At the base of the highest peak
Travel date - 30th April, 2016
I woke up with goosebumps so excited to see Mount Everest that I was the first one to check out of the hotel and wait inside the bus. I was carrying my warmest coat with me as the guide had asked us to while waiting impatiently for the rest of the crew. It was then that the driver came in to remind me about breakfast. For the first time in my life, I forgot all about food.
I hurried to the hotel restaurant and found everyone enjoying their breakfast leisurely which for some reason got me annoyed. I gobbled up some boiled eggs n dumplings and rushed back to the bus. I guess I nudged them telepathically to hurry up since they started boarding the bus one by one. Mission accomplished!
We prepared for a long and tough ride ahead as our guide told us that we would be passing Tsola Pass(4600M), and Gyatsola Pass(5248M) and also stop at Gawula Pass(5198m) to enjoy the panorama of the Himalayas. With the elevation gradually increasing, we would have to acclimatise quickly. I was already getting into deep breathing mode while enjoying the view from the bus.
Yeah the spots are getting worse but whatever.
We got off at Gawula Pass to enjoy the view but ended up holding onto our coats and each other for life from blowing away with the heavy winds. We couldn't really appreciate the view at such harsh weather conditions so we scurried back into the bus and headed on towards Mount Everest Base Camp. We had a bit of giggle in the bus at our small adventure/escape from death by mountain winds.
Past few days of constantly looking at vast landscapes had got me quite used to it that now I could just stare at them with a still mind instead of getting awestruck or into thinking mode. While I was meditating with my eyes open for almost an hour, the bus suddenly stopped in front of a rundown tiny monastery. There were some yaks on the road that were posing for us with pleasure or that’s what I felt.
First snow sighting.
Few more hours of ride from this place and we reached the Mount Everest Base Camp. It was a clear evening so we could see the peak clearly with the sun rays shining on it as it stood there magestically. Needless to say, we were all overjoyed and people got into their selfie stick mode while I began fidgeting with the spotty lenses of my camera. After a few failed attempts at getting a good shot, I gave up and just stood there looking, breathing in and absorbing the surroundings.
There were few colourful, numbered tents setup. As I walked into one of them, I was taken aback by the spaciousness and warmth inside. There were few cots setup strategically for guests in such a way that it didn’t look too crowded. There was a kitchen at the back section and a big heater in the middle of the tent. Our group was split into two to share two tents. Famished from the long ride, we immediately hogged on noodle soup made in the tent’s kitchen. This was the most delicious meal I had on the entire trip. Who could have imagined that food would be so good in such a harsh secluded place miles away from any food market.
That’s the best I could capture with my spotty lens.
We spent rest of the evening until sunset walking around the camp for few minutes. We thought of getting closer to Mount Everest but decided it’s best if we did it next morning at sunrise. With the elevation at the camp being 5200m, I was out of breath after just 15mins of exploring. I decided to call it a day and headed back inside the tent and dozed off.
After an hour, I woke up with a headache unable to breath properly. The tent had small oxygen tanks for people suffering from Altitude Sickness. Few minutes of taking oxygen from the tank helped me feel better. With the headache gone, I made another attempt to sleep, covering my head with a blanket and ignoring the people gathered inside the tent for socialising.
I woke up again around 3am feeling chilly. It took me a while to realise that there was heavy storm outside and some of of the cold wind was entering the tent through the stitches on the wall behind me. It was dark and I could hear people snoring inside the tent. Some were even sleeping on the floor.
I got off the cot gingerly and made my way to the blanket stack with the phone screen light and got myself two more blankets. No wind or altitude could ruin my sleep. But people could. I woke up again at 6am to some commotion inside and outside the tent. People were making a line to go outside. I thought it was their nature’s call and they decided to do it together in a line.
But then I noticed snow at the tent door. I jumped off the cot, wrapped myself with the blanket and ran out to find milky white snow all around me. Some people were throwing snowballs at each other. The colourful tents were all covered in snow and even the Mount Everest peak could not be seen anymore. It wasn’t heavy winds that woke me up at night but the heavy snowfall. Our guide informed us that the road conditions were really bad to walk to Mount Everest.
It was a pleasant disappointment because it was a unique experience to be so close to the magestic mountain and see everything around us covered in so much snow that we could barely make out the difference between the sky and the mountain. I think words cannot describe what we saw that morning so here’s a glimpse of the Mount Everest under the snow. Au revoir!
