Namche Bazaar

Kathmandu
March 29th, 2007

After first 3 days of constant ascent to Labuche (4930m) , I was planning on a 4th day of
EBC and Kala pattar visit with a light day pack. But eventually I ran o9ut of luck and Altitude caught up with me, I had a very bad 3 rd night with constant boughts of short breathing, by morning it was clear proceeding any further is out of reach. Due to lack of time, I decided to turn back and the last 3 days were spent taking a different route , appreciating beauty as much as
I can with AMS.

Sometime I do think about how couple of days would have made all the difference, but I don't have any regrets it was all or nothing kind of attempt so I take as it comes. I will add more updates on my day 2 and day 3 experience with all photos when I reach Pune.

Namche Bazaar
March 23rd, 2007

I am at Namche bazar, Reached lukla at 8am and after some hiccups, started hike with the porter at 10:25 AM.
As the plane landed on a small strip smaller than a football ground,I realized one of my dreams was coming to reality.
Nice easy hike to Phakding with breath taking views of mountain and Dodi kosi river carving the valley.. several foot bridge crossing the river at high altitude gives superb views.
Good to have some company even though we cant talk much but some company is good.
After lunch at Phakding we started a long climb to Namche, the last 400 mts were relentless but fun. Felt fine so far at3440..(11200 ft) just the beginning of high altitude.
Planning to start early at 6am towards Pheriche as planned, hoping to have a fun day tomorrow as well. Looking fwd to it.
Here every thing comes a a cost , cant complain as poor Sherpa want to earn their best during the season.
Next I will be able to email only day after tomorrow
cheers and regards
Anil

And let the drums roll...

Kathmandu March 22 2008 6:00 PM

I am all set to start the trek tomorrow,had a pleasant flight Pune via Delhi to Kathmandu. It was great meeting my cousins and their daughter Shreya en route. As planned, I have booked my tickets to Lukla.

As soon as I finished my work at the airport,couple of guides and taxi drivers jumped to grab a pie of the trekking business. Found a semi free ride to he hotel. On the way a guide joined me as well, he told me about all the different services a guide could provide.Having a very low EQ doesn't help, and having read the low wages of porters in this area,I got brought in by the idea of having a guide. One thing he said really touched my heart he said, "you come here to enjoy the experience in the process you can help someone earn livelihood,that made sense to me.
More over I will have some company on this solo hike and would be safe in this political turmoil that this region is going through. So decided to hire a porter for the first 2 days sharing your loads equally. my plans of the trek remains unchanged though..Interesting thing to note is that the region is filled with all western hiking/climbing brands and also the "made in Nepal" version :)
I am done with all the last min packing, waiting for a dinner with a beer or wine and a good sound sleep..

Hopefully should have time to write from Namche.
Next to Luka,
Anil

Hiking through the giants.

As my plans to work in India for a extended period materialized, I started planning for outdoor activities in India, making best of the place. What better than a visit to a himalayan kingdom. To start with I had set my eyes on Everest base camp a hike from Lukla at 9500ft to Kala Pattar at 17500 ft.



















Everest base camp Trek map

Initially I had thought of attempting a single day hike from Lukla to Kala Pattar, which required mainly a day pack weighing less than 15lbs, but decided againts it keeping mainly AMS in mind as I wont be able to acclimatize even at Lukla. I was lucky to find a great checklist at Gautam Patil's website.

The trip details was elaborately shared by my friend Abhijeet Karmarkar, with detailed tips for my stay in kathmandu and in Khumbu region. Earlier I was tempted to combine my trip with a 6000mtr peak climb (Island peak or Lobuche east) as well, which would add upto 2 additional weeks, but did'nt materialize. Peak trip is on my todo down the line.

Elevation chart of some keys villages on the way.

Destination	Elevation	Comments
Lukla	2840 mtr	(Starting point)
Phakding	2610 mtr
Namche Bazar	3440 mtr	Prominent village with internet, currency exchange and phone facility.
Tengboche	3860 mtr
Pheriche	4240 mtr (13992 ft)
Gorak Shep	5140 mtr	Last village before base camp
Everest base camp	5364 mtr (17701 ft)	Destination
Kala Pattar	5550 mtr

Past week I finally booked my trip dates and my trek itenary is as follows:

March 21st : Pune to Delhi

March 22nd: Delhi to Kathmandu (early morning flight)
Explore kathmandu, mainly thamel region and book my trip to lukla and back.

March 23rd: Take a early morning flight to lukla.
Start a 6-8 hrs hike to Namche Bazaar.
Distance about 14-16km
Elevation gain 600 mtr

March 24th: Start early (5am) , hike from Namche to Pheriche.
Distance about 14km-15km
Elevation gain 800 mtr

March 25th: Start early , hike from Pheriche to Gorak Shep
Distance about 11km
Elevation gain 900 mtr

March 26th: Gorak Shep to Base camp and Kala Pattar day hike
Elevation gain 500 mtr

March 27th and 28th: Hike back to Lukla

Mar 29th: Fly from lukla to kathmandu
sight-seeing at kathmandu

March 30th: Flight back to Delhi/Pune


My main training for the trip is going to be some long distance runs and couple of backpacking in Pune, I am hoping my pack to be around 22 lbs. As food and shelter will be taken care on the way in the villages, main weight is some extra layers of clothing, water and some gels. Looking forward to this trip .. waiting to see sun rise over Everest and Lhotse, and hopefully I get to climb some of those giant deities once in my life.