Day 16,17 Everest Base Camp

Day 16 – 17

Everest Base Camp situated at 5200 metres on the north face and is used by the mountain climbers when climbing via the northeast ridge. There are non climbers who come here to admire the panoramic and breathing taking views of Mt Everest. The area is crawling with tents and sellers. There is even a post office where you can send an overpriced postcard.

Everest Base Camp is an interesting place. As we approached, I saw a collection of tents running parallel on both sides of a dirt road, with names such as ‘The Hilton’, ‘Sheraton’, ‘Snowland Hotel’...

We retired back to our camp after an exhausted day. It was a bloody cold night, we put on all we had and buried ourselves under sleeping bags and shivered ourselves to sleep. The next morning, I woke up and needed to pee, it was still dark and snowing outside, I put on my hiking boots, found a land cruiser and did my morning duty behind. Ha, I wasn’t the only one!!

The actual base camp is a long walk from the tents. As the morning light draws in, we started walking up to Base Camp; the trek took nearly half a day. As we were walking along the rocky path, we’re overtaken by horse drawn carriages which carried passengers under blankets. We should have done that. The hike became harder and harder, the last kilometer was steep and winding. Eventually we got to the base camp, and our permits were checked. With all the hard work, we were only allowed to stay 30-45 minutes. There were one sign saying no one was allowed to go beyond the sign, another one saying could not take pictures of military post. However, our effort was completely worth it. We staggered to the top to be greeted with magnificent views of the summit. Walking back down was great, a real relief, and I could actually enjoy the panoramic views.

The two day stays was a blessing. We had a clear blue sky and uninterrupted views of Mt Qomolangma. The mountains were beautiful and they changed color during the different times of the day. In early morning and late evening, Everest is shining like a diamond in the sunglow. I can only think of one word to describe it - breathtaking. The view is as breathtaking, the altitude is as breathtaking and the temperature change from day to night is as breathtaking!! EBC is definitely the highlight of the trip.