Guest post by Mark Whitman
Everest Base Camp is one of the most sought-after trekking destinations in the world. Many a trekker has found that the sights seen along the way rival those of the world’s tallest mountains.
Today, guest blogger and Nepal trekking expert Mark Whitman, shares his thoughts on the 10 best things to make sure you see on an Everest Base Camp trek.
1. Namche
Namche is a horseshoe-shaped village and the Sherpa capital. It is worthwhile to take advantage of the opportunity to acclimatise here and stave off any symptoms of altitude sickness, as will be drummed into you when you find that most of the people you encounter who have turned back skipped acclimatisation days. People usually spend time here partaking of the trinket and trekking shops, which stock everything from prayer wheels to hiking poles. An internet café will cost you $18 an hour. The Sherpa museum is not to be missed.
2. Tengboche
Tengboche is reached from Namche, requiring you to go down and then steeply up, a total of 1,970 feet. There is a monastery there. There are fine views of Ama Dablam, the Matterhorn-ish peak to the right. The route to its summit is very dangerous, with sharp ridges, the risk of avalanches and frequently strong winds.
3. Tengboche Monastery
The footprints of the Lama Pagna Dorje, dating to the 16th century, are embedded in stone to the front of Tengboche monastery, which people frequently find to be a highlight of the trek. The monastery was destroyed by an earthquake in 1934, rebuilt, destroyed by fire in 1989, and rebuilt once more. Now, around 8,000 people visit each year, with 400 a week at the peak of the tourist season, which is not bad considering that no road leads to the monastery. The bakery reputedly serves the best apple pie in all the world, ha!
Around 60 monks reside at Tengboche monastery, the centre of Sherpa Buddhist culture in Nepal. Their mask dances are renowned worldwide. Dancing reaches its peak at the 19-day Mani Rimdu festival. The monastery is a place of worship and meditation, so short trousers and kissing are out – these are two of the nine rules of the place.
Standing on the steps of Tengboche Monastery, the highest monastery in the world, provides a breath-taking view; some say the best, of the highest peaks on this Earth, which lie beyond the rolling hills. Sir Edmund Hillary surveyed Mount Everest from this very place because the view was so clear. Prayer ceremonies in the evening or morning can be observed. Inside, the monastery is exquisitely decorated with mural paintings and textile hangings. It is a tradition that every climbing expedition to Mount Everest is blessed by the head Lama.
4. The lecture by the Himalayan Rescue Association
21 percent of the air at sea level is oxygen, and the proportion is exactly the same at the peak of Mount Everest. The difference is that higher up, the air is less dense – what is called thinner. You would inhale fewer molecules of oxygen, and little time elapses before your body reacts: your breathing becomes faster, your heart rate increases, your lungs expand, and more red blood cells are created. Hence, one thing for you to see on your Everest Base Camp trek, tales of which you will not regale your grandchildren, is the hour-long lecture about altitude sickness by the Himalayan Rescue Association at Pheriche, which most climbers attend. At this height, a quarter of climbers are affected – even Sherpas. A consultation costs $40, which subsidises medical care for the local population.
5. Lobuje
Lobuje is a small village that is one of the last overnight stops on the trail to Base Camp that provides lodging. There are several hotels where the beds are comfortable.
6. Kala Patthar
Near Lobuje is the modest (18,193 feet) peak of Kala Patthar. This is the large, brown bump seen beneath Everest’s impressive south face. The ascent begins at Gorak Shep, the base camp of the first successful Everest expedition and the starting point of the Khumbu Glacier. The name, Kala Patthar, means “black rock” in Nepali and Hindi. There is no more dramatic view of the summit of Everest than is seen from here, covering everything from Base Camp to the summit. This is the closest view – the summit is not visible from Base Camp.
7. Dingboche
Trekking groups frequently stay for two nights in Dingboche, 14,272 feet up, to acclimatise. Hotels are to hand, but campsites are the cheapest accommodation available. Trees cannot grow there – trees stop at 13,125 feet – however, fields of barley, buckwheat and potatoes abound. Island Peak, Makalu and Ama Dablam are visible from there. You could avail yourself of a walk to Chhukhung, a highly enticing valley, or visit the Island Peak Base Camp. This mountain was so named by Eric Shipton’s party in 1951 because from Dingboche it appeared as an island in a sea of ice. Renamed Imje Tse in the early 1980s, its original name remains popular.
8. Pangboche
After Dingboche, the next port of call is Pangboche (“boche” means “small village” in the local Sherpa dialect, so there are a confusing number of -boches). Most of the way is downhill, but the final stage is somewhat steep. There is nothing to do in Pangboche itself, but nearby lies the 1,000-year-old Pangboche monastery.
Beautifully-carved Mani walls can be seen on the way to the monastery. Legend has it that the juniper trees to either side of the building sprang from hair cut from the head of Lama Sanga Dorje. The monastery is the highest permanent settlement en route to Everest Base Camp. It houses what are claimed to be the scalp and fingers of a yeti – yetis have been reported in the vicinity. Inside the monastery can be found old statues, other crumbling relics and the pained faces of carved masks that are used in ritual summer dances.
9. The Khumbu Icefall
“Khumbu” is the Nepalese name for the Everest region. The infamous Khumbu Icefall sits at the head of the Khumbu Glacier, 18,000 feet up. This is seen as one of the most dangerous points on the route to the summit of Everest. Large crevasses can open with scant warning. The huge towers of ice found there – seracs – can collapse suddenly. The massive blocks of ice that roll down the glacier periodically vary in size up to that of a large house. It is estimated that the glacier progresses by between three and four feet every day. Many people have died here, with one crushed by a 12-storey block of ice. The most recent tragedy on Everest involved a serac fall and avalanche in the Khumbu ice-fall that killed 16 sherpas.
10. So, where’s Base Camp, then?
There is no single site of the Everest Base Camp. The vicinity, at the foot of the Khumbu Icefall, happens to be the optimal place for an Everest expedition to make its base.
Mark Whitman is a high altitude trekking expert with particular knowledge on treks in Nepal, the Andes and Africa.
cool list. will bookmark this for my trip later this year