Everest basecamp Gokyo trip report

The idea to climb to the foot of the highest mountain on earth started late last year, after a particularly memorable hike in the Drakensberg. Having explored most of the Northern and Central Drakensberg I wanted to see some seriously high mountains and walk in deep snow.
I started browsing the internet to find suitable tour operators, and after reading only good things about Snowy Horizon Treks (tip: Tripadvisor is a good source of information) I contacted the owner, Rishi, and obtained all the necessary information to make a trek to Everest a reality.
The planning now started in earnest. Our planned trip would follow a different and longer route to that which is normally followed up to EBC. We would first go North-West to Gokyo, then East via Cho-La pass to Gorak Shep (the small town close to EBC), and then back down to Lukla.
Physical preparation involved a lot of hikes in the Drakensberg (one about every 5 weeks from March onwards) ranging from easy and short, to the last one being a monster – up Ifidi pass in one day, lots of difficult terrain and long distances, every day from sunrise to sunset. This certainly helped. However, if you think you’ve done enough stairs, do some more, there are plenty of them on this route.
Trips to Everest generally start at Lukla. You can walk to Lukla from Kathmandu, but it will take you about 3 weeks or longer, or you can fly there in under an hour. The little airport on the edge of town consistently features in the top 10 most dangerous airports in the world. It is 330m long (or short, depending on how you view it) and the top is 60m higher than the start. This incline obviously helps to stop the planes quicker on landings. This is very much needed as the runway ends in a mountain. If the pilot overshoots you crash into the mountain, simple as that. Flying out we had a tailwind so reduced lift, and after the pilot pulled up I counted and there was less than 0,5 seconds of tarmac left by the time we became airborne, which made me a bit nervous.
Our flight to Lukla was unfortunately delayed by 2 days due to bad weather at Lukla. Other people we chatted to on the airport had already been waiting for 4 days. Thick mist means the STOLS aeroplanes (short take-off and landing aircraft) can’t land. Fortunately for us another customer of Snowy Horizon tours were suffering from AMS (acute mountain sickness – which usually occurs if you ascend to fast, not giving your body enough time to adapt to the reduction in oxygen at higher altitudes) and he (or his insurers) paid the $3000 for a chopper ride out of there. Rishi managed to get us two seats in the helicopter, and on Thursday afternoon 17H00 we were airborne and on our way to Lukla.

Kathmandu wiring


Waiting for the helicopter


The national airport - domestic area



Boarding the helicopter



Arriving at Lukla

Lukla teahouse



Outside view of our first nights teahouse in Lukla

We got up at 5:49am on Friday morning and we can see that there is still a lot of cloud cover above Lukla. Bummer. No nice views of any mountaintops today. In the mountains the best weather is usually early in the morning, generally by noon the clouds roll in and visibility drops off. We hoist our bags and hit the cobblestone steps down to Monja. I hate them – my La Sportiva snow shoes are way too inflexible for this terrain. Today we descend from 2900m ASL (above sea level) to 2700m over roughly about 12km’s. This sounds easy but the terrain is very undulating, there’s precious few flat stretches on this hike anywhere. However, we are eager to get going and have rested well over the last 4 days on airports and in the air.
We arrive at Phakding for an early lunch, 5km away from Monjo, where we were going to overnight. The menu looks quite interesting, what shall we have. Mmmhh, how about some curry veg and rice? We decided to go completely vegetarian on this trip as we were warned that the quality of the meat could be very suspect. For the Nepalese people the whole Everest area is sacred and no animals are to be killed here, so they slaughter them down the valleys and porters then carry the meat up in baskets (folded up in pieces of animal hide). Seeing that, temperature wise, it is in the low 30’s down in the valleys and it takes up to 4 days to get the meat to the higher regions, the chances of picking up some sort of germ or virus is quite high. The chance of diarreah or some other disease spoiling your holiday is therefore very real. I was a bit concerned about how I would survive without meat for nearly 3 weeks, but needn’t have worried, if it’s do or die you learn to adapt quickly.
Showers are not to be taken for granted on an Everest trip (you pay for them extra and it costs progressively more the higher you go – up to $5 – at the 5000m level. Even a bucket of hot water costs $3. Seeing that there are no natural fuel available at the 5000m level (no trees, just some very small scrubs here and there), all fuel such as LP gas needs to be carried up by people and animals. The further the distance the higher the price. Anyhow, at Monja we have our one and only on suite bedroom of the whole trip, so I enjoyed a long hot shower (somebody apparently forgot to tell Sanet that you have to open the warm water tap fully else the gas burner doesn’t activate – she had a short and mainly cold shower).
We go for a quick walk around the town but there’s not much to see so we go back to the lodge. We get our gear ready for tomorrow, I start updating my journal and thereafter we go to the dining room for dinner. Interesting table arrangement, you mainly sit near the sides of the room, not in the middle. Here, the stove has the main place of honour. The majority of Nepalese people are fairly short (the one shop owner commented to Sanet when she was fitting clothes that she is “Nepalese man size”) and consequently the dining room tables are very low. Shucks, I couldn’t even get my knee in under the table! Oh well, I’ll just have to sit at the corner then.
I had a bet going with our guide that I will eat Dhal Bhat (lentils and rice) every evening while on tour. They serve it on a fairly large plate, the rice in the middle, with some curry (curry doesn’t mean curry flavour, in Nepal it means cooked veggies) and in a separate bowl the lentil soup. This place made excellent dhal bhat and I have seconds (the only meal you can have seconds for free. Or thirds. Or fourths ).

Lukla next morning



Touristpolice office at the edge of town (Lukla)



Dahl Bhat!



Teahouse at Monjo



The menu



Outside view of teahouse as you enter Monjo

After a good nights rest we get up early (not our guides forte) for breakfast and I go all out with toast and an omelette washed off with coffee. Mmmhh, not such a good idea as we start hiking within 15 minutes after breakfast and it’s all uphill from here! Today we need to get to Naamche Bazaar. Not that far, about 8km’s or so but we climb from 2700m to 3400m, with the bulk of the climb just after we cross the high suspension bridge over the Dhud Kosi (literally “milky river”). Again, still cloudy so not much of a view of the mountains. The Rhododendron forests are really pretty and helps to protect you a bit from the elements. The sun comes out now and then, it’s really nice to feel its warmth on your skin as a fairly cold wind was blowing. This little hill is quite nasty, it’s properly steep and the altitude certainly makes it harder than what we are used to. However, we trained well and are fit and by 11am we arrive at Naamche. It is really pretty and seems to have recovered well from the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal in April 2015. Here and there you can still see damaged buildings but by and large they have all been fixed. Seeing that we arrived so early we decided to go explore the town before lunch.

Naamche is the last place where you can shop for gear on the entire route, so we go through all the little shops shopping with our eyes. Quite a bit pricier than the same stuff in Kathmandu, but then they have a captive market here. Not much to buy other than hiking gear, although we did spot a bakery selling typical western delicacies like doughnuts – but at $3 (currently R45) a doughnut I decided to rather head back to the lodge for lunch. “The Nest” made by far the best veg curry and rice on the whole trip. We stopped here on the return leg as well for lunch, it was that good. After lunch we again went for a walkabout in town before we returned to the lodge for an afternoon snooze and getting our packs ready for the next day. We also did a bit of washing and hung the clothes inside the room when clouds started rolling in at 4pm. Al the rooms have double windows, and I asked Sanet to open the windows to let a bit of fresh air into the rooms to help dry out the clothes. Not sure how she did it but she managed to literally knock out the one window, frame and all. A Nepalese guy working in the garden just outside our room saw this happening and carried it back up to the second floor. Fortunately the glass didn’t break as it landed on soft grass. Our guide advised us not to worry about it, he said after the earthquake everything was a bit loose. Hope the lodge doesn’t collapse during the night!!
After dinner (dahl bhat) I visited the bathroom to find an Englishman in distress. He apparently didn’t get the message about the risk of eating meat on the trail and had the runs – bad. Poor guy. The toilets are another story altogether. Firstly, they are mostly pit toilets. Secondly, you are asked very nicely not to flush your toilet paper (if you brought it as none is supplied) down the loo as it freezes during winter and then blocks the drains (wouldn’t want to be here when that happens). SO, they provide you with a bucket in which to place your used toilet paper. Note to self – bring a clothe peg or two along next time, a buff isn’t sufficient to block out the odours!

Earthquake damage



Lower area close to river on the way to Naamche Bazaar



More earthquake damage



Typical suspension bridge - our first



Last suspension bridge before Naamche



Tourist police office just before Naamche - with a free toilet

Outskirts of Naamche Bazaar



Naamche Bazaar - we stayed at the Nest, directly behind us (pinkish buildings)



Mmmmhh - toilet

Sunday morning arrived and it was time to climb the hill above Naamche Bazaar as part of our acclimatization process. The general rule is to sleep no more than 330m’s higher than the night before (i.e. ascend 1km over 3 days), and for every kilometre ascended you are recommended to take a “rest day”. This simply means you don’t sleep any higher but you still climb during the day. This little hill was about 500m high (3906m at the radio tower on top, closest to Ama Dablam if you want to check it out) and you ascend this height in about 1km, so it was properly steep. Walking out of town to the start of the hill I was already out of breath, the rarefied air was already beginning to affect my performance. However, all you have to do to be fine is to reduce your pace a bit. No ways you can climb with the same speed as in the Drakensberg. A slower pace and lots of fluid intake is what is needed for acclimatisation, and we followed this principle successfully without suffering any altitude related problems. By the time we got to the top the clouds had parted a bit and we could get our first views of the mountain tops around us. They were stunning! Ama Dablam was in full view, as well as the very top of Everest peeping out behind a mountain range just in front of it. We stayed for 90 minutes when our guide said we needed to start descending. By now cloud cover had rolled in again and a fairly cold wind was blowing. Back down we went for lunch and some R&R.

We went back up to our room after lunch and spent the afternoon reading, writing and strolling around town. Dinner (dahl bhat) was had at 7pm. We decided to try something different on the menu every day (except dinner as I was determined to win my bet with Bibek) and so we tried practically every type of tea on offer in Nepal. We really liked the hot lemon tea, it’s a type of instant tea powder with hot water. Quite sweet, but after a strenuous day’s hiking this went down very well.

View of Ama Dablam from the acclimatization hill



View going back down

We got up on day 4 (I’ve already forgotten what day it was – the routine for every day is the same) and guess what? Not a single cloud in the sky. Wow, the views are just fantastic. Today we have to walk to Dole, at 4110m the highest place I’ve ever walked to. We climb up the side of the hill we ascended yesterday but turn right just outside Naamche. We now walk on a nice wide road and can see some villages far ahead. Every couple of hundred meters we have to climb up a hundred or more stone steps, passing some nice view points and small religious structures. Then, as is so typical of this trail we start descending. Ag no man, we drop down (after getting up to just under 4000m) all the way back to 3500m where we have lunch in the town of Photso Thanga at 3680m. I have a nice fried noodle dish (looks just like spaghetti to me, but at least they are not shy with the amount of food they place on your plate). I once again bump my head on the doorframe as I enter the establishment (all the door frames are low, much lower than in SA and I haven’t gotten used to ducking yet).

After lunch we tackle the uphill ( 3680m to 4100m) to Dole. We walk through beautiful forest sections, with lots and lots of waterfalls. They definitely don’t have a water shortage here. We eventually arrive at Dole and it is a really pretty little town. We had passed all the other tour groups on the way (mainly on one looooong uphill to the top of Mong) and so could pick any place we wanted to sleep. Our guide didn’t know anybody in this town (he normally pushes through to Machermo but I wanted this stop to assist in acclimatization) so he had to go around asking which lodges are open for business. We started our hike about a week before the main tourist season starts and as such there were some places that weren’t yet open for business. It meant that there was not much traffic on the trek up (which was nice), the down leg was much busier. We dropped our bags in our 2,5m X 2,5m room (these people are really small), I had to duck to avoid hitting my head everywhere in this lodge. We bought our first bowl of hot water at Dole ($1), first time we could wash after Monjo. Felt really good to be able to wash off the dust and sticky sweat of the past few days. The Swiss group we passed this morning also arrived at the same lodge and we all met up for dinner at the dining room. After lunch (dhal bhat – what else?) we retired to bed. Here I used my -25 degree sleeping bag for the first time (one blanket was not quite enough to keep the cold out) but it was way too hot and I spent the night alternating between too hot and too cold.

Sunrise and for the first time no clouds!!!



Hotel Hil-Ten as we are leaving Naamche Bazaar



View north out of Naamche



For Gokyo go left, EBC go right. We went left



Top of Mong



Interesting landscape

No shortage of stairs



No shortage of water either



View of Ama Dhablam



Pretty flowers



Near Dole



Approaching Dole



Just going over 4000m on the hill above Dole - just had to go do it!

Dole Teahouse



Day 5 and our guide is now sort of starting to get the hang of starting the hike before 8am. Today we have a (supposedly) easy and short hike to Machermo. We only have to get up to 4400m ASL but as we’ve come to expect by now, a 300m total rise generally means a couple of ups and downs in between. Today is no exception but a fairly strong wind is blowing from the front as well, which is not helping progress. When we eventually arrive at Machermo I am paste. The altitude definitely makes the hiking much harder. You really are reduced to placing one foot in front of the other and your speeds drops substantially. We have a fairly early lunch but then decide we can just as well push on to Fanga, same altitude but about 4km’s further along towards Gokyo. So after a lekker long lunch we get going again. After about 100m (on yet another immediate steep uphill just after lunch!!!) I beg Sanet to walk slower as I am really knackered. Eventually get my rhythm back and slowly carry on. Why not, we have the whole day and there is no rush. And the views are absolutely stupendous. All around us beautiful massive mountains. We get to Fanga by 3pm. It is really only a one horse town just below Gokyo. There is no hotel here, only a farmers dwelling and we sleep in one of the guest rooms. The earthquake seems to have hit them hard and the building was still being restored when we arrived. The windows on one whole wall was still out but it was covered by a big piece of plastic stapled to the wooden window frames. Fortunately it survived the night else we would have had a really unpleasant night. At 5pm a chopper arrived and landed just behind the farm buildings. A Chinese hiker had carried on up to Gokyo (4800m) and was suffering from AMS, throwing up violently, so they had to collect her and take her back down to Lukla. Bibek (our guide) has been involved in many helicopter rescues so whenever he hears a chopper it’s like he changes into a different person, it really activates him, you can see he really enjoys the excitement of a rescue mission. We have dinner (dhal bhat) and retired to our chambers (2,5m x 2,5m) by 8:30pm.

Dole to Machermo views



The area before Machermo



Machermo



On route to Fanga

Lodge owners wife and daughter at Fanga



Yaks at Fanga



Outside of our teahouse at Fanga