Trekking in Nepal and the Lessons it Taught us!

Mount Everest to the Left

Challenges are a natural course of life. And at times, life feels like we are constantly climbing mountains. Well, recently we really did climb a mountain up to 15,500 feet and got very close to the iconic rock at the Everest Base Camp (EBC) in the Himalayan Mountain Range. We had the good fortune of clear skies the first week of our EBC trek as we attempted to reach the rock located at 17,500 feet, but nature had its final say when we got blasted with one meter of snow within 10 miles and with 2000 feet climb remaining forcing us to turn back. Although we did not get to touch the iconic rock, we did the trek that tested us physically and mentally while teaching us powerful lessons.

 Ambitiously or foolishly, we had planned the trek to the Everest Base Camp in November 2024. We diligently started exercising to build cardio, muscle strength, flexibility, and the hiking muscle by going up and down the Mission Peak in Fremont with a 5 kg pack on our backs. All was going well with our readiness until six weeks before our departure in October 2025 when the shoelace loop from my (Kiran) left boot decided to catch the hook on the adjacent boot faceplanting me as we were coming down the Mission Peak. There were no broken bones but my right knee, the shoulder and connecting muscles were badly injured. Our well-timed plan for physical fitness got upended just like that teaching me once again that anything can happen at any time to anyone. By this time, it was too late to break into new hiking boots; instead, I learnt to improvise by tucking the loops a certain way or using gators to cover the laces and the hooks on the shoes. My knee healed in a few weeks, but we started the trek with the painful shoulder anyways since we had come way too far in this journey to not do it.

 We used Turkish Airlines from San Francisco to Istanbul followed by flight to Kathmandu, Nepal. As we were flying to Kathmandu, the plane flew over India and Pakistan. At one point as I peeked down, I could see these jig-jig bright lights over the Punjab state separating the two countries. This was the border between the city of Amritsar in India and Lahore in Pakistan. This sighting made me emotional because my ancestors lived on both sides of the dividing line before the independence from the British Raj in 1947. In addition, so many wars have been fought over the line of control between these two countries with many lives lost since their separation which all seemed heart wrenching at this point.

 We reached Kathmandu on Diwali day on October 20 and found the Tribhuvan International airport located within the congested city limits surrounded by the Himalayan foothills and colorful houses.  Because of Diwali, the city was bustling with women dressed up in beautiful red and gold-colored clothes along with huge red and white dots on their foreheads; shops were decorated with marigold flowers, and people were milling around everywhere. For this festival of lights, Nepalese had lit plenty of lamps, but they were no fireworks as it is the case in India. To make sure that we did not miss out on the full-on Diwali experience, the electric transformer outside our hotel blew up with a loud bang and flying sparks while we were waiting in the lobby for our room key – imagine our panic at making us run to the source while the locals around us stayed calm.

 We found Kathmandu to be chaotic yet vibrant with not much trash strewn around. There were a lot of honking noises from motor vehicles including scooters, motorcycles, and rickshaws driving on narrow roads.  While there, we visited some Hindu and Buddhist temples built centuries ago and are on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list. There was such an amalgamation of Shiva, Ganseha, and Buddha that it was hard to tell if the country followed Hinduism or Buddhism.

 At the Pashupatinath Temple (another UNESCO World Heritage site), a sacred Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Shiva (Hindu God), on the banks of the Bagmati River, I saw for the first time in my life funeral pyres burning. I could not help but think that these bodies could feel the heat a few hours ago but now they were being burnt on a full-blown fire; so, what left! The mystery of death unsettled me for a few days.

We soaked in the beauty of these places while observing how the rituals were being performed which did not seem much different compared to what one might see in India. We expected to come across beggars at these sites and there really weren’t many. In addition to the tourists, there were plenty of locals visiting or selling all sorts of goods at these sites.

 As we immersed ourselves in the local culture for a couple of days, we learnt that Nepal, in fact, is a poor country with population of about 30 million people with majority living in Kathmandu and the surrounding areas. Tourism is the biggest source of employment where generous gratuity is expected everywhere. The use of computers was minimal throughout our trip as most recordkeeping was being done on ledgers. Women and girls seemed to have freedoms and safety from what we could tell.

 As you may have heard in the news that there were political riots in Kathmandu in September 2025 over corruption in the government. Although we did not see police in riot gear in the tourist area where we were staying, we saw plenty of them ready to jump into action in the city center.

 As we walked around Kathmandu, we saw old buildings ornated with beautiful woodwork. The shops were selling ornate brass items which we wish we could bring back. The rickshaws were decorated with flowers. Near temples, we saw stray dogs with marigold garlands put around their necks and red tikkas on their foreheads (symbols of devotion). These dogs, in general, did not look as emaciated as one may see in other Asian cities because they were being fed the bread and eggs which were left behind on the tourists’ breakfast plates. The locals were also feeding them along with flocks of pigeons and monkeys.

 There was an army of street vendors selling food, but we stuck with a couple of restaurants which were suggested to us by the local travel agency; we could see the kitchen at one of these restaurants that had a huge window, and it appeared to be at par with restaurant kitchens in developed countries. We also stayed away from eating raw food or drinking tap water to avoid stomach illnesses. We stuck with the vegetarian options as meat dishes could be a cause of food poisoning. 

 A day before we were to leave for Lukla where the EBC trek starts, the travel agent handed us a bag in which we could pack 10 kgs of supplies each. Our porter was to carry these two bags for us on the trek while we carried 5 kgs in our day packs. If one decided to take everything on the trek that Youtubers suggest for the trek, the porter bag would be no less than 20 Kgs each. We were judicious in what we took and still did not use everything.

 After two days in Kathmandu at about 4800 feet of elevation, we flew to Lukla (9.383 feet elevation) on a 15-seater flight where two flight crew members and the passengers were separated by a curtain with luggage visibly piled up behind us; a stewardess did read us the safety directions in case of an emergency. The flight was about 30 mins long over the Himalayas where we got our first glimpse of these massive giants. There are no direct roads between Kathmandu and Lukla.

 Landing at the Lukla airport was eventful due to its location on the side of a mountain and a very short runway slanted upwards to slow-down the plane. The flight crew also had to clear a few mountain ranges quickly to avoid hitting into them. Lukla is beautiful with 3-4 streets next to the airport strip. The town’s economy is totally tied to the aviation traffic tied to the trekkers. Although this constant traffic created noise which would otherwise be a peaceful place, Lukla would not exist without these planes.

 Our guide (27 years old) and porter (34 years old) greeted us at the airport and took us to the teahouse next to the strip for a quick breakfast. They told us that they were uncle and nephew and their houses were two hours walk from the airport. Their little village had only elementary school, and the children walked back and forth to Lukla to attend high school every day. These two were the soul earners for their extended families. The guide’s English was good while the porter struggled a bit but he did try to communicate.

 We also learnt that boys around the age of 14 start out as porters carrying small loads up and down the mountains. Many do this job for next 20-25 years of their lives; others who can manage to have a couple of thousand dollars to Kathmandu guide school during the off season move on to a better future. Although our guide was well dressed in proper trekking footwear while the porter was wearing sneakers. We noticed that some Nepalese guides were also fluent in languages such as German, Korean, and Japanese, and were guiding large groups talking in the trekkers’ languages. Having such skills made the guides earn more money.

 After a quick breakfast in Lukla, we started our trek excitedly. As we headed out, we saw shiny statues of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay who are considered to be the first climbers to the top of Mount Everest in May, 1953. On the first day of the trek, we made our way down to the Sherpa village of Phakding (8,563 feet). The trail ran along Dudh Koshi river passing over the first suspension bridge. We got our first glimpse on foot of the Himalayan peaks such as Kusum Kangaru and Kongde Ri. There was lush forest of rhododendron that accompanied us. We passed many Sherpa villages which were tiny with barely 10-15 families living there, many stupas, and prayer walls. As we started the trek, we realized that this trail was nothing like the dirt and the properly graded trails of California. Instead, this entire trek was a giant stair master with uneven steps strewn with glacier rocks and boulders reaching the sky. As we descended from Lukla to Phakding, we could not help thinking that we will be climbing up these uneven massive stairs on our way back!

 The path had many trekkers, guides, porters, and locals carrying 30-40 kgs on their backs or heads, along with mules and jhopke (hybrid between a cow and a yak) plus their droppings. What was noticeable along the way due to Diwali holidays was children and adults singing and imploring trekkers and local businesses to give them money “in the name of God” while holding a plate with marigold flowers, an oil lamp, and rice.  As we reached towards our teahouse, we had been cleaned of whatever Nepalese rupees we had easily available, but we came across a child who started crying when we told him that we did not have anything left to give him. He told us with tears and nose flowing that he needed the money – this was heart wrenching. We could have pulled out the American currency, but we didn’t have easy access to it. So, we kept walking, but his crying face still haunts us. We were hopeful that we would see him on our way back but that did not happen.

 The village of Phakding had one street with teahouses on each side with a small population of Sherpa families. It was a scenic and quiet village. Our room at the teahouse was sparse with a couple of twin beds, a small bathroom with no hot water, soap, toilet paper, or towels (basics that we expect so freely when we travel). The room was separated from other dwellings by thin plywood walls with very little sound or weather proofing. There was no central heating in the teahouse either. For a few hours at breakfast and dinner, the teahouses burnt animal dung patties in the central stove located in the common dining areas, and that was the only source of heat on the trek. These were common themes at all the teahouses throughout the trek. Majority of the teahouses were run by hardworking women who were supported by their families.

 Our Nepalese meal of rice and lentils with a side of spinach or cabbage, garlic soup, and honey/ginger/tea for immunity, became staple for the rest of the trek with eggs or oatmeal for breakfast. We had taken nuts and whey protein bars to supplement the diet which were handy; however, we were told that at higher elevation the milk-based protein bars would not be digestible.  At the first teahouse, we made friends with a young German couple who became our companions throughout the trek. Solo young women on the trek seemed attracted to us for companionship as we continued the trek. Majority of the trekkers we encountered were in fact in their twenties and thirties with some in our age group. Given the short lifespan of 50-60 in Nepal, we, in our sixties, must have looked quite aged to our young guide and the porter. During the first leg, he also inquired a couple of times if we were ok; we firmly told him that we were here to go as far as the weather and our health allowed us with the goal of touching the iconic rock at the base camp. He caught on quickly and dropped such questioning.

 Next day, we started the trek from Phakding to Namche Bazaar situated at 11,286 feet. This was a picturesque town.

 Along the way, Dudh Koshi river, suspension bridges decorated with colorful prayer flags, forests, and Sherpa Villages were our companion. One of the most anticipated site while heading to Namche was officially entering the Sagarmatha National Park, gateway to Mt. Everest, through a checkpoint and an ornate entrance gate that was in every YouTube video we had seen before our departure.

 On this leg of the trek, we crossed five suspension bridges; it took a bit of practice to walk stably on them – the feet spread out wider with knees bent. These bridges had metal wire siding, and we had to fight the inclination to grab it for stability because of the rusted and sharp metal pieces poking out. These bridges were beautifully adorned with prayer flags of different colors. Another interesting part of walking on the bridges was when we started hearing the animal bells right behind us – since there was no place to move to let the lumbering animals pass us, our speed increased many fold to outwalk them to reach to the other end of the bridge.

 On the entire trail, we were accompanied by mules and jhopke at lower elevations and yaks at the higher elevations – the instructions were to listen to their bells and move to the mountain side of the trail in case we were pushed over as they passed us with massive loads. At one time, low bushes were the only option where we could go, and suddenly, a yak decided to take a run at me. I started screaming and likely stunned the animal and he stopped a foot away from my face – this became a joke by the fellow trekkers the rest of the way on how much that yak loved me. While at the topic of the yaks, while hiking back to Lukla, we could hear someone playing a flute in a beautiful melody. We could not see anyone until we looked up on the side of the mountain – a yak herder was playing this beautiful music while collecting his herd that had been left there for grazing. The herder and the yaks were high up. I loved the entire scene.

 While on our way to Namche, we stopped at a teahouse for lunch which was perhaps the most beautiful spot that I have seen on the planet – as we ate, a waterfall was gushing down a colossal mountain into Dudh Koshi river while we were surrounded by small fields growing spinach, garlic, and cabbage. It was just divine.

 This leg of the trek had many switch backs and then straight up climb while Thamserku peak kept us company. We kept pace with majority of the climbers (25-27 mins a km),  but there were some young men who were almost running. It was amusing to hear some young porters commenting on them in Nepalese, “Here goes the playboy!” 

 Now a bit about the porters and guides– As I wrote above, boys around the age of 14 start carrying small loads up and down the mountain, and by the age of 40 or so, they are done. They make little money but they may be the only sole earners for their families. We did not see them in proper hiking gear which is unaffordable for many of them; often, they had slippers or cheap runners on as they ran up and down the mountains. We saw them travelling in groups joking and laughing, often playing the local music loudly which was like the Bollywood music. It was generally the young ones of them who were more inclined to be making fun of the trekkers and partying on the trail, but it was all in good humor. Many porters do not learn to speak English as their interaction with the trekkers is minimal. At the teahouse, they have their own communal quarters to sleep away from other rooms. Our guide told us that the porters got treated just above the animals as many of them slept on the floor in a dormitory style with just a blanket to keep them warm – this was saddening. Many guides also start out as porters; the ones who learn English and take a month-long course in Kathmandu at the steep cost of two thousand dollars move on to better lives.

 A guide’s life is better than that of a porter, but it is still difficult as they go up and down the mountain with new clients every two weeks six months a year. Many guides and porters get this UV baked look on their faces which makes them look grey. They are compensated by the travel agency, but they rely heavily on generous tips from their clients. These people are literally on their clients’ beck and call 24 hours a day. They become busboys and servers at the teahouses for all three meals as they take the orders, serve the food, and take away the dishes. They eat only after their clients have eaten. So, if you are to do this trek, be generous with tipping both your guide and porter as they work very hard – a few hundred dollars or more each would not be out of line.

 On one of our legs back to Lukla, we forgot an urgent medicine at the previous teahouse. It was night when we realized it. We contacted the guide who responded that he would see what he could do. The next morning, we learnt that the porter and his friend had run up the mountain starting at 2:30 am in massive rainstorm using small flashlights and had run down with the medicine in six-hours. On top, the porter and his friend had a full day of work ahead. What an act of compassion! When we met them, they did not ask for anything, but we made sure we compensated them handsomely in addition to leaving our LED powered headlights behind for them.

 Now, back to Namche Bazaar:

 We hiked for several hours and the trek opened up to Namche Bazaar with the grand entrance door ornated with Buddha murals to the village; there were many colorful buildings perched on the side of the mountains. There were nicely built stairs in the town that connected this V-shaped place perched on the side of the mountain. On one side of the mountain was man-made water stream that ran down the slope while spinning giant prayer wheels, and the other side had small stores, restaurants, bakeries, and pharmacies where one could buy anything without prescription including codeine (!). The town was vibrant; due to Diwali holidays, the locals were busy gambling for fun on the main street. Our guide told us that the police could arrest them for gambling type of activities, but no one seemed worried about it as they were really enjoying themselves while squatted on the street floor. The children were happily playing basketball next to our teahouse in t-shirts while we were bundled up as the sun set down. The local women were doing circumambulation while spinning prayer wheels and going around a stupa next to our teahouse. The town also had a beautiful statue of a highly revered first female Everest climber named Pemba Doma Sherpa who climbed the North face of Everest in April 1993.  She tragically died at the age of 37 in May 2007, when she fell from an elevation of 24000 feet while descending Lhotse, the world's fourth-highest mountain. For her remarkable achievements, she was posthumously awarded the "Nepal Tara (Star)," the country's highest honor.

 The next morning when we woke up in Namche, there was sunlight illuminating the snow on the mountains across from our window. We enjoyed its beauty from the window as we were too cold to step out; as the day proceeded when we came out, the mountain was covered by the clouds.

 This day at Namche was our first acclimatization day. This was not a rest day; instead, we hiked up to 12,800 feet from 11,200 feet elevation to the Everest View Hotel and descended back down to Namche to sleep. On the way, we visited Tenzing Memorial Park in the memory of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. It was a clean site with his statue; it also had the artifacts from Sherpa life which were informative. The view of Mt. Themaserku looking back towards Phakding was spectacular from this spot. On the way to the Everest View Hotel, we got up close and personal with Mt. Everest, Lohtse, Nuptse, and Ama Dablam. When these mountains came into the view for the first time, we were just awe-struck. After gawking at these beauties and taking some photos at this spot, we happily hopped along, had some tea at the hotel with full view of Mt. Everest, and then descended to our teahouse.

 The Everest View Hotel caters to clientele who want to fly directly instead of trekking to its helicopter strip. While we were there, we saw many helicopters going back and forth constantly bringing in supplies along with the patrons.

 In the Khumbu region of Nepal, Namche Bazaar, in fact, holds a special spot as it is the main trading hub and administrative center and is the "Gateway to Everest". It was an impressive stop. And this is where we had our last warm shower.

 If we go back to this region again, we plan to hike to Namche Bazaar from Lukla, stay there for a few weeks and do daily hikes from there.

 After two nights in Namche, it was time to move to Tengboche located at 12,687 feet. On the way to Tengboche, we passed through several Sherpa villages, beautiful forests, and observed the confluence of Dudh Koshi river with Imja Kohla river which originates from Imja glacier draining down Mount Everest. This leg of the trek was the hardest day as it involved descent to the Dudh Koshi river followed by steep and tiring climb of 2000 feet to the Tengboche. Along the way and from Tengboche, there were stunning, expansive views of surrounding Himalayan giants like Everest, Ama Dablam, and Lhotse. While climbing to Tengboche, we got gorgeous views of the Tengboche monastery which is on the UNESCO World Heritage sites list. We were anxious to get into Tengboche in time to listen to the monks’ chanting at the monastery; unfortunately, we missed it because the chanting time got moved up as the monks were getting ready for the famous annual festival called Mani Rimdu festival.

 The Tengboche monastery was founded in 1916 and holds a special place as the oldest monastery at such heights. It has been rebuilt twice after being destroyed by an earthquake in 1934 and a fire in 1989, with assistance from global organizations. This monastery serves as a vital cultural and spiritual hub for the Sherpa community at high elevations. Although we missed the chanting, we had the good fortune of watching the senior monks at work and young boys training for monkhood in addition to witnessing the golden Buddha statue, beautiful artwork, and old books inside the monastery.

 The altitude sickness was becoming visible in the fellow travelers now as we noticed some of them crying due to low oxygen levels and the possibility of having to stop their trek to descend down. We found ourselves consoling some of them. Some had plans to go even further than EBC including Gokyo Lake and the three passes called Kongma La and other passes, where the Everest views were even more spectacular compared to what we had witnessed. These locations take one to around 19000 feet in another additional week; there are no real trails to get there. These are the first places to get closed during a snowstorm.

 My husband and I were grateful that we were feeling fine so far with the help of Diamox which itself was not a guarantee that we would not be affected by altitude sickness. Our oxygen levels had come down to 88% by this time but some were experiencing these to be in 70s along with headache, loss of appetite, and nausea which was a dangerous situation.

 The following day, we woke up early and headed off to Dingboche located at 14,469 feet. The trail had descents and climbs which were steep as it ran next to the Imja Kohla river. Although initially the landscape was forested, it soon became rocky and desolate as we reached above the tree line. The mountain, Ama Dablam, was prominent throughout this path. The Sherpa villages along the way including Panboche were where we saw the trekkers separating and heading to climb Ama Dablam. A day before we passed this, a young Korean hiker had fallen and died at Ama Dablam whose body was transferred to Kathmandu that we had the misfortune of seeing.

 We reached the teahouse in Dingboche and found our room window opening to a yak pen. When we got there, only baby yaks were in the pen but as the evening descended, the adult yaks came back from their feeding grounds. It was already -15 deg C, both inside and outside the teahouse by nighttime. As much as we wanted to stare at the yaks through the window, the thin curtain was protecting us from the massively cold draft coming in through the window frame.

 We dressed up in multi-layers inside the sleeping bag rated to -20 deg C with an additional blanket on top. To warm ourselves up some more, we filled up our Nalgene water bottles with boiling water and stuck them inside our sleeping bags. We woke up the next morning and looked outside to see the yaks. Here was the surprise as the yaks were buried in a mountain of snow that had fallen overnight. Since this was an acclimatization day, we still decided to hike up to 15,500 feet and came back down to sleep. We wondered around the village street afterwards and had the misfortune of observing two people being rescued by a helicopter. We also became aware of a trekker who had pulled her groin muscle while trekking and could not take another step further; she also was rescued by the helicopter and flown to Namche for treatment. The snow continued to fall that day covering the trails with 3 feet of snow by next morning.

 The next morning came the worst news that the trek to Lobuche had more than 3 feet of snow and the trails reaching to EBC had been closed. A rescue helicopter had crashed nearby due to bad weather; avalanches throughout the mountains in Nepal were underway, and the trekkers had been trapped; all helicopters and planes in Nepal had been grounded.  The forecast showed that the bad weather due to a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal was going to continue for at least 4 more days. This is where the global warming was clearly visible as it was not the cyclone season anymore. We had 10 miles and 2000 feet to our destination. But nature had the final say.  The guide decided that it was time to return to Lukla since there was nothing else left to do.

 We started the descent to Tengboche trekking through snow. The weather was poor with low visibility. Every step became even more hazardous requiring utmost attention. We kept at it and reached Tengboche after 8 hours which should have taken 4-6 hours. The next day, we were off to Namche and the snow turned into torrential monsoon rain during this leg.  A stray dog decided to run next to us as we made our way to Namche. He did not beg for food or our attention but just ran slowly next to us as he was guiding us. Then he decided to part ways. In the heavy rains, our waterproof attire was no match as we were utterly drenched by the time we got to our teahouse.

 The positive side of this bad weather was that the trail was mostly empty when we descended as no new trekkers could start their hikes from Lukla as all flights to Lukla from Kathmandu had been grounded. Many trekkers who were at higher elevations were also stranded waiting for the trails to open. Once we reached Lukla, we got placed into a room which was utterly stinking of sweat. At least we had a roof over our head. There were no flights coming in or out of Lukla due to the bad weather and the town was totally quiet. During this wait, we watched clouds and fog roll in and out of the mountains. The scenery was surreal as majority of us huddled in the common dining hall awaiting word on when we could depart for Kathmandu. Some of us were reading books, some were playing cards, and some huddled in the corners coughing their lungs out due to the Khumbhu cough. Many people were on their cell phones trying to figure out how to get to Kathmandu to make to their international flight connections – there was panic for many as they had to get to their families and jobs. Many even explored hiking to Kathmandu 90 mi away without any direct trails or roads, but their guides shut those ideas down quickly due to dangers of landslides.

 After two days of being stuck in Lukla, we were able to get out from Lukla to Ramechhap 40 mi away by a helicopter as the commercial flights were backed up by several days. After reaching Ramechaap,  there was a 6-hour drive to cover the distance of 80 mi to Kathmandu on washed-out roads. Our little bus came down the mountain to the Shiv Koshi riverbanks and then back up as it puttered along with the help of a skillful driver. As we were driving along, a motorcycle with the driver and a passenger wiped out right in front of us as the roads were full of rocks. Luckily, our speed of 15 mi/hour made it possible for the driver to stop without hitting them. These two men did not appear to be injured; we kept moving. A few hours later, we stopped at a rest stop for lunch where the owner apologized profusely for having a limited menu due to lack of supplies related to weather conditions.

 We made it back to the city in time to catch our flight back to San Francisco. Our family and friends took a sigh of relief when they heard from us – due to poor cell phone signal, we were not in constant touch with many, but people close to us were aware of the poor weather and avalanches in which some people had died.

 By the time we reached Kathmandu, my husband had developed the Khumbu cough and I was well on my way to get a sinus infection. It took us a couple of weeks after getting back to the US to put ourselves together.

 So, what did this trip teach us?

1. We are quite insignificant compared to these mountains—yet how deeply we belong to the same nature that formed these mountains. That paradox births a powerful humility and an equally powerful strength making me think, “I am nothing, yet I am everything.”

2. Life is too short to not enjoy our beautiful planet. We can do a lot more than we think when we put our mind to it.

3. Contentment lies in the present moment with mindfulness of every breath and every step. As we were taking every step on the trek, there was a flow of life. There was no concern of which day or time it was, what our bank balance or title was, what we had or what we still wanted to possess. There was unity of breath, body, and mind which makes one see unity with all.

4. We are enough as we are without chasing more. In fact, we don’t need much to live on. We are all connected as what we do here in North America affects the climate and people everywhere and vice-versa. Be generous with those less fortunate than us. Give freely.

5. Dying while doing something we love would not be so bad – we found ourselves contemplating.

6. And finally, we have a complete contentment of what we accomplished.

   
   

What will we do differently?

1. We would hike at higher elevations such as Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado which has trails up to 14,000 feet. to condition ourselves. We will also get used to the buff and sunglasses combo while hiking before we leave. The proper use of the buff apparently prevents the Khumbu cough which we were not aware of. We first used the combo of the buff and the sunglasses on the EBC trail. When our glasses kept fogging, we stopped wearing the buff which ended up causing quite a bad cough.

2. We would not take any wax-based products (sunscreen and the moisturizer) as these were frozen most morning. We learnt to put these products in our sleeping bags at night.

3. We would take a lot more Nepalese Rupees for the children on the trail.

4. We may choose to do the trek without the guide pressuring us to move along; instead, we would really take our time in soaking the views.

   
   

Will we do it again?

Yes, without hesitation.

We have not said much about the industrious and hardworking women who ran the teahouses along the trek. These women have stories to tell. At some point, we will go back during the off season and get to know them, and write a book called “Women of the Mountain”.  

So, Dear Friends, keep going. Keep climbing. Keep showing up with intention and heart.

And one day, when you look back from your own summit, you may find yourself saying:

“I have made it.”

#EBC #EverestBaseCamp #Nepal #Kathmandu #Ihavemadeit #Flowoflife