Trekking in Nepal to Everest Base Camp and Gokyo lakes

This trip review, coming with lot of photos and useful information, focuses on a trekking tour in Nepal. After a Kathmandu city tour and a flight to Lukla, an extensive trek to Everest region follows during the cold, but crisp and less crowded, Himalayan winter. This Nepal trekking was based on the traditional route via Namche Bazaar, Tengboche, Dingboche and Lobuche, bound for Kala Pattar and Everest Base Camp, before reaching Gokyo lakes, through the funny and spectaculer Chola pass. This is a lodge-based expedition (teahouse), with a Sherpa guide and a porter (three people in total), not requiring any particular ability from the partecipants.

HOW TO ORGANIZE A TREKKING TO NEPAL?

Although there are many tour operators who organize group tours with trekking in the Himalayas, I personally prefer individual tours, as this kind of trip includes several issues for which you might want to be free, without having to stick to decisions taken by a group. For example if you are too tired, or suffer from some altitude sickness, or just want to stop more (or less) in some place, you can change the program for as many times as you wish. In addition, the trekking routes proposed by the agencies are often incomplete, as they want to take even those customers who have little time or very limited budgets, which is particularly harmful because if you get reduced days of acclimatization, you may experience altitude sickness more easily. My personal advice is therefore to email a trekking agency in Nepal with proven reliability, communicating the route that you want to trek and any particular need that you may have. For the tour in the Himalayas presented in this travelogue, I turned to Peak Paldor, a trekking agency based in Kathmandu, who made the whole trip very pleasant and for myself only.

HOW TO GET TO LUKLA AND TO EVEREST REGION?

If you want to start your Everest trek from Lukla airport, as it usually happens for most organized tours, your trekking agency will buy the ticket for your flight from Kathmandu to Lukla and vice versa . The flight takes about forty minutes, is operated with a small turboprop aircraft (generally a Dash-6 Twin Otter) and is subject to weather conditions, as Lukla airport presents some difficulties that prevent any flight in poor visibility or strong winds. You can get to Kathmandu with various airlines: from Europe, the best airline with better schedule and fares is perhaps Qatar Airways, at least at time of this travelogue in 2006. Before and after Lukla flight, it's best to add one or more nights In Kathmandu, either to neutralize possible delays of connecting flights, but and also to visit this spectacular city.

HOW TO PREVENT ALTITUDE SICKNESS?

The greatest challenge of any trekking in the Himalayas, and a trek to within Everest region is not an exception, is given by the extreme altitude that may cause mountain sickness due to the thin air poor in oxygen, and because of the low pressure. So, how to prevent altitude sickness is probably one of the first question that you may have before arranging a trek to Nepal, as this issue depends also on personal predisposition and in some case it may be so severe, that it may require interruption of the trip. If you have never been to extreme altitude and therefore you do not know how your body will react to the thin air, perhaps it might be a good idea to make a "test trip" that is less demanding than a trek (perhaps you could organize an overland trip to Tibet or to Bolivia, but always paying attention to the speed with which you can reach the higher altitudes, even if you are traveling by car). If you are sure that you can manage high altitude in some ways, as your reaction to the thin air is in the average, then it will be sufficient to follow the general rules for the prevention of altitude sickness, which are basically:

• Once above the threshold of 2,500 meters, continue to climb gradually (about 300 meters per day, avoiding to exceed 500 meters per day)
• Spend two consecutive nights at the same level, for every 1000 meters of total ascent.
• Get to extreme altitudes only with day trips and return down to eat and sleep.
• Do not climb further if you already don't feel fine. If the situation doesn't improve during the next couple of days, you should get to lower altitude.
• Drink at least 2-3 liters of water a day, even if you are not thirsty
• Do not smoke or drink alcohol
• In case of headaches, use only very light medications
• If you know that you take longer than average to acclimatize to extreme altitudes, consider the use of Diamox, but only under strict advice from your doctor.

The most common symptoms of altitude sickness are a mild headache and a slight fatigue, which can theoretically be considered "normal". Instead, simultaneous presence of strong loss of appetite, nausea , vomiting, dizziness and insomnia, is a condition that requires immediate attention (acute mountain sickness or AMS) because these symptoms, if ignored and if you are particularly susceptible, can progress into pulmonary edema or cerebral edema.

IS IT DIFFICULT TO TREK IN NEPAL? DOES IT REQUIRE PARTICULAR ABILITIES?

If you are reading this trip review, you are probably interested to go to trek in Nepal, but perhaps you are a little bit worried because you are not perfectly fit or you are not used to walk for so many hours in the mountains. Well... there is really no reason to worry! This Everest trek doesn't require technical knowledge, as it consists of just normal walking (trekking) along mountain trails, without climbs requiring ropes or anything like this. Furthermore, you don't need to be an athlete for just trekking in the Himalaya, as the walks are usually limited to no more than 6-8 kilometers distributed over full day, with as many stops as you need to rest and to enjoy the landscape. In any case, having a normal shape and normal legs certainly helps, so, starting from several weeks before the trip, you may wish to do some exercize by just running for a few minutes every day (increasing the time from time to time) or even by just climbing and descending the stairs at home. The major difficulties of a trekking in Nepal are the altitude and the limited facilities, making the trip not a comfortable holiday, but a real expedition requiring an open mind, a good planning and some flexibility. Especially if you are over 40, it may be a good idea to consult your doctor and have a check at your heart.

WHAT IS THE BEST TIME FOR A TREKKING IN NEPAL?

I did this Everest trek during the beginning of the winter, from second half of December to the beginning of January. Normally, this period offers crisper sky and less tourists, but it will be much colder than the traditional April/May and October/November months (actually the best season to trek the Himalayas) with night temperatures falling down to -15 centigrades indoor above 4500 meters (a very good sleeping bag is required and is usually offered by the trekking company). Anyway, regardless of the low night temperature, the day is generally pleasant, with temperatures slightly above freezing and no snow on the ground (snowfalls normally begin later, in mid january).

WHERE TO STAY DURING A TREKKING IN NEPAL?
WHAT THE ACCOMMODATIONS LOOK LIKE?

All the overnights were indoor, inside refuges or teahouses found along the way from Lukla to Everest Base Camp and Gokyo via Cho La pass. Generally, the dining room is heated by a stove burning wood or dried yak's poo, but the bedrooms and the toilets have no heating devices at all and in the mornings it will be very cold. Typical food is potatoes, many different types of soups, some meat and vegetables, cereals, and even tomato & cheese pizza.

IS IT COLD AT SO EXTREME ALTITUDE?
HOW TO DRESS PROPERLY?

Considering the very high altitude, you may ask yourself how the weather looks like in the Himalayas, especially what's the temperature during your treks and how to dress properly. The Everest region is located around 28 degrees north latitude, therefore, at altitudes where in Europe or North America there is periennal snow, in the Himalayas you will still find shrubs, flowers and grazing animals. Although in December the temperature above 4000 meters can reach -20 degrees Celsius at night and early in the morning, the perceived cold is much less because the air is usually very dry. The only problem could be the wind, but luckly it doesn't blow every day. In any case, during a sunny day, the temperature usually rises above zero even at altitudes higher than 5000 meters, making the trek very comfortable because you will not suffer from cold and at the same time will not get wet due to over-heting. From these information about Himalayas climate around Mount Everest, it is clear that you will have to dress in layers, adjusting them very frequently depending on the time of day, solar radiation, wind and physical activity (basically, you could find yourself walking with 2 layers of wool and wind-jacket, as well as with only thermal underwear). It is always very important to have a good hat that covers face and ears, maybe integrated with a balaclava during particularly cold and windy days.

HOW TO RECHARGE CAMERA BATTERIES ON A LONG TREK?

After Namche Bazaar there is no power supply, so bring lot of charged batteries for your camera (battery life will be even shorter because of the cold). Over the years, more and more teahouses offer the possibility to recharge the batteries through solar panel and inverter, but it is better to be self-sufficient. At temperatures below -5 degrees, it is a good idea to put the camera under the jacket together with the spare batteries to keep everything warm.