Home » Nepal » PART1 - Everest Base Camp - Journey to the bottom of the top of the World

Nepal has the largest altitude range of any country - 200m in the Terai up to 8850m on Everest. Over the next two weeks I'll be ascending quite a part of this as I attempt to hike to Everest Base Camp…alone, which itself is 1000m higher than the highest point in Europe. Eeek. Please forgive me for this blog being long, in 2 parts even - I felt a day-by-day account was the only way to do this trek justice, even if it means 3 reading sessions from you and 10 hour typing in Internet cafes for me (in fact, I read it through and it 'only' takes 20minutes, haha). This will be the longest they get; so anyone with a real dislike for reading (Sam), or an attention disorder (Sam) might just want to skip to the end to see if I made it, and look at the photos. After all, it's not a trek to take lightly - altitude sickness can kick in as low as 2500m, and I'll be climbing 3km above that, with a rucksack that weighs more than I would like it to, thanks to my peanut butter, chocolate and 20 packets of super-noodles; food I'm
sure will become luxuries in the wilderness. I could just not take any food and buy it all while trekking, but I estimate by 'coping' I'll save myself around $100. Bonus! Especially when the 40 minute flight to Lukla costs a whopping $190.

PART1 - Everest Base Camp - Journey to the bottom of the top of the World

Simon Wadsworth
2006-09-04 14:04:21

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Nepal has the largest altitude range of any country - 200m in the Terai up to 8850m on Everest. Over the next two weeks I'll be ascending quite a part of this as I attempt to hike to Everest Base Camp…alone, which itself is 1000m higher than the highest point in Europe. Eeek. Please forgive me for this blog being long, in 2 parts even - I felt a day-by-day account was the only way to do this trek justice, even if it means 3 reading sessions from you and 10 hour typing in Internet cafes for me (in fact, I read it through and it 'only' takes 20minutes, haha). This will be the longest they get; so anyone with a real dislike for reading (Sam), or an attention disorder (Sam) might just want to skip to the end to see if I made it, and look at the photos. After all, it's not a trek to take lightly - altitude sickness can kick in as low as 2500m, and I'll be climbing 3km above that, with a rucksack that weighs more than I would like it to, thanks to my peanut butter, chocolate and 20 packets of super-noodles; food I'm
sure will become luxuries in the wilderness. I could just not take any food and buy it all while trekking, but I estimate by 'coping' I'll save myself around $100. Bonus! Especially when the 40 minute flight to Lukla costs a whopping $190.

Day 1: Lukla (2804m) to Monjo (2800m) - ups & downs too, honest.
Iodine solution? Check. Wet wipes? Check. Map and compass? Check. A limitless supply of batteries, candles and pens? Check. My yet-to-be christened mascot elephant? Check check check. It's like being back at Glastonbury, except the only music I'll be hearing this time is the rushing of water, cracking of ice, yak bells, Buddhist chanting and the hissy MW sound of 'Indian Dance Anthems' on my radio player. This is it. The one I've been waiting for the entire trip; the Himalaya 2-week trek to Everest Base Camp, and I've finally arrived, having flown into Lukla very ...