Everest Base Camp + Kala Patthar

Summary

Dates: 17th April to 29th April 2014 (13days)

Who: Ajay, Ankit, Anoop, Cherry, Dnyanesh, Harshal, Jai, Keval, Milind, Niranjan, Rajesh, Ravi, Yash

Organised by: Yuvashakti, Pune

Route: Lukla, Phakding, Namche Bazaar, Debuche, Dingboche, Lobuche, Gorakshep -- Kala Patthar, Gorakshep -- EBC, Lobuche, Debuche, Monjo, Lukla

Distance: Looks like from Lukla to EBC its about 62Km. So about 125Km overall

Climb up: 9 days (including acclimatization)

Climb down: 4 days

Food during trek: Rs300 for one omlet, Rs200 for two slices of bread. You can imagine the rest.

It all started

In 2010, I did Saurkundi Pass organized by YHAI. During general (can't say 'hallway', should call it 'high-way') talks came to know that one should have done 3 treks in Himalayas to get qualified for EBC trek. So in 2013 started getting ready for another one Saar Pass by YHAI. Somehow could not do it. So was quite determined to do it in Apr/May 2014 so that I can do one more in Oct/Nov 2014 if possible to get ready for EBC.

In early 2014 met Amit (really want to know ? -- wife's brother's wife's sister's husband !). He has been into treks for quite some time and one of the old-timer members of Yuvashakti, Pune. He said there is no need to have done 3 treks to get qualified for EBC. Voila ! Why not go directly for EBC then ? Meanwhile Ravi (BIL) also got ready for EBC. We talked to Yuvashakti and got started. Amit was also ready for the trek. Great start! By Jan 11th 2014 we had paid the initial amount to Yuvashakti. Only three months were left and lot of preparation was to be done.

Preparation

I am not a gym or exercise guy. However, EBC was a good motivation to do something. Sluggish treadmill rounds, some walk started. Soon realized that body momentum was not same as what was in 2010. Did I make a mistake by registering to the trek? Leg pain, knee pain started. Started coming across little bit of cramps in the calves sometimes. Hmmn. EBC was still inviting enough to accept and move on. Found another way to exercise. Started climbing up and down stairs of our 15 storey building 4 times at a stretch once/twice in a week. Going from 2 to 4 times was motivating though was getting quite exhausted at the end of the climb. Just when I was getting into tempo, had to goto USA for official visit. The whole thing was disturbed for almost three weeks. Before going to USA purchased good pair of shoes for EBC and used it to break well into the shoes. Did a trek to Mission Peak there in US and first set of shoe bites made the feet tender but it was important from all perspective. Couldn't stretch much in US.

Came back to India on the weekend of 8h Mar. It was only a month left to start the trek and the preparation had gone for toss. Picked up the preparation from where I had left off and started some treadmill, walk, climbing stairs etc. It was all ad-hoc though. Intermittent visits to Thurahalli happened. Couple of visits to Skandagiri took place. Thanks to Amit ! Also had done Mullayangiri trek (highest peak in karnataka) in Jan. That gave some moral boost that probably I can make it to EBC. 2-3weeks before the trek walked home from office few times. 2hrs walk. Quite exhausting but did help a lot.

I wish the preparation was more organized :(

15th April-2014 Off to Kathmandu

Boarded flight to Mumbai on 15th April (Kaustubh's birthday. Missed it :( ). And first anxious moment popped. It was two hrs gap before flight from Mumbai to Kathmandu. Little did I realize that it was international travel and I will have to go through customs. Not needing visa does not mean no need to go through international travel formalities. The bus from domestic to international terminal was taking long and there was a long queue. After that the formalities and then the flight. After spending anxious 20-25mins, someone from the airline came asking for Kathmandu passengers to jump the queue and climb the bus. Relief ! Funnily we went to international terminal, completed formalities and were brought back to domestic terminal to fly to Kathmandu. Finally reached Kathmandu. Yuvashakti had already arranged for commute to the hotel. With my name popping up on one of the boards, finally caught hold of the taxi. The travel from airport to the hotel gave me homely feeling :). At the hotel met Anoop and then Ravi. Went around in Kathmandu in the evening.

16th April-2014 Kathmandu

Me, Ravi and Anoop booked a cab and went around Kathmandu. Temples had that old-heritage feeling. Visited Pashupatinath temple as well. Went to a sunset spot in the evening at a distance and came back to hotel. Small lanes around hotel area, the crowd, the street food etc did not make us home-sick. By then other group members had arrived in the hotel. Met Ajay, group leader, first time. Of course others first time as well but had interaction with Ajay earlier. We had a group meeting in the evening. All got introduced. Cherry was the only girl in the group. She and Harshal knew each other. Keval was the youngest. Jai, Ankit and Yash were old buddies. Ajay, Dnyanesh were buddies. Me and Ravi knew each other. Niranjan, Rajesh, Anoop were alone but gelled well quickly. Did all the packing and got ready for the start tomorrow.

17th April-2014. From Lukla (about 2880m) to Phakding (about 2640m)

Had early morning breakfast and started by about 7:45am. Yuvashakti had arranged nice local jackets. Very useful throughout. We all dumped extra luggage at Kathmandu hotel. Kept essentials like passport with us alongwith luggage/backpack and headed for Kathmandu airport. The airport is not much organized. Boarding flight to Lukla was no different from boarding a bus. No seats are allotted as its just a 15-seater. After getting tickets, get in the queue to board the bus that takes you to the aeroplane. The flights run back and forth between Kathmandu and Lukla. Its all bhagvan-bharose. Finally our plane arrived. We got off the bus and got into the airplane. Total 15 seats. We were 13, one empty seat and one for the air hostess. The flight got lifted like a feather. Soon it could be felt that it was quite light for the surrounding and the wind was playing with it. A bit of turbulence was making your stomach go upside down. The massive mountains could be seen below. We had one of the teeth-clinching rides. Had considerable turbulence. Heart sank multiple times. Finally saw Lukla in sight. Lukla is one of the world's top 10 most dangerous airports! The airstrip is hardly 400m. Touch-down was an experience in itself. We could see the airstrip from distance. One end of the airstrip was pretty much a fall into the valley. Landing was as if you are going down in the valley just making it onto the airstrip. Immediate breaks, before you blink make a right turn and get into one of the four parking slots. It means while taking off, there is a good possibility that you will go into the valley first and then come back up .... hoping the flight really rises up again !

Went to Buddha lodge that was next (literally) to the airport. The sherpa Ngwang (ड:वांग़ ) and his brother Shera were going to be with us. Shera took care of our luggage with his 3 yaks. Ngwang was hardly 20-22. We all left our important docs like passports with Larke who owned Buddha lodge, picked up our backpacks and started. Came across Yuvashakti's war-bugle like 'महारा ..ss.. ज ...' first time. Quite inspiring. I think only people from Maharashtra might understand what I am saying here. Started the trek. After 20-25mins, it started raining. Nothing surprising as I had seen this unpredictable weather in 2010. Took shelter and waited. Small hails came down and it turned chilly. glad Yuvashakti provided jackets. Very useful. Fortunately the rain stopped in 30mins or so and we move on. Came across few small restaurants and village homes. Came across few knee-weakening high-rise hanging bridges. This was a new experience as below bridge the nearest spot was a river that too almost 500m down ! Few kids that we came across were very adorable. Red chicks, healthy, free as in genuine meaning of freedom.

Reasonable trek but most of it was downhill as we started from Lukla at about 9000Ft and reached Phakding which was at about 8400Ft. Our luggage on Yak's had already reached the hotel. Relaxed for some time and went to the river nearby. Me, Ravi and Anoop. I really had a good time. Absolutely tranquil and serene surrounding filled with sound of calm river. Came back from river and had a good time with others. Everyone tired and went off to bed by 8:30-9pm.

18th April-2014. From Phakding( 2640m ) to Namche Bazar( 3440m )

Everyone got up early morning. Nice huge flasks filled with hot, fuming tea is a bliss on these treks. Started marching towards Namche Bazar. Namche bazar is said to be gateway to Everest. Now was the time to start real climb as had to go up around 800m. Initial patch was ok. Ups and downs. Came across usual hanging bridges. The trek went next to the river Dudhkoshi for quite some time. And there came a point where we could see a bridge and a huge/steep climb starting at the other end of the bridge. It was going to test the body soon. But before that few group members took a detour and vanished. Ajay was quite upset as his calls were not paid attention to. Group did split. We reached the beginning of the bridge and waited for the other members who had split. After 10-15mins they joined back but looks like had a quite strenuous walk. We then crossed the bridge and came at the base of the steep climb. Soon everyone started gasping. It was quite tiring. There was no respite for a long time. We were climbing for few hours continuously. Ravi was visibly tired but could go on. On this stretch, I could see Niranjan taking small steps and going on & on. Nice. So started taking small steps. Also aligned the breathing with steps. It was slow but steady. Almost one step for inhale and the other for exhale. Worked out well. The mantra I learnt during 2010 trek was just to move the leg, that is behind, in front and keep doing it forever :-)

With few breaks and dry fruits the climb was going on. At every turn, it felt that now the path will descend a bit. But that never happened. Till Namche Bazar it was just the climb. Finally, reached Namche. Could not believe that it was such a big town at the altitude. Climbing last few steps to reach the hotel was a nightmare. Finally reached the hotel. Most of us were sleepy. But one should not sleep immediately and retire to bed only at night. It was nice evening sunlight reaching the hotel. The hotel had kind of beach umbrellas. Everyone relaxed. Had tea, snacks etc.

To avoid sleep, we decided to go out in Namche Bazar. It was really painful to climb up/down even couple of steps. Few of the members went for leg massage. In Namche, you name it and everything was available. Keval had sprained his leg. He picked up knee cap. We went around, did some shopping and came back to hotel. Had dinner and everyone slept off .. as if we had not slept for ages.

19th April-2014. Acclimatization day 

Being acclimatization day, it was little bit relaxed. Acclimatization does not mean rest. You need to basically go around, do some climb but get back to the same altitude. The plan was to go to Everest View Hotel. It was about 1-1.5hrs climb to go there. The hotel is famous for getting glimpse of Mt Everest. We had a great time while climbing to the hotel. Everyone was relaxed. When reached the hotel, the surrounding was awesome. On one side Ama Dablam, a nice mountain range, Nuptse/Lhotse and then Mt Everest. But where was The King? Mt Everest was overshadowed by the clouds. We could see clouds flowing but were getting replaced by others keeping Mt Everest wrapped. We decided to stay back. Photo sessions, breakfast and then another round of breakfast went by. Number of visitors started growing and finally the hotel guy asked us to make room for the guests :( We waited for 3-4hours but the Mt Everest did not give in. It felt like visit to family god. Unless the god calls you and you are blessed, you wont be bestowed upon and have darshan.

Everyone disappointed. Started downhill to Namche Bazar. While coming back met a teacher who was teaching in Hillary School. Weather was in support. Climb down was nice. Reached Namche bazar. Post lunch had to somehow spend time. Otherwise would have slept. Sleeping in the afternoon is pretty much invitation to headache. First time in life learnt poker. Interesting game. All could pass nice time playing poker. Later in the evening had tough time doing currency exchange. Rs500 bills are not encouraged. Max upto Rs100 bills are accepted.

After dinner, did packing and got ready for tomorrow.

20th April-2014. From Namche Bazar( 3440m ) to Debuche(3734m )

Got ready early morning. By 6am bags were on Yaks. Everyday I was carrying binoculars with me. As Mt Everest was not showing up, just put it in the luggage given to porter. Had black tea. By 6:20am we were on the way to Tengboche. Initial path was same as what we took for Hotel Everest View yesterday. Took a detour and we were on the path that we could see from Hotel Everest View above yesterday. Beautiful trail surrounded by huge mountains. Came across few temple-like structures called Gompe. At one point the trail took a turn around the mountain and there it was. Mt Everest was standing tall right in front ! Beautiful view. Lhotse was next to it and the snow was flying off both. It could be felt why Mt Everest is respected so much. Sun was coming up and the mountains were coming to life. Mt Everest was quite far and nearby mountains were making lame attempt to make a show that they are taller. But it was only Mt Everest and Lhotse from where the snow was flying off clearly showing who is the King of the area. It was really dream come true. Mesmerizing sight and hypnotizing experience. You get completely lost and go numb.

We spent lot of time in the area enjoying Mt Everest sight. All were trying to click and store the sight in memory. It was an experience never to be forgotten and it is inexplicable. You have to be there to feel it. Ajay, me, Rajesh, Dnyanesh took lot of pictures sitting around Gompe. We could see a triangular shape on Mt Everest. It was Hillary step. The thing I most missed at that moment were my binoculars. But could see it through Rajesh's camera lens. Later read in 'Into Thin Air' book that Hillary step is a 40ft vertical climb! Near Gompe, there is a tradition of hanging triangular pieces of cloths, with a hymn on it, on a long rope. The idea is that with the wind the thoughts in the hymn are carried to long distances.

After spending lot of time, we moved on. During the trek came across a cute girl with nice red chicks. She was quite bold and allowed me to take few pictures. Don't worry :-). She was 4-5yrs old. While going ahead started a deep descend. Went on for quite some time. Legs started complaining. Came across river Dudhkoshi and a usual hanging bridge. Could sense that we have descended quite a bit and its going to make us climb a lot. Happened exactly same. After the river the climb started. Quite steep. During the climb saw a nice yak. The yaks used by Shera looked hybrid but this was very young, well built and a lot of fur on it. In all this, sun burn started. I have been quite sensitive to the sun and the T-shirt did not cover neck. Whatever you do, the sun starts frying you. By now weather was turning hot.

Finally reached Tengboche. The monastery there is popular. Went there. Getting shoes off felt nice. Kangtega peak was accompanying so far. Could see it at leisure at Tengboche. There was a helipad and could see helicopters landing and taking off. Meanwhile, Ngwang came back saying all hotels in Tengboche are full. So we all started for Debuche. Came across lot of Rhododendron trees. Crossing that reached Hotel Everest. While relaxing the room, started feeling some vibrations. Later realized that there was another helipad nearby and the helicopters caused the vibrations. Nice sunset rays were peeping into the hotel. When saw outside, heard Ajay and Dnyanesh saying that Mt Everest is visible. Excitement again ! With cold outside, went out. But this time with binoculars. Seeing Mt Everest in the sunset is a bliss. There you get the proof why it is the tallest. The nearby mountains create illusion of being taller but during sunset, the last ray lingers on Mt Everest indicating its the tallest. Watching Mt Everest through binoculars was an experience. It was absolutely worth the efforts of carrying binoculars. Mt Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam bathing in sunset. What more can you ask for. Text is too small a thing to explain that state of mind.

This was the first successful day. The hotel facilities were not good at Debuche. Probably it will get worse going further. During night, even a very narrow opening in the comforter is sufficient to wake you up. It gets cold enough due to the narrow opening to make you uncomfortable.

21st April-2014. From Debuche(3734m ) to Dingboche( 4412m )

Got up around 5-5:15am. Got ready and was about to leave the room. Just thought of checking the room and found goggles, jacket, water bottle and Ravi's water bottle cover ! All under the comforters. Started at around 6:15am with usual war-bugle 'महारा ..ss.. ज ...'. The surrounding was quite encouraging. Mt Everest, Lhotse, Ama Dablam were boosting the moral. The trail was awesome. It was not as tiring. A very pleasant part of the trek. Quite a bit of walk though. The climb was there but it didn't last for long. Then long walk again. All the land was barren. Due to high altitude, the oxygen level had dropped and trees were seen around. It was just small bushes. It was cold desert. The weather was weird. Keeping jacket made you sweat and removing it gave some shivers. Just removed it and tied to the chest. Basically we were getting better acclimatized to the weather. Lot of photos today. The stretch was all picturesque today.

Reached Dingboche sooner than expected. By 12:30pm we had touched Dingboche. Hotel was good. first time saw home made automatic door closers. Simply a water filled bottle was attached to the door to close it automatically :) Life can be made simpler. The hotel was Dingboche guest house and restaurant. Reaching early we had lot of time. All resorted to Antakshari. Somehow was feeling feverish. Didn't talk to anyone. Waited for some time and had Calpol. Later came to know everyone was feeling feverish but no one talked about it :-)). Played poker, sung lot of songs including Niranjan's version of breathless by Shankar Mahadevan. Overall relaxed trek with breathtaking views.

22nd April-2014. Acclimatization day

Being acclimatization day, everyone woke up at leisure. I was feeling better than yesterday. Mostly due to Calpol and I was worried about fever getting back. That would kill the trek spirit. For a change had corn flakes for breakfast. It was good. Weather was good. We went for the acclimatization trek for 2+hrs.. Quite windy. It was biting cold. Could get the glimpse of what is going to happen in next few days. But the surrounding was stunning. It was beautiful to see tiny Dingboche below. At the top we were completely surrounded by huge mountains. Lots of photos were taken. Started climbing down and we were back at the hotel by 1:30pm. First time since we started I really felt hungry. Another sign of getting acclimatized. We spent afternoon shopping. Don't visualize a mall. It was one tiny shop here and the other 100m away. Ravi picked up snow sticks. Back to hotel and got into poker. It was a nice pass-time. In the evening, Rajesh came and our common interests came up -- compilers, computer languages etc. Got to know more about Rajesh. He barely managed to get through 11th-12th, then commerce, then MCA and then R&D. And now thinking of PhD :D. Then had some discussion with Niranjan as well. He has been into embedded systems. Common interests got us along well.

Today we met a japanese lady. She was talking about her treks. During conversation she asked to judge her age. When we said 40-45 she was so delighted :-) Turned out that she was 65 and a grandmom ! She was on the trek to EBC.

23rd April-2014. Dingboche( 4412m ) to Lobuche( 4931m )

We started around 6:45am. Initially took the same route that we took for acclimatization trek. Then took detour to go towards Lobuche. Initially Ngwang created some confusion as which path to take but then it settled down. This route has out of the world views. Weather was in full support. The views were absolutely breathtaking. Wherever you could see the land was meeting the sky or mountains were kissing the sky. No concrete, no greenery. It was all cold desert. Cloud formations were never-seen-before. Mostly all alone in the area. Sometimes 5-6porters were crossing. The bright red bags with them were adding to the overall view and bringing country side touch to it. The trail was going by side of the river. We came across a frozen lake, almost frozen river. Water was flowing below the ice. Could see some excavations. So sad :( We crossed a small bridge and reached a place called Thukla. We had a nice breakfast.

After breakfast, we could see a steep climb in front of us. The climb started. It was quite high (but nowhere near to what the climb to Namche bazar was). We climbed about 350-400m. Very tiring with what the state of the body was. After reaching the top of the climb, could see that the terrain has flattened. Everyone took some rest. Today Ravi had slowed down noticeably. He was quite tired. While continuing the trail, saw a frozen lake. Could see some excavation as well. Here too ? People seemed to have dug it around probably for construction. So sad. Then came across a frozen river. Water was flowing from under the ice. Crossed a bridged reached Thukla. Everyone was hungry. Had breakfast. From the restaurant itself could see a steep climb in front. Did scale the climb and everyone was dead tired. Took some rest and had a long walk towards Lobuche. Finally saw Lobuche. It was very cold. Even small snow flakes were coming down.

After lunch took a walk and then as usual settled on poker. While we were in the dining area, Ravi came in after quite some time. He was looking very tired. Later in the evening, Ravi talked. He had almost given up and wanted to go back. I tried nudging little bit to see if he could make it to last camp of Gorakshep. But it did not look like that. Then Anoop joined us. Finally, Anoop and I could convince him to go to Gorakshep. Told him that even if he gets quite late compared to others whats the worry. I decided to be with him from Lobuche to Gorakshep. He got convinced !

Post-lunch session, met a couple. They were from Bangalore. The girl was in Aruba and the guy was in an organization that was recently acquired by cisco. Having quite a few friends in Aruba and spending lot of time in Cisco, could talk to them for quite some time. Soon the girl started feeling dizzy and nauseous. She became very weak physically and he took her to the room for rest. These were clear signs of AMS (acute mountain sickness). We all suggested them not to go further and start descending soon. It was a results of multiple things -- the dining area was quite crowded. The fire was running at the center of dining area to keep the hall warm. This all resulted in oxygen level reduction. In addition, the couple had taken acclimatization as rest day. On the acclimatization day it is important to go out, do some small trek. Later we met them when we descended to Lukla after finishing the trek. They had returned and she had recovered.

It turned very cold. Even taking a leak had steam in it. Now I could feel the need for little bit deeper breathing. That sense of lesser oxygen was there. The hotel was quite crowded. We met a dutch guy. Couple of them had come from Gokyo-chola. He mentioned they were a larger team. Six of them had to be evacuated as they did not have proper goggles. That created problem for eyes and some of them had swolen eyes. The reflection from ice had caused the damage.

24th April-2014. Lobuche( 4931m ) to Gorakshep( 5180m ie 17000Ft )

This was supposed to be a smaller trek comparatively. We started little late at 7:30am or so. I had planned to stay with Ravi anyway. When stepped out, Lobuche had pulled over snow sheet. It was all white around us. Brushing teeth in such condition was very difficult. As I have been keeping a water bottle inside the sleeping bag every night, the water temperature was just tolerable. Due to snow the sunlight clad mountain peaks had their own aura. Tried to capture some of these beauties in the camera. I knew it was a lame attempt to do so.

Soon after starting the trek came across a river bed. The river was all dried up. Ravi was facing breathing difficulty but was ready to go on. As he had slowed down significantly I had ample of time. I was enjoying the leisure walk. The surrounding was beautiful. I could take multiple breaks and enjoy the surrounding. For a change saw couple of birds at that altitude. As most of the group members had gone ahead, I had my own time. The surrounding silence was deafening. It was a very different kind of silence. few helicopter rides were breaking the silence. Very irritating. The helicopters were looking like tiny flying insects on the backdrop of huge mountains. I was having really good time with myself. Sensed that as the trek was shorter today, the group might decide to visit Kala Patthar today itself. So caught hold of Jai, Yash and Ankit and told them to send back Ngwang in case Ajay decides to go to Kala Patthar so that I can join. The Lobuche to Gorakshep trek was not as easier as was thought earlier. There were quite a few tiring ups and downs. While going came across multiple ports with yaks. RAvi got tempted looking at the yaks and checked with one of the owners to see if they can give Ravi paid ride to Gorakshep. The distance from their perspective was so less that no one agreed. We crossed a river with water flowing under the ice. Then climbed a hill. I was also getting quite tired. After climbing the hill Gorakshep came in sight. I moved ahead to see which hotel the group had landed in but no one was around. Went around couple of hotels to check. I was quite tired and the body was resisting a lot to go around couple of hotels. Finally at one hotel could see mine and Ravi's rucksacks. When checked with the lady in the hotel she said there was not any group named Yuvashakti in the hotel. Checked around. A local guy said he saw some people going to a red roofed hotel. It was really tough to even go from one hotel to the next door one.

Fortunately Rajesh was around and he saw me. He said everyone had gone to Kala Patthar. I was really disappointed as I had suspected this move and asked yash, jai and ankit to send Ngwang back for Ravi so that I can join them. Anyways. Rajesh had decided to stay back as he had running nose. Had food, went to the room and dumped the luggage. Ravi was quite tired. He was almost taking brief naps while in the restaurant. Rajesh and I decided to go to Kala Patthar the next day. After some time, Dnyanesh and Ajay came back from Kala Patthar. Looks like it was very windy up there. No one could stay at top even for 10mins. Later in the day Ajay checked if I was ok as I could not join for Kala Patthar. Obviously I didn't say much as I was not sure if yash, jai and ankit had forgotten to talk about sending Ngwang back for Ravi so that I could join. Left it there for that moment. Confirmed to Ajay that me and Rajesh will go to Kala Patthar tomorrow. He agreed to have Ngwang with us.

We all took dinner earlier went to bed sooner. Ravi had to take few extra medicine today. Took an extra blanket for protection. For most of the night the cloud rumbling was going on. Have not experienced so much rumbling almost through out the night. I was worried how the weather will turn up tomorrow morning. Ravi was intermittently coughing. Not a good sign at that altitude. Notable in this hotel was that our room was on upper floor. Even to climb 8-10step to go to upper floor it was getting 

25th April-2014. Gorakshep( 5180m ie 17000Ft ) to Kala Patthar( 5545m ie 18500Ft )

Got up early morning at 5am. First time since we started, I didn't visit the wash room in the middle of the night. That resulted in better sleep. Rajesh and I started around 6:30am for Kala Patthar. It was all snow around. I had taken thermos from Ravi to keep water warm. After taking some morning pictures, we started. Ngwang did not join. Ajay accompanied for some distance and returned back to the hotel.

It was tiring from the beginning. It was quite steep. We could easily feel the lower oxygen level. Heavy breathing was going on. Team members had already mentioned that we will have to cross three mountains to reach KP. Rajesh had taken water bladder in his back pack. While climbing he pulled out the tube to drink water and nothing came up. He tried one more time but there was no water. Surprised, both of us checked it. All the water in the bladder was frozen :-). Fortunately, and I don't know why, but I had Ravi's thermos flask. We could drink that water. Fingers and toes were almost frozen.

The light had come out by now. Meanwhile we reached a part where we could get some sunlight. Toes, fingers started to relax a bit. The sensation at the tip of the fingers and toes was coming back.Slowly the frozen water in the bladder started melting. Glad that I had also taken few biscuits. We started feeling hungry and could survive on the biscuits. Rajesh not being completely fit, was feeling cold. He was slowing down a bit. So I decided to move ahead.

While climbing, the distance between me and Rajesh increased. I had to stop almost every 10steps and take some rest. Breathing was very heavy. Imagine. The body was getting same oxygen in 2.5 to 3 breaths that we get in one breath normally. Obviously it was going to be very tiring. In fact, I felt this stretch to be more difficult than most of the so far trek. It drew every drop of blood. I could see Rajesh down now. I moved on and reached the top -- summit. It was a bliss to be there. You forget all the tiredness seeing the mountains around. Mt Everest, Lhotse, Pumori, Ama dablam etc were beautiful. The weather was really nice. It was not much windy. Could explore the KP top at leisure. Did not go to the last 2-3rocks on KP as it was snow round and there was a steep drop beyond KP top. There were few people around. Rajesh could be seen down and still had some time to reach. At one point I thought he will give up. I could be there at Kala Patthar top for almost 45-50mins. Most memorable moments of life. Can never forget that state of mind. Really enjoyed for long. Had a great time with a Polish guy. We could help each other for snaps. Meanwhile Rajesh reached the top. He was quite tired.

The clouds started gathering slowly around 11am. We decided to descend. Fantastic day !

While coming down, missed a route and took a detour. Both of us got trapped into slippery rocks and snow for some time. Managed to get back on track. Gorkshep came in sight. It was barely 3-4houses in Gorakshep including our hotel. By now it was 11-11:30. Nice sunlight, little bit warm and lingering KP on mind. Came down.

Meanwhile the remaining group had gone to EBC. Dnyanesh and Ajay showed complete disappointment about EBC. Specially when compared to KP. Rajesh had already given up on EBC as he was not well. Others took a while to get back from EBC. On the contrary (to Ajay and Dnyanesh) others were very upbeat about EBC. When Rajesh heard about it he was excited and got ready to go to EBC the next day. We told Ajay that we will go to EBC tomorrow. I had anyway decided to go to EBC irrespective of whether Rajesh joins or not. Glad he did though. Ajay was already thinking of going to Pengboche directly instead of taking halt at Lobuche. But now that me and Rajesh were to go to EBC tomorrow, Lobuche halt was certain. Meanwhile yash, jai and ankit did confirm that they had talked about sending Ngwang back for Ravi so that I could join the group for KP and EBC. I believe Ajay should have sent Ngwang for Ravi's help and waited for me to join for KP. Not a big grudge though.

26th April-2015. Gorakshep( 5180m ie 17000Ft ) to EBC( 5360m ie 17500Ft ) to Lobuche( 4931m )

Woke up early morning like yday. Rajesh and I had planned for EBC. Started at 6:30am or so after having corn flakes. Morning breakfast of corn flakes was slowly getting onto nerves. Ngwang was to join but joined later as he had to help settle the hotel bills. It did not snow as much as yday but it was very cold. We were trying to get helicopter to lift Ravi and drop at Lukla. Yday's team members to EBC had already to talked to some of the indirect friends at EBC camps -- Rafique, Bhyagashree and RaviKumar. They had mentioned that chopper could be arranged for Ravi. So I tried calling them before starting the trek but could not reach anyone. Decided to coordinate on that with Ajay with Ngwang's help.

Initial patch was a nice walk with few ups and downs. It was all cold desert with lot of rocks around but it was beautiful. It was all silent. Hardly anyone crossed us. The trail was running next to Kumbhu river but it was all frozen. After some time Ngwang caught up with us. After about 1.5hrs or so, started seeing Kumbhu glacier. There were beautiful snow formation on the glacier. Had to cross a long ridge. On the left side of the ridge, it was a steep ascending slope. There were actually huge rocks on that slope just waiting to roll down. They were just stuck due to small stones. It was scary. Crossed the long ridge and came across EBC area. Saw the 'Everest Base Camp" flyer. Took some snaps and entered the area. Just while entering came across Bhyagashree and Ravikumar. It was nice meeting them. They were winding down as there was a mishap on 19th April. An avalanche had come down burying 16 sherpas. All were gone. All the Sherpas consider this as a bad omen and all the summits were cancelled. All the climbers were returning. Bhyagashree and Ravikumar were also packing up and returning. Rafique had gone to Kala Patthar for a trek. Meanwhile Ajay called Ngwang and said Ravi is getting a chopper and flying to Lukla. Relief ! Glad he got one. Reaching Lukla would definitely give him relief and speedy recovery. They were waiting for the chopper to arrive. Meanwhile we had a good photo session. Funnily we were standing on a snow bed ! There was lot of sand on the snow and we were on it. Little bit of digging and could see snow underneath. Pretty amazing experience.

Later came to know that Ravi could get the chopper. The chopper had actually arrived to pick up an australian couple. The guy had completely collapsed. Had no senses. Had turned pale blue. He was not even recognizing anyone around. At the end of the trek when we reached Lukla heard that the guy had recovered.

We started our return journey to Gorakshep. Meanwhile other team members had already started for Lobuche. Me and Rajesh were to go from EBC to Gorakshep to Lobuche. Bid adieu to the EBC. Target achieved. Successful trek. Of course we still had to trek back to Lukla. The return journey in true sense had started.

We reached back hotel. Had hash brown. Hash brown was earlier like oasis but later it went on nerves. Pretty much turned nauseating. Had to leave part of it. Had few bites, biscuits etc to fill in. Then started journey to Lobuche. Others had already left for it. The trek to Lobushe was not strenuous. Probably got used to it now. Few ups and downs. Ngwang was with us. Clouds started gathering. Snow flakes were with us for quite some time. Obviously it was quite cold. Finally reached Lobuche. Bags were sitting outside. Settled in. Not much activity. Early dinner and went to bed. Not so great sleep that night.

27th April-2014. Lobuche( 4931m ) to Debuche( 3734m )

Woke up around 5am. All started at 6:15am or so. Plan was to go to Pengboche. If we reach well within time, continue to Tengboche. Again we did not feel much stress on this patch. Mostly because we got used to it. In no time we reached Thukla. Had breakfast. Then we took different route through a dried riverbed towards Tengboche. It was a long walk. This was the same beautiful patch that we had enjoyed while going to Lobuche. Came across beautiful views -- once again. It was a long walk but I never wanted it to end. Yash has been discussing about computer networking, my domain etc since yday. Some discussion continued on that. We decided to go to Tengboche. Took a stop at Pengboche for tea break. For a change we got a nice masala tea here. We went back the same route that we had climbed while going to Tengboche. Funnily, now we realized what we had climbed. It was almost unbelievable that we really climbed this ascend. Human mind and body is awesome. It was in a feat that we must have climbed this trek while climbing. If someone asks again to climb it, none of us would do it now. It was nice train alongside river Dudhkoshi. Crossed the Rhododendron forest and rain started. The droplet were very cold as if snow was being strained. Crossed Debuche and started moving towards Tengboche. But we could not get accommodation there. So came back to Debuche. For a change, changed all the cloths :p. It as nice sunlight outside. All of us came out and sat without jackets as if we were sitting in a garden. In last 10-12 days we got used to the weather. Got acclimatized. Everyone was relaxed. Not much tired. Later it did snow for some time. Cherry entered the kitchen and made veg biryani. We had ample of time. We did antakshari, songs, dumb charades etc. Each one did some or the other act/play as well. Then a cute baby entered the hall. Had a good time with the baby.

Overall, very pleasant day. Going to carry it with me throughout.

28th April-2014. Debuche( 3734m ) to Monjo( 2804m )

Had a nice sleep. Got up and started around 6am. Had a nice masala tea. We all initially climbed to Tengboche. Went to monastery. The feeling around and inside the monastery was very nice. Tranquil and serene. We spent relaxed time in Tengboche. Left Tengboche. It was a long walk today. The route was same that we had climbed. As usual, we could not believe what we had climbed. As it was the same route, we again saw Mt Everest and Lhotse. Ama dablam was with us as always. Deep valleys, hanging bridges came across again. The descend was tiring. Legs, knees started talking. Ankit was the most tired among us. Ajay took his bag. Usual check-posts came across.

We came to Namche Bazar. There was no plan to halt there though. Crossed Namche bazar and steep descend started. It was the same path that we had climbed. For almost 1.5-2hrs we were descending. Everyone exhausted. The steps while going down were really irritating. Steps do not let you decide your stride. It took a while to climb down the steep descend and Monjo came in sight. We decided to stop there. It was comparatively late in the day. Had nice pizza for a change. Went to bed. Tomorrow was going to be pretty much the last stretch of the trek.

29th April-2014. Monjo( 2804m ) to Lukla( 2880m)

It was going to be a climb again. The EBC trek does not let you relax till the end. Came across the fallen bridge while going to Lukla. It was not a long trek. We reached Lukla by noon. The climb was felt by everyone. It was tiring. We had Lukla to Kathmandu flight tomorrow. We stayed in Lukla. Had pizza made at Ngwang's place in the evening. Went around in Lukla in the evening. Spent some time in the market. Everyone realized that the time to disperse is not that far.

30th April-2014. Lukla( 2880m) 

And we thought the trek was over ! Naah ...

The climb was over but the ordeal was yet to start. We came to the Lukla airport with all luggage to board the flight. Lukla airport is worse than a bus-stand. Everything controlled by agents. Ajay, Larke (Buddha lodge owner) managed to get all of us in the queue and 17th airplane was going to be for us. 1, 2 ... 13 flights went by. By then it was past 12pm. And the clouds started joining hands. Soon it was quite cloudy. I won't be surprised if all the people on the airport blow out air simultaneously and the entire air traffic stops. Its very delicate airport. A little bit change in weather and the air traffic stops. With clouds that was bound to happen.

The wait started. People said sometimes if the weather clears air traffic starts after 2pm. All bhagvan bharose. It was 2pm and soon after that one plane arrived. 14th Plane. What a relief. And another and then another. 16 planes arrived. It was beyond 3:30pm. Weather again turned and air traffic stopped. If one more plane had arrived, we would have reached Kathmandu. Wait...wait...wait. But the next plane did not arrive.

We booked another hotel for the day. But there was a bigger issue. Most of us had Kathmandu to Delhi/Mumbai flight on 2nd. So we had only tomorrow to catch the flight to India. Only two options. Postpone the flight to India by a day and hope we can make it tomorrow or at the most the day after to Kathmandu. Or do what may happen tomorrow, make sure we reach Kathmandu so that we can catch already booked flight. Postponing the flight does not guarantee that tomorrow weather would be good and we can fly to Kathmandu. So we decided to get ready for helicopter ride to Kathmandu. Ajay, Dnyanesh talked to Larke for helicopter. Some setting was done. We also looked for private flights. There was one single-engine flight. We also talked to them and set some fielding.

We slept with all worries on mind.

1st May-2014. Lukla( 2880m) 

We could see couple of flights arriving early morning. Hopes went up. But by 9:30am, it was all cloudy. The clouds were almost reachable if jumped up :-(

Another fun -- Yesterday next flight was ours. So isn't it logical for us to be in the front of the queue? No it does not work like that here. Today's passengers were ahead in the queue. After that if additional flights arrive, we would get it. WTF ! So we can be stranded here for days or weeks. There were few who were experiencing exactly the same. For sure this was all make mint more money by creating more troubles.

With such nonsense, we decided to take helicopter and goto Kathmandu. It was going to be 45-50min ride. How much do you expect to shell out? May be Rs 3-5K. Right? Nope. The demand was $500 ie almost Rs32-33K !

9:30-10am and clouds were gathering pretty fast. We were hoping that choppers will arrive soon and we will fly to Kathmandu. But choppers were nowhere in sight. 30-40mins went by. Rain started. Now it was going to be further difficult. The only hope in this weather was chopper. Choppers can fly in such weather. First chopper arrived at 11:30am or so. By the time we (5people) could reach the chopper from the shelter, we got wet. When we entered the chopper the pilot was saying (on walkie-talkie) that the weather was ok so far but it has worsened now and he can still go through the valley. What ? Really ?? With that, the chopper took off. Within minutes, we were in the thick of the rain. Visibility was very poor. I don't know what was it that pilot was able to see. With heart in the hand, we were in the air. As if that was not sufficient, we could hear hails falling on the chopper. Soon we were surrounded by the hail storm. Almost 10mins the chopper was having slow swings in the storm. Finally, the pilot managed to pull us out of it. In all this, the pilot was still supercool as if nothing was happening. In few minutes it was nice sunshine giving warmth. We could see green mountains just below. Glad the pilot did not hit any of these mountains when the visibility was very low. Meanwhile, Keval slept off. Probably too much tension made him sleep. It was feeling hot inside the chopper cabin. Funny -- The pilot just slid small window to let air in! Instant cold air. God! Why all this? 10 peaceful minutes and we were back into hail storm. The feeling was like -- I am in a car and 100s of people are throwing stones at the car! Will the chopper really survive? Now 2-3more slept off. Probably too much of tension. Again, came out of the hail fall after 10mins or so. Again peace and sunshine. Pilot again opened the 'window'. After some time we almost entered the hail storm third time but the pilot turned the chopper away from the storm, took a longer round and brought us out of the storm. After 50mins of ride we could see Kathmandu ! It was peaceful till we reached Kathmandu. Finally landed at Kathmandu. After getting out of the helicopter, first question we asked the pilot was how did he manage? Haah --- He was a chopper pilot in Alaska area for almost 3years ! This storm was nothing ! Glad we were in the right hands. 'Hail' of a ride that was !

Really we were in Katmandu now. Could not believe we really survived last 50mins. Can not forget the ride for life. Now all of us felt that we actually made a mistake by taking this chopper and were really lucky to survive. Remaining team was to take next chopper but were stuck as the weather went further bad and the chopper could not fly. They started in the evening at about 4-4:30pm. Their pilot happened to be a local Nepali person. There were four choppers with them. Two had foreigner pilots and two had Nepali. Ajay mentioned that the discussion between the pilot indicated that they are going to fly choppers -- but ... the Nepali pilots were going to follow the foreigner pilots ! It really happened like that. They had much worse turbulence than us and had much worse ride. Yash, Jai, Ankit and Anoop stayed in Lukla as they had couple of days more to fly to Delhi from Kathmandu. Later they were forced to take chopper as well because situation did not improve much. Meanwhile, Anoop had taken entirely different path. He decided to trek down for two days to Jiri and then catch bus to Kathmandu.

All in all, everyone reached Kathmandu safely but on different days. After reaching Kathmandu we met Ravi. He was pretty much recovered. I took bath after so many days and got refreshed. Later late evening we were trying to make sure about tomorrow's flight. Ravi confirmed his ticket online. I could not find my flight and attributed it to some issue with the website. Dinner and then slept off.

2nd May-2014 Kathmandu to Delhi

And you thought the ordeal was over? --- Naah ...

Woke up early morning and decided to check the airlines website. Could not see the flight again. Finally managed to call the airline. Guess what ... The flight was cancelled ! I was moved to another flight. The only consolation was that my Delhi to Bangalore flight was in the evening. Even with changed flight from Katmandu to Delhi I had 2-3hrs of gap to catch another flight. We were coordinating between MakeMyTrip, Purnima and the airlines. Finally, confirmed everything to the airlines and we went to the airport. I was really not sure how things are going to turn up at the airport. Finally, talked to the airline desk and confirmed the flights. What a relief. Though I got flight later than the scheduled time, I was ok. At least it was going to fly. Just wanted to reach Delhi so that I will be in India and then can do anything to reach bangalore.

Fortunately, I really boarded the flight and flew to Delhi. Reached Delhi around 4 or 5pm and the connecting flight to Bangalore was at 7pm. As had some time, called up Sanket and Nikhil (2010 trek buddies) and told them about EBC trek. Both were very happy. Called up Nitin too but could not reach him. Called Purnima, sister and brother to let all know that I was back. Everything went well and I landed at Bangalore airport by 10:30pm or so. Reached home at around 2pm ! The final leg of the trek had much more excitement, scare than the entire actual trek.

Pictures