Xavier Blanch, Barcelona, Spain.
November 2023
I arrived in Lukla, a village located at an altitude of 2,800 meters, the starting point of the incursion into the Sagarmatha Natural Park in the Himalayas. I am not afraid to fly, but arriving here by plane has been a new experience. It impresses a lot to see, on the side of the plane, the snowy mountain range with some majestic peaks. When you approach Lukla, it is even more impressive to confirm that the apparatus is circulating between mountains at very low altitudes relative to the territory we fly over. The airstrip is right in front of me from the café where I take a milk masala tea. It’s 527 meters in length. To land, the planes must face the runway just after drawing a curve that allows them to leave the parade. All adventure!
Badri, the expedition’s guide and close friend, called me as soon as I landed in Lukla. He passed my mobile number to Mr. Amar, who was waiting at Lukla. Amar welcomed me and accompanied me to a coffee shop waiting for Badri. Badri had another flight with four people. For whatever reason, we haven’t been able to go on the same flight. In fact, on my plane, there were only three passengers: a Gallic girl, a French boy, and me. Goods bundles filled the remaining seats. My traveling companions were both really amiable. We shared the little adventure of flying to Lukla. They, moreover, have not yet decided on a clear route along the route that, among other destinations, leads to Everest Base Camp. An adventurer with all letters!
A plane has just landed. Maybe it’s the one leading Badri and his company.
At Kathmandu airport, my backpack has been weighed. It was 10 kilograms or something. It’s very good; I thought it would weigh more. Now I will have to add half kilo of the sleeping bag, a litter water bottle, which was empty, and my writing notebook.
Amar was a very friendly Sherpa, toasted with skin, with some very pronounced teeth, very thin, and a little loaded with shoulders. Certainly, they do not understand or speak English well. But they are very welcoming and, at the same time, quite shy, too. He accompanied me to a café with a façade with windows just in front of the end of the runway at the mini airport. A good place to record a plane when it is landing or wants to take off. I asked Amar, “Do you want anything to eat?” and he replied, “Yes, okay.” It seems to me that he always answers everything with “yes, okay.”. I thought he didn’t travel with the plane to Lukla.
Well, I’ve waited for Badri here in the coffee shop. Badri and the rest of the company have just arrived. I left Kathmandu at approximately 7:15 in the morning, about three-quarters of an hour later than originally scheduled. They must have sallied an hour later than I did, more or less. They came by helicopter, not by light airplane. A helicopter for them, that is the pilot and five other people. It’s interesting, isn’t it?
Along with Badri, I met the other four adventure partners in Lukla Bazar. Lukla Bazar serves as the primary commercial center of the town. Everything is available at the street’s stores. One of the hiking partners appeared quieter than the others, but they were all extremely kind. Two of them are Valls brothers, Catalans, a boy and a girl. Marc, the youngster, seems like a really happy boy. The most reserved boy is from Madrid, while another 45-year-old man from Granada is named Javier, and he is very kind and talkative. On the way out of Lukla, Badri took our hiking permit from a government office. After the registration process, we began our walk immediately. Badri and I carried our backpacks, while four others carried a small backpack. Their luggage was carried by Sherpas, but neither of them has turned twenty years old.
Around one o’clock in the afternoon, we arrived at the first hostel to rest on our itinerary. It is called Snowland, and the village where it is located is Phakding. We have a room with a toilet for each; the brothers of Valls share one. The wing of the building where our rooms are located is all made of wood, but with very thin walls. I hoped for a warm night.
Today we have walked eight kilometers along a route with many undulations because the path does not stop going up and down. It has been a very soft day. And yes, it has to be said that it has been soft. The work has not been very long for me. Phakding is at an altitude 2600 meters lower than that of Lukla (2,800 meters). Tomorrow, we will gain 3,500 meters of altitude. Badri says we’ll stop to eat halfway. The next day will be the first day of acclimatization in Namche Bazar. We found many groups of hikers, but above all, many sherpas worked as porters, as well as many queues of yaks. “The animals we have seen so far were hybrids of cows and yaks, mules and donkeys, “says Badri. It is absolutely impressive the weight carried by sherpas. They suffer a lot. They walk slowly with fatigued faces. What a job, my God! Expedition companions have carriers; Amar, the boy who waited for me at the airport, is one of them. Amar is not guided; he is a carrier. Now I understand that he doesn’t speak English. They, “our bearers,” walk on their own, not necessarily with us. The point is that they arrive every day at their destination before us or, at least, no later than our group.
Today I want to sleep for many hours because tomorrow is a promising day.
December 1, 2023
At seven o’clock in the morning, we met in the dining room for breakfast. And at 8 a.m., we started our second-day trek. I hoped to have a lot of energy to go throwing at my rhythm and my backpack load without much rush. We arrived in Namche, the second town on the route to Campo Base, at an altitude of 3,500 meters. So today we have gained 900 meters. We have done more positively because during the first stretch of the journey, before eating, we have gone through many ups and downs.
Namche is nestled among stunning snowy mountains. In the back part of the village is Kongde. On the other side, in front of the hotel where we are staying, Thamserku, both exceed 6,000 meters. I loved to contemplate them. Seeing those feels small, like an ant.
We stopped for lunch around noon at the restaurant of Badri’s choice. Up to this point, the road was full of shops, restaurants, and hostels (lodges). The lodges are very attractive with the spectacular scenery of the mountains and rivers. After this point, there are no shops and restaurants until the Namche checkpoint. Our lunch place was at 2,793 meters above sea level. The hardest part of the day is still left. Wow, clothes! Starting to walk after lunch is not recommended, but you have to arrive in Namche before the sun sets. I trust that I was very respectful of today’s journey with these 900 meters above. And with a backpack of 12 kilos or more, I know that for the most experienced hikers, this is nothing, but at the age of 70, it was good. Mr. JP, from Madrid, the reserved one, walks very slowly. He was the last in line yesterday and today.
Our hotel in Namche is quite welcoming, mainly on the ground floor, where the dining room is, and from where I wrote these lines now. Today and tomorrow, I have to share the room with Javier. Tomorrow is an acclimatization day, and we will stay here. Of course, it would be better to have a single room, but there were no more. Javier was very polite and friendly. JP, the colleague from Madrid, has warned us that he snores quite a lot and that he would possibly bother others. So he needs a single room. Valls’ brothers, Marc and Alicia, share another room. Marc is very nice, very transparent, and very chistose. He made me laugh a lot. He was childish by nature, innocent, and very funny to me.
It seems that this night I am going to sleep like a stone.
December 2, 2023
Rest day in Namche. I had rest, relatively. This morning we had breakfast at 7 a.m., and at 8 a.m. we walked to the Everest View Hotel, which is located almost 400 meters higher than Namche Bazar. We just took water and dry fruits. It is around 3 km to the Everest View Hotel, from where there is a magnificent view. Today, I was without a backpack because we had to go back to eat and sleep in the same hotel in Namche.
From a very beautiful terrace of the Everest View Hotel, you can admire Everest in the background, right in front. It is next to the Lhotse (8,516 m). From our privileged position, Lhotse seemed higher than Everest (8,848 m). Arriving at the Everest View Hotel was a plateau where a few yaks rested peacefully. These were indeed true yaks, not hybrids. Yaks are a very beautiful animal of the Himalayas, with dense hair and calm. We approached one of these yaks to take a photo, although a guide who passed by warned us that we should not be so close to it.
Everest is the highest peak and the most famous. Besides this, there is a spectacular view of mountain peaks. There is another nearly 7,000-meter-high, wonderful peak, which is Ama Dablam. It’s a very pointed shape in the highest part, like the tip of a badly sharp pencil. Ama Dablam was covered with snow, but Mount Everest was not. Much of the snow on Everest has been blown away by the wind. Until it snows more, in the middle of winter, it will not be completely white, we have been told.
Tomorrow’s destination is Tengboche, a town that will bring us a little closer to the base camp, and that is at an altitude of approximately 3,800 meters, more or less like the Hotel Everest View that we have visited today. After tomorrow, we will follow the route to the base camp, and the next day we will have another acclimatization day.
Today, after having lunch, I had a siesta. And then I had a shower here after Kathmandu. The water was hot; otherwise, it would be impossible to take a shower because the cold water is cold like ice.
After a shower, I went for a walk around Bazar. It is a small village full of shops, hotels, cafes, and restaurants. It’s very picturesque. Surely the village has existed since ancient times, but it is clear that it is now a town that has grown for mountain tourism. In the shops, you can find everything: all types of trekking clothing, hiking equipment, souvenir shops, barber shops, massage rooms, pubs, etc., and ATMs. It is very clean and welcoming. Badri says that Nepalese who live here earn their lives very well from tourism. The same does not happen in other areas of Nepal.
In the evening, for dinner, I ordered a set of ‘noodles ‘, but Badri’s suggested me a dalbhat [1].
Curiosity: After this morning’s excursion to the Everest View hotel, we saw a porter who was carrying very bulky and very heavy cargo. Badri asked how much weight he carried and said 90 kilograms. It seems impossible, but it is true. Poter charges for the load depending on the distance to carry it. Apart from the porters of the hiking equipment, such as our Amar and his friend, the carriers of material for the mountain villages and hostels usually carry more than 70 or 80 kilos each. Most of these men should weigh no more than 60 kilograms, as small and thin as they are. In other words, they carry more weight than they weigh. Impressive!
December 3, 2023
San Javier! My saint’s day and also Javier’s, of course. Gina, my sober granddaughter, turns six today.
Now I was able to connect and receive a cascade of congratulations. I’ve been responding and sending pictures around the world.
Today we are at 3,850 meters in a village called Tengboche. The word “boche” means village. There is a 350-year-old Buddhist monastery in Tengboche. This is a monastic school where monks learn formal Nepali education and Buddhist courses. We saw a group of child monks playing ball with a couple of adult monks. We visited the monastery accompanied by Badri. There is a charge for the entrance fee. It is 300 rupees per person, or about two euros. Badri has explained some of the elements of this monastery. To enter the temple, we have to take off our shoes. In the interior space, there are several paintings on the walls with religious motifs. Among them, the wheel of life is the most famous. Badri has explained some of the most relevant elements of this image that all Buddhist temples usually have.This painting states the cause and consequences.
When we left the monastery, we took a photo of ourselves on the steps, which are located in a courtyard closed by four walls, which is part of the religious recreation. From the stairs, you could see snowy mountains at the bottom, with a whiteness and majesty that transmitted a feeling of peace and inner well-being, despite physical fatigue.
In the evening, at dinner time, we have warmed up with garlic soup (soup de ajos) as the first course, which is an evening meal that we have been fond of these days. Secondly, noodles tend to be quite successful, as are fried rice accompanied by vegetables, reminiscent of the typical rice of Chinese restaurants in Europe, and momos [2]. To celebrate our saint, Javier and I have invited the companions to the dessert, a portion of apple pie ̶ apple pastel ̶, a pastel that, as it is prepared here, Marc tried it in the Namche and now often is part of his daily evening menu.
December 4, 2023
We arrived in Dingboche, a village located at 4,410 meters in altitude. Dingboche is full of hostels and restaurants. There were also many fields closed with stone walls and yak herds. These are real yaks, not cow- and yak-crossed animals like so many others that we saw on trails carrying loads.
Badri told me that now almost all the families and hotelers cook with gas. That’s the reason yaks and mules carry gas cylinders. Apart from tourism, local people live on agriculture and animal husbandry. Here, the electricity is from solar panels. Most hotels are constructed with tin roofs with solar panels. We have seen small inverters in hotels. The winter here must be very hard. Now, the temperature is -3°. Our hotel is the Stupa Inn. They are rooms built of metal sheets with two beds and a common toilet, or French toilet, without a toilet. To wash our faces, we had to go outside to the basin next to the dining room. In the morning, we had hot water in a jug to wash our faces. About fifteen large tents are planted outside the hotel. You can access your interior without having to caress yourself. It is seen that in high season, hikers also stay in these shops. In the high season, all tents and hotels in this area will be fully occupied.
Here, in the hostel, to have an internet connection, you have to buy a 24- or 48-hour card. There is no telephone coverage, and to charge the mobile, you must buy an internet card.Javier and I wanted to wash our clothes. For each piece, they also charge you 300 rupees, just like a pair of socks or a t-shirt or socks. We gave out our clothes this afternoon. Our clothes were washed manually. With Javier, we have gone for a walk through the village to occupy the time before the sun sets for around an hour or so. When we returned, we saw our clothes hanging like frozen ice. We touched our shirts; they looked like cardboard. I hope that tomorrow, if it is sunny, those clothes will be dry and usable.
Alicia said that we have a long time, which seems boaring. without telephone coverage or a shower, and in very simple rooms. Let’s ask Badri if he could find better accommodation. But the reservation for eating and sleeping, however, is already made. I think conditions are much more adverse because we are heading to Everest Base Camp. For my part, I see it all as very reasonable. The organizers of the trek have a lot of experience in these matters. It is important to make a plan for acclimating to health issues. We are already more than 4,000 meters high, and we cannot think that our body can adopt altitude without resting it. This leads me to think that those of us who come from the “rich world” are fussy. We never want to give up comforts, even when we radically change situations and have the privilege of moving through landscapes as captivating as the mountains that surround us these days. We can’t have five-star hotels here, but the starry sky over the covered snow cumbs is magnificent. How good we are here!
Today’s walking section was softer than yesterday’s. We hiked from 3,850 meters of altitude to 4,440 meters. But the layout of the way is much lighter. We had lunch in Somare Village. It was halfway. Still, we have five more days of trekking, which demands good physical conditions. In the flatlands or downhills, I took the same rhythm as others, but in the uphills, I went much slower. Javier, Marc, and Alicia carred out a very good rhythm. Badri had to wait for JP. Today, in the village where we stopped for lunch, Badri proposed to JP to rent a horse. There are usually posters offering horse rentals. But then he said, “No, man.”.
Tonight, Badri has once again measured the oxygen level in our blood and pulsations. I had between 84 and 85 mm Hg, which is a quantity that falls within the normal parameters. Tomorrow we have an acclimatization day. We will climb to a peak near Dingboche. I suppose that after breakfast. For me, it’s a completely new experience!
December 5, 2023
Day of acclimatization. We had breakfast at 8 a.m. at 7 a.m. And then we set out to climb one of the peaks around the village, whose path of ascension is marked with Buddhist flags, each placed relative to the next, about forty to one hundred meters away. It is one of those paths that deceives you. You think you are almost there, and everything seems very close. It is not real.
Today I suffered quite a lot because of thin air. I had to stop very often and walk very slowly. The ascent was hard. The peak is called Nangkartshang. The peak measures 5,080 meters. When I arrived at the hotel, I looked at the map of Sagarmatha Natural Park and found that Nangkartshang is a little further away from the peak we have made. It is the highest altitude where I have been so far. The descent has also been difficult, but the view was spectacular facing Ama Dablam, a beautiful mountain.
When we returned from the peak, in the middle of the day, lunch was ready and the clothes were dry. Really, the people of the territory know what is being done.
6 December 2023
We arrived in Lobuche, located at an altitude of 4,910 meters. At Thukla, we have had lunch. It is halfway to the Lobuche. After eating, we climbed to the memorial park. There is a small plateau with a memorial dedicated to the mountaineers who have fallen from Everest. We always talk about Everest, but I would like to refer to it by the name of Sagarmatha, which sounds authentic.
We were waiting for lunch at Thukla, and we saw a girl go down to horseback with a guide, Sherpa. The girl was absolutely yellow. It was an unstable position, swinging from one side to the other of the animal like a sack of potatoes. Really, the girl was badly affected. Later, another girl also came on horseback.
JP, the Madrid comrade, was also not in a position to make his way on foot. Until lunch time, we waited for him. Badri has offered him a rental horse again, but he didn’t even want to hear about it. There are many ups and downs that are quite demanding. Tomorrow is the last day and higher altitude of the Everest Base Camp.
It was 5 o’clock in the evening. JP and Badri had not yet arrived at the Lobuche hotel, where we slept today. Badri always waits for him. We are in the living-dining room, trying to take advantage of the fire heat of the wood stove located in the middle of this dining hall. There were only an Italian family and our group. No more guests. It was December, no longer the high season. Soon, the extreme winter will come, and the tourist season will be over until spring. It was getting dark, and Badri and JP hadn’t yet arrived. Let’s hope they won’t take long. Meanwhile, we had tea to keep our bodies warm. One of the boys who runs this hostel told me that today the internet connection is out of service. It’s been more than an hour since we arrived, and now it’s been overnight. Badri and JP were not appearing. We were worried. We could do nothing but wait for them. We hoped at least they had torchlight, but we were not calm at all.
After a while, Badri and JP arrived on horseback. The one with the horse, of course, was JP. Badri told us that they found a sherpa and rented his horse on the way because the battery of the phones had run out, it was dark, and they had no option. Sherpas work as taxi drivers for floating trekkers. Badri and JP were sweating, of course. Alicia openly stated that JP cannot continue the route on foot because it is risky for him and the rest of the members of the group as well. Mr. JP said that he would indeed finish the route on horseback. He did not want to be a hindrance to the rest of the group. So tomorrow, JP will make his way to the last village, Gorakshep, on horseback. We will be almost 5,200 meters above sea level. It was a good decision. For him and for everyone. I imagine Badri will also be able to go with the group.
December 7, 2023
This morning it took me three hours to get from Lobuche to Gorakshep (5,160 m.) We have arrived at the last populated nucleus of this trek. It has been much harder than I expected, because Lobuche is at 4,910 meters and, therefore, the difference in altitude between one place and another is not much; but what has been a constant throughout the entire route since we left Lukla: the trails, the paths, do not stop going up and down; The accumulated positive level of each day is usually always much higher than the difference in height between the starting point and the arrival point. I suppose you also notice in the piernas the accumulation of tiredness throughout the days.
JP today has done the work on horseback. Badri has been on his side, although that meant moving along the steep edges of the trails and not the places of passage, proper. Badri must have tired more of the account. The road today had very bad sections; It seems almost incredible to me that a horse can walk through them. In these areas, JP has had to get off the mount, momentarily, to save a ravine or a rocky cut. In some stretch, I have seen that they are behind me, not very far away. JP did not have much stability on the flow. Badri held him by the arm from time to time so he wouldn’t fall. Even so, JP has fallen three times, I’ve been told. One of those falls has caused a small injury to his head. Nothing important, fortunately. It does not surprise me, seeing as I have seen on occasion how it was situated on horseback and the intermittent difficulty of the land. The JP will not return from trekking on foot. I’m not sure if he has mountain sickness, but he seems absolutely exhausted. He has a bad face. He’s coming down. He has ridden to Gorakshep, but will not accompany us to Kala Patthar Peak or Everest Base Camp. Tomorrow he will return to Lukla in helicopter. In Gorakshep there is a heliport. Less evil!
Javier, Marc and Alicia have made the morning journey today with approximately two and a half hours. They’re gacelas! And they’re young! And they don’t carry heavy backpacks! But the truth is that they are strong; This is a merit that I cannot quit. I have to go to my air… And I never said better, because what I needed to come was oxygen and I often had to make a technical stop to recover the fuelle. So, as always, I have done the work at my own pace, which is a slow rhythm compared to my colleagues. But I’m happy and I feel satisfied. I also like to walk alone through these places while I never tire of looking at the mountains that surround us ̶ that is not tiring ̶ . And I listen to the silence. And I think, I don’t stop thinking about everything and nothing. I’m on a hiatus, in a world outside the world. When I lift my head and see the subsidy I immediately have to undertake, I grasp my head again and propose to move forward step by step. It is better, they say and I tell myself, not to look permanently at the subsidy that must be overcome. It’s true. And when I stop, then yes, I look full of peaks and snowy peaks. And I look at the ugly. And I wonder how it is possible that today he is here and is doing what I am doing. What a privilege! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to explain the goodness of this walk, the comfort of the effort I’m dedicating to it. I don’t know why, but I don’t want to give you much publicity; I want to keep it a little for myself in a little corner of intimidation. We can talk about peaks, altitudes, anecdotes… even feelings. But there is a patch of experience that is not transferable. So it’s stored inside. And it is good that it is so, without more mysteries, without more pretensions. Life in the mountains, in the high mountains, always has this silente piece of spirituality. I speak for myself, of course. The Himalayas also invite you to it. The stupas ̶ Buddhist monuments ̶ and the manis ̶ the prayer circles ̶ are jalones present throughout the tour. Often we pull the command into the cart when we pass by them on our path; we always turn it in the direction of the clock needles, which is what tradition establishes. And for each turn the mantra engraved on the same cart is scattered throughout the atmosphere. Om mani padme hum. This is the most well-known mantra, but there are many others gathered in the prayer circles. We also found them carved on some bulky black rocks that are normally located near the trails. They are authentic works of craftsmanship. A song to eternity, to the immensity of the unattainable universe. Buddhism permeates this earth and those who live on it. And those of us who are just passengers, probably.
They say that on this plateaus where Gorakshep is located, the last inhabited nucleus of this route, is where Everest Base Camp was years ago. Now the Base Camp is a couple of hours further inside and is at an altitude of 5,364 meters. In the afternoon, from Gorakshep, we planned to climb the peak of Kala Patthar and enjoy a spectacular view of Everest. But by midday the atmosphere has become cloudy and dark, and it seems that forecasts suggested that visibility would not improve during the afternoon. And so it was. Badri, connoisseur of the percal, at lunchtime proposed changing the plains and going to Everest Base Camp in the afternoon and leaving for tomorrow the descent to Kala Patthar. Just the opposite of what was planned. So, if you have settled, tomorrow we can have a magnificent view of the sunrise behind the peak of Everest.
Set your pierces on after eating breakfast always give a little sloth; especially at first. And more, after tomorrow’s walk and on a day as overcast as today. Fortunately, the journey to Base Camp does not involve much trouble. It has been a matter of leaving with the illusion of getting your feet in a place as emblematic as the Base Camp, which is, in fact, the final objective of this trek. And it has validated the value very much, because it gives a lot of pleasure to see the spectacular glacier pampering the foothills of the mountain that rises imposing in front of your nose. A giant with ice pierces. It took us eight days to get here and we are at 5,364 meters. There are 3,500 more left to reach the summit. It seems like a titanic task to me. From today I admire even more the mountaineers who are able to crown this mountain, although currently there are quite a few people who come to conquer the summit paying prohibitive prices and well accompanied and supported by Sherpas guides. But that’s another story. It’s reckless. And in many cases, a frivolity and snobbery typical of Westerners. The positive side of this novel practice is that, at least, it generates gains for Nepalese. Badri has indicated to us, pointing it with his arm, the point where from the Base Camp the climbers go up to Campo Cuatro. They are walls of hard ice like the white blocks and petreous blocks of glaciers.
In the grieta or natural cavity of the lower part of a modest rock there is the inscription “Base Camp, 5,364 m”. It’s the point to take pictures. The photo finish. In the discreet cavity of this rock there are exposed memories and various objects left by people who arrive here. There is a bit of a feeling of the votive offerings of our Christian hermitages. A few meters further down the rock, on a small esplanade, there is a whole collection of small monoliths or small Buddhist stupas. Many have inscriptions or are adorned with pañuelos or collares. It seems that these small religious monuments adore the mountain that rises opposite. In one of the monoliths, Badri has coiled a yellow silk pañuelo, with an attitude of reverence and respect. She told me that when you have come here and are off the land that borders the mountain and is part of it, you must be humble and apologize to the mountain mother for having invaded her space. It is also a way of recognizing its magnitude and our insignificance. And with this he asks at the same time for protection for the daring to have come this far.
There, on the rock, we met another group with a family, in fact this medium we have also seen in our Gorakshep hostel. We have taken pictures of the family and they have given us the gentleness and sacked us. Alicia has had the good occurrence of carrying a “estelada”: a Catalan pro-independence flag. It is already known that many Catalans carry this signal in the heart. It was a yellow triangle “star” with a red star. I have ordered it to sacarme also some photos. I would have liked it even more than a “star” of blue triangle and white star, which I find more inclusive. But it was a magnificent gift that Alice had thought of taking out this flag. So nothing to object and much to like.
Javier, the boy from Granada, I took a photo in front of the grieta of the emblematic rock of the Base Camp, unfurling a banner. It is a commitment that he had acquired with some Granada colleagues. The banner denounces a project to build a macrofarm that would affect natural landscapes that think they should protect. Taking this photo in this emblematic place and disseminating it through social networks and the media is a way of raising awareness of the problem of installing the macrofarm and encouraging citizen awareness to demand that this speculative project be stopped. Javier was very happy to have kept his promise. This was an objective to add to the inherents of trekking. And I am also happy to have contributed very modestly to the cause as an improvised photographer.
The small rocky grieta of the Base Camp is located in an hondonada next to a glacier, as I said before. To get there, in the last section you have to leave the path that runs along the crest of a discreet elevation, in the middle of giant mountains with Everest at the bottom. Going down at Base Camp there was a boy with a horse a few meters before arriving at the end of our journey. It is seen that he is a “sherpa-taxi driver”, a young man who is waiting for someone to find himself undestitute for whatever reason and he can rent his horse to start the path back to Gorakshep. When we started on the road back to being late, there were only a few hours left in daylight, just enough to get to the hostel. So the horse boy has abandoned his “wild point of relief” and made his way back behind us.
Wow! What an experience! I don’t quite believe that Everest Base Camp has been! I feel very happy to have done it!
December 8, 2023
Today I broke my altitude record. In fact, the previous record was set yesterday when it reached Everest Base Camp (5,364 m.). This morning, at 5h we have started the ascent to Kala Patthar (5,560 m.). During the night it had snowed. At that time the temperature in Gorakshep was -16°. We went up with the fronts, because it was a black night at the beginning. A row of hikers at different distances preceded us on the way up. There are those who have drugged more than us. It was beautiful to see this kind of firefly that formed the fronts of walkers ascending towards the peak to see the sun rise behind Mount Everest. Better that it was night, I thought, because I was saved to see the magnitude of the subsidy that lay ahead. Well looked, the difference in altitude with respect to the hostel was not substantial. The hostel is about 5,100 meters away, while the peak measures four more and peak meters more (almost 500 more). At the beginning, those of us in our group have been quite compacted and at a considerably lively pace. So we started moving forward we got dehydrated. It’s been hard, for me. I noticed I was missing oxygen. I have had to make several technical stops to recover me. As I went down, I once wanted to open the zipper of an anorak bag with one hand while walking and suddenly noticed an ahogo. I had to stop, cook air and soon open the zipper with both hands. Walk or zip open, but both at the same time don’t. The oxygen available did not hesitate to perform both actions simultaneously.
Along the way I have met again with the girl with whom I coincided on the plane trip from Kathmandu to Lukla. She too went slowly, to a rhythm similar to mine. She spontaneously told me that today she found herself floating, because she had her period. As far as it comes, the mountain causes this type of confidence among fellow adventurers. She has followed the ascent before me a few meters away and, with her guide, we have crowned the peak. The last fifty meters have been especially difficult. We had to pass through a cliff of huge stones and snow-covered rocks. The risk was to slip and twist the tobillo if a pierce ended up between the spaces between the rocks. Javier, the colleague from Granada, was already back when I still had a few hundred meters to reach the top. He warned me not to be very careful not to worry, because the remaining stretch was the most complicated. He wanted to leave that snowy rocky area and get to the hostel as soon as possible. It was not funny to move through that rocky snowy spot. After having breakfast and having made this effort to board Kala Patthar, the route of the day, the first day of the road back, awaited us. And it was a very long route, because the return to Lukla we had to do in three days, so only.
Halfway down Kala Patthar, Badri moved further to the left of the paths we followed around the world. I took my camera and wanted to take strategic positions to capture good images of the dawn with Everest in the background, imposing. Badri knows a lot about photography. It has sensitivity in the eye and also the technical mastery necessary to prove from the spectacular panoramas that are offered in these environments. The traces on the snow of those who had preceded us marked routes of ascent that crossed and drew an anarchic break over the snowy surface. We approached the peak little by little; So despacito that ratos felt like you didn’t move forward. The peak was very close and, at the same time, was far away if the distance was measured with the amount of effort and resolution that I still had to do. But I reached the top, at last, and I could see the glow of the sun behind Mount Everest. The summit of Kala Patthar is certainly a good vantage point. A lookout of nostalgia that I did not want to abandon without having enjoyed it. Hence it will be hard for me to say enough and start the blow.
The guide who accompanied the girl has taken some photos very kindly. At that moment we were only the three of us on the peak. All those who had come before us had already started down the path and there were many others who were still climbing. It is curious to feel so satisfied once you are arriving and see that you have achieved the goal after so much effort. It’s curious and a bit absurd, I suppose. But you feel happy; A certain good mood accompanies you and envelops your body. Kala Patthar is a number that will be sculpted in my memory forever, probably.
And surprise! When I was getting off Kala Patthar I ran into the French boy with whom I was traveling on the plane from Kathmandu to Lukla. He’s going down, now. What a pity that at that moment the Welsh girl was not there too! The French man remembered my name, because Xavier is written exactly the same in French and is pronounced practically the same way as in Catalan. Iba solo. I don’t know where demons have appeared or what they’ve done all these days. He’s a real adventurer, zagal. We’ve both had great joy, you see. We greeted each other effusively and wished each other good luck! Posiblemente no volveremos a coincidir más.
While we climbed the peak, a helicopter took JP to Lukla. Really, it comes that the man was well milled. From the hostel to the helicopter, he has been helped by two people to arrive, each holding him by one arm. And as soon as you enter the helicopter, you have lying on a bench. What a trick to find yourself hurt. JP will be waiting for us at the hotel in Lukla these three days that it will take us to make the way back.
We arrived at the village where we slept today at 5:30 p.m., just as I was already starting to dark. The pueblo is called Pangboche. It was a physically demanding day. The ascent to Kala Patthar was the appetizer of a mile-long walk. A real sauce! In the morning, when we returned from the peak, we had breakfasted and started the very long way back that we had on the planned route today. We have stopped for lunch in Tukla, where we also eat at home. However, past Tukla we have not taken exactly the same route we took to climb; This time we have traveled a very long valley through its center and not by the crest of the mountains that surround it. Practically, I’ve done all the way through the valley alone. My colleagues have bagged me a distance of about two hundred meters. A girl who for a long time had been behind me, finally got ahead of me when I stopped to take a picture. She was a lonely girl in her twenties; She wasn’t fat, but she wasn’t thin; Rather a little llenite. And I had to see how cheerful and light he walked. Keeping my distance from her has forced me to sleep nothing and also have a fairly lively rhythm. I respect lonely walkers. I admire its value. I also like to walk solo rats, but it’s different because I know there’s a group waiting for me.
If we add the ascent to Kala Patthar, today we have walked about eight hours. And without counting the submission to this peak, according to Javier’s application, we have done about 21 kilometers with an accumulated positive elevation of 640 meters, and that we are going down. In Pangboche, Javier and I have had single rooms, although the roof that separated them was made of a thin wooden veneer. He is a very good sleeping companion, but I prefer not to run the risk of disturbing him if one night, uncontrollably, my body decides to snore or give resolution while sleeping and resting absolutely defeated. One of the previous nights I had spent in Lobuche. What a shame, my God! And Javier had the patience to hold on to me and didn’t say anything until the next morning. A holy baron!
December 9, 2023
Let’s go downhill. We are already in Namche, at 3,500 m. The hotel here is another story. As soon as I got there, I was able to punch with hot water! It’s been six days since we left, and I want to say that we haven’t done it since we were in this same hotel on the way up. I have been given room 214 for myself, located at the end of the passage on the right side of my floor. It is a large room with three beds: one double and one single. The toilet was quite good, to be honest; it was the best hotel during the last six days. Badri told me they gave me this room because it’s almost the end of the season and there aren’t many hikers left.
My big room has two fairly generous windows. The one in front of my legs allowed me to see a basketball court where some young boys were playing. From this window, you can see part of Kongde, a beautiful mountain that rises majestically behind Namche. From the other window, located in a wall perpendicular to the previous one, you can see most of the village of Namche, with its stepped hotels, the Thamserku mountain in the background, and the water-spinning giant manis. There was also a group of boys there who were playing volleyball with a lot of enthusiasm. Volleyball, as far as I can see, is one of the most practiced sports in Nepal. Basketball and volleyball at 3,500 meters. Surprised! Arriving here in Namche Bazar, everyone takes on an air of greater comfort. It is said that many years ago, in this town, there was a small market where some peasants or Tibetan merchants came to sell products passing through the Himalayan mountain range that separates Tibet from Nepal. Just thinking about it, I wonder. How hard of life and what spirit of survival the population of these lands must have! Contact between Tibetans and Sherpas is evident through Buddhism and the monuments that this belief has erected since ancient times throughout what is now officially known as Sagarmatha Natural Park.
Today’s walk, almost 15 kilometers long, has not been as heavy as yesterday’s. We have gone down about 500 meters. We had two ascents. The first was at Tengboche, where we visited the 350-year-old Buddhist monastery. The way passes through a forest of rhododendrons. Badri says that in spring, plants bloom with white, red, blue, and yellow flowers. I try to imagine these blooming and colorful rhododendrons, which make a momentary pictorial setting. How nice it must be! The second ascent was from the level of the Dudh Koshi River. It was not in my mind. We could say that I have not breathed peacefully. We walked very slowly, little by little, and it was done.
The season is over to visit Base Camp until spring. The nature of the Himalayas is extraordinarily impressive.
December 10, 2023
We backed into Lukla. The hotel where we have stayed is very close to the airport. From my room, I can see the airstrip not far away. Today we have also made a good walk: 20.7 km., with a positive elevation of 685 m and a negative slope of 1,225 m. In one day, we have done the way that we did in two days. From Namche to Lukla.
My toes were shattered. It was a long and almost downhill walk. Last summer, a shoe shop owner taught me how to embrace the boots well so that I could protect my toes. But there’s no way. but I am satisfied with the result of the shoes during this trek. Today we all took a sour bath here with hot water.
The two carrier sherpas have already been seen off. They’ve been tipped. That’s about 1,000 rupees a day for each. I have also given them small tokens of gratitude as a company. They seemed happy and received it with a smile. Amar is a very affectionate boy. Along the way, we took photos together.
Badri told me that Amar doesn’t live in Lukla. He is from a village that is about 30 km from here. So tomorrow he will go to his house on foot because there is no road to this place. I would like to see the house where Amar, his people, his parents, his brothers and sisters, and his friends live. The strength of these boys is admirable. I think we Western visitors come here with all mountain equipment while they carry a small laundry bag like all equipment. I come to talk about waterproof boots, and they do their hard work with normal sports shoes. Things like these show that we are privileged, that we live in the first world, and that there are many people like Amar with life expectations that are different from ours.
Javier has done the calculation of all the kilometers that we have done these days. They travel about 130 kilometers in total. And we have added an accumulated positive level of 6,835 meters. It’s nothing wrong. I speak for myself, of course; I already know that there are mountaineers with parameters that are much higher than these.
Tomorrow we have to take an early morning flight to Kathmandu. We have to have breakfast, and at 6:30, check in at the airport. Maybe I’ll miss walking with my backpack. It has been an unforgettable experience, that’s for sure.
December 11, 2023
This morning, we arrived punctually at the airport. From the hotel, we walked because it was just a hundred meters ahead. The travel companions had to carry their backpacks because the Sherpas brothers had finished their duty. It was seven o’clock in the morning, and the airport was filled with mountaineers. The airport is tiny with basic facilities. Flights are operated from Kathmandu or Manthali. Our flight was operated from Kathmandu. It was delayed.
We had to pass a police check, leaving our backpacks on a counter. A young policeman checked mine and detected the stone. He took it out and threw it on the ground behind him. What a rage! The policeman didn’t even look at me. It made me angry, but on the other hand, as a rule, you cannot collect minerals that are part of the Sagarmatha Natural Park. No one has told us so. Less bad, when I came home to Kathmandu, Badri gave me another stone also from the Himalayas that is beautiful because it has the shape and black color of Everest’s peak. A good gift! I hope this little gem is not requisitioned on the trip back to Barcelona. It’s cool!
This time, the plane was full of passengers. We took the right row because that was where we could contemplate the Himalayan mountains. Alicia and Marc have scrambled to sit in the seats behind the pilots. As if they were the copilot! The runway of the airport is so small that the plane starts moving from one end of this surface to make the most of the possible route. We felt the engine rev before we started rolling. The carcass of the plane noticed the signal produced by this mechanical revolution and gave us a little feeling of being inside a cocktail. Javier, sitting behind me, told me, “It looks like we’re on a ferry ride. The feeling of fragility has even been greater when the apparatus has begun to roll downhill because the runway is low (or uphill for the planes that arrive and terrify). They have very experienced pilots, but when you are a passenger for the first time on this trip, you feel a bit scary. Badri will surely be calm, accustomed as he is to doing this tour so many times.
Javier and I have done well in choosing the right side of the plane. We have given ourselves the gaze of the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. It has been a good visual farewell to these giant lands. I don’t know how high the plane sails, but in any case, it turns lower than many of the peaks that draw the snowy mountain line.
We arrived at Kathmandu Airport safe and sound. At the departure of the airport, a van from the travel agency was waiting for us. We took the van and went to the hotel of the group. After arriving at the hotel, I said goodbye to my fellow expedition members. I have been staying at my friend Badri’s house for more than two months. We have both taken a taxi to finish the journey. Tomorrow, we will see again in the afternoon “the colleagues of the Himalayas,” and we will depart from Kathmandu.
The trek we made is wow! I feel tired, but very happy!!
[1] The Dal Bhat, literally meaning ‘Lentil Soup‘ (Dal) and ‘Boiled Rice’ (Bhat), is a popular meal among the Himalayas and is the national Nepalese set of Nepal.
[2] Momos are a very typical food in Nepal and Tibet. It is a type of steamed filled dumpling. Momo is made from wheat flour, vegetable oil, chopped onion, garlic, sesame, green chilies, tomatoes, meat (beef, chicken, pork), mustard powder, ginger juice, and a blend of Nepalese herbal spices.
