as well, but when rain began to fall, that plan was withdrawn. Instead we relaxed, lied in bed, and played ukulele until dinner time. For dinner I had a simple spaghetti with tomato sauce.  Afterwards, we took a stroll through the town that consists of  20+ tea houses and seems like a pretty big stop for tourists.  We returned back to our room to relax with some ukulele and whiskey. Zita doesn’t have a sleeping bag, but we are able to get 2 blankets each to keep us warm along with the whiskey. Tomorrow will be a tougher day.

Day 0
City – Kathmandu
Elevation – 1,400m (4,600ft)
Trekking Time – 0

When my friend Zita informed me that she was visiting Nepal and asked if I wanted to come with her, I replied “Sure, let’s go to Mount Everest!” She had no idea what I was talking about and I had no idea what I was talking about. We arrived into the capital city of Kathmandu with little to no knowledge of the Everest Trek, but we took a few days to gauge what we were about to take on.

There are 2 options in getting there from Kathmandu: You could either take a 10 hour bus ride to the end of the road getting off in a town called Jiri and start trekking from there. Or you could take a 45min flight into the mountains to a town called Lukla and save a whole week of trekking. We chose the latter. But apparently, the mountains have been too foggy and windy all week for flights, so passengers have been backed up during that time. Fortunately for us however, the weather cleared up on the day we arrived in Kathmandu and all of the people on the waiting list got their flights in that day. So we were able to fly out the very next morning without any delays. Delays are a very common problem with these flights.

For the trek itself, you could do it all on your own or you could hire a guide to lead you around. You can even hire porters to carry your bags up for you and there are complete packages from trekking companies that would meet all of your trekking needs. But with many villages and towns spaced every few hours apart along the way that have tea houses fully equip with accommodations, food, and heat, Nepal is one of the only places in the world that you can trek without needing to carry any camping equipment. Of course you can always camp, but why carry all that equipment up the highest mountains in the world. For that reason, we did not have a lot of stuff to carry with us so there was no need for a porter. However, we did decide that a guide would be useful.

Booking through a trekking company we were able to get a package that included a guide, accommodations, 3 meals a deal, our trekking permits, flights to and from Lukla, and transfers to and from the airport for a 16 day trek through the Himalayas for $775 US each including taxes. Not bad considering the flights alone are around $300 total. The only thing we need to spend on when we are up there would be drinks. Our trekking permits were processed and we were flying out the next morning.

With our expedition all set, we decided to celebrate. But with my plan to not drink any beer in Nepal, we had to be creative. Whiskey was the choice. Mount Everest whiskey to be exact.

First thing required when entering Nepal is a tourist visa.  Going through customs at the Kathmandu airport, I applied for the visa in person and received it 30 seconds later for a cost $40 US, which allows me multiple entries into the country for 30 days.

Exiting the airport, I was immediately approached by nearly 20 taxi drivers and hotel representatives trying to lure me to their transportation or sell me on their accommodations.  But much to their disappointment, I already have a pre-arranged pickup and a hotel booked.   Once I was able to find my guy I was left alone while I wait for my friend Zita to arrive.  When she arrived, our driver took us through the chaos that is Kathmandu traffic.

Now I haven’t been to India, but this was definitely the biggest gong show I have ever witnessed.  Just imagine the most horrendous driving situation you’ve ever been in and then take away all the rules and lane markings, and add in some pedestrians, bicycles, and some animals each taking the same path.  This is what driving in Kathmandu is like.  If you rent a car it generally comes with a driver because you will not be able to handle it.  And the drivers just dart in and out of everything, taking the easiest possible route regardless of anything else.  I swear we almost hit 15 people, 6 cars, 3 bikes, 2 dogs, a buffalo, and 5 chickens on the way to our hotel.  The only thing missing was his phone ringing with the mission impossible theme

But we made it to the hotel safely, where we were warmly welcomed.  However once we were back on the streets it was a similar story travelling on foot, because now we are sharing the road with these cars that dart in and out, not to mention to abundant amount of exhaust fumes and pollution in the air that would make Los Angeles look clean.  And what’s more, store owners and street merchants constantly hassle you for your busineses.  The products are generally very cheap, but when you’ve already bought the same thing 4 stores earlier, it starts to get annoying.

Oh and another thing, there is no electricity in Kathmandu for most of the day. Power is available usually for a few hours in the afternoon, and then the whole town is blacked out at around 6pm. You could be at a restaurant and the power will go off at any given time. It sometimes comes back on later in the night for a few more hours before it is turned off again. If a store needs energy, they usually run a generator to power their buildings.

One thing is for sure, 2 days in Kathmandu is all I can handle.  Time to leave the craziness and pollution for some peaceful mountains.