Wednesday, 17 April 2013
Day 9 – Lobuche (4,940m) to Everest Base Camp (5,340m) to Dughla (4,600m)
(Lobuche - Gorak Shep - EBC - Gorak Shep - Lobuche - Dughla)
Total trekking time: 10 hours
Difficulty: Hard
Lobuche to Gorak Shep: 2 hours 30 min
Gorak Shep to EBC: 2 hours
EBC to Gorak Shep: 2 hours
Gorak Shep to Lobuche: 2 hours
Lobuche to Dughla: 1 hour 15 mins
What a night. I tossed and turned and slept for maybe a total of 2 hours. My neck hurt like hell. Throughout the night, I kept peeking at my phone to check the time. When the clock showed 4.30am, I decided I should just get up already. So I got ready, changed, and packed my day pack. At 5am, I walked to the dining hall to look for Kaji but there was no one there. And it was pitch black outside which was really strange because dawn breaks at 5am here. Is it possible that it’s not yet 5am? Then realization hit me. I had done a stupid, stupid thing.
Last night, I had charged my phone back to life because I needed its an alarm clock function to give me a wake up call. When the phone booted up, it showed 11am, which I thought was weird but I brushed it off as a glitch and assumed the time to be 11pm. So I ‘corrected’ the clock, and went to sleep.
So there I was, in the middle of the night, or early morning, without a clue what time it actually was, all set and ready to go to the EBC! I didn’t want to wake D up just to get the time, and there was really nothing else to do. So I got back to bed fully dressed, covered myself with my sleeping bag, and quickly fell into deep slumber.
I must have slept for a good hour or two, before I heard a knock on the door. When I opened my eyes, I saw twilight through the panel in the ceiling. Now it really was 5am! :)
Several other trekkers and guides were already in the dining hall when I came in. Kaji ordered a cup of black coffee for me, and I chowed down half a bar of Powerbar. The Sri Lankans were also up and getting ready to go. D had woken up too, but she was nauseous and throwing up. Kaji went to check on her and was very concerned with her condition. He insisted that she must descend to Dughla today. I persuaded D to listen to Kaji, while he went off to look for Phuri who had disappeared and couldn’t be found in their sleeping quarters. He had to give Phuri instructions to accompany D to Dughla before we could leave.
It was 5.45am by the time everything was settled and we were ready to go. I put D’s issues aside and set my mind to focus on the trek. The terrain would be rough today as we would be traversing moraines and glaciers, and climbing over boulders.
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| The icy path from Lobuche at 5.45am |
At 5.45am, the ground was covered with frost and ice, and it was cold. But as soon as the sun was up, it got warmer and I actually had to discard the ski gloves that were getting too warm (but kept the merino liner ones on).
The first part of the path was flat and quite easy. When we reached the first uphill section, the two Indian ladies whom we met yesterday had caught up with us. They passed us and as quickly disappeared from our view. As we made our way up the steep slope, we came head to head with a large group of yaks, filing down the trail. There were 24 of them. Kaji said they were expedition yaks that carried supplies for Everest expeditions. We stopped for a good 15 minutes, to let them pass, before we moved on.
From here, the terrain was rough and tough - a series of ups and downs, but mostly ups, over icy rocks and boulders of the moraine. At one of the slopes, I caught my first clear view of the Khumbu Glacier.
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| Khumbu Glacier |
I had never imagined that I would be standing in the Himalayas looking at the incredible Khumbu Glacier with my own eyes. The ice and debris formed magnificent structures and astounding formations. It was beautiful and wondrous. All around me - the mountains, the moraine, the glacier - the views were spectacular.
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| Sand, rocks and boulders that form the terrain |
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| Gorak Shep |
We reached Gorak Shep at 8.15am. Two and a half hours, not bad. We headed toward a tea house and quickly ordered our breakfast. I had the most delicious toast and omelet of the entire trek here. The toast was thick, soft and crunchy on the outside, and the eggs were rich and very tasty. Yum!
There was a Malaysian flag on one of the walls in the dining hall. From the writings on the flag, the group had reached EBC on 18 November 2012 – just 5 months ago. I felt so privileged. I was almost there.
A teenage boy looked very sick, accompanied by his mother. Kaji said it looked like a case of AMS. As we ate, a big group of trekkers came in and the dining hall was suddenly buzzing with activity and noise. As soon as we finished our breakfast, I signaled Kaji that I was ready to go.
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| Heading out of Gorak Shep towards EBC |
From Gorak Shep, the trail of rocks and boulders continued. To my novice eyes, there wasn’t even a trail. We stepped on rocks and climbed over boulders, basically just making our way across the rocky slopes and hills. We came to a section that I thought was peculiarly sandy. Kaji grabbed my arm and guided me slowly along the sandy, narrow path. Before I knew what I was crossing, we were on the other side, on solid rock surface again. I glanced back, and realized that I had just crossed a dangerous pass. The sand was very loose, the path was as wide as the length of my foot, and hung over a cliff. I was a little freaked out, but quickly shoved the feeling aside, and moved on.
As I walked along the moraine, I would hear the sound of rock fall every once in a while. Kaji said it was the sound of the glacier. The glacier is constantly moving and changing, ice falls and rock falls are part of its geology. The sound was eerie and thrilling.
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| The rocky terrain - do you see a path? |
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| Stunning views |
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| Stunning formations on the glacier |
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| Expedition yaks |
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| The trail evened out into a ridge |
We continued along the rocky moraine, and reached a section where the trail evened out into a high, rocky ridge. As we walked along the ridge, we saw a group of men staring at a mountain to our left. Kaji spoke to them and told me they were part of a Nepali expedition team to summit Mt. Everest. He then pointed to the snow covered slope of a peak not far away. I strained my eyes to see what they were looking at. There were 4 or 5 figures on the snow surface, scaling up the ice toward the peak! Kaji said these climbs were very dangerous.
Mt. Everest was visible at several viewpoints along the trail. These would be the closest views I would get of Mt. Everest on this trip (as I would not be going to Kala Patthar). There were several viewpoints of the base camp itself as well. Kaji pointed at the horizon far away that was the base camp. I could barely make out the tiny yellow dots that were tents, strewn over rocky ground next to the sea of ice that was the Khumbu Icefall. As we made up ground, the yellow dots slowly emerged visibly as tents, though still very tiny from where we were. Almost there.
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| Mt. Everest, from the viewpoint |
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| Everest Base Camp - still far away |
At approximately 10.45am, we reached the mount of rocks decorated with Tibetan prayer flags that marked the end of the EBC trek. I had reached the Everest Base Camp!
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| Everest Base Camp - I made it! |
Well, technically I had only reached the end of the EBC trek as EBC itself was still some distance away, but this was as far as trekkers were allowed to go. For a brief moment, I felt a slight disappointment that the trek just ended like that. But after the realization sank in - that I had made it and was looking directly at the Everest Base Camp, everything felt surreal at that moment. I was standing at 5,364m - the highest point that I had ever been in my life. Granted, thousands of people came here every year but in the larger scheme of things, not many had been to where I was. I was proud, elated, excited, happy, humbled, grateful and so much more (I'm still struggling to describe the moment).
The base camp was basically a camp site set on the rocky ground next to the dangerous Khumbu Icefall. There were mountaineers practicing their climbs at the edges of the ice fall. It was an amazing sight and incredible to watch. Standing there, being there, Everest just seemed reachable... not today but maybe some day in the future. That was what reaching EBC inspired in me.
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| Mountaineers on the Khumbu Icefall |
I thought about what had been in the back of my mind throughout the trek. Why do people come to these mountains? Why do people put themselves through severe discomfort and stress, risk damage to health and even death to climb these mountains? How does reaching the top of Mt. Everest change a person? I supposed Everest represents the ultimate insurmountable obstacle, and perhaps people use it as a means to overcome personal limits or seek whatever it is they sought. I don’t know.
A few guys from the Nepali group who were right behind us, had stopped here for a short rest. They were a friendly bunch. One of them had a bunch of metal cups tied to his pack, and poured us some yummy warm orange juice! Kaji and I toasted to our achievement. Another guy spoke to me in Malay when I told them I was from Malaysia. He had worked in Malaysia for 3 years and learned more than a few words. I felt so honored to have met these guys.
After the Nepalis left, there were just 4 people there – Kaji, me, and a Caucasian trekker and his guide. I had expected EBC to be more crowded than this, as this was the high season, but was more than happy to have the site almost all to myself :)
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| That's me with the guys from the Nepali expedition team |
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| Mountaineers heading toward the real base camp |
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| Kaji and me |
After taking photographs and a mere 20 minutes later, Kaji indicated that it was time to head back. I slowly gathered my stuff and walked away with a heavy heart. I might never set foot here ever again. This could be the last time I would ever look upon the EBC with my own eyes. But all good things must come to an end, and to quote Kaji, in the mountains, you only have 2 choices – ascend or descend. It was time to descend. It was time to go home.
Having just trekked through the rough terrain at an altitude of 5,000m, I was tired, and a little scared of having to go through it all again. But it had to be done. Just need to focus. The weather was changing quickly. Thick clouds were closing in, and it was getting very cold again. As we walked along the ridge, it started to snow lightly. Mt. Everest was no longer visible at those viewpoints earlier. I was so lucky to have seen it when the sky was still clear – and I had Kaji to thank for it. If we had started the day just a little later, I would have missed those views and might even had to endure harsh weather.
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| The long, desolate walk to Gorak Shep |
On the way back, we ran into Susan and Graeme. They were just going to go as far as they could. We also met Carlo and the Italians, who were going all the way to EBC. Carlo told us that he had run into D this morning, and that she was on her way to Dughla. Kaji was visibly relieved to hear that.
We reached Gorak Shep in under 2 hours. It was 12.45pm. I was exhausted, but I knew there was still a long way to go. It would take at least 2 hours to reach Lobuche and more than an hour to reach Dughla. The thought made me want to cry. I was so tired. I wanted to ask Kaji to let me spend the night in Gorak Shep. But I didn't. I knew he wouldn't entertain the idea, let alone agree.
After I had my lunch of fried noodles and black tea, I eyed the Malaysian flag on the wall. I should put my name on the flag. And so I did! :) I penned my name and the date on the flag. I might never set foot here again. If another Malaysian came here, let him or her see my name, for I too had made it to EBC!
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| Malaysia Boleh! |
At 1.40pm, Kaji started to gather our things. I looked at him with pleading eyes but it was time to go. Shoving all negative thoughts away, I took a deep breath and readied myself for the long walk ahead.
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| Weather changing fast |
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| Lobuche, at last |
Perhaps it was the physical exhaustion but I didn't remember much of the trek back to Lobuche. It snowed lightly the whole way, and I just walked. When I got tired, I stopped and took a few deep breaths, and continued moving. Within 2 hours, we reached Lobuche. After a cup of coffee and a 20 minute rest, we set off again for Dughla. The walk to Dughla was much easier compared to the terrain from Lobuche to EBC. In fact, I decided the hardest leg of the entire trek was the path between Lobuche and Gorak Shep.
It was getting colder, the snow was getting stronger and the fog had rolled in. When we reached the memorial stones of Dughla, the view and atmosphere were so different from just the day before. The whole place was cold, wet and blanketed by fog. It was eerily quiet with no one around, tranquil and solitary, and beautiful.
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| Quiet and eerie at the memorial stones of Dughla |
With Kaji speeding ahead, I had to catch up quickly after stopping to snap a picture. From the memorial stones, we descended down the hill toward Dughla. The path was much longer than I remembered. We finally reached the lodge at approximately 5.15pm. I stumbled into the dining hall in complete and total physical exhaustion. I had never been so tired in my life. I had walked for approximately 10 hours today, some 20-30 km, at an altitude of 5,000m. The whole experience felt surreal. But I had done it, and I felt so proud of myself.
I reunited with D in the room. She looked so much better that I thought the immediate restorative effect of descending was astounding. The evening at the lodge was quiet and atmosphere subdued, with only a handful of travelers around. I retired to bed shortly after dinner, too tired to even think about the incredible day that I had today.
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