Everest Base Camp 2

This is day 4 of the trek. Good news is I’m still going. I honestly was 50/50 about carrying on after day 2 because I was so exhausted. I’ve just spoken to a girl named Erin at our current tea house and she said exactly the same thing. But I had a day rest on day 3 and feel much stronger today. I know I have a good base level of fitness but I hadn’t done any preparation as such. Always good to prepare. Anyway I think/hope my fitness has kicked in now. We’ll see. Erin also said her guide had told her that days 2 and today were amongst the hardest. Let’s hope he wasn’t just being nice!!! This mornings trek was lovely. It was mostly on the level and ended with a descent down to the river - we are essentially tracking the river Dootgossay - I have absolutely no idea if that spelling is right but it’s more or less there phonetically - to its source at EBC. That was where we broke for lunch. Of course the corollary was we had to ascend after lunch - after all this whole trek is an ascent not a descent so if we go down we have to go back up later. But this post lunch ascent was much easier for me than on day 2. And it was a non-stop ascent until we reached the ridge after which things flattened out somewhat. We reached where we due to stop for the night and my guide Sagar asked me if I wanted to go in for another 45 minutes. Who was I to say no. But this necessitated a new album. I’ve been playing album after album on my iPhone and I think it would have been so much harder without the music. Theres a reason that armies march to marches. For me it helps mark time and makes the passing of time more enjoyable. Also when I put in Back in Black after lunch I got a few ‘yeahs’ from some of the other trekkers as I walked past them. And the ABBA seemed to cheer up one or two others as well. Some of the Sherpas carry huge speakers and you can then from miles off. I am in awe of them. They carry so much more than I could and do it so much faster. My guide said they carry up to 100kg. Can that be right? Anyway just as I thought I was getting the hang of this with all the gear and rucksack and everything a couple of Nepalese came the other way wearing literally just running gear. According to Sagar they are in training for the Everest marathon. They holds this every year on the anniversary of Hillary/Tenzing which is I think 29th May. Doing a marathon is hard enough under any circumstances. Doing it at altitude in the foothills of the Himalayas is insane. Is there anything humans cannot do if they put their minds to it?

Today has been so scenic. Loads of conifer trees and rhododendrons which this area is famous for. I’m surprised everything is so green. I had expected more white. But I think we’re getting nearer to the tree line.

Random observation. It’s funny to watch helicopters - of which there are a lot here - flying below you. And eagles for that matter.Leer más