Everest Base Camp Trek - Journal (Part 3)

For our EBC Trek cost-cutting tips, go here.
For part 1 of this EBC Trek journal, go here. It covers days 1 to 3, from Lukla to Phakding to Namche Bazaar.
For part 2 of this EBC Trek journal, go here. It covers days 4 to 6, from Namche Bazaar to Tengboche to Dingboche.
For part 4 of this journal, go here. It covers day 10 to 13, from Gorak Shep to Everest and back down to Lukla.

Dingboche

Those little colored spots are the roofs of Dingboche, which we set out from and returned to on Day 7. The man in the middle is our guide, Ngima.

Day 7 - Yak City

Our second rest day was spent climbing to 5000m before lunch. Once more, clear blue skies stretched from peak to peak above us. The climb, though strenuous, did much to calm my fears of altitude sickness. Reaching 5000m felt like an achievement, and it made the highest point on our trek, Kala Pattar’s 5550m, appear less daunting. Although I’d had mild headaches on day 6 and during this climb, they were gone before we returned for lunch. I was happy to bump into Iva, Mark and Catalina again, near the top of our ascent. We got some pictures in with Catalina, Iva and Ngima to celebrate our achievement.

Ngima, Iva and Squid.

  Moments later, an eagle graced us with its presence, consecrating the day by soaring not 20 feet in front of us. I believe Homer’s Greeks would have considered it a good omen, and watching it sweep majestically overhead, there was surely no better place to be at that moment. It was so close ! Seeing it first, stunned, I could only blurt out weird sounds to make the others look up. They must have thought for a second that I had had an aneurysm. Luckily for me, the eagle's majesty made everyone forget how moronic I’d just sounded. In a moment he was out of sight, our cameras barely turned on, but at least the memory is etched in my brain. 

Back at the hotel, we had a hearty meal in the blazing sun, and a nice chat with an older American couple from San Jose. People say the trail is a great equalizer. The man was in his 70s ! Then, I had to go explore Dingboche in order to set up an evening of revelry that Catalina had proposed earlier. Of course, Catalina and Mark were staying further up, and Iva was staying further down from us. With no path connecting our Hotel Good Luck to the main road, I went all the way around to catch the road, crossed the town to Iva’s hotel, then went around again back to Good Luck. Dingboche, I dub thee : Yak City. There were yaks at every corner, watching me from hilltops, from yards, from almost within a small shop… There were more yaks than people.

               At around 7 we suited up (remember, it’s bloody cold at night) and went out for a wild night on the town. We arrived at Mark and Catalina’s hotel, the Grand Himalayan Resort, to… play Monopoly. Party animals we. At eight, we put away the game to go to bed; it was late. And that was by far our "wildest" night in the Himalayas. I’ve been pitching the idea to the writers of The Hangover but so far no luck. I just need to keep at it.

Walking back to our hotel under a new moon, we could clearly see the stars and the Milky Way. Framed by the mountains, it was stunning. We could have stayed there all night but for the fear of death by turning into a popsicle. Getting home was an adventure in itself, walking in pitch darkness with one headlight over stone walls, under wire fences around freezing puddles, yak droppings and a man farting alone in the night. The poor man was minding his own business, farting loudly in the dark next to a large boulder. When we heard a loud ripping noise, we did what anyone would do when startled, we turned in the direction of the noise. But Squid had a headlamp on, so the man went from farting alone in the dark to being caught in a spotlight with an audience. We held our chuckles a few steps to preserve the last shreds of his dignity then snickered as quietly as we could. He should have blamed it on the yaks.

Day 8 - This entry was eaten by a mountain goat.

        Day 8 is lost to my memory. I never realized I was that tired. Hopefully the pictures will help to fill the blanks in my mind. I do remember playing Monopoly with Catalina and Mark and worrying about Iva. That day he didn’t bump into us and we couldn’t find him in the tea houses in Lobuche either. After the conversation we’d had the day before about him not taking altitude sickness medicine, I hoped he’d simply taken an extra day to acclimatize. Our tea house, though expensive, was pretty bare. It was 22 days old and the final touches hadn’t been put. It was also close to empty. A Japanese fellow and we were its only customers. That just meant we had the pleasure of getting real close and personal with the yak dung burning in the stove. This was the most dangerous time in our journey. For this night and the next, we would be sleeping at close to 5,000m, but Everest was just on the other side of the night, a few hours' walk away on the Khumbu glacier.

Here's what I'd forgotten from Day 8, except for the memorials which I will talk about in part 4 of this journey.

Setting off from Dingboche.

Day 9 - Success

            We made it to base camp.

Mount Everest

We fought and vanquished the fatigue, the cold and the headaches. Those gave me a scare, but they came and went. That morning, buddhist music was playing in the tea house. I'm not religious, but those mantras came in handy. I believe fear can make you sick the same way the placebo effect can cure you. At over 5000m of altitude, worrying about altitude sickness wasn't something I wanted to obsess over until my imagination ran away from me and became real. To clear my thoughts and keep calm, I kept chanting those mantras to myself. Whether they actually kept me healthy or whether they simply kept me calm, I was thankful to have them in mind. There were times, atop the ridge channeling the Khumbu glacier, when the excitement overpowered everything else. After nine days, we were going to see Everest. It wouldn’t feel like cheating this time. Finally, just before base camp, we got our first glimpse. Everest was hidden by two other mountains so that we could only see the summit, but it was a perfectly clear day. We might have been able to see a climber if there had been any. It felt so close, it was easy to picture myself at the top. The Nepali side does not offer the best views of Everest, those are to be had from Tibet. But we much preferred hiking to Everest than driving, and the view of the summit from so close filled us with awe. There it was, an 8,848m tall mass murderer with over 250 victims. There are over 200 bodies on that mountain, "because it's there", as Edmund Hillary put it, or because it represents the final challenge for those who wish to conquer Nature. We could see snow being blown off its peak.

        Unexpectedly, we got to see many beautiful birds along the way, and Ngima got up real close to some of them. The birds reacted no differently than if he’d been a mountain goat. Which of course he is as his uncanny climbing ability and predilection for sticking blades of grass in his mouth demonstrates (or he is rather a were-goat), so it makes sense. One red bird, the Spotted Great Rosefinch, came to look in on us at base camp, which made my day all the better. The walk back was the most exhausted we’d been on the trek up to that point, and I looked at the next day with not just a little apprehension. We were among the very last to reach EBC that day, due to our inefficiency over rocky terrain. If Ngima is a were-goat, than we must be were-turtles, and we would have to get up even higher on day 10 to reach Kala Patthar. 

                  The altitude was taking its toll on my mind. My reasoning was slow, unidirectional and full of errors, so this entry in my journal was skin and bones. Still, I had enough presence of mind at base camp to take out a Snickers, dip it in peanut butter and live the life. Does it get any better than that ?

Khumbu glacier

Gorak Shep

Super photogenic horse

Khumbu glacier

Spotted Great Rosefinch, at Everest Base Camp.

Credit: Ngima Tamang

How Dare You Travel White Boy? or how to use your privilege for Good

   

 

        I came across this thought provoking article on Facebook today. It’s a well-written piece about the selfish display of privilege inherent in traveling and travel blogging. It is a problem I was confronted with even before I started traveling. One of my classmates from kindergarten all the way to high-school shunned international tourism for its polluting flights and overly hedonistic and therefore egotistical behaviour. I was once again confronted by this issue in Cambodia, where a student at a protest commented on how lucky I was to have the luxury of traveling. The protest was to call for justice for farmers evicted from their land by the local governor for the sake of foreign companies. Though his intention was not to accuse me, the protestor had inadvertently made me feel silly and selfish. I was and still am guilty of not only luxuriating in my privilege, but of flaunting it everywhere I travel.

          Revolution on the Road’s article makes a good point of how it won’t help to stop writing about travel, and let’s face it, we’re still too selfish to stop traveling altogether and donate our money to altruistic causes. We are also powerless to alter the course of entire nations. As much as I would like to transform Cambodia into a democracy, I simply can’t. If someone knows of a hotline to call for that, I’d really appreciate it. However there must be more we can do than simply calling attention to the shittiness we encounter when traveling, and writing more humbly about said travels.

I scoured the meager depths of my noggin and along with some loose change I came up with five ways to use your privilege for Good.

#1 Volunteer:

           The first one is the easiest to think of and perhaps the easiest one to mess up. While there are plenty of good opportunities for volunteering your time and skills, you have to be careful not to end up like this. We have the privilege of being able to save money and survive without income for extended periods of time, so volunteering is a good way to use your privilege for Good. Just be sure you have the skill you’re volunteering. You’re doing this to help others not yourself, so make sure you have the ability to help. You don't want to end up like this. Feeling better about yourself should be a byproduct of volunteering, not your main goal.

          In Cambodia we met two dentistry students who had just completed six weeks of volunteering their services in small towns across the country. Their skills were sorely needed, and I have no doubt that their summer trip had a positive impact on communities they visited while also being enriching experiences for both of them.

#2 Teach a skill to one person:

           In Nepal we hired a guide who spoke very good English. He had learned English as a teen while working as a porter. One of the tourists he worked for had taken the time to teach him. Imparting this skill allowed this Nepalese teen to later become a guide, doubling his potential salary. More than that, this new language gave him access to a larger network of tourists who could potentially help him down the road. Teaching him English tremendously increased his opportunity for upward social mobility. Teaching is time consuming but depending on the skill, it’s something you could continue to work on by communicating over the internet. Of course this assumes you’ve spent enough time with someone to forge even a small bond.

#3 Be someone’s friend:

         When my brother did research in Thailand for his Master’s, he befriended a student there who guided him around the country. When that Thai got married, he sent a message to my brother to inform him of the happy news. My brother sent him a cash wedding gift. It was a sizable amount for a Canadian student, but it was a small fortune for the newly wed couple that helped them move out of their parents’ home and into their own. Helping someone become a homeowner is a good way to help them up the social ladder. You could also pay for their child’s education or you could give them your smartphone if you thought they could use it. Access to the internet can open a lot of doors, too.

Of course you can still help out as a friend without giving lump sums of gold left and right. You could help someone find a job abroad. It’s not easy to emigrate to a wealthy country, but a successful move can dramatically improve a family’s lot in life. Lean on your contacts, use your ease of access to the internet to find available jobs, help them find a scholarship…etc. Try and help someone get some of the privileges you enjoy.

         Just being a friend is important. You never know when or how your friends will need you, but you’ll be there. So make friends and let them know you’re there for them. Now if someone has a job for a hardworking Nepalese man who's the head of a household of four and is willing to sponsor his work visa, please contact me. 

This guy in Kaiphong's popcorn is the best in the world.
Just outside Daliangmen, or the north side of the street.

#4 Promote their business:

          Whether they are already established or just starting off, getting free marketing could give them a significant boost. If you have techskills, you give help them develop a website or an app. If you have a large social media following, you might send customers their way or start a Kickstarter campaign for them. If you have none of these things, you can give them positive reviews on as many websites as you can find or put them in touch with people who might better be able to grow their business. Make growing their business a priority.

#5 Don’t forget your own country:

Invite prosperity into their home.

         Helping others doesn’t need to be confined to your travels, and there are underprivileged people everywhere. Keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to use your privileges for others at all times. Getting out of poverty is much easier when you have others helping you pull yourself up, as this article points out. Just having someone who can open their doors to you when your home is in chaos can have a significant impact. It’s a lot easier to help someone out when they don’t live two oceans away. 

Honourable Mention: become a drug mule.
            I'm sure there are many other ways to make your travels work for the greater good. This article shares what I find an amusing concept: becoming a legal "drug mule". You're going to want to be extra careful if taking this approach, for obvious reasons.

            In the end, you need to get to know someone in order to have an opportunity to help them, so making friends is an essential part of using your privilege for Good. As travelers we can’t change the world. We might not even be able to compensate for burning jet fuel in the atmosphere, but we can influence the lives of individuals because we have the privileges necessary to do so. It doesn't hurt to try.

Everest Base Camp Trek - Journal (Part 2)

For our EBC Trek cost-cutting tips, go here.
For part 1 of this EBC Trek journal, go here. It covers days 1 to 3, from Lukla to Namche Bazaar.
For part 3 of this journal, go here. It covers days 7 to 9, from Dingboche to Lobuche to Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp.
For part 4 of this journal, go here. It covers day 10 to 13, from Gorak Shep to Everest and back down to Lukla.

Day 4 : Lost to Rain and Snow

We woke up to very bad weather. It was a mix of rain and snow. Our outlook on the remaining 9 days of trekking grew bleak. If the weather remained like this, it was going to be a cold, wet, miserable journey. We depended on the sun to warm our days and more importantly our spirits. When the sun was out, anything was possible and no challenge seemed too great.Because of our apprehension, we decided to go buy a local-made wool jacket in town for Squid, and we got scammed because we didn’t follow our rule. Never accept the first price offered. But we were in a hurry, so I caved. At least the snow and rain stopped soon after. It was too late to embark on the hike to Tengboche, but we had new hope for the morrow.  Yes, "the morrow". I’ve been to Everest (or a camp reasonably close to Everest, no need to squabble), so I’m qualified to talk like an arse. Please keep that in mind.

Setting off from Namche.

Day 5 : Hallelujah

It was a gloriously not rainy day, and it turned out perfectly.    

We bumped into Iva again, and we even had lunch with Mark, whom we met in Ghorakpur and took the bus to Kathmandu with, and his friend Catalina. The landscapes were amazing. I was particularly awed by the trees with ghostly green cobweb-like vines.

I was a kid again, remembering running in the Pyrennées with my brother, my parents far behind. Once more I was made to appreciate my privileged childhood. Every turn brought a new reason to marvel. Arriving in Tengboche, we were treated to not only a beautiful monastery between sun and fog, but the Mani Rumdi Dances Festival. Whether at a wedding, or a special event like this, I highly value moments where I can be surrounded by unguarded joy and share in it. Here locals, old and young, monks and foreigners, all gathered within the monastery's courtyard to watch and laugh genuinely at two masked jesters who sang, danced and used props to amuse the crowd. Two of those props were "poor" foreigners « "invited" to participate in the jesters’ plays. They danced, they drank beer and stranger brews, they dressed up. The locals loved the foreigners’ confused but obviously unrehearsed and unpredictable behaviour.

After an hour or two, I went back to the lodge to warm myself, but Squid stayed out. She saw slapstick turn into a symbolic confrontation between good and evil, with the monks bestowing a sword (buddhism) to the jester turned hero, empowering him to slay the beasts of ignorance and desire. At the end of the show, people threw down money but also beautiful silk. This allowed Squid to finally understand the origin of a Chinese proverb which says: 博得滿堂彩 (“I got the entire room's clothes”) and means that a performance was a great success.

So no rain, not one but two fortuitous meetings, harsh landscapes, eeries landscapes, charmed landscapes, comedy and drama, happy locals, it was just a perfect day. 










Day 6 - Winter Is Coming

We woke up to blue skies in one window, and clouds in the other. As we descended into the valley, the clouds took over temporarily. A snowfall during the night had put a menacing mask on the terrain. 
   

The ghost trees had lost their magic glow, the mountains looked fiercer, and the cold was threatening. Luckily, good weather was sticking with us. As the sun peeked over the mountains the sombre scene was transformed into a winter wonderland. I even found myself humming the tune unwittingly.

Near Pangboche, the valley opened up onto a plateau patched with farms. We began to leave the winter behind us, the country here was free of snow. After that the trail wound uncertainly through brushland. We had come too high for trees. Navigating around the remaining fire bushes and some boulders, we chose our own path as the trail branched off or disappeared over the flat ground. Finally, rounding a hill, there was Dingboche, ready to feed us.    

Eat, walk, eat, sleep, repeat. Don’t rinse because it’s too bloody cold. We hadn’t had a shower in six days, and we didn’t plan on having one either. We didn’t want to pay for one, we didn’t want to suffer through one because it was damn cold, and we didn’t smell that bad yet. We weren’t making the paint peel off the walls at least. We had wetwipes, soap and dry wash; that was enough for us.

Near Namche.

Our guide Ngima entering the hotel in Tengboche.

Tengboche

The common area in our hotel in Tengboche, with the precious lifegiving stove on the right.