Day 1: 5:30 AM, March 7th, Kathmandu Domestic Airport
Weather delay; waiting for the fog to clear
Finally, we're on our way
Can these things really fly?
What about land?
Our plane
The cockpit could be seen from the passenger seats
Yes I am laughing....and praying at the same time!!!
Goodbye cruel world..no picture of ashi...she was too busy praying :)
View from the plane
First glimpse of the majestic mountains
Phew!!!! landed in Lukla....
The short runway was not flat
And it ended at a cliff
Yaks taking it easy
We left for phakding the very first day
On route to Phakding
The first bridge..."Ashi, don't look down"
Dudh koshi river and it's milky white water
Reached Phakding in 2 hours
Day 2: Phakding(2610 Meters) to Namche Bazar (3440 Meters)
Rest stop
Entering Sagarmatha Zone
Just before the dreaded namche climb
This was the toughest climb in the trek....lasted about 3 hours but it seemed like an enternal uphill stride
Frozen waterfall right next to Namche Bazar
The beautiful Namche Bazar
Going around in Namche
Day 3: Namche to Thyangboche (3860 Meters). The first glimpse of Amadablam
Namche in daylight
The first glimpse of Everest. The mother of all mountains...
Amadablam is one of the most beautiful mountains in the world
Amadablam apparently means mother and daughter in Tibetan language
Tired Yaks
Reached Thyangboche...Stepping on a frozen stream
Everest from Thyangboche....By the way, we were kicked out of our guest house because we did not come down for dinner on time....
We managed to get another hotel but could not avoid suspicious looks....
DON'T STAY IN THYANGBOCHE...PEOPLE ARE AS WARM AS THE WEATHER
Amadablam
Everest over Nuptse and Amadablam from Thyangboche
Day 4: Thyangboche to Dingboche (4,400 Meters)
Early morning in front of Thyanboche monastery
Reached Pangboche
Amadablam in the back
Western face of Amadablam
Entering Dingboche
The daugher looks as tall as the mother here
Our hotel
Evening time by the fire
Sunset
Moonshine
Day 5: Rest day and Dingboche....Attempted climb of Nagarjun Hill (over 5,000 meters)
Ashi's knees started giving her problems
The view got better as we went up
Ashi's knees got worse so we decided to come down
King of the World....
Dingboche
Buddhist Stupa over Dingboche
Sitting by fire and heating the knees....Combiflame worked wonders the next day
Day 6: Dingboche to Lobuche (4900 meters)
Saying goodbye to Dingboche
Thokla Pass, the second hardest climb after Namche
Ashi tired after climbing Thokla
Another frozen river
Nuptse in the back....Everest is behind Nuptse
Reached Lobuche
Ashi took a nap, Temperature in Lobuche at night was minus 8.9 degrees centigrade
I went to see Khumbu Glacier....
Amazing...you feel like you are just seeing stones and mud...
And suddenly you realize everything is on top of hundreds of feet of ICE!!
Ganesh...Guide of another group...told me about a tourist who was completely fine, went to sleep and never got up....
Nuptse in the back...You can see the trails people made while climbing up
Pumori...Kalapathar can be seen at the bottom of the mountain with paths leading to the top
Pumori and Kalapathar
View of Lobuche
Ice beneath the rocks
Remnants of a helicopter crash
I had severe headaches at Lobuche and could not sleep...More anxiety from hearing people die in their sleep than the actual altitude sickness
Day 7: Lobuche to Gorakshep (5140 meters) to Everest Base Camp (5,364 meters) and back to Gorakshep
Like the cap?
Khumbu glacier
Entering Gorakshep
Now Everest Base Camp looks like a stone's throw away from Gorakshep
But the freaking stone never reaches
You just keep going...
and going...
and complaining.... ;)
uh....it looks so close...that little piece of snow at the center of the picture
Suddenly Everest peaks up from Behind Nuptse
And it keeps getting bigger
And bigger
It's only this small, 8850 meters....the tallest mountain in the world
The best shot of the trip....Thanks to Ashi
Now we enter the Glacier....Walking on top of ice
Will the base camp never come or what????
Leaving trails along the route...you can very well lose your way
Nuptse
Glacier Ice
Throwing rocks trying to break the ice
A wall of cold ICE!!
Some Ice for your drink?
A cave like structure made of Ice
Eskimo land
Khumbu Ice Fall in the back
A table formed by Ice and rock
Khumbu Ice fall...Lhotse peeking from the back
Yes...we are tired...
Entering the Khumbu Ice fall...This is all Ice, mind you
Going Deeper into the Khumbu ice fall
Fumbling back
No one taught me to walk on ice
Ouch
Ashi Waiting for us and waving
Finally...EVEREST BASE CAMP (5364 Meters)
WE MADE IT!!!
Yippie
Saying goodbye to khumbu Ice Fall
The Khumbu icefall is one of the most difficult parts of the Everest climb....lots of people have died here
People fall in cracks like these and God knows where they land
Weight Lifting championship...preparing for the olympics
Zoom on Everest
Sign board near Gorakshep
Everest during sunset
Day 8: Climb Kalapathar (5545 meters) and go back to Pheriche (4240 meters)
Ashi stayed back at Gorakshep and I climbed Kalapathar
I was late going up so the sun rose while I was going up
Top of Kalapathar, (18,192 Feet), the highest point of the trek
Pumori at the back
The sun prevented good shots of Everest
Good shot but the top of Everest is covered by clouds
Our lodge at Gorakshep
Good Morning Ashi!!!!
Leaving Gorakshep
Last shot of Everest Base Camp
Frozen pond
Climbing down Thokla...the place is filled with tombstones of the people who died at Everest
Thokla
It started snowing
Ashi's first experience with snow
Fun in the snow
More fun in the snow
Drying our clothes by the fire
Day 9: Pheriche to Namche Bazar
Rescue helicopter in the back
This person climbed Everest last season
Saying goodbye to Amadablam
Thyanboche from a distance
Climbing up to Thyangboche
The lodge we were kicked out from....AVOID THIS PLACE!!!
Thyangboche monastery
This person has climbed Everest 4 times
Lali Guras (Rhododendron) tree
Back in Namche Bazar
Picture of Everest from the Tibetan side
Day 10: Namche to Lukla
These people are strong!!!
Lali Guras
This dog followed us from Namche to Phakding...
Back in Lukla
Lukla runway
