Trekkers at the Qomolangma base camp via Nepal. [Photo by Alywin Chew/China Daily]
Golden Week in China is usually an affair I look forward to because the weeklong holiday allows me to take a lengthy trip away from the city to relax and recharge.
But ahead of this vacation which involved trekking to the Qomolangma base camp via Nepal, I was filled with more apprehension than excitement. After all, people have lost their lives during this trek. In March, an Australian man died of acute mountain sickness, or altitude sickness, while descending from the base camp of Qomolangma (also known as Mount Everest in the West).
Two days before setting off, Bimal Thapa, our guide, gave us some words of advice.
"Just remember this is not a race. Take all the time you need, drink lots of water and you'll be fine," he says, while flashing us a reassuring smile during the pre-trek briefing in Thamel, a tourist hub in Kathmandu.
Pacing ourselves would be easy, I thought. But landing safely in the world's most dangerous airport was a different matter that was out of my hands.
The Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla, the gateway to the base camp trekking route, is widely associated with the terms 'most dangerous', "scariest" and "deadliest". A cargo plane crashed while landing at the airport in May.
To the bottom of the top of the world Yaks on a suspension bridge. [Photo by Alywin Chew/China Daily]
Day 1
While standing in queue at the airport in Kathmandu, I tried to empty my mind of the images of Lukla's short runway, the rickety propeller planes and the heavy fog that envelops the mountains around the airport.
To my relief, our Summit Air plane was a relatively new model and more spacious than those of other airliners that looked like flimsy tin cans. Take-off was smooth and the 30-minute flight was hardly harrowing. Landing was, surprisingly, even smoother. When the plane came to a complete stop on the tarmac, all the passengers clapped as if we had just avoided certain death.
We soon met our porter Purna who quickly bundled our duffel bags before strapping the load to his head. I shuddered at the thought of him snapping his neck during our trek－he was carrying slightly over 30 kilograms. My backpack, in comparison, weighed only 5 kg.
But there was really no need for a sea-level dweller like me to worry about a Nepalese porter who is well-accustomed to high altitudes－he actually reached our destination far ahead of us.
The first guesthouse we stayed at was located in the cosy enclave of Phakding. Though the travel agency stipulated in the itinerary that the trek would take about three hours, we completed the journey in just under two hours.
I told Thapa that we should have perhaps shortened the trip by covering more ground each day. He laughed.
"Tomorrow, my friend. Tomorrow will be the toughest day of the whole trip. Rest well now," he quips.
He wasn't joking.
Day 2
In addition to middle and long distance runs, my training for the trek also involved carrying a load of 15 kg up and down 40 flights of stairs twice a week for a month. As I found out, this still wasn't enough to prepare me for the arduous climb to Namche Bazaar which involved a nearly three-hour, non-stop ascent that had steep steps, slippery dirt surfaces and muddy trails that were shared with a horde of other trekkers.
We were knackered by the time we reached the checkpost on the outskirts of Namche Bazaar and as Thapa registered us with the officer on duty, we took time to stretch our sore legs and buy a snack from a shack that claims to be the highest Irish bar on Earth. A short walk later, we entered the town of colorful buildings where locals shuffled in and out of rustic pool parlors as yaks trudged up stone steps past children sitting outside their homes.
We were now at an altitude of 3,440 meters. But apart from my aching legs, I was free of headaches, a common symptom of AMS. I felt well enough to ask if I could have some local beer, but Thapa was adamant that we must not consume alcohol during the ascent. I decided not to push my luck.
Day 3-Day 7
Over the next three days, we ascended more than 1,000 meters through charming villages, beautiful forested areas and mist-covered switchbacks. While most parts of the route are not as steep as the climb from Phakding to Namche Bazaar, there are still challenging inclines that leave one utterly winded, especially at areas past 4,000 meters where the air is considerably thinner.
On Day 6, we reached Duhgla (4,600 meters) where the color of the landscape from here forth shifts from different hues of green to grey and white. But the scenery was no less gorgeous. We were now surrounded by majestic snowcapped mountains and clear blue skies. Swathes of the arid rocky terrain made me feel as if I was an astronaut walking on the moon.
The guesthouse we stayed in was threadbare. In fact, the room looked no different from a prison cell. It was extremely cold during the night and my wife, despite wearing four layers of clothing, had to tuck herself into a minus 20 C sleeping bag to stay warm. We were thankful for daybreak because it meant we could depart for the next destination, Lobuche (4,940 meters).
As we had lunch at our lodge in Lobuche, we heard the steady rumble of a helicopter's rotors as it approached a nearby landing zone.
"Goods delivery?" I asked Thapa.
"No. Helicopters that land here are almost always used to evacuate people who are suffering from altitude sickness," he replied.
"We're still feeling pretty good. I hope there won't be a need for us to get into one of those helicopters," I laughed.
The altitude medication seemed to be working well on us. Apart from mild headaches that quickly went away, we were feeling fine. I quietly hoped that no ailments would manifest themselves past 5,000 meters.
Day 8
At 7 am, we set off for Gorak Shep where we would leave our baggage and have a short break before making our way to the base camp. The path to Gorak Shep was relatively flat and should not have posed a problem, but halfway through this route, my body started sounding off the alarm bells.
Just before we ascended a steep, rocky formation, my stomach started churning, my head began to throb and I felt as if I was about to throw up. I wondered if I had jinxed myself with my previous declaration that the high altitude had yet to cause me problems. Even the spellbinding otherworldly landscape did not make things any better.
The symptoms worsened by the time we reached Gorak Shep. Doubt and fear started to fill my mind. I wondered if I was destined to fail after coming so close to the objective.
Determined to reach the base camp, I soldiered on after taking a concoction of medication. Focusing on my breathing rather than the niggling pain seemed to helped, too. Three hours later, we reached the camp site, which was crowded with trekkers from all over the world.
There was no extravagant display of jubilation, just hugs and highfives before we took photos with a stone etched with the words "Everest Base Camp 2017". Located 5,380 meters above sea level, it is in reality just a site filled with rocks and stones. One cannot even see the whole of Mount Everest from there.
But it's not the scenery that matters at this point－it's the feeling of accomplishment that resonates the most.
[Photo provided to China Daily]
Day 9-Day 12
The next three days were spent descending back to Lukla. I found this phase of the trek to be even more exhausting than the ascent. After all, we were covering the same distance within four days instead of eight. I found consolation in the fact that Thapa agreed to let me relax with a can of beer when we returned to Namche Bazaar.
I still experienced butterflies in the stomach ahead of the return flight from Lukla to Kathmandu. Because of the short runway, pilots have no room for error. Failure to achieve take-off would mean plunging the plane thousands of meters into the valley below.
Again, my fatalistic thoughts were unfounded. We took off around 7 am without a hitch and landed safely in Kathmandu just in time to beat the morning rush hour traffic. Like clockwork, the porters rushed to unload the baggage as the pilots prepared to depart for Lukla again.
As someone who much prefers beer over dumbbells and a degustation menu over a workout routine, I must say that this trip wasn't as physically grueling as I thought it would be. Of course, physical conditioning ahead of the trek is essential.
So the fact that I, as well as the dozens of elderly travelers along the route, can complete the trek shows that it is very much achievable for most people.
Or in the words of our lovely guide Thapa: "The Everest base camp trek is really easy. You're just walking. No sweat."
"In fact, reaching the summit of Mount Everest is very easy too. You just need to be very fit. Oh, and you need a lot of money too," he says laughing.
