Photo courtesy of Lampertron on Flickr.
It’s the kind of thing that ranks right up there for me with seeing the gorillas in Rwanda, or diving with sharks (no cage) in South Africa. In other words, EPIC!!!
Regular readers well know that I’m a regular hiker and can be found more weekends in the mountains than not. Heck even non-regular readers have probably figured out that mountains are a bit of an obsession for me from the name of this blog. I even refuse to live more than 100km away from the mountains! Mountains are my solution for everything. Something to celebrate? A problem to solve? Relationship trouble? Business challenge? You name it, I think it’s best done when out of breath slogging up a seemingly endless path, which I strangely define as fun. So what better mountain could there be than the world’s highest mountain? To be clear, I’m not climbing to the top of Everest – that involves years of mountaineering experience, which I don’t have. But I am climbing to the highest altitude I will have ever been at – 5364m!
Hiking to Everest Base Camp won’t be without it’s challenges though,
One of the advantages of being a travel blogger is knowing, not one, but five other people who have tackled Everest Base Camp. These are all tough cookies, people I know personally and yet still they’ve said things like:
“It’s so tough that at times you question your sanity and why you ever decided to do it” and even better, “You might feel the need to cry. More than once.” Both from Becki of Backpacker Becki.
Besides the physical challenge there are also the health risks. Jen from She Gets Around witnessed someone being airlifted from base camp suffering from Acute Mountain Sickness, which while usually just makes you feel shitty, can be life threatening.
I’ve heard about hikers developing persistent coughs and Deb from The Planet D informed me that nosebleeds can be an issue due to the dry air. Almost everyone I’ve spoken with suffered from altitude related headaches of varying degrees.
Then, there’s also the weather. While I wasn’t expecting to be warm, Cherina from Quiet Wanderings who is doing the trek a couple weeks ahead of me, reported chilly night time temperatures of -18C. Brrrr and I’m a wimp when it comes to the cold! Oh and did I mention, I’ll be sleeping in a tent for part of the trek?
Then, on top of that there are hygiene issues:
“You will be dirty! Showers are few and far between and as for hot showers you will be lucky to get one or two. The toilets are pretty grim too. You get used to it and remember everyone is equally smelly and gross.” Jen from She Gets Around. Even Iain Mallory, a male travel blogger recommends a pee bottle in his Everest Base Camp Kit List to “avoid frequent visits to the often unpleasant toilets during the night.” You know it must be pretty bad when even a tough guy is complaining about the toilet situation, and for the record, my blog tag line is Adventure seeker by day, luxury seeker by night….This will be interesting!
Oh, and the rest days? Not really rest days at all, but days when you should climb even higher, then come back and sleep at a lower altitude to help stave off altitude sickness. That means 12 days of non-stop hiking!
Fortunately you have videos like this one from The Planet D, which make me SUPER excited:
So does it worry me? A little bit to be honest. Especially the altitude headaches since I’m prone to migraines, but more than anything, the challenges intrigue me at the same time. I also have the Tour du Mont Blanc, a 160km 8000m elevation gain hike under my belt which I did last summer. Like Becki, I did cry once or twice on the trail – it’s physically and mentally draining, but I pulled through. And the strength I gained from that trek, has stayed with me long past the unpleasant moments, which when time has passed really don’t seem that bad at all.
And that’s what really lures me in. Knowing that just by doing Everest Base Camp, I will learn and grow as a person, likely in ways I had never imagined long after the trip is over.
And that seems a small price to pay for a few days of physical discomfort. You can see my full Yomads itinerary here. Be sure to follow my progress (internet permitting) on Facebook and Twitter. I’m flying to Kathmandu on April 17th and will begin trekking on April 20th. Wish me luck!
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