Amy 'n Rei

(9/30 – 10/16/2018)

Everest Base Camp (EBC) is high on every serious hiker’s bucket list. Rei and I have always wanted to do it, and we knew that the EBC trekking would be exhausting, and we had to do it before we were too old.

We were not young, but fortunately we were financially secure, and could afford to spend a bit more on the trip. Therefore, we booked a trekking tour with Nepal Spirits that includes a private guide and a porter, and we would stay in “luxury” lodges on the way when possible. We were going from late September to middle October, which was considered as one of the best months for the hike.

When our relatives and friends learned that we were going to EBC, some of them were excited, but most thought that we were insane. No matter what they thought, no one wanted to join us on this adventure.

Day 1: Layover in Hong Kong, then to Kathmandu

After a very long flight, we arrived in Hong Kong at 5am. It didn’t take long for us to pass the custom. Many places had not opened yet, but we managed to find a dim-sum place to have a nice breakfast. Then we walked to the cable tram station to get a tram ride to Victoria Peak.

The view from the peak was magnificent though it’s a bit smoggy. The hike to the peak garden was good but pretty exhausting. I had to change into my hiking boots so that my feet wouldn’t hurt. Instead of taking the tram down, we hiked the very steep hill to return to the city center.

We decided to have lunch at Kam’s, which was very famous for its roasted geese. Since it was very far away, we took Bus 23. Rei used Google Maps to guide us. However, the software was too slow due to poor connection. It said we were still 5 minutes away while in fact we had already passed! We finally arrived at Kam’s around 11:30am when it opened for lunch, and there was already a very long line waiting outside! We had to wait for about an hour to have our lunch. At least Rei had his roasted goose, and it tasted very delicious.

After lunch, we took the Star Ferry to Kowloon. We were able to see the famous Victoria Harbor close, but there wasn’t any junk. There were still several places we didn’t manage to visit, but we were already too exhausted. So, we simply returned to the airport to wait for our flight to Kathmandu. Anyway, we would have another chance to visit Hong Kong on our returning trip.

The flight from Hong Kong to Kathmandu would take another 5 hours. At least 50% of the passengers were going to Nepal to do some trekking — mostly EBC. We could hear many of them excitedly discussing their plans. A group of trekkers told us that they would fly directly to Lukla tomorrow morning to start trekking without spending any time in Kathmandu.

The flight arrived on time at 10pm. The application of visa at the airport was a long and confusing process. We originally waited in a line that was for passengers without passport photos. An official pointed out to us the paying fee line instead. The 30-day visa cost USD $40 per person. Then we waited in another line to actually get the visa.

Amazingly after the long visa application process our luggage still had not arrived! We had to wait another 30 minutes to finally get our bags. After we left the airport, we saw a bunch of guides with name signs waiting outside. We have booked our EBC hike with Nepal Spirits. I found a young guy with our names on the sign. He introduced himself to be our guide, Tony. Tony took us to the Yak & Yeti Hotel. After we finally checked into our hotel room, it was almost midnight. It’s a very long day!

Day 2: Kathmandu Independently

Even though we were very tired last night, we woke up at 7am. The included breakfast buffet at the hotel was very good. There were a lot of choices. Because Ram (the owner of Nepal Spirits) wouldn’t arrive to meet us until 11am, we had time to check out the hotel and its garden.

Ram arrived before 11am to take us to his office. He explained the trip to us and took the final payment. We also exchanged USD $1,000 to rupees ($1 = 115 rupees) with him. After that we had the rest of the day free.

We went to the Narayanhiti Palace Musuem, which was very close to our hotel. The museum used to be the Royal Palace when Nepal had kings. Entrance fee costs Rs 500 each for US citizens. Photos were strictly forbidden inside the museum. Moreover, we had to go through a pat-down search to enter. The museum/palace was also the ground where in 2001 the then crown prince killed his parents and siblings before committing suicide. However, Nepal tried to hide the fact by saying that the crown prince was also killed in the incident. It was a taboo to talk about this incident in Nepal. The most interesting part of this visit was that we saw many fruit bats hanging upside down from the trees in the garden. We didn’t know that bats could be so visible during daytime! We couldn’t take photos of the bats while inside the palace, but we did manage to take photos from outside the palace later.

Rei forgot to bring his sunglasses (again!). Also, he could not survive without being “connected” all the time, so we went shopping afterwards. He got a pair of sunglasses for Rs 2000 (after bargaining down from Rs 2500) and a SIM card for Rs 2500.

By the time Rei finished shopping, we were already hungry (we didn’t have lunch). Hence, we went to the Garden of Dreams and had an early dinner in the Kaiser Cafe. Rei had fishmen soup and chicken, and I had pasta. During the dinner we saw lots of house crows flying around and making lots of noises. The garden had many beautiful plants and flowers.

The guidebook I got said Kathmandu’s traffic was atrocious, which was not an overstatement. We felt like we were risking our lives every time we crossed a street. Our strategy had been to mix with a bunch of local people when crossing, so that they could shield us.

Kathmandu also had serious air pollution problems. After seeing many local people wearing face masks, I decided to wear my Buff.

Day 3: Kathmandu Sightseeing Tour

Today we were going on an included Kathmandu sightseeing tour. First, we were driven to Pashupatinath, where there’s a holy Hindu temple. We approached the temple from the back side, where there were several cremation platforms along a very dirty river. There were a lot of Hindu people there performing ceremonies with priests. The guide told us that this was the time of the year for the ceremonies, and that’s why the place was so crowded. We saw many monkeys there and took many photos. We then circled to the front entrance of the temple. Only Hindus were allowed to enter the temple, so we could only take pictures from the outside.

The next destination was the large stupa of Bouddhanath. This was a very famous sight that’s mentioned in many tourist publications. We also visited a shop producing Mandala (a religious drawing used in sacred rites), and a lady in the store explaining the process to us. It would take a master about 20 days to produce an excellent Mandala picture, which would cost USD $150!

After that we went to the famous Durbar Square, which was unfortunately affected by the 2015 earthquake. The old palace was covered for reconstruction. But we were able to see the Kumari place, where the living goddess reigned. We had lunch at a nearby roof terrace restaurant, which offered an excellent view of the square. Rei had a chicken plate. I only had iced coffee, because I wasn’t hungry at all, only thirsty. Both the chicken plate and the coffee were pretty good.

The last destination of the day was Swayambhunath — the monkey temple. We saw more stupas and more monkeys there. I was able to take pictures of some large birds, which according to the guide, were black kites.

After returning to Kathmandu, we decided to go to Fire & Ice Pizzeria for dinner. But we first detoured to the outside of the palace museum to check out bats. Surely, they were there! We found a bunch of fruit bats hanging upside down from trees. I managed to take several pretty good pictures. I also photographed some white birds, which I could not identify.

Day 4: A Boring Day at the Local Airport

Today was a very boring day. Our 8:30am to Lukla flight got cancelled due to the weather condition. Tony tried to rebook us for a flight in other nearby airports. His plan didn’t work even though he assured us that we were able to fly out today. We also learned from Tony that one of his previous groups got stuck in Kathmandu for a couple days, and they had to change their EBC hike to ABC (Annapurna Base Camp) hike, which we sincerely hope would not be the case for us!

When it was close to 4pm, and we were pretty sure Tony’s plan would not work, we suggested the helicopter option. To heli to Lukla, we had to pay USD $1,500 ($500 x 3) in cash (fortunately we did have enough US dollars), but they assured us that we were able to fly to Lukla today. However, that’s not the case either. In the end, we were stuck in Kathmandu for the night. The plan was to take the helicopter early tomorrow morning.

Day 5: Helicopter Ride, then to Phakding

We went to the airport again at 5:40am and waited for more than an hour for the helicopter ride. Two guys from Australia were on the same helicopter ride with us. They told us that they flew to Lukla two days ago on a small airplane, but the plane couldn’t land in Lukla due to the bad weather, and they had to return to Kathmandu in the end!

This was our first helicopter ride, and it was Tony’s first too. Therefore, we were all very excited even though the cost was so high! We all took several pictures standing in front of the helicopter (cautiously with safe distance). Even Tony asked us to take a photo of him.

We landed at the Surkey Helipad below Lukla. Tony told us that Lukla was on the mountain behind the cloud and fog. There were quite a few people waiting to helicopter out, and there were several more helicopters flying in. We were told that Lukla airport was again closed, and people all needed to take helicopters. We waited there for more than 30 minutes for our porter/helper to walk down from Lukla to carry our bags. Finally, our adventure started!

Since we were in a place about 500 meters below Lukla, today’s hike involved more climbing than the original plan. We walked past many houses and fields, and saw a lot of mantras, stupas and praying wheels. The river Dudh Kosi was always on our left side. After about 1.5 to 2 hours of walking, we stopped at a place called Everest Guesthouse for lunch. We had ginger lemon honey tea, egg fried noodles and egg fried rice. The drinks and food were good.

After lunch, we walked for about two hours to pass several small villages — Cheplung, Kusum, Ghat — to finally reach Yeti Mountain Home in Phakding. The trail wasn’t too scenic, and we could see that people littered the trail, unlike in Inca Trail or Patagonia. This was a shock to me. Even though mani walls and praying wheels were interesting, and the colorful Rhododendron lined the trail, I wouldn’t rate this trail very high. Hopefully views would improve when we get higher.

Since we were no longer young, we’ve decided not to “rough it.” We booked a “luxury” tour that included several nights at the glamorous Yeti Mountain Home chain hotels, with private bathrooms. The Yeti Mountain Home at Phakding looked very impressive. Our room was very nice. The bathroom had “warm” showers. There weren’t many people staying in this hotel. We were not sure whether it’s because the hotel was expensive, or because many people could not fly to Lukla today. The dining room was completely empty!

People were usually required to have dinner at the place they stayed for the night. Because Yeti Mountain Home was so expensive, they didn’t require the guests to dine in. Tony took us to another lodge in Phakding to have dinner. We ordered a mushroom pizza and a veggie daal bhaat (a traditional Nepal staple dish with rice, lentil beans and vegetables). I didn’t feel hungry, only sleepy.

The bed at Yeti was very comfortable and heated. We felt warm and went to sleep very quickly.

Day 6: Phakding to Namche Bazaar

I woke up around 3am and couldn’t go back to sleep again. We started packing around 6am. Packing was easy since we did not bring a lot of stuff. Breakfast was served in the dining room. There weren’t a lot of options: only cereal, bread and eggs.

We left Yeti Mountain Home before 8am to head to Namche Bazaar. The view was more or less the same as yesterday’s except that we had a closer view of the river.

We met several Taiwanese travel groups. Some were already on their return trip, while others were just starting like we did. Rei had a great time chatting with them. All groups we talked to told us that they started taking Diamox while they were still in Taiwan. Therefore, we’ve decided that we should start taking Diamox tonight when we reach Namche Bazaar.

This morning, we got the view of the first high mountain, Thamserku at 6,608m. Tony told us that this mountain is considered sacred, and therefore climbing is strictly forbidden. Later we took a morning tea break at Hotel Waterfall, which (as the name indicated) was right by a magnificent, tall waterfall. Many groups were taking a break there to enjoy the nice view.

We passed Monjo and saw the Yeti Mountain Home where we were supposed to stay on our return trip. Soon we reached the Sagarmatha National Park, where we had to pay the entrance fee. After we entered the national park, Rei met a Taiwanese tour guide called “Big Tree” Lee — a tall guy. He has been on many trekking trips including the Walker’s Haute Route. This was his 5th EBC trip! It seems that EBC has become very popular in Taiwan nowadays. Big Tree told us that there was at least one tour group each day, sometimes more!

Jorsale is the last settlement before reaching Namche. Therefore, most hikers had lunch there. We ate daal bhaat at the Friendship Lodge. After lunch, it’s a long 3-hour ascent to Namche Bazaar. The climbing was difficult because the stone steps were high and uneven. We had to take many rests in between. The most exciting part was the crossing of the famous Hillary Suspension Bridge.

Eventually we were approaching Namche. We met three very friendly Nepal little girls, who wanted to high-five with all the passing hikers, and posed to let us take their photos.

The final climbing to reach Namche wasn’t so hard. But that’s not it — The Yeti Mountain Home we were staying at for tonight was on an even higher ground! We had to take many more breaks before we finally arrived at the hotel.

According to Ram, our dinner would be at a different tea house, because the dinner at Yeti Mountain Home was too expensive! The problem was that the teahouse we were going was in the center of Namche and therefore involved a long walk. Walking down was fine, but the walk back to the hotel after dinner in the dark was a real challenge! Rei ordered garlic soup for dinner. I ordered a plate of egg fried noodles and shared half with him.

Day 7: Acclimatization Day at Namche Bazaar

We woke up very early again this morning. One of our room windows faced Kongde Ri (a high mountain at 6,187m). The morning alpenglow was surreal! I was able to take many awesome photos right from the room through the open window.

We were already at a very high altitude. Today was an acclimatization day for us, but this did not mean we would sit idling. We finished breakfast and left the hotel around 8am. I saw many hikers climbing on a very steep trail to cross a mountain pass.

“Is that where we are going today?” I asked Tony.

“No, we are not going that way,” replied Tony.

Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, he added, “That’s for tomorrow!“

Tony first took us to the Sagamatha National Park Visitor Center, where there’s a statue of Tenzing Norgay, the sherpa who climbed Mount Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary.

After that, we started a very long climb to the famous Hotel Everest View. As the name suggested, Mount Everest would be visible from the hotel on a clear day. The hike was quite difficult (after certain altitude, any climbing would be difficult!), but we saw many pretty flowers on the way, including blue gentians and white edelweiss.

When we were resting, Rei talked to a couple from the UK. They haven’t taken any long hikes previously and have decided to choose EBC as their first trekking. Yesterday we met a lady from Taiwan, who also told us that EBC was her first oversea long trekking. Apparently, a lot of people were fearless. We wished all of them good luck!

When we were approaching Everest View, we were able to see Ama Dablam, and even a short glimpse of Mount Everest! We had tea at Hotel Everest View. Due to the clouds and fog, the view there was actually disappointing.

We felt very exhausted (caused by high altitude again!) and decided to return to our hotel room to rest for a couple of hours. After the rest, we felt more energetic, and left our hotel room around 3pm to tour Namche Bazaar. There wasn’t much to see — only Namche stupa and many souvenir and equipment stores.

We had noodle soup in the same tea house as yesterday. Then we started the long walk again to return to our hotel for the night. Rei and I really enjoyed our room with a private bathroom at Yeti Mountain Home, which made it possible for us to do some laundry by hand. Even though it’s a lot more expensive than the regular teahouses, I felt it’s money well spent.

Day 8: Namche Bazaar to Debuche

Tony agreed that Rei and I were well acclimatized and did not have any health issues, so the journey continued. After breakfast, we headed to Tengboche before 8am. The weather was sunny and clear today. The first half of the trek was pretty flat, which was good. We were able to see Ama Dablam (which had a very distinct profile), Lhotse and even Mount Everest! Both of us took many photos on the way. I even sent a phone photo of Mount Everest with a memorial chorten of Tenzing Norgat and sherpas to family members and friends.

We had a short tea/lunch break after reaching Phumki Thenga, before a long 2-hour climb to Tengboche. There was a Japanese group with several old men and old ladies in their 60s or 70s. They were doing quite well.

We arrived in Tengboche after 1pm. After taking several photos of the monastery, we decided to check into our hotel in Debuche, which was about 15 to 20 minutes of walk away. After that, we went back to the Tengboche Gompa a bit before 3pm and were able to see part of their ceremony. In the monastery there were footprints of a “flying” lama. They claimed that the footprints were left by the lama when he landed at the site. There was a poster listing rules that visitors must follow. Many activities were forbidden inside the monastery, including no photos, and no kisses! (Hahaha!)

It became very cold when we returned to our room in the Himalaya Culture Home. The room had an attached bathroom, but there was no hot water. The friendly lodge owner told us that there’s another room #103 downstair with a gas water heater and was served as a “shared” shower for all guests. It happened that we were the only guests at the moment, so we didn’t need to wait.

The hotel did not provide any toiletry in the bathroom, not even toilet paper! Fortunately, we packed everything. (My definition of adventure trips is that you must carry your own toilet paper!) The bed wasn’t warm enough. We had to use our own sleeping bag liners to keep warm for the night.

Day 9: Debuche to Dingboche

We woke up very early again and started the walk to Dingboche right after breakfast around 8am. The weather was cloudy today. We walked along the Imja Khola (river) all the way. The trail was not as steep as yesterday’s.

We had a very early lunch in Shomare. Rei ordered Korean noodle soup (cooked instant noodle), and I ordered veggie noodle soup. After lunch, we had a not very long ascent and reached Dingboche in the early afternoon. Due to the high altitude, we had to ascend at a slow pace to avoid getting sick.

Situated at 4,360m (or 14,300ft) Dingboche was very cold, especially when there was no sun. We stayed in the Yak Lodge. Even though we had our own private toilet, there’s no flush. We were told that because water would freeze in the winter, it was not possible to have modern plumbing in the entire Dingboche. There was a big tub of water for us to flush the toilet after use. We had to wash our hands in the sink outside. Hot water shower would cost Rs 500 per person. Life was getting harsher. We decided to skip the shower today.

We went to a bakery to have tea and cake (black forest cake), and for Rei to use Wi-Fi there, because our phones had no connection at all! On our way there, we had our first sight of a solar-powered kettle in someone’s yard! A large metal disc was installed to absorb the sunlight to heat up the attached water kettle. People were surely very creative to adapt to their environment.

It was so cold that Rei decided we should go to the teahouse dining room (where it’s warmer) at 4:15pm, even though we agreed with Tony to dine at 5pm. Rei ordered daal bhaat again, and I had rara noodle (i.e., ramen). At such high altitude, there weren’t a lot of dining options. All teahouses more or less served the same kinds of dishes.

We returned to our room after dinner. It was so cold that we decided to simplify the hygiene process — Rei only brushed his teeth. In addition to brushing my teeth, I also used wiper to clean a bit. Then we went to bed before 7pm!

Day 10: Acclimatization Day at Dingboche

We had to have another acclimatization day. Tony took us to hike Nangkartshang (5,090m). This was about the most difficult hike I had done so far due to the altitude. We had to take many breaks on the way.

The weather was very clear this morning, and we were able to see many famous peaks such as Ama Dablam, Island Peak, Peak 38, and Makalu. Makalu at 8,463m is the 5th highest peak in the world.

It took us 4 hours to hike to the top. Some people we met on the way up didn’t make it to the top. Getting down wasn’t easy either. It took us another 2 hours, and I fell several times! So, it took us a total of 6 hours just to hike 4.51km!

After we returned to the lodge, we had a late lunch of veggie noodle soup and veggie fried noodles. We decided to take a hot water shower right after lunch before the lodge got too crowded, because we were told that the lodge was fully booked for the night. This turned out to be a very smart decision, because we didn’t have to wait, and people started to queue up for showers after us. The hot shower was excellent!

The dining room was very full tonight. We had veggie mo-mo and sherpa stew for dinner.

Day 11: Dingboche to Lobuche

Today’s destination was Lobuche. The initial trek was rather flat, but the view was great nonetheless. We were able to see many high mountains around us. There were several shelters on the way.

In the mid-morning, we had a tea break at Dughla (Thukla). The apple pie was very doughy. After that it was a long climb. At the top of the ridge, there were many memorials dedicated to lost climbers in the Everest region, including a stone chorten dedicated to Scott Fischer, who died in the 1996 Everest disaster described in Jon Krakauer’s book “Into Thin Air.”

The trail became flatter. It also offered an excellent view of Pumori (7,165m). We saw many helicopters flying today. Rei counted 9. We weren’t sure whether they were on sightseeing tours or on rescue missions.

We finally arrived in Lobuche (4,930m) in the mid-afternoon. I was super exhausted. Tony offered to take us to see the glaciers, but it was freezing outside. So, we decided to stay and rest in our room instead.

Tonight we stayed in Hotel Peak XV. The lodge was very primitive. There were only two shared toilets and a shared sink. Showers did not exist in Lobuche at all! Since everyone wanted to keep hydrated to avoid the high-altitude sickness, the toilets were very busy.

We had sherpa stews at dinner. Then we went straight to bed. Both of us have decided that this would be our last primitive adventure. Therefore, no Annapurna Circuit or Kilimanjaro for us! (We changed our mind and went climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2023.)

Day 12: Reaching the Everest Base Camp

Today was the day that we would finally reach Everest Base Camp. We started very early — had breakfast at 6am and checked out the hotel before 7am.

It took us a bit more than 3 hours to reach Gorakshep. The hike wasn’t really difficult, but we were already very exhausted from the previous hikes. We met Big Tree on the trail. They were faster than us (they skipped the acclimatization day in Dingboche) and have already been to the Base Camp yesterday.

We had lunch at Buddah Lodge. This was also where we were going to spend the night. Again, the lodge was very primitive with shared toilets and a sink very far away from our room. I felt that I could not stand primitive lodges anymore!

After lunch, we hiked for a bit more than 2 hours to reach Everest Base Camp shortly after 1pm. It was crowded, and we had to wait for our turn to take photos. The hike wasn’t especially difficult, and we were able to see Mount Everest on the way. However, Everest itself was not visible from the Base Camp, which was a surprise to many people.

Even though we saw quite some old men and old ladies in the previous hikes, we did not see people older than us here. Most hikers were young men and ladies. There were also two ladies riding horses to the Base Camp — it seemed “cheating” to me.

After we took many photos at the Base Camp, we hiked slowly back to the lodge. The weather was cold and windy. We reached the lodge around 3:30pm.

Our room was very primitive. We had to use shared toilets. There was no way to take a shower, because showers simply did not exist here. By this time, everyone smelled very bad.

We had dinner at the lodge. From the dining room window, we could see great alpenglow. I went out to take several photos. It’s surreal!

Day 13: Kala Pattar, then return to Pangboche

Tony told us to get ready very early this morning, so we woke up at 3:50am to prepare for the Kala Pattar hike. We started at 4 something when it was still very dark and had to use our headlights. Apparently, there were a bunch of crazy people just like us! There was a long line of hikers with headlights on climbing up the hill.

The hike was extremely difficult — the hardest hike of this entire journey. We had to take so many breaks on the way up. I was freezing too. My fingers were numb even though I wore my ski gloves. I had to admit that it occurred to me several times that I should have given up.

We finally reached the top after more than 3 hours of ascending. The view from the top was truly gorgeous. However, unfortunately, the top of Mount Everest was covered by clouds. We saw some cute little picas running around the rocks very fast.

It was very cold and windy, so we didn’t stay long. Hiking down wasn’t easy either. I slipped a couple times. Well, at least we could say that we have done it.

Finally, we reached the hotel to have a late breakfast. We had to hurry up to hike to tonight’s destination — Pangboche. Today was going to be a very long day. Since we wasted a day waiting for the flight to Lukla, we had to make up for the lost time. It was not advised to shorten the day of ascending due to the concern of high-altitude sickness. Therefore, shortening the descending days was our only option. We had to do more than a day’s hike today.

On our way down, we saw many people climbing up. They all looked exhausted. I heard a young guy say, “This is like a funeral march!” We tried to cheer them up by telling them that they were “almost there.”

It was indeed a very long hike. We walked through Lobuche, Dughla, and then reached Pheriche around 3:30pm. By this time, the fog had rolled in, and it was extremely cold in Pheriche. I had a runny nose. It was both annoying and extremely uncomfortable.

We finally reached Pangboche around 6:15pm, and it was already dark. Tonight we stayed in Om Kailash. The hotel room was “half civilized” — We had our own flush toilet and sink, but we had to pay Rs 500 per person to take a hot water shower. It felt great because we hadn’t had a shower for the last two nights! I couldn’t wait to reach Yeti Mountain Home tomorrow!

Day 14: Return to Namche Bazaar

In order to have time to visit the famous Pangboche Monastery, we need to start early. Therefore, we had breakfast at 7am, and then walked to the Monastery, which wasn’t too far away.

Pangboche Monastery was originally built in the 16th century and then rebuilt in 1667AD. It’s the oldest monastery in the Everest region. The monastery was built by Lama Sangwa Dorje, the “Flying Lama.” The entrance fee was Rs 250 per person. There was a Yeti skull and hand on display inside the monastery. Rei questioned whether they were real or not. We were told that those were replicas, and the original ones (which they claimed to be “genuine”) disappeared a long time ago.

It was possible to take a different trail down from the base camp to Lukla. The route was called the Three Pass Trail because it went through three high mountain passes. Even though the trail was said to be superior, it took more time and was more difficult. We didn’t have enough days, nor enough energy to tackle that path, so we took the same route back.

We then retraced our trek back to Debuche, Tangboche, Tashinga, Sanasa and then to Namche Bazaar. On the way I took many pictures of the native plants. I also saw two different small birds and managed to take some decent photos. Tony pointed out a few mountain goats high up on the hills, and I took several pictures of the goats too.

The trail was very busy today. We saw many hikers going in both directions. It bothered me that not too many trekkers pay attention to plants, birds, or even scenery. They seemed to be focusing on marching from Point A to Point B to cross out their bucket lists.

We reached Yeti Mountain Home in Namche Bazaar at 4:10pm. It’s so great to be back to “civilization” with a private flush toilet and shower! We took a hot water shower (it was only warm), charged our phones and checked our emails. We also managed to do some laundry by hand. Life is good again!

Rei said we should rethink our future trekking plans — we were too old!

Day 15: Back to Lukla. End of EBC Trekking.

Finally! We would hike from Namche Bazaar to Lukla today to complete our EBC trekking. The distance from Namche to Lukla was close to 20km, so Tony said we had to start early.

We went to the dining room to have breakfast at 6:30am, and we were the only guests there at this hour. We had the usual Yeti Mountain Home breakfast (juice, coffee/tea, cereal, toast and eggs) and started our journey at 7:30am.

The hiking down from Namche was a difficult and time-consuming process because I didn’t want to fall. Rei kept complaining that I walked too slowly. In the middle of the way down, there was a public toilet place, which provided an excellent viewpoint of Mount Everest. On our way up, the weather was very foggy, and we missed the view. Today Mount Everest was clear to see. I took a photo.

The trail was again very crowded with hikers going in both directions. There were also old folks and young children! It’s amazing that so many people wanted to come here to hike. We also saw a pretty bird with a long tail, and some butterflies.

Around 1pm we arrived in Pharding for lunch. Rei and I both decided that we wanted a sandwich for lunch. He ordered veggies, I ordered grilled cheese, and we shared the food. After lunch, it took us another 3 hours to reach Lukla, where we were staying in another Yeti Mountain Home.

Tonight, we treated our helper (porter), Laku, to dinner. Rei also gave him a “red envelope” (tip) to show our gratitude.

Day 16: Fly Back to Kathmandu

This morning we woke up at 6am. Fortunately, the weather was very clear, so we didn’t need to worry too much about our flight back to Kathmandu being cancelled. After breakfast, we headed for Lukla airport, which was only a short walk away from the hotel.

With its short runway and location (in a high altitude with unpredictable weather conditions), Lukla airport (a.k.a. Tenzing-Hillary Airport) was listed as one of the most dangerous airports in the world in various listings we have seen. However, it was not at the very top of the listings, so that’s a relief!

Our flight was at 8:30am. However, nothing happened at 8:30am. Even Tony didn’t know what’s going on. They finally called our flight number around 9am. We quickly went out of the gate to board the small airplane.

The small airplane only had two seats per row, so everyone got an aisle and window seat. Rei and I boarded early, so we got to sit in the second row. Everybody on board was super excited. We all took out our phones or cameras to take pictures of the plane getting off.

I was worried that the flight would be very bumpy, so I had a Bonine just in case. However, the flight turned out to be a very smooth ride, and the view was magnificent! I took many photos on the way. Many people did the same.

It was only a bit after 10am after we landed in Kathmandu and received our luggage. Tony said Ram has suggested us to have the included Patan and Bhaktapur tour today, because there would be an important festival going on starting tomorrow, and it would be difficult to find a guide tomorrow.

We checked into Yak & Yeti Hotel again, thanked Tony (with a red envelope) for his service in the past two weeks, and said goodbye. Then we went to KFC to have a quick lunch before meeting our guide in the hotel lobby at noon.

First, we went to Bhaktapur. Its Durbar Square sustained little earthquake damage and did look more impressive than the one in Kathmandu. We took many photos there, including the famous Peacock Window in Dattatraya Square.

Then we went to Patan. It’s smaller than Bhaktapur, but the Royal Palace there was very impressive. We also spent a lot of time inside the Patan Museum. Of course, we also took a lot of photos in Patan.

I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on the way back to our hotel. We had dinner at K-Too Steakhouse. Rei had a steak, and I had Chicken Sizzler. The food was great, especially after almost two weeks in the mountains eating the same rice and noodle dishes in the teahouses.

Day 17: Last Day in Kathmandu

Because we did the tour yesterday, we had a free day today. Since there’s no hurry, we spent a long time at the breakfast buffet in Yak & Yeti to enjoy all the nice food. Each of us had three plates of food, and drank many cups of juice, coffee and tea.

Originally, we planned to visit the National Museum, but it was closed today. So, we decided to check out the city instead. We walked from our hotel to Asan Tole, the busiest square in Kathmandu. It was super crowded! There were many street vendors selling their wares. We continued to walk until Dubar Square, but we didn’t enter again because they charged foreigners Rs 1000 each to pass through! We just circled around instead. Then we returned to the hotel to take a break and to drink more tea.

We decided that we should do some shopping, so Rei and I went out again in the early afternoon. We first stopped by Himalayan Java, the Starbucks of Kathmandu, to have some cappuccinos and a coffee mousse cake. The coffee was excellent, so we decided to buy a few bags of their expresso roast coffee beans (Rs 1300 each). (Everyone who received a bag of coffee from us loved it!)

I made a mistake going inside a store. It was impossible for me to leave the store until I agreed to purchase a blue-green scarf for Rs 1000 (bargained down from Rs 2000). It turned out that I still overpaid. Later I was able to buy a similar scarf for only Rs 450! Well, the extra money would be considered as my “escaping fee.”

On our way back to the hotel, we saw a military parade. They not only played matching band music, but one soldier also fired his gun and scared the audience. It’s kind of scary.

Ram took us to Utsav, a traditional Nepali restaurant, for dinner. The food was fine. There were also traditional dance shows going on, which were more interesting than the food. This ended our adventure in Nepal. We’re going home tomorrow.

Afterthoughts

Rei rated Everest Base Camp as his favorite trekking destination, while I preferred Patagonia. The scenery we saw during the EBC hike was superb! However, the trekking was difficult due to the high altitude and the weather conditions. The many teahouses on the way did make the trip easier and more comfortable, though it’s still necessary to endure some hardship. Rei and I splurged by staying in several Yeti Mountain Homes, and we considered the money well spent.

The EBC Trekking is indeed a once in a lifetime experience, and one should do it while still young. I’d like to do more trekking trips in Nepal; however, I don’t think we will be able to handle them.