Reset search
Nepal
Satellite

Nepal
Sagarmāthā Zone

Discover travel destinations of travelers writing a travel journal on FindPenguins.
Top 10 Travel Destinations Sagarmāthā Zone
Show all
Travelers at this place
    • Himālaya & The Silk Road
      1
      11
      Day 22

      Day 22: Nangkartshang

      April 11 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -7 °C

      We woke up at 6 am to a frosty morning, with our window iced over blocking our view out to Ama Dablam. Hauling ourselves out of the warmth of the sleeping bags and into the frigid air, we downed a feast of porridge, omelette, jam toast, fried potatoes and tea for breakfast, before heading out to tackle Nangkartshang. The conditions were once again lovely, and the weather here takes a quite consistent pattern: beautifully clear in the morning and clouding over by mid afternoon without fail, hence our eagerness for an early start.

      The 732 m of steep, steep ascent up to Nangkartshang's 5073 m pinnacle was a laboured one, with us stopping regularly to catch our breath in the thinning air and question quite how we could possibly only have ascended about 50 metres each time we'd stopped for a break. Still, the early morning stillness, combined with the peaceful solitude and grand vistas out to some of the largest peaks not only in the region, but also the world, encouraged our efforts. The increased leverage brought us level with some giant glaciers and a great angle of eagle eyed observation over the valley. The views from the vantage point as we broke the 5000 metre barrier were so beautiful in every direction and we agree that they rank among some of the best we've both ever seen. But how were we managing in the altitude? So far, okay. Minus a pang of dizziness from Thomas at the top, which was easily solved with some ibuprofen, we've been doing pretty alright so far (without trying to tempt fate. 🤞) And so, we sat at the mountain's pointy bit for well over an hour, just staring out at the jagged peaks while big birds of prey circled overhead (and Thomas spotted a marmot.)

      The route back down was relatively straight forward, and after a spot of lunch, we spent the rest of the day taking it easy, topping up on snacks from a nearby shop and tackling each other's wit with more vicious card games (today I'm the curlywurly. 😔) Thomas also has plenty of fun facts on Edmund Hillary now after having finished his book so hit him up for that if you're feeling nerdy.      Read more

    • Himālaya & The Silk Road
      1
      Day 23

      Day 23: Dingboche to Lobuche

      April 12 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -4 °C

      We tried to navigate our own way around a lump of earth straight out of Dingboche to avoid climbing it (for no reason other than we're lazy to be honest) and in doing so, accidentally took an unnecessarily indirect route to the start of the path towards Lobuche.

      The route which followed was a dusty and gentle incline, but with the altitude it soon became apparent that Thomas was struggling with lethargy and lack of being able to take a satisfying breath. And it's true, everything and anything can tire you out up here and it does make you feel extremely slow. But after he managed to collect some air, we shuffled on towards Thok La pass, negotiating a half-frozen stream set in the moraine on our way. Thok La was the most tiring portion of the day, another upward endurance test where stopping every few steps became basically mandatory. But once we finally reached the top, there were mass monuments to all those who had died on Everest down the years, while the outrageous view from every direction was joined by a new glaciated feature: Pumori peak. With the ground levelling out, we entered the final valley which leads up to Everest Base Camp, and new peaks unfolded as appropriate. Rolling into Lobuche, it's been business as usual in unwinding and recollecting our sanity at a teahouse, this time at an altitude of 4,920 m. If all goes to plan, and we weather the -30°C night (possibly exaggerating but not sure), tomorrow we hit Everest Base Camp.      Read more

    • Himālaya & The Silk Road
      2
      Day 25

      Day 25: Kala Patthar

      April 14 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -12 °C

      Everest Base Camp may be what everyone sets out to do, but in my opinion, Kala Patthar is the real jewel in the trekking crown. Kala Patthar is a 5,645 m vantage point with gorgeous vistas over mahoosive peaks in every direction. It sits some 300 metres above Base Camp and comes with an even more stark view of Everest unlike any we'd seen before. So with the hour barely 6 am as we departed Gorak Shep, we were delighted to bear witness to the perfect conditions: shimmering snow, unblemished blue skies, and the sun's rays gently easing in the day from over the Himalayan horizon. It was peaceful bliss. Or at least it would've been if not for the punishing ascending altitude we were about to undertake.

      As we began our ascent, we were surprised to see other trekkers descending already, at 6 am? That's keen, we thought, as we continued to shuffle our way up the icy incline. Thomas seemed to be coping okay but I've got to say, it was the hardest 'easy' climb I've ever done; wheezing for breath after every few steps and ascending in painful slow motion. I say 'easy' climb because, if not for the altitude, it really should've been. But my god, altitudes that high can be crippling not only on the legs, but on the lungs, and even the brain too, taking sheer determination to stagger to the summit. It had taken us three hours to complete the 500 m of ascent, and our prize: front row seats in an amphitheatre of dramatic snow-capped mountains, headed by its showpiece: Mt Everest, the tallest on Earth. Perhaps ironically though, Everest was probably one of the less impressive views, with Pumori, Lingtren and the nearer Nuptse jarring into the sky, all appearing larger. Still, we lingered on the view out in every direction, and gawped at the climbers' route up to Everest's summit via the wild Khumbu icefall and lumpy Hillary step. Here, we also enjoyed some more enthusiastic celebrations and snapped plenty of photos in the still solitude of the summit. I also got to wave my Kala Patthar hat from the very place it described.

      The descent back down was much more brisk, and upon returning to the teahouse, we decided on the first food of the day. I knew something wasn't quite right: I'd felt hungry, but also that I didn't want to eat. Still, I picked away at a pancake and we eventually set off on our way back down. We'd made it barely a few steps out from the front of the teahouse when I then paused to put on my sunglasses, turned, and threw up both violently and repeatedly. Shit. Vomiting isn't a particularly good sign when it comes to altitude, and combined with the symptoms both Thomas and I had been experiencing over the previous couple of days, we decided we needed to take more responsible action and adapt our plans. We had previously intended on attempting the giant Cho La pass over a glacier to Gokyo lake, thus hoping to end today in the village of Dzongla. But feeling rough in ourselves, we instead descended back to Lobuche, where we'd evaluate our plans going forward.      Read more

    • Himālaya & The Silk Road
      Day 24

      Day 24: Everest Base Camp

      April 13 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ -12 °C

      Time for a much overdue footprint if phone signal permits. Our experience of Lobuche was relatively pleasant and the night nowhere near as cold as we'd expected.

      Our first mission getting going for the day: get to Gorak Shep. Gorak Shep is the highest settlement anywhere before Everest Base Camp at an altitude of 5150 m, where atmospheric oxygen levels are 50% what they are at sea level, so as you can imagine, everything feels a lot more lethargic up there.

      This section was split into two parts: the first, a gentle amble up the valley; the second, a tiring scramble up, down, forward, and back over the glacier's scattered scree. After a few draining hours, we reached Gorak Shep and whacked down our big bags into our room, before slumping into the dining room for some lunch. At this point, Thomas confessed his questionable condition (altitude sickness is a bit like that, you can feel decidedly unwell but sort of confused as to how?), while I was also showing some signs of being worse for wear (namely, extreme tiredness and an aggravated cough famously dubbed as the Khumbu cough.) Anyhow, we mustered our strength and decided to push onto Base Camp while we still had the chance.

      By this point in the day, the regular afternoon clouds had begun to roll in, and the mild-sounding 2 miles onto Base Camp was beginning to drag, as we again navigated haphazard boulder fields which mounted the glacier. Turning a corner, you get your first glimpse of Base Camp itself, practically a vast city of yellow and orange tents which sprawl precariously all the way up to the Khumbu icefall. With our destination in line of sight, we descended a ridge and just like that, we'd made it!

      We afforded some subdued celebrations, hugging each other and enjoying the 5,364 m altitude as our trek's main objective. We then joined the queue (yes, queue) to get a picture with the famous 'Everest Base Camp' boulder and newly installed Hillary and Norgay sign where we commemorated our place under the world's tallest mountain with some quietly pleased pics.

      As we still mooched around at Base Camp, the heavy clouds began to spew spatterings of snow down: the start of the 5 cm of snowfall forecast for the afternoon! Fearing a blizzard, we lumbered our way back to Gorak Shep, admiring the surroundings as they turned from snow-dusted to snow-buried. Still, we got back in one piece (or two pieces), tucked away some food, and hunkered down for the coldest night yet: Gorak Shep is so high and so cold that they don't even have water.      Read more

    • Nepal og Vietnam
      13
      Day 11

      Trekking til Pikey Peak og Junbesi

      March 17 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      Vi har nu haft fire vandredage i Himalaya 🥾

      Den første dag stod på en let vandretur på en 4-5 timer (fra Dhap til Jhabre). Hele vejen blev vi fulgt af en hund, som så lidt medtaget ud. Vi kaldte ham Gustav. Gustav tog simpelthen med hen og overnattede ved vores tehus i Jhabre. I tehuset faldt vi i snak med en flok jævnaldrende tyskere, samt en østrigsk kvinde, som alle skal ud på nogenlunde den samme rute ved 'Pikey peak'.

      Dagen derpå forsøgte Gustav at følge med os videre, men vi fik ham til at blive tilbage. Dagen stod på et længere og hårdere trek, hvor vi skulle gå i 7-8 timer med en masse højdemeter. Her skulle vi ende ved 'basecamp' til Pikey peak og overnatte i et tehus beliggende i ca. 3700 m.o.h. På vejen spiste vi frokost ved et lokalt lille køkken, og her mødte vi igen tyskerne... - og Gustav! Han var simpelthen fulgt med dem, så nu begyndte han at være langt hjemmefra 😅 Heldigvis kom en flok trekkere den modsatte vej, og Gustav gik nu med dem, så forhåbentligt kommer han godt hjem igen 🤞🏻 I basecampen var der masser liv og sniksnak om aftenen. Her boede vi bl.a. sammen med tyskerne fra tidligere, et par amerikanere og nogle mountainbikere. Alle skulle tidligt op, for at kunne nå op til solopgang på Pikey peak dagen derpå 🌻

      Som sagt så gjort; i går stod vi op, så vi var klar til at gå kl. 4.30, så vi kunne se solopgangen på toppen (4067 m.o.h). Der var helt stjerneklart, og vi kæmpede os op af bjerget iklædt varmt tøj og pandelygter. Kl. 5.40 var vi fremme på toppen, og hold nu op en udsigt! Her havde vi den smukkeste morgen med udsigt over til store bjergkæder; og nåhr ja, så kunne vi da også se Mount Everest 😎

      Herefter skulle vi egentlig bare gå ned ad i ca. To timer, og så var vi fremme ved et nyt tehus (i Jasmane Bhanjyang), hvor vi skulle have en rigtig slappe-dappe-dag. Vi fik læst, sovet lur, og badet (okay, vi fik en spand varm vand og sæbe), og så spiste vi en masse 'momo', som er en slags Tibetansk dumpling 🥟

      I dag er vi gået videre til bjergbyen Junbesi (5-6 timers trek). Da vi vågnede i morges, var det overskyet, og mens vi spiste morgenmad så vi et par enkelte snefnug falde. Sneen tog dog til, og de første timer gik vi i snevejr, og undervejs fik vi brug for kæder om skoene, så vi ikke skøjtede rundt Heldigvis var det kun i en kort strækning, at det var nødvendigt. Vi fik frokost i et tehus på vejen. Her var der tændt op i brændeovnen og vi kunne varme samt tørre os selv og vores grej, inden vores videre færd. Efter nogle timer i støvregn kom vi endelig frem til tehuset i Junbesi. Her mødte vi igen tyskerne og østrigeren, så det er smadder hyggeligt, at man efterhånden kender hinanden. Nu sidder vi i fællesrummet, nogle spiller kort, andre læser, og nogle tyske pensionister har købt øl fra hjemlandet. Det kan altså noget det her trekkingliv 🥾😁⛰️      Read more

      See translation
    • Himālaya & The Silk Road
      1
      Day 10

      Day 10: Deurali to Namkheli

      March 30 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

      A shorter one today because I'm tired (but mostly feeling better minus a cold). After stepping out of the door from our teahouse in Deurali, we gazed out upon our very first view of snow capped peaks on the trek, with a clear view up to Pikey Peak and a handful of other mountains rising to 5,000m, which apparently given their abundance in Nepal, hadn't even been named. The descent from Deurali into Bhandar was a real highlight, passing through untouched local life, where the view into the vast valley was complemented by sightings of baby goats and namaste-nodding natives. Heading back up the other side from our low point of the day, the beating sun did its best to slow our ascent into Namkheli, during which some guy stopped to stare at us on passing, getting uncomfortably close to me while clutching a machete (no, really, we think he wanted cigarettes?) We've received some odd looks in Namkheli, I don't think they receive many western tourists here at all (if ever?), especially being slightly off the extended Everest Base Camp routes. Finally, with the sun setting, our day was capped off with our first experience of a full-on monsoon, blackening out the sparkling sky and scattered hillside lights with the violent crescendoing of thunder and eruption of a dense downpour.Read more

    • Vagabond à travers Inde&Népal
      22
      Day 42

      2e jour 🤯 ↗️↘️↗️↘️

      March 27, 2023 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      Aujourd'hui c'est une journée sans un mètre de plat qui nous attend !
      Nous partons de notre lodge (2300m d'altitude) vers 6h45, et entamons une grande descente caillouteuse pour atteindre le point le plus bas de notre parcours, 1480m d'altitude.
      À cet endroit se trouve un superbe pont suspendu pour enjamber un rivière. C'est une grande classique dans les montagnes Népalaises. C'est super impressionnant de passer dessus, ce sont des ponts, d'une centaine de mètres souvent, qui bougent énormément pour encaisser les vibrations de nos pas.

      Après une pose shooting à cet endroit, nous avons attaqué la longue montée qui nous attendait pour rejoindre le prochain village pour la pause repas.
      Mais suite à un manque de vigilance, nous avons pris la mauvaise direction, et avons atterri au beau milieu de terrasses d'un autre village.
      C'est ici que nous avons rencontré un ancien guide, plus ou moins retraité, qui nous a offert le thé, puis il nous a carrément accompagné jusqu'au prochain village en passant par des chemins inconnus de nos cartes. Au total, c'est encore 650m de dénivelé positif d'effectués.
      Je trouve ça incroyable ces villages complètement perdus au milieu des montagnes. Ils vivent en autonomie totale avec leurs plantations, et surtout ils sont à plusieurs jours de marches de la moindre petite ville !

      Une fois notre classique dal bhat avalé, nous avons poursuivi notre route.
      Petite descente, puis grosse montée de 400m de dénivelé dans un mix d'escaliers, de cailloux, et de pentes très raides.

      Je me sentais bien et j'avais de supers sensations avec mes bâtons, donc j'ai décidé de la faire à fond juste pour le goût de l'effort physique 😍
      Une fois en haut, j'ai déposé mon sac à une lodge, et je suis redescendu chercher Leo qui était un peu plus à la peine. Nous sommes arrivés vers 15h.
      Ensuite, petite douche éclair (l'eau est absolument glaciale), petite sieste, et grosse séance d'étirements avant le repas      Read more

      See translation
    • TravelerMera top of the world take 2
      1
      Day 10

      Bridges and rocks

      October 2, 2023 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

      After a nice cozy sleep, ALLE and I had rice pudding with honey for Brekky which was very filling.
      Today was challenging. A slightly shorter day but a very big and strenuous walk. There was lots of rain overnight which again left the track slippery but luckily the rain held off.
      The one part of the track we had all been dreading was today- up and over a big rock formation, lucky they had put in a chain to help. We also had lots of waterfall crossings today and needed lots of help from Sherpa Tendi as they were slippery and flowing fast.
      We arrived at our destination at Toktou where we had visited for lunch in 2020. It was so nice to stop by lunch and have some relax time.
      ALLE and I shared a bowl of soup which we ate by the fire.      Read more

    • Himālaya & The Silk Road
      Day 28

      Days 27-29: Pangboche to Paiya

      April 17 in Nepal ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

      Day 27: Pangboche to Namche
      A fairly dull and drab day as we continued to retrace our steps and I continued to not feel great. Up until this point, we'd been approached by several yaks, all of which had moved majestically around us when passing, allowing us to admire them as the beautiful beasts they are. Today was different; on three separate occasions we had to practically run, dodge or manhandle oncoming yaks to avoid being impaled on their bullish horns. Maybe we just caught the entire species of yak on a bad day, but when they don't want to move for you, you either damn well move for them, or choose to be turned into hiker jam. Once we'd returned jam-free to the local centre of Namche, we chose to stay at the same teahouse as we had originally, copping an ensuite room where we were both able to wash for the first time since we'd last been able to in Namche (and god, that felt great).

      Day 28: Namche to Chaurikharka
      I enjoyed this day. We woke up bright and early and gave our legs a well versed workout by heading back up to the Tenzing Norgay statue and lookout. Previously, the distant view to Everest had been blocked by clouds, but a beautiful morning meant we could enjoy the view in its splendour. The clear weather remained all day, and we made good progress on our descent, minus the part where I was attacked by a cow (no, seriously). Wandering along the path in my direction as hundreds of animals had done daily, this cow clearly decided it just did not like the look of me (who can blame it), and swerved its head steadily but menacingly towards me, its horn catching my arm. Still, other than causing confusion, no damage had really been done and we continued onto Chaurikharka. At our teahouse here, we were back to much quieter surroundings and the owner's 5-year-old energetic son, Kaji, was overjoyed to play catch with us using what seemed to be a tuft of yak fur as a ball (it was as wholesome as he was sweet, bless him.)

      Day 29: Chaurikharka to Salleri
      In the morning, the teahouse owner presented both of us with a white scarf, called a khata in Buddhism. The khata is a symbol of purity, honour and respect, and is given as a gesture of safe passage, for which we were flattered to receive. The day's walking itself was pretty miserable in my books though: again, feeling dodgy, retracing familiar scenery, faced with monumental climbs, and slowed by the constant flow of abused horses (and their everpresent dung). To continue the theme of animal attack, one horse even squared up to me too. Thereafter, we even found ourselves doing some vertical bushwhacking through steep, overgrown vegetation to find our way to the top of the Chutok La pass. Once at the top, we overheard the ominous crashing of landslides while stopping for lunch. It wasn't until over the other side that we found out what the crashing really was: landslides, yes; but man-made landslides from the hurling of colossal boulders over the cliffside. The idea here was to extend the reach of the jeep road, with heavy machinery drilling away into the cliffs, offering any debris up to the determination of gravity, much to the misfortune of anyone below. Despite the questionable construction health and safety policy, we passed the diggers and wearily ambled into Paiya. And thus, our 300 km trek was complete! It had taken 27,000 metres of elevation change and almost zero underwear changes, but we had done it. We didn't have long to mull over the situation though, as we were immediately coaxed into a jeep ride to Salleri... (See next)      Read more

    • Nepal/Everest Base Camp Trek
      Day 15

      EBC Finisher ❣️ Back in Lukla

      April 15, 2023 in Nepal ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

      Das war es nun also 🙏🏼 11 Tage nach unserem aufregenden Flug nach Lukla sind wir wieder zurück wo unser Weg begann... 👣 Wir haben es tatsächlich geschafft, wir sind gesund geblieben, wir haben wundervolle Menschen getroffen und sind das ein oder andere Mal ein wenig über uns hinaus gewachsen... Wir haben gefroren und geschwitzt, ich hab nicht nur einmal geweint, haben auch gestritten, wir haben uns nach einer Dusche gesehnt und die absolut zu schätzen gelernt! Haben das Essen genossen und die Gastfreundschaft der Nepalesen. Und täglich haben wir staunend in der Natur gestanden und sind uns abschließend auch bewusst, dass solche Eindrücke unglaublich und mit Geld nicht zu bezahlen sind 🙏🏼 Der Letzte Tag heute von Tok Tok nach Lukla war mit etwa 10 km im Vergleich zu vielen Tagen davor eher eine gemütliche Wanderung, aber Stufen, viele Stufen als Endgegner hat natürlich jeder Tag hier 🥵 Wieder hatten wir Zeit, das Aufblühen der Natur zu bewundern, hier und da noch eine Rast einzulegen und nette Gespräche mit Weggefährten zu führen... Der Abschied von Karma Sherpa und seiner Frau fiel uns heute früh überhaupt nicht leicht. Eine so herzliche Begegnung ❤️ so persönliche Gespräche... So ein netter Ort und der perfekte Tag für echtes Eintauchen in die nepalesische Kultur. Wir haben gelernt von Yaks und Naks, Sumcuks und den Unterschieden. Wir wissen ein wenig mehr über das Bildungssystem, die gesundheitliche Versorgung und die Absicherung der Sherpas... Wir haben perfekt geschlafen, konnten auch hier wieder absolut damit leben, dass die Toilette nicht gerade westlichem Standard entsprach... Stattdessen haben wir uns am Tee und dem leckeren Essen erfreut, mit Gemüse aus dem eigenen Garten. Frisch und zwar richtig frisch zubereitet 🙏🏼 und unseren ersten kleinen Schnaps, einen landestypischen Raksi, haben wir uns gestern Abend auch gegönnt, denn zu feiern gab es gestern auch noch das nepalesische Neujahrsfest, happy 2080! 😁 wir sind dankbar für diesen Stop auf unserem Weg, haben auch versprochen wiederzukommen. Vielleicht im nächsten Jahr auf unserer Weltreise, wenn es passt sehr gerne... Nayeli wird es lieben, hier mit vielen lebensfohen Kindern und den Tieren einfach Kind zu sein 💫 wir werden sehen ❣️ unsere letzte Nacht hier verbringen wir in der Himalaya Lodge direkt am Tenzing Hillary Flughafen und können vom Zimmer aus die Startbahn sehen 😀
      Mit nicht allzu vielen, aber ein paar besonderen Fotos beenden wir hier nun den offiziellen Part unserer Reise, denn der Weg war größtenteils bekannt 😉 Wir verbringen heute den Abend, wenn alles gut geht und sie rechtzeitig hier ankommen, noch mit ein paar lieben Menschen die Teil unserer Reise waren und auch morgen mit uns zurück nach Kathmandu fliegen... Noch ein bisschen Träumen, Austauschen, stolz sein... Kontakte tauschen, Bilder anschauen und noch einmal genießen, dass es ein besonderer Schlag Menschen ist, der hier in Nepal auf Reisen geht 😍 weltoffen, herzlich, hilfsbereit, naturverliebt, ein bisschen Idealisten und Träumer, ein bisschen Hippie oder Aussteiger. Auf jeden Fall aber mit ganz ganz viel Sinn für Erfahrungen, die das Leben bereichern 💯 Morgen früh um halb 8 geht unser Flug ( also hoffentlich, denn sicher ist hier nicht besonders viel, und Uhrzeiten schon gar nicht 😜) und wir haben dann noch einmal die Gelegenheit für ein bisschen Adrenalin auf dem
      "gefährlichsten Flughafen der Welt" 😂 ich bin mir sicher, dass wir auch diesmal wieder heil ankommen 🙏🏼 aus Kathmandu werde ich dann für die restlichen Tage sicher noch einmal berichten, denn nach dem verdienten Ausruhen für 1 bis 2 Tage werden wir uns schon noch die ein oder andere Sehenswürdigkeit anschauen... Habt nochmals lieben Dank fürs Mitreisen, Mitfiebern und Daumendrücken 🤩 Thank you, धन्यवाद, Namasté, wir sehen uns vielleicht zur nächsten Reise... Und nicht vergessen, selbst weiter zu träumen 🙏🏼🌍❣️      Read more

      See translation

    You might also know this place by the following names:

    Sagarmāthā Zone, Sagarmatha Zone

    Join us:

    FindPenguins for iOSFindPenguins for Android

    • 2024© FindPenguins
    • Home
    • About us
    • Blog
    • Group Tracking
    • Press
    • Terms
    • Privacy Policy & Cookies
    • Support
    • Legal notice
    • English