As posted before, due to bad weather we had to take a helicopter to a helipad an hour South of Lukla to get to the Himalayas. We spent the first night in a small guesthouse in the middle of nowhere, but it was cute. Most of the places we stayed were incredibly spartan, though. The rooms usually had a couple of twin mattresses and a couple of pillows, but not much else. Some included blankets, but we usually used our sleeping bags that we brought with. Bathrooms were typically at the end of the hall... (but more on this later)
The scenery and the hiking were amazing. There were beautiful religious symbols throughout the mountains, put there by Sherpas, and whenever we came across a wall of inscriptions, we would have to keep to the left due to religious reasons.
Nick and I had hired a porter and a guide through Simrik Real Nepal Tours- I really liked our porter and guide, but it was expensive to hire them through the company, and I don't know how good the value of our tour was (we paid about $1000 each, and it included a tour guide, a porter, flights to and from Luka- but not the helicopter ride- and a couple nights' 1-star accommodation in Kathmandu).
Our porter was Pisaal. (Not sure if that's how you spell his name, but it's pronounced "Pee-sawl".) He is a native to the Himalayas and regularly does treks, including to Everest Base Camp (EBC). Nick and I managed to get all of our stuff- including 2 sleeping bags, 2 down jackets, toiletries, shoes and clothes- into our duffel, and Nick was worried that the 18 kg bag was too much for Pisaal. But then we were walking up the hikes and porters carrying 40 kgs+ were passing us and he didn't feel so bad.
Our guide, Durga, was from a different part of Nepal (I can't remember the name) so he had to take a bus to meet us in Kathmandu. He was incredibly helpful and kind and excited to show us the Himalayas.
Our trip went like this : arrived in helipad area > 1st night in small town close to Pakding> Namche Bazaar (for 2 nights, to acclimatize to the height)> Tengboche > Dingboche> Lobuche> Gorak Shep (Everest Base Camp)> Tengboche> Jorsale> Lukla. 10 nights in all- our trek went pretty quickly because there were only two of us, and we kept a pretty good pace. A lot of other groups were taking a couple extra rest days, which might've helped us, but we had a tight schedule so that Nick could return to work on time.
The hikes included high suspension bridges over rivers and ravines, lots of rocky areas and beautiful forestry. There was even a rhododendron forest! (In fact, the weather and landscape reminded me a lot of the Pacific Northwest.)
This was Namche Bazaar, the biggest town along the trek. It even had a nearby helipad where food and clothing was flown in from Kathmandu! Water in Namche Bazaar was 100 rupee ($1) per bottle, cheaper than anywhere else in the mountains, and it was the last city on the trek where we could eat meat (without getting sick).
Our room at the Hotel Camp de Base- super basic, but easily the nicest place we stayed at during our trek. It had an en suite bathroom! No showers or hot water but it was still awesome!
The menus on the trek were practically identical- a lot of carbs, which was probably good, because some of the meat was questionable, and fresh uncooked vegetables was a HUGE mistake in Nepal (a lesson I learned in Kathmandu before the trek, resulting in massive food poisoning).
The menus also included: pizza (which was sketch and Asian but whatever it's fake pizza), spaghetti/ macaroni, vegetable dal baat (rice, curry and lentils), fried potatoes and basic breakfasts. And the typos were all identical in every lodge we stayed at:
The bathrooms.
Let's talk, for a minute, about the bathrooms.
I hate- HATE- the bathrooms. Most of them were manual flush, something we had a lot of in Laos, or squatty potties, which I think is just a small step up from using a hole in the ground. Gross.
How manual flush toilets work, for those unfamiliar with them: (this is in Nepal, not everywhere)
There is a massive bucket full of supposedly clean water next to the toilet. There is a pail in it. To flush the toilet, you have to take the pail, fill it with water from the bucket, and dump it in the toilet. This is way freaking harder than you would think, mostly because "dumping water" at the right amount requires practice. If you dump the water too fast, there is splash back. If you dump the water too slow, it won't be as effective and it will take literally ten times of pail-dumping to flush a toilet.
Also, this was Dingboche, where I got altitude sickness and went on Diamox. HUGE fan of Diamox, and also porridge.
Along the trek we would pass porters and caravans of yaks. Could get nerve-wracking when the yaks were higher than us, in rocky areas.
When we finally got to EBC, I was kind of disappointed to find there was no sign or monument to mark the spot. There was a big rock with a bunch of prayer flags, but there were a lot of those along the trek. There were, however, some incredibly beautiful glaciers.
When Nick and I arrived at EBC we felt like we needed to do something sweet to mark the occasion.
In fact, the weather sucked for pretty much most of our trek. We didn't even SEE Everest until Day 8, when we were back in Tengboche, even though we had already been to Base Camp. After that, though, the weather was wonderful and the views were great.
I'm not an avid fan of multi-day trekking, though I do love camping, so my opinion may vary from very outdoorsy types. But I will say this: Everest Base Camp trek was hard. Getting food poisoning in Kathmandu and altitude sickness on the trek sucked. The hiking wasn't incredibly difficult but it was 6 to 10 hours a day, and most people on the trail were pretty fit. We saw no trekkers with kids, and there's good reason for that. The accommodation is spartan and the food becomes monotonous. The desire for a hot shower becomes stronger and stronger as one gets sweatier and sweatier. It can be incredibly frustrating to hike in rain and clouds and not be able to see Everest until days after you've stood on Everest.
Overall, though, it was awesome. Probably the hardest trip I will ever do- Nick and I have agreed that any future hiking/ camping trips should be done for two nights maximum, or else have access to a nice shower. But Nick was the best travel partner I could've asked for- he was a total pro at all things Himalaya, and was so incredibly supportive during the trip.
And now we've seen Everest and checked "Nepal" off of our list...
