I’m not really a Trekker. I walk my dogs and occasionally visited national parks in the UK but the longest walk I ever did was about 4 hours up to an altitude of around 500m. I’m scared of heights and not at my fittest. I figured the less I knew about how tough the trek to Everest Base Camp the better just to ensure that I even arrived. I made sure I didn’t watch the film Everest and only listened when people said it would all be ok.
Luckily for me it turned out to be ok, more than ok, it was incredible! But would I do it again? In all honesty I don’t think I’d be able to! It was tough for me, really tough. G absolutely breezed through the whole experience so I thought I’d reflect on some of the bits I probably should have listened to before I set off that would’ve made it more comfortable.
First up, I wish I knew that rivers sound like rain… Sounds ridiculous but I spent the first night in Pent Wang wide awake and petrified of mudslides due to the thunderous hard rain we had had for hours and hours only to find in the morning it was actually the river! I would have kept this to myself but a couple of people said that they had thought the same so if I can save just 1 person from a sleepless night I thought id share my stupidity 😝
Everything tastes better with chilli and tomato sauce mixed together! G ate spaghetti religiously for the energy release and as the menus got smaller the higher up you go. He was getting rather bored of it. We had met some rather nice guys from Malaysia who shared with us that “you hold back on the sauces means you hold back on life”. Again this may not be a piece of advice that you ever thought you’d require and you may not be at the point in your life that requires such drastic culinary action, but I found that the green chilli sauce really did keep my appetite going which you do need to get through the trek.
Flights in periods of bad weather will be cancelled. Lukla airport has the smallest runway ever and is situated on the edge of a 3400m mountain. It requires perfect sunny sky and when youre that high up its often that the airport is engulfed in fog and cloud and not safe for aircraft. Just bear it in mind if you’re on a tight schedule and look into a plan B such as taking a bus to Pokhara to explore Anurpurna mountain instead. We waited 5 days before flying out and also 2 days to get back!
Pack light, really light or hire a porter. They are around $15-20 a day and some have great knowledge of the trek routes and can speak English. If you want to carry your own then just take essentials. You’ll more than likely wear the same trousers the whole trek and only rotate a couple of tops too. Waterproofs are a great idea and good socks. A down jacket was my life saver even though we went in September but you can probably get away with not needing a sleeping bag before November as the tea lodges have blankets and quilts. Take a water bottle and purifying tablets (€1 from Kathmandu) as you really don’t need to be wasting money on bottled water. All tea rooms will fill up bottles and camel packs no problem.
The sun will burn you even if you are not out long or the weather is overcast. I always slap on the sun cream but I managed to burn the backs my hands from holding the straps on my rucksack! If you have a guide or porter with you then be nice and share as they burn their noses too.
Altitude sickness is real. Headache, loss of appetite, nausea, light sensitivity, shivering and bowel problems all symptoms I experienced when gaining altitude. Pretty much from the start I would wake with a full frontal headache that would disapate after breakfast. But the higher you climb the worse and more prolonged symptoms become until in Gorak Shep I had to cut our trek short and descend straight back to lukla. I didn’t take altitude sickness tablets before I started to feel ill. Lots of people will take half a dose morning and evening as a prevention. I guess it’s personal preference but if I did it again I think I would try it as it nearly ruined the whole trip.
Hygiene: I didn’t take any makeup or anything else that would usually make me feel human. I was prepared not to shower and knew to carry Face wipes and always have Loo roll. The trick is to have at least a strip wash everyday even when the water is cold. You feel so much better for it. I tried going without due to the cold and found that even after I had washed my face, face wipes would still look pretty disgusting 😷
Health: I kept up with my multivitamins which I believe helped me not to contract a cold as many others did. The biggest piece of advice I can give is to try and avoid fried foods as you WILL end up constipated. As I mentioned before, the menu is limited with vegetables and fruit being virtually non-existence and I fell into the trap of eating either fried rice or noodles everyday. Wow did I pay for this mistake! I felt lots better when I stuck to boiled and steamed foods such as momos, dal baht and Rama noodles.
You don’t need to be fit but it sure helps! There was a huge difference in mine and Gs stamina toward the end of each day’s hike. I think if I could go back I would’ve made myself be more involved with some sort of cardio or high intensity workout before I left. But I did manage it without. If you’re not the fittest then be realistic about trip length. I was definitely nieve to think I could hack 18days of altitude climbing. However when you think you can’t take another step there will be a rest point. I nearly broke down thinking I couldn’t move another step to find that just around the corner was a welcomed pit stop. With that in mind, take all offered rest points even if you feel ok at that moment. The guides know what’s coming!
The main things I worried about before setting off were the bridges and the flights. I’m not scared of flying so I don’t know why I worked myself up about the flight as I found myself completely ok with it. If you are scared of flying then definitely reach into your coping toolbox if you’re going to do this trek and prepare for it in the way that works best for you. It’s a good job I could deal with the bridges as there are hundreds of them! I never did get the confidence to look down and around while on one and I couldn’t stop still on one and still shreaked at G on a couple of occasions on the way back as he thought I was cured and that it would be funny to bounce on them. I very quickly pointed out it was not funny and that I was still scared but luckily I had found a way to cope by looking forward, keeping my arms outstretched and kept moving.
If you put everything to one side and only remember one thing before you set off please let it be this. A Sherpa said to me right at the beginning that “as hard as the trek is, if you immerse yourself in the beauty around you, you won’t feel any of the discomfort.” He was right. Unfortunately a couple of times I let the aches and toil of it all get into my head until all I concentrated on as I was walking was putting 1 foot infront of the other and my breathing. Big mistake. The times I did that were uncomparable to the times I took in what beauty was around me and drifted away into my own little dream world. The differences in my experiences between the 2 mindsets were unimaginable. Please just enjoy it and the awesomeness of the whole thing. I’m not sure I’ll do anything as cool again but if I do I’ll be sure to be living in the moment regardless if my lungs and legs feel like they are going to calapse ❤️
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