Nepal.Trek to Everest Base Camp. Part 1
The first day and a half after arriving in Kathmandu were spent on adapting and organizing our trek. From the airport, we took a prepaid taxi to the tourist area "Thamel" where we checked into the "King's Land Hotel" and immediately bought plane tickets to Lukla (the starting point to Everest Base Camp Trail) with a flight scheduled for the day after next.
After a good night's sleep following a long flight and a night of waiting for our flight, the second day truly marked the beginning of our exploration of Nepal. With fresh minds, we immersed ourselves in the familiar atmosphere reminiscent of India. We walked through the streets towards the tourist office, where we obtained our "TIMS" (Trekkers' Information Management System) cards...
On the way back, we bought warm socks, a trekking map, and some missing items. We spent the second half of the day just strolling through Thamel. News from Ukraine, coming to us via SMS, occasionally brought our thoughts back to discussing the difficult situation in our country. But overall, Nepal completely wiped out all our past, making us focus on the "here and now," and it was great!
The next morning, we took a taxi to the airport. Our flight, scheduled for 6:30 AM, was delayed by 3.5 hours due to fog in Kathmandu. But still, we waited for the moment when we were sitting in the small plane heading to Lukla:
I was lucky enough to get a seat right next to the pilots' cabin, which was completely open for viewing. From this spot, I could see everything the pilots were doing and what they saw almost every day through the plane's windshield. And what they saw were the great Himalayas...
Lukla is located at an altitude of about 2800 meters, and the landing takes place on a runway situated between mountains, right above a cliff. Moreover, the runway itself is slightly inclined upward for better braking since it is quite short. Probably due to these factors, it is considered one of the most dangerous in the world! If you add the fact that we were flying on old planes that are pretty much ready to be decommissioned, the excitement of this trip increased even more.
The view from the pilots' cabin to the runway...
After landing, we passed through a small, shabby terminal and picked up our backpacks. Dianka's backpack weighed about 12 kilograms, and mine - 18. Porters immediately approached us and offered their services upon seeing the considerable size of our backpacks. They are used to trekkers usually hiring help, but we didn't need it, as we were already accustomed to carrying even larger backpacks and didn't want an extra person in our small company. We often encountered porters on our way and were constantly amazed by their endurance and strength - how they could carry such heavy loads up the mountains remained a mystery to us, perhaps it's in their genes...
Today, we only had to walk about 3 hours to the first overnight stop, and we had plenty of time, so we leisurely walked along a well-laid path and enjoyed the Buddhist shrines. Throughout the trek area, the Sherpa people reside - they are descendants of Tibetans who settled south of the Himalayas in the Middle Ages. Since 93% of them are Buddhists, you can see stupas (Buddhist architectural-sculptural monolithic monumental and cult structures with hemispherical outlines), stones engraved and painted with sacred Buddhist texts - mantras, sacred drums with engraved or painted mantras, and numerous prayer flags in almost every village...
After the first night in the village of Phakding (2610 m), we headed to the next place - the village of Namche Bazaar. On the way, we had to cross many small bridges, each "strewn" with prayer flags...
In this region, there are no cars, ATVs, etc. Everything is carried by porters, horses, buffaloes, and yaks. As we ascended, we often gave way to this type of pack transport...
Namche Bazaar (3440 m)...
The hotel we chose, called "Yak Hotel," was very beautiful both outside and inside. We planned to stay there for 2 nights for better acclimatization, as we were already at an altitude of over 3400 meters. Here, we tried "Yak steak" for the first time (where else if not at a hotel with such a symbolic name) and Tibetan soup "Thukpa" with noodles, vegetables, and buffalo meat...
On the next acclimatization day, we spun the prayer wheel and, in high spirits, began ascending to the village of Khumjung. Today, it was important for us, for better adaptation at high altitude, to climb about 600 meters and then descend for the night...
As we ascended, we had a view of Namche, though the mountains were shrouded in fog, the village was still clearly visible. Overall, the weather for the past two days had not been very pleasant, covering our beloved mountains with clouds...
After about 2 hours, we arrived in Khumjung...
Entering the village through the main gate, we approached its central part, where a sacred stupa stood, and around its perimeter were sacred drums with engraved prayers...
It was interesting to walk between the stone fences, which turned the whole town into a big maze...
The temperature dropped to 0, and it started to snow lightly...
We entered one of the lodges to warm up and drink tea. Here, we were greeted by a very nice Nepali woman with her children, who were frolicking around us...
When we went outside, the weather had worsened even more. We descended in complete fog, barely finding the trail, with the help of smiling Nepalis who always pointed the right way. Returning to Namche, we spent the rest of the day in the cozy hotel room.
The next morning, looking out the window, we saw a cloudless sky and peaks towering around the village. What a magical place we are in...
This is the view from the window...
After checking out of the hotel, we continued on our route. Today, our final destination was the village of Tengboche...
The mountain in the center, with a cloud resembling a bridal veil - is Everest (8848 m), further to the right - is the summit of Lhotse (8516 m), and the farthest mountain to the right, resembling a sphinx, is Ama Dablam (6814 m). How symbolic that Everest, upon our first encounter, looked like a bride...
Against the backdrop of mighty mountains, Buddhist shrines added a special atmosphere of tranquility and harmony...
After crossing another bridge and enduring a rather exhausting climb, we found ourselves in the village of Tengboche (3867 m), which houses a fairly famous Buddhist monastery. At the entrance to the village, as is customary in these places, we were greeted by a beautiful white stupa...
And here is the monastery itself...
We settled here in a lodge with a beautiful view of Everest, and the next day, after breakfast, we decided to climb the stupa located on the mountain above the monastery. The leisurely ascent took us about an hour; we smoothly passed the 4000 m mark and found ourselves in a very picturesque place...
From here, there was a clear view of Everest (in the center) and now without a cloud. After all, Everest was a bride only yesterday :). In general, it sounds a bit odd to call the masculine Everest - a bride... Of course, the Nepalese and Tibetan names for the mountain are much more pleasant to the ear in this context - Sagarmatha (Nepali "Mother of the Gods") and Chomolungma (Tibetan "Holy Mother of Life") respectively. Only Europeans could name the mountain after the head of the geodetic service - George Everest. Agree, "Mother of the Gods" or "Holy Mother of Life" sounds much more romantic and interesting than Everest. In the names given by the Nepalis and Tibetans, you can feel all the love for this natural wonder (it's no coincidence that both words have the root "mother"), while in the European name - there is dryness and hard calculation, as in life, unfortunately...
That's why we love this world, the world of Sagarmatha - Chomolungma...
A monastery in the mountains, how harmonious this combination is... And how it sounds - a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas, with a view of the highest peak on Earth... In general, the feelings are simply indescribable...
At the entrance to the monastery, there is a stone on which you can see the imprint of a foot and a marking. As stated on the plaque, Lama "Sangwa Dorje" meditated at this place in the 16th century, and he predicted that a monastery would be built here...
On the postcard we bought, a side view of Tengboche...
From Tengboche, we had to head to the next settlement - Pangboche. On the way, we met a Nepali who was carrying huge stones in the traditional local way, most likely for building a stone fence or hut. Life in rural areas is really tough, and seeing how these pleasant and cheerful people live, you start to rethink your life and everything we consider hard times... Here, people really have to work to survive, they don't drown their sorrows in drink as in many of our villages, in fact, they don't drink alcohol at all... That's why the Nepalis living and surviving in difficult conditions - reclaiming land from the mountains for farming, creating numerous terraces, carrying incredibly heavy loads, and still remaining super positive and smiling, earned our immense respect!!!
The trails, mostly leading along slopes, amazed us with their views. And every time we turned a corner, new landscapes opened up to us.
It was unusual to see such a blue sky, not to mention the rocky mountains that made up the highlight of the whole picture...
There were some slightly scary sections, and the scariness was due to how Dianka overcame them...
The presence of Buddhist spiritual attributes along the way and the silence of the mountains contributed to an atmosphere of tranquility and serenity. We were very pleased that we chose this time for travel, in the so-called "off-season". We were happy that we didn't have to share this moment in the mountains with other people, and it was cool...
After about 2.5 hours from Tengboche, we arrived in the next village - Pangboche (3930 m), over which our favorite "sphinx" - Ama Dablam (6814 m) seemed to hover...
Choosing a room with a view of the popular peak for the night, I couldn't get enough of the natural wonder while lying on my bed...
The next day we set off for the village of Dingboche. Along the way, we began to encounter small memorial stupas built by friends of people who did not return from the great Himalayas...
Also, on this section of the road, we saw harmless, slightly shy, and incredibly cute yaks...
The further we went, the harsher the landscapes. Vegetation gradually disappeared, and the amount of rocky terrain increased...
Being alone in places that exude such power and strength makes you feel truly free and happy...
The next day, we have to climb the Thokla Pass (4830 m) and reach the Khumbu Glacier, near which the next place of our overnight stay is located - Lobuche (4910 m)...
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