Trekking the Himalayas and Everest with the Locals

I am sore. I have not showered in 9 days. My back is aching from the burden of a 14kg pack strapped around my shoulders and waist. Due to the lack of moisture in the air they have now cracked and every step I take widens the splits along my feet.

But all this is irrelevant because after 9 days of walking over 62km and climbing up to 5356m I now stand at the foot of the highest point on earth, Mt Everest.

Two weeks prior i found myself climbing into a Twin Otter light aircraft. Looking out the window the monstrous white-capped mountain peaks came into view dominating the horizon. I was in awe of their magnificent overwhelming presence.

As the plane descended into the valley below it shook violently and sudden drops occurred often. My heart was pounding. At 2,800 metres above sea level Lukla is the highest airport in the world, it is also the world’s most dangerous. Despite this the plane touched down safely.

We trekked along side the Dudh Kosi valley surrounded by mountains, villages, children, yaks, suspension bridges and Nepalese porters carrying ridiculous amounts of supplies.

We reached Namche Bazaar at 3,420m, a small city carved into the mountainside. It was also the last place the chocolate was sold at a reasonable price, so we loaded up.

Here, we got our first view of Everest. It stood in all its mighty magnificence in the horizon surrounded by just as impressive peaks, it was a surreal experience to see the mountain and imagine people on top standing on the roof of the world.

The increasing altitude often caused head spins, shortness of breath and extremely cold weather at night. Our water bottles froze, the toilets froze, we froze, it was cold.

The next morning as the sun was outshining on the freshly dumped powered that blanketed the entire valley and high up into the mountains ranges. We trekked higher and higher for the next three days on snow-covered tracks and across frozen ice rivers.

We had reached the Khumbu Ice Fall, a giant glacier that lead straight up to the foot of Mt Everest. We left early trekking alongside the glacier listening to ice crack and fall and occasionally witnessing the thunder of an avalanche roll down the mountainsides. We were 2 hours from Everest Base Camp.

We descended onto the glacier. A small rock mound and an abundance of prayer flags marked the spot of Base Camp. We sat cracked open our beers and soaked up our surrounded at 5364m above sea level. I am left hungry for more.