Day 213: Nepal Trek Day 11: EBC – Nepal
We woke up super excited – today was THE DAY! In just a few hours we would achieve our goal of reaching the Nepali Everest Base Camp – altitude sickness and catching a cold could no longer get in our way! We had a short 2hr. hike to Gorak Shep – the last permanent settlement on the trail – where we checked-in to our teahouse and dropped off our luggage, before heading out on the final 3hr. segment of the trek.
Leaving Lobuche and heading onward toward Gorak Shep
The trail to Gorak Shep runs along the moraine-covered Khumbu Glacier – with its source starting on Mt. Everest, it is the highest-elevation glacier in the world
Traffic jam! Rejoining the main EBC trail once again puts us in the path of HUGE trekking groups and yak caravans
We arrive in Gorak Shep around 9AM, plenty of time to grab a room and give the local puppy a belly-rub before our day-hike to EBC!
Snow-capped mountains and glaciers surround us at every turn – we are in the heart of the Himalayas!
Lindsay clambers over the rocky final approach to EBC
Like on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, there is no way for a tourist to camp overnight at the Nepali EBC. “Everest Base Camp” is simply a temporary campsite location for the climbers who are attempting to summit the mountain during the season. In fact, since the Khumbu Glacier is constantly moving, the exact location of EBC actually changes every year depending on the safest route across the ice. Unlike the Chinese EBC (which had a permanent stone marker setup on a hilltop, demarcating the end of the road for tourists), the Nepali EBC felt very transient – the only “sign” indicating that we had arrived was a rock with “Everest Base Camp 2016” scrawled on it with a permanent marker. Since we were visiting outside the April/May season, EBC was empty of tents.
We made it! The Khumbu Ice Falls – the birthplace of the Khumbu Glacier – lie before us – the first obstacle mountaineers must conquer in their ascent of Mount Everest
Our final few steps take us across the icy glacier
“E” for Everest! Funny thing is you can’t really see the peak of Everest from Base Camp (except a tiny sliver) – we see the full peak peek out between the mountains on our way back, but the real viewpoint is at the summit of Kala Pattar, which we will climb tomorrow
The experience of visiting the Nepali EBC was very different from the Chinese side. Although I hate to admit that anything is “better” in China, the view of Everest from Tibet is inarguably more stunning, especially from a nature-lover’s perspective – not only is the entire mountain visible, but it is perfectly framed by the surrounding valley, so that the mighty mountain is the central focus of even the worst photographer’s picture.
On the Nepali side, you can’t even *see* the Everest peak from the Base Camp! (Maybe you can see a sliver of the mountain, depending on your angle.) So, for us, the Nepali EBC wasn’t really about being one with the grandeur of Nature – it wasn’t awe-inspiring the way visiting the Grand Canyon or Victoria Falls was. The powerful reaction we got from EBC was not about Nature, is was about *people*. There’s no doubt that Everest is a cultural phenomenon as much as an environmental one – people always talk about their greatest difficulties or successes as their personal “Everest.” So, unsurprisingly, Everest Base Camp is littered with mementos and messages that other travelers have left behind, documenting their visit. Normally we would scoff at some dumbass’s, “Brett was here,” graffiti, but somehow the statement seemed legitimately brag-worthy here.
What was a bit surprising, however, is that the majority of memorial tributes we read at EBC were *not* regarding those who had perished on Everest. Sure, there were some, but (as we would discover the next day) the main Everest memorial site is actually earlier on the trail, before you reach Lobuche. Perhaps this makes sense – it’s probably not a good idea to have a constant reminder of all the fallen climbers right next to the current season’s hopefuls. Instead, EBC has become a place where trekkers and pilgrims come to ponder life, face their own mortality, and remember friends and family who for many reasons are not there to share the moment in person.
Everest Base Camp carries a lot of emotion – everyone has their own reason for wanting to visit the biggest mountain in the world. The area is covered in memorials, graffiti, political statements, and cairns – we walk around for half an hour reading all the tributes other have left behind – the “Flag of Honor” depicting the names of all those killed in the 9/11 terrorist attacks was particularly moving for us
Of course, the momentary peace and harmony we found at EBC was soon shattered by the other tourists with whom we had to share the location. As we were perusing the signs hanging within a tangle of prayer flags, we were delighted to find a “FREE TIBET” sign! The Chinese Government can’t control *both* sides of the mountain, we thought gleefully as we propped it up to better prominence…or can they? As were turned around for a second look, we noticed two very angry-looking Asian trekkers who had just been posing for a picture with a giant Chinese flag they had brought with them. They actually walked up to the prayer flags AND TOOK DOWN THE FREE TIBET SIGN!
Assholes.
Later that night when we were eating dinner in Gorak Shep, Phurba filled us in on some Sherpa gossip. As we were leaving EBC, a huge group of 20-somethings from Exodus Trekking were just arriving. When they got there, one of the girls stripped down *completely naked* in front of Base Camp trying to get a nudie picture! Igor was so *bummed* he missed that (pun intended). Apparently this whole nudie-pics-in-famous-locations is a thing nowadays (Cambodia has been having a lot of problems with naked tourists in Ankor Wat in recent years). The guide, however, caught the girl in the act before she was able to snap her illicit selfie – he demanded her passport and told her that he would be taking her to the police station when they returned to Lukla! Of course, she started crying and apologizing immediately, and the guide relented since she hadn’t finished taking her photo. The three of us laughed over the story as we finished our dinner.
Youths!
DAL BHAT.