Base Camp, Baby! (Part 4)

Hello All,
OK this is the absolute last time I am writing about the trek. It must be getting old and I am sure you will all breathe a sigh relief when you know longer have to hear about acclimatisation and no longer have to read all the weak adjectives I came up with to describe the amazingness that is (are?) the Himalayas. I have just finished the book 'Into Thin Air' by Jon Krakauer (he wrote 'Into the Wild' as well) about his Everest summit attempt and he writes so well and is able to convey so much about Everest and the region and how amazing everything is and how messed up you get while trying to climb Everest proper (not like us) that when I read it I felt like my silly ramblings were a bit, well silly. Anyhoosie.

Day 12: Pheriche -> Deboche

Showers: 0

Wet wipes used: 8

Litres of melted snow in my boots: 73

Got rugged up in thermals, hiking pants and waterproofs on the bottom and thermals, t-shirt, fleece and waterproof jacket on the top, gloves, glove liners, buff and beanie and set off in what I can only describe as the blazing snow. Was rather fun and amazing and cool once we had warmed up somewhat. After lunch at Deboche, the snow still hadn’t let up and we (and by ‘we’ I mean the guides) weren’t going to be able to put up the tents at our intended camp site which was still a bit of a hike away so it was decided we would stay in the tea house at Deboche for the night. We were all extremely pleased about not having to go traipsing back out in the snow, all wet and cold, and made the most of the rest of the day in front of the fire reading and playing UNO. We also somehow arranged about 57 pairs of boots, socks and gloves around the fire in an attempt to get everything dry before we set off the next day.  



Snow. And prayer flags. And trees.



Day 13: Deboche -> Namche Bazaar

Showers: 0

Wet wipes used: 99

Snow fights: 1

It stopped snowing during the night to everyone’s relief. I was picturing being snowed in and stuck at Deboche for the next 12 weeks.  Everything looked magical when we woke up the next day. The morning walk was, for the most part, fabulously fun (although I lost track of how many times we slipped and fell on our asses in the snow; or maybe that was just me) – the highlight being the mammoth snow fight between us and the sherpas. There was lots of laughter and it went on forever. Luckily it ended before anyone lost an eye or their camera.



Just before the Snow Fight of 2011.



After lunch some of us headed the long way to Namche, intending to have a look the school and hospital, in Khumjung and Kunde respectively, that were built with funds from the Edmund Hillary Foundation. Old Edmund has definitely done his bit for the people of the region. His Foundation continues to support the school and hospital to this day.

By the time we got to Namche we had been slogging through the snow, melting snow, water and ice for about 8 hours and I was pleased to plonk myself in front of a fire. Once again we were supposed to be staying in the tents but it wasn’t possible for them to be put up because of the frozen ground so tea houses for all. Yay for us.

 

Day 14: Namche Bazaar -> Ghat

Showers: 0

Wet wipes used: 222

It is amazing how much easier it is to hike when you are going downhill. Nix and I decided that we were the Zimbabwean Downhill Hiking Champions (as well as the first ones to Everest Base Camp). We hiked in one day ascending what had taken us 2 days going the other way!

During the trip, 6 out of 7 of the team had succumbed to symptoms of altitude sickness and were all on Diamox. Might I mention that the only one who wasn’t ‘drinking the Kool-aid’ as Hannah put it, was Peter, the oldest of the bunch - at 59! But he IS a bit of a machine so we didn’t feel too bad. Anyway after dinner at Ghat, we were treated to a ‘No More Diamox’ cake which we all hooted and hollered over for at least 12 hours. We are easily amused. 

Our celebratory cake. So cute!

It seemed so much warmer in Ghat this time around. Not sure if it actually was warmer or if we had just become hardened mountain goats (probably the first one.)

Day 15: Ghat -> Lukla

Showers: 0

Wet wipes used: 0 (just kidding)

The 3 or so hours hike to Lukla went by extremely quickly. As much as we had all loved the trek in our own ways, we all practically skipped back to Lukla where we were going to stay at the night at a tea house, before flying back to Kathmandu the next day.

We had an excellent last lunch from the cook, said our goodbyes to the Sherpa guides (except Harka) and settled in to our rooms. Since we still had the whole afternoon, we decided to visit the hospital at Lukla which was a short hike up the hill. 

Day 16: Lukla -> Kathmandu

Showers: 2

Baths: 1

The flight back to Kathmandu was non-eventful, which is always good when you are flying in a teeny tiny plane that sounds like it has hairdryers for engines and the runway drops down several hundred metres at the end from where the plane is supposed to take off.

I am not sure if this photo does the runway justice. Hopefully you can all see how it just drops away at the end into oblivion. I exaggerate about most things but not this.

As soon  as we got back to the hotel I had a shower and washed my hair about 23 times. It also took another bath and subsequent shower to actually start feeling clean. And I wont even describe the colour of the shower water as it escaped through the plug hole. Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

Ok. The End. Hallelujah! Hope you enjoyed the novel that was my trek to Base Camp. Next stop Thailand!