Chitwan National Park

As we finished EBC earlier than expected, I had time for one more activity before I left Nepal, so I decided to join Yan on his trip to Chitwan. This was Nepal's first national park, founded to help preserve the rich plant and wildlife found in this region.

After another six hour bus ride, to which I was becoming accustomed, we arrived at Hotel Rainbow Safari in time for lunch, before setting out for a walking tour of the local area. We were shown some traditional houses, made from leaves coated in mud (although most are now made from bricks and mortar - I think these were mainly preserved for our benefit!) before moving to the elephant sanctuary. There were many bull elephants here, which are mainly used for anti-poaching patrols (alas, still a problem). We saw them being fed 'elephant momos' - unlike the momos eaten traditional by Tibetan people, these consisted of grain wrapped up in leaves, and as well as being nutritious were obviously enjoyed by the elephants. We also learned the differences between Asian elephants and their African counterparts I have seen in Kenya and South Africa. The Asians are slightly smaller, have smaller ears, only one 'finger' on the end of their trunk compared to two on the Africans, and one extra toenail on each foot.

Mahout making momos

Their dung is also used to make paper, firstly by burning it to remove the moisture, before the thin fibres can be processed to make paper!

In the evening we were privy to some traditional dancing routines, accompanied by rhythmic drum-beating, and one act even have fire sticks! With a few others, I was pulled from my chair to join in the last dance, which consisted mainly of trying to copy what the person in front was doing as we dancing round in a circle, without tripping over the young boy who decided to run between us!

On our second day, we had a ride on a river canoe (hollowed out from a single tree) followed by a walk through the jungle. Unfortunately it was overcast when we started, and heavily raining when we finished, so we didn't see much more than a few birds (and the few leeches who attached themselves to most of my party during the walk - thankfully I got away lightly!)

Later we saw the only twin elephants bred in captivity in the world - one statistic they are very proud of. Slowly poaching is decreasing in Nepal, but elephant ivory and rhino horn in particular still attract large sums on the black market.

Rhino drinking from river

Elephant safari

 

Sunset over Chitwan

River Canoe

Baby twins with mum

Very wet!

After lunch we had for me the highlight of our stay in Chitwan - an elephant safari. Sitting on a platform strapped to the elephant's back, we were taken on a safari. The best bit was when we saw a mother and baby rhino up very close (I think being on elephants were were ignored a lot more than we would have been in a car!).

EBC trek: Days 10-12

After returning from Kala Pattar for breakfast, we decided to shorten our trip by walking for longer each day, as it was so much easier walking downhill! The first day we walked a further 7 hours down to Periche, which is in the valley below Dingboche, where I stayed on the way up.

Periche Valley

The following day saw a further 7 hour trek down to Namche, and the same guesthouse as on the way up. When we arrived it was very cloudy though, and we learned that as a result there had been no flights from Lukla for the past 3 days – really bad news for the hundreds of people stuck in Kathmandu who didn’t have much leeway in their itineraries. Quite a few people opted for the expensive option of a helicopter.

Thankfully in the morning the sky was clear, so we started walked down to Lukla to wait for a flight the next morning. When we passed the border for the national park, we heard that a plane had crashed in Lukla that morning – it seemed there was a problem with the landing gear and the aeroplane’s nose hit the runway. Thankfully no one was hurt though, and I think they just pushed it aside to resume the flights!

That evening in Lukla, after another long day we celebrated the end of our trek with a well earned Everest beer and the first meat for a while – a ‘chicken sizzler’

Finished!

The next day we eventually got back to Kathmandu (after a 4 hour delay), where I had a shower, shave/massage at a Nepali barber, and Yan and I went for dinner in Everest Steak House before finishing the bottle of whisky we started before we left!

Damaged aeroplane

Lukla Airport



My guide for the trek was Chhatra Karki of Nepal Eco Adventure - thoroughly recommended!

EBC trek: Day 9 - Kala Pattar

Sun rise at Everest

Woke at 4.15am to leave for Kala Pattar (5555m). I put on every layer of clothes I had, but the temperature was still freezing. So much so that by the time I needed a drink, my water had ice inside, and more annoyingly the lid was also frozen shut too.

After half an hour of walking it became light enough not to need the torch, but I was really feeling breathless by this time. Every few meters I had to stop, and I came very close to turning back.

However, I persevered, and at about 7pm reached the top of Kala Pattar. I was cold, thirsty and was panting like a dog on a hot day, but I didn’t care. I can’t describe just how happy I felt to reach the top. Blinking away tears of joy, I was ecstatic!

I took some photos of the sun rising behind Everest, which gave it a halo, and thanked Chhatra for getting me this far. Yan didn’t make it to this point as he had gone ahead when I was very slow earlier, and ended up veering off the path. Still, he had some good news from where he was too apparently. As the sun finally rose about Everest, we went back down, and the journey which had taken 3 hours up took a mere half an hour down!

I desperately wanted a full English breakfast, but settled for beans on toast (according to the Canadians conforming to my country’s stereotype!) before we headed down to Periche to spend the night a comfortable 1000m lower than last night. 

EBC trek: Day 8 - Base Camp

We awoke at 6.30am for an early breakfast before walking to Gorakshep (5100m). We left our sleeping bags and other non-essentials at the guesthouse before starting walking to Everest base camp (5365m). We finally arrived around 1pm, and saw some tents of groups planning to climb to the summit. Very pleased to get there, and took lots of photos!

Everest in between the two mountains on the right, with the ice shelf on the way up from Base Camp

Expedition tents

Success!

Due to another bad headache on the way back I just had a tomato soup for dinner after returning to Gorakshep around 3pm. However some of the Canadians were still crawling in about 8pm, but which time it was dark and bitterly cold.

EBC trek: Day 7 - Chhukung to Lobuche

We left after breakfast to climb to Lobuche (4950m) today. The first hour was nice and flat over some stunning scenery (and not a cloud in the sky). After crossing another river, we started an hour of two of climbing into Lobuche. I’m really feeling the altitude now, and although we were slightly faster than our itinerary allowed, progress on any incline seems very slow. My steps are much shorter, and I’m left gasping for breath after just a short distance.

There was a slight moment of alarm when we got here as Chhatra couldn’t find any spare rooms (due to some people in massive groups!). Thankfully our patience was rewarded when someone dropped out, freeing up a room. However not everyone was as lucky, and several people slept the night on the floor of the dining room. I also found out today that George, who was struggling before, has dropped out and will rejoin his friends in a few days on their way down.

In contrast to our last guesthouse where each room had a toilet, this one has just one between around 50 guests. Still, I’m relieved to have a room!

EBC trek: Day 6 - Chhukung

It was quite cloudy this morning, in contrast to the blue skies I have become accustomed to. This made it significantly colder on the way up, but I found this quite refreshing.  We followed streams to Chhukung (4700m), which is on the way towards Island Peak base camp. Island Peak is a popular summit for mountaineers to try as it can be done in a day, is not too difficult, and at $350 the permit is significantly cheaper than the likes of Everest!

I ran out of water on the way up, so we refilled from the crystal-clear stream of melted snow/ice from the mountains. I used iodine of course (as we do with the tap water), but nevertheless the result was very refreshing and cool.

We returned to Dingboche for a second night, where upon we were met by a group of 60 Canadians staying at our lodge! Complete with about 15 yaks (blocking the entrance to our room!), numerous porters, guides, etc, it is hard to think that they really fit the ethos of climbing in the Himalayas. The other guests seemed equally bemused, but their lack of a rest day means they may well loose more than the 3 or so members they have already by the end of tomorrow. Anyway, talking to a few women amongst the group, they seem friendly enough, and each has raised $10,000 towards the Canadian Arthritis Society, which is an admirable feat.

EBC trek: Day 5 - Pangboche to Dingboche

Today we trekked up to Dingboche (4350m) – a fairly short three hour walk, and we got to the guesthouse by 11am. With the sun this hot, it was a relief to get inside.

As we climbed past 400m, the trees all gave way to shrubs, and the ground is getting much drier – sand in places. The bare rock and rivers, and the lack of green give the area a much more remote, desolate feel, but the landscape is as beautiful as it is stark.

I met another Englishman today at a stop on the way up, and he had turned around near Dingboche because he had devolved altitude sickness. Turning back was obviously a hard decision to make, but almost daily there are rescue helicopter flights overhead reminding us that it was the right one. Even after descending a few hundred meters, he said he was feeling better already and vowing to return in a year or two, with a mountain view flight in the meantime.

Memorial to Scott Fisher, leader on expedition to Everest Summit who died in 1996 (as detailed in book/film 'Into Thin Air')

EBC trek: Day 4 - Namche to Pangboche

Today we trekked up to Tengboche Monastery then onto Pangboche to spend the night at 3900m. It was a long day – six hours of trekking and some long tough climbs too. During the morning and early afternoon, the sun was very strong, and I think this caused the headache I had that afternoon. Still after some paracetamol it had gone by dinner.

Most of the villages we passed grow potatoes, so unsurprisingly these are forming a staple of my diet (which makes a nice change from rice!). In addition to daal bhat, I have been eating a lot of potatoes and eggs. Chhatra informs us that because everyone in the mountains are Buddhist, they are not allowed to kill animals (although they will mostly happily eat them once dead!). This means the meat available has been killed a few days below Lukla, and carried up on the back of porters – for this reason, I will be vegetarian for the trek (hence all the eggs for protein)!

We saw the Australian, George (who Chhatra knew from a past trek and whom we met at Kathmandu airport) and his group again today. He is finding it tough because of arthritic back pain and a possible ear infection, but remains positive and determined as ever!

In the evening we met some climbers from Georgia which had turned back after camp 3 on nearby Ama Dablem mountain – quite disappointing for them. and their mood reflected this.

EBC trek: Day 3 - Kumjung and Khunde

We are staying in Namche again tonight to help acclimatise, but went on a five hour trek around the surrounding villages.

We walked up to Kumjung and neighbouring Khunde (3800m), nestled in a valley overlooked by Mount Everest and surrounding mountains.

Kumjung is home to a very old monastery, which although lavished with paintings and lots of religious texts, is perhaps best known amongst trekkers for being home to the supposed only Yeti scalp! After a small donation, we were shown this artefact, which is said to be 500 years old.  The rest of the village consists of green tin-roofed houses with small plots of land, divided by dry-stone walls much like in some national parks back home, except they squash yak dung on the walls to dry in the sun before it can be burned as fuel! The small allotments allow the Sherpa people to grow crops, notably potatoes.

Khunde is home to a hospital, founded by Sir Edmund Hillary in 1966. It is staffed by a doctor, nurse and a few healthcare workers who care for approximately 7000 people from the surrounding villages as far away as Phakding (which we passed on the first day). They also treat foreigners with acute mountain sickness or other ailments. The doctor on duty showed us around the well-equipped hospital, which was also much cleaner than Kanti! It would have been a nice add-on to spend a week there after the rest of the elective in Kathmandu, and I would certainly recommend this to other students thinking of spending their elective in Nepal.

In addition to founding the hospital, Sir Hillary also founded a school in Khunde, and after his death in 2008, the local people showed their appreciation of his dedication to Sherpa welfare by erecting a memorial stupa in their village.

Before heading back to Namche, we went up to Everest View Hotel for a cup of tea – at 3900m, it is the highest 5-star hotel in the world.

EBC trek: Day 2 - Benkar to Namche

Having descended on the first day to sleep at lower altitude, today saw us climb to 3440m – Namche Bazaar (‘Nam-chay’). This is a thriving market town, where the trade routes from Tibet meet Nepal. The altitude is becoming noticeable now – I think I am higher than I have ever been (before was Cusco, Peru at 3400m), and Chhatra reminds us of the need to keep drinking lots of fluids (about 3L/day) because of the amount lost through breathing.

The walk up was hard and at one stage Yan was regretting us not using porters! The journey followed the Dudh Kohsi (‘milky river’) and up through the sweetly scented pine forests. We crossed the river five times today, on precarious but Swiss-built suspension bridges. This is certainly not suitable for those with a fear of heights – as we walked along 50m about the river, I couldn’t help but look down and ponder whether if I fell I would die of trauma, downing or hypothermia first!

In the afternoon after we arrived in Namche, we went to a bar showing Touching the Void – a film about two mountaineers in Peru who almost die in the quest for the summit!

It’s hard to keep drinking enough, as I don’t really feel thirsty, but during the night I awoke three times with a very dry mouth. It’s a bit of a juggling match between keeping your mouth dry and not needing to get out of the warm sleeping bag to go to the less than desirable squat toilet!

EBC trek: Day 1 - Lukla to Benkar

I left for the airport in Kathmandu early in the morning, and eventually arrived at Tenzing & Hillary Airport in Lukla around 11am. The first thing I noticed is that it is a lot cooler at 2800m. Although a t-shirt was still sufficient, the crisp air was a welcome break from the humid intensity of Kathmandu. After a late breakfast in Lukla, we started the walk down to Benkar to spend the night at the lightly lower 2600m.

Lukla Airport

During the 3 hour walk, we passed many waterfalls, crossed rivers and admired the scenery. The river water was beautiful and clear, descending from the mountains high above. It also was so intense it made the white water rafting we did a few weeks ago look positively tame!

One of the nice things about trekking is how friendly everyone is (much like hiking in the British countryside). Chhatra is always stopping to greet other guides he knows – which as he has done the trek about 200 times before is a lot of them – and other westerners always say hello. Just today I have met Jerome (‘Yar-roon’) from the Netherlands, a couple of doctors from the USA, and a Spanish couple who stayed at the same lodge. I started the trek as I meant to go on – a dinner of traditional Nepali daal bhat followed by bed at 8pm!

Everest base camp trek

I've bought my iodine, high energy snacks, toilet paper (nothing is provided!), and a bag of 'maoam' sweets in case I need a psychological boost, and hired a down sleeping bag that goes down to -20C, so I think I'm ready to go!

We leave tomorrow, flying to Lukla, then on from there. Should reach base camp by Monday week, and back to Kathmandu the Friday after (it's much easier coming down as you don't have to stop to acclimatise to the altitude). There won't be any chances for me to update until I get back, but I really looking forward to it!