Page 15 - Phonebox Magazine December 2012

very close to the Tibetan border and the approach to this Sherpa town was fantastic, looking more like a scene from another planet as our accommodation sat between the fringes of what looked like the dessert and the landscape backdrops of the moon. By now Emma was struggling as altitude sickness started to take a grip with headaches, nausea and loss of appetite but she was helped along with some altitude sickness tablets provided by the guide. passed out all afternoon grabbing some well needed kip that we still needed to the landscape had become more dry and baron, the wind eroding the ground we were getting much closer to the huge rock and ice formations that bared over us and we could sense that Everest Base Camp was not far away now. The following day after a hard long climb we arrived at the Sherpa town of headed off to base camp, trekking along a ridge that lead an almost direct arrived at base camp at 5364m. Before us stood the Khumba Glacier which is Pomo Ri and Numptse. Base camp itself is just a rocky clearing, with a sign were no tents up for those taking the amazing challenge of Everest itself.

rocky path back to Gorakshep where we played cards with other travelers
the right thing to do so we spent the day descending by 1200m. This cured Emma’s altitude sickness however Mark became unwell and dizzy, which made negotiating the steep mountain ledges rather dangerous.
The next day we were given the option to spend 2 days ascending up to Gokyo but we both did not feel well enough so instead opted to spend in a local bar and eating popcorn and drinking lots of tea. We then had two to Kathmandu, which was bumpier than on the way in, much to Emma’s dismay. Luckily it only took 30 minutes and we knew we were in safe hands there to hand out sweets and cotton wool for our ears and to give the safety training, which consisted of saying “safety” and pointing at the door.
tough going, but a highly rewarding trip.
Tips from our guide for a successful Base Camp trek:
Protect the mouth and chest to prevent the cold getting in
Be aware of altitude and always make sure you take time to acclimatise Know the symptoms of altitude sickness and never suffer in silence
Be fully insured for high altitude trekking time it takes to transport is not ideal
Our guide Dinesh Karki from Trek Nepal (www.treknepal.com) is happy to answer any questions you have regarding trekking in Nepal. He can be contacted via: karkidinesh55@hotmail.com
Mark & Emma
Phonebox Magazine 15
Mark & Emma