This story starts a long time ago – 13 years ago, April 2011, the last few months of our stay in Chennai. One of the professors in Manasi’s school, AISC, organized an annual hiking trip for graduating high-schoolers to Everest Base Camp – EBC. AISC parents were welcome to join – and Ajey jumped on this exciting opportunity!! It was exciting for all us as he started his prep – from running on the beach, to lugging a backpack full of books up and down the stairwell of his office building, to shopping for fleece and Gore-Tex in tropical Chennai. Nothing could have prepared him for the grandeur of the lofty Himalayas, though! The 12 day excursion was the highlight of our Chennai years for him, a truly spiritual, life-changing experience – and he was filled with a passion to return one day, this time along with Manasi! She was 7 then, and her high school graduation seemed like a good year to aim for!

Over the years, Ajey held on to his dream – and somewhere along the way, he decided that this would be even more fun as a family trip! Now he has talked me into quite a few crazy things over the years – white water rafting and swimming with turtles the most recent examples – but I was dead set against this EBC adventure. I mean, come on, me? – on a 14 day trek? The cold, sleeping rough, no running water, no hot showers – did I mention the cold? – yeah, no, not happening! I kept pushing it as a Daddy-Daughter experience, and I resisted, oh, how I resisted! But Ajey is nothing if not patiently persistent and he kept chipping away, until finally, against my better judgment, I agreed that, yes, we should all go on this trek together. Yikes! I’m going to Everest Base Camp!!

Things moved quickly once Manasi started Senior year of high school – we had a guide picked (thanks to my cousin, GB), itinerary was decided, flights were booked, and most importantly, we started our gym membership at Planet Fitness, to get somewhat in shape for the literal mountain(s) to be climbed!! Ajey’s excitement was contagious – and even with all my misgivings, I was swept along! Bags packed, we were all set to leave right after Manasi’s graduation – when an unexpected family emergency meant that our plans had to be put on hold. But we had come too far to completely cancel – so undeterred, we rescheduled for 2024 – this time keeping a low profile as our departure date approached. To be honest, this postponement really worked for the best! The additional year gave all of us – especially me – much needed time to really prepare, both mentally and physically!!

Our flight to Kathmandu – Turkish Airlines for the first time! – was quite comfortable, really impressed by our short layover in Istanbul Airport, by the way!! We were met at the airport by our guide, Ganesh Karki, and then to our hotel in the heart of Kathmandu’s touristy district, Thamel – Hotel Access Nepal. It was a pretty basic hotel – Ajey joked that it was a good way to start our acclimatization for the lodgings that were to be expected once our trek got under way! Main thing for the our day in Kathmandu was a visit to the Pashupatinath Temple and shopping for a few more things on our list. Ganesh brought us the 2 duffel bags that our porter would carry for the duration of our hike – Manasi and I shared one bag, and Ajey had all our snacks, medical supplies – we had a veritable pharmacy with us! We each had a backpack as well, that would have our daily things – extra layers, water, sunblock etc. 25kgs between the 3 of us is not a lot – to put into perspective, on most international trips, we were allowed 2 bags of 23kgs each – and we routinely traveled with at least 4 bags! So, yeah, was challenging to strip down to the very basics that could be carried!

Early start next morning, and we were back at Kathmandu airport – easily the most risky, stressful leg out our journey – the flight to Lukla airport. For starters, it’s never certain if the flights would go on a particular day – high winds, clouds, rain, poor visibility are very common, and enough to ground the flights! And then once, the flight does take off – Lukla airport has the dubious honor of being named as the most dangerous airport in the world – yeah, that’s doing wonders for my nerves! We were lucky, we were able to get boarding passes for the 3rd flight of the day. We made our way across the tarmac towards the Sita Air plane – a 12 seater turbo prop – for practical purposes, it looked like one of those toy planes with a remote controller – tiny, tiny, tiny!! It seems nothing short of miraculous that this aircraft can actually make a journey with passengers and cargo!! The short flight was surprisingly smooth, and there we were – Lukla, ready to start our trek!!

Our first breakfast at a teahouse – being the first day, it seemed really exotic! In high spirits, we set off through Lukla village, a panoramic view of snow-capped mountains gleaming in the background! Lukla, truly known as the ‘Gateway to Everest’ – is geared to all the trekkers and climbers who start their quest here. Teahouses, souvenir stores, all kinds of hiking gear, and cafes and restaurants which looked very tempting!! Past the village was the first checkpoint to get passes to enter Sagarmatha National Park – another detail that our guide handled for us. Then it was almost 3 hours of walking – straight downhill – why, oh why are we going downhill!! We descended almost 300m from Lukla’s 2850m to 2500m – before the trail turned upward again! The trail was quite rocky all the way, so we were walking quite carefully – don’t want a twisted ankle on the first day!!

The trail was lined with several Buddhist stupas and prayer stones – following the local custom, we took care to pass these in a clockwise way, keep them on your right as you walk by. First sightings of shaggy yaks and mule trains as well – quickly learned to flatten ourself on the inner side of the trail as these dunkis passed – laden with huge loads, the beasts stop for no man (or woman)! Just before we stopped for lunch at Phakding, was the first suspension bridge across the river Dudhkoshi. I don’t have the greatest head for heights, and while I appreciate the necessity for and the engineering behind these bridges, it is hands-down one of the scariest experiences ever on the trek! The only way to get across for me was to have either Manasi or Ajey walk ahead of me, while I focussed on their back, with not a single glance into the depths below!! Crossing the bridge literally turned my legs to jelly, had to take a moment to catch my breath and wait for land legs to return!!

Lunch was Thupka – a Tibetan noodle soup dish, and after a short rest, we were back on the trail. An hour and a 2nd suspension bridge later, we were at our first stop, Tok Tok, at 2768m – the Himalayan Lodge right on the banks of the Dudhkoshi river. Surprise of the day – our rooms had attached toilets!!! After having mentally prepared and braced for the communal toilets and sinks in the teahouses – this indeed was a wonderful surprise. The room was pretty basic – 2 single beds, one nightstand, couple of hooks for clothes. Although there was running water – flush toilets, yay! – no hot water, so no shower! It had been an easy first day – about 6 hours – mostly all downhill. No aches or pains – so a good day for all! First Nepali dinner – first taste of Dal-Bhaat power – and we were ready for bed! The background roar of the Dudhkoshi was very soothing, and the beds comfortable and warm!!

The morning was cold, so we bundled up before we started the day’s trek – but got warm pretty quickly!! Gorgeous view of the Thamsherku peak towering over the Dudhkoshi valley greeted us as we set off from the lodge! Once again, we passed several stupas and prayer stones – and yet another suspension bridge – not the last for the day, alas!! The trail to Namche Bazar criss-crosses the Dudhkoshi valley, so there were several more to come, including the famous Hilary Bridge! Couple of hours later we were at Monjo – a military checkpoint as we officially entered the Sagarmatha National Park! Our bags were checked, the main concern seemed to be regarding drones – and since we didn’t have any, we were waved through pretty quickly! Another steep descent, and a suspension bridge before we stopped for an excellent lunch of momos and fried rice at Jhorsalle.

While at lunch, the weather made a sudden change – clouds rolling in, and started raining! Since we were at the teahouse, we were able to get out our rain gear and covers for the backpacks – lucky the rain didn’t catch us on the trail, would have been quite the scramble!! It rained on and off all afternoon, for the 4 hours it took us to reach Namche. The teahouses and other signs of civilization abruptly disappeared, and we climbed through a forest of pine – with just one ‘rest area’ about halfway there. It pretty much was a hose to fill up water bottles – if you were brave enough! – and a couple of really filthy toilets – hard pass there! We did miss the first Everest viewpoint due to the clouds – but plenty more of that to come! The high point (literally) of the afternoon hike was the Hillary bridge – at 135m, Nepal’s highest suspension bridge. There is a long climb up to the bridge, and it is quite daunting to see it all the way up there! Curiously, there is a second bridge right below it – this is the old bridge, which is now used for Bungee-jumping! Seriously, is this trek not adventure enough?!!

We had to wait for a yak dunki to come through before we crossed – can’t imagine how terrified those poor animals must be – I know my heart was in my mouth for the whole time!! Ajey took couple of videos, one while we were waiting – and then the second one crossing the bridge – would definitely not recommend this at all!! I’m glad he was behind me, and I couldn’t see him – would have freaked me out for sure!! The videos are great, though – will bring you straight there!!

With the Hillary Bridge safely behind us, we were ready for a last push to Namche! At around 4:30pm, we turned a corner on the trail – and seemingly appearing out of nowhere, was this huge village! I mean, literally 4-5 hours of nothing but forest, and then this!! It was an incredible sight – nestled in the hills, this capital of the Everest region, Namche Bazar!! No flat streets here, the entire village is on a slope – and we had another 20 minutes climb before we reached our lodge, Hotel Tibet – where we had 1 room with an attached toilet on the ground floor, and a second room on the first floor. With the rain, it was quite cold by the time we reached the hotel – put on our winter jackets to go to the dining room for dinner! With the heater turned on, the dining room was soon comfortably warm and we lingered there after dinner – Dal-Bhaat again!! The room was pretty cold too – but they had provided several blankets, so wasn’t too bad. So far, so good – Namche at 3448m!

Day 3 was listed as ‘Rest Day’ in Namche – although not in the truest sense of the word ‘rest’! This meant that we were to stay another day in Namche, with an acclimatization hike to get used to the elevation. We had been taking Diamox since Kathmandu, and so far, none of us showing any adverse reactions to the altitude. We were to climb about 400m or so, and back – so didn’t need a super early start. First headed to the Everest museum and viewpoint – as we climbed higher, with the sun shining – had gorgeous views of Namche! At the Everest viewpoint, Thamsherku and Kusum Kangru peaks were visible, but Everest still refused to bestow a glimpse – sunny day but with a cloud cover obscuring the view! The museum was interesting – with a whole section dedicated to Tenzing Norway – his statue has a place of pride, and on a clear day, this would be the best photo-op – Tenzing Norway, with the Everest peak right behind him!

Here’s Ajey’s video with a 360 degree view at the Everest viewpoint:

To complete our acclimatization, we then headed up another slope – hoping the clouds would clear by the time we reached this second Everest viewpoint. On the way up, we were overlooking a school yard with children playing, and at what must have been the start of the day, they all assembled to sing a rousing version of the Nepalese anthem – what a great start to the day! Up at the Panorama Cafe in Syangboche, still no Everest – but was bliss to sit in the sun with a cup of coffee!! We had some fun recording a birthday message for our friend, SH – wishes straight from the Himalayas!! We headed down to Namche, with the fierce sun beating down – inspiring Ajey to wash some clothes – only for the weather to turn again! Luckily, his clothes were mostly dry by then!! We spent the evening in Namche, everything definitiely more expensive than Kathmandu already, with bargaining needed everywhere! Early night again, with a dinner of – yes, Dal-Bhaat! – big day coming up tomorrow!!

So, obviously, I’m not going to cover a 12 day hike in a single post! Next one coming soon – stay with me as we head onwards and upwards to Tengboche!