Off to Kathmandu!

[Walks with dogs]

Following on from this thread.. http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=40632
we have booked our flights to Kathamndu this december. Now its booked it feels much more real and truth be told I'm half excited, half bricking it.

Has anyone on here done any trekking in the Everest region? I know Lamper is going soon. I've done some trekking in the Annapurna region before but this is going much higher and into another realm for me. Any and all advice will be gratefully received.

 

[tobes01]

Oh how cool for you, I'm hugely jealous. Did the Everest trek 10 years ago and LOVED it. Instant thoughts:
- Unless things have changed, Kathmandu is a very safe place. Take normal precautions against pickpockets and hotel staff, but it's no worse than Oxford Street.
- Nepalese beggars are polite, and what's a few rupees at the end of the day? If they're a pain then a joke will often get rid of them as easily as a harsh word
- Travel light. You can buy very high quality knock-offs in town. I still use a North Face down bag that I bought there. It's easy and cheap to get laundry done in town, and t-shirts etc are a bargain. If you're up in the hills, well, you'll just have to get smelly.
- Have a few items of clothing that you're willing to gift to the porters at the end of the trip, the senior guys will keep most of the tips, but the younger ones are wandering up the mountains in flip-flops and torn jeans.
- Dall (Chickpea or lentil curry) for breakfast. Yum. And less likely to make you ill than anything else. Actually, come to think of it, I didn't eat western food in the 3 weeks I was there.
- Bars in Thamel are touristy but good fun.
- Earplugs if you're staying in tea houses and you're a light sleeper. The walls are often just 6ft high partitions.
- A few good books. There's always time to sit and watch the world go by.

Will try to think of some more ideas...

Tobes

 

[Limaed]

Nice one, did you decide on Everest basecamp in the end?

 

[demographic]

Not myself but one of my brothers and his girlfriend hitched through India, Iran and Afghanistan when they were going to/coming back from Kathmandu in the late 70s (just before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan).

 

[nicodiemus]

Nepalese food is bloody fantastic. If you end up in a more indian part of town, definitely follow tobe's advice on dal for breakfast. Also, give masala dosa (pronounced doh sha) a try.They're like a crispy version of a crepe filled with a mild potato curry and served with a couple of sauces. Don't be afraid of looking like a muppet tourist.

As for food, take puritabs etc if you're worried, don't drink the tap water, and look for restaurants / food stalls that are bloody packed with natives.

Drink stretch tea with yak butter.

Take a crap of a lot of pictures.

Have a great hol!

Edit, that should have read if you end up in a more indian part of town, try masala dosa. can't think!

 

[tobes01]

Have a shave in the street (not yourself, get one of the street barbers to shave you...)

Visit the temples, they're stunning.

Play drug-dealer cricket (assuming they've not cleared up the seedy end of Thamel): two players stroll the length of the street. An offer of a soft drug (ClassB/C) is a run, a Class A is a 4, anyone offers you glue and you're out. Ran up a score of something like 30 on one game. It's a way to deal with a depressing fact of life.

 

[lamper]

Walks with dogs:

I know what you mean about bricking it!! I have 8 weeks left before I got. I got my flight information from the Charity sight over the weekend and it has all become very real!!

Got my jabs Monday - 7 in one go. Then back again for Yellow Fever (makes you feel proper sick after so you have to have it seperate - oh and it cost £50!).

If you want some more info, I have download some information from my charity site for you, feel free to take a look...

• http://www.peligra.com/everest/pdfs/Everest_Itinerary_2009.pdf - The Itinerary for my trek, if you are going the same route it should give you some idea.
• http://www.peligra.com/everest/pdfs/Everest_Kit_List.pdf - Suggested kitlist from my trek organiser
• http://www.peligra.com/everest/pdfs/expedition_health_advice.pdf - Some general health tips to think about
• http://www.peligra.com/everest/pdfs/High_altitude.pdf - The dangers of high attitude and the use of Diamox
• http://www.peligra.com/everest/pdfs/travel_tips.pdf - Some travel tips for the area

If you or anyone wants to take a look as I go round I will be hopefully blogging a bit and posting some picture on the way round (yeah there is internet at points!!) at http://www.galacoraleveresttrek.co.uk

 

[Walks with dogs]

Thanks so far all!

Yep Lima Ed we have plumped for base camp, or more accurately Kala Patar ( from where you get a better view apparently) assuming we make it that far we may also do base camp as they are relatively close together.

Tobes, how difficult was the walk for you? Me and the missus think nothing of trotting up snowdon and back but weve never done proper altitude before and will be carrying our own packs. I think I'm mainly worried about how tough I am likely to find it.

We will be using iodine ( while we can still get it) to make water safe ( it worked ok last time) and have appointments to get needles stuck in us.

Lamper, thanks for the links. If you look here http://www.travelpod.com/ there are some good blogs . Good luck with your trek!

 

[tobes01]

Tobes, how difficult was the walk for you? Me and the missus think nothing of trotting up snowdon and back but weve never done proper altitude before and will be carrying our own packs. I think I'm mainly worried about how tough I am likely to find it.

We will be using iodine ( while we can still get it) to make water safe ( it worked ok last time) and have appointments to get needles stuck in us.

The walking itself was a doddle - I was only carrying a day pack (porters had the heavy stuff) and the distances covered are in fact very short indeed. You all have to walk at the pace of the slowest because of altitude sickness. I got hit by it at Tengboche and felt ropey for a few days until we started to descend. Hadn't done any real training, I lived in Hong Kong at the time and just had a little bimble up the Peak of an evening. If you can zoom up Snowdon then you're laughing.

Btw, I don't recall having to purify water, I used a bottle with a built-in filter to be on the safe side, but most folk didn't. We mostly drank tea and beer which was all nice and pure anyway There's nothing like Gurkha whisky, hot water and honey to recover from a day's walk...

Tobes

 

[kiltedpict]

Did the base camp trek last November- knackering and felt awful with altitude sickness... but I would do it again in a heart beat!

By the time I made it to Gorak Shep (site of the original Hillary Base Camp) I was so knackered, I did not even attempt to get to the current Base Camp. My reasoning was this: You generally arrive at GS at around 9-10am. After a quick cup of tea you trek for another 3 hours over the glacier to the site of the base camps, which in November / December are empty. You can't see Everest from there either. You trek back again (another 3 hours) and spend the rest of the day resting. You then get up at stupid o'clock the next morning and climb Kala Patar to watch sunrise over Everest while risking serious frost nip (no joke), then head down, have breakfast and trek all the way back to where you were 2 or 3 days previously- very long day indeed.

I figured that I was not fit enough to do both, so opted to climb Kala Patar in the afternoon I got to Gorak Shep. I didn't make it to the top, but got stunning views of Everest and really glad I did it. My mate who tried to get to Base Camp couldn't manage, and was so knackered the next day, he could not manage Kala Patar either.

Sorry for the long post, but if you are unsure if you can do both- I would recommend Kala Patar- you'll might just regret going the Glacier...

I did take a shed load of pics too!!!

Other advice, Iodine worked great for me, and I didn't bother neutralising it either- tasted like a fine Islay Whisky but without the burn! If you do want to neutralise it, add vitamin c tabs- cheaper than the official tabs (which are small vit c tabs!)

I took a 1L sigg bottle with a neoprene cover. At night I paid a small amount to get it filled with hot water and put it in my sleeping bag before bed. In the AM I decanted it into my camel back, refilled the sigg with cold and added the iodine.. by the time the camel back runs out, the other stuff is safe to add to the camel back.. repeat as needed.

Will post the link to my pics once I remember it!

Enjoy the flight into Lukla too... pretty spectacular.

All the best

KP

 

[Limaed]

Awesome! I think I would agree with Tobes about the walking being ok, especially if your getting some hill training in before you go. The maximum recommened ascent for high altitude is about 300 meters per day, hence often you my only be walking for about 3-4 hours.
Would it be possible to hire a couple of porters to carry your loads? that way you are supporting local people and having an easier time.
Keeping hydrated is very important at altitude, a dehydrated body dosn't transport oxygen well and can amplify altitude sickness, try to pee clear at all times.
This can be easier said than done as often the water can be quite sedimented and grim tasting, I would definatly reccomend some powdered drinks flavours.
Personally i'rd give the drugs a miss too, youre better listening to your body. One of the guys had iregular heart beats in Bolivia and in Nepal another had pulmonary odema and had to be casevac'ed off the hill. Both were in potentially life threatening situations.

 

[tobes01]

Flight in and out of Lukla is one of the most amazing in the world. When we did it (10 years ago) we went Gurkha Airways, who were considered to be the best around because a) the pilots were sober and b) they had a GPS velcro'd to the dashboard. All the other airlines were flying blind through the clouds on dead reckoning.

We got fogbound in Lukla on the way out for 2 days. I was offered a flight out in a Yeti chopper, which proved to be a cut & shut Russian military one that had been dragged in by hand from Afghanistan - body panels still had bullet holes in from where that particular chopper had been shot down. Russian pilots got out, walked into tea-house, decanted the remains of a bottle of whisky into their tea and bought another bottle. They'd drunk over half of it by the time the chopper had been unloaded and refilled.

For some inexplicable reason I declined to take a lift home in that one... You know when you're at a fun airstrip when all the local outbuildings are made of bits of crashed Yak-27s.

 

[kiltedpict]

I would agree with Limaed- I would recommend hiring porters if for no other reason than it's much needed support to the local economy. Also, it will make your trek more enjoyable. I considered myself to be reasonably hill fit but still overweight on the trip, and was walking very slowly indeed- however, I made it to the lodges well before guide book suggested times and our guide said that everyone who walks slowly makes it, those walking fast often struggle. Walking slowly also ensures you have plenty opportunities to take photos!

 

[tobes01]

You don't have porters? Bet you do, I find it hard to imagine the organisers haven't got them. As everyone else has said, it will help the economy and leave you free to explore what you see rather than staggering around. It'll also help fend off altitude sickness.

Tobes

 

[He' s left the building]

If you hire a guide, then your guide will have a porter for his/her bag. It's the done thing to get porters, for a longish trek like EBC a porter can earn a decent wage to see them through to the next trekking season.

I'm hoping to get out to Nepal again this year and I'll be taking some spare high-factor shades to give out to the porters/guides, these guys are living in poverty and it is important to ensure some of your money goes into their economy. They tend to have smallish feet so if you are female prepare for them to gaze longingly (hint hint) at your boots, especially at the end of the trek (hint hint)

 

[Walks with dogs]

I'm amazed at the response so far to this , I was expecting one or two to be honest. Some great tips coming here and some fantastic little stories- love the gps bit and the russian pished up pilots.

At the moment we are doing it independently, not as part of a group- hence no porters etc. We may well revise that one and seek out porters once we get there.

I'm getting all excited reading these, takes me back to the days of crackerjack-just off to crush a grape!

 

[kiltedpict]

When you get off the plane at Lukla, you will be able to take your pick really.. there will be many folks wanting to earn a decent wage. One thing to bear in mind, when you take one on, you are to a degree responsible for ensuring they are equipped with suitable clothing and foot ware. We went with a reputable trekking company and as a result, our guide and porter were better equipped than others. If using a porter, they actually prefer your bags to be holdall style- they take two, tie them together then carry them via a head strap.. apparently, rucksacks are more difficult to carry in pairs. Aye, it is the norm for 1 porter to carry 2 holdalls both around the 20kg mark!! We both had a shot of carrying them towards the end, and we immediately doubled the already decent tip we had planned to give him!

 

[Walks with dogs]

I remember seeing one lad about half my size ( and I'm not a big bloke) carrying a fridge up hill, like you say with a strap across the head.

Amazingly tough people.

 

[tobes01]

When I went through, there was a pool table in Namche. Owner told us that the base was marble, flown into Lukla in four parts, each weighing 120kg+. They were carried to Namche in 3 days by one old bloke, who was the only porter the owner trusted to carry all that weight without dropping it. All from a strap on his head...

 

[He' s left the building]

All from a strap on his head...

Of course, it is mandatory to try this whilst out there! Once only!

Clothing tip: Merino wool shirts are good as they can be worn for days at a time without odour problems, very useful on trek.