Nepal Partners

Whenever a group of hikers gather around, the conversation soon turns to food and the Everest Base Camp trekkers are no different. One of the delights of this trek is the variety and abundance of food available particularly when you consider that nearly everything is physically carried in either by porter, yak or mule train. 

Having woken at 5am to the freezing cold, I reflected once more on Raju’s briefing the night before. For the first time since leaving Lukla, Raju warned that this was going to be a hard day. According to Raju, we’d already had seven easy days though with the challenging climbs, high altitudes and reduced oxygen, easy was not the description any of us would have chosen. If Raju was telling us to prepare for a hard day, we’d better take him seriously.

What is this divine feeling, is it happiness, is it wonder or is it perhaps spiritual? It remains intangible as I gaze upwards to the world’s highest peaks. While the feeling is indescribable, I sense a peacefulness on this most significant of days, having arrived at long last at Everest Base Camp and I was in complete awe of my surroundings. Welcome to my Everest Base Camp Trek Diary.

Hundreds of dove grey pigeons fluttered up, stirred into action by a uniformed man waving his arms and shooing at them only to settle the moment his back was turned. The pigeons resumed eating the grain being tossed to them by a tourist, these were the true city dwellers, capable of adaptation wherever they went. Cooing softly amongst themselves, they ignored the pilgrims prostrating themselves before the enormous white domed Boudhanath Stupa.

On the far riverbank several fires burned sending dirty smoke lazily up to mingle with the haze of Kathmandu. The river flowed languidly past, a dark, murky olive, certainly not the kind of river you’d choose to swim in. A faint smell of spices and something else, sour milk perhaps, reached us as we sat on the large concrete steps, captivated by the scene before us.

The atmosphere was hushed, “no photos, no photos, turn it off, please turn off your phone” politely repeated the curator to a tourist who appeared oblivious to the privileged position we found ourselves in.

Since stepping through the foyer, the hustle and bustle of the busy square quietened behind us. The small courtyard we were now in was surrounded on all four sides, the three storey, red brick walls decorated with intricate wooden carvings and the windows latticed.

The Everest Base Camp Trek is the dream of any outdoor enthusiast and every year, thousands of people achieve that dream.

Major highlights include tracing in the steps of mountaineers to Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar, the extraordinarily beautiful views of the Himalayan mountains, immersing yourself in the local Sherpa culture and traversing through the UNESCO listed Sagarmatha National Park.

The Everest Base Camp trek introduces hikers to the Khumbu Region, steeped in history and culture and inhabited by some of the friendliest people you’ll ever have the privilege to meet.

Are you planning to trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal? Then get ready for an unforgettable experience.

The Khumbu Region is steeped in history and culture, has extraordinarily beautiful views, the friendliest people and a range of budgets to suit even the most cost conscious traveller.

It was almost as if the Gods had flicked a switch, one moment was quiet and calm, surrounded by some of the highest mountains in the world, the huge glacier below us swathed in early morning sunshine, the next was charged with tension.