Hey! Oh. Hi. Errrrr. Hello. Uhm. Yes.
Okay. I’ve done a pretty shit job at tying the knot on my recent travels. How is it that I managed to keep up on things whilst I was the road but haven’t been able to scrape together the final entry in the 4 months since I’ve been back? It’s hard to say. Maybe impossible to really understand. I’ve been thinking a lot about this. What is it that keeps you from moving forward on something you know you want to do. Like you are trapped in a forcefield that separates you from what you want to be accomplishing. You know, I think back to the ancient Greeks at times like this. Isn’t it incredible how the words they wrote over 2000 yea….. Shit. Wait. It’s laziness. It’s fucking laziness! That’s why I haven’t gotten around to writing this yet.
When I last left you I was on my way up to Rishikesh for the week to conclude my time in India. I don’t want to get into Rishikesh too much as I’ve gone off enough about India. I will say that I did like Rishikesh. I think the vibe up North is different from the other parts of India I saw. In hindsight, going to the main tourist areas may not have been the best call on my part. Though my time in Rishikesh was mostly peaceful and solitary, it did delivery me one quintessential Indian experience that I had managed to avoid up to that point: food poisoning. It happened the afternoon before I was leaving for Nepal and though there were times of extreme doubt, I managed to move my lifeless and translucent frame from airport to airport before finally arriving in Kathmandu for two days of much-needed rest before my trek up to Base Camp began.
I did my Base Camp Trek with GAdventures. This was my first time being a part of a group tour. I had heard a lot of good things about GAdventures and I can add my voice to that chorus. The Trek was well organized and the tour guides Nima and Tsering were amazing. Good guitar players as well! And Mayer fans to boot! I definitely recommend doing anything with GAdventures. It’s a nice worry-free way to travel and you’ll surely meet a lot of wonderful folks as well. I was blessed enough to have 3 other Canadians in my group. At that point, it had been well over a year since I’d been home so it was great to enjoy the company of some of my compatriots.
First, my overall opinion of Nepal is very high. The people are very friendly and the country has a good vibe to it. I felt a lot more at ease here than I did in India. There are a lot of other hikes to be done here other than Base Camp and I can see myself coming back here someday.
Overall, the hike up and back is 13 days (9 days hiking up with 2 days to acclimatize and 4 days down). The hike itself is reasonable. I think anyone with a decent level of fitness could do it. The one random factor that can sink you is altitude sickness. The air gets increasingly thin as you go up. At Base Camp, there is about 50% of the oxygen compared to sea level. The trekking industry is a big pillar of the Nepalese economy and I think helicoptering people off the mountain that get altitude sickness is a big part of it! Fortunately, nobody from our group got altitude sickness. Coming back down from Base Camp, I had a pretty bad headache but other than that it was pretty smooth sailing.
I think I am happy to let the pictures do the talking here.
Namche Bazaar
Everest in the background. One of the hills with the clouds coming off. The one on the left?
Adequate views.
Yaks were a staple on the trek.
Should’ve been framed on one of the mountains to the left.
I like this one.
This one satisfies me as well.
The Finish Line.
The crew.
Well, that’s the end. Fin. No More!
For those who have been following along but I haven’t been in touch with regularly, I do hope you enjoy reading this. It is my intent to keep this going because I do like doing it; even if my passion for it waxes and wanes!
Also, for anyone who doesn’t know what I am up to know, I am back in the UK for an indefinite period of time. Though I am back to the day to day, I am sure the next adventure isn’t too far off the horizon.
Until next time.
Matt
A Third Life Crisis in the Old World 