Everest Base Camp 12th Oct 2019

I thought I'd share this older this blog with you about an amazing trip which gave me some focus and structure during a difficult time...

“ This time last year.....”[2019]

We really didn’t see it coming did we? year the world came crashing to a traumatic and dramatic halt. I’m still trying to make sense of life as it has become. Lockdown living. Words that this time last year where not even part of our collective vocabulary. R. Rate. Social distance. Self-isolation. Lockdown. Circuit breaker. These phrases that echo feelings of shutdown and loneliness seem to go against the very grain of what it means to be human.

This time last year I was on an amazing trip. I hesitate to use the phrase “ trip of a lifetime”. Because I am a firm believer that life itself is the trip. It’s the journey. It’s not about the destinations that we may be fortunate enough to visit if we are lucky. It’s about how we arrive there. Life itself is not a destination. It’s a journey.

So this time last year I was in Nepal. In the middle of the Himalayas on my way back to Lukla having spent three weeks trekking to Everest Base Camp. What started as a throw away remark to one of my oldest friends Liz. “ Do you fancy doing this trek to base camp?” Became a reality when she replied “ Me and you trekking in the Himalayas? What could possibly go wrong?”....... So we booked it !! And so began a year of planning and preparation. We decided to raise money along the way. Liz had recently lost her lovely Dad Mike to bowel cancer. She was deeply traumatised by watching this funny gregarious generous man do battle with this brutal disease. So we decided Everest would be for Mike.

We flew into Kathmandu on the 10th of October last year. What a city. A cacophony of noise and colour and spices . Truly amazing. We spent two days here. Meeting the other six members of our group and our Sherpa guide Nurbu. The trek began in earnest on the 12th October with a nine hour minibus journey to Rameshaap which was extremely hair raising. There are no rules of the road in Nepal. It seems you just pelt at full speed around death defying bends as you climb ever higher beeping your horn. Then from Raameshaap we took the 20 minute flight to Lukla. The world’s most dangerous air strip. Seriously ! Only a few pilots are qualified to fly in and when you are sitting clinging onto your seat in the little twin engine plane you understand why. You could almost reach out and touch the peaks of the Himalayan ridges. The landing leaves absolutely no margin for error. The run way is extremely short nestled between the most dramatic mountain scenery I have ever seen. There is a short runway ending with a huge brick wall. So! Just pray your pilot doesn’t overshoot the runway.

The journey from Lukla to base camp was definitely life changing for me. The scenery was breathtaking. Literally as the altitude certainly played a huge part in your day to day ability to walk. I have never seen such dramatic views. Ever. You thought you could see the highest peaks around you. But as the day wore on and the clouds burned away. You realised that there were even higher peaks peeping out behind. As we reached Namche Bazzar at 4000 metres our half way point we were rewarded with our first tantalising glimpse of Everest. I have been obsessed by this mountain since I was very young. Vociferously reading everything I could about its history and the inspirational stories of those who have summited. So to actually stand looking at the distant peak of this legend was emotional.

The trekking was hard make no mistake. Punishing uphill clambers followed by even more punishing on the knees descents. The Sherpas call it “ Nepali Flat. A little bit up and a little bit down.” We trekked higher and higher. Watching out for passing lines of yaks which fill the trekking routes as the only way to get provisions up to the villages high in the hills. A nudge from a yak could be fatal. As Nurbu constantly repeated. “ “ Be careful! Yak. He nudge you. End of trek. End of trekker!!” You see a nudge over the edge here meant The End. So We were careful always to stand uphill of passing grumpy yaks. We crossed at least fifteen death defying rope bridges . Often accompanied by said yaks who needless to say were making the whole bridge swing and jump.  Let’s just say the bridges were interesting. And I was always happy to be firmly on the other side. 

We made it though!!! To basecamp itself. This was a very emotional day. Tired and suffering with the effects of altitude this day had been tough. But to actually stand in the place where so many expeditions to climb to the summit of this mountain had begun was very humbling indeed. As I looked out across the Khumbu icefall I was completely in awe of anyone who has even attempted to climb higher than this point.

Four of our group utterly exhausted by the climb to basecamp were helicoptered off the mountain to meet us upon our return to Lukla. I didn’t want to leave basecamp. I wanted to just sit and gaze at the summit of Everest. I wondered how it would feel to sit as night fell and watch the stars surround the world’s highest mountain. But we had to descend. Over the next few days we made our way slowly back to Lukla. Back to Kathamandu and eventually home.

The Nepali people were beautiful. I have never met such kind and humble folk. We were totally looked after from our arrival at the airport. Our guide Nurbu and his team were the loveliest humans I have met. The tea houses in which we stayed though basic were beautiful. The food was amazing. The generosity of these people who live such a hard life in such extreme conditions was a life lesson to me.

We raised over £4000 for bowel cancer U.K.  The good people of Crai village were very much a part of my fundraising help. The village itself raised £600 by donating to the various fundraisers I held in the village. We took over seven hours of warts and all video footage of the trip. Which an editor friend has made into Everest The Movie!!!! I was due to have an evening of celebration. In March . Invite you all to a Nepalese evening. Show the film and display some of my photography. Also present the cheque to our bowel cancer rep from the village. But Covid alas has scuppered that for now. I hope to hold this evening of celebration in April next year. When perhaps things are easier and we can enjoy each other’s company again.

So diolch to the lovely residents of Crai for an amazing effort. And namaste Nepal. I will always carry you in my heart and hope to return one day ....