Everest Base Camp Adventure – Part 2
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Tea house trekking to Everest Base Camp is surprisingly comfortable and civilized. We awoke on day two at a reasonable 7:00 am to start our hike to Namche Bazaar. The rain from last night turned to snow a few hundred metres up and the peaks seemed even more impressive covered in the fluffy white stuff.
A Himalayan Peak on the way up to EBC
Day 2 is not an easy day though.
After checking into the park headquarters, we were officially in the Khumbu Region and on our way to Base Camp. Too cool.
We covered a lot of terrain. Almost 1o km with an elevation gain of 800 metres. Hiking over hills and valleys, we experienced some thrilling moments crossing several suspension bridges dangling over deep gorges. If you have a fear of heights, this may not be your favorite moment, but the bridges are well constructed and in excellent condition.
A suspension bridge at Everest
I was nervous about this day. The Lonely Planet says to “Grit your teeth and climb to a drooping suspension bridge floating at a dizzying height.” It freaked me out and I had it built up in my head as something monstrous. By the time we reached the bridge however, I wondered what all the fuss was about. I had a blast. Dave of course isn’t afraid of anything, (which drives me absolutely crazy!) so he was already looking forward to these passes. Once I crossed my first bridge, my confidence was up and I was ready for anything. I actually have come to the conclusion that I love suspension bridges!
Right after crossing that last gorge the hardest part of the day came
The last push of the day consists of 2 Hours straight up to Namche Bazaar. We were drenched with sweat but the air was cool. Whenever we stopped for a break, we would get a chill so we just kept on chugging away.
Sherpa Carrying Heavy load on EBC
Climbing is a solitary time. Nobody speaks and we just walk in single file following each others footsteps. We keep a steady pace and almost go into a trance. Strange thoughts float in and out of our minds like “I really did like Magnum P.I…that Tom Selleck really looks great!” Yep, Deep thoughts.
Groups pass us quickly only to be caught a few minutes later as they rest. We realize that we are the tortoise as we constantly catch the hare. Slow and steady is the way to climb to Everest Base Camp. Altitude can kill. We don’t take this lightly and refuse to hurry our pace.
Group Crosses suspensin Bridge en route to Everest
By the time we reach Namche Bazaar we feel great at 3440 metres. The day is almost over. We check into the security post and cringe when we find out that our lodge is uphill. It is another 20 minutes until we reach our tea house Camp de Base.
Welcome to Namche Sign
It probably should have only been 10 minutes, but mentally we turned off and couldn’t bring ourselves to go faster. When we arrived we were thrilled to see Sher’s (our porter often referred to as a Sherpa in Nepal) smiling face.
Deb and our Porter Sher on Trail to Everest
He had already checked us in and put our bag in our room. All we had to do was get out of our sweaty clothes and climb into our cozy sleeping bags to take a nap.
We have two glorious days at Namche Bazaar. Tomorrow, we get to see our first glimpse of Mount Everest.
More posts on Everest Base Camp Trekking
- Everest Base Camp Aventure – Part 7
- Everest Base Camp Adventure – Part 6
- Everest Base Camp Adventure – Part 5
- Everest Base Camp Adventure – Part 4
- Everest Base Camp Adventure – Part 3
- Everest Base Camp Adventure – Day 1
- Everest Base Camp Adventure – The Arrival
- Packing List for Everest Base Camp Trek
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That is a great perspective with the suspension bridge! The view below must have been frightening.
Wishing you the best for the rest of the journey
.-= Gourmantic´s last blog ..How to Look Like a Tourist in Paris in 5 Easy Steps =-.
Yikes. You lost me at the suspension bridge. My knees would have gone all shaky and my feet would have refused to move. What a wonderful adventure for the two of you. I’ll be traveling vicariously through your photos and words.
.-= Donna Hull´s last blog ..Travel Dreams Come True at Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise =-.
This is great as we are planning our trip as we speak! What is the name of the outfitter/ guide service you guys are using?
Hi Steve. We would suggest flying into Lukla and hiring your guide/porter from there. There are many that are waiting for planes to come in. You can interview them, see how their English is and negotiate a good price. Buy the Lonely Planet trekking Nepal Book (other people have said that the Rough Guides book is great too) and then when you are in Kathmandu buy a map of the Khumbu Region. It is really easy to plan, you don’t need to go with expensive outfitters.
However if you are climbing in the High Season, lodges on the route can fill up quickly and you may want to hire through a service in Kathmandu that will book all your food, lodging, guide and porter ahead of time. You won’t have to look for a place at the end of each day and all your food is included. Lodges are cheap on the EBC trek, but they make up for it in food prices. Lodges demand that you eat meals there or else the price goes up to 1000 + Rupees. We suggest coming to Kathmandu a day or two early, interviewing a few different outfitters and see what your feeling is.
Wow I have to agree with Donna – that bridge would have freaked me out! But I force myself to cross such things by looking up, not down, which I realize is not the best solution. This is turning out to be a very exciting part of your trip!
P.S. I liked Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I. but LOVE him in the Jesse Stone movies – sigh.
.-= Trisha Miller´s last blog ..Ten Tips for Hunting Down Stories on the Road =-.
Hi Donna and Trisha. I was really nervous about the bridge myself. I had heard other people talk about them and the guide book built them up so much that I almost didn’t want to go on the trek! Once I came to the first bridge though, it was a breeze. After crossing a couple more, I was standing in the middle taking photos and was very relaxed on them. They are very sturdy and well constructed. I think that the old bamboo bridges would have been frightening, but these ones are great.
Trisha! I love that you like Tom Selleck too, I have never seen the Jesse Stone movies. Will be checking them out at our local Blockbuster when we get home! We are going to have so much fun in New York!
So cool! Thank you for taking us along with your adventure because I know that it might never happen for me.
.-= Amy @ The Q Family´s last blog ..A Tour of Homewood Suites Atlanta-Lawrenceville & Giveaway =-.
It’s great fun to follow you guys on your trip! Great pictures. I had no idea there were that many villages etc along the route to Base Camp. Somehow I had imagined it to be without native people, just climbers…
I hope you guys have a nice rest in Namche Bazaar.
.-= Maria Staal´s last blog ..Bakery Museum Photo Impression =-.
It is amazing that the villages line the route. Life goes on as it has for centuries. People seem to not bother with the trekkers much. That is not to say trekking isn’t important to them, it is a major industry for the people, but they also live their own lives.
You really are on top of the world – and I’m loving how much you are revelling in your experience. I salute you for following your travel dreams – how many people would regretfully say to themselves that they ‘cant do that’? Me myself, seriously, I cant do that! but if I can get a couple of brand new knee joints, there will be no stopping me!
Good luck with the new knee joints. My parents spend their winters in Florida and they have stories of everyone in their complex getting knee replacements. It seems very common there and people do great afterwards. They have come a long way in the medical field. So who knows, maybe you will be climbing soon. We climbed with a lady that was 65 years old and we met other people that told us they climbed with people in their 70′s. We even saw a guy on the trail with two artificial legs! People are amazing!
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Oh my God… I think those suspension bridges would kill me! Yikes! glad you made it. The only way I could do it is with the camera in front of my face… I’ll do anything for a photo
.-= Alison´s last blog ..Gone Photographin’ =-.
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